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As the Coastal Trader was being secured to the bollards by her ropes, Captain Beauclerk, his first officer Mr. Cox, and his head of security, Clements, met in the captain’s day cabin.

“Mr. Cox,” the Captain directed, “you will make your regular visit to the postmaster. If there is a letter addressed to a ‘Mr. Josiah Black,’ you will bring it directly back to me.”

“Aye-aye, Captain,” Cox almost saluted his commander. Habits from fifteen years in the Royal Navy did not disappear overnight. The first officer returned to the quarterdeck to make sure that the ship was secure, as he always did each time they docked.

“We know that the Runner will not sail for some days after us, but if there is any change in the plans, we will send an express from Dublin as soon as we arrive there. When this is over, I expect that our three will be without injury,” the Captain told Clements.

“If those miscreants harm them in any way, they will have to answer to me as well, not just his Grace and his family!”

“An’ me an’ my men, Capt’n,” Clements added menacingly.

This lot was responsible for the murder of his brother in arms, Hamms, and they still had to pay the debt for that despicable action.

He was gratified that the one that committed the deed and the two that held Hamms down as he wielded his knife were now in hell after losing their heads to the executioner at the Tower, but it was not enough.

The man that issued the order still had a debt to pay.

Once the ship was secure, Mr. Cox took a leisurely walk toward the post office to see the postmaster.

He passed close by the three ‘thieves’ that had been cast off the Trader three months previously, and dramatically gave them the cut direct as they flung invectives at him.

Trying to avoid a scene, Mr. Darragh Kelly welcomed Mr. Cox into his office.

He handed him all post for the ship and at the top of the bound pack of letters was one addressed to Mr. Josiah Black.

Cox did not react when he saw the letter, just slipped it down in the pile while the postmaster tied the strings around it, and as he normally would, he spent some time talking to Mr. Kelly before returning to the ship via the Happy Leprechaun where he had a tankard of ale, following his routine without observable haste.

Once back on board he made sure that everything looked shipshape, as was his wont to do just in case he was being observed, following his usual routine then went to the Captain’s day cabin to deliver the post. “Fourth one down, Capt’n.

” Cox stated as Beauclerk cut the string that held the packet of letters together.

He pulled it out and cracked the seal on the all-important letter.

He was just done with his perusal of the note when Clements knocked and was bade to enter then handed the letter to his first officer to read aloud.

10 August 1812

Nothing changed. Once we arrive, we will scare off some of the men so the opposition will be even weaker than they be now.

J

Thankfully the criminals had made no changes in their plan to capture their prize.

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

In their rooms at the inn, the three conspirators were dreaming of the day that they would leave Bundoran and never return.

Younge had decided that he would buy himself a second, larger sloop, one the size of the Coastal Trader, so that he could command a fleet of smuggling vessels.

He would have enough funds to buy more than one additional ship, but he would start with one and see how things went from there.

Unfortunately for him and his cohorts, there had been no need to change the plans.

Not for an instant did he think that any of his crew who all ‘loved’ him would betray him, so he was liberal with sharing all elements of his plan with his men, which included the three new members who were assuredly the best crew members he had ever had under his command.

Both Karen Younge and Johanna álvarez were fantasising about killing someone.

Mrs. Younge could not wait to have the chit, who she had seen from afar that day in Hyde Park and was now a duchess, in her clutches.

She remembered the chit’s dark hair and that she was diminutive in stature.

Mrs. álvarez was imagining how satisfying it would be when she ended Karen Younge’s miserable life.

Johanna saw how delusional the hated woman was, but was not able to see the same problem in herself.

She missed her son and suspected that he was to the north of them, but decided that he could stay wherever he was.

He had abandoned her, so he had to fend for himself.

She still loved him, but had determined that whatever hardships were visited on him would be deserved.

If he came back begging her to forgive him, she would welcome him, though only after a good amount of grovelling on his part.

