Page 50 of A Life Diverted
“Ellie dear, I am not accusing either of you of anything untoward,” Cilla assured Ellie.
“You two have never come close to crossing any lines. That being said, one would have to be blind not to see the mutual attraction between the two of you. There is nought wrong with that, and I can tell you that if things ever progress, your father and I would approve of William. I believe the same can be said of your Bennet parents as well.”
Elizabeth was able to relax based on her mother’s statement. “I know not if William wants anything more than a friendship. However, if we were to become more to one another, would you and Father prefer it would not be too soon?”
“That would be rather selfish of us. All we want is the same thing we have ever desired for all of our children. That is for all of you to be happy. Would we want to farewell you after we have just recovered you? Not at all. However, if you did marry William. Do not look at me so, I said if , then you will be but five miles away. Unlike when we knew not where you were for close to two decades, we will know where you are and will, hopefully, be invited to visit often, as you will be invited to Willowmere any time you desire to come. ”
“Mother, how did you know you were in love?”
“When I arrived at the point where I could not imagine a version of my future without your father in it, I knew. Also, his felicity became far more important to me than my own, and if you ask Father, he will tell you the same about his feelings for me. Lastly, and very importantly, there must be mutual respect. Love without it is only infatuation.”
“Thank you, Mother, you have given me much on which to cogitate.”
Cilla kissed Ellie on the forehead. She stood and opened the door where a maid was waiting.
“I know you shared a maid with Janie at Longbourn. This is Janet, and she will be your maid while you are at Willowmere.” Cilla turned to the maid.
“Janet, you may unpack for Miss Ellie. She will tell you what she needs.”
The maid bobbed a curtsey and made her way to the dressing room where the trunks were waiting for her.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
An hour later, a washed and changed Elizabeth was shown to the drawing room where the family awaited her. After greeting everyone, she sat on a settee between Mama and Janie.
“We will have tea, and afterwards, if it is agreeable to you, Ellie, there will be a tour of the house,” Cilla stated. “I assume nothing has jogged your memory yet?”
“Not yet. Perhaps when we are touring the house, something will come back to me. For so many years, I made sure to stuff any memories into the recesses of my mind because, based on my erroneous belief, they were too painful for me. I know not if it will be the same here, but there are times I see something which makes me think of other unrelated things,” Elizabeth revealed.
“If you do, you do, if not, that is not an issue,” Wendell stated to make sure his daughter knew there was no pressure on her.
Having arrived from the dower house, David entered the drawing room. As soon as she saw her fiancé, Jane’s countenance lit up like the sun. She understood why they needed to sleep in separate houses, but that did not mean she had to be sanguine with it.
Cilla rang for tea.
“The suite Thomas and I are in is very comfortable,” Fanny said as they waited for the tea service to arrive.
She and Thomas were well pleased that being back in the house where Lizzy was born had not seemed to discompose her.
Her second daughter’s propensity—Lizzy would be thus forever regardless of the name she bore—to be unsettled by change seemed to have been banished.
Fanny was pleased to see her daughter’s increased sense of security.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see how intently William was watching Lizzy, at least when he thought he was unobserved.
Darcy was well satisfied that Ellie had taken arriving at Willowmere in her stride.
He had been worried she may have a reaction like she had had at Longbourn when she was about to hide in that trunk in the schoolroom.
Thankfully, that had not occurred again.
In fact, the next day they had all played the game again, this time with the ‘no hiding in trunks’ rule.
Ellie had played, and she had been very happy to do so, never looking discomposed at all.
Just before the tea service arrived, they caught one another’s eyes and both smiled widely. ‘ No ,’ Darcy thought, ‘ Ellie is not indifferent to me. However, I do need to wait before I approach her. I am sure she and her parents want her to remain at home for a while. ’
Soon enough Mrs Malfoy was supervising two maids who placed the tea service, a large platter of small cakes, and some pastries Cook had baked that morning.
On her way out of the drawing room, the housekeeper stopped for an instant and looked at Miss Ellie.
With a face splitting smile, she followed the maid out of the room.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The tour for Ellie, who could not remember seeing it, and the Bennets who had never before seen the house, commenced after the tea service had been collected. David was at Jane’s side and Giana joined them to be with Mary. The two youngest Bennets were enjoying a lesson.
First were the public rooms on the ground floor.
Next, they went up one flight to the first floor where the private rooms and parlours were located.
The penultimate room they visited was the library.
Both Bennet and Elizabeth were impressed by the size of the library and the amount of books.
Bennet verbalised that to Elizabeth’s father.
“I know you have several bibliophiles in your family, and yes, this library is good, and more than meets our needs,” Wendell responded.
“It is, however, less than a third the size of the library you will see at Pemberley when we visit the Darcy estate. The collection of tomes there is four to five times what I have here. Darcys, well first D’Arcys, have been collecting manuscripts, and later books, since before the Conqueror and his Normans took England.
Pierre D’Arcy served William I and came with him, but he and his family had been collecting manuscripts for a few generations before the new king granted him the land we know of today as Pemberley. ”
At first, Bennet, Elizabeth, and Mary were struck dumb.
“How is one to read half of those books in a lifetime?” Elizabeth asked. “It will be something to see.”
“Ellie, the final room is your father’s study. If it is too difficult for you to be in that room, just tell us,” Cilla said gently. “This may be one time that having a good memory may be unpardonable,” she teased.
“It is just another room, and I am no longer a girl of not yet three. I am sure my equanimity will not be disturbed over much,” Elizabeth claimed.
Wendell led them out of the main doors and turned to the left. They arrived at a large oak door, which he pushed open. “Welcome to the study,” he said and then stepped back and allowed the others to enter the room.
From the nightmares she had had, Elizabeth recognised the study immediately. “The safe is behind that portrait of Mother, is it not?”
“It is,” Wendell confirmed. “What do you remember?”
“The robber had the painting swung to one side and the safe was open. He was looking at something…a gold fob watch, I believe. The strongbox was on the desk, and open,” Elizabeth recalled from her nightmares. “That is when he told me I needed the magic potion.”
“And you still are unable to see his face?” Bennet enquired.
“No, Papa, I cannot,” Elizabeth responded. “I am so very sorry, I know everyone wants to know who the criminal is. Truth be told, so do I, but I can never see his face clearly.” She paused as she remembered something else. “Did I tell you that he called me ‘little one’?”
“No, but it will not assist us. It was used by several people, our uncle was one of them,” David stated.
“When Uncle Stephen called me that in Hertfordshire I was worried, but I knew that he could not have had anything to do with what happened that night. I remember Barney telling me that he and late Aunt Adelle arrived from Glenmeade a day later as they had not been here when I was taken,” Elizabeth related.
“Is there anything else you saw in your dreams?” Cilla prompted.
“In the study?” Elizabeth saw nods. “Only that one of the drawers in Father’s desk was open. ”
“It was where I kept the key to the safe,” Wendell mused. “Even if the miscreant is never brought to justice, he failed. You are hale and healthy and back in this house.”
“Amen to that,” Cilla and Fanny chorused.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The next day was a clear one. The younger set all went riding in the morning prior to breaking their fasts and it was when Elizabeth had her first view of the Peaks visible from Willowmere.
The mountains were more beautiful than she had hoped, and she looked forward to the views of them available from Pemberley and Snowhaven.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The man knew he needed to be careful what he asked about in Meryton.
It did not take too much to discover the Bennets had an estate, Longbourn, a mile from the town, but much to his chagrin, they had left to travel somewhere.
He could not wheedle the information of the location without drawing suspicion to himself.
It meant he would have to be patient and not make himself stand out.