The Colonel's Spinster: A Regency Romance (Tragic Characters in Classic Literature) Read online

  He turned to Prudence. “And you must be my secret cousin,” he said with an engaging smile. “Richard Fitzwilliam, colonel of the finest dragoons at your service ma’am.” Bowing with a flourish, Fitzwilliam grinned at Prudence. He might not be the most handsome man one would ever see, his features being plain rather than striking, but he certainly had address and was always extremely personable. Green eyes laughed out of a face more rounded than the typically sharp aristocratic face, but his wide smile was very appealing.

  Prudence stood and offered her hand in greeting. “Prudence Bamber. Pleased to meet you. So, you’re the famous colonel. Anne has been telling me all about my relations since my arrival.” She was a young woman, tall and slender, one who would be classed as striking rather than pretty. She had angular features, but laughing grey eyes and a ready smile softened her appearance. Her looks reminded Fitzwilliam of his Aunt Darcy, who had been considered extremely attractive in her youth.

  “Unfortunately, I’m only famous in the very small circle that consists of my family, outside of which, I am just another military man,” Fitzwilliam said pleasantly. He couldn’t help but be amused at Prudence’s northern accent. His aunt probably wouldn’t introduce her as a relation on the grounds of that alone. “I hope you are settling into life at Rosings.”

  “It’s not like any house I have ever stayed in before,” Prudence admitted.

  “No. Nor I,” Fitzwilliam responded with a twinkle in his eye. In his eyes, her comment wasn’t a sign that she hadn’t been used to the higher echelons of society in claiming she’d never seen such a place. Most people would be surprised and a little over-awed at the excessive opulence displayed in every room at Rosings. Lady Catherine believed in making visitors fully aware of the wealth and status of the family who owned the house. “I’m very interested in your story. I must say neither myself nor our cousin Darcy had any inkling about you.”

  “No. We are the side of the family best forgotten,” Prudence said, sitting down. Her tone was not recriminatory in any way. “It is nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you and your — sorry — our cousin Darcy. It is taking a little getting used to, knowing that I have cousins.”

  “But you’ve not heard about his wife, Elizabeth?” Fitzwilliam asked.

  “Oh, yes. A little.” Prudence smiled.

  “I thought it would be odd for Aunt Catherine not to have informed you how the whole family is going to the dogs.”

  “Mother is becoming more accustomed to the marriage,” Anne said in defence of her parent. “In fact she intends to write with suggestions and recommendations for when the new baby arrives. She did with their first born, and she wishes to ensure Cousin Elizabeth is under no doubt what to do.”

  “That is good of her. I’m sure Elizabeth will appreciate the correspondence,” Fitzwilliam responded, noting Prudence’s bland expression at Anne’s words and appreciating it. “Now, tell me. What entertainments have you got planned whilst I’m here?”

  Anne smiled. “You know we do little entertaining and even less exploring. You could take Prudence and show her beyond the boundary wall. I’ve never dared to. It would be bad enough if Mother found out about our morning rides. Even worse if we were seen outside the grounds.”

  “But you do go outside,” Fitzwilliam said.

  “Yes. But only when mother has arranged everything.”

  “Ah, I see.”

  “Is that my nephew? Why was I not told immediately of his arrival?” echoed the voice of the lady of the house as she entered the room.

  Anne immediately withdrew into herself, seeming to grow smaller even though she hadn’t actually moved. Her look was that of a wary, frightened sparrow. She had lost the colour from her flushed cheeks.

  Fitzwilliam had wondered at his aunt not noticing the positive change in Anne, but when he saw the result of Lady Catherine’s entrance on her daughter, he completely understood how the two women were able to keep their excursions secret. He felt real sympathy for the effect his aunt had on his young cousin.

  “Richard, at last we see you! Arrived safe and sound. Are the family well?”

  “They are, indeed, ma’am,” Fitzwilliam said, standing and kissing his aunt’s proffered cheek. “Mother and everyone else send their best wishes.”

  “Yes. Yes. Sit yourself down and tell me all your news. Prudence, make yourself useful and ring for a tray to be brought.”

