With Just a Little Guidance 1 and 2

AN: It took a while, but this one is pretty much finished. I expect to post on Wednesdays.
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Blurb: With just a little guidance from their aunt, the Bennets all make advantageous matches (P&P)

Chapter 1
One afternoon as the family sat in the parlor at Longbourn, Jane entered the room, sat down, and asked, “Father, have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?”

Mr. Bennet replied that he had not.

“But it is. I have just returned from visiting Aunt Phillips, and she told me all about it. Apparently, it is taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of England. He came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it that he agreed with Mr. Morris immediately. He is to take possession before Michaelmas, and some of his servants are to be in the house by the end of next week,” Jane replied.

“What is his name?” asked Lizzy.

“Bingley. And there is no Mrs. Bingley,” responded Jane with a smile. The girls laughed.

“That should make Kitty’s first assembly much more interesting,” was Mr. Bennet’s answer to that information, with a glance at Kitty who blushed upon hearing the comment.

“Does that mean that you will greet Mr. Bingley when he comes into the neighborhood?” asked Kitty, blushing even more deeply.

Mr. Bennet laughed, “Yes, I will meet our new neighbor. It is only polite. If something more comes of it, so be it. At least Aunt Stanford should be here by then to help us receive. The first assembly will be here before we know it.”

“Tomorrow fortnight,” replied Lizzy.

“Be sure then that I will be able to introduce you three to Mr. Bingley. Lydia, you will have to wait until he calls upon us here,” said Mr. Bennet.
Once Mr. Bingley had settled in, Mr. Bennet made his call. A few days later, Mr. Bingley returned Mr. Bennet’s visit, and sat about ten minutes with him in his library. He had entertained hopes of being admitted to a sight of the young ladies, of whose beauty he had heard much; but he saw only their father. That same afternoon, Mr. Bennet’s widowed sister, Lady Elizabeth Stanford, joined the Bennet household for the fall.

Thomas Bennet resided in Loungbourn, an estate a short distance from Meryton, in Hertfordshire. He was the father of five daughters, ranging in age from twenty two down to fifteen. His wife had died in childbirth thirteen years earlier, followed shortly thereafter by their two sons. This tragedy ensured that, unless he married again and produced a male heir, an entail would pass Longbourn to a distant male cousin upon his demise. Therefore, Mr. Bennet was well aware that he must have his daughters marry well. He had managed to save over the years so that each daughter had a respectable dowry. It had required economizing, but he thought it worth it.

Mr. Bennet’s widowed sister Elizabeth, usually known as Bess, had assisted Mr. Bennet in the rearing of his daughters. While her husband lived, she had visited Longbourn during the summer with Sir Henry and their son Hal. Now that Hal was Sir Henry, she spent part of her year with him and his family, and part with her brother’s family.

Lady Stanford had selected governesses to oversee the education of the girls, and as each reached the age of sixteen or seventeen, had taken them to London to present them at court, provide them with a Season, and introduce them to society. That introduction would start in autumn in Hertfordshire with attendance at local entertainments, assemblies, and parties. During the winter, the girls would go to London, have their presentation to the Queen, and attend the Season. To date, Aunt Stanford had succeeded in helping Jane, Elizabeth, and Mary to find suitable partners. Jane and Elizabeth had both entered society at sixteen. Mary had chosen seventeen, wanting one more year to prepare. Catherine, better known as Kitty, had turned seventeen in May and was ready to enter society. She too had wanted an additional year. Lydia, at fifteen, was still not out and seemed nowhere near ready to join adult society.

At the beginning of August, Mary had married a clergyman she met the prior winter, Jeremiah Ainsley. They were situated in a snug parish in Cornwall. He had the income from at least two livings, so their life was comfortable, if not as easy as that of Jane and Lizzy.

Almost six years earlier, during her Season, Jane had captured the heart of Robert Nelson and had married him late that spring. He had provided a comfortable home in London for Jane and their two daughters, Elizabeth, known as Betsy, and Margaret, known as Meg. Occasionally, they would spend time at the family estate in Surrey.

When Elizabeth had her turn in town three years previous, she had captured the attention of Allen Raynor. They had wed and she had moved to Raynor Hill in Surrey, an estate near that of Robert Nelson’s family. By the next year, she had given birth to an heir, Allen.

Robert Nelson and Allen Raynor had always been good friends and highly competitive. The prior August, both families had been staying in Surrey for the summer. The competition between the men led to a carriage race resulting in a horrendous accident and the death of both men.

