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Lady Elizabeth Bennet was on a mission; now that she was finally able to admit to herself and others that she loved William Darcy, and he was well along the road to recovery, she decided that the time had come to help her cousin, the Prince Regent, right a wrong that had been denied his father.

The King had not been able to honour George Darcy without violating the oath he made to the man who saved his life.

When Elizabeth laid out her plan to her parents, both had given their unreserved support.

Elizabeth sent a note to Buckingham House requesting an audience with the Regent and his mother, the Queen.

Her courier returned with a note from the Queen’s lady-in-waiting, the Duchess of Kent, inviting her to meet with her cousins at eleven that morning.

An hour later, Elizabeth was in an anteroom waiting for the Lord Chamberlain to summon her.

At two minutes before the hour, the expected summons was delivered.

Lady Elizabeth Bennet was escorted into the ostentatiously decorated drawing room which had more gilt gold than she had seen in a single room.

She made a deep curtsy to her cousins and waited as one did not address the Queen or Regent before one of them spoke and addressed one first.

“You requested this audience, Cousin Elizabeth,” the Regent drawled. “How may we be of assistance? We have to admit that your note intrigued us.”

“Very few, outside of this drawing room know of George Darcy’s heroism that day, and none save our mother know that he saved us that day as well, Cousin Elizabeth,” the Regent said, a very pensive, faraway look in his eyes.

“We were not yet fourteen and were with our father on that particular journey. The King had us hide in the carriage, telling us not to move for any reason other than his command. If Mr. Darcy had not stopped that madman, he would have killed our father, and then he would have searched the coach and found us. Father only issued the command for us to exit the conveyance after Mr. Darcy had departed.”

“Mr. Darcy saved the King and you Cousin, his heir?” Lady Elizabeth believed that her purpose there that day was all the more righteous.

“That he did, Cousin, that he did. And now we understand that the son has saved our cousin’s life,” the Queen stated. “It never sat well with us that we were not allowed to acknowledge his heroism and service to the Crown, never mind his decline of any reward.”

“I think I have a solution for you, my royal cousins,” Elizabeth offered with a sly smile.

“We are interested to hear your suggestion, Cousin Elizabeth,” the Regent sat forward in his throne-like chair.

“The promise that was made was specifically between the King and the late Mr. Darcy, was it not?” Both the Queen and her son nodded to indicate that it was so.

“If that is true, Your Royal Highness, I do not believe that you are bound by said promise, are you? Your Royal Father made the pledge for himself alone, and only to Mr. Darcy, did he not?” Elizabeth waited, smiling when she saw both royals understood what she was suggesting.

“How does the Duke of Derbyshire fare, Cousin?” the Regent asked with a mischievous glint in his eye, his question implying how he decided to go forward.

“He is much improved, Cousin. He will be walking in the next few days, and completely released from the doctor’s care any day now,” Elizabeth offered the news to her cousins with supreme pleasure.

“As soon as you see that he is able to make a visit, we ask that you notify us and we will invite the Duke, the dowager Duchess, and Lady Georgiana to meet with us here,” the Regent said with satisfaction as he winked at Lady Elizabeth.

“We expect all of our Bennet cousins to be present as well, Cousin Elizabeth.”

“By your leave, Your Royal Highness, may I inform the Darcys?” Elizabeth requested and received a nod of approval from the Regent.

With the plan in place, Elizabeth curtsied then backed out of the drawing room and departed for Bennet House.

From the Regent’s final remarks, she knew that he would elevate the late George Darcy posthumously; hence both Lady Anne and Georgie would be elevated as well, which would make her William, at least she hoped that he would be her William, His Grace, the Duke of Derbyshire.

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

Lady Elizabeth and her parents were shown into the drawing room at Darcy House. Lady Anne was present with her daughter, sister, brother, and sister-in-law. “To what do we owe the honour of your visit?” Lady Anne asked after she requested some refreshments.

“Do we need a reason to want to be with our family?” Elizabeth asked, then with a mischievous grin added, “Your Grace.” “Lizzy, what have you done?” Lady Anne asked.

Her brother, sisters, and daughter were lost and looking from one to the other in question.

