An Unexpected Legacy

by Don Miller

  “No I did not know then. I only found out about three hours ago. And you cannot imagine, after how much I enjoyed your company at the dinner, how surprised and pleased I was. I am kind of a maverick in this family and am the youngest woman of our generation, an honor I am now pleased to pass on to you. I feel perhaps you are a kindred spirit.”

  Somewhat reluctantly Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and Mrs. Gardiner stood and came over to Elizabeth and each in turn gave her a hug.

  “Lizzie, I hope you know we will always consider you our favorite niece and almost daughter. I hope we will continue to be a part of your life.”

  “Aunt Madeleine, you and Uncle Edward will always be my second mother and father. Or perhaps now I should say third. I love you and will try to be with you as much as I can, although I suspect my activities at the bookstore and Uncle Edward’s office will be curtailed. And please assure your children, but particularly Cordelia, that nothing has changed between us. My name may have changed, but not my feeling for them and I will always be in their lives.”

  She then turned to Mr. Bennet. “You will always be Mama to me, Mama. I know we have had our differences, but I have always loved you and always will.”

  A teary eyed Mrs. Bennet said, “I have not always treated you as I should, Lizzie, because I was jealous of you and the love Papa gave you, but I have always loved you and am happy you were part of our family. In fact, I do not know what our family will do without you. Even I understand that you have been the rock of our family when we needed it. The girls will be devastated to lose your presence, but I know they will be happy for your good fortune and will always consider you their sister, just as I will always consider you my daughter. I will miss you.”

  They hugged again and Elizabeth said, “And I will miss you.”

  “And now it is my turn, Lizzie,” said Mr. Bennet. “I cannot explain why I was so drawn to you as a young child and why I would choose to expend all of my time on your rather than my natural daughters. Perhaps it was wrong of me, but I would not change a minute that I have had with you for the last twenty years. I do not know what I will do without you, but I believe what I said. You were with us when we needed you and now your birth mother’s family will have you when they need you. And I am sure they understand what a wonderful young woman you have become. Be happy and know that I am always there for you if you need me.”

  Elizabeth had tears in her eyes as she hugged Mr. Bennet tightly. “You have been the center of my life for many years, Papa, and my feelings for you will never change. You are the only Papa I have ever known and will do all I can to ensure you and Mama and the remainder of the family do not suffer, whatever happens in the future.”

  After they said their goodbyes to Lord and Lady Monttard and Lord and Lady Denby, Elizabeth walked them to their carriage, said her final farewells, and assured them she would return to Gracechurch Street the next day to pick up her belongings, knowing she would now be expected to live with Lord and Lady Monttard.

  She watched their carriage until it was out of sight and then returned to the sitting room and walked over to the Earl and Countess and asked what she should call them. She was told that in private she should refer to them a Grandfather Howard and Grandmother Elaine. She then turned to Lord and Lady Monttard, and asked them the same question, but from them she received a slightly different answer. They hoped she would speak French when they were alone and preferred that she call them Grandpere Henri and Grandmere Marie.

  As they were saying that, Elizabeth suddenly she remembered the Queen’s garden party and in a panic, turned to Lady Monttard. “I forgot. We were supposed to go to Mme. Tellier’s purchase a new gown for me for the garden party. If we are still going to the garden party, and I am sure that being invited to that party gave impetus to all that has happened today, do we not need to go and see her now?”

  Lady Monttard smiled, and said, “Do not worry about it, Lizzie. Remember Mme. Tellier has made you gowns in the past. I told her you needed a new gown for the Queen’s garden party, and she has prepared two or three that she is going to bring later this afternoon for you to try on. I realize that this limits your choices, but I hope that in this case you will trust your grandmere.”

  “I do not know if I can get used to this being, as you are always saying grandmere, absurdly wealthy. Also, going from having no grandparents to suddenly having two sets of grandparents, and two wonderful sets of grandparents, if I may say so, will take some adjustment on my part. This is like a fairytale, and I am expecting to wake up tomorrow and find out that it is not true. And speaking of waking up tomorrow, is the room you had me stay in the night of the dinner the room you had planned to be mine? Were you already making plans for me then?”

