Page 89 of I Thee Wed
Elizabeth paused to consider. “I was raised in a small village, and our society consists of no more than four and twenty families. Yet I have two friends who may answer Phillip’s needs. They are twin sisters, Abigail and Anise Stanton. They are beautiful women and turned four and twenty this past March. They have suffered a series of family losses, which is why they are not yet out. First, they lost their grandmother, then an uncle, and last year their father. Their brother Robert is now head of the household, though he is but six and twenty. Their estate lies outside Harpenden, about eight miles from my home in Meryton. They are respectable, though not titled, but they are everything you describe, gentle, modest, and well-raised.”
Lady Helen listened closely. “Do you believe Phillip would take to one of them?”
Elizabeth smiled. “If he wishes to meet someone like me, then I believe he would like Abby very well. She is clever, some may say sharp, though never disagreeable. Witty is a better word. She has a fine figure, more in the style of my sister Jane, and she is warm-hearted. Anise is equally kind, but quieter in company. If he is drawn to lively conversation, he would likely prefer Abby.”
By the time Elizabeth had finished, Lady Helen was smiling. “I should very much like to meet this Miss Stanton. We must contrive it somehow.”
She took Elizabeth’s hand affectionately. “My dear, will you help me contrive a wife for Phillip?”
Elizabeth grinned at her. “I have been meaning to invite my friend Charlotte Lucas to Pemberley. She is a spinster, and I wish to put her in the way of the rector of Kimpton parish, or perhaps the physician. Fitzwilliam and I have discussed all the eligible gentlemen in the neighborhood, and he tells me there is also a landowner who has only just inherited and may now be in a position to consider marriage. I could invite Charlotte first, and then four to six weeks later, invite the Stanton sisters. That would provide the perfect excuse to have them visit Pemberley without raising expectations. If you like her, Fitzwilliam can invite his two cousins to fish and shoot. He might also invite his cousin Anne; perhaps being at Pemberley, away from Lady Catherine, would advance Richard’s suit.”
Lady Helen nodded. “Yes, let us do it, Elizabeth. When can we depart from London and put this plan into motion? I care nothing for the rest of the season. If both Phillip and Richard are to marry as the result of a casual visit to Pemberley, while theircousin’s wife entertains her friends from home, I shall count the effort more than worthwhile.”
Elizabeth laughed. “Let me speak to Fitzwilliam. He has been much engaged with his solicitor of late, but perhaps his business is nearly concluded. Once I know when we may depart, I shall send word.”
“Very good,” Lady Helen said, rising. “I shall begin packing at once. I shall travel north with you when the time comes.”
And just like that, it was settled.
Chapter 67: An Invitation
The grounds were wet, and pools had formed at the front entrance of Lucas Lodge. From what Lady Lucas could see through the window in the breakfast parlor, it looked like the rain would continue throughout the entire day. Charlotte began to serve her plate when the footman entered with the post.
Lady Lucas received the bundle, and after sorting through two letters addressed to Sir William and a bill from the milliner, she passed the final envelope across the table to her daughter.
“A letter for you, Charlotte,” she said. “The hand resembles Elizabeth’s, but I don’t recognize the seal. It cannot possibly be from her after her falling out with Alexander.”
Charlotte took the letter in hand and studied the script in silence, her eyes narrowing in recognition even as she hesitated to speak.
“It is her hand,” she said at last, surprised. “It is Elizabeth’s.”
“Well, do not stare at it as though it might strike you,” her mother returned with sharp impatience. “If she has written to you after all this time, then I daresay the contents must be worth reading.”
Charlotte cast her mother a brief glance of annoyance, but said nothing. She broke the seal, unfolded the letter, and, turning first to the final page, confirmed the signature. Her hands trembled slightly as she returned to the first page and began to read. Her expression changed from surprise to confusion, and at last to something approaching hopefulness.
Lady Lucas, who had been watching her closely, asked with a note of alarm, “What is it? Why are you looking so strange? Has someone died?”
Charlotte shook her head. “No, nothing like that. Elizabeth has invited me to Pemberley.”
“Pemberley?” Lady Lucas blinked. “Whatever for?”
Charlotte looked up, her cheeks tinged with color. “She says she wishes to put me in the way of a rector, a gentleman of two and thirty, unmarried, personable, and possessed of a good living near the Pemberley estate. She believes we might suit.”
Lady Lucas sat straighter. “A rector? Well, that is quite promising.”
“There is more,” Charlotte said, eyes returning to the page. “She has also spoken with the local physician, who oversees the charitable dispensary. He is a physician and a surgeon by training, eight and thirty, still unmarried, but settled and respected. He studied in London and has recently returned to Derbyshire. Elizabeth plans to speak with him regarding her own charitable efforts, and hopes I might meet him in the course of those visits.”
Lady Lucas pressed a hand to her chest. “A surgeon? That is very respectable, perhaps even better than a clergyman, considering his income.”
“And there is yet a third gentleman,” Charlotte continued, hardly believing her own words. “An estate owner, recently come into his inheritance, a second son, now master of his brother’s estate following a fatal accident. He is three and thirty. Elizabeth writes that should I accept her invitation, she will see that I am allowed to make each of their acquaintance in the natural courseof things. Perhaps, if fortune favors me, one of them might be inclined to offer.”
Lady Lucas had no reply to this beyond a rather breathless question. “When?”
“May seventh. That’s four weeks from now! There is more,” Charlotte said, rising from her chair, her voice growing soft and almost reverent. “She instructs me to tell Father that I must have a new wardrobe so that I might appear at my best. She writes that I am to do something with my hair, though I need not worry on that score, for she will have her personal maid assist me. The same maid who dressed her on her wedding day.”
She held the letter to her breast, her eyes luminous. “Mother, I cannot believe her generosity. After all that passed, after everything, I thought she had forgotten me, or worse, cast me off entirely.”
Lady Lucas looked away, humbled and uncharacteristically subdued. “She was always your best friend, my dear. Perhaps her heart is larger than we gave her credit for. It would seem that her disappointment in love, where Alexander is concerned, has not poisoned her memory of you after all.”
