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Douglas had been promoted from head under-butler to butler, and had held the post for fifteen years.

Mrs. Reynolds had been hired on as an assistant housekeeper when Darcy was but four; and after training under her predecessor for two years, she was promoted when the previous housekeeper, who had held the post for over five and thirty years, had retired.

All retainers who did not have family to live with after retirement were awarded one of a good number of pensioner cottages that the Darcys had built for their loyal staff over the years.

The lady who would be their new mistress seemed to be without artifice from the information Lady Anne had provided, and her short observation of the future duchess supported it, but she would reserve final judgement until she had more time with the lady.

There was no missing how truly Lady Anne cared for Lady Elizabeth, and the changes in the former Miss Darcy, Lady Georgiana, were astounding.

Mrs. Reynolds smiled as she watched her ‘dear boy;’ the love he exuded for his betrothed obvious when he was not willing to let her hand go after he helped her down from the carriage, the long look they shared making them both blush as she had allowed him to keep her hand.

Lord Tom Bennet, his betrothed, and her parents would depart for the three-hour journey to Birchington in the morning, allowing them to break up the days of travel.

As they entered the house and headed to a drawing room off the main foyer, Elizabeth could not fail to notice that like Darcy House, Pemberley exuded wealth and comfort; however, while filled with the best of everything, it was in no way ostentatious or gaudy.

One example of this was the furniture, it was obviously acquired for comfort rather than to impress.

Lady Anne’s impeccable sense of style and decorating was on display here as it had been in London.

The house had four stories above the ground level, with an extensive cellar and cold room below.

There was a sweeping grand marble staircase that rose up from the rear of the entrance foyer, with various doors leading off either side of the hall.

The ceiling went all the way up to the third floor and it was very tastefully painted with a fresco, obviously by the same artist who had painted the one at Darcy House.

As they congregated in the drawing room, Lady Elizabeth was looking forward to the extensive tour that they would take on the morrow; Lady Anne informed everyone that after they changed from the road and rested, that aperitifs would be served an hour before dinner in the same large orange drawing room that they were in.

The party was shown to their chambers and the Bennets, who would remain at Pemberley, were assigned chambers in the family wing.

Lady Elizabeth was placed between her parent’s suite and Lady Anne’s.

Mary and Kitty’s suite was next to Lady Georgiana’s.

As the mutual attraction between the youngest Darcy and Lord James was not a secret to anyone, he was placed in a suite with his older brother and would be joining them for the trip to Birchington on the morrow.

As they walked toward the stairs, Lizzy turned to William.

“When I come to live here, William, am I to be given a map so I do not get lost for days on end, and starve and wither away?” Elizabeth teased him, her brow arched with impertinence, which caused a round of good-natured laughter from the whole party.

“When my George first brought me here as his wife, I was intimidated and I grew up at Snowhaven, which is large and a castle, however it only lasted a very short while and I never did get lost,” Lady Anne shared playfully.

“I will remind you once again, my dearest Elizabeth, that you have always told us on more than one occasion how your courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate you, so I have no doubt that you will soon know your way around.” Darcy smirked, his sense of contentment at watching her smile because he had teased her increasing in proportion with it.

“Besides, I would hear your heart calling out to mine and I would find you.” He kissed each of her wrists earning him a very becoming blush from his lady.

The plan was to visit Lord Tom’s estate for a week then return to Pemberley for a few days before they all returned to town.

Prior to the departure, the two couples had agreed to an engagement ball, which would be given by the Duchess of Bedford in honour of the betrothals of her nephew and soon-to-be niece, on the first Friday in June, ten days before the marriage ceremony.

Queen Charlotte had responded to an invitation expressing her regrets but noted that Princess Elizabeth and Prince Edward would attend on the family’s behalf.

The ball would also be the official introduction of the new Duke of Derbyshire and the Dowager Duchess to the Ton in their elevated rank.

Ladies Elaine and Catherine were assisting Lady Rose with the planning of it, and it would be held at Bedford House on Russell Square.

While neither couple enjoyed being gawked at, they understood that it was a necessary event from which they could not be excused.

Lord Tom Bennet was a lot closer in disposition to his sister’s betrothed than he may have liked to admit as he too preferred quiet events with not many people.

Similar, to his sister Lizzy’s ability to make Darcy smile, so too his Amy would add liveliness and mirth to her future husband.

Dinner at Pemberley was served in the smaller family dining parlour. The footman serving the diners could not help but smile for it was the liveliest dinner that they could remember since before the previous master had passed.

After in a letter, William informed the Steward, butler and housekeeper without any demand to keep the information secret, the true cause of the previous master’s death.

It was most shocking to find out that the late master had been murdered by the wastrel son of the late steward.

It was generally agreed that it was a kindness to old Wickham that he had not lived to see the depths of the depravity to which his son had sunk.

During the separation of the sexes, the Duke of Hertfordshire approached his soon to be son-in-law. “William, when will I see your magnificent tribute to books that I have heard so much about?” he asked with a smile.

“Tomorrow, Bennet. It will be the last stop on the tour; and I will have you summoned when we are about to enter the library,” Darcy promised. “I promised your daughter that we would all see it together; she is desirous of seeing your face when you first enter.”

“I will have to survive until then, then,” Lord Thomas replied ruefully. “If Lizzy has decreed it so, who am I to gainsay her?”

