Battle of the Dragons Chapter 1, a pride and prejudice fanfic

Many stories have been written in which the Bennets had more and better connections than were generally known. What might happen if the connections were on the Gardiner side of the family?

Many writers refer to Lady Catherine de Bourgh as a dragon. What if there was an even bigger dragon willing to take her on.

Enter Aunt Isabella, Mrs Bennet's aunt who has some surprising connections (why does that sound familiar? 😉 )

But before we can get to the battle of those dragons, there will be a few skirmishes along the way.

I hope you enjoy my latest idea.

Now live - to find sort by publication date.

~O~

Prologue

Unsuitable matches seemed to run in the family, thought Isabella.

Her mother came from a titled family, albeit a minor one, but when she had fallen in love with a country solicitor, she would not be swayed. In the end her family gave in and allowed her to marry, but they cut all connections.

Then it was seventeen-year-old Isabella's turn, although the situation was reversed.

She and Alistair were desperately in love, but his father, Viscount Preston, was against the union. As the Viscount was the most powerful man in the vicinity, Isabella's parents could not support the match. The final words from her parents were, 'If you do this, you will cease to be our daughter.' But the young lovers would not be denied.

Alistair was at least in the fortunate position that he was a second son and when he gained his majority the previous year, he had inherited a small estate from his mother's family and was therefore financially independent of his father. Not only that, but that estate was several counties removed from the Viscount's domain.

The couple eloped to Scotland and married before anyone in his family was the wiser. They settled happily into their estate and Isabella very quickly learnt to be a credit to her new role. A year to the day of their wedding, Isabella was delivered of a healthy son, negating any rumours about the reason for their marriage.

Two years later a fire at the Viscount's residence claimed the lives of Alistair's father and older brother. Suddenly Alistair was the Viscount and Isabella was his Viscountess.

Since the family seat was not liveable due to the fire, the young family remained at their own estate, especially as Isabella's one attempt to make peace with her family had been rejected. Her father was a proud man and did not back down from his decision.

Seeing how fragile life could be, Alistair, Viscount Preston, who was now in a position to ensure the future of his beloved wife and son, made generous provisions for Isabella.

It was fortunate that Alistair had been so conscientious as only eighteen months later he too was killed in an accident.

At the age of not quite two and twenty, Isabella was a widow with a three-year-old son.

~O~

Isabella mourned her beloved Alistair for a year. After that she determined to keep her promise to him to live her life to the fullest.

She put aside her widow's weeds and returned to society. Amongst other things, she hoped to find a good man who would be a father to her son and a role model for his future duties.

At the age of three and twenty, Isabella was exceedingly desirable on the marriage mart, not only due to her rank and wealth but also her looks, which were tall and willowy with perfect blond locks and piercing blue eyes. Her only handicap, as far as most of the men were concerned, was that she was also too intelligent and strong-willed to be taken advantage of.

She very carefully chose her second husband. While they did not have the love match of her first marriage, Isabella and her new husband had become good friends. The Earl of Kilmington was an intelligent and honourable man who appreciated an equally intelligent and independent minded wife. He had enough wealth that not only did he not need Isabella's wealth but was generous in his marriage settlements.

This marriage too was blessed with a son, who, as he grew, became the spitting image of the Earl.

Isabella sometimes wondered if she was cursed, as this marriage was also cut short. Within four years of their wedding, the Earl caught a fever which claimed his life.

~O~

After yet another year of mourning, the widowed Countess of Kilmington met the Duke of Markham.

The Duke too had been widowed twice. In his case he had lost both wives in childbirth, as they each delivered a daughter.

As the only son from his first marriage had recently died in an accident, he desperately wanted an heir as the next in line for the title was a cousin who would beggar the duchy if he were to inherit. Markham, who was already approaching fifty, felt he had a better chance of gaining an heir with Isabella, who had already produced two sons, rather than marrying a maiden who might turn out to be barren.

'You do realise that I have no control over the sex of any child we might conceive,' Isabella warned Markham.

'I know, but I am hoping that if the first child is yet another girl, you will survive to try again. I hate burying wives.'

As Markham was not only a decent man, but also attractive and very well preserved, Isabella agreed to become his duchess.

This third marriage was lucky for both of them. Isabella presented the Duke with his heir, and he lived long enough to see their son becoming an adult.

Markham was so pleased to have a son that he showered attention not only on his own son but also on Isabella and her two sons from her previous marriages. He turned out to be an excellent teacher to ready all the boys for their future duties. Isabella in turn was happy to become a loving mother to his daughters.

She was also the one who presented the girls at court and sponsored their seasons in town. The Duke was happy for his daughters when each of them made a good marriage.

The Duke was also an indulgent husband who did not object when Isabella developed interests unusual for a lady of her time. Instead of discouraging his wife, he hired masters in whatever discipline she wanted to learn.

When the Duke went peacefully to sleep one night and did not wake the following morning, Isabella was truly sorry to have lost her dearest friend.

~O~

As she was widowed yet again and her sons were grown up and busy with their own affairs, Isabella became restless.

Out of curiosity she hired investigators to discover what had happened to her birth family.

Isabella was pleased to discover that her brother had done well in as a solicitor after moving to a new town. She was equally as pleased to discover that all his children had survived to adulthood.

Her nephew, the youngest of the siblings, had opted to go into business rather than follow in his father's footsteps. From all reports, he was doing well in London and was married to an intelligent and genteel lady with whom he had four children, two boys and two girls.

She was sad for one of her nieces, the slightly younger of the twin girls, as the lady had been married to her brother's successor for twenty years but had no children of her own. Instead, she doted on her seven nieces and two nephews.

The stories she heard about her older niece and her five daughters caused her some concern. After consideration she decided that she needed to have a closer look.

~O~

Meryton and its environs was abuzz. Hayes House had been sold at the beginning of summer. No one had moved in, but work was being done to modernise the house.

Opinions were divided whether to call the house a mansions or downgrade it to a cottage since there were only sixteen bedrooms remaining, spread over the first and second floor, by the time all those newfangled contraptions had been installed.

On the ground floor were several receptions rooms and a large library. The main reason why most people still argued in favour of calling it a mansion was the large ballroom which exceeded even the one at Netherfield in size.

Yet, apart from extensive gardens and a small woodland park, as well as the usual kitchen garden and outbuildings, there was little else to the property. All the fields which used to belong to it had been sold off to the neighbouring estates.

As a consequence, the only use for the house was as a country residence for someone who wanted to be in easy striking distance to London. Town could be reached in three hours by a rider or in four hours by coach, which made it an ideal place for a weekend getaway.

Yet rumour had it that the new owner was a middle-aged widow who would be living there alone all year round.

~O~