When Lady Elizabeth and her father arrived at Longbourn, they were immediately pounced on by Mrs. Bennet. She did not even wait until they were out of the carriage. All her other daughters were out in the yard with her. "Well, what did the prince want? Am I going to be Lady Bennet?"
Mr. Bennet stepped down from the carriage and assisted Elizabeth down. "No, my dear, I told you that would not happen. If you will allow us to go into the house and have some refreshments, I will tell you everything." He did something unusual and kissed his wife and all four daughters in turn.
"It must be good news!" Lydia exclaimed. "Papa is in a very good mood for sure."
They went in and Jane ordered tea. As soon as they had all settled in the drawing room, Mr. Bennet, being his normal teasing self, first took a sip from the cup his wife presented to him before he said anything. For a moment, he did not say a word. Finally, he said, "My dear, neither you nor I received anything from the prince, at least not directly." He could see that this statement was met with disappointing looks from everyone but his last comment perked their curiosity. "However, I do have some good news that will affect all of us, especially you girls." They all waited expectantly. His youngest daughters were bouncing on their seats in excitement.
"First of all, we met with Prince Augustus Frederick, then the Prince Regent himself. I have to back up a bit." He took his time, drank some more tea, and waited until they were all even more excited.
"It was all due to Lizzy. This August, when she was in Ramsgate, she saved a young girl from drowning in the ocean. That young girl happened to be Prince Augustus Frederick's daughter. If you recall, He married without the King's prior permission, so his marriage was declared to be invalid because of some law. Two children resulted from his marriage, or, more properly, union with Lady Augusta, an older son and young Lady Emma.
"The Prince was very pleased with Lizzy's actions, to say the least, as she had to jump into the ocean to save his daughter. No one else thought to do that, even though there were several attendants with them. The Prince said he owed her a reward for her bravery and he asked my brother Gardiner about our situation. He told him everything about our estate and its entail." He saw that his family was getting excited as soon as he mentioned a reward." Everyone looked at Lizzy, amazed that she had performed such a heroic act and had not said a word about it; the whole family except for Jane, as she had been told about this adventure.
"When Lizzy and I were summoned to London, we went to St. James's Palace to meet with the Prince. He said that he had investigated our situation and had decided what he could do to reward Lizzy, and so us." Again he paused to increase their excitement. "Apparently he is close to his brother, the Prince Regent, so he convinced him what he wanted to do. He told us what the reward, in fact, rewards, would be." Here, he paused for dramatic effect.
"Well, come on! Tell us! What is it?"
"First of all, he ended the entail on Longbourn by royal decree." When the ladies heard this, they could not help squeals and cheers from erupting from them. "My dear Mrs. Bennet, you will not be thrown out into the hedgerows when I am gone from this mortal coil. I can leave the estate to anyone that I want. So, girls, if you want a chance to inherit Longbourn, you had better be on your best behaviour from now on." He then looked each of his daughters right in their eyes to emphasize this comment. "You do not want to have me annoyed with you, now would you? Think of what it might cost you—this estate."
"To compensate my heir presumptive, Collins, for his loss, he is to be offered another estate—but it is in North Yorkshire! As far away from us in England as he could possibly be. I imagine that we will never hear from him again. That part of the country is in the wilds; so he might find himself eaten by wolves or bears!"
"Now, Papa; I thought there are no wolves or bears left in all of England," his youngest daughters protested.
"Well, Collins will find out, perhaps to his chagrin. It may be that the wild Yorkshiremen might end up eating him themselves. I hear they are nothing but wild savages up there." This brought laughs, or at least smiles from the ladies.
Mrs. Bennet was trying to digest this information. "What does that mean for us?" She was quite slow to think of what his news really meant.
"It means, my dear, as I said, when I am gone I can leave Longbourn to anyone I want. You will not face the hedgerows. Collins will not inherit Longbourn. One of our daughters or grandsons will receive it. It is completely up to me."
"But who, Papa?" His youngest daughters were excited.
"I do not know yet. I will decide that in the future. It will depend on who is most deserving, or perhaps who is quickest in refilling my teacup." There was a quick grab at the teapot from several hands. This was exactly the reaction he wanted. He was enjoying telling his news and having such a sword to wield over them from now on.
"I suppose it will be Jane or Lizzy." Lydia was not happy.
"Not necessarily. If Jane marries well, she will not need Longbourn."
"Lizzy, then."
