Chapter 35
CHAPTER 35
T he following afternoon, Georgiana met Richard at the back of the garden and informed him of their aunt’s reply, and about the maid. Georgiana did not know what Richard wished Torrens to know, so she arranged for the man to follow her to the garden a quarter hour after she went. Richard did not inform Torrens of the matter, telling Georgiana that she was to stay away from the maid for now, and that he would be present that day to listen to the maid’s meeting with the strange man. Georgiana gave him a packet of prawlongs, her cousin’s favourite confection, and left him alone with the butler. Richard instructed her that he would reach out to her as little as possible, in case those following her brother began following her too, but that he would watch her and his aunt often to ensure their safety, and that he would find a way to remove the treacherous maid unobtrusively from the house. So far, the ladies were only being stalked in the drawing rooms by their admirers, who called every day. Darcy actually had two militia officers in plain attire following him. Richard did not yet feel comfortable in approaching their colonel to determine why.
Georgiana then accompanied Lydia to visit Miss Fletcher, who was feeling better after another elixir had been administered, and had recovered enough to proceed with their appointment. Georgiana and Lydia were looking forward to the call. Georgiana was adept at the harp, but Miss Fletcher was a prodigy when she felt well enough to play, and the two of them had already learned a great deal from the young lady, and enjoyed their visits tremendously.
Later in the afternoon, Richard waited in a secluded spot in the garden. Eventually, he observed the man he had seen with Wickham in Meryton, Huggins, enter the garden and commence waiting for Marigold.
“You idiot girl! How dare your brother waste our time with such foolishness? These are not letters from Downing Street! These are Lord Matlocks private letters!” whispered the man angrily.
“Sir! My brother cannot read well! He did the best he could, but he does not know one letter from another! It was all he could do just to copy them! He says he has not slept in weeks, labouring over them!” protested Marigold. “I can read, and our mum can read, she writes his letters for ‘im but he never did well in school!”
“You mean your brother told your mother about this!” Huggins demanded angrily.
“You wanted the information, you threatened me that you would harm my mother if I did not get it, I had no other way to contact my brother to watch the house!” Marigold cried.
“Damned ignorant, idiot peasants!” swore Huggins. The maid fled back to the house, and the man quickly vanished from the garden.
A great weight lifted from Richard’s chest. He knew his father would not have left packets from Whitehall out where they could be found. Those would not even be in his study. Richard knew all too well that Marigold’s brother Harry could not only read and write, and might be the lowest footman, but he had distinguished himself at the estate school. Richard himself had visited the school on behalf of the family, and bestowed a Johnson’s Dictionary upon him when he had taken a first in exams seven years before. Once he began working at the house, he had quickly been taken under the butler’s wing. Only his young age of eighteen prevented him from being given a more senior position, but the butler expected the young man to make first footman by his majority, and under-butler by five and twenty.
Harry Tupper was intelligent enough to even have possibly made up the letters entirely, they may not even be stolen from Lord Matlock’s study at all. In his few years working at the big house, the young man had already shed his northern accent, and now nearly spoke like the butler he hoped to be one day. If he pretended to write poorly, he could have made up any number of unimportant missives. What was important was that the servants of Matlock and the House of de Bourgh might be placed in a difficult situation, but they were not traitors. Everyone in the family would have been devastated if it had been true. Richard must find a way to assist the two before too much time passed, and the man Huggins made even more demands of them.
Three days later, Harry Tupper found himself in Lord Matlock’s bedroom. He had no idea why he had been summoned, and the butler, Mr Ludlow, was concerned beyond anything, and was not happy to vacate the room at his lordship’s dismissal.
“Check the door,” Matlock said to his secretary, Miles Percival, a moment after the butler had gone. He regarded the young man as Percival obeyed, ensuring that the butler, nor anyone else had lingered by the entrance to the room.
“I have just a few moments ago received an express from my second son, an express so confidential, that it came with two riders, and under the condition that it be handed to no one other than myself,” said Matlock to the boy. This was not an uncommon practice, and Lord Matlock kept messengers on staff waiting for his and his family's missives at different points along the road to Derbyshire. It was necessary, given the nature of his position in the government, that often certain messages must be protected at all costs. Sending two riders, and mixing the riders who rode together up often, ensured that none would open the documents. “Do you know what it says?”
“No sir,” said Harry Tupper in confusion, but beginning to feel nervous. What if their trick had been discovered, but was misunderstood?
“No, nor do I,” said Matlock, passing him the sealed missive. “It is addressed to you.”
Harry opened the letter and read Colonel Fitzwilliam’s bold script.
Tupper,
You must confide yours and your sister’s problem to my father immediately, before something unfortunate happens to your family. You have been clever, but the time to seek my father’s protection has come. I will do what I can in Eastbourne to see to the safety of Marigold.
F
Harry read the message and passed it to Lord Matlock. “Oh, bother,” said his lordship. “Whatever have you got yourself into, Harry?”
“It’s a pickle, sir,” said Harry in embarrassment. “I ought to have come to you straight away, but my sister, she was afraid for our mother.”
“This is your sister Marigold, who works for my sister Lady Catherine at Rosings Park?” inquired Matlock.
“Yes, sir,” answered Harry. “She was approached by an unknown man. The man described our mother and our cottage to her, and threatened that if she did not make me pass information about your activities, that our mother would be hurt. They threatened Marigold too, sir. Threatened her with consequences that ought never befall a girl, if you take my meaning.”
“How horrible for Marigold – she must have been terrified,” said Matlock. “And what did you do?”
