Unexpected Friends & Relations

by Jayne Bamber

  “Oh, no, not yet,” Harriet stammered. “My mother wishes me to learn, and is certain I shall become a great proficient in very little time. She is to hire a music master for me.”

  “I am sure you can master it in no time,” Mrs. Sutton replied smoothly. “I have had quite the same conundrum with dear Lydia, Elizabeth’s youngest sister, who has come to stay with me while I am in London. Miss Lydia does not play, either, and I am sure she would do very well with a master. We have decided that perhaps she should begin by learning to sing a few songs, while I play accompaniment. I should be happy to learn a duet with you as well, if you like. Perhaps once you meet her, you and Lydia can learn a simple beginner’s piece together.”

  “I would like that,” Harriet replied.

  “I am sure Lydia will, too. She is most anxious to meet you at the reception I am hosting in your honor, day after tomorrow. It is to be a garden party, just us ladies.”

  “That sounds lovely – and very kind of you. My mother is very grateful to you for hosting such an event, for she will be much occupied, preparing for my come-out ball.”

  “You must be looking forward to it,” Caroline mused. “I remember my own come-out ball like it was yesterday – how nervous I was, and yet how joyful! I had a great many admirers that night, I daresay. You certainly shall have a great deal more, I am sure, being such an object of interest to the ton.”

  Harriet grew anxious at the prospect of so much attention. She glanced over at Georgiana, who was also having her debut season, and was relieved to find that at least she was not alone in her anxiety, for Georgiana looked rather nervous herself. Georgiana smiled weakly and excused herself before moving across the room to speak with Mary Bennet and Lady Rebecca.

  “Poor girl,” Mrs. Sutton sighed. “She is so very shy. I think she has no sense of her own superiority, but she is truly one of the most accomplished young women in London, and the most graceful creature, I am sure. But I am so very pleased with you, my dear sister. Oh yes, I think we shall get on very well indeed. As I was saying, the reception I am hosting for you shall be a party for the ladies, and then we shall relish the delight of so much female companionship. I have a great many friends who are curious to set eyes on you, and I am certain they shall find you perfectly charming.”

  Harriet knew not what to say; it was shocking to be put on display for all the world, and she could not like that London society must be so very curious about her. She supposed it must be part of life for the granddaughter of an earl; Georgiana handled it with such poise, for she had been born into this world. Harriet was certain she would only prove to be a disappointment, despite Mrs. Sutton’s remarkable confidence in her.

  To her relief, Kate perceived her distress and came to her rescue. “Harriet, I think your mother would speak with you. Mrs. Sutton, how does my sister Lydia?”

  ***

  Rebecca passed the evening very much out of sorts. She was still not entirely recovered from the news of her cousin Isabella’s death, and though the emergence of her cousin Harriet into society necessitated that Rebecca could not observe full mourning, she was at least wearing lavender in Isabella’s honor, and taking very little pains to hide her brooding.

  She could not stop thinking about that morning, just a few days ago, when Mr. Knightley had delivered the news. She was rather disappointed by his absence from tonight’s dinner, for though she had been just as put out with him as he had been with her, upon their first meeting, he had been ever so kind in offering what comfort he could at the news of Isabella’s passing.

  Beyond her grief for Isabella, Rebecca was still struggling to rejoice at the news Kate and Elizabeth had announced to all the family that night, which had surprisingly prompted her step-mother to make a similar revelation. Three women in the family with child at once, how absolutely ghastly. It was downright mortifying that her father had sired another child, and that at the age of five and twenty she was to gain a new brother or sister. Moreover, it would not be long before this reminded her father that she herself should be bearing children – between mourning her brother Reginald two years ago, and then Anne, and most recently all of the other weddings in the family, Rebecca had been given a reprieve from her father’s benevolent but annoying desire to see her well-settled and out of his way; likely now that would soon change, and living under Darcy’s roof instead of her father’s might not be enough to save her the indignity of being paraded about the marriage mart.

