Trouble With Wickham (2 page)

“Oh I do hope nothing goes amiss during the party, as I cannot endure the Radcliffe name being attached to yet another scandal. More than 25 years of solicitude and now the sky seems to be falling,” she fretted.

“Dear wife there is very little bad that can happen at the hunt, unless one is the fox.” Lord Radcliffe was unflinching in his attempts to convince her to cease ruminating on her perceived slights. “Your return to Meryton society is long overdue!”

Lady Radcliffe sighed. “I hope you are right dear.”

“I know I am! I predict that at the conclusion of the hunting party you will be back in favor with all your contemporaries and your spirits restored to their previous high felicity.”

It was his solid opinion that every ancient society matron in the surrounding area would instantly forget Guy’s and Charlotte’s brief moment of abandon in exchange for a coveted invitation to their fine home on a beautiful fall evening. Being situated only twenty minutes by carriage from Meryton meant no one would refuse to travel, even on a moonless night.

“Plus, were it not for Charlotte’s close call with the Earl we would never have made our acquaintance with Lady Catherine de Bourgh! Surely you must acknowledge that to be a most unexpected benefit!”

In fact, Lady Catherine was slated to be the guest of honor at the Bennington Park hunt ball. The fine lady was more than grateful to Lord Radcliffe for his letter warning her of the Earl of Buckland’s announced intention to pursue her daughter Anne, whose fortune was large and well known. Thanks to Lord Radcliffe’s quick thinking and persuasive letter writing skills, Buckland was successfully blocked from ingratiating himself into Rosings society without ever knowing why.

“Now that was some hospitality she showed to us during our visit to Rosings!” Lord Radcliffe reminisced. “Beef at every meal and some of the finest port-wine I’ve ever had!”

“Charlotte, how I wish you and Guy could have accompanied us there!” Lady Radcliffe added. “Although Lady Catherine is quite elegant she can also be a little too formal with her airs for my taste. Your company would have balanced out the party quite nicely. But I can completely understand the necessity of your refusing her invitation—not wanting to leave your new husband was a perfectly acceptable reason to decline. She did understand, I assure you, so there is no need to worry that you gave offense!”

Charlotte, who had never met Lady Catherine and only recently learned of the great lady’s existence, confirmed to her mother that no such remorse existed.

Shifting on his chaise impatiently Lord Radcliffe inquired, “So, again, who else has accepted our invitation?”

“Lord and Lady Darby, Sir Carlisle but not his wife; all four of the Mooretons,” Lady Radcliffe added, rifling through a stack of letters in her lap.

“Not Timothy and Gregor, Mamma!” Charlotte exclaimed. Both young Mooreton men had terrible reputations; despite living in close proximity to Bennington Park neither was considered an acceptable suitor for Charlotte. Nevertheless, they were both rabid hunters who never missed riding with the pack, especially when it ran through their neighborhood.

“Yes,” Lady Radcliffe leveled a frozen smile at her daughter. “We always extend hospitality to the whole family. The boys will not notice you, as you are now a respectable married woman and therefore immune from their spurious intentions. Plus, they write that they will not stay overnight.”

“You are right Mamma. I have no reason to object to their company anymore,” Charlotte said humbly.

“Correct. Now, here is some news to cheer you!” Lady Radcliffe said, shuffling through her replies. “Your old friend Elizabeth Bennet and her new husband Mr. Darcy write that they are delighted to attend.”

“Indeed Mamma that is good news!” Charlotte had been hoping that her good friend would have room in her schedule for the hunt. Both young women were anxious to reconnect and exchange confidences.

Lady Radcliffe stared intently at her daughter.

“Charlotte, are you convinced that this Mr. Darcy is a good addition to our party? He seems a very proud man and although our equal in terms of class and wealth, I wonder if he is too sullen to enjoy the local society?”

Charlotte quickly brushed off her mother’s concerns.

“Oh Mamma do not fret. Lizzie affirms in her letters to me that his manners toward strangers have softened upon their marriage, and that he does not present so proud a man when one becomes further acquainted. I am convinced that the intimacy of our gathering will provide ample opportunity for his true nature to be revealed. Although I must laugh to hear myself defending Mr. Darcy, as a year ago I would have fallen over in hysterics to be told that Lizzie was to marry him, for we were all witnesses to his disagreeable, pompous, prideful behavior toward her at the Meryton assembly. And yet, as of this very day, she is happily settled in at Pemberley with him, after a most dreadful misjudgment of his character.” She then proceeded to happily add her friend’s name to the list of attendees.

“I do wonder what the circumstances were that led to their rapprochement,” Lord Radcliffe said. Charlotte looked up at her father in surprise. It was never his habit to engage in the type of neighborhood gossip that the ladies fed on; however, it was not lost on her that even he was unable to resist a growing curiosity as to the circumstances that led Fitzwilliam Darcy, one of England’s richest men, to form a union with Elizabeth Bennet who, while a fine young woman and good friend to Charlotte, was a simple country girl with neither wealth nor connections equal to her husband’s.

“Mark my words there is a mystery to their union that no one has yet been able to decipher,” Lady Radcliffe pointed out. “Perhaps if we are lucky Lady Catherine will provide the missing background details to their courtship. Which reminds me—I have had the most curious letter from her. Pray listen while I read it.” She pulled a letter bearing the seal of Lady Catherine from amongst her pile.

The Right Hon. Lord Radcliffe,

I am delighted to reiterate our acceptance of your offer to attend the hunting party at Bennington Park. My daughter Anne and I will arrive at approximately fifteen hundred hours on the third of November, per your invitation.

I will not ride to the hunt; neither will my daughter. Nevertheless, I am anxious to attend and I welcome the opportunity to be the model of Christian forgiveness to my nephew Fitzwilliam, whose marriage to his unfortunate new wife does not please me.

The visit will afford me the opportunity to demonstrate that I bear no grudge against that girl and forgive her for appropriating my nephew’s affections and properties for herself, both of which were intended for my beloved daughter Anne. My daughter has suffered terribly from the loss of his affections yet, admirably, is also anxious to display her capacity toward forgiveness to her cousin and his new wife.

I am your obedient servant,

Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

Post Script: Anne’s delicate constitution requires that she eat a generous portion of smoked codfish for breakfast. I hope this concession to her digestive system will not inconvenience your staff.

Lady Radcliffe folded the letter. A look of consternation appeared upon Lord Radcliffe’s face.

“Well, my dear Charlotte, I hope this Mr. Darcy is as amiable as you say he now is, for I do remember his dire looks and curled lip from when he graced us with his appearance at the Meryton Assembly last year,” he said. “Add to that the knowledge that he has offended his aunt in some way, there seems to be very little to recommend him to our company.”

He wrinkled his forehead, momentarily lost in thought, then his mood lightened as he ventured to say, “Although if your friend Elizabeth Bennet attests that the man does soften upon further acquaintance then I am willing to wager that he will most likely be a splendid houseguest!”

Lady Radcliffe was excited at the prospect of entertaining the new young couple. “I for one am most anxious to see this Mr. Darcy again,” she said. “As he is not a native of Hertfordshire there is very little known about the man. Although you can be sure that Mr. and Mrs. Bennett are more than pleased at his falling hopelessly in love with their own Elizabeth. Oh, I am sure that whatever rift exists between the parties they will discharge it immediately. Lady Catherine is all grace and Elizabeth has always had a reputation as a respectful girl.”

Charlotte had an immediate distrust of Lady Catherine’s notion that the hunting party was the perfect place to mend her fractured family. However, she easily brushed off her own doubts, acceding instead to the good judgment of her mother, who had years of experience in the art of hosting a variety of friends and relations, some on good terms and some not. If Lady Radcliffe did not blink at the prospect of Lady Catherine’s expressed intentions, then Charlotte would not either.  She bit her lip and said nothing, merely adding the request for smoked codfish to the notes to hand off to the housekeeper Mrs. Holmes, who suddenly appeared at the library doorway, waiting patiently to be acknowledged.

“Excuse me, my lord.”

“Yes, Mrs. Holmes,” Lord Radcliffe said.

“A letter has arrived,” she announced. Mrs. Holmes walked softly across the room and handed the letter to Lady Radcliffe.

“Thank you Mrs. Holmes.”

She examined the letter’s seal and announced, “It is from Pemberley.”

“Oh no, does Elizabeth cancel?” Charlotte exclaimed. She suddenly realized that a very dull hunting party loomed before her were Elizabeth not in attendance.

