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Wickham felt relief; one of the young scallywags begging near Bennet House had reported that the family had returned.

The Bennets’ return to London would relieve a little of the pressure being applied by the Spaniard , at least temporarily.

As impatient as he was to get his hands on her, he acknowledged that he must wait to make sure that the family’s guards further relaxed.

He openly admitted to himself that as soon as he received the ransom, he would make the virago that humiliated him pay.

He would show her what a real man was and would consider returning her only once she was well and truly broken and irrevocably ruined.

He salivated at the thought of punishing the woman for exposing him and laughing at him in public.

She would pay for his flogging, for his being cheated out of the mouse’s dowry by the prig, all of it.

She was the personification of all of the ills in his life.

Like he always managed to do, he forgot to lay the blame in the only place that it belonged—with himself.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

After the ball, the Fitzwilliams headed north to introduce their wives to the estates that would be their homes.

The Viscount and Viscountess were to Hilldale in Staffordshire, while the Honourable Mr. Richard and Lady Jane Fitzwilliam’s estate was Brookfield in Derbyshire.

The Matlock heir’s estate was west while Richard’s was north of Snowhaven.

The plan for both couples was to leave their estates, meet at an inn they often used to trade horses, then travel together into Kent for Anne de Bourgh’s wedding in March, arriving at Rosings a week before their cousin’s nuptials.

As the older former Bennets were not as intimate with Miss Bingley as their younger sister Elizabeth was, and Caroline understood that they needed to see their new homes so would miss her wedding, while Anne also understood them missing her engagement ball for the same reason.

They spent one night at Snowhaven to show their brides their childhood home.

The manor house consisted of the old Matlock Castle which gave the impression that it had welcoming arms extending from the castle walls reaching out on either side of the drive.

The two wings had been added over the years to increase the living space and the number of chambers for family and guests.

The construction was completed by the current Earl of Matlock.

Unlike many others, the Fitzwilliams had not permitted their castle to fall into a state of disrepair.

The castle and lands had been presented to the first Earl of Matlock in December 1485, as Sir Fredrick Fitzwilliam, a knight, had supported and significantly helped the winning side in the Wars of the Roses.

As his reward, he had been elevated and presented with the title of Earl of Matlock, and gifted with the Matlock Castle as well as the vast Snowhaven estate.

Andrew and Richard Fitzwilliam loved and were justifiably very proud of their home, just as their parents were.

Andrew informed the two brides that the land was flatter at Snowhaven than Pemberley, as Snowhaven was further from the peak district.

There was an ongoing friendly rivalry between the Fitzwilliams and the Darcys as to whose estate was the better.

Richard informed them that as Lady Anne grew up at Snowhaven, before she married their late Uncle Darcy and moved to Pemberley, she tried to remain neutral, most of the time.

If pressed, however, she would admit a clear preference for Pemberley.

The Derwent River ran through Snowhaven, whose water flowed from the split with the Trent River in Derby.

One of the Fitzwilliam ancestors dug a canal that fed into a manmade lake to the right of the manor.

Jane remarked that her Uncle Edward would be happy to hear of the fisherman’s paradise as he was an avid angler.

In the front of the manor was the formal garden with a complex maze that the Fitzwilliam siblings and their cousins loved playing in, hiding from each other in their younger days.

Marie noted that their next youngest sister would be pleased when she visited the estate and saw that nature was given free rein in the surrounding woodlands where Marie was certain Lizzy would discover many paths where she could indulge her love of walking and riding.

The long serving housekeeper, Mrs. Loretta Sherman, welcomed her boys’ home and could not but be amazed at the beauty of their wives.

She confided in the butler, a Mr. Hugh Hopkinson who had taken over the past five years ago, that the sisters looked so much alike that she could not tell them apart and hoped that Masters Andrew and Richard were able.

Knowing their beloved brides as they did, neither brother had ever made that error, but they were assisted by the sisters who took to having the coiffures done differently and never wore the same outfit at the same time to try and reduce the possibility of confusion.

Before dinner the brothers introduced their wives to the maze. They walked the paths inside for almost an hour, revealing the secret of how to find the way out to each lady. They retired soon after having decided that they needed as much ‘rest’ as possible.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

In the ten days since returning to town, the Darcys had been included in invitations to the Bennets quite often.

They had attended dinners, musical soirées, a play, and two balls before the end of February.

At each ball Darcy had danced the first set with Lady Elizabeth, and at one their second set was the supper set and at the other it was the final set.

With every encounter that they had, feelings deepened on both sides.

There was no doubt for Darcy; he was irrevocably and deeply in love with his dearest loveliest Elizabeth, which is how he thought of her.

The lady admitted to herself, though to no one else, that she had feelings beyond friendship for her cousin William, but was not yet willing to admit more.

At least three times a week, Darcy, on his mount Zeus, joined Lady Elizabeth, on her stallion Mercury, to ride.

It was, of course, never just the two of them.

Lord Birchington had joined them on each of the rides, and his sister, and Ladies Loretta, Mary, and Kitty were part of the party for some of them.

Lord Wes had also joined them the last time they rode out.

The morning before the engagement ball for Anne de Bourgh and Ian Ashby, Lady Elizabeth requested an interview with her father. After he indicated that his middle daughter should sit, the Duke started the conversation, “Yes, Lizzy, you requested this meeting?”

“I did, Papa. There is something that I need to request from you,” Lizzy stated without giving her father an idea of what it was that she desired from him, although he felt like he had a reasonable idea.

“If it is in my power to grant,” Lord Thomas saw his daughter’s countenance light up thinking that she had just received a blanket yes.

“Unless it is something that puts you in harm’s way or I deem unreasonable.

” He had guessed correctly, for as soon as he added his conditions his Lizzy’s face fell in disappointment.

She nevertheless decided to press on with her request. “Papa, you know how much I enjoy my solitary rambles,” she reminded him, her eyes pleading for him to understand.

“Not entirely solitary, Biggs or Johns trail you.”

“ Almost solitary. If I want to take a walk now, I have Miss Jones, Biggs, and at least three more of his men. And they are not trailing me, they are close by!” she huffed in frustration, not understanding why father did not comprehend why the feeling of independence was so important to her!

“It had not escaped my notice that you chafe at the restrictions and all of the extra guards, Lizzy. I hope that you understand that I take the responsibility of protecting all of my family still under my roof serious, in the extreme,” her father told her firmly but with understanding.

“I have spoken to William as well as all of the Fitzwilliam men.

They all agree, my Lizzy, that Wickham is like a wounded bear free among the crowd.

As much as he envies and hates your cousin, when you humiliated him publicly and had the temerity not to believe his well-practiced lies, and then added the insult of laughing at him, you likely became his primary object of his revenge.

“He is one, from everything that your brothers, Reggie, and William have told me, that does not have the capacity to accept his part in anything that has ever befallen him. In his twisted mind, it is always someone else who bears responsibility. Until I know that the man is no longer a threat to you or anyone else, I will not relax the vigilance.”

Lady Elizabeth felt like stamping her foot in frustration, but stopped herself knowing that a petulant childish display would change nothing.

She needed to attempt a bargain. “In all of the time that I took my rambles with Biggs or Johns trailing me, did anything happen other than the prick of a bramble, Papa?”

“No, Lizzy, it did not,” he answered and carried right on as he could see that she had a retort ready. “There is a difference. There was never a credible threat against you or the family then, Lizzy. Surely with your intelligence you can comprehend the difference.”

“I do see the difference. Would you agree to my walking three times a week with only Biggs not trailing me as far as he used to?” his daughter asked hopefully.

“Not alone, but I will agree to twice a week, no Miss Jones, and three footmen,” her father countered.