Posted on 2012-10-05

Monday afternoon

As Charles and Jane were strolling in the Longbourn garden, Charles said brightly, "Dearest, what are you wearing to our engagement ball on Saturday?"

Jane's lovely eyes flickered in surprise at the question but calmly replied, "I have a new ball gown that is a pretty blue. I have another new one that is pale yellow. You know mama has been taking me to the dressmaker!"

"I think the blue gown would be lovely, my dear. Would you wear that one? "

'Of course! But why do you ask?" Bingley shook his head no. "Well, if that is your preference, I will gladly wear that one." Jane smiled a dazzling smile to her beloved, but then again, to her beloved, all of Jane's smiles were dazzling.

As they walked a bit more in the garden Jane posed a question of her own. "Charles, I know that your fortune is derived from trade, but I don't know the specifics. I would like to know."

Charles coughed a bit and Jane patted him on the back and knitted her eyebrows together in concern. "Are you alright, dearest?"

Charles sputtered some and then replied in a strangled voice, "Yes, I'm fine. Well, um, my father was a clockmaker. He made clocks of all kinds and for all kinds of people. He made case clocks, carriage clocks and fancy clocks in the French style with gilt bronze statuary and marble. He also dabbled a bit in watches, but mostly he was in clocks."

"There is a lovely clock in Netherfield's entry. Is that his work?"

"Yes. You see, my father had the soul of an artist but the head of a businessman. He knew he could not make a living from his art but he found a way to combine the two. He started out in the more utilitarian clocks and set up workshops and production facilities for those. With a steady stream of orders and income, he was able to create more elaborate clocks to satisfy his artistic bent."

Jane replied, "Ah, thus the clock at Netherfield."

"Just so."

"Do you know anything about clocks?"

"Well, I am a clockmaker's son after all! My father had a studio and workshop at the house. I spent a good bit of time there growing up. While I can't build a clock from scratch, I am a daft hand at making repairs. I tell you that every clock in our house will run. I know enough to do that certainly!

"Charles, that is wonderful. I had no idea that you were so skilled."

"The family joke was that clock chimes didn't say "ding ding ding. They really said "Bing Bing Bing!"

Jane laughed, just as he meant for her to.

"Speaking of clocks let me check the time. Darcy said he would be here about noon and perhaps we need to return to the house." Bingley pulled out a lovely gold watch from his waistcoat as he said this.

"My dear, tell me about your watch. Is that one of your father's watches?"

"No, well, sort of. You see, he gave me this watch, so that makes it special but he did not make the watch. He designed and created the case but someone else created the works and fitted it to the case for him. It is very special to me."

"So as an artist, your father worked with gold?"

"Well yes. That was part of his artistic side. He was a bit of a goldsmith and so forth. I say, there is Darcy's horse so let's go on in."

As the contented couple walked into the house, they could hear the case clock in the entry hall chiming the noon hour. Jane looked at Charles and laughingly said "Bing, Bing, Bing! I am sure I shall never hear the clock chime the same way again!"

Darcy and Bingley were invited for luncheon with the Bennet family. Afterwards in the postprandial lethargy, the two engaged couples repaired outside. Happily, there were a nice table and chairs in the garden, and it was a perfect spot for the foursome to relax and have a drink.

Lizzy began the conversation by asking, "Fitzwilliam, how did you and Charles become friends?"

Darcy replied, "Well I think you know we met at Cambridge but what you don't know is that it took several meetings and accidents for us to become fast friends. Bingley first came to my notice by the river when…"

Bingley groaned, "Oh Darce, do you have to start there? Surely you don't want to reveal my faults to dearest Jane?"

"Oh, I think the strength of her attachment to you will survive this small indiscretion, Bingley." Darcy was grinning, and Bingley leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "Hmm, as I was saying, he first came to my notice when he nearly ran me - and little Georgiana - down as we were headed to the punts behind our college. It was a nice fall day, rather like this one, and Georgiana and my father and my aunt and uncle were all visiting Cambridge. I wanted to take Georgie for a brief ride on the River Cam. As we got near to the ticket window, two racing hoydens, one with wild gold hair, dashed past us, threw down their money and claimed the last two boats. So no boat ride for Georgie. I was most put out at not fulfilling a promise I had made to my little sister. Needless to say, that hoyden was none other than my friend here."