  “Yes, Aunt,” Prudence said, standing and moving to the fireplace to tug on the rope at the side of the marble surround.

  “I could have done that,” Fitzwilliam said. “Especially as I’m still upright.”

  “You can come and sit near me and tell me the latest on dits.”

  Fitzwilliam dutifully obeyed and spent the next half hour pandering to his aunt’s questions. When the tea tray was brought into the room, Prudence dutifully poured the tea and then handed around the cups. When the cups were emptied, she collected them and rang for the tray to be removed, reinforcing Fitzwilliam’s assumption that she was being used as a companion.

  “Prudence is fitting in nicely,” Aunt Catherine informed Fitzwilliam, unconcerned that her words could be heard. “We hardly notice Mrs. Jenkinson’s absence at all.”

  Fitzwilliam rolled his eyes at the crass comment but used the opportunity to bring his cousin into the conversation. “Do you live in Manchester, Cousin?”

  “No. Just on the outskirts. A little place called Stretford,” she said. “Although the city seems to grow daily, so I’m sure that soon our house will be absorbed into the spread.”

  “Her father contacted me a few years ago to say that he thought she should spend some time with her mother’s family,” Lady Catherine informed Fitzwilliam.

  “How many years ago?” Fitzwilliam asked incredulously. His aunt couldn’t hold her tongue about anything, except when it came to poorer relations, it seemed.

  “Oh, about ten. Soon after her mother died,” Lady Catherine shrugged.

  “I’m sorry we did not know about you then,” Fitzwilliam apologised to Prudence. “I know Darcy and myself would have liked to be acquainted with you.”

  “He had Georgiana to bring up, and now he has his hands full with that family he insisted on connecting himself to.”

  “The Bennet family are a delight to be around. Most of them,” Fitzwilliam said with grin. “Every family has the sort of relations who one would wish to hide from society.”

  “I am to be yours, Cousin,” Prudence said, but her twinkling eyes laughed their understanding of his comment. “My Papa had ideas that I would want to be a genteel lady and be brought out in society. I have never aspired to that lifestyle. I’m happy with my upbringing, although it is nice to meet some of my mother’s family. The older I get, the more curious I am, especially as father always said I resembled that side of the family more than his.”

  “It was impossible for me to sponsor you for a season with Anne being so ill,” Lady Catherine defended her actions. “And how could I introduce the daughter of a cotton-spinner into the finest society?”

  “Aunt!” Fitzwilliam hissed, mortified that she could be so rude.

  “Don’t trouble yourself on my account,” Prudence said to Fitzwilliam. “When you have spent as much time around a cotton mill as I have, you would realise I’ve heard far worse insults.”

  “Have you really?” Anne was stirred into asking.

  Turning to her cousin, Prudence smiled. “Oh yes. Mill girls work from ten years old. They’re as tough as the clogs they wear on their feet, and if they have an opinion, they say it. Mind you, if you are in a spot of bother, they will be the first to offer help. They’re the kind of people you want on your side in any situation.”

  “It sounds an utterly barbaric place,” Lady Catherine shuddered. “How your mother could sink to such depths, I will never understand.”

  Fitzwilliam noticed the darkening of Prudence’s expression, even if his aunt did not, but it passed quickly enough, to be replaced by a b
land gaze. He suspected his cousin was restraining herself in their aunt’s presence ― something he could empathise with completely.

  “My mother, because of love, willingly joined a community that welcomed her wholeheartedly. She was more than happy, working by my father’s side until the day she died,” Prudence said firmly, unable to let her aunt’s comment go completely unchallenged.

  “We should all be allowed to marry for love,” Fitzwilliam interjected.

  “Are you a romantic, Cousin?” Prudence asked. Her laughing look returned as quickly as it had disappeared.

  “I’m too poor to be so,” Fitzwilliam shrugged. “A second son needs to find a rich wife or a career.”

  Raising an eyebrow, Prudence assessed him. “And which are you choosing?”

  “I’ve picked a career that doesn’t pay as much as my tastes would wish.”

  “Where I come from, we cut our cloth accordingly. People live within their means,” Prudence said.