“I thought up a plan, sir, to make them believe us ignorant and uneducated,” explained Harry. “I made up a packet of letters, silly things, notes from Lady Catherine about nonsense with the young ladies in Eastbourne, short missives or invitations from unimportant people that I have met here and have a good knowledge of. I copied them in an unschooled hand, made it look very illiterate, and sent it to her and told her to tell them that I stole them from your study and copied them. When they grew angry with her and said that they were not what they wanted, she was to tell them that I had struggled in school and could barely read. And that I had to have my mother read her the letter that she had sent me, and that I did not know one letter from another. The only thing she could tell them was that I had told them that you receive a great deal of mail, sir, and that as a lower footman, I rarely wait upon you in your rooms. We hoped that would be believable sir, for Marigold fears for our mother, sir, but neither of us wishes to be a traitor.”
“You are correct, you ought to have come to me immediately.” Lord Matlock sighed. “But I can see that you meant well, and there is no harm done. We must see to your mother’s safety. The Widower Gordon has been calling upon her, did you know? Perhaps if she marries again, she will be safer under a man’s roof.”
“I did know that, sir, and he is a fine man. I’d have no objection to seeing my ma well cared for,” said Harry. “She is not too old to take on another husband if she has a mind to.”
“I will speak to Ludlow, and have him keep you indoors for the time being,” said Matlock. “I hope we can trust Richard to keep an eye on your sister.”
Elizabeth had little success finding an acceptable time to speak to Lady Catherine alone regarding her refusal to be open with her daughter, nor had she had the opportunity to ask Darcy to do so. Lady Catherine consulted with the comte and the two surgeons weekly, though she would no longer allow Anne to accompany her, nor would she tell anyone what was discussed at the appointments, nor what treatments were planned. Anne’s anxiety and fear grew as a result, and it made her difficult, and waspish in the presence of the comte .
The comte spent a great deal of time amongst them and their party. He called upon them every day, and dined with them frequently, though he never ate. His servant accompanied him everywhere, and kept him supplied with mineral water, which was all the man drank. He always wore black from head to toe, and was always tinkling from the sheer number of gold and diamond trinkets he adorned his attire with. He constantly kept whatever party he engaged with entertained, telling stories about the courts of Catherine the Great, Louis XV, and other royals.
“I have been to so many royal courts that I am on first name terms with every noble ghost in Europe,” the man joked one night at Lady Catherine’s table.
Anne, piqued as usual with the comte , wished to put the man on the spot, and she addressed his servant who was standing behind him. “Is it true that your master is over a thousand years old, then?”
“I could not say, mademoiselle , for I myself am only three centuries old,” came the reply that Denomme gave to everyone who asked such a question.
“Anne, do not be irksome,” chided Lady Catherine.
“Amesbury, we could use your influence with the war office. MacArthur and I just sent up a demand that they cease neglecting the Martello Tower, and send a proper regiment, and a few naval vessels to protect the waters. The East Sussex Volunteer Corps and the coastal blockade are mostly concerned with smuggling, they cannot be expected to defend us. I beg you to send a letter yourself,” said Sir Charles Gordon, a local baron who owned an estate perhaps five miles away from town.
“Preposterous!” barked Lord Amesbury.
“The protection of the coast and town is preposterous?” asked Darcy. Sir Charles’s suggestion did not sound very silly to him.
“Indeed! Every regiment sent here would be a regiment wasted when they are needed in Chichester!” said Lord Amesbury dismissively.
“What is happening in Chichester?” asked Mr Woodhouse curiously.
“There is a Luddite uprising there, if you can believe it,” answered Lord Amesbury. “I just received word of it this morning, from Colonel Allen, with a warning in case the mills to the north in Westham follow suit. I have investments there. Allen says they cannot fathom what got it started, the mill owners there have been generous to their workers, so generous that the owners of other mills in the region are complaining, but as of a few days ago, there was rioting there. In any case, the French are preparing to attack Russia. They have no time to attack our coast as well.”
“Darcy, those could be our mills!” said Bingley in agitation.
“Do you have investments in Chichester?” asked Jane.
“Indeed we do, Miss Bennet,” answered Darcy in concern. “It is a recent investment that we made in partnership with your father and uncle. Bingley, I believe we ought to travel to Chichester first thing in the morning.”
“Oh dear,” said Jane. “We should hate for you to have to go away, but I understand if your investments are at risk.”
“I do hope for Papa’s sake, and for the rest of the gentlemen involved, that all will be well,” said Elizabeth.
“I shall pray for the workers, that they might see sense, and not injure themselves or others, and that if they have been misled, that they will see the error of their ways,” said Mary devoutly.
“You are a good girl, Miss Mary. Bennet, you have chosen your future wife well,” said Lady Catherine. “Nephew, I hope that if you do have to leave, that you will not be gone long. I would prefer to have your escort when we attend Lady Amesbury’s ball.”
“ Must we discuss trade?” asked Miss Woodhouse in disgust. “Whatever has happened to society?”
“It is a fiction that gentlemen never invest in trade, dear,” said her father.
“ You do not!” replied Miss Woodhouse indignantly.
“No, but I am interested in doing so,” said Mr Woodhouse. “I had investments before your dear mother passed. I ought to ask Knightley to seek out something promising.”
“Oh!” said Miss Woodhouse in distress.
“Feeling better, mademoiselle ?” asked the comte slyly across the table. Miss Woodhouse blushed scarlet as her father glared at him. Elizabeth and the rest of the young ladies looked at each other across the table in perplexity, and Lady Catherine’s guests, as usual when the comte spoke, wondered what in the world he meant.