  Both Lord and Lady Monttard chuckled and admitted they had, by that time, become convinced she was their granddaughter, and they had started making plans about how to treat her and what to do when she came to live with them. They told her that almost as suddenly as she had discovered she had two sets of grandparents, they had discovered that a big void in their lives was to be filled, and they intended to enjoy her and spend as much time as possible with her.

  The Earl and Countess told her that when Lord and Lady Monttard had informed them of their suspicions, well before the dinner, they had had their doubts, but when they saw her at the dinner, they recognized the Dumont’s daughter in her and were convinced. And they were so impressed with her that night that they had also become excited about her joining the family. Margaret could attest to the fact that after the evening was over, they grilled Margaret about her for a long time. They admitted that Margaret was their favorite grandchild and now anticipated they would have two favorite granddaughters. The Earl then put his arm around Margaret, hugged her to his side, and told Elizabeth that part of their excitement was that they were hoping maybe Elizabeth could somewhat increase Margaret’s willingness to participate in the social scene.

  After a little discussion of just what the social obligations of Elizabeth and Margaret might be, the two of them decided to go up to Elizabeth’s room and chat among themselves for a while. So they excused themselves, but not before Elizabeth had gone over to each grandparent and hugged them again, and thanked them for welcoming her into their families. Elizabeth then spent all the time until lunch grilling Margaret about what it was like to be the granddaughter of an Earl and hobnobbing with the cream of society.

  The somewhat late lunch at Dumont House was a happy affair, with the Earl and Countess familiarizing Elizabeth with the Carlson family and telling her about how wonderful her father was until he became addicted to opium, while Lord and Lady Monttard gave her some details about their son, his untimely death, their ancestry, and what their life had been like since they came to England. At about four o’clock, the family party broke up when Mme. Tellier arrived with the gowns she had designed for Elizabeth.

  Again Elizabeth was astounded at what money could buy and how inconsequential very large sums of money seemed to be to Lord and Lady Monttard. After dinner, she finally worked up the courage to ask then how wealthy they were, and when they told she would probably inherit over one million pounds in liquid assets and property and ships, she had to sit down. She could not even grasp how anyone could have that large a fortune. They also advised her to keep the extent of her wealth a secret, but they suspected she would probably be the richest woman in England.

  She decided she needed a hot bath that night to help calm her down after all of the events of the day, and asked her personal maid, Leila, to prepare it. As she gratefully sank into the soothing water, she suddenly had the thought that she no longer had to worry about being of too low a social status for any man, particularly one tall, dark, and handsome man from Derbyshire.

  Three days later, Elizabeth received a letter from Jane.

  Longbourn

  June, 1810

  Dear Lizzie,

  You can imagine what happened here when Papa and Mama returned from London and sat us four girls
down in the parlor and told us what happened. It affected all of us somewhat differently, although we were all shocked. Mary, of course, took it very stoically and expressed hopes you would be happy with your new family. Lydia just decried the fact you are so lucky and would have so many nice new clothes. Kitty looked very sad and left in tears, which somewhat surprised all of us. I just sat in shocked silence for a long time and thought how much you deserved something like that to happen to you after all of the criticism Mama gave you over the years and then about how much I would miss you and was glad I had found Charles again. I took to heart Papa’s statement it was no worse than losing you to a new husband. You are still the sister I love, and we will still be close and see each other fairly often. Papa and Mama just looked sad, but closer than I remember them being in the past few years.