If she had known where her son was and how happy he was, she would have suffered an apoplexy.

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

Richard Fitzwilliam, Earl of Brookfield, was going over their plans one more time to make sure that he had not missed anything.

He took the letter out of the drawer in his cousin's, new brother-in-law’s, desk to re-read it, verifying once more that he had not missed anything.

He had not, as this was more than the tenth time that he had read the letter since it arrived almost three weeks before.

24 July 1812

Bundoran

Earlier today, Younge laid out his plan.

After the Trader’s next visit in August, he will wait three or four more days after her departure to sail for Oakenholt down the River Dee.

He does not want to get too close to Liverpool.

He will look for some men to watch the ship, an’ if I does my job right, he will need some new crew members.

They will hire transport and head to Pemberley, the Duke of Derbyshire’s estate. Crazy Karen, as we call Mrs. Younge, said that her ‘love’ George told her of some hunter’s cottages that are abandoned. One of these will be the base, and we are to observe her Grace and find a time to snatch her.

He thinks that things will be more relaxed on the estate and the Duchess will not be as closely watched. If anything changes, there will be a letter to ‘Josiah Black’ with the packet of post to be picked up by our ship.

Jones.

Richard was satisfied that he had remembered the exact wording.

There was a group of men, all ex-soldiers who had served with Sergeant Hamms, in place at Oakenholt so that Younge would find as many men as he needed to watch over his vessel.

Richard relaxed, it would be a fortnight or so until the affair was over and they could all move on with their lives.

He thought about a much more pleasant subject: his beloved wife Jane and her ever expanding belly that held his son or daughter.

Jane was convinced she would birth a daughter, but Richard did not care which it was as long as mother and babe were both healthy.

As Jane had suffered no unexpected problems to that point, they planned to have the babe born at Brookfield.

With the proximity to Pemberley, Jane would be attended by Mr. Jamison and Pemberley’s midwife, Mrs. Kate Mathers.

Aunt Anne had the highest confidence in both, giving Richard a feeling of security that his wife would be well cared for when her time came.

She would be attended by many of the ladies in the family, so his new babe would be surrounded by love when he or she arrived in the world.

He was snapped out of his reverie as the owner of the study entered his domain. “You wanted to review the plans to keep my Lizzy safe again, Richard,” Lord William Darcy, Duke of Derbyshire said. “Is there anything that you want to change?”

“No, William,” Richard replied, “all is well with our plans. As you know, the miscreants will never come anywhere near the real duchess. It is to our advantage that none other than Wickham, who is unable to tell any more tales, knows what Lizzy looks like; so, it will be easy to replace Lizzy with a lookalike”

“Very true, Richard,” Darcy answered with a half-smile. “I hate to admit it, but your plan is brilliant. You know me, I dislike the idea of giving you a swollen head, brother.” Richard smiled back at Darcy, accepting the compliment hidden in his speech.

The De Melvilles had departed a few days previously along with the Bingleys, Gardiners, and both sets of Phillips’.

The four younger girls had been invited to join the De Melvilles after Lady Sarah had mentioned to her younger sister that it would be advantageous for the young ladies not to be at Pemberley until the business with Lizzy was settled.

Lady Priscilla had agreed with alacrity, as had her husband, so the invitation was issued and hence the younger Bennet twins and Georgiana Darcy were no longer at the estate.

Even though they would have preferred that they be there for another reason, the five older Bennet, and former Bennet siblings could not repine having an opportunity to spend time together, enhanced by having their spouses present.

Lord James Bennet, the Marquess of Netherfield, felt a little strange as he was the only unmarried one of the siblings present, but he had plans to change his status after the upcoming season.

He had been heartened by the conversation he had with William and Richard the day they had fished where they informed him that they had no objections to him as a possible suitor for Georgiana.

He was not yet two and twenty so the time restrictions his brothers had insisted on did not bother him… too much.