“William,” Tom Bennet called out to Darcy, “I understand that you have a fencing room here…”

“Do you want to see if you can last more than two minutes before William vanquishes you, Tom?” Lord James teased his brother.

“Remind me, brother, how long did you last against our soon to be brother?” Lord Tom asked with as he smirked.

James mumbled an answer that was not heard by the others and when prodded by his brother said distinctly, “One whole minute!”

“All of the stories of your prowess with the sword are true then, Derbyshire?” the Earl of Ashbury inquired, receiving vigorous nods from the other three men.

“My two sons and I are Oxford men. Even there we heard stories about Fitzwilliam Darcy and his skill with both foil and pistol. I am too old now, but mayhap one day my sons can test their skill against your vaunted abilities.”

Darcy inclined his head toward the Earl, “I welcome any who are willing to spar with me, Ashbury.”

As Mrs. Reynolds passed the family dining room during dinner she could not stop her smile spreading from ear to ear.

It had been many years since the sounds of joy had infused the hallways of Pemberley.

That her Master William was happy there could be no argument, but the effect on his small family was remarkable as well.

She had not seen Lady Anne glow with happiness like this since her before her beloved husband had been murdered, and the little miss had been filled with sorrow and recrimination since she was almost duped by her father’s murderer at Ramsgate.

From conversations that they had, the housekeeper knew that the Dowager Duchess would never remarry as there could never be any other than her late husband, in the housekeeper’s opinion, she had no need.

She smiled again and each of her smiles reached her eyes and were genuine, not forced.

Hannah Reynolds, even though never forgetting her place, almost felt like a member of the family, she thanked God above for the restoration of the spirits of all three Darcys.

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

The Younges and the álvarezs’ found the only decent inn in Bundoran, the Happy Leprechaun, near the small harbour that served the town.

The sea and harbour were critical to the town as there was only one road that came to Bundoran, County Donegal, and it was down a steep hill which made it hard for carts and carriages to negotiate.

It was the reason that Younge had chosen this out of the way hole-in-the-wall location in which to stay as they laid low and planned their next moves.

On the other side, however, as is true in any small town, they had to be very careful to not talk out of turn and become the focus of the town’s gossips.

The Stealthy Runner’s captain, his sister, Johanna, and Tony álvarez took rooms at the inn for the foreseeable future, making the landlord ecstatic as he normally only rented his rooms for a night or two, and only when the Dennington Lines ship, the Coastal Trader , docked in the port once a month.

Clay Younge pumped the landlord, Rory O’Rourke, for information.

The loquacious man informed him that the trading ship, a sloop almost twice the size of Younge’s ship, arrived around the middle of each month with goods and supplies for the town, adding that she was due to arrive in the next week or so.

He was also informed that they made a run from Dublin to Bundoran and a few other remote, coastal towns of Ireland.

As the Coastal Trader was a regular visitor, there would be no danger from those aboard, though they may make note of another sloop being in port when it is often them.

He would have his men meet them here in the Inn for a port or two so that they could listen for any information and swap news as only sailors can.

He himself would watch for visitors that were not regularly scheduled.

He had no idea that the Dennington Lines were owned by the two Bennet dukes nor that every vessel they owned that sailed the waters around the kingdom, or anywhere in the known world, had received a detailed message telling them to look out for the Stealthy Runner and her crew of miscreants.

They had provided descriptions of the Younge siblings and some of the crew.

The instruction was clear, that if seen to report directly back to his Grace, the Duke of Hertfordshire, but to take no action unless otherwise instructed.

By a stroke of luck, there were two floors that had four rooms each, and once Johanna learned which floor the Younge’s rooms were on, she made up an excuse to take rooms on the other floor.

It had been harder and harder for her to keep her resolve to not tell Karen Younge about the plans that Wickham had intended for her.

She was ever more determined that once they got paid the ransom, she would hire some men to dispose of the delusional woman.

Tony álvarez was certain that the cause of avenging his father was a just one.

In a similar fashion to the way that Mrs. Younge forgot all of Wickham’s myriad faults after his death, Tony had relegated the cruelty and disdain of his father to the recesses of his subconscious.

The truth was that the Spaniard had been neither a good father nor a decent husband.

He spent as much time ‘testing’ out the new wares at his brothels as he did at home, and when he was at home he was quick to temper.

He never struck his wife but did not spare the rod when it came to his son.

The man had claimed that it was to toughen the boy up, but the sad truth was that álvarez was a bully and derived pleasure in the infliction of pain.

There was one very good thing he did for his son; while grooming him to one day take over his criminal empire, he taught the boy to be suspicious of everyone and divine their motives for himself.

The father was driven by paranoia, but the son had learned the art of critical thinking.

He had loved his wife in his own way, as much as he was able to love anyone, which was the reason that she was spared physical abuse.

Tony had dreamed of one day inheriting his father’s criminal enterprise.

His drive to seek revenge was more for the vast fortune lost when the authorities found the Spaniard’s cache of hidden money, gold, and jewels than for the love of his father.

He and his mother had a few times discussed what they would do after they received their share of the ransom.

One option was to leave the realm for good and set themselves up in the New World, establishing an enterprise similar to the one that had been taken from them in England.

The young man did not know any other way, and the plans being discussed around him only helped convince him that there was no other path for him to follow.