"Charles, how could you! To disappoint little Georgie in such a fashion? What could you have been thinking to outmaneuver a child for a treat?" Jane asked.

"Well, honestly, I didn't see them. I did not realize that someone else was getting a boat. You see Harrington and I had a wager on…"

Jane gasped and said "You were a gamester?"

"Oh pish. Not for money! Our shared valet was off sick and we had a wager on. The loser had to clean the boots for the next three days. I lost that bet and to this day I hate cleaning boots!"

Everyone at the table laughed at this one. Lizzy said, "Go on William, what happened next."

Darcy started again. "Well the next time I saw him was a week or so later. I was thinking ahead to the holidays and wanted to buy Georgie a small gift of jewelry for Christmas. I wanted a good piece but something suitable for an eight year old. You see, she was to sit for her childhood portrait soon, and I thought it would be nice for her to have her own jewelry for that. Anyway, for an eight year old, your choices are severely limited, as you can imagine. So I was in the nicest jewelry shop in Cambridge and was looking at three different, very simple pendants. Then in walked Bingley and Harrington. I thought oh no, here we go again! But Harrington struck up a conversation and asked what I was doing. I told him and Harrington said 'Well Bingley is your man because after all his f…' "

Bingley was seized with a terrible coughing spell. Bingley was looking at Darcy, coughing and minutely shaking his head. Jane was alarmed and began patting Bingley on the back and reaching for the lemonade.

Bingley caught his breath and stared resolutely at Darcy, who began speaking once more. "Well, um, Harrington indicated that Bingley could help me choose the right pendant because his f..f..favorite hobby was stones. So Bingley proceeded to look at them, and he then pushed the middle one that I was favoring toward the shop owner. I thought I heard him say to the man 'You should be ashamed.' But I wasn't sure. In the end, he said that both the yellow citrine and the pink sapphire were good stones but that the pink one was more rare and was a very good cut. Naturally I bought the pink one. Later outside, I learned that the blue one was glass, not a gemstone at all. I don't know how Bingley knew that, but I certainly did not. I was very glad to not purchase a glass for my sweet sister. So I knew Bingley was a valuable friend right away."

"Oh Charles, I had no idea you were so talented! Perhaps we should send you to the palace to check out the royal collection!" Lizzy smiled roundly at her quip, but Charles had another coughing fit. Darcy looked sternly at Bingley. Bingley coughed more and minutely shook his head.

"Are you recovered?" asked Darcy with a bit of a bite to his tone. "Well now for the final part of this how-we-became-friends tale, I will tell you that Charles saved my life. Literally. We two and Harrington were walking along the main road and headed back to our college. We had been to Mr. Brown's new pub for luncheon. Harrington had stopped to light his foul pipe, so Bingley and I stopped walking also. At that moment a cart from the brewery trundled by. One of the straps that were holding the casks broke, and a large cask of ale tumbled off the cart. Charles saw this and grabbed me and Harrington, of course, out of the way. One or the both of us surely would have been killed were it not for Bingley's quick thinking."

"My dearest, how many lives you affected on that day," cried Jane.

Darcy started again, "So from that point on, we have been fast friends. I learned that we went to the same college and lived in the same quad, but a different staircase. Soon, we were living in the same staircase because I knew a good thing when I saw it. Despite the unpleasantness with the boating episode, Charles has been my good friend ever since. I know how lucky I am. And to think he will soon be my brother means more to me than I can say."

Bingley looked pleased but a little embarrassed. He leaned forward and shook the other man's hand with his thanks. He continued, "I say, Darce, do you remember how we looked after those casks broke open? We were drenched in ale and stank to high heavens. When we got back to college, we received quite a drubbing from some other fellows. I think that the porter donated those clothes to the poor house."

"Oh yes," Darcy rejoined. "I can only imagine how the men who received them looked so fine but smelled so foul. Anyway, as I said, firm friends from that point onward." Darcy smiled at his lady, her sister and his friend with thoughts of many happy hours and years ahead of him with such delightful companions. His reverie was broken when Mrs. Bennet called from the house, and the two ladies excused themselves for a moment, leaving the men alone.

"Darce, sorry about the coughing. I thought you were going to tell Jane about my father. I really don't want to do that. Not now at least."

