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the_shrubberyPart Fifteen - In Which Caroline Goes To Kent & Comes Home
September 23rd:
Still with the Dowager Countess. Paul wanted to leave the morning after we found out about the letter but convinced him better to stay & see what happens seeing as we have no real place to go to anyway apart from C's house but that would be weird seeing as how C is still in Hertfordshire.
Mood v. frosty here. The Bat & daughter left for London citing Darcy coming back to town soon as reason. G & Mrs A went back to Pemberley yesterday to resume their lessons. G v. tearful at parting but promised her we would see each other again for Christmas. Thanked Mrs A again for cap even if it was ugly & I lost it & all the help with the wedding & the things she explained to me.
Is v. awkward here now with Paul no longer talking with his father & I am sure
Think the Earl is too proud to issue an actual forthright apology & Paul too proud to ask for one. Stupid men.
Have not even had an opportunity to find out anything else about the mysterious scene I found & frankly felt not in the mood for that.
September 24th:
Really would like to find a solution about where we shall go next. At least we know now for certain we shall not have any of my money for the foreseeable future & can plan accordingly. Paul says we will work it out but so far is mostly sulking. Maybe we should go to London after all & take it from there.
September 26th:
Have talked with Violet & she finds situation just as unbearable as I do. Suggested we come live with them in London. Thanked her for the offer but told her it would be just as horrible as it is now here, or even worse for we would not even have the BGA's comments about politics to distract us.
Violet agreed with me there & promised to think about something else.
September 27th:
Gah! Men! Violet says the Earl will only offer to help Paul if Paul asks for it & Paul says he will never beg his father for anything.
Violet & I are decided talking will not bring anything about it & sat in the conservatory wondering what could be done when the BGA came up with the perfect solution.
We will lock them in the library.
September 29th:
Oh my.
The Earl certainly was in earnest when he said he wanted to make amends.
He has given us a house.
An actual house.
We have a house.
An estate.
With income.
A HOUSE.
The house is in Kent, not far from the Bat (which is I suppose why the Earl hardly ever uses it). A sister of the Earl's father used to live there but it has been empty since she died three years ago. It is not large, but it has a good steady income & we can have it.
Our own house.
If Paul messes this up by quarrelling with his father again I will kill him.
October 1st:
Going to London tomorrow to settle everything with lawyers & so Paul can do whatever he needs to do to resign his commission. Not sure about the details because we have a house & we will live in our own house soon.
Apparently D is back in town as well & left C in Hertfordshire. Wonder why he left alone. Maybe D told C about what we did & they quarrelled. Must ask D what he said & then write to C & apologise.
October 4th:
Back in town & staying with Paul's parents for the time being. Most surprised the Bat & daughter not beleaguering D anymore but have retreated to Kent. Probably could not stand D's foul mood anymore. Wanted to ask D about what he said to C but could not catch him alone after dinner today as he did nothing but brood.
Had letter from A that had been sent to C's house. A very heartfelt in her congratulations & wishing us best of luck. Asked also had I heard anything about new volume of The Woes of the Chaste Orphan Athalia. Wonder if I should tell her about mysterious excerpt I found & present the suspects to her; A always so succinct in her evaluations. Could of course also ask Paul but what if it is him after all?
Do not think it is though because he would not keep thing like that from me. Must be the Bat.
And now I feel bad about keeping things from Paul but is luckily only v. minor thing.
October 5th:
Received express letter from C this morning saying he was engaged to Jane! About time too, had been wondering what took him so long seeing as he has been in Hertfordshire for almost a month now.
Read letter to Paul who kept grinning & when I asked him why said did I not think this quite heightened D's chances with Jane's sister? Took me a moment to realise he meant the fine-eyed Miss Elizabeth Bennet but it all makes sense now.
Cannot believe how I was so blind & forgot all about how D kept talking about her last year.
So he was pining for her & Paul says he has been at least since Easter.
Oh my.
Do not know whether it would be mean to laugh but the idea of D having been crossed in love these past six months is just unbearably funny.
