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Sitting on the huge bed that she shared with her husband every night in her bedchambers at Hilldale, Lady Marie Fitzwilliam was overjoyed.

Not only was she hosting her younger brother and unmarried sisters at Hilldale, but she had missed her courses for the second month.

She had felt a tinge of envy when Jane had revealed her state, but now she had nothing to be jealous of as she was sure that she too was enceinte.

She had not experienced any of the sickness that Jane had in the early months of her being with child and was very thankful that, so far, she seemed to have been spared that particular malady.

Andrew could not but notice the glow emanating from his wife, almost like she was surrounded by an angel’s halo.

He had not missed that it had been at least two months that they were able to join without interruption of her monthly indisposition.

“Is there something that you would like to inform me of Marie?” His brow quirked in inquisition

“Oh Andrew, I think that I am with child!” she exclaimed in happiness. “I have missed my courses for two months and my breasts have lately become much more tender…” she let her words fade away embarrassed that she was about to refer to the size of her assets.

“… and larger,” Andrew finished the thought for his wife. “I had noticed that particular occurrence,” he agreed with a rakish grin, “and I highly approve and enjoy the extra bounty it has provided,” he teased.

“Andrew!” she admonished playfully as she swatted at his arm. “You are embarrassing me.” As if to prove the point she was blushing a deep scarlet.

“Should we ask Mr. Granger to come see you, my love, so he may confirm your state?” asked the hopeful father to be.

“Do you mind if we wait a day?” Seeing his questioning look, Marie clarified, “Mama, Papa, Aunt Rose, and the rest of the family depart on the morrow. If they see that the doctor has come to see me, Mama will know why. If it is agreeable to you, my loving husband, I would like to keep this between us until I feel the quickening. We can revel in becoming new parents before we allow others to share our joy. I know it sounds selfish…” Marie was cut off by her husband kissing her soundly.

“It is not selfish, my love,” he said as his wife tried to recover her equanimity.

“If you had not suggested that we wait, I would have done so for the same reason now that the surprise has worn off. It is prudent to wait until the quickening, not selfish.” Lord Andrew returned to his chambers so that his valet could help prepare him for the day while Lady Marie used the bellpull to summon her lady’s maid.

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

Life at Longfield Meadows was slowly returning to normalcy.

The new duke regularly met with his steward, Mr. Brian Mason, about estate matters and any issues that needed to be addressed.

Mason had been involved in helping the late Lord Sed train his heir and had seen then that Lord Tom Bennet seemed to be of the same ilk as his uncle.

Now that Lord Tom was the new Duke of Bedford, the steward was very happy to see that his estimation of the young man had been on point.

The new duchess met daily with Mrs. Matilda Dudley, her housekeeper.

Mrs. Dudley and her husband had been in service with the Bennets for over twenty years, both having risen through the ranks of the servants to attain their current positions of most senior servants that serviced the house.

The housekeeper was most impressed with the young duchess.

She was very intelligent, and she treated all with respect from the lowest scullery maid on up.

One would make a big mistake if they assumed that the way that she treated her servants indicted an easily led woman; the opposite was indeed true.

She would listen to advice when asked for, however she would make the decision that she felt best suited the situation, only changing her mind if there was good, factual information that warranted said change.

She was proving to be very fair, but firm.

Before the family departed for Pemberley, Aunt Rose had spent as much time as Amy required to educate her on the running of the house and the needs of the tenants.

Lady Rose had visited all of the tenants at least once a month while she was in residence and shared with her daughter-in-law that she insisted that the housekeeper inform her of any emergent needs while she had been away from the estate.

Given the large number of tenants and the large area that Longfield Meadows covered, Aunt Rose informed Amy that she would visit a different group who lived close to one another each week, thus making sure that she was able to stand by her self-imposed schedule for her visits.

At least once a week the Duke and Duchess would walk to the family cemetery to visit Uncle Sed and talk to him as if he was there to let him know that all was well with his beloved estate. On this particular day, his Amy was indisposed so Tom made the walk to visit Uncle Sed on his own.

“How I miss you, Uncle Sed,” Tom opened his one-sided conversation with his loved, late uncle.

“I pray that it is many years before God calls my father home.

The loss of you, my second father, is not something that I want to feel again.

I consider it one of the best gifts to our family, having you and mother-aunt Rose, but there is a thorn in this gift, although it is the way of the mortal world and, I will eventually be forced to face this kind of pain again.

All I can do is beseech God to make it a very long time in the future.

“My hope is that you knew how loved you were, still are, Uncle Sed.” Tom lifted his eyes to the heavens.

“One day we will all be together again, but while Amy and I are still here we will continue on with your and Papa’s examples to guide us.

I can only hope that we garner a fraction of the love and respect that the servants and tenants have for you and Aunt Rose, we will endeavour to do so.

You taught me well, Uncle, and I was prepared for what you left me, if only it could have been many more years before I inherited.

” A single tear rolled down Lord Tom’s cheek.

“Amy sends her regrets. She is not able to visit today, but will join me on the next one. How grateful I am that you were able to witness our wedding, and I know that Lizzy and William feel exactly the same. We understand why you would not allow for us to be summoned to your side before the end of the wedding ball, but you have to know that all of us would have forgone the celebration to have more time with you, Uncle Sed.” Tom placed his hands on his late uncle’s headstone as if to have some tactile contact with him.

“I love you, Uncle Sed.” As he spoke the last Tom felt a chill, but it was not a cool day, and it almost felt like there was a presence that he could not see.

Mayhap his Uncle was telling him that he was loved by him as well.

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

The Duke and Duchess of Derbyshire were settling into married life very comfortably.

In a little over two months’ time, they would take their wedding trip to Seaview Cottage, near Brighton, and spend three weeks in seclusion.

In the meanwhile, Elizabeth quickly found out that her jest about getting lost in the vast expanse that was Pemberley’s manor house did not come to pass.

Besides the fact that the way that the house was laid out was easy for her to get her bearings, there was never a footman or maid far from any point that she happened to be.

Lady Anne spent as much time as Elizabeth felt she needed to help her assume her duties of mistress.

With a new mistress at the estate, Lady Anne had more time to dedicate to her music, and would often be found playing duets with her young daughter.

Just as she had suspected, having Elizabeth as part of the family made them all happier.

Elizabeth was not the cause of the felicity; it was that she was a piece of the puzzle that had been missing.

Now that it was complete, it was as if all of Pemberley breathed a sigh of relief.

Young Tony álvarez was to stay at Pemberley until all of the conspirators were either in captivity or had decided to scrap the ill-advised scheme and move on.

Clay Young would be held to account for ordering the murder of Sergeant Hamms, regardless of whether or not he put his kidnapping plan into action.

Tony had written his letter which had been sent to Liverpool with the same courier, this time instructed to make the return after a night’s sleep as the letters were not urgent.

The Coastal Trader would not depart Dublin for almost ten days, so the letters would be in the captain’s hands long before it sailed.

In his letter to his mother, Tony used the coastal town of Ballycastle as the location from which he would ‘hand’ his letter to the postmaster, who would pass it onto the Captain with the ‘request’ that it be delivered to the Happy Leprechaun.

While he was at Pemberley, Tony had been told to shadow the steward, Mr. Edwin Chalmers, who, like Tony, had once wanted to read the law but had decided to become a steward rather than practice as a solicitor.

It had only been a few days, but Tony very much enjoyed his work, and Chalmers was impressed as no matter how much was asked of the young man, he accomplished his tasks without complaint.

Lady Elizabeth knocked softly on her husband’s study door and entered when she heard his deep baritone voice call “Come.”