The next day after work, I opened the parcel Beth had given to me at the Savoy. The first letter was from Jane, who was in London, to Lizzy in Kent, where she was visiting the newly married Charlotte Chatterton. After the ball at Helmsley Hall, Will Lacey had gone directly to London to talk to George Bingham about his brother’s interest in Jane Garrison. Charles was summoned by his older brother and was convinced it was best to end the relationship. At the time she wrote this undated letter, Jane was in Gracechurch Street, trying to mend her broken heart.
Dear Lizzy,
I have much to acquaint you with. Mr. Bingham came to Uncle Sims’s on Monday, as he had just learnt that I was in London. He said nothing of leaving Helmsley Hall so suddenly, but handed me an invitation from his brother George to lunch with him on Wednesday. I was very apprehensive about meeting the head of the Bingham family, as everyone speaks of him with such deference.
George Bingham is a slightly taller version of Charles but with less hair and spectacles. For all of his wealth, George resides in Cheapside, not more than a mile from Uncle Sims. The house is modest in size compared to his fortune and sensibly furnished. Charles, George, and his wife, Hannah, greeted me warmly, and we had a lovely lunch. George asked me many questions about my family and my interests, all in a very agreeable manner. After the meal, he requested that I join his wife and him in the study. The conversation continued much as before, and then he opened the door and asked for Charles to see me home.
Charles rode with me in the carriage and told me he thought the afternoon had been a great success. A success — to what end? Neither of us knew what to say, so I asked if he had attended the theatre while he was in town. He said that London had lost all attraction for him and that he longed to be in the country. Then, Lizzy, you can’t imagine what happened next. The very next day, George Bingham sent word that he would like to visit with me at Uncle’s on Friday. I confess I still do not know what to make of his visit, but here is what he said:
‘I am a man of few words. I talk openly and honestly so there is no confusion as to what I mean or expect. In short, Miss Garrison, I get to the point. Although Charles’s sisters are fond of you, they questioned the wisdom of an association with your family. I might have disregarded their opinions if it were not for the fact that Mr. Lacey had also spoken out against such a union. I need to acquaint you with some facts before you judge him too harshly.
‘When Charles was very young, our parents died, and I became the head of the Bingham family enterprises. There were too many demands on my time, and I neglected Charles’s upbringing. When he was sixteen, I sent him to America with our brother, Richard, to learn about our business concerns in New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston. In Charleston, his interests were almost exclusively confined to riding, dancing, and hunting. Charles wanted to stay in Charleston, as he found its society to be most agreeable. However, Richard reported that, behind the genteel planter society, the young men engaged in activities that were in conflict with what was expected of a Bingham. Richard sent him home.
‘Once back in England, I engaged an excellent tutor for Charles. He did improve under Mr. Montaigne’s direction, but before I could be at ease with his entry into society, Charles needed to be guided by someone of impeccable manners and unquestionable morals. Mr. Lacey was such a gentleman. I was acquainted with Mr. Lacey, as I was an executor of the elder Lacey’s estate. At my request, he agreed to befriend Charles. The young, well-mannered man you have come to know is largely a product of Mr. Lacey’s instruction.
‘Now, as to what concerns me with regard to your relationship with my brother, please forgive me, but I must be blunt. I am told your parents have neglected the education and supervision of your younger sisters exactly in the same manner I once neglected Charles’s. If not checked, I am sorry to say, they will get into trouble and cause harm to your family. I have also been informed that your mother anticipated an offer of marriage and had acquainted the neighbourhood with this information before the deed was done. That is always unwise.
‘I wish you to know that Mr. Lacey spoke most highly of you and your sister Elizabeth. His objections rested exclusively with the behaviour of your mother and younger sisters, as well as your lack of connections. Mr. Lacey comes from a prestigious family, and I hold him in the highest regard. However, if I wanted a pedigree, I would buy a dog.
‘When I met my wife, the daughter of my brother’s tailor, I recognized in her all the attributes I could hope for in a marriage partner: honesty, integrity, industry, and I cannot emphasize this enough, common sense. I am happy to say that I have observed those very same qualities in you, and my wife concurs. In fact, I have found you to be agreeable in every possible way. My only regret is that I had to say these things to you, but it was important that you know them.
