“She knows she was wrong, Lizzy,” Jane insisted. “Perhaps if you were to visit at Longbourn or invite her here …”
Elizabeth cut her sister off. “No, Jane, I will not invite Mama here. With their need to retrench to repay the loan, they do not have the funds for such a journey, nor will I ask William to send a carriage to retrieve them to bring them here. Since we wed, my husband has almost constantly fed, housed, and clothed at least one of my sisters, paid for Lydia to attend school, and covered the cost of a companion to educate my sisters since neither parent seemed willing or able to do so. Additionally, he loaned my father a significant amount tocover debts that should never have arisen had he acted responsibly at any point during his marriage. Why would I ask my husband to assume yet another expense to bring my parents here when my mother cannot be bothered to pick up a pen for any purpose except to complain about how terrible a daughter I am for forcing them to cut back on selfish spending to pay back the substantial loan he asked for as some sort of ‘payback’ for allowing William to marry me? No, Jane, I will not ask my husband any such thing.”
“But Lizzy …” Jane tried again, only to have her sister stop her again.
“No. I will not relent. Mama will not see my son until she apologises. I said in October I would not step foot in Longbourn again until I was welcomed there by both my parents,” Elizabeth declared.
No amount of Jane’s pleading would change Elizabeth’s mind, and Elizabeth was unwilling to discuss it further. She would visit with Kitty and Lydia when they were in London and invite them to visit her in town, but nothing Jane said would persuade Elizabeth to take the first step to restore the relationship with her mother.
Despite this conflict, Jane and Elizabeth did manage to have a good visit with each other, and their husbands enjoyed getting to know each other better. The two gentlemen found much in common and a shared interest in discussing books and estate management and spent several pleasant afternoons fishing together or riding the estate.
During their visit, the entire party enthusiastically engaged in multiple picnics and other outdoor activities as the weather remained fine. In keeping with a promise made months prior, Darcy took on the role of teaching Mary how to ride a horse. Jane eagerly joined these lessons, with her husband providing support and guidance. While all three Bennet sisters received basic instruction in childhood, practical experience was limited before Elizabeth’s marriage. Jane had, on occasion, been afforded the chance to ride, but the absence of suitable horses in the Longbourn stables hindered frequent practice. Darcy began Elizabeth’s riding lessons the previous summer, but her pregnancy prevented her from continuing. Therefore, she relished the opportunity to resume her lessons and the pleasure of riding alongside her husband again.
Too soon, it was time for the Hastingses to depart. Jane made a final plea encouraging her sister to visit their parents, but on this, Elizabethwas firm—she would not step foot in Longbourn until her mother apologised.
The next visitorsto Pemberley were Lord, Lady Matlock, and Colonel Fitzwilliam. After Anne’s death, Lady Catherine attempted to reclaim her place as Mistress of Rosings, but the family quickly made it clear that was not to be the case. According to Anne’s will, the estate was left in its entirety to Richard Fitzwilliam, although Lady Catherine retained the right to the dowager house and her remaining dowry for her lifetime. The funds from her dowry were to be used to maintain her household, although major repairs would be paid for by the estate. The cost of decorating and paying for servants was to come from her own funds, which meant that she was not able to decorate as ornately as she would have wished. She had a substantial income for one in her position, more than fifteen hundred pounds per annum, but she would not enjoy the same access to the estate funds as before and would have to be more prudent in her expenditures.
When Anne came into her inheritance almost a year ago, her mother was moved to the dower house, and the Matlocks and Anne hired servants who would be loyal to her to replace those whose loyalty might remain with Lady Catherine. Now, after Anne’s passing, the Matlocks and Fitzwilliam made certain the servants would refuse Lady Catherine admittance to the manor house or grounds, particularly when no one was in residence. Just as they were departing Rosings, they received an express from Darcy requesting they stop in Hertfordshire to escort Kitty and Lydia Bennet and their companion, Mrs Martin, to Pemberley.