Lady Radcliffe unfolded the letter and her eyes darted quickly across the page. Her husband and daughter waited anxiously to hear its contents.

A relieved smile spread across Lady Radcliffe’s face. “No, instead Mr. Darcy writes to inquire if he would be allowed the imposition of bringing his sister, Miss Georgiana Darcy, along with them. Here is what he says:

As my sister’s guardian I am uncomfortable leaving her unattended at Pemberley and, selfishly, believe that my stay at Bennington Park would be much enhanced knowing that she was under the same roof.”

“That is fine,” Lord Radcliffe decided quickly. “Our bedrooms are here to be filled up and our guests’ peace of mind is, as always, our top priority,” he said, displaying his typical generosity. Lady Radcliffe motioned to Charlotte to add Georgiana’s name to the guest list and Charlotte did as requested.

“Charlotte what do you know of this Miss Georgiana?” her father inquired. “Lady Catherine did not mention her existence to us during our visit.”

Charlotte tried to remember if Elizabeth had mentioned Mr. Darcy’s sister in any previous communications but failed to recall such an exchange. Inwardly Charlotte acknowledged to herself that both she and Elizabeth were both preoccupied with their own lives lately, and that their correspondence was solely focused on their own thoughts and feelings and not at all on the actions of their family relations.

Lord Radcliffe, meanwhile, was pondering the logistics of preparing for the arrival of Miss Darcy. “What is her age? No one knows? I imagine she must be quite a bit younger than Mr. Darcy if he feels she cannot be left without his chaperoning,” he mused.

Upon hearing this speculation Lady Radcliffe perked up her ears.

“Oh my! You must be right dear! How splendid to have a young child running around our corridors again! It will transport me back to those wonderful days when you were all young, and living at home with me, and not settled so far away!” she said wistfully. “I will ask Mrs. Holmes to air out the nursery, and lay the quilt with the embroidered ducklings on the bed, and Quigley in the stables must dig out the small saddle for the ponies. You can ride Indigo and Georgiana can take the pony out on the woodland trails, Charlotte, like you used to do yourself years ago. Wouldn’t you like that?”

“Maybe, Mamma. We will see,” Charlotte replied, in a noncommittal tone. She had little interest in entertaining a child. However, she was determined to do the best that she could to make Miss Darcy’s stay comfortable. “Should I suggest cinnamon sticks instead of lavender to scent the room?”

“Yes, splendid!” her mother agreed. “And he does not say whether the child’s governess will accompany them, but we must prepare for that possibility, so have Mrs. Holmes air out your old governess’s room as well. As the room is connected to the nursery we should lay cinnamon sticks in there too, as you are right that lavender is a strong scent that a young child may not like.”

Pleased with the pending accommodations, Lady Radcliffe continued.

“As for the rest of the company, Lady Catherine must be given the south suite all to herself. Write that down next to her name.”

“But Mamma, Guy and I have been happy in the south suite since we arrived,” Charlotte protested.

“You and Guy can move into your old room while the company is here. One makes this sort of sacrifice for one’s guests.”

Charlotte frowned, but her father corrected her.

“You may be a married woman now Charlotte but you are not beyond our instruction. Your mother is one of the finest hostesses in Hertfordshire, and you would do well to learn from her example, as her instincts are impeccable.”

“Oh how I wish your brother Charles could attend! But they are abroad and do not return for a fortnight still,” Lady Radcliffe cried out.

“We will think fondly of him. Although he is long overdue for a visit home,” her husband replied.

“Oh thank goodness you are but two hours away by carriage Charlotte. I have never seen such well kept roads as the ones from here to Ludlow Lodge.”

“The roads are indeed fine, Mamma. Now who else needs to be put on the final list?”

“Did you write down Mr. and Mrs. Bennet? They replied that Mr. Bennet does not hunt, but will attend for the company and the ball. Apparently Mr. Bennet is quite anxious to explore the library.” Charlotte felt a stab of disappointment for Guy, who was hoping to hide out from the madding crowd, alone in the library, during the festivities.

“Put the Bennets in the room two down the hall from yours,” Lady Radcliffe instructed her daughter. She then began happily chattering away about her burgeoning friendship with Elizabeth Bennet’s parents.