‘For all these weeks that Charles has been in London, he has been perfectly miserable. I attribute this to his being deprived of your company. I hope that you understand the importance of the role Charles’s wife will play, and for that reason alone, I have acquainted you with my reservations. I am now reassured.’
Lizzy, what am I to think of all this? Am I to anticipate an offer of marriage from Charles? I am flattered that George Bingham has such a high opinion of me, but at the same time, I am mortified by his opinion of our family. Is Charles so in love with me that he will marry me despite all of these objections? And what of Mr. Lacey? If Charles does marry me, will that be the end of their friendship? Please write as soon as you are able.
Love,
Jane
Beth had probably included this letter because it provided a quick study of both Jane and Charles’s characters. I didn’t think either of them came off very well. Charles appeared to be an immature young man whose main interests were dancing and riding. And Jane! What a docile creature she was, especially considering Charles’s shortcomings. After Rob had a chance to read the letter, I asked what he thought about it.
“Whatever went on in Charleston that Charles and the planters’ sons got into, George didn’t like it one bit. It’s pretty obvious that Charles was never going to be allowed to become a partner in the Bingham businesses, so George gave him the money to build a country house that would keep his little brother busy. Basically, Charles was all hat and no cattle.”
“I get the feeling that George wanted Jane to be his wife and mother.”
“Since Charles never had a mother, maybe that was okay with him. Besides, you told me that the job of the ladies in Pride and Prejudice was the ‘getting of husbands,’ and Jane had got herself a very rich one. She’d have been crazy to have turned him down. Look at it this way, Charles turned out all right. A lot of guys with too much money and time on their hands didn’t. After I visited Blenheim, a guy at the village pub told me Randolph Churchill, Winston’s father, liked booze and women and died of syphilis, and he was pretty typical of younger sons.”
At that point, I told Rob about my visit with Beth. After hearing about Edward Lacey’s adulterous affairs and Trevor’s illegitimate child, he let out a long whistle. Apparently, social prohibitions were very flexible if you belonged to the gentry or the aristocracy.
We were both so tired that Rob begged off sharing what Jack had told him at the Engineer’s Club. Besides, learning about Beth’s brothers had unsettled me. I told him I was still working my way through Beth’s latest parcel, so any news from Jack could wait. To the sound of the Dawkins boys giggling, Rob kissed me good night and winked at the two pairs of eyes peeking out of the darkened family room.
As I was going upstairs, Mrs. Dawkins called me into the kitchen and pulled a postcard out of her apron pocket. It was a standard vacation postcard which said, “Greetings from Malta” and showed the capital city of Valletta. On the back, Michael had crossed out “Wish you were here” and had written “Wish I were there. Mike.”
“I didn’t think you’d want your fellow to see that,” Mrs. Dawkins said with her arms crossed over her chest, “so I put it in my pocket.”
“Mrs. Dawkins, Mike is the Crowells’ son. You know, the family I visit in Crofton. I met him one time when he was home on leave.”
Mrs. Dawkins’s arms remained crossed.
“He’s in the RAF. He’s stationed in Malta.”
“Then he’s not just there on holiday? He won’t be coming back here?”
“Eventually, he’ll come back here. This is his home, but his enlistment isn’t up until the end of this year.”
“All right then. That’s what I wanted to hear. There’s no reason for any girl to have two men in her life at the same time.”
And she turned off the light and told me she would see me in the morning.
I understood Mrs. Dawkins’s concerns. Shortly after I had moved in, I found out about Debbie, the tenant who had immediately preceded me. Debbie had entertained a man above stairs, which Mrs. Dawkins had made very clear would result in the immediate termination of the lease. If that wasn’t shocking enough, the man who had been visiting Debbie was not her boyfriend, which would explain why my landlady was unhappy about my receiving a postcard from someone other than Rob.
While I was getting ready for bed, I propped the card up next to my washbasin. It seemed so strange to me. Beth had said that Michael was asking questions about me, but I hadn’t heard a word from her son since I had seen him four months earlier at Crofton Wood. After all this time, why now? Did it have anything to do with my telling Beth that my relationship with Rob seemed to have stalled, and the only discussion regarding our future consisted entirely of where we were going on our next date? Had she shared that with Michael? I had no answers, so I put the postcard in my dresser drawer. As Mrs. Dawkins said, there was no reason for a girl to have two men in her life at the same time, and I was already having problems with the one I had.