  “We have a duty to keep tradesmen in work,” Lady Catherine interpolated. “What would happen if everyone were frugal? I could employ half the servants I do, and many families in the village would suffer as a result. Is that what you would want?”

  “Not at all. It’s to your credit to be so generous in employing the numbers you do,” Prudence said quickly. “My objection is spending when the bills can’t be paid. That can result in real hardship for families while they wait to see if the gentry pay their debts. I would suggest that the tradespeople are in a far more precarious situation than those creating the debt.”

  Fitzwilliam stepped in quickly. He could see the thunderous expression on his aunt’s face and knew without doubt, if the argument continued, it would not end well for Prudence. That his aunt didn’t like to be disagreed with was obvious to anyone who came in contact with her. She would have no compunction in sending his cousin away, returning her to the wilds of Manchester, which was a characteristic of Lady Catherine that Prudence clearly hadn’t quite realised yet.

  “Have you seen much of the Collinses since you arrived?” he asked quickly.

  “Yes. Aunt Catherine has kindly invited them a few times,” Prudence said with a knowing look at Fitzwilliam’s tactic. “Mrs. Collins is a very pleasant lady.”

  “Yes. She’s Mrs. Darcy’s best friend,” Fitzwilliam said. “I will walk over to the parsonage tomorrow. Would you like to join me, Cousin?”

  “I like to spend time with Anne in the mornings,” Prudence said. “But if you intend setting out after that, I will gladly accompany you.”

  “I’ve told her to get as much fresh air as she can while she is down here. Best to get some clean air to chase away the muck of the city,” Lady Catherine said.

  Fitzwilliam decided it was going to be a long visit.

  Chapter 2

  Fitzwilliam was happy to wait until Prudence and Anne returned from their carriage ride. He had spent the evening at his aunt’s side, and only after she retired, was he able to indulge in enough brandy to deaden the headache caused by her close proximity. How he had missed Darcy!

  Coming downstairs with a slightly fuddled head, he smiled at the two young women entering the front hallway. Anne was walking better, more upright, and she was smiling again, something that hadn’t happened much once her mother had appeared the day before.

  Bowing to them both, he smiled. “Would you both like to accompany me to Hunsford parsonage? I am happy to have each of my arms escort a pretty lady.”

  Prudence looked at Anne and shook her head in despair. “Is he always so full of flummery?”

  Anne looked at Fitzwilliam with a little trepidation, but smiled at Prudence. “Sometimes. Yes. Mostly.”

  Fitzwilliam let out a crack of laughter. “I like this new Anne,” he said with a smile.

  Blushing, Anne smiled at the compliment. “So do I. But please forgive me. I don’t think a walk would do me good. I still get quite tired. I am happy to sit in the library until Mother comes downstairs. Prudence has given me some novels, and I am enjoying them.”

  “Oh, really? Another secret from Lady Catherine?”

  “No. We just haven’t mentioned the fact. The books are quite visible,” Prudence pointed out.

  “My aunt never enters the library,” Fitzwilliam said with a smile.

  “But she could,” Prudence countered.

  “About as likely as me making general.”

  “How disappointing. I thought my new family were all destined for great things,” Prudence said.

  “Unfortunately, most second sons hang on to the tailcoats of the other members of the family.” Fitzwilliam shrugged. “Enjoy your books, Anne. We shall seek you out when we return.”

  “Have a lovely time,” Anne said with a wave and walked towards the library.

  Fitzwilliam offered his arm to Prudence, and she laid her hand on it before they exited the house. Turning towards the path that cut through the grounds, giving the neighbours a useful shortcut to the parsonage, he strolled at an easy pace.

  “You’ve done wonders for Anne,” he stated as soon as they were out of earshot of the house.

  “She was not hard to persuade into more activity,” Prudence said. “I felt so sorry for her when I first arrived.”

  “Yes. To be sickly with an overbearing mother cannot have been easy. The whole family has sympathised with her situation, but spending two weeks with our aunt will have shown you how dashed awkward it is trying to interfere on Anne’s behalf,” he admitted.

