AN: I want to thank all of my readers for the overwhelmingly positive comments. I invite notes, corrections and criticisms which are constructive. For the 1 or 2 who have taken the time to let me know how bad they think my writing is, no one is forcing you to read what I write, so I will understand if you choose not to read any more of my work. Please note that the manuscript goes through 4 betas, editing and a final proofreading before it is published. Any of you who read what I post here will find significant differences in the published end product.
The small number of nasty and negative comments with no constructive value will not deter me, my skin is thicker than that. To my alpha and group of betas, you have my heartfelt appreciation for all of the assistance you give me. I hope you are all staying well and safe.
FYI: Both myself and my better half have had the vaccinations against Covid and neither of us had any side effects-no swollen anythings :)
Chapter 25
Wes was introduced to the remainder of the family. He had met Andrew, Richard, and Jamey previously. Although he had not met William before, he did know him by sight.
His parents' actions had cost him a courtship, but he saw it stoically in hindsight. He had not loved the lady, it was an alliance his father wanted to help bolster their position in society, so Wes could not repine the family's defection.
When he looked at the three betrothed couples present, Wes saw the obvious love between them and decided then and there he would not be induced to court a woman again unless there was love between them.
Marie had been pushed toward Sed Rhys-Davies by his parents who had looked to bolster their position in society. He would always love his parents but at the same time he could not repine the price they were paying for the cruelty they had visited on his late sister. It was sad that they would never know their granddaughter, but he knew the situation they found themselves in now—ostracised from society—was of their own making.
"What do we call you?" Tommy asked. "Uncle? Cousin?"
"Just Wes is good, Tommy," Wes responded. "Just like you address the rest of the younger men without a prefix before their names."
"You are like me, the youngest in your family, are you not?" Tommy wanted to know.
"Yes, you are correct," Wes confirmed.
"How old are you? I was recently ten," Tommy enquired.
"I am two and twenty," Wes averred.
"You and William are the same age. Did you not know him at University?" Georgiana interjected.
"We were not at the same schools, Gigi," William informed his younger sister. "I, like Andrew, Jamey, and Richard went to a good school—Cambridge—while Wes went to Oxford."
"As those who go to the inferior and newer Cambridge know, Oxford is more than one hundred years older," Wes responded in kind.
"Older does not mean better," Andrew joined the fray.
"Peace young men," Bennet interjected. "Do not pick on Lizzy's uncle because he had the misfortune of not studying at Cambridge."
"I know when I am outnumbered," Wes capitulated playfully. "Do any of you Cambridge men know how to play chess?"
"We all do," the Prince informed his former brother-in-law.
"Mayhap after church on the morrow we can have an Oxford versus Cambridge competition?" Wes suggested.
The challenge was happily accepted by the Cambridge men who knew they had Darcy as their secret weapon.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Gardiner requested to meet with Darcy after he washed and changed out of his travel attire. "Is there news about my investments?" Robert Darcy asked.
"No it is not about your funds with me, rather about a new employee of mine," Gardiner responded. "For some months now a new trainee clerk has been working in my employ—one George Wickham."
"What manner of lie did young Wickham tell you to gain a position of trust in your business?" Darcy asked.
"Actually he told me the whole unvarnished truth from his theft in York to his fraud in Staffordshire and everything in between," Gardiner related. "He had a genuine desire to change, to make a better life."
"Just do not turn your back on the young man," Darcy warned.
Gardiner proceeded to tell Darcy all including the test he had engineered and all about the honest work ethic George Wickham had. Darcy was disbelieving at first, but he knew Gardiner would neither prevaricate of exaggerate.
"It is all amazement, as this news is the last I would have expected to hear about George Wickham," Darcy owned. "Do not misunderstand me, both his father and I would like nothing more than to see him succeed in an honest life. I will write to my steward and inform him of what you have told me. I will reserve judgement until more time has passed."
"You will hear no argument from me Darcy," Gardiner stated. "Given his past, I understand why you are not ready to embrace his changes as permanent. I too am sceptical but will give him every chance to succeed. I will also give him enough rope to hang himself if it is not genuine. That being said, I believe he is sincere in his desire to make meaningful changes to his life."
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Paul Bingley was exasperated. His niece—his ward—was incapable of change or of learning the error of her ways. As much as he preferred not to talk ill of the dead, he was not happy with his late sister-in-law who had planted the nonsense in Caroline's head.
He had found one effective way to bring her to heal—to withhold her allowance. Money had become the biggest stumbling block between them. When he had refused to give her money for unnecessary clothing, she had unleashed a tantrum of epic proportions and then taken herself to a dressmaker and ordered a large number of dresses and told them to send the invoice to her uncle.
