Page 221

The Stealthy Runner arrived in the small coastal town on Whitehead, Northern Ireland, with the incoming tide that morning.

The mood aboard ship was almost jovial, and Younge was most pleased with his new first mate.

Jones was a better seaman and more dedicated to his tasks than Laraby had ever been, so his sloop was running more efficiently than ever before.

An added benefit to Laraby’s demise in the deep was that he would not have to pay him any of the money that he was owed, so in the captain’s mind, he had come out on top in a number of ways.

Jones, after talking with his two brothers in arms, had decided that it was time to start sowing some fear among the rest of the crew.

Under the guise of getting to know them better, he volunteered to treat them all to grog at the pub nearest to the docks once they had secured the ship.

He wanted to start spreading doubt which would go the furthest toward achieving his aim of having men defect from the crew, either in Whitehead or once they reached to Oakenholt on the river Dee.

Johanna álvarez was sure that if she had been forced to share accommodation on board ship with the delusional woman, she would have committed murder by now.

Karen Younge’s ravings about her ‘dear George’, rather than subsiding with the passage of time, were increasing.

Even the woman’s brother seemed not to have patience for her any longer.

She remembered one of the first conversations that she had with Younge in Fowey before their flight from Cornwall.

They had been sitting at a table in the Blind Bill Inn a day after they met and Younge had decided that he wanted the partnership with her.

She informed him of Wickham’s plans for his sister Karen, and when he said that there was no chance that his sister had been so badly hoodwinked, she showed him a note Withers had passed to her husband.

After reading it, Younge had requested that Mrs. álvarez not inform his sister of the truth as he was not sure how she would react if her delusions were shattered.

Johanna had just seated herself in the day cabin that Younge used.

There was a small table located there where the three took their meals while on board.

Karen Younge joined her to break her fast a few minutes after, and after helping herself to the paltry offerings that were available for their repast, launched into her favourite, or only, topic of discussion.

“Soon my dear loving George will be avenged and vindicated…” She did not finish her sentiment as an angry Johanna álvarez interjected.

“Shut up with this drivel,” she demanded with a very hard edge on her voice. “You are as delusional as your supposed lover, one who loved no one but himself.”

“Do not talk to me in such a manner,” Karen retorted, taking much offence at the woman’s words. “May I remind you that I am Clay’s sister, and with one word from me you will be cast out! George loved me as deeply as I loved him!” she screeched.

“Oh you poor, delusional creature,” Johanna said derisively, “Wickham never loved you. Like everyone else in his life, you were only a means to an end.” Despite Younge’s request, her anger got the better of her.

“If he loved you as you say, then why did he ask Withers and my husband to dispatch you as soon as the ransom was acquired?”

“You lie…” Karen started to refute the statement but again was cut off.

“If he loved you so much, how is it that the only time he sought you out was when he needed something?” Johanna pounded her point home.

Karen was about to respond in the negative when doubt began to creep in as she scanned her memories.

Could it be that what the álvarez bitch said was true?

“You think I lie? You know his writing, do you not?” she asked as she prepared to play her trump card.

Karen Younge nodded; her doubt started to turn to a feeling of dread that roiled in the pit of her stomach.

Johanna withdrew a piece of parchment from her reticule and handed it to Karen without saying a word.

With a feeling of impending doom, Karen opened the note.

Withers, please confirm that the Spaniard has agreed to get rid of that annoying, clingy Younge woman for me, so I do not have to split my share with her.

GW

Karen went white as all the colour drained from her face. There was no mistaking his writing. At that moment, her whole world imploded in on her. Without a word, still with the missive in a death grip in her hand, she stood and walked out of the day cabin.

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

“They should be about halfway to Oakenholt by now,” Richard opined as the men sat in the master’s study and enjoyed some of the very old and fine brandy that Jeffries had discovered in the extensive wine cellar.

Most of the wines that had been opened had turned to vinegar, so all bottles had been disposed of and cases ordered from Pemberley’s vast supply.

“So about four or five days until Jones sends word that they have landed back in England?” Andrew asked as he took a sip of his drink.

“Sounds about right,” Lord Thomas agreed.

Knowing that his brother-in-law would have planned for every contingency, and wanting to reconfirm for his own peace of mind, William asked, “Is everything in place for when we return to Pemberley, Richard?”

“Yes, William,” Richard answered, understanding the genesis of the question as he knew how he would feel if anyone ever threatened his beloved Jane.

“Our ‘Lizzy’ will arrive any day now, and ‘she’ will follow the mannerisms of your wife. As far as we know, the only one of the miscreants who ever saw her was Mrs. Younge, and that was from the Grosvenor Square gate at Hyde Park. At that distance, she would have noted hair colour and approximate height, but not more than that,” Richard reiterated to reassure his cousin.

“William,” Uncle Reggie drew the master’s attention, “is your Lizzy well?”

“Why do you ask, Uncle?” William responded admitting to himself that he was too concerned for his wife’s wellness.

“At Pemberley the only thing that kept her off that huge stallion of hers was the weather,” Lord Reggie said thoughtfully, “and of late she seems to have a little less energy than normal.”

“Do you suspect that our sister is with child, father?” Andrew asked as he and Marie both suspected the same.

“She does seem to be behaving much like your mother did when she carried you, Andrew,” his father answered.

William too had a good idea that it may be the case but was waiting for his wife to broach the subject herself, so he diverted the men’s attention back to the subject they were discussing prior to talk of his wife’s health.

“I trust that you two,” he looked at his Bennet brothers, “will make sure that nothing happens to the woman most important to me in the world while we are away at Pemberley!” he stated, despite knowing they would be as protective of all their sisters and women in residence as they had been all their lives.

“That goes without saying, William,” Tom answered for himself and James, somewhat peeved that William would even ask the question, but understanding his brother’s worry for his wife.

“We would never allow harm to come to, Lizzy, Amy, or any of the ladies remaining under our protection. Besides,” he added with a smirk, “Biggs, Johns, and sixteen of their best men are present. It would take an invading army to reach our women, if they were aware of where they were in the first place.”

“Tom is correct, William,” Richard reassured him.

“I spoke to Biggs, and he has put eight men with himself, and eight with Johns, they rotate in eight-hour shifts with their watch dogs like they do in the Navy. They split one shift for meals so that the same crew does not work the night shift every night.”

Darcy felt somewhat ridiculous that he needed to hear the plans again; he knew everything that Richard and his brothers-in-law had told him was in place, but somehow, he felt better after again hearing the words out loud.

He could not imagine living in a world where his Elizabeth was not at his side, and for that matter, any of the other women in the family either.

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

Karen Younge was in a stupor. She could not deny what she had read by George’s own hand, no matter how much she wanted to.

The more she considered their history, the more Johanna’s words about how he only sought her out when he needed something rung truer and truer in her head.

Her world which she had so painstakingly constructed where she was loved and valued by George Wickham had just come crashing down around her feet. She felt like an empty shell.

She informed her brother that she felt like some exercise after days on board the ship, and was going to take a walk, she had seen a beautiful vista of cliffs she wanted to see from atop.

He asked if she wanted a crewman to accompany her, but she demurred, pointing out that she had lived on her own for many years without the protection of any man.

As she did not know that her brother had requested that Johanna not inform her of Wickham’s betrayal, she did not think to mention that conversation with him.

She did something she had not done for many years, and kissed her brother on the cheek as she departed his cabin.