  “I think she isn’t as ill as everyone else thinks,” Prudence said thoughtfully. “She has been taught to believe that she’s unwell, which has influenced her and everyone around her in the way they treat her and how she behaves.”

  “I’m glad she is responding to you.”

  “We are of a similar age. She is only a few years older than I.”

  “I still think of her as being very young,” Fitzwilliam admitted.

  “Papa still considers me a bantling,” Prudence smiled.

  “Do you see much of each other? I’m led to believe that the hours are long, and the work is hard.”

  “Are we allowed to talk of such crude subjects?” Prudence teased. “I’ve been told expressly by our aunt that to talk of being in trade is not de rigueur.”

  “Oh dear. She does have a way with words.” Fitzwilliam grimaced. “It isn’t quite the thing to talk about when one is in society. Aunt Catherine is right in that regard. In recent years I have fought with men from all backgrounds, and I am not so high in the instep as to lord it over anyone. Plus, I’m genuinely interested.”

  Prudence smiled. “In that case, yes, the hours are long. Papa works extremely hard, but he has always been committed to our family and the area in which we live. Very often people seek his advice on any number of issues, and he always welcomes them. He’s very personable. I think that is what attracted my mother to him.”

  “How did they meet?”

  “Papa was on a trip to Derbyshire when mother was visiting her sister, Mrs. Darcy. They came across each other in the village of Lambton.”

  “Ah, I see. That makes sense. I wondered how the connection had been made. We are not the largest of families, so apart from visiting London, we do not travel around as much as other, larger families who seem to spread across the country. And with so few relatives, it is a real pity we didn’t know about you sooner. I wish Aunt Catherine had told us about you when your father first wrote to her.”

  “I disagree.”

  “Really? Why?” Fitzwilliam asked in surprise.

  “I would have been ten years younger and far more easily intimidated,” Prudence admitted. “Now I can enjoy my time with Aunt Catherine. I doubt I would have done when I was fifteen.”

  “I suppose so. Although I am not sure when she will stop intimidating me. I usually hide behind my cousin, Darcy, when we visit. I’m deeply disappointed that he chose to remain with Elizabeth, even though the baby is due within the next three months or so.”
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  “How selfish they are, leaving you to stand alone. Never mind. You can hide behind me,” Prudence offered. “I’ll protect you.”

  “Thank you. I no longer have anything to fear,” Fitzwilliam said with a smile. “I hope you will also protect me against Mr. Collins.”

  “Oh no,” Prudence said quickly. “You are on your own where he’s concerned!”

  *

  Mr. Collins was everything Fitzwilliam disliked in a person: pompous, silly, and conceited. On the visit, which was occurring after a long absence by Fitzwilliam, he was able to add narrow-minded to his list of the man’s faults.

  He was within the parsonage walls for only ten minutes before he wanted to punch the clergyman.

  “Lady Catherine has been so magnanimous in welcoming Miss Bamber into the fold,” Mr. Collins stated as soon as his wife, Charlotte, had taken Prudence to show her a quilt she’d completed. Mr. Collins had waited long enough for the ladies to be out of earshot before he turned the subject to Prudence.

  “Let’s not forget she needed a companion for my cousin, Anne. I do not think her actions were completely selfless,” Fitzwilliam pointed out, his tone brusque, which Mr. Collins failed to notice.

  “And what an honour it is to be chosen as companion for Miss De Bourgh. It can only be of benefit to Miss Bamber, extending her experience in such a way. Why, she is sure to secure a fine position after carrying out her duties for Lady Catherine. Is there any higher recommendation than that of Lady Catherine De Bourgh? I think you would struggle to find one,” Mr. Collins said.

  His words annoyed Fitzwilliam unaccountably. “Has she expressed any desire to be a governess or companion after her visit to Rosings has ended?”

  “Well, no. I don’t think so. But Lady Catherine has said that she will offer to find Miss Bamber a suitable position somewhere nearby, so Lady Catherine can keep a weather eye on her. Which after the history and the beginning Miss Bamber has had to endure can only be of benefit. I am truly in awe of Lady Catherine’s condescension and welcome after a breach in familial relations. It shows just how great a lady she is.”