Asked Paul if we should give D a gentle hint that going by her behaviour when she was at Pemberley the lady will have him but Paul said he would not meddle with that for the world & seeing how my meddling turned out in C's affairs is probably better not to. D will sort it out eventually. Hopefully.
Letter from L saying she is feeling much calmer than she was in London & enjoying Scotland immensely. C how she had failed me in her duty as my elder sister to keep me from sin. Asked if I felt terribly neglected because she had not guided me enough. Wrote back immediately to give her new address of our own house & told her that we have a house & not to worry about uncle Tiberius anymore.
October 7th:
Packing again. Leaving for Kent tomorrow. Moving into our house. Our own house.
Earl has had servants keep house in order so no repairs necessary & we can move in immediately now that everything in London has been settled. Will probably want to replace furniture by and bye but first want to assess house & see what we want to change.
Could not help it but send letter to uncle Tiberius informing him about address change & telling him to direct further communication to me & my husband there. Wondered if I should send it but Paul read it over & said he was the luckiest man on earth having married a woman who could be so deliciously polite and contemptuous at the same time.
Not sure that is a compliment but certainly do not mind the way the silly man expresses his marital felicity.
Will have to stop at Rosings tomorrow as it is on the way & apparently the Bat is giving us a box-load of curtain material. Or so she says. Is probably rather fabric to cover me since she thinks I am looking like a horse.
But will just not think about that when I am there & smile & thank her prettily for her gift because even if they come with her condescension, Violet says curtains first-rate material.
Will not say anything about how only because her daughter looks like an insect does not mean I am fat.
I am healthy-looking.
October 8th:
Arrived in Kent with long line of carts full of trunks following us. Never realised had that many things but then more than half of the boxes full with Paul's books. At least whatever may be wrong with our house (our house) we will have the foundation of a very good library & will try our best to make it as grand as Pemberley's.
Stopped at Bromley just as the Bat had advised us & mentioned her name at the Bell only to be presented with an enormous bill because apparently her Batship orders a whole roast pheasant whenever she is there.
We have to stay at Rosings tonight because the Bat simply would not let us continue on even though it is little more than an hour to our house (OUR HOUSE). Begin to understand why the Earl did not want the house for himself.
Bat tedious as usual at dinner this day but at least the daughter tried to actually speak to us; not much & usually in a whisper but she seems friendly enough. Gave us very pretty volume of Donne's poetry as a late wedding present; very nice indeed. Bat waxed endlessly about her generousity in letting us have her old curtains & had brought her silly parson to help her telling her how grand she was & if they weren't so pretty I'd have long told her to keep them. Also we really want our money back because we certainly are not going to pay for the stuffed swans she needs to keep her fortitude.
Cannot wait for tomorrow when we get to our house.
October 9th:
We are going to our house today. OUR HOUSE.
Leaving as soon as the carriages are ready but I think I did something stupid just now. Bat forced us to have breakfast with her before we leave so we had to endure yet another lecture about how amazing & selfless & ultimately just unbearably wonderful the Bat was. Then she got talking about Pemberley & her eyes glazed over & got all misty as she talked about 'the approaching union' & the 'joining of the fortunes' & whatever & I could see the daughter pretending to gag into her tea which set Paul off laughing. Was then that things got slightly out of control because the Bat asked what was so funny & the daughter rolled her eyes & imitated the Bat's facial expressions & Paul almost choked on his kippers & I just blurted out that Darcy is surely already on his way to Hertfordshire to propose to Miss Elizabeth Bennet and her enormous eyes.
Then it was the Bat's turn to choke on her tea & everybody rushed to help her & Paul shook his head at me & grinned and muttered something about a storm I had unleashed & then the Bat all red in the face kept calling for her daughter & her carriage & Paul said we had better be off so I went upstairs to get my bonnet.
Wonder what keeps our horses for so long. The Bat's carriage left twenty minutes ago. Hope Paul got our money from her before she set off wherever she went.
October 9th, evening:
We are in our own house! It is so very beautiful, all bricks & over-grown with roses & from the attic windows you can see the sea!
Bedrooms are mayhap a bit snug but v. beautiful with large windows overlooking the gardens. Very pretty drawing-room downstairs with balconies leading into garden & library has very nice shelves which are almost empty now but will probably soon be filled.