"Lizzy will not need it either. There is more news." He again waited for them to get excited. "The Prince gave Lizzy two rewards.
"First of all, may I introduce Lady Elizabeth Bennet, Baroness Longbourn!"
They all squealed in delight; her mother included, and by far the loudest. "Wait until I tell Lady Lucas! A baroness outranks a mere knight and his lady. But wait! What does that make us?"
"Only the parents and sisters of a baroness. Her oldest son will inherit the title. If she has no son, then Jane's oldest son, and so on down the line if Jane does not have one. So, girls, every one of you has a chance to have a baron for a son as well as the possibility of inheriting Longbourn. That will make you much more attractive to potential suitors. You will be fighting them off from now on."
Her mother was thinking. "Lady Elizabeth! Baroness Longbourn! How fine that sounds. But the mere granting of a title does not mean any extra income for any of us, does it?"
"No, it does not. That brings me to the final piece of news. The Prince granted her an estate of her own. It is called Hinckston Abbey and is in Leicestershire. There are problems with it; apparently it has been unoccupied for some years and is not in good shape. We will need to go there quite soon to see what needs to be done to fix it up. It may need a lot of work to make it productive. From what the Prince said, it was a good estate in the past, but that was years ago. Apparently it has been sadly neglected for some years."
"Mr. Bennet! We cannot possibly go there now. Think of Jane and Mr. Bingley. He has been paying a lot of attention to her. She has to stay here so he will not be discouraged." These words made Jane blush.
"The Prince is helping us with that as he asked someone knowledgeable about estates to go with us to assist us to make it profitable again."
"Who?"
"Mr. Darcy."
"Mr. Darcy! But he is so proud and haughty. Why should he agree to help us? Why him?"
"When a prince asks for a favour, you do not refuse. Do not forget that Darcy has managed his own estate for some years, so his advice should be quite valuable. He knows the area up there in the north of England much better than I do. While he and I look over the land and tenants, Lizzy—I should say Lady Elizabeth—will check the house to see what needs to be done to make it habitable. We will need to go there quite soon before the weather turns against us."
Her four sisters began to curtsy to their Lizzy, saying, "My Lady! Lady Elizabeth!"
She just laughed. "I will still be just Lizzy when we are alone. If you annoy me, then I will insist that you call me Lady Elizabeth and curtsy to me."
"Does that mean we should call you Lady Lizzy if that happens?" This brought a lot of laughs.
Mrs. Bennet had been thinking. "It could cost a lot of money if the house needs many repairs."
"Do not worry; the Prince is providing her with a subsidy to get her started. He did not say how much it would be and will only be for fixing up her estate." Her husband did not want her to worry about money or think that she would be able to use it for anything else.
Lizzy then said, "I would like to take someone with me to go through the house; someone who knows about running a house. There will be a lot to think about."
Her mother jumped in. "Lizzy, I cannot possibly go just now; neither can Jane."
"I know. I have been considering asking Charlotte. She helps Lady Lucas with their house and has good taste. She would likely enjoy getting away for a trip, even if it is only to help me."
Her mother was excited about this. "Yes! Let us go to see her right now. I cannot wait to tell Lady Lucas your good news."
"No, mother. It is not proper visiting hours. We can go in the morning. In any case, it is almost time to dress for dinner." Mrs. Bennet suddenly realized that she had to give more credit to her daughter as she was now a baroness, so she did not argue. She thought that she would have to be grateful to her least favourite daughter as she was bringing so much good fortune to the family.
It was an exciting dinner, indeed. As they continued to discuss their good fortune, the servants all heard as well. This ensured that the whole village would soon know, even if Mrs. Bennet did not brag about it to everyone she knew, which, of course, she did.
The next morning, the ladies all went to Lucas Lodge where Mrs. Bennet proudly announced their news. The Lucases properly congratulated Lady Elizabeth for her good fortune. They made sure to give her a curtsy and call her 'Lady Elizabeth.' She had to tell them all the details of how she saved the little girl in Ramsgate and her meetings with the two princes.
When Mrs. Bennet mentioned Elizabeth's new estate, they asked her questions about it which she could not answer. "I really have no idea what the estate is like. Father and I will be going there quite soon before the weather turns too bad to travel. An interesting point is that the Prince asked Mr. Darcy to go with us to give us whatever advice he could as his estate is in Derbyshire and Leicestershire is just south of there. He should know what will grow best in that part of the country. This is actually a good time to go so we can get ready for spring planting.
