This is a short chapter, just a little relief from too much time with Lady Catherine, Caroline and Jane, and of course a chance to catch up with many side characters. Hope you enjoy
Chapter 12 – Peaceful Ladies
Anne De Bourgh was enjoying time without her mother. Rosings Park, her beloved father's home and estate was beautiful, in her eyes it was the most wonderful place on earth, and she never wanted to leave it for more than a short holiday.
She knew her mother had gone to Pemberley to prevent her cousin William's marriage to a lady he had fallen for, but this did not worry her in the slightest; nobody would ever force William to act in a manner not of his choosing, least of all his overbearing aunt. Anne had spent many happy moments in the past few days, ever since Henry's misguided letter, imagining what type of young lady had finally pushed her stoic cousin to propose; the lady would be clever, of course, for William would never accept a silly wife even if he was hopelessly compromised, he would rather ruin his reputation entirely; she would love the countryside more than town obviously, she would need to as Pemberley was as precious to William as Rosings was to herself. She liked to think the lady would also be kind, and gentle with Georgiana who was still so young and sensitive.
To end of these speculations, Anne wrote several letters asking for as much information as they could share with her. She asked her cousins, Georgie, Henry and Richard, her aunt Lady Susan, and even, quite cleverly Mrs Reynolds, whom she had always found to be loyal to her cousin and direct during her rare visits to Pemberley.
As Pemberley was several days away, her mother did not return for nine days, and Henry's and her aunt's responses arrived well before Lady Catherine, preparing her well for the storm ahead, as from all reports Miss Elizabeth Bennet was accomplished, pretty, lively, clever, kind and not afraid to give her opinion, just the type of young lady her mother would strongly disapprove of.
Miss De Bourgh also did what her mother would never have thought of doing: she talked openly with Mr Collins about all the Bennets and Miss Elizabeth. In that manner she discovered more about her future cousin Elizabeth than any polite letter from her relatives could reveal. Not only had the lady rejected the advantageous offer from Mr Collins, for on paper his situation was very favourable for a girl in her position, but she had done it calmly and politely, with arguments which he had heard if not understood. She had stood firm in her belief that he would not suit her, and departed her home, but she was not friendless, so her decision was not rash or unreasonable.
Miss Elizabeth Bennet was no fortune hunter, she did not need William's fortune, she had a strong character and would not compromise her happiness to please others. Anne was glad to see so many signs that William was marrying a lady who could be the making of him. She could bring life back into Pemberley.
And perhaps, she would become Anne's friend and give her some of that strength, that courage that Anne lacked so desperately.
The day before her mother's return, Anne sent a last letter, this one to Georgiana to ask for her help in knowing Miss Bennet better. The response, which would be kept from Lady Catherine's knowledge with the help of Mrs Jenkinson as usual, surpassed her expectations, as it contained a whole page from Elizabeth herself, begging forgiveness for writing without introduction or permission:
Dear Miss De Bourgh, for as you are so very dear to my beloved fiancé and my future sister, I cannot but believe you will soon be as dear to me.
I beg forgiveness for taking the liberty of writing to you before we are introduced. It is easier than asking poor Georgie to write all I would like to tell you, but if you feel this was too impertinent, do not hesitate to burn this letter and never reply, I will perfectly understand.
As Lady Susan has already told you, William and I are engaged to be married early in May. I would love to have you attend the wedding, but I realise Lady Catherine will not be happy with such an invitation.
I feel I need to reassure you that your mother's visit has not upset me in the least, and that I hope that, given enough time, she will be reconciled with our union. And until she does, I would love to correspond with you, so that we may know one another better. If you agree to this, please call me Elizabeth or Lizzy as my friends and family call me.
With all my hopes for a strong friendship,
Your soon-to-be cousin,
Elizabeth Bennet
The morning sickness that had plagued her for so many weeks had ceased to occur at the end of February, and by the middle of March, Louisa Hurst was now looking forward to being a mother.
"Gerald! Gerald!" Louisa called loudly from the breakfast room.
Hurst, who had already been up for a couple of hours and had been reviewing the contracts to buy the Bath townhouse, heard his wife from the little study he used for his work. Rushing to find her he breathlessly asked: "What is it? Are you well? I can call the doctor this instant, tell me what to do, dearest."
"No, I do not need anyone but you," his wife had tears in her eyes but looked happy, confusing him further, "I felt it, Gerald, I felt the quickening." She was beaming as he caught her in a huge bear hug. "Do you think I will be able to feel anything?" He asked moving one hand to the small swell of her belly.
"It is still very slight, my love, but soon your son or daughter will be kicking strongly enough for you to feel. I know I was very silly, not realising what all these symptoms meant for so long, but I promise I will let you know of any new sign or any signal from your baby as soon as it happens."
"After so many years without conceiving, you were no longer expecting to fall with child, so it was easy to miss the signs." Hurst tried to reassure his wife. "Besides, I had guessed you could be carrying a babe, so I was keeping you safe, as I promised in my wedding vows."
"Can I write to Charles now to let him know?" Louisa asked, "And shall we start getting ready to go to Somerset? Your mother said she would love for us to spend Easter with them and stay for two or three months, but now we can tell her of the quickening. I am sure she will want us to stay until the babe is born and I am churched."
Hurst agreed happily, he had not gone back to the estate he would one day inherit for far too many years, spending five or six months there would allow him to readjust to life as a landed gentleman, and would also allow the housekeeper in Bath to redecorate the house, their house soon. He had chosen new furnishing, wall papers and fabrics that Louisa would love, he knew it, and could not wait to see the house transformed.