If that is we ever get our money back from the Bat & can actually afford to buy books in the next ten years. Cannot believe Paul let himself be fobbed off like that.
October 12th:
Feels like we have lived here forever. Do not think I ever was happier apart from the tiny matter of the Bat still having our money. Paul promised though to write letter to her asking for it reminding her we have to buy food for us & our servants.
Is still a novelty being actual mistress of so many servants. Luckily housekeeper is v. experienced woman & helps me. Not sure she takes me serious at all but so far have not had disagreements with her. Hope abigail gave a good account of me in the servants' halls.
Abigail gave me another set of new caps this morning all after the original pattern but with different embroideries. Was rather moved at this because had not asked her to do so. Expressed my thanks for all she had done for me in the past year & asked her what she thought about our move. Glad to hear she likes it here. Did not realise before how much I constantly rely on her. If I had any spare money right now would make her present but it will have to wait.
October 13th:
Received letter from D today that was so blotted & illegible that we first thought it was from C. D just wrote to inform us he was riding to Hertfordshire to hunt with C & cryptic remarks about 'wanting to learn the lay of the land' and having recently received news that made a positive outcome of some important matters more probable than before.
Probably thinks I do not know what he means but know exactly what he is talking about. Could not help that I kept grinning all day & Paul kept teasing me about it. Told him if he did not succeed with his aunt soon he had better hope D was successful because he would have to ask him for money.
October 16th:
Cannot believe how peaceful it is here. Paul is burying himself in the estate management & occasionally asks me to help him with the sums. Said I could do more but he says he wants to at least feel as if he was providing for his family. Silly man, as if I married him for his money. When he is busy I keep myself busy with redecorating & arranging things. Want to have house pretty-looking & everything ready because we are going to have visitors for Christmas!
Have written to L & G inviting them for Christmas. Want to ask C & D as well but probably had better wait to find out how exactly the matter stands with their Bennet sisters.
Abigail teaches me to sew & embroider. Really is much easier than I thought. Always looked so complicated at school. Am going to tackle knitting next.
October 21st:
Letter from D saying he needed to relay a v. important matter to us & then after several more polysyllabic paragraphs he finally informed us he and Miss Elizabeth Bennet had become engaged. Was surprised it had taken him that long.
Realised had not yet written to C & Jane so rectified that immediately. Still did not quite know what to say especially about the whole matter of separating them so letter probably rather awkward-sounding. Hope shall see Jane soon in person to clear things up with her. Suppose will also have to make friends with the large-eyed sister. Invited all of them for Christmas. Hope we will have money by then.
October 27th:
Received answer from Jane. Not sure it was exactly warm but then cannot blame her for that. Was very kind in her congratulations though & said she & her sister were going to be married just before Christmas & would leave for the Lakes then but they would look forward to visit us in the spring. Hope I can patch up matters with her eventually.
Had long letter from G very enthusiastically agreeing to come here for Christmas especially because her brother was not there but she did not know whether he would consent. Paul wrote back saying he consented & that was enough.
November 1st:
Could not trust my eyes today. Bat's daughter sent us bank note saying her mother kept forgetting to pay us but she did not want us to have any inconveniences. Very charming letter, much wittier than the daughter is in person, and signed very warmly.
Completely flabbergasting however was her hand. Ran upstairs immediately to compare it with the sample in my desk & there is no doubt possible.
Really must keep up correspondence with her. Should probably call her Anne since she begged me twice to do so. Wonder if she will come if I invite her for Christmas. Would probably mean inviting the Bat as well.
November 15th:
Has grown v. cold recently. Took long walk by the sea today with Paul. Air rather frosty and winds heavy but cannot remember ever having been happier. Told Paul I could burst just from everything & things got very silly & we danced on the sand.
Came back to find a letter from L saying she had the best of news. Began to knit cap for baby as Paul read to me tonight.
Sat in our drawing-room observing the fire as Paul read sonnets to me in his wonderful voice & suddenly felt completely thrilled just knowing I was home.
So, what do you think? Too much frou-frou happiness at the end? Everything resolved too nicely?
