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Johanna álvarez was beside herself with worry.

None of the searches by Younge’s men had produced any sign of her son.

They had even hired the three men who had been thrown off the Coastal Trader who had searched for long hours along with the rest of the crew, but no trace was discovered.

Finally, it dawned on her to search her son’s room, and in it she found a letter.

Dear Mother,

I am sorry if I have caused you worry, but I cannot follow the path that both you and my father set for me. The only valuable lesson he imparted was to think for myself and evaluate situations, and to then make decisions based on facts not emotions.

The facts are these, Mama; you want to exact revenge on an innocent lady for choices that my father made freely.

It is not her fault that Mr. Wickham’s plan failed.

I know that Mrs. Younge will never be able to assimilate the information, but everything that happened that led to her ‘beloved’s’ death was by his design, not his intended victim’s failure to be his victim.

What did those involved in the plot think? That the victim and her family would just sit by and allow them to do what they wanted because they willed it? If my father was not driven by greed, he would not have been blind to the possible pitfalls in the plan.

If you want to blame someone for Papa’s death, Mama, then it must be Withers.

He is the one that told the runners all and wrote the missive that led to his capture.

Lady Elizabeth did none of that, she was the target of the plan for no other reason than men and women driven by avarice wanted what was not their due.

While we have been in Bundoran I have watched the locals, observing how they live and how happy they are. It taught me that there are many things in life that can make one happy, and I want to point out that stealing, kidnapping, and hurting others for one’s own gain are not among them.

I intend to live a good and honourable life, Mama, and I pray to God on High that you cease your scheming and go on with your own. By the time you read this I will be many days ahead of you, and do remember that Ireland is a very big country.

With all my love,

Tony

Johanna was furious. How could her son turn on her in such a way?

She missed everything her son was trying to tell her and added his defection to the list of sins that she laid at the Bennet chit’s feet.

When she returned to her room, she cast the letter into the grate and watched as it burned to ashes.

She made the critical error in judgement of not mentioning the letter to the Younge siblings, so they had no idea that Tony had left and was out in the world with knowledge of where they were and all of their plans.

Without the pertinent information, no decision was made to find a new port in which to disappear.

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

The Dennington ship, the June Bell , arrived at Liverpool and was met by the Line’s manager of the Liverpool office, a Mr. Lloyd Wrightfield, as soon as she docked.

He was handed an express for the Duke of Hertfordshire who, the manager knew according to his Grace’s schedule he had received, would be at Pemberley in Derbyshire for another two days.

He summoned his best courier and charged him to get the missive into his Grace’s hands by the next morning at the very latest. The courier was told to spare no expense and to change horses as many times as needed to arrive at Pemberley as soon as humanly possible.

It was just after eight in the morning when the determined man started his headlong dash toward Derbyshire.

Not long after the courier was away, Mr. Wrightfield was introduced to young Mr. Tony álvarez.

After reading the message from Captain Beauclerk, the manager ordered a carriage and six and eight of his best ex-marines to act as outriders.

Within the hour the young man was seated in a very comfortable carriage and was on his way to Pemberley.

It was just before ten o’clock that night as the family at Pemberley was about to retire when Douglas knocked on the music room door to inform the master that an express rider from Liverpool had just arrived with an urgent message for his Grace, the Duke of Hertfordshire, so Lord William offered his father-in-law his study.

Before exiting the room, Lord Thomas requested that all of his sons and the two earls join him as he suspected that the news pertained to the Stealthy Runner being sighted.

He could not imagine another reason that Wrightfield would dispatch a rider with an express to him, the urgency was obvious when he saw the rider, he was shown into the study with hat in one hand and the sealed missive in the other.

“When did you depart Liverpool?” Lord Thomas asked.

“After eight in the mornin’ your Grace,” the man answered, having recognised the Duke from his visits to the Liverpool office.

