Chapter 31
Lady Francis Meaburn to Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy
Stilbury castle
My dear Nephew,
I was pleased to receive your letter, for it has been quite a period since we corresponded. However, I cannot accede to your request to forgive my daughter, come to Pemberley, and be reconciled, merely because she has given birth to her second child. Nor can I do so for the other reason you mention, to celebrate the publication of her new book. I cannot regard this as a fortunate circumstance, much less a cause for congratulation.
Nothing will ever induce me to countenance her marriage to that stonemason, and I absolutely refuse to meet him. Families like ours do not admit such people to our circle of acquaintances. Anne has betrayed her family by her disgraceful marriage, and she does not deserve to be received or acknowledged. If you choose to do so, I cannot prevent you, but I shall always look upon it as the lamentable result of your own marriage to a woman with no rank, and no money.
As for Anne's writing, I suppose I must be thankful that she publishes under her married name, and has not disgraced the ancient and honoured name of de Bourgh. I have not read any of her books, and do not intend to. If she had published a book of elegant extracts, it would have been perfectly acceptable; or she might have written pleasant little verses, as the Duchess' sister, Lady Augusta, does. But ladies of quality should not write works of fiction, to amuse the idle and the unlearned. Novels ought to be forbidden, for they are only read by women who spend their time uselessly and neglect their duties. I never read, except for the newspaper; I have better things to do, unless for any reason I am not able to go to church, when I read from a collection of sermons by the late Reverend Dr William Grisby, a friend of my late father's. When I have come to the end of the volume, I begin again at the beginning. This has been my practice for thirty years, and I see no reason to change it.
I am residing at Stilbury, as you see; and the poor dear Duchess is with me. The Duke's behaviour is becoming very strange. I can manage him; but she is afraid to be alone with him. I am not betraying a confidence in revealing this to you: everyone knows about it since the incident in Piccadilly, but he cannot be shut up, not yet, at any rate.
I dare say you saw the announcement in the newspaper, of Lord Francis' appointment to the command of the —th cavalry regiment. It is the finest regiment in the Army. The appointment cost a great deal of money, but no other regiment, and no other command, would do for a person of such lofty rank and distinguished family.
Since he was gazetted, Lord Francis has been continuously in London, working very hard in the service of his country. I expect you have seen those disgraceful articles in the newspapers, casting aspersions on his way of life. The wretched people who write these things should be arrested and punished, but it seems they cannot be stopped. He is not a spendthrift, as they say; military life is very expensive; you should see the bills I have had, for hundreds of pounds, and a note with them saying that they are for his uniforms.
He has spent a great deal on uniforms for the men, too, for he likes his troops to look smart, which is very unselfish of him, for if they have to go and get killed, the uniforms will not be returned, and we shall be out of pocket.
It is certainly not true that he drinks three bottles of champagne in an evening; he never drinks more than two, and he quite often visits the troops, or at least the officers, though of course if there is a war, he will not risk his life in the line of battle; why should he? The soldiers do that sort of thing; he will stand on a hill, with a telescope, and direct things. After all, they have not paid for their employment; and if he were killed, forty thousand pounds would be lost.
I still hold the living of Rosings, and I want to put Mr Septimus Whiley in there, for he is excessively tedious and thinks of nothing but his books; the Duchess wants to be rid of him. The Collinses could exchange with him, leave Hunsford and come here, for though Mr Collins is equally tedious, he does show a proper respect for rank, and can be useful in little ways; but Mrs Collins writes that they do not want to move away, only because the fruit trees that Mr Collins planted are beginning to bear! You would think, after all that has passed, that they would be willing to oblige me. But people of that class are extremely insensitive.
Believe me, nephew, I am not dead to all family feeling, and there is nothing I would like better than to come to Pemberley again. If ever you come to your senses, regain the consciousness of your rank, and give up Anne's acquaintance, I shall be delighted to visit you. Until then, I remain, believe me,
Your affectionate aunt,
C. de Bourgh Meaburn.
About the Author
Judith Brocklehurst was more fortunate than Elizabeth Bennet, for she got to the lakes—in fact she was brought up there, and it was on visits to the magnificent scenery of Derbyshire that her passion for Jane Austen was developed. She won a scholarship and attended Cambridge university, then emigrated to Canada in the sixties with her husband and two young daughters, and worked as a teacher and newspaper columnist. Her greatest pleasure was writing Jane Austen sequels by installments and sharing them electronically with Janeites all over the world.