Page 31 of Lord Lonbourn’s Daughter

Elizabeth did not know what to do after dressing for the day.

Her emotions were in such a jumble, part of her being deliriously happy while other parts were knotted in concern.

She did not expect any callers but entered the front parlour to be obtainable to anyone who might need her.

Miss Darcy came to mind, though she was hoping Jane would visit to relate what she had managed to wheedle out of Kitty.

The first week of her marriage was officially over, ending on a high note indeed. Elizabeth fought the tugs at the corners of her mouth. It would not do to stand there grinning by herself.

She sat at the desk to pen a letter to her friend Miss Charlotte Lucas. So engrossed was she in writing her letter that she did not hear anyone enter the room. She flinched when Colonel Fitzwilliam addressed her from just a few feet behind.

“Forgive me, Lady Elizabeth. It was not my intention to frighten you.” Elizabeth chuckled at her own response while discreetly pulling a blank sheet over her written words.

“There is nothing to forgive. I was simply too engrossed in my letter-writing to pay attention. What can I do for you?”

“Your father summoned me to meet him here. He has news. Since Darcy is indisposed, I gather his lordship perceives me as my cousin’s extended ears, eyes, and legs.”

“Oh my, to be reduced to a pile of limbs and organs. How very dreadful. I shall admonish my father adequately as soon as he arrives.”

“You must not. Who would replace me? Or are you applying for the position yourself?”

“I might be.” Elizabeth smiled. “But Mr Darcy has recovered beyond my expectations. Oh, I believe that must be them. I can hear my sisters bickering from the other side of the fence.”

Elizabeth peered out of the window to see, and she was right. Her father was striding towards the house with Jane, Mary, and Kitty trailing behind him.

She waited patiently until the butler announced her family. Kitty was obviously distressed, so Elizabeth half expected Jane to ask for a private meeting.

“Let us adjourn to the master’s chamber. Darcy would not want to miss this,” the colonel advised.

“I believe Mr Darcy is in his study at the moment, Colonel.”

Elizabeth guided her family in that direction, where they found her husband sitting at his desk, rummaging through his papers. He looked tired and had a strain about his eyes that bespoke a severe headache. Once everyone was apprised, he should rest.

“Before I relate my news, do you have anything new to report, Colonel?” Lord Longbourn enquired.

“Mrs Younge has escaped. She was gone when I returned to Lady Catherine’s townhouse.

The servants thought and still do that nothing is amiss.

In their mind, Georgiana came to visit to afford her newly married brother privacy.

I saw no reason to disabuse them of that notion.

From what I have gathered so far, there is no reason to believe that Lady Catherine had anything to do with the abduction, although I suspect they may have used her barouche box in the kidnapping.

It is currently in London being reupholstered.

What do you have to relate, Lord Longbourn? ”

“We have had another extortion letter. It is obvious that the kidnappers are very well informed of the goings-on in the Longbourn and Darcy households.

It leads to the conclusion that whoever they are, they are stationed in London and most likely in Mayfair.

This was found in my garden on a swing that my daughters still use on occasion.

By the content, I doubt that it had been there long, but it is a little damp from the morning dew.

My guess is that it was put there late last evening or during the night.

Let me read it aloud, and you may comment when I have finished.

I am laughing at your discovery of Georgiana’s whereabouts, hidden right under your noses in her aunt’s home.

As you have realised by now, I have no use for Georgiana after she was so obliging as to write me a compromising letter that will become even more scandalous upon my impending marriage.

I imagine you are eager to have your youngest daughter and sister returned, but, on that account, you may have to wait a while. I have changed my mind.

Lady Jane will no longer marry her beau, Mr Bingley, but Colonel Fitzwilliam. They may both perceive this modification as punishment for failing to follow my instructions.

Lady Jane and Colonel Fitzwilliam may have the banns read. I am in no hurry to dispose of dear Lady Lydia.

Bear in mind that I have returned Georgiana and Kitty unscathed, so you may trust that I shall do the same with Lydia, but first I have an additional demand.

Lord Longbourn and Mr Darcy will both write a letter forfeiting the right to any future inheritance.

If these demands are not met, I shall marry Lydia and treat her fittingly as the wife of a rake.

GW

“Are you in line to inherit, Lord Longbourn?” Mr Darcy enquired.