By providence, Paul's wife, Henrietta, had to pick up a dress at the same store a day after Caroline's extravagant order. When the proprietor had thanked her for the massive order, Mrs. Bingley had disabused the lady in no uncertain terms that her husband had not authorised their niece to charge on their account and berated the woman for accepting an order from a young lady without checking with her guardians first.
The order had been cancelled forthwith and little cost incurred and that little cost was deducted from Caroline's allowance. The dressmaker was told that unless Miss Bingley was accompanied by Mr. or Mrs. Bingley and they gave the authorisation to charge items to their account, they would not pay any bills they did not authorise ahead of time.
Word spread with alacrity to all of the merchants in Scarborough that if they granted Miss Bingley credit, it would not be covered by her guardians, thus cutting off any avenue for Caroline Bingley to place orders for unneeded and excessively ostentatious gowns in her preferred colour—burnt orange.
The Bingleys did not mention anything to Caroline hoping she would learn a lesson from her coming embarrassment. A week later, Miss Bingley flounced into the dressmaker's shop for her fittings as if she were the Queen. She came very close to an apoplexy when she was told her order had been cancelled and that she was not allowed to charge anything to the Bingleys' account.
For someone who dreamed of rising in society, Miss Bingley's behaviour was that of a shrew; her language that of a sailor. She was evicted from the shop and after she was refused at four other stores, she stomped off to return to her uncle's house in high dudgeon.
Before she could scream as she desired, her aunt and uncle sat her down and explained the way forward. She would behave like a lady in their house with decorum and respect, or she would forfeit her allowance—one week's worth at a time until such time she changed her behaviour.
After four infractions which cost her a month's allowance, Caroline understood her guardians were perfectly serious. She would have to work on Charles to remove her from their custody. Unfortunately for her, her brother had neither the authority, nor the inclination to do so.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
"Father, may I have some of your time?" William asked after being admitted to his father's suite by the valet, Snell.
"You know I am always available to talk to, William," Darcy returned warmly.
"I have gone and fallen in love with Lizzy, and now that I know her true rank—a Princess of England—she is too far out of my reach and it is breaking my heart," William lamented.
"William, I love you dearly, but sometimes you can be a true dullard," Darcy retorted jocularly.
"Do you jest at my pain?" William asked indignantly.
"No son, not at your self-inflicted pain, at your wilful blindness," Darcy averred seriously.
"To what do you refer?" William attempted to understand.
"Let me ask you a question. Since Lizzy was informed of her true parentage and heritage, has she behaved any differently toward you or any of us?" Darcy asked.
"No I suppose not," William owned.
"So this is all in your head," Darcy pointed out. "You are assuming she will think you below her because you used to—albeit many years ago—think her below you. Is your love for her so weak that you are willing to give up without a fight?"
William sat in silence for a minute or two as his father's words were assimilated. "No, I love her with all of my heart and soul," William admitted.
"Then why are you already adopting a defeatist attitude and giving up a year before she even comes out?" Robert Darcy asked his son pointedly.
"The King will have to approve of her suitor," William stated changing direction slightly.
"Yes, what of it?" his father asked.
"We are not titled, how will the King consent to a mere gentleman as a suitor for his granddaughter?" William tried to explain his thinking to his father.
"Do your think your Uncle Freddy—who has seen the attraction between the two of you as plain as day—disapproves of you, William?" Darcy answered with a question of his own.
"No I suppose not, but…" William started to respond when his father held up his hand.
"How many times have you not heard the Prince tell us how his father will not interfere as far as his daughter concerned due to the guilt the King feels after forcing the divorce and the marriage to Princess Frederica on him?" Darcy pushed.
"Many times," William acknowledged.
"If Lizzy is amenable to your suit—and I believe she will be—from whom do you think you need to request consent? The Prince or the King?" Darcy sat back and waited while William cogitated.
It was one of the characteristics—one of many—Robert Darcy admired in his son. He was not impetuous and always took his time to think when thinking about weighty issues. Darcy saw the moment his son reached the correct conclusion as his whole mien brightened.
"I understand why you told me my pain was self-inflicted," William admitted. "It seems I was trying to protect my heart prematurely. If I did not venture anything, I could not get hurt. It seems I need to look at what is and not operate on wrongheaded assumptions."
"Your mother and I always said you could not be so intelligent for no reason." Darcy gave his son a pat of the back as William departed to go complete his ablutions prior to the ball.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
"I know you birthfather has the first and your papa the second," William bowed over Elizabeth's hand as he was entranced by the vision she made as she descended the stairs a while before the first guests were expected. "I would ask for the supper and final sets of you will grant those to me."