In Hertfordshire, Charlotte Lucas was working hard with all her father's tenant families to ensure everything would be in place in all their homes to support the men as they proceeded with the spring planting.
In previous years, she had shared this burden with Elizabeth, and while it should have been as easy to care for half the tenants on her own as she used to do with her friend, she struggled to remember all the myriads of tiny tasks that had to be accomplished in the months of March and April.
She had received some advice from Isabella in Elizabeth's last letter, and had made copious notes, but nonetheless, she craved the support of her sister of the heart. Maria had taken over working with the poor of the parish, as Mrs Bingley had left early in the month with Miss Bingley, so she could not help her sister, no matter her willingness.
By the end of March, as she saw herself slowly breaking under the weight of responsibilities, Charlotte decided to reach out to Mrs Bingley as soon as the lady came back from settling Caroline in London. Her older neighbour had no experience of planting or managing tenants beside what she had herself taught Mrs Agatha, as she preferred to be called, during the preceding months, but she had so much energy and positivity that she would make Charlotte's burden lighter, or at least she hoped so.
Luckily for the whole community, Miss Lucas had made the right decision. Agatha Bingley's boundless energy was all Charlotte needed to push aside her feelings of loss and concentrate on her estate and the tenants. Together with the Bingleys, for Charles Bingley often joined them to learn more about the families on his estate, Charlotte efficiently completed all she had planned, just as well as she had previously done with Elizabeth.
When the Bingleys received news of Mrs Hurst pregnancy, Charlotte was the first to share their joy, and wish for the safety of Mrs Agatha's favourite niece, her husband and growing child with them.
A few miles away in Meryton, Mrs Phillips had just received a letter from Elizabeth.
"Frank, dear, Lizzy has replied to my last letter. I think Margaret has been very sly, for she said nothing at all about an engagement."
Her husband looked up from his book a little confused, "Who is engaged my dear?"
"Our Lizzy of course, who else? The wedding will be soon after her birthday, although she has not written the exact date." She was searching in the letter again, checking she had not simply missed it.
"You have not said who it is our niece is to marry, do you expect me to guess?" Phillips was smiling, used to his wife scattered way of communicating.
"Did I not say? I am sorry my dear, Lizzy will be Mrs Darcy. You remember that tall gentleman who stayed with Mr Bingley last autumn, he asked for her hand. Just a moment," she took the first page again, "here, she asks me to tell you not to worry, Belle's uncle, Mr Jones, has reviewed the settlement on her behalf, and will be sending copies of all the documents to Isabella's London solicitor for safekeeping."
"Good, Jones is a sound businessman and if he finds the settlement acceptable, then it is." Although they had not met for many years, Jones, Phillips and Gardiner had developed a strong friendship in the years following Jonathan Bennet's passing as they all looked after Isabella's welfare. Phillips trusted the younger man to look after Elizabeth well.
"We will not be able to go to the wedding in Cheshire, will we?" Mrs Phillips' mind had already moved on. "With the trip to Margate to prepare, for Fanny will do nothing, and Jane is more willing than able to help, and with your business beings so busy now it seems to be too much, and I am not very young anymore you know."
"I believe you are correct dear, Lizzy will understand, and we can help her more by concealing her engagement and plans from her family." Philips replied. "When you next write, find out when she will next be in London, and we will go visit her and her new husband there. Mr Darcy is a good man, a little stiff to be sure, but Lizzy will take care of that in no time. Our niece will be happy, my dear, you will see."
"He is married too you know, Anthony Jones that is, not Mr Darcy, he married the daughter of his partner in January, that is nice, is it not? Lizzy was at the wedding, and she says his wife is a darling."
Over the next half hour, Mrs Phillips communicated most of the letter's content to her husband, clearly enough if not concisely or in the order Elizabeth had written the news.
Mary Bennet and Margaret Gardiner had indeed been informed of Elizabeth's wedding earlier. Neither had shared the news with Mrs Phillips as they did not want to take this privilege from Elizabeth.
"Can we go to the wedding, Uncle Edward?" Mary was pleased for her sister and wanted to be with her for the happy event.
"Belle will stand up with Lizzy, but she has asked if I would be one of her attendants with Miss Darcy. I have not seen Isabella for years; I must thank her for the books she sent as well."
"Cheshire in May is a little earlier than we had originally planned, but I should be able to arrange things around and we can attend the wedding and enjoy a few days before with your sister and your cousin before coming back to London a day or two after the ceremony." Her uncle was happy, and relieved, to be invited after the near disaster of December. "It means we will have to take a much shorter summer vacation, but perhaps we could stay closer to London. What do you ladies think of spending three weeks in the South Downs in August? It has hills enough to satisfy your desires for long strenuous walks, while being a comfortable day away from London."
"I will happily miss our tour of the Lake District this year in order to see our niece become mistress of Pemberley." His wife replied. "I know of the Darcys as I grew up about five miles away from their estate, in Lambton. Elizabeth will absolutely love the park and gardens, and the house is enormous, yet very tastefully decorated."
Mary had not been aware of her aunt's connection to Pemberley; she had many questions, and her aunt's answers painted an idealistic picture that would suit her sister perfectly.
For herself, her months in London had shown her that she could be as happy in town as in the countryside, but Elizabeth was different and needed the freedom her new estate would provide.
In the days that followed, Edward Gardiner started to organise a nice short holiday to Amberley in the South Downs. The town was nicely situated to enjoy the hills and forests on the Downs, while being only sixty miles from Gracechurch street, a distance they could easily manage in two short days of travel. It was not quite as wild as the Peaks or the Lake District, but Margaret would love the chalk clifs all the same. As for Mary, she would be happy with discovering any part of the country, as she had travelled so little previously.