A Mutual Accord

Chapter 46

CHAPTER 46

L ater that evening, after the household had gone to bed, Lady Catherine met with Georgiana, Ashley, and Richard in her private sitting room.

“Brother! Father was surprised that it was you they sent out here!” said Ashley, rising to clap his brother on the back. “He told me that he spoke personally with the quartermaster before the mission was assigned, he does not think even the quartermaster himself knows that you are the agent in question. What the devil is going on out here in East Sussex?”

“It appeared to be smuggling, and perhaps it is, but damned if I can work it out without proper support, Ashley,” said his younger brother. “I was told that extra men would be sent out the moment I indicated that they were needed. I have asked my superior four times to send more men, and I have yet to hear a word back, and we had a sound method of communication planned. The damned war office sent me out here and abandoned me. I have been attempting to follow no fewer than ten men by myself for weeks, and ensure the safety of Bourne House.”

“Well I can at least take the worry of Bourne House off of your mind. I brought my own staff to add to my aunt’s men here,” replied the viscount. “Now what about Darcy?”

“I cannot find that he has been involved in any way,” answered Richard. “The only connection to Darcy in all of this is that Wickham is involved. It was Wickham who spooked Father’s horse, and if he could have come close enough to the manor after, his plan was to burn you all in your beds.”

“That damned devil,” growled Ashley. “Remind me again why haven’t you killed him yet?”

“I assure you, brother, the very next time I see him, no matter what the circumstance is, I intend to do it directly. I do not even care if I swing for it by this point.”

“I am certain you can be more stealthy than that, brother, but let us not shock the ladies,” Ashley drawled. “My you have grown up, little cousin. This might be the first adult discussion I have seen you admitted to.” he tweaked Georgiana’s nose affectionately.

“I will not be excluded when my brother is missing!” said Georgiana firmly.

“Nor should you be,” smiled Ashley. “Richard, what else?”

“It is possible that it is smuggling, but if it is, it must be something big, for I have never encountered so much intrigue around a smuggling operation,” said Richard. “That makes the most sense considering the debts of the men who are involved. When you are socialising, you must not doubt for a moment that Lord Amesbury is involved. Even the local colonel. In the absence of support from London, I was not even able to seek the aid of the local regiment, for Colonel Allen has been seen meeting with an agent that I suspect has French connections, and he has no less than ten of his officers following the occupants of this house. I heard with my own ears, the colonel wishing to the agent that he would have preferred it if our father had been removed from office before whatever this is takes place. In addition, just before Darcy went missing, Anne somehow inadvertently said something that made Swinton believe that the ladies here know what they are up to. Then they began watching every occupant in this house, not just Darcy and Aunt Catherine.”

“What about this comte fellow?” asked Ashley. “I do not think his appearance here can be a coincidence.”

“He is impossible to follow, he disappears like mist.” Richard shook his head. “I know where he resides, and when he leaves his home openly, it is to do nothing other than innocuous visits about the village. There have been a few times when he left this house, or when he has gone out for an early morning walk, that I have not been able to keep a tail on him, but I have yet to see him in any unsavoury activity.”

“I see what you mean about something big,” said Ashley. “I brought Croucher, as you requested.”

Croucher was a man who worked for Lord Matlock. None in the family knew his origins, or how Lord Matlock had come to find the man, but he could blend into any situation or society, with the right garments. Richard carried himself with too much nobility, and too much military precision to be trusted in the pubs where those who knew about the local smuggling rings congregated. Croucher not only had the ability to fit into any situation, he had the skill of making himself trusted immediately by even the most careful men. He would be sent out the following day to question the local men who would not admit to knowing anything to the authorities.

“I do wonder one thing, though,” Georgiana said in a small voice, then faltered self-consciously.

“What is that, dear?” asked Ashley. “Do not be shy, cousin. If you have thought of something, it could be important.”

“Richard just reminded me of something,” Georgiana said. “Do you recall precisely what it was that Anne said that made Lord Lennox drop his cup?”

Richard narrowed his eyes, and said, “ Why do we need so much protection? Are you expecting an invasion of the French ?”