"I swear I have given up meddling in your life. I promise not to divulge this, per your request. But, I must say that clear and open and honest communication is a good thing. Remember how I kept the Wickham business to myself and what consequences it had? Remember when I didn't tell you about Jane's visit? Remember I would not definitively tell Aunt Catherine that I was not going to marry Anne and what a mess that created? Keeping secrets doesn't do anyone any good, unless revealing them would bring hurt. There is nothing and no one in this situation that would be hurt. Besides, this is your wife, or she will be soon, for goodness sake. Ponder that, my friend."

The men sat in companionable silence until the ladies returned, whereupon Bingley cleared his throat and said, "Jane, you remember that when we were talking about my father, I mentioned that in addition to having a clock making business he was an artist and a goldsmith?" A nod from her showed that she recalled it. He looked at Lizzy, and she had her head turned to an angle waiting for more information. "Well, and you also recall Darcy's story about my assistance in that jewelry shop? About me knowing stones, I mean? Yes, well, that is because I learned about gems and jewels at my father's knee, so to speak. You see, he created the family fortune by working in the gem and jewelry trade. He imported jewels and he sold his artistic creations, that is, his jewelry, to the finest houses in England. And I do mean the very finest houses. Let your imagination run wild."

Lizzy gasped and said, "So that is what sent you in a coughing fit when I mentioned sending you to the royal collection? I wondered what that was about."

"Yes, well, quite. You see, my father sold to the royal family and their friends. Some of them had unusual relationships at the time. Mrs. Fitzherbert and the Countess of Jersey to name a few. The Prince was a very good customer. My father always believed that the Prince kept some of the pieces he purchased instead of giving them all away. So, some of the pieces are likely in the royal collection now."

Jane gushed, "Why Charles, that is incredible. Why have you never told us this before? But wait! You just told me in the garden that your father was a clockmaker."

"Well he was. The start of his business was based on clocks. He kept this gems and jewelry part of his business very private. With his clientele, you can be sure they wanted absolute privacy. The clock business was bringing in lots of money, so he had managers working for him to keep that end running. To all the world, he was a man in trade and his trade was clocks. He was free to indulge himself in his workshop creating custom designs for his other clients. Most of those designs were for extravagant clocks and beautiful jewelry. Most of the clients were in the upper reaches of society." Bingley thought a bit more and continued.

"Dearest, very few people know this. Darcy here, Harrington, a few of father's old workers and now you two and it must remain that way. Much as I respect them, not your parents or sisters or even the Gardiners, please. None of them must know about these high society commissions and not about the members of the royal family. Louisa and Caroline certainly do not know it. In the family, we never speak about his jewelry making and neither should you. He was a clockmaker. That is all anyone needs to know."

Bingley looked significantly at his wife and Lizzy and both ladies nodded their heads. He thought a bit more and continued. "Louisa and Caroline do know that Father worked in gold. They know that he designed and crafted my watch. Louisa has bracelets that Father designed. She wears them all the time. Surely you have noticed her playing with them?" Jane and Lizzy nodded that they had. "Both she and Caroline know where they came from. Caro has a beautiful necklace that he made, but she won't wear it. She is terrified someone will admire it and ask where she got it. She doesn't want to admit that our father designed and made it. If she only knew!"

Bingley laughed ruefully and took another sip of his lemonade. "Can you imagine how Caroline and Louisa would lord it over everyone if they knew that their father had made jewels for the royal family? They know he dabbled in gold, but they think that he was really just a clockmaker with an artistic streak. And I want them to go on thinking that!"

"Imagine, your father's work could be in The Princess of Wales' jewelry box or gracing the neck of Princess Charlotte," said Lizzy.

"Well, yes, I don't doubt it. Actually, the last thing he was working on was for the royal family. Father had purchased the stones and nearly finished a special commission for the Princess of Wales when he died."

Lizzy spoke gravely as she said, "I will keep your secret and I am sure that your dearest wife will as well. You may depend on us." Jane nodded to show her assent. "I understand that all jewelers have a hallmark on their pieces to identify their work. What sort of mark did your father use?"

"It was a circle with two lines in it, rather like the hands of a clock pointed to 3:00."

"A clock! How clever!" said Darcy. "I never knew that."

"Well, the symbolism is obvious."

"But why 3:00?" asked Jane?