  This is what they told us. You were the daughter of the Earl of Denby’s youngest son, William, and Antoinette, the daughter of Baron Monttard. Shortly after they were married, William died, and Antoinette, in her grief, went off to live with Adm. and Mrs. Blythe at Netherfield Park to be away from the place where she had suffered. She bore a child while she was there and while Papa and Mama were there. She felt she was neither emotionally nor mentally prepared to raise the child, and she convinced Papa and Mama to raise the child for her until she was of age. She felt Papa and Mama could give her a more loving home than being raised by a nurse and a governess in her parent’s home. Antoinette then became a nun in a convent in Italy. When Lord and Lady Monttard accidentally met you in aunt and uncle’s bookstore, they decided it was time you were told your true heritage. So Mama and Papa had to meet with the Earl and Countess and the Baron and Baroness to confirm you are their granddaughter. They said there was a lawyer and a judge at the meeting to make it legal, so now you are no longer legally our sister, but they would always think of you as their daughter and they were assured that you would always think of us as family.

  I hope you are happy with your new family. Mama’s criticism of you when you were young is now a little more understandable. After all, she was raising a child who was not her own, and Papa seemed to give you preference over all of her daughters except possibly me.

  It is going well with Charles and me. I am sure we are both in love and he will be formally asking for my hand ere long. If he does not ask me within the next month, I think I will ask him. The only thing that bothers me about him is his uncertainty about some things. But I am sure that will improve as he gets older. Now if Mr. Darcy renews his attentions to you, and you should find him acceptable, then we would probably see each other rather frequently. But as Charles pointed out to me, it is no longer true that you are below Mr. Darcy in social status, but rather above him. He does not know how that will affect either of your reactions to each other. I told him I am sure it will not affect you, but I do not know how it will affect Mr. Darcy.

  Please write me soon and tell me how it is with you and what it is like to live in opulence.

  Love

  Jane

  Chapter 10: A Change of Strategy

  Col. Richard Fitzwilliam was in a very pensive mood as he rode in the carriage with Georgiana and Mrs. Annesley, whom he was escorting back to Pemberley from London. He had received a note from Darcy saying that Darcy had to make an emergency trip to Pemberley, and it would be a few weeks before he could return to escort them back himself, therefore he begged Col. Fitzwilliam to do it. Col. Fitzwilliam’s work at the War Office was currently not particularly critical, so he asked his general for three weeks leave. He was given eighteen days and was to be back three Mondays from this day, Thursday, they had started for Pemberley. It was always good to be at Pemberley with Darcy, but his main purpose for this taking leave besides escorting the two ladies back to Pemberley, was to visit his cousin Anne at Rosings. She was only four months from her twenty-fifth birthday, and he wanted to talk to her more about what she wanted to do.

  His cousin, Anne DeBourgh, was the daughter of Pierre DeBourgh and Lady Catherine DeBourgh, the sister of his father, the Earl of Matlock, and lived with her mother Lady Catherine at their family estate at Rosings Park. She and Col. Fitzwilliam and Darcy had been very close cousins and had spent much time together in their youth. She had been a vibrant and happy young girl until at the age of 12 she developed a bad fever and was sick for many months. The fever weakened her heart and her immune system, which they discovered over the years after her sickness because if she caught just a little cold, it turned into a major health problem and further weakened her. Finally, five years ago, it was decided she could not be in large groups of people where there was an increased chance of catching some disease, so for the last five years the only places she had been were Rosings, Pemberley, and Matlock, the estate of the Earl of Matlock. When her father died almost 3 years ago, much to the dismay of Lady Catherine, Rosings was left to Col. Fitzwilliam if Anne died before she was twenty-five and was left to Anne if Anne reached her twenty-fifth birthday, at which time Anne could determine who would inherit Rosings when she died. She was about to reach her twenty-fifth birthday, and she had been talking with her cousins, Darcy and Col. Fitzwilliam, about what she was going to do. Her mother, who had been managing the estate since her father died, had been a very autocratic and poor manager, and Anne had decided she did not want her mother having anything to do with the management of Rosings. She had already told Col. Fitzwilliam she intended to follow her father’s lead and make him her heir. She also asked him if he would be willing to give up his commission and become the master at Rosings before she died. She did not want to marry him, and encouraged him to marry and bring a bride to Rosings. She just wanted to ensure a smooth transition from the current situation to his eventual inheritance. And so he was going to talk to her about it again. However, that was over a week in the future. He would spend the next eight days with the Darcys.

