Regina Jeffers: Christmas at Pemberley

In July 1814, the Regent became “fed up” with his daughter’s defiance, and he dismissed all her servants and her lady attendants. Charlotte sought protection with her mother Princess Caroline, but still being under the Prince’s domain until age one and twenty, Charlotte was returned to Carlton House.

On Christmas Day 1814, Charlotte sought reconciliation with her father. In doing so, she admitted her recent relationship with Captain Hesse. Princess Caroline had encouraged the connection between her daughter and the captain, and Mercer Elphinstone had arranged the meetings and the correspondence between the lovers.

Charlotte had previously requested a return of her letters from Hesse, who had served as an equerry in Princess Caroline’s service for a time. However, Hesse made no move to respond to Charlotte’s demand, and the foolish princess had anticipated being blackmailed.

Over the next four days, Charlotte ingratiated herself with her father, and the Regent discovered details regarding his wife’s duplicity. During those conversations, Charlotte admitted an interest in Prince Leopold, the third son of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the man whom she would eventually marry.

Those are the facts. This is the fiction: Beauford Manneville was not Captain Hesse’s American relative, and Hesse did not send Princess Charlotte’s letters and personal items to Manneville for safekeeping. Manneville is a plot device and a pure creation of my imagination. He is used to add a “what if ” to the story.

Regina Jeffers, an English teacher for thirty-nine years, considers herself a Jane Austen enthusiast. She is the author of several novels, including The Phantom of Pemberley , Darcy’s Passsions , Darcy’s Temptation , Captain Wentworth’s Persuasion, and Vampire Darcy’s Desire . A Time Warner Star Teacher and Martha Holden Jennings Scholar, Jeffers often serves as a consultant in language arts and media literacy. Currently living outside Charlotte, North Carolina, she spends her time with her writing.