The Duke and Duchess were grinning, and both Anne and Elizabeth seemed to be privy to information that none of the rest of Lady Anne’s family was.

“I went to visit Cousin George today…” Elizabeth started.

“You did not, did you, Lizzy?” Lady Anne gasped.

“I most certainly did, Aunt Anne, and my cousins were very keen to right a perceived wrong.” Seeing that Lady Anne was about to interrupt her, Elizabeth proceeded before she could, while those who had no knowledge about what they were talking about sat in confused silence.

“You told me that the promise was between His Majesty, King George III, and your late husband, did you not? Only between them?” Lady Anne nodded as she puzzled out how the lady her son loved had achieved what she suspected had been done without anyone violating the King’s oath to her beloved late husband.

“Anne, please tell us what is going on,” her brother Reggie fairly demanded.

“If I understand what Lizzy has so slyly intimated, and seeing the smiles on both Sarah and Lord Thomas, then William is now his Grace, the Duke of Derbyshire. If I am correct…”

“What did you just say, Anne? How can William be a duke and what Cousin George…” Lady Catherine’s her mouth snapped shut as she realised precisely which cousins Elizabeth was speaking of.

“As I was about to say, if I am correct then I am now her grace, the Dowager Duchess of Derbyshire, and Georgie is Lady Georgiana Darcy, the daughter of a duke.” Other than the three Bennet’s smiling and nodding, the rest of the new dowager duchess’s relatives sat as still as granite.

“Anne, as you seem to understand what Lizzy is about, please tell us how this happened,” Lady Elaine requested, the first to voice the request many wanted to make.

“I will tell you, but I want William helped down first. He is dressed and was planning to descend later today.” Lady Anne rang for Killion and relayed her instructions.

A quarter hour later, the new Duke of Derbyshire walked slowly into the drawing room with Carstens close by, in case he needed assistance.

He lit up as soon as he spied Elizabeth in the room, and she had the same reaction when she saw him enter, none surprised when he sat in an armchair next to Lady Elizabeth.

“Go ahead, Lizzy. You did this, you tell him,” Lady Anne smiled at the sight of the two of them together.

“There is much to tell you, William.” Lizzy looked directly at him, and his look of concern proved that he was worried that she might say something that would separate them.

“As of a few hours ago, you are now his Grace, the Duke of Derbyshire.” It was not what he feared, but what she said shocked him to his core.

She spoke fast to get it all out before she lost her nerve, “Your mother is the dowager Duchess, your father the late Duke, and Georgie is Lady Georgiana.” He was silent for a minute.

Lady Elizabeth knew that when he was thinking about a weighty issue, he would be silent until he was ready to speak, so she waited quietly.

He simply asked, “How? Why?”

“William,” Elizabeth said as she realised that in her desire to do something good for the man who she loved, she had omitted to ask his opinion beforehand; this she now saw as a gross oversight on her part, as it could be something that he did not desire.

“If you do not want to accept the honour, I will speak to our cousins. Nothing has been publicised so other that the Regent, the Queen, and those of us in this room, your family’s elevation is unknown.

” As she thought about her actions, that she knew were driven by her desire to do good she recognised that they were presumptive in the extreme, it was not her decision to make.

Before William answered, his mother relayed the whole of the story to her children and siblings.

When she was finished, Lizzy added the information of which not even Lady Anne had known about, the Regent being saved that fateful day along with the King.

If the members of the Darcy, Fitzwilliam, and de Bourgh families were stunned before, they were flabbergasted after the telling of both parts of the story.

William who had been considering what Elizabeth had said in contrition for not speaking to any of the Darcys beforehand, wanted an important question answered before he made a final decision.

“The Regent did this, and in no way contravened the oath that his Majesty the King made to my late father?” Darcy verified.

“Elizabeth nodded vigorously. “If that is the case,” William said after a delay to think, “Then I will happily accept the elevation for my family. In future Elizabeth, I would appreciate being consulted on any life changing information before you act.” He said in mild rebuke.

Once her brother had made the decision, Lady Georgiana was the first one to regain her speech. “My Papa saved the King, and without knowing it, the Regent as well?”

“Yes, Georgie,” Elizabeth confirmed.