"Well it was his way to include Louisa, Caroline and me as his three children."

Both Jane and Elizabeth wondered how many more secrets they would learn as new brides. Bingley was hoping that he had done the right thing in sharing this with the sisters. Darcy was gazing at Lizzy's fine eyes and not thinking about Bingley at all.

Friday morning

Bingley arrived at Longbourn as was his wont before luncheon. Although the day was much cooler than the previous Monday, it was still fine enough to go for a brief stroll in the garden before the meal with the family.

Jane began, "Dearest, do you think the weather will hold for tomorrow's ball? I do hope we won't have muddy roads for all the carriages."

"I checked the barometer in the hallway this morning and it is steadily rising. So I think the fair weather will be with us a bit longer. I am so looking forward to dancing with you tomorrow night and seeing you in your beautiful blue gown."

"Charles, you are so sweet."

Charles stopped and Jane stopped too. After a moment's thought, he steered Jane to the little bench under the tree. "Dearest, would you sit with me a moment? I have something that I would like to give you. An engagement present, if you like." At that, he pulled a square flat box from an inside pocket of his great coat and handed it to Jane.

Her eyes were wide with surprise and she exclaimed, "Oh my! My dear!" She held the box in her hands and stared at it.

Charles could wait no longer. "Open it dearest. I hope you will like it."

There inside the velvet lined box was a stunning necklace and earrings in the most beautiful shade of blue. "Oh these are lovely! What are they?"

"Those are sapphires from an island off the coast of India, where the best quality gems are found. Do you like them?"

"I can hardly breathe. These are so beautiful, and you have given them to me. Charles I am so honored." Jane blushed furiously and leaned in and gave Charles a peck on the cheek and then if possible, she blushed some more.

Charles was grinning from ear to ear when he said, "My dear, they are perfect for you. Here, let's take them out so you can put them on."

"Oh they are so cold! I had no idea that gems were so cold! Look how finely they are set in this lovely surround. I don't know anything about gems and settings but even I can see how beautiful these are. Look on the back. What is that? Its…oh…it's a circle…Charles, did your father make these?"

"Yes, but the knowledge of their maker must remain a secret with us. Lizzy may know, of course, but no further."

Jane looked at her beloved with an adoring smile. And she knew the answer before she ever asked the question. "Is this the last commission your father was working on?"

"Yes, my love. These jewels were made for a woman who is to be queen."

"Truly?"

"Yes. But now they are for you. You are my queen and shall rule my heart always."

Saturday evening

When Jane Bennet descended the stairs of Longbourn prior to departing with her family for Netherfield, she did not have her evening cape on yet. She saw her mother and immediately Mrs. Bennet noticed the gorgeous sapphire necklace. "Oh Jane, my dearest Jane. Didn't I tell you what jewels you would have! Look at these!"

"Mama, Charles gave them to me yesterday as an engagement present. "

"Oh Jane. This is just the beginning. Think of it! I shall go distracted. Where is your father at a time like this?" Her handkerchief fluttered merrily as Mrs. Bennet's brain flitted from thought to thought about gowns, jewels, pin money, carriages…all awaiting her most deserving daughter. "Where is the carriage? Hill, Hill?" Soon all were leaving Longbourn and headed to Netherfield house for the ball.

In the receiving line, Caroline Bingley was still not reconciled to her brother's choice. But he had demanded and she had agreed to be on her good behavior this evening.

Jane and Lizzy were the first of the Bennet family out of the carriages and into the house. Jane floated to her fiancé's side and received a gentle kiss on the hand from her dear one. She turned to Caroline to extend her greetings but Caroline gasped as she beheld the beautiful necklace and earrings that Jane was wearing.

"Those are lovely, dear Jane. Are they a gift from someone special?" Jealousy was threatening to overrun Caroline's unsteady hold on civility.

"Caroline, they are an engagement present from your dearest brother. I am so honored to have them."

"Why I have never seen anything like them before. They are magnificent! Why one would think they were made for a queen!"

Jane, who looked at her soon-to-be-sister with an enigmatic smile, replied "Quite."

Bingley smiled at his sister and put a bit of pressure on Jane's arm and exclaimed to her, "I think it must be time for us to open the ball. Come with me, my dearest queen!"

The couple walked into their engagement ball, the next step to a long and happy marriage.