Jane and Elizabeth had spent the year of mourning adjusting to the loss of their husbands. Both were now comfortable financially thanks to their marriage settlements. Jane lived primarily in town but spent time in Surrey with Robert’s family and in Longbourn with her own. Elizabeth spent her time managing Raynor Hill and enjoying her young son. Mary had postponed her wedding until the end of the mourning period so that both sisters could enjoy the event. Both came to Longbourn for Mary’s wedding and stayed for part of the autumn to provide Kitty moral support as she entered society. Since their year of mourning was up, they would also resume attending social activities in the quieter atmosphere of Meryton. Jane planned to stay until the end of November. Elizabeth would leave shortly after the first Meryton assembly at the beginning of October.

Lady Stanford’s arrival signaled a change in the daily schedule. Now that Kitty was an adult, she would assume adult responsibilities. Lady Stanford took up the reigns of household management when she was at Longbourn. Each time a niece was ready to move into adulthood, Lady Stanford would instruct her in the proper running of the house. They spent each morning going over accounts, menus, needs of tenants, and other planning. Later in the morning, they would make or receive calls. Lady Stanford spent time teaching Kitty how to manage the social calendar as well. Kitty felt as if she was back in the classroom, but one far more interesting than the one Miss Bosworth, the governess, ever provided. The one thing that had not changed from the classroom was that Kitty was required to practice piano each day for a minimum of thirty minutes. Her sisters would still take a turn as well, so music was a frequent background to conversations in the mornings.

After instruction on a household or estate matter, Lady Stanford would oversee Kitty’s implementation of the instruction. They visited tenants; they determined what items tenants needed for an illness, death or new baby; they made over discarded clothing into ones more appropriate for a tenant’s child; they planned dinner menus for the family; they planned dinner menus for entertaining. Kitty loved it.

Now that their aunt had arrived, the finishing touches were applied to Kitty’s new, adult wardrobe. Some of the dresses were hand-me-downs from her older sisters. These were reworked to better fit Kitty. Since Kitty was taller than Elizabeth, the skirt on any dress Elizabeth gave her would be too short. However, it could be used to create an interesting overskirt. Thus, with little expense, Kitty obtained an appropriate wardrobe for fall in Meryton. When they went to London in winter, Kitty would acquire new dresses for her Season. Lady Stanford felt that understanding how to rework what she already possessed would be a benefit to Kitty no matter what station in life she attained. Each of the girls had learned these skills-even Jane. Jane’s hand-me-downs had been from Lady Stanford and from her deceased mother. However, for that most important first event, the assembly, Kitty got an entirely new dress.

Lady Stanford, Kitty, Jane and Elizabeth spent a morning at the dressmaker’s in Meryton selecting a style that would enhance Kitty’s figure and a material that would bring a sparkle to her eyes and light to her face. Lady Stanford talked to her about which colors suited and which did not and how to dress in a color that did not suit, when required to wear such, in such a way as to still not be too unflattering.

After this demonstration, Kitty said, “Why, this is why I look better in Jane’s cast offs than Elizabeth’s or Mary’s. My coloring is more like Jane while the other three of us are similar to each other.”

Lady Stanford smiled, “Yes, that is correct. Many women never learn this and so dress in colors that are not very flattering. But, as we have draped you in different colors, you can see the difference it makes. There are times when we must wear an ‘in’ color whether or not we like it. In those cases, we want to keep the color away from the face if it is not flattering. Wear it in an overskirt with a compatible color more suited closer to the face.”
Lady Stanford looked at the concentration on Kitty’s face and added, “Think of it like you are designing a still life and then painting it. You want everything to be complementary. You want to draw attention away from those things that are less pleasing and toward those that are more.”

Kitty smiled and replied, “Thank you. I will think of it that way.”

After a couple of hours of labor, they had selected and fitted the pattern and material. They would return in three days for a final fitting. They left the dressmaker’s and sought suitable accessories. Kitty loved all the attention and the new things they found. The assembly would be so much fun!
 
Chapter 2
Finally, the night of the first assembly that autumn arrived. Lydia and the children remained at home, while Mr. Bennet, Lady Stanford, Jane, Lizzy, and Kitty attended the assembly together. After this first effort, he would often let Lady Stanford chaperone without him, but for the first event, he always attended. He never danced. Instead, his accustomed practice was to find a corner in which to perch and watch the proceedings with some amusement.

As Kitty dressed, she was quite nervous. This was her first real foray into the adult social world, and she was anxious to make a good impression on her neighbors. Lizzy and Jane were concerned only with looking nice and were not nearly as nervous as Kitty. As they prepared to enter the carriage, Mr. Bennet bowed to them and said, “Well girls, you all look marvelously well. That includes you, too, Bess. I am proud to escort you all and just wish I had enough arms to go around.”

That brought a smile to all their faces. They crowded into the carriage and talked with anticipation of this assembly. The two older girls shared memories of their first assemblies and teased Kitty about finding a suitor right away.