  The other selfish fear that gnawed at her was the impending loss of Elizabeth’s constant companionship, and it was this that bothered her the most. She could ignore the embarrassment of her lecherous old father, and shirk any number of suitors pushed at her by merely speaking candidly with them for a few minutes, but there was nothing she could, or would, do to lessen Elizabeth’s joy at the prospect of motherhood. How it rankled Rebecca! What use would Elizabeth have for her childless spinster cousin, when Kate must become an infinitely more desirable companion? The two sisters, she knew, had never been especially close, but that would all change once they experienced all the milestones of motherhood together, and Rebecca would be forever an outsider unable to relate.

  The evening only grew more vexing when she saw how well received Caroline Sutton had been. She and Elizabeth calling each other Caro and Lizzy! Has Lizzy taken leave of her senses entirely? That vicious woman had been positively dreadful to Elizabeth in the past year, and though Caroline’s maneuver to separate Elizabeth from Mr. Bingley had ultimately been a blessing in disguise, her subsequent attempts at sabotaging Elizabeth’s relationship with Darcy at Pemberley were still perfectly valid grievances, in Rebecca’s estimation.

  To make matters worse, that wretched social climber had now reached the zenith of her aspirations in claiming a relation to the Fitzwilliams, through Lady Catherine’s marriage to Sir Gerald. Oh, it had been fun to needle her at the wedding breakfast, watching the horror on her face when she realized that her guardianship of Lydia was far from a compliment, but the amusement had worn off for Rebecca, as she saw how truly kind Elizabeth was being to the rotten harpy. And to think, she herself was the author of her nemesis’s success! Rebecca bitterly mused whether Caroline was even aware of her own role in bringing that about, and could not resist provoking the woman a little.

  “How happy for your husband,” Rebecca said to Caroline when they withdrew to the drawing room, “that he was already wed before his father. Were he still a single man at such a time, I am sure he would fall prey to every manner of fortune hunter, grasping for a connection to Lady Catherine. But he might be content in knowing that you fell in love with him quite at first sight, I understand, before he acquired his noble stepmother, and therefore must be secure in your genuine affections indeed. I wonder how he could bear to part with you when you left Scotland, Caroline – pray forgive me, but I hope I might address you as informally as my dear Lizzy does.”

  Caroline smiled evenly at her, taking Rebecca’s meaning. “Yes indeed, I certainly had no notion of such a thing ever occurring. It is truly to be marveled at,” she deadpanned.

  “I cannot help but marvel at all the happy marriages that have recently occurred in our family. Sir Gerald and Lady Catherine, Darcy and Lizzy, Richard and Marianne… the list goes on.”

  Caroline’s forced smile intensified. “Oh yes. I count myself very fortunate to be welcomed into the bosom of a family where so much love and affection abounds. I wonder who shall be next. Dear Georgiana and Miss Bennet are full young yet to be wed, and of course Lady Catherine will not be wishing to part with my sister Harriet so soon after their reunion. But I suppose that leaves but one other likely candidate for matrimony, for certainly you are of an age when it naturally must be foremost on your mind, my old friend.”

  “To be sure,” Rebecca drawled, trying not to let Caroline’s barb chafe too much. “As you have such exquisite taste in gentlemen yourself, perhaps you shall be on the lookout for me, and send word of any eligible gentlemen you encounter. Bu
t then I suppose you must keep an eye out for any eligible bachelors for Miss Lydia’s sake, as well. Do tell me, how is that progressing?”

  “Oh, Rebecca, I will own I could not have imagined anything more satisfactory, when I came to London a fortnight ago. Our dear friend Lizzy was perfectly right in supposing Lydia and I to be well-suited to one another. We are getting on like a house on fire!”

  Rebecca groaned internally. Lizzy indeed! “Oh yes, I am certain my dear friend knew what she was about when she suggested the notion. What delight I felt when she told me of her plan! I cannot recall when I have been more pleased with a scheme, not in five or six months at least.”

  Caroline smirked and patted Rebecca’s hand. “You are too good. I am certain Lydia and I shall do very well together indeed. It is most flattering to know that the Darcys would entrust me with Lydia’s care, and even more so to discover that my company can be so useful and instructive to a very young girl. I had no notion of the extent of my own talents, I am sure, until Miss Lydia began pointing them out to me. She looks upon me as quite a role model.”

