“Let us speak of far more pleasant things than that criminal. What think you of books, Mr Darcy?”
For the rest of the first leg of their journey, Elizabeth and Mr Darcy debated books until they reached The Belle in Bromley. It was a true debate in which both sides gave and took. It was nothing like the way Elizabeth had tried to needle him when she had been a guest at Netherfield Park while Jane had recuperated.
Everyone alighted at the coaching inn. Elizabeth did not miss how forlorn Lady Catherine seemed. She was sure it was more than Miss de Bourgh’s death. No matter what she had thought about her, Elizabeth could not but feel sympathy for her. On top of losing her only child, Lady Catherine had lost her home, and Elizabeth suspected, her sense of who she was.
As such, Elizabeth made sure to reach the older lady as soon as Lady Catherine was handed out of her brother’s coach. Elizabeth took her arm and guided her inside to the privateroom the earl reserved for them.
“Why are you being so kind to me? I do not deserve it after the way I spoke to you,” Lady Catherine stated.
“Because I believe beneath that gruff, demanding exterior beats the heart of a kind woman. I used to judge based on the façade people show, but I have learnt to look below the surface,” Elizabeth revealed.
“I was very wrong about you, Miss Bennet. You are far too intelligent to have accepted that late buffoon I installed in Hunsford. I am sure the new master or mistress will act with more prudence than I did,” Lady Catherine admitted. The two—a strange pairing by anyone’s measure—chatted amicably until it was time to reboard the conveyances.
Before they entered the respective coaches they were travelling in, Fitzwilliam and Darcy looked at one another with surprise. They had both witnessed the interactions between their aunt and Miss Bennet while at Rosings Park, so this new camaraderie was something neither expected.
When Darcy told him what Miss Bennet did, Fitzwilliam was reminded that before he was distracted with Anne’s infirmity and being tasked to do things by his father, he had decided to write to Colonel Forster. Miss Bennet’s action had made his need to see the commander of the regiment of the Derbyshire Militia in person superfluous.
“Did I hear correctly that your father’s estate is no longer entailed upon the male line?” Darcy enquired not long after they departed from The Belle.
“You did. As I understand it now, it is entailed to only those who are descendants of my father. If the heir is female and she marries, her husband can become the master, but as he will not be of Bennet blood, he is barred from owning Longbourn,” Elizabeth explained.
“Hmm, that is the same case as the entail on Rosings Park,” Darcy responded absentmindedly.
Soon enough Anna and Maria claimed Elizabeth’s attention.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Lizzy, I am so happy to see you sooner than we had thought you would be here. I am only sorry it is because our cousin was called home,” Jane enthused as the sisters fell into one another’s arms. “You were riding with the Darcys?”
“Yes, the past is all forgot! I was wrong about so much more than you and Mr Bingley,” Elizabeth related. “I have much to tell you, but I will wait until the house is less crowded. I wonder why Lord Matlock, Mr Darcy, and Colonel Fitzwilliam asked to meet with Uncle Edward?”
“I am sure we will know soon enough,” Jane replied.
“Now Jane, when will I have the pleasure of meeting your viscount?” Elizabeth gushed. “I read every word about him, but nothing substitutes for meeting him in person.”
“We are all invited to dine at Holder House this evening. Jamey was here when the express announcing Mr Collins’s passing and your return was delivered.” Jane paused. “I did not get a chance to speak to Charlotte before she went to rest. How is she?”
“After the shock of entering his study and discovering his mortal remains on the floor, she is as well as can be expected,” Elizabeth stated. “Mr Jacoby, Mr Collins’s solicitor, informed Charlotte that Mr Collins passed away intestate. He had a little more than six thousand pounds to his name, which is Charlotte’s now. I suggested she speak to Uncle Edward about investing with him because that will give her about six hundred pounds per annum—more than enough for her to comfortably support herself.”
Before the two eldest Bennet sisters could speak any further, the Gardiner butler asked them to join the master in his office. When Jane and Elizabeth entered, they were surprised to see that in addition to Uncle Edward and Lord Matlock; Colonel Fitzwilliam and Mr Darcy were still in the room.
The men stood when the sisters entered.
“Jane and Lizzy, please sit.” Gardiner waited until his nieces were seated. “Lord Matlock told me some rather interesting and unexpected news. I told him that he should tell you also. Lord Matlock, the floor is yours.”
“Miss Bennet, Miss Elizabeth, what do you know of your great-grandmother named Eloise?” Matlock enquired.
“As far as I know, there were two named Eloise. One was late Grandmama Gardiner’s mother, and the other was Grandmama Bennet’s mother. Why do you ask?” Elizabeth wondered.
“Am I correct that your Grandmama Bennet, for whom you, Miss Elizabeth, are named, was Miss Elizabeth Courtney before she married your Grandfather Bennet?”
“Yes, my Lord, that is correct according to the family Bible.”
“I do not suppose your family Bible lists the maiden name of your Great-grandmother Eloise, does it? The one on the Bennet side,” Matlock pressed.
“It does not,” Jane remembered.
“Do you still have contact with the Courtneys?” Matlock asked.