Ashley matched his brother's expression. “An invasion?”

Richard shook his head. “Completely improbable, brother. The French are spread so thin, causing trouble with us in America, and it is without doubt that they will shortly invade Russia. They would not attack our soil unless they had a mighty army, and their army is everywhere else.”

“What if that is what the French want us to think?” asked Georgiana. “I was treated to a tour of the Martello Tower with Lizzy, Lydia, and Aunt Catherine by the East Sussex Volunteer Corps. There is hardly a militia present, only a small regiment, but the tower is barely manned by the officers. They live in their camp. The tower is mostly used by the Volunteer Corps. There is a man who heads them, Mr Buckle. He says they use it as a headquarters for investigating smuggling.”

“ You have been inside the tower?” Richard asked, feeling all of the irony of obtaining the information he needed about his own army’s tower in this manner. “What is it like?”

“Mostly empty,” said Georgiana. “There are some offices, and storage, and an area they use for meetings. I am certain there were areas they did not show us. But there were not many people, the corps being a volunteer endeavour. I saw only a few soldiers during my visit, but I do not know how typical of a day it was.”

“Do you know if the beacon is still laid at the top?” Richard asked, eagerly.

“It is!” Georgiana answered excitedly. “That was the most interesting part of the tour! Did you know that when the beacons are lit, they can be seen by another tower miles down the coast in both directions? If an invasion were to occur, and the beacon was lit, they would light all of the beacons for miles and miles, informing the entire southern coast in minutes! The view out over the sea was spectacular!”

“Do you think that an invasion is likely, with so many officers of the regiment involved, Brother?” asked Ashley.

“It is entirely probable that the officers in question have no idea why they are following the occupants of this house,” admitted Richard. “Senior officers do not have a habit of explaining themselves to their men. Men are given orders, and orders are followed without question. And there are a great many officers who would turn a blind eye to smuggling, particularly if their colonel seemed inclined to. Officers are usually younger brothers, often out of pocket, more in tune with the common man, and many would feel sympathy with Englishmen feeding their families by such measures, particularly those who hail from these southern coastal towns.”

“What shall you do?” demanded his aunt.

“I sent word to my own general days ago,” said Richard. “He was instructed by headquarters to relieve me of duty so that I might leave my regiment and take on this task. But the agreed upon channels of communication have proven to be inconsistent. General Vane will hopefully send a unit of dragoons to take up camp somewhere close by if I need them, and to help with following the agents, I am certain of it.

“I will also send word to a naval friend I have, who is docked in Brighton with his vessel, along with at least several others, whom I also know well. I am going to send a rider to him, asking him to have his friends come and hide in the nearby waters. For a short while at least, until we know more. French frigates are smaller, and carry perhaps half as many men as Wentworth’s third rate. If there were enemies in the waters, a few of our vessels who know our own coast well should rout them easily if they came too close.”

Eastbourne,

Sussex

Wentworth,

Show this to no one except Croft. I have been sent to Eastbourne to investigate claims of strange coastal activity. At first it was thought to be smuggling, and smuggling it might still be, but activity in the area is incredibly strange, and there are quite a shocking number of agents involved.

The agreed methods of communication with headquarters have proven to have been tampered with or faulty, and I have no trustworthy military assets to assist me here. I must put my own pieces into place until help arrives.

You and your fellow captains know all of the places to hide in wait on the coast, and if you chose to settle in nearby until further notice, I would consider it a favour. Who knows, perhaps something will happen, and there may be some fame and prize money for you and your friends.

Col. R. Fitzwilliam

Darcy woke after another night on a hard, wet floor. He had been in the cave for days, though now he was manacled. Wickham was always close by, Darcy could hear him speaking, but never entered the area in which Darcy was held, likely not wishing to be questioned by him. Every other day, a haggard old woman dressed in rags would appear, giving him a hard crust of bread and a small pitcher of water, but she refused to speak to him. Darcy was starving, wet, filthy, and barely had the ability to attend to his more personal needs.