The Darcys received word of the carriages’ imminent arrival and were waiting at the grand staircase when their guests arrived. Once again, they welcomed their guests to Pemberley, paying particular attention to Lydia, who had never been there before. Lydia was duly impressed with Pemberley and, as the last Bennet sister to see it in person, she heard much about its grandeur. Nonetheless, she was taken aback by the sheer size of the estate and had much to say about how surprised she was at the size of the park. While she was not nearly asinterested in the hills and trees that surrounded the estate, she was struck by its design and the architecture of the manor house itself.
Soon, everyone was shown to their rooms to refresh. Elizabeth escorted her two sisters to their rooms, and after only a moment to refresh themselves, the girls asked to meet their nephew. Leading them to the nursery, they found Alex was awake and ready for company, so they spent a half hour together with him before carrying him down to meet his great aunt and uncle.
It was the colonel, however, who was most interesting to the baby, and the former colonel kept his attention for some time by making silly faces and telling ridiculous stories. Fitzwilliam kept the entire room entertained, not just Alex until the child began to loudly insist on being fed. Elizabeth took the child back to the nursery, and the rest of the party disbursed to rest or work until it was time to change for dinner.
Lady Matlock, being particularly fond of the child whom she endearingly referred to as her “grandson,” relished every moment spent with him. As Darcy’s parents were dead and her own children not yet married to give her grandchildren of her own, she gladly embraced the role of surrogate grandparent to her nephew’s infant son. During their visit, she dedicated a substantial amount of time to the nursery, enjoying precious moments with Alex. Lord Matlock, too, found delight in the company of the young child, joining his wife in the nursery whenever possible, although he also spent a great amount of time consulting with Darcy about estate matters. The three gentlemen also spent several afternoons fishing, and Darcy and Richard rode out on the estate several times.
Soon enough, it was time for Lord and Lady Matlock to retreat to their own estate, which was only a few hours away. They left the girls there, as previously arranged, and even Richard decided to stay for a longer visit. Once again, his attention was drawn towards the Bennet ladies’ companion, the widow of a soldier who became a companion. Mrs Martin was very ladylike and genteel, as expected of a companion, but something about her caught the former colonel’s attention. They spoke often when they were in company and found much in common.
Fitzwilliam, despite all his claims that he would never marry, finally began to feel that marriage was in his future and the moretime he spent with Mrs Martin, the more interested he became in that state. He wondered how his parents would react were he to suggest he would marry a companion, but it was clear she was a gentlewoman who fell upon hard times. Since the Bennet sisters were not known amongst the ton, and it was rather unlikely that others knew she had been in service, perhaps they could marry without anyone knowing. These thoughts, and others, drove the former colonel to take part in several long, punishing rides during his visit to Pemberley.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
At Longbourn, Mr and Mrs Bennet were once again on their own. Jane and her husband had briefly stopped to visit before and after their trip to Pemberley and had shared much of that great estate. Mrs Bennet had never been given to introspection, but she wondered idly if she would ever see the estate—or her grandchild—and was troubled with the answer that came to her. Before she would see either, she would have to apologise to Lizzy. Lizzy was her most troublesome daughter, the one who should have been born a son to break the entail. She refused to do her duty to her family and marry the heir, leaving him for Charlotte Lucas to marry instead. One day, she would have to cede her role as mistress of Longbourn to Charlotte Collins, and that was all Lizzy’s fault. However, with Mr Collins having been sent away from England … she paused in her thoughts as she considered what that might mean for the entail.
Granted, Lizzy had made up for her failure to accept Mr Collins somewhat by marrying Mr Darcy. Mr Darcy was fabulously wealthy, and he would introduce her other daughters to rich men. Although it had not worked with Jane since Jane married a barrister. While his father owned an estate, he was a second son and would never inherit property.