  Rebecca grinned. “I am sure Miss Lydia is a most abundant source of astute observations. I have been privy to a great many of them myself. Her company shall certainly prove to be a great adventure, I am sure, in your husband’s continued absence from Town.”

  Rebecca and Caroline smiled tensely at one another, reaching a momentary impasse. Mary then approached them, smiling serenely. “Mrs. Sutton, Cousin Rebecca, pray forgive my interruption. I came to beg a word in private with you, Rebecca – I require your advice on a matter of great import.”

  Caroline smirked. “But of course, I have just been boasting to Rebecca of my own efficacy in providing such useful advice to your younger sister; no doubt she enjoys the same experience with you, my dear Miss Bennet. I shall not detain you, I believe I must go and speak with my new sister by marriage, the guest of honor.”

  As Caroline sailed away, her chin held high, to plague poor Harriet and Georgiana, Mary dragged Rebecca off to a corner of the room where they would not be overheard.

  “Whatever is the matter, Mary?” Her friend had seemed to be in fine spirits amidst their mostly happy family group that evening, and Rebecca was very sorry if she had overlooked anything that might be causing Mary any distress.

  “You,” Mary hissed. “I see what you are about, Rebecca, and I do not like it. Perhaps you did not realize that a great many of us in the room could hear everything you and Caroline were saying, and really, I think it very unkind of you to needle her so. Lizzy could see what you were about, and Marianne as well, and if they can like Caroline, you must exert yourself to do the same. She is part of our family now, and you know very well it is all our own doing,” Mary whispered, fixing Rebecca with a stern look.

  Rebecca let out a little groan. “Of course I know that. It makes it all the worse. How very amused I was at playing that little trick last autumn, only now to find it has legitimized her presence in our lives forever. I do not know what your sister is about, playing at friendship with that vicious, conniving woman.”

  Mary folded her arms and glared at Rebecca. “I value your friendship very highly, Rebecca, but really, I think you are being far too hard on Caroline. She never wronged you, did she? I understand she was at odds with Lizzy in the past, but if Lizzy can forgive her, you must do the same. How can you hold a grudge for what even Lizzy herself does not, when she was the wronged party? Besides, if Caroline had not separated Lizzy from her brother, she would never have married Mr. Darcy, which is something we are all very glad has happened.”

  Mary was not saying anything that Rebecca herself had not already considered, yet she had no wish to hear it. “Certainly Mrs. Sutton cannot be glad of it.”

  “She is a married lady now, and no longer a threat to Mr. Darcy or your brother, or anybody else. And she is really trying to do better. It was very kind of her to take on Lydia, for you know very well that she would have been a burden to anyone else in the family. With Lizzy and Kate and even my Aunt Gardiner all expecting children, none of them could have borne Lydia’s boisterous presence in their home, and Caroline has provided a wonderful solution. Who else would have taken Lydia so willingly? And really, I think she means to do a good job of it. Perhaps now she sees that it was wrong to dislike Lizzy so very much, and if she can prevent Lydia from misbehaving to the point of degrading the entire family, you must admit that can only be a good thing.”

  Though Mary’s argument was a convincing one, Rebecca still bristled at her younger friend’s reprimand. “I cannot like this notion of turning bad people into good people at a moment’s notice,” she huffed.

  Mary actually rolled her eyes! “You are vastly oversimplifying the situation, and I think you know it. I know it amuses you to be contrary, but in this case I really think you had better let the matter rest. Good and bad are not so very black and white, when applied to the complexity of human nature. I do not believe anyone is wholly good or wholly bad. Perhaps Caroline has been rather bad in the past, but there is some good in her, I am sure of it. She spoke at dinner of missing her brother, and I am sure she does love him very much. Even when she separated him and Lizzy, she must have thought it the right thing for her brother’s sake.”

  Rebecca glowered at Mary. “Only because your sister had no fortune! Is such mercenary thinking to be admired? Surely not!”

  “Perhaps you are right, but what of our little trick last autumn? That was rather wicked of us, and I regret it. Mr. Sutton did not even come to Town with his wife, and she is putting on a brave face about it, but I cannot think it does not bother her at least a little. Does that mean that we are bad people? No, you will say, it means that we acted as we did out of affection for your brother and Marianne, but we have bound her to a man who does not even wish for her company. She deserves our pity, not our contempt!”

  Rebecca gave a heavy sigh. She could see it was no use arguing with her friend, and she rather admired her mettle. Mary had warned her, in the earliest days of their friendship, that she was not the same as Elizabeth, and indeed she could not imagine Elizabeth ever arguing the finer points of morality with her. No, Elizabeth would have laughed it all off, rather than weighing the ethical implications of every circumstance. And yet, Rebecca could not but feel a swelling of pride in her bosom at Mary’s tenacity. Though Mary had capitulated to her will that night at the Banfields’ ball, despite her moral quandary, clearly the girl had grown quite a backbone since then, and Rebecca respected anyone with the temerity to stand up to her, for she knew very well what an imposing sort of person she was. There were a few of her acquaintances who would oppose her at such a time, and she loved Mary the better for it.

  “Oh, very well,” Rebecca finally relented. “You are right, this time, but do not think you should always be so high-handed with me, Mary Bennet! I shall endeavor to be nice to her, but do not think I shall attend her ridiculous little garden party, and let her boast to all her friends that she enjoys the company of the daughter of an earl. No indeed, I shall be civil when her company is forced upon me, but I certainly shall not seek it out.”

  “That is a good start,” Mary replied. “Here I was, basking all evening in how happy I have been at being welcomed into such a large, happy family full of so much energy and good cheer. I can honestly say I wish the same for Caroline as well, and I would not think well of you if you sought to deprive her of that same satisfaction.”

  Rebecca tipped her head back in frustration. “Very well, I concede! Only do tell me this lecture is quite over! I am certain I could bear anything, even Caroline Sutton’s tedious self-congratulation, before I could endure another moment spent considering my own moral dealings.”

  At this Mary’s demeanor softened, and she took Rebecca’s hand. “I am sorry if I pressed you overly much. You know I still think the world of you, and I always shall. You are the dearest friend in the world to me. It is only that I wish to see you do the very best you can, as you have pres
sed me to do. Shall we both not grow better and wiser together?”

  Rebecca smiled at the earnest expression on Mary’s countenance. She really was a dear girl, one of the few truly good people Rebecca knew, even within her own family. The Fitzwilliams were a clan prone to mischief, and even the Darcys had their flaws, but Mary was a cut above them all. “I am sure I do not deserve you, Mary Bennet,” Rebecca said, her tone teasing.

  “And that is the kindest thing you have said to anyone all night,” Mary quipped. “Come now, let us rejoin the others before Lady Catherine demands to know what we are speaking of. You know she does not like it when we young folks whisper amongst ourselves.”

  As they moved to rejoin the others, grouped in threes and fours, Rebecca took a sweeping look around, deciding which conversation to join. She was spared making any choice at all, when Mrs. Weston approached her.

  “Lady Rebecca, your new sister Lady Hartley has just been singing your praises to me,” she said.

  “Worthy praise indeed,” Rebecca replied amiably. “Is not my new sister a treasure?”

  “I think your whole family absolutely delightful. I cannot imagine Harriet belonging to a kinder one, I am sure. It is just what I had wished for her, when first we heard the news. Indeed, I will own you have all exceeded what little expectations I had when we brought her here. A mother and father who loved her, certainly, given the tone of Lady Catherine’s letter to Harriet, but so many well-bred and welcoming cousins and siblings must be a blessing indeed for her. Your dear cousin Emma will certainly be relieved to hear it. She had grown quite attached to Harriet these last six months, and I am sure she could not have parted with her to anyone less worthy.”

  “You are very kind,” Rebecca replied with a sigh. “And yet how sad it makes me, to think that my poor cousin must have parted with her dear friend at such a time when she needed her the most. I think it so brave of her, to find it in her heart to rejoice at Harriet’s elevation, while in the throes of such terrible grief.”