Chapter 22 #2
“With Colonel Forster’s help we have numerous men searching; let us hope we discover her soon,” Sir William expressed the wish of all in the area.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Lady Catherine was at a loss as to how to punish the residents of the area, her tenants included, for refusing to tell Mr. Collins or his wife anything of interest to her.
To make sure that Mrs. Collins was making the visits she claimed to have made, Lady Catherine had one of her footmen dress in the clothes of a labourer and follow the parson’s wife to confirm what she was doing.
She had lost the footman’s loyalty long ago, as she had lost that of most of her servants. Shortly after Mrs. Collins departed the parsonage carrying heavy-looking baskets, walking in the direction of a group of tenant cottages, the man approached her.
“Beggin’ yer pardon, Mrs. Collins,” the footman said as he stopped in front of the lady. He explained what he had been sent to do and by whom.
“What is your name?” Jane asked.
“Jennings, Madam,” he replied.
“Well, Jennings, I need some help carrying the baskets. You may accompany me and help if you would like to,” Jane offered.
“That way, you will not be lying when you report back to your mistress I am making my visits as required. If she asks if the tenants I am visiting said anything of note, you may honestly answer you heard nothing. If I need to talk to anyone, it will be out of your hearing, so there will be no need to prevaricate.”
When the man changed back into his livery and presented himself to Lady Catherine, he was able to report with absolute truth the parson’s wife was making her prescribed visits and he had heard nothing of significance shared with her beyond the expected greetings.
Lady Catherine waved the man away with an annoyed huff. She had been sure she would catch Mrs. Collins not doing her duty. She was most displeased she had no reason to berate anyone, so she took her frustration out on her lackey, Mr. Collins, when he came for his daily meeting with her.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
It had been four days since Fanny Bennet escaped custody. She was dirty and grimy, but she was free. She found an old basin she could fill with water from the stream when she was sure no one was near to observe her.
She had held her breath on the first day as she heard a group of men searching for her. They came close to the old dower house but, went on their way eventually. Fanny had never been so happy she had not demanded her husband repair it, as it would have been easily visible had he done so.
She had managed to pick some apples from the trees in the orchard and had pilfered some of the small meat pies and rolls the cook had left to cool near the window.
Fanny was aware she must exercise discretion when taking food from Longbourn, both so she would not be seen and not to take so much that it would be noticed.
‘Just you wait, Miss Lizzy; I will rid the world of you!’ Fanny ranted to herself. ‘I am the only one who sees how evil you are and I am the only one brave enough to deal with you.’
The more she raved about her former daughter, the further she descended into insanity.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
On Monday morning, twenty men arrived for Gardiner to choose from to bolster the guards around his family. As soon as he saw the two enormous men, former sergeants, Gardiner knew he had found the men who would be Lizzy’s personal protectors whenever she was out of the house.
One was aptly named Biggs; the other was named Johns.
Both were skilled with multiple weapons and were deceptively fast for big men, with lightning-quick reflexes.
In the end, rather than choosing only ten or twelve as he had planned, Gardiner employed all of the men who had arrived for him to interview.
Richard approved heartily of his decision and helped Gardiner place the men in positions where it would not be obvious they were guards. With an insane woman on the loose and his ward one of the residents of the house, Richard had a more than passing interest in the security of Netherfield Park.
When Elizabeth met her two new personal footmen, she could not stop a chortle escaping when the men stood up as she entered her father’s study. She was a petite woman, and next to the mountainous men she looked like a little doll.
“Biggs and Johns, this is my eldest daughter, Miss Elizabeth Gardiner. She is more than likely the probable target of the unbalanced woman about whom I told you. Lizzy, Biggs and Johns will be your personal guards,” Gardiner said, making the introductions.
Stifling her laughter, Elizabeth smiled, thinking her father could not have found bigger men. Aloud, she greeted the two men and thanked them for being willing to protect her.
“Until such time as my sister is recaptured, you will not exit the house without these two men accompanying you. Richard tells me they are very good at what they do and it is at their own peril if anyone thinks they are not very fleet of foot.”
Richard explