Page 90

Matlock handed his wife out and turned to the Bennets. “We thank you for receiving us in the cold, but I think we should wait for introductions until we are in the warmth of the house,” Matlock suggested. He did not miss the enormous footman standing off to the side of the Bennets.

Richard had told his father about the men he had found for the clergyman. He had also harangued his father about the sorry state many returning sailors and soldiers found themselves in and argued that Parliament had a duty to assist them. Matlock planned to raise the issue in the next session of the Lords. Meanwhile, he would always look to employ former soldiers when he needed additional men, and he would encourage others to do the same.

The Bennet parents led the arriving guests into the entrance hall, where Hill and three footmen—two of them the former soldiers—were waiting to relieve every one of their outerwear.

As soon as they entered the drawing room the Fitzwilliam parents identified the three eldest Bennet sisters, even before they saw the way their son’s and their nephew’s eyes locked onto the face of the sister of his choice. Miss Mary was easy to identify as she was standing next to the former Mr Collins. Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth looked just like their sons, nieces, and nephew had described them; except they had not done the actual beauty of the sisters justice.

Matlock requested that Mr William Bennet introduce his cousins to him and his wife. During the course of the introductions, it was explained that the youngest two Bennets were at lessons with their governess. With the formalities completed, Mmes Annesley and Crawford sought out one another.

As she spoke to the Bennet sisters, Lady Elaine was pleased to see that she did not intimidate any of them. Something else she noticed was that Mrs Bennet was nothing like the vulgar and uncouth woman she had been told the lady used to be. After Lady Elaine had spoken to her future daughter and niece, she walked over to where Mrs Bennet sat quietly observing the goings on in the room.

“Mrs Bennet, would you object if I sit here so that we may speak?” Lady Matlock requested.

“Not at all, please join me, your Ladyship,” Fanny replied warmly.

“As it seems that I will be mother to one of your daughters and aunt to the rest, I think you should address me as Elaine. If you are uncomfortable to do so in public, Lady Elaine will suffice,” she allowed.

“In that case, please call me Fanny,” she responded.

Soon the matriarchs were chatting away like long lost friends while Bennet led Lord Matlock to his study.

“Please sit, my Lord…” Bennet ceased speaking after seeing a held-up hand.

“I am Matlock. We are to be family; hence, I will not have you stand on ceremony with me,” he allowed. “How do you feel about your three eldest daughters preparing to leave your house? The closest will be in Kent.”

“Please call me Bennet. Did Miss de Bourgh not tell you?” Bennet saw the earl give him a quizzical look. “It was only decided less than an hour before you and your party arrived. William Bennet is resigning his place in Hunsford and will take up the living in the Longbourn Village. It is less than a mile from where we sit. Although Mary will no longer live in this house until God calls me home, she will be close by. Jane in Staffordshire and Lizzy in Derbyshire will be much farther away. However, I have been assured there are good libraries for me to visit at both estates.”

“My nephew’s collection is one of the best private libraries in the land,” Matlock revealed.

Bennet imagined he would have to find many reasons to visit his daughters in the north if and when they married the men who were courting them. After that, the two men got to know one another better and spoke of many subjects of mutual interest. When it was discovered that they were both chess champions at Cambridge in their day, the board was set up, and the battle joined.

By the time those residing at Netherfield Park departed Longbourn, which was after dinner, they had been invited to join the family’s Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrations.

Anne de Bourgh issued an invitation for everyone to come to Rosings Park to attend her wedding to Richard in mid-January.

William Bennet already had Keating’s agreement to conduct the Christmas services in his stead at the Hunsford church. Now he was waiting for a letter regarding his curate accepting the living. He was certain Keating would not object that Miss de Bourgh wanted William to be the clergyman at her wedding.

Two days later, a letter was received from Keating in which he gratefully accepted the Hunsford living and told the now Mr Bennet to take as much time as he wanted to move his possessions out of the parsonage. William decided he would depart for Hunsford in his gig on Friday. That would give him time to supervise the packing. On Sunday, he would deliver his final sermon from St Cuthbert’s pulpit where he would take his leave of the parishioners and introduce Keating—who was very popular in the parish—as their new spiritual guide.

Miss de Bourgh, now his former patroness, informed William that she too had received a letter of acceptance from Mr Keating. The next day, letters from Bishop Lankershim were received expressing his approbation for the appointment of Keating and conveying his wishes for William Bennet to do very well in his new parish. In his letter, Lankershim accepted an invitation to his former protégé’s wedding.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

The Collinses, Bennets, and Osbornes arrived at Longbourn on Friday before Christmas Eve. There were suddenly more families of Bennets at Longbourn than had been there for a very long time.

The meeting between the group from Faversham and the Bennets of Longbourn would have been far more awkward had it not been for William Bennet being able to act as the bridge between the two branches of the family. He had arrived from Hunsford two days previously. Thanks to that common bond, it did not take long for Collins and Bennet to become close.

Even though William had informed them of his engagement via the post, and they had responded with joy, his parents, brother, and sister-in-law were well pleased to be able to offer their congratulations in person. Almost from the time they met Mary, William’s family was able to see how well suited the two were. Due to the fact that the Pierces were impatient—they were originally to depart on boxing day—to begin their retirement; they had left the Monday after the service introducing William Bennet as the new rector. The final banns were called at that service by Mr Pierce. Hence, he had taken up residence as the master of the parsonage. To relieve any pressure on Longbourn, he invited Clem and Bethany—who was visibly with child by this time—to be hosted at the parsonage with him.

Mrs Pierce had not redecorated the parsonage since her children were all young. Mary visited several times in the company of her mother, a sister, or Mrs Crawford, and together with her William, she decided what rooms needed to be made over. She was hesitant to expend capital until William reminded her of his rather large amount of savings.

On Monday morning, the day before Christmas Eve, Collins and Clem joined Bennet and William to ride part of the estate. Longbourn no longer looked like an estate in decline; five of the eight empty tenant farms had been filled, the three largest among them, and there were more applicants than available farms for the remaining three. Collins was very proud of the change his William had wrought as neither the estate nor Bennet bore any resemblance to the report the investigators had delivered to him more than a year past.

To Collins and Clem Bennet, it was as if a circle had been completed now that their branch of the family was reunited with the Longbourn Bennets after so many wasted years of estrangement caused all because of a common ancestor’s bruised pride.

By the time the four men returned from their ride, not only were those from Netherfield Park present—which included a subdued Bingley—but the Gardiners had just arrived. Bennet was aware that Collins and his sons invested with Gardiner, but he had not realised that all three Fitzwilliam men and Darcy were among his brother-in-law’s investors as well.

When Bennet thought back to the day William Bennet shared how much his legacy had grown over the years, it made him feel shame all over again that he had not done the same from the day he married Fanny. As William had told him, he could not change the past.