He had spent days listening to Wickham and a man, who Darcy now understood to be the man known as Huggins, whom they had seen in Meryton. There was to be an invasion in Eastbourne. The French would actually land here. Darcy did not know how many ships were coming, or how they believed the plot would be successful, but it was absolutely certain that an invasion was planned, and that it would happen in mere days.

“There is something else that must happen before the landing, and you must see to it,” said Huggins in his gravelly voice. “The foreign secretary’s other brat has arrived, with his wife and children. You will remove them from the situation. The daughter too.”

“I am to get rid of Ashley and his whole family? And his sister? How am I to kill so many at once?” Wickham objected.

“That is your problem,” Huggins said darkly. “Burn the house if you must.”

“That would have been easier in Derbyshire, where Matlock is isolated,” Wickham protested. “Here in Eastbourne, they have the fire brigade close by. Not to mention, you have seen all of the men watching the house. It is not half a regiment, but I will never get close to the place, particularly considering that most of the men watching are Darcy’s men, and they all know me.”

“No one cares how you do it, just get it done, before the ball,” Huggins snarled. Darcy then heard the man leave.

Darcy could not countenance what he had just heard. Ashley’s entire family! And what on earth had Priscilla done to anyone? He waited a few moments to be sure Wickham was alone before bellowing, “Wickham! You have ignored me long enough, get in here, damn you!”

Wickham entered the small section of the cave in which Darcy had been held since he arrived. “Been eavesdropping, Darce? You know that they say if you listen to the conversations of others, you might hear something upsetting.”

“Wickham, could I possibly interest you in a bank draft for twenty thousand pounds and passage on a ship for Canada?” Darcy said hopefully. Perhaps if he appealed to Wickham’s avarice, he could remove them both from this situation before it happened.

Wickham laughed hysterically. “Are you jesting? The time for that has long passed, Darcy. I am in this so deep, I shall never dig myself out. My only hope now is to go to France. They have a chateau and a fortune waiting for me there. You always were cheap with your bribes.”

“Wickham, if you believe you will make it to France alive, you are more stupid than I ever believed. Why would they keep any promises to you?”

“I know you saw me and my contact in Meryton. Did you not recognise my uncle?” Wickham asked. “Huggins is only a name he uses while in England.”

Darcy stopped and thought for a moment. A man had arrived in Derbyshire when they were boys, and Mrs Wickham Senior had claimed him as her brother. He had stayed for perhaps two weeks before Mr Wickham had decided that there was something sinister and suspicious about the man, and at Mr Darcy’s request, had sent him packing. Darcy had been but eight years old, and for the life of him he could not recall the man’s appearance or the French name he had gone by.

“You believe that just because he is your uncle, or claims to be so, that he is to be trusted?” Darcy scoffed. “You do not know him, George. You did not grow up with him as your doting uncle. Why would he give a piss about you? How can you be certain you are not being used?”

“Whether I am or whether I am not, I am in too deep to turn back now,” Wickham said.

“And you do not mind murdering Ashley’s entire family? To what purpose? What the hell is wrong with you, George? My father gave you a home when your parents died, gave you an education, connections, he gave you a real chance! How have you come to this?” Darcy demanded. “What is it that has broken inside you that you would murder three small children?”

“You know that I have no quarrel with Carlisle or his family,” confessed Wickham. “And the idea of harming Priscilla, well you must remember, Darcy, you know how I felt about her when we were young. It grieves me a bit. But I have no choice. When I say that I am in too deep, that means I must do everything they tell me, or they will kill me. I could not even hope with any confidence that I might be safe in Canada. I have no choice but to proceed.”

“You should never have let yourself be dragged into this!” Darcy said angrily.

“You ought to have just given me an estate, Darcy. It was cruel of your father to raise me as a gentleman and give me no means to continue as one. I was not raised to work.” Wickham shrugged. “You ought to enjoy what little time you have left. I will not even lie and suggest that I look forward to killing you, but it will have to be done in a day or so. I will probably send one of the other men to do it. My parting gift to you is that I shall not force you to look into my eyes as the light leaves you.” Wickham left him then, as Darcy shouted and screamed in rage for Wickham to come back and discuss this rationally, like men.