"You have been standoffish since we were told of my birthparents, William," Elizabeth pointed out with arched eyebrow. "I was not sure you wanted to dance with me at the ball."
"Lizzy, I am sorry," William replied contritely. "After the revelation of you true rank, I was afraid I was too far below you. I should have relied on our bonds of friendship and not allowed my self-doubts to rule me."
"You are forgiven. I will grant you the two sets you have requested," Elizabeth allowed. "Please remember this, William. It is critical to me that my friends and extended family, treat me as they always have. I may be a Princess, but that is a rank, not who I am. For me nothing has changed for those I esteem and count as my closest friends and family."
William's heart soared as he understood her message clearly. He would never allow his head to overrule his heart again. "Do you have a set open for your very old uncle, niece?" Wes asked with a grin.
"As William here is a few months older than you, that must make him ancient," Elizabeth teased right back. "Yes, my third sets are open and if you desire them, they are yours, Uncle Wes."
"Thank you my impertinent niece." Wes looked around and saw the warm camaraderie among all assembled for the aperitif before the receiving line formed. These people were genuine, warm, and loving. Nothing they did—unlike his parents—was to impress society or anyone else. If not for his parent's wrongheaded decisions, they would have been part of this family for many years. He felt sympathy for his parents who were driven not by love but by what they thought society expected from them.
Wes solicited, and was granted a set from Jane, Anne, Cassie, Mary, and Kitty. He had to admit he was intrigued by the third Bennet daughter. She was almost as pretty as her eldest sister and had a wit and intelligence that matched his niece Elizabeth. Earlier, Wes had met the resident masters the Bennets employed, which helped him understand how all six Bennet children were so well educated and accomplished.
Before the receiving line formed, Elizabeth, Mary, and Kitty had full dance cards. Kitty would have much to tell Gigi and Lydia when she departed the ball after supper to join the other two above-stairs. When Wes had requested her final set, Mary had blushed with pleasure. She was days away from turning fifteen, so she had three more years before coming out, but it did not stop her glowing with pleasure with the attention from Lizzy's handsome uncle.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Jane and Andrew led the dancing off and they had been followed by Jamey and Anne and Richard and Cassie. Although Jane and Andrew were to wed in two days, the ball had become an impromptu ball for all three betrothed couples which explained the addition of the Carringtons and Mrs. de Bourgh to the receiving line. If anyone had questioned the latter's presence in the line when they passed through, none had the bad manners to comment on her presence within earshot of those in the receiving line.
Elizabeth enjoyed dancing the first with her birthfather. Again, if any of the guests questioned why the second Bennet daughter was dancing the first with the Prince and the second with her father, none of them voiced their questions aloud.
Most surprising was when Robert Darcy requested the supper set from his late wife's older sister. Darcy would have loved for his Anne to have been present to witness how much her sister Catherine had changed. Darcy felt it was only right he recognise the sea change Catherine had made in her life by dancing with her.
"Come William," Elizabeth said archly, "we cannot dance the whole half hour complete without some conversation, what will people say?" Lizzy teased lightly as they danced the first of their two scheduled sets—the supper set.
"Do you talk as a rule when you dance, Lizzy?" William returned. "Name the topic and we will discuss it. Would you like to discuss the new edition of Cowper's you are reading?"
"No, books are not a subject for the ballroom," Elizabeth replied with mock severity. "I could comment on the number of guests, and you could remark about the lovely decorations Mama and her helpers have made."
"I am at your disposal your Roy…madame." William stopped himself before he completed his previous jest knowing how close he came to making an unintended revelation in a crowded ball room.
The guests were split between those representing the four and twenty families which made up the gentlefolk in the area and those from London. He may have been able to explain his slip as jest, but he would rather not take a chance.
"That is enough conversation for now," Elizabeth granted, as they enjoyed the rest of the dances of the set in companionable silence. At the completion of the set, William led Elizabeth to sit at a table with her three sisters and their partners.
William Collins, as a family member—albeit distant—had been invited to the ball. He was awestruck at the number of highly ranked personages, from a Prince on down. Luckily he schooled his features and did not fawn over anyone. It was not the first time in his five and twenty years Collins had been thankful he had not taken his father as an exemplar of how to behave towards others.
Collins passed supper most pleasantly with his partner for the supper sets—Miss Charlotte Lucas. Before the meal was complete, Collins solicited the final sets from his partner, who gladly granted them.
After supper Kitty departed graciously without complaint. It was not long before she was regaling Gigi and Lydia with her experiences at her first private ball. Both girls knew their time would come and displayed no envy for Kitty's good fortune.
The rest of the ball passed as balls do without any remarkable occurrences.