"Mr. Darcy and my father will do the outside work and I will check out the house and staffing to see what needs to be done." Lady Lucas understood the logic of this plan.
"Lady Lucas, I have a big favour to ask of you. I would like someone to go with me so I can have a second opinion; someone who knows about running a house. Neither Mother nor Jane can get away just now, so could you spare Charlotte to go with me? It will mean being away for about ten or eleven days. Charlotte, would you like to come with me?"
Charlotte looked at her mother. "Mother, I would like to go to help Lady Elizabeth." She almost referred to her friend as 'Lizzy,' but remembered just in time. "I have never been to Leicestershire and would like to go see it and her new estate."
"I will not need you here for the next couple of weeks, so I have no objection." She turned to Lady Elizabeth. "When are you planning to go?"
"Mr. Darcy should be returning to Netherfield today, so in just a day or two. I should know for sure as soon as we speak with him."
They did not spend too long there as Mrs. Bennet wanted to make a couple more stops so she could brag about her daughter, the Baroness. At each house they visited, she proudly related her news. Without exception, all their friends congratulated them on their good fortune.
When Darcy returned to Netherfield, he first went in to change from his travelling clothes, then he went down to find his hosts. They were in the drawing room.
Miss Bingley was the first to greet him, "Mr. Darcy! How we missed you. Did you finish your business in London? You never did tell us why you had to go so urgently."
Darcy had been unsure how much he should tell them, but he realized that they would hear soon enough. "Prince Augustus Frederick requested my presence, so I could not refuse."
"The Prince! Why did he want you?"
"It was actually about the Bennets." This news shocked them all.
Miss Bingley was not pleased to hear this. "What on earth did they do now? I thought their improper conduct would catch up to them."
"It was not anything bad at all; quite the opposite. Apparently Miss Elizabeth did some good deed for the Royal Family this past summer and they were rewarding her."
Miss Bingley thought of only one act that she might have done with one of the princes that would earn her a reward, but she did not dare voice this out loud; after all, she was a lady with an expensive education. While she could think it, she could not say it. "What did she do?"
"She saved the life of one of the royal children who was drowning. Naturally, this was greatly appreciated by the whole family." This news shocked his listeners for more than just a moment. Even Miss Bingley was silenced.
"What reward did they give her?"
"They made her a baroness; Baroness Longbourn. I was invited to attend her investiture. They also removed the entail from their estate and gave her one of the royal estates for her own."
"Baroness! No! How can we ever call her 'Lady Elizabeth?' She is no lady. I simply cannot believe this. She does not deserve to have a title. Her own estate! How can this be?" Darcy could see that Miss Bingley was almost apoplectic; her face was beet red. He hoped she did not have a heart attack with her rage.
Darcy was getting annoyed at her protestations as they were increasing in volume and her last words approached a screech. "Miss Bingley! Lady Elizabeth seems to have the ear of the Prince, so I would not disparage her in any way. The consequences could be severe to your whole family. You do not want to get on the wrong side of the Royal Family."
Bingley knew he had to stop his sister who was obviously quite upset at this news. He tried to change the subject of their discussion. "Where is the estate she is receiving? And why were you invited to attend the Prince and her investiture?"
"It is in Leicestershire. The Prince asked me to assist her in any way that I could, so we will be going there to see what shape the estate is in and what will be best for its lands and tenant farms."
"Why you?"
"Leicestershire is close to Derbyshire, so the conditions are quite similar. I know what crops do well in the north. The Prince must have heard how successful Pemberley is."
"When will you be going?" Bingley seemed to accept this explanation.
"In just a day or two. I suggested we go soon before the weather turns bad. I would not want to be snowed in up there."
"I hope you will be back before our ball."
"We should be. I should only be gone for about ten or eleven days."
Miss Bingley was fuming, first because of the good fortune that the Bennets were receiving and also because her Mr. Darcy was going to be with them for more than a week. However, she knew there was nothing she could do. If 'Lady' Elizabeth had the ear of one of the princes, she did not dare do anything too overt to make her angry. She wondered if there was anything she could do to reduce the Bennets' now-elevated status. It would have to be done very carefully. She would have to think about this. Surely there must be some way to show them for what they really are.
Darcy went to Longbourn the next morning. They decided they should leave the following day as there was nothing keeping them in Hertfordshire at the moment. They all wanted to be back for Mr. Bingley's ball, which was set for just over two weeks from now. Lady Elizabeth sent an express to the housekeeper warning her of their arrival.