“Darcy? Why are you here in Hertfordshire with these people?” Lady Catherine demanded. “And why is Georgiana here?”
“I am here to be married Aunt Catherine,” Darcy replied. “And Georgiana has been here since before Christmas.”
“Married? Who are you to marry? Have you lost your senses?”
“Darcy, does this insanity run in your family?” joked Lord Rutherford. “How likely is it that your children will be this unbalanced?”
“Unbalanced?” shrieked Lady Catherine. “Who are you to judge the Fitzwilliam bloodline?”
Snorting, the gentleman introduced himself, “I am the Earl of Rutherford, grandfather of the Earl of Bailey who will soon be your nephew’s son. Who you are to question such excellent bloodlines?”
“Lady Catherine, you have been too removed from society,” Darcy said. “The Darcy family will align with Bailey and Rutherford shortly. Earl Fitzwilliam is most pleased.”
Lady Catherine was silent for a moment as the giggles from the young women filled the air.
“Bennet, do you wish for me to arrest these people? They have disturbed the peace certainly,” Sir William offered.
“Arrest! I am Lady Catherine de Bourgh!”
“I am a clergyman!” Collins insisted. “I shall inherit this estate!”
“I grant that you might inherit someday Mr. Collins,” Mr. Bennet admitted. “But my lady wife has informed me that she will give me another child in the fall and if we are fortunate to have a son, you will not inherit.”
“A son?” Collins exclaimed, staring at Mrs. Bennet and taking a step forward.
Bennet imposed himself between his cousin and his pregnant wife. “Sir William, I ask that you arrest my cousin for trespass.”
Prodded by Lady Catherine, Mr. Harper spoke up, “Mr. Collins is a relative and he has been a guest in the home before.”
“And he was barred from returning by my wife in front of our daughters and servants!” Mr. Bennet replied. “The man was insufferably rude to my family!”
Lady Catherine frowned and sighed. “Let us leave this place Mr. Collins, Hertfordshire has lost its charms! You have Hunsford for now and the woman may bear another daughter and if a son, the child may fail to thrive.”
“But Mr. Collins will not have Hunsford for long!” called Elizabeth stepping forward with Mr. Darcy and Matthew. “I hold the Hunsford Glebe since the first of the year and after today’s events, I shall write to the bishop concerning your unsuitability to serve as a clergyman, Mr. Collins.”
“What do you mean, Cousin Elizabeth?” sputtered Collins.
“What nonsense is this?” asked Lady Catherine.
Darcy smiled. “Aunt Catherine, remember you lost your dowry farms at the end of the year.”
“To this woman?” asked Lady Catherine, embarrassed even with this small audience.
Darcy bowed to Elizabeth. “Lady Catherine, may I introduce Lady Elizabeth Hamilton, the Countess of Bailey and her son, Master Matthew Hamilton, the Earl of Bailey.”
“The boy is an earl?” exclaimed Collins.
“And he is my grandson!” thundered Lord Rutherford. “I shall add my voice to the letter to the bishop!”
Without another argument, the intruders climbed into Lady Catherine’s large coach once more and the driver carefully turned the carriage around to return to London.
“I say Bennet, this is the most fun I have had in many a day,” Lord Rutherford teased. He took his grandson from Darcy’s arms and said, “Shall we retire to the library for some port and chess before supper? I think the Earl of Bailey could benefit from the attention of his grandfathers this afternoon.”
++**++
Chapter 52.
In Which There Are Many Happy Beginnings
Happy for all her maternal feelings was the day on which Mrs. Bennet saw her three eldest daughters married. It may only be guessed with what delighted pride she afterwards visited Mrs. Bingley at Netherfield and the new Mrs. Lucas at Lucas Lodge, and talked of Mrs. Darcy. That fall, when her confinement neared, her married daughters drew close to her and assisted with the birth of their brother who was christened Edward Bennet. The heir to Longbourn grew up with his nephews and nieces as playmates, and his grown sisters and their husbands as surrogate parents.
++**++
Mr. and Mrs. Bingley remained at Netherfield only a twelvemonth. When the owner of Netherfield attempted to raise the lease price of the estate, Charles took his wife to Mount Pleasant as they searched for an estate of their own. The darling wish of the Bennet sisters was gratified when he bought an estate in a neighbouring county, leaving the Bingley and Darcy families within thirty miles of each other.
In the coming years, Kitty, Lydia and Georgiana were often in company, staying with Mr. and Mrs. Darcy, Mr. and Mrs. Bingley, or Mr. and Mrs. Bennet while spoiling Matthew, Edward and the other children born to the sisters.
++**++
Miss Bingley was deeply mortified by Darcy's marriage and never returned to London society. When the announcement of the weddings was circulated in the London papers, the Bingley connections to the Darcy, Hamilton, Rutherford and Bennet families never included mention of the younger sister. After her marriage to Mr. Boston, Charles made an attempt to reconcile, and aided his new brother in business but Caroline and her family seldom visited with her brother and his growing family.
++**++
Lady Catherine de Bourgh remained unrepentant and indignant on the marriage of her nephew; and her letters consisted of language so very abusive, that all intercourse was at an end. When Lady Catherine suffered apoplexy, and died, the newspapers reported that her brother alone attended the funeral.
++**++
Upon the recommendation of his bishop, Mr. William Collins left Hunsford and travelled to serve in Australia. No word was ever heard from him again as no one thought to make inquiries.
++**++
Matthew Hamilton, Earl of Bailey grew into a handsome, intelligent young man who gave his mother and father great concern with breakneck horse racing and carriage racing. But he took great care in teaching his younger brothers and sisters to ride, starting each of them on a pony when they were only three years of age.
When he was still young the earl scolded his tutor one day in the hearing of his father telling the man, “I do not understand how Edward can be my uncle – he is three years younger than I. It was I who taught Edward how to ride a pony!”
“And never again say that Richard and Thomas are ‘only’ my half-brothers. They are my brothers and if you persist in this argument, I shall insist that my father dismiss you! As you remind me daily, I am the Earl of Bailey, therefore I decree that my brothers are just that!”
++**++
Mr. and Mrs. Bennet travelled to visit their daughters in the north often, bringing Edward with them and eventually bringing Mary and John Lucas’s sons and daughters to visit their Bingley and Darcy cousins each summer. Eventually, they had four and ten grandchildren who enjoyed hearing stories of their grandfather’s adventures with pirates and how their grandmother drove the odious Mr. Collins from Longbourn.
++**++
Follies and Nonsense Page 41