“No, not that I am aware. I am the last living Bennet, and my heir presumptive, Mr Collins, might have some meagre savings, but he is much younger than me. I doubt I shall outlive the twenty-five-year-old parson. He is a man of mean understanding and not whom I would have chosen as my heir.”

“You may still remarry and produce a son,” Mr Darcy suggested.

“I shall not dignify that with an answer, Mr Darcy. When you have been married for more than a week and have had little newborn miracles handed to you by a midwife, I dare you to suggest such a preposterous notion. What about your own prospects for a substantial sum?”

“I know of nothing. Lord Matlock has an heir and a spare. I am the head of the Darcy family with one distant cousin living, but he is not wealthy.”

“No, but you ought to listen to my daughter. I have reason to believe we may be too late. Kitty!”

Kitty responded to her father’s request by caterwauling, a manoeuvre she applied when she did not want to reveal something.

Elizabeth noticed Mr Darcy flinch and touch his temples.

“Kitty! Compose yourself!”

Elizabeth’s sharp voice and tight grip on her arm quieted her sister. Kitty knew Elizabeth was capable of a highly effective pinch should she keep up her act.

“Tell them, Kitty,” Jane gently prodded, and Kitty stepped forwards, wringing her hands.

“Lydia has written to me, begging me to send her some money.”

The entire room gasped before Lord Longbourn gently urged Kitty to continue.

“She wrote that Mr Wickham was a little short of funds at present but would soon come into a great fortune. A gentleman owed him some coin, but until he received it, her fortune must be paid out.”

“I have read the note, and by the wording, it would seem that Lydia is already married to Mr Wickham. I cannot be certain. My Lydia is an unreliable correspondent at best. The good news is that she does not seem displeased but in need of entertainment. I have a man standing guard, and he followed the urchin but lost him around Covent Garden.”

“Not far from St Giles…” Mr Darcy mused.

“No, but by my man’s description, I believe he either disappeared into one of the houses or continued east towards the city. My men are searching for him, but the colonel has more men at his disposal, and they are better trained than mine. Would you aid us, Colonel Fitzwilliam?”

“Certainly, Lord Longbourn, but I am rather curious as to what Lady Jane has decided to do.”

The colonel fixed his eyes on Jane, who met his searching gaze with steady calmness.

“We agreed upon that question yesterday, Colonel Fitzwilliam.”

“There has been no change of heart?” the colonel enquired.

“None whatsoever,” Jane said, blushing.

“What?” Elizabeth enquired inelegantly.

“Colonel Fitzwilliam proposed to me last night. I am engaged to be married,” Jane revealed to everyone’s astonishment.

“Richard, you cannot offer your hand to a lady who is already engaged,” Mr Darcy admonished, clearly aghast.

“I could not, but as Mr Bingley has yet to propose, I, rather impulsively, made my sentiments known and was gratified with a favourable answer. We may as well have the banns read. I am in no immediate rush, but a wedding shortly after the third banns would suffice.”

“What about Mr Bingley?” Mr Darcy asked, his voice ladled with venom.

“I thought after our discussions last night I would act on my own behalf before the decision was made for me. That it coincided with the blackguard Wickham’s demand is just a fortunate circumstance. My mind was made up, long before your old steward’s son tried to meddle.”

“The scandal will be substantial, but what about the settlement papers?”

“Mr Bingley seems to have forgotten about that while he was busy flitting around town gossiping. No papers have been signed as of yet.”

Mr Darcy sighed and ran his hand down his face. Elizabeth was immediately at his side and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“I believe the quidnuncs will be satisfied if I parade my new bride about town as though nothing untoward has happened. No formal announcement has been made from Bennet House, which contradicts Mr Bingley’s blather.

You should join us showing your own felicity, but I suggest we avoid notice until the first reading of the banns.

That should be sufficient time for you to recover fully from your wounds.

At the moment, you are a remarkable sight…

“We shall attend some sort of event. Vauxhall, the theatre, or a ball. If you come with us, as you are known to be Mr Bingley’s particular friend, people in general will have too much sense to censure the houses of Matlock, Longbourn, and Darcy.

Mr Bingley is of next to no importance in superior society.

Not as a man—I am not trying to disparage him as a gentleman—but he is a scatter-brain. ”