Once at the assembly, all three received requests to dance the first couple of sets. Kitty loved to dance and was thrilled with this first taste of social success. This was much better than dancing with Miss Bosworth, her aunt, sisters or even her father. These had been her only partners so far. Since it had been a while for Jane and Lizzy, they too were glad to have partners. They still had many friends in the area, and this was one way to catch up on the changes in their lives.

Finally, Mr. Bingley and his party arrived. Although rumors had stated that he would bring first twelve ladies and seven gentlemen, then five sisters and a cousin, it turned out that it consisted of only five altogether; Mr. Bingley, his two sisters, the husband of the oldest, and another young man.

Mr. Bingley was good looking and gentlemanlike; he had a pleasant countenance, and easy, unaffected manners. His brother-in-law, Mr. Hurst, looked the gentleman; but his friend Mr. Darcy soon drew the attention of the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien; and the report which was in general circulation within five minutes of entrance, of his having ten thousand a year. The gentlemen pronounced him to be a fine figure of a man, the ladies declared he was much handsomer than Mr. Bingley.

Mr. Bingley had soon made himself acquainted with all the principal people in the room; he was lively and unreserved, danced every dance, was angry that the ball closed so early, and talked of giving one himself at Netherfield in the next month. Such amiable qualities must speak for themselves. He pleased Sir William by asking Miss Lucas to be his first partner. The contrast between him and his friend would have been significant, so reserved and formidable was Mr. Darcy, had not both Lady Stanford and Jane claimed a prior acquaintance.

Lady Stanford saw his reserve and that he walked around the room after dancing with first Mrs. Hurst and then Miss Bingley. When he was standing aloofly at one edge of the dance floor, Lady Stanford approached, “Mr. Darcy, it has been some time since we last met, at least three years, I believe.”

Mr. Darcy bowed and replied, “Lady Stanford, is it not? I think it has actually been five years.” He glanced at Jane, started, and said, “And is this not Mrs. Nelson?” At Jane’s curtsey, nod and smile, he continued, “I am sorry for your loss. What a tragedy last year.” At this point, Mr. Darcy dropped some of his reserve and conversed with both Jane and Lady Stanford for some minutes. Both Mr. Nelson and Mr. Raynor had been part of Darcy’s social set at school, so there were many mutual acquaintances about whom they could talk.

The current set ended and Lizzy found herself without a partner. Lady Stanford motioned her over and introduced her to Mr. Darcy. Upon learning that she was Elizabeth Raynor, he offered her his sympathies as well. Both Nelson and Raynor had been acquaintances of his although he had never previously met Lizzy. Jane was claimed by Mr. Bingley for this set, and Mr. Darcy continued to chat with Lizzy and Lady Stanford. As the set progressed, he asked Mrs. Raynor to honor him with a dance to which she readily agreed.

As they danced, Lizzy asked Mr. Darcy about his home. He described Pemberley, and she in turn described Raynor Hill, her son’s estate. She found Mr. Darcy very animated as he talked of his home. He asked intelligent questions about hers. They both found the set very pleasant. She asked his permission to introduce her friend, Miss Lucas, explaining that she thought he would also enjoy talking with her. She indicated that Miss Lucas was the woman that Mr. Bingley had started with. He agreed with some trepidation, but found that Miss Lucas was actually quite pleasant, clever, but not nearly as spirited and playful as Mrs. Raynor. He realized that Miss Lucas had not danced much and proceeded to rectify that situation.

The evening passed pleasantly for the whole family. Mr. Bingley danced with Jane twice, and she spent much time talking with his sisters. Catherine had never lacked a partner, which was all that was wonderful in her mind. Mr. Bennet had enjoyed visiting with friends and had spent at least one set in conversation with Mr. Darcy. He had spent less time watching than was his wont. Elizabeth had danced most of the evening and had greatly enjoyed herself.

On the way home, Elizabeth said to Kitty, “I think you danced every dance. Did you enjoy yourself?”

“Oh yes. It was so much fun. However, it was difficult to talk with some of the young men. I could not find a topic on which we could converse.”

Lady Stanford laughed, “Yes, that happens often. We will spend some time learning how to make meaningless small talk which will help. Jane, Mr. Bingley seemed quite taken with you.”

Jane replied, “He was very nice. I enjoyed talking with him and his sisters.”

Mr. Bennet said, “Well, girls, you are all out in society now. I will await calls from any young men who capture your fancies in my library, but only in the afternoons. I must have my private time in the mornings.”

They all laughed at the thought of him needing to restrict his hours for a beau to call upon him. Kitty found Lydia waiting in her room wanting to hear all about the assembly. They spent the next hour huddled together as Kitty recounted her first social success.