  He was also thinking about Elizabeth and what a wonderful mistress of Rosings she would make. He was quite sure that Darcy was still serious in his pursuit of Elizabeth, but if something had changed Darcy’s mind, he thought he would like to pursue her himself. He knew he was not yet in love with Elizabeth, but he also knew that he had never met such a woman. Nevertheless, if Darcy was still serious about her, he would step aside. But if Darcy showed uncertainty, he intended to tell Darcy he would like to court her. He was worried about such a discussion with Darcy, because he knew how possessive Darcy was about things he considered his. He knew that if Darcy still loved Elizabeth, but thought he could not pursue her because of her lack of dowry and social standing, then Darcy would probably be upset at social gatherings if Darcy saw him being familiar with Elizabeth. Darcy was more a brother to him than his eldest brother and he did not want Elizabeth to become something that came between them. He would have to be careful how he approached the subject and not approach it at all if he determined Darcy was still intending to make another offer to her.

  Georgiana, who had been sleeping, awoke and saw her Cousin Richard looking out the window with a pensive look. “A penny for your thoughts,” she said. “You look as if you are in deep thought.”

  “Indeed I am. I am thinking about my future and what it is going to be like. Instead of things getting clearer and clearer as I get older, they seem to be becoming murkier and murkier. In particular, I am thinking about Anne and Rosings, and how I am going to deal with them.”

  Georgiana, who was familiar with the problem and knew of the discussions between Anne and her brother and Richard, could sympathize with his problem, but said to him, “I am sure you and William will have much to talk about when we get to Pemberley, but we cannot talk about it here,” after nodding at Mrs. Annesley, who was asleep. “Is there anything that you would like to talk about?”

  They spent the rest of the afternoon, until they reached the Cock and Crow Inn, where they were to stay for the night, talking about the tea to which Lady Matlock had invited Elizabeth, Georgiana’s visit with Elizabeth on Sunday, and the miserable weather. C
ol. Fitzwilliam had hoped to be riding his horse Perseus alongside the coach, as he had not had a good long ride for many days, but the miserable, wet weather had discouraged him, so he was riding in the carriage with Perseus following along behind. The weather had not become so bad the roads were impassable, but he was worried that if there were heavy overnight rains, they may have to delay their departure for Pemberley in the morning.

  Luckily Col. Fitzwilliam’s worries about the weather did not come true. The next day it was cloudy, but not raining, and they made their next destination inn without difficulty. The third day also went well and about 2 o’clock on the fourth day they arrived at Pemberley and Darcy was there to welcome them home.

  Georgiana, in an unexpectedly exuberant mood, rushed up to her brother and gave him the big hug and told him how glad she was to be there. Darcy was amazed, because Georgiana’s mood in the last several months, since the incident with Wickham, had been very quiet and at times morose. It did his heart good to see her so apparently happy. He said to her and Col. Fitzwilliam, “You seem very happy Georgiana. Does being with our cousin on the long carriage trip make you that happy? If I had have known that, I would have had you take a long carriage ride with him earlier.”

  “No, brother. I became this way last Sunday, when I felt like a big load had been lifted from my shoulders, and it is all due to Miss Elizabeth. I will tell you about it later. But now I am famished because we have not had anything to eat since we left this morning.”

  The three of them, trailed by Mrs. Annesley, whom Col. Fitzwilliam had helped out of the carriage, entered the house. Mrs. Annesley went to her room, and the three cousins went to the family dining room, where they had a lunch and discussed the trip and the weather. When Darcy asked Georgiana about how Elizabeth had helped her, she asked that the three of them have a conversation about it that evening, because at that instant she wanted to go to her room and soak in a hot bath.