“You rode twelve hours to get here? How often did you change horses?” Lord Thomas asked, impressed by the dedication to duty the man demonstrated.

“Every two ‘ours, your Grace.” The express was handed over and the master of Pemberley instructed Douglas to make sure that the man be fed and had a place to rest for the night with the grooms. The courier was told to see the Duke of Hertfordshire in the morning in case there was a response to be sent to Liverpool.

After the man followed the butler out of the study and the door was closed, Lord Thomas decided to read the letter aloud so he could satisfy the obvious curiosity all of them had.

10 June 1812

The Coastal Trader

Docked at Bundoran, Ireland

His Grace the Duke of Hertfordshire,

On the way to the quay this morning, the doctor spotted the Stealthy Runner at anchor.

Your order to observe and report was clear, your Grace, and no action will be taken without your order, but I decided that I had to leave some men behind to keep an eye on things in case the ship departed.

Three of Mr. Clements’s marines were ‘sacked’ for pilfering, and in a very public way were ‘thrown off’ the ship.

One of the men was a good friend to the murdered former sergeant Hamms, and he and his shipmates volunteered for the mission.

Once we had taken on the cargo to transport to Dublin, Clements discovered a stowaway in the hold. His name is Antonio álvarez

There was a mumbling of recognition as the men in the study heard the name and correctly assumed that the stowaway was somehow connected to the Spaniard . Once the men quieted again, Lord Thomas continued.

I allowed the young man, he is just eighteen; to remain on board and he will work for his passage, but he had a very interesting tale to tell.

I have sent a letter to Mr. Wrightfield so he will know to send Tony to you right away so you can hear the story from his own lips.

He did impart the names of Hamms’s murderer and his accomplices.

They will take no action until we receive your instruction, your Grace.

With respect,

Hugh Beauclerk, Captain

“We have them,” Richard whistled.

“If they do not up and sail away,” Darcy pointed out.

“Do you think that they will run once they realise that young álvarez has defected?” Andrew asked.

“No way of knowing, son,” his father pointed out.

“How should we proceed?” James asked.

“You are the military man here, Richard,” his father-in-law stated. “What strategy would you employ?”

“How often does Captain Beauclerk’s ship visit the town?” Richard asked thoughtfully.

“If memory serves once a month, somewhere around the middle of the month,” Lord Thomas shared.

“If that is the case, I would have the captain contact his men ashore, I am sure they set up a way to contact each other if need be,” Richard began, the plan in his head forming but he needed more details.

“A few days before the Coastal Trader returns, the murderer and his accomplices should disappear. I assume that it is expected for your ship to unload and then take on new cargo?” Richard received a nod from his father-in-law.

“In that case, they should be drugged and placed in a crate, or crates if needed, to be loaded with the rest of the cargo.

“That way even if the ship is being watched, the miscreants will see nought out of the ordinary. It sounds like the three will be good ‘replacements’ for the men that go missing from Younge’s ship.

This will ensure that we will always know where the conspirators are, and we will be able to catch them as soon as they set whatever ill-advised plan they have hatched into action.

” Seeing the indignant look from his cousin William, Richard took a moment to reassure him.

“Lizzy will never be anywhere near them, William. I swear to you, to all of you, that she will never be placed in harm’s way. You have my word of honour.”

Darcy relaxed and nodded. There was agreement among the men, so Lord Thomas wrote a detailed missive to Captain Beauclerk that he sealed inside one for his manager in Liverpool.

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

Luckily Johanna was a reasonably good actress, so the Younge’s and the rest of the crew bought her act as she ‘mourned’ her son who she claimed was obviously dead after meeting with some foul play or drowning in the sea as he sometimes liked to go sea bathing.

Her pride would not allow her to admit that not only had her son left her, but that he had censured her for her desire to avenge his father.

She was already wearing mourning garb for her late husband so there was little she had to change besides lamenting her ‘dear’ Tony’s death when in company with her cohorts.