Her other girls were all gone, and that was Lizzy’s fault as well. Shedid not particularly mind that Mary was gone, especially as Mary had befriended Mr Darcy’s sister. Surely, that would place Mary in the path of a good match once Miss Darcy was out in society. Kitty was at home more than the others, but she was often occupied with her companion, and Mrs Bennet did not likethatwoman at all. Her favourite, Lydia, was away at school. Lizzy insisted upon it after Lady Lucas had complained about Lydia’s liveliness at an assembly. Someone had mentioned it to Lizzy in a letter, and Lizzy demanded Lydia go to school, and now even Lydia was not the same. Lydia was following her other sisters’ path now, and her liveliness was restrained. She had apologised to the Lucas family for her behaviour last autumn, and she knew this was also somehow Lizzy’s fault. Her Lydia would have never done such a thing. What on earth did Lydia have to apologise for?
Just now, Lydia and Kitty were far away in Derbyshire, visiting Pemberley and meeting their nephew. They were invited by Mr and Mrs Darcy and escorted to Pemberley by an Earl and Countess. That was something to brag about, but her friends would ask why she was not travelling to Pemberley to see the new grandchild. Her husband’s reluctance would only excuse it for so long, especially since Jane said Lizzy absolutely refused to travel to Longbourn.
Likewise, Mr Bennet rarely mentioned Elizabeth, his former favourite. His wife knew he received letters from her occasionally—Mr Bennet rarely stirred himself to write, although he wrote his twice-monthly letters to Darcy as required by their agreement. He occasionally wrote letters in response to Lizzy’s, but these were few, and most of the news about her second daughter came from her other daughters. Mrs Darcy wrote to her sisters regularly, and they wrote to her just as frequently. But without her daughters in the house, there was little she could hear, at least until one returned. Even so, the girls were careful not to say too much about Lizzy in front of their mother, although, of course, a few things were occasionally shared or overheard.
“Mr Bennet, Lydia says the Earl and Countess were so welcoming and polite to her and Kitty,” Mrs Bennet cried one morning after receiving a letter from Pemberley. “Of course, they likely only do it because they are Lizzy’s relations, but still, they offeredto transport our daughters to Pemberley. If only I could have travelled with them.” Her thoughts trailed off as she considered the likelihood of that occurring.
“Well, Mrs Bennet,” her husband replied, “it is unlikely the master and mistress of Pemberley will ever invite you to their grand estate, and that is entirely due to the lettersyousent to your daughter after she was wed. If you apologise, your second eldest daughter might be persuaded to see you.”
Mrs Bennet scowled at that. “I would be surprised at that,” she retorted. “Since marrying such a rich man, Lizzy believes herself to be above us. She would not condescend to invite the likes of us to Pemberley.”
“She has invited all her sisters; she has only refused to invite you and me,” Mr Bennet said. “Perhaps it has something to do with our parenting. Or the fact that we cannot afford to travel there ourselves since we must retrench to pay our debts.”
“Your debts, Mr Bennet,” she said bitterly in reply. “I was not the one who gambled more than I could afford.”
“Ahh,” came the reply, “but I did so to give you and our daughters a better chance when I ‘shuffle off this mortal coil?i’. We could have been more prudent, perhaps, and laid by an annual amount towards providing for our daughters, and it would not have been so important to you for Lizzy to marry Collins. When she refused him, I felt I needed to do something to stop your complaints; however, my something did not work so well. We were fortunate Mr Darcy asked to marry our Lizzy when he did, or we would have been in dire straits.”
“Yes, and why did you not tell me about that until after it happened? There was much about that wedding that you failed to mention at the time. Why did you insist on it being a rushed affair, and why did you not allow Lizzy to come home to have it?” Mrs Bennet demanded.
“It seemed best at the time,” he replied indifferently. “I did not have the money to pay for the grand affair you would have felt was necessary, and allowing them to marry in London quickly meant less fuss. Darcy and his family paid for Lizzy’s trousseau, the wedding, the breakfast—the whole thing—with little effort on my part. Plus, granting Mr Darcy to do as he wished and marry quickly made it easier for me to ask for theloan I required. I expected him to pay the whole thing—I was rather surprised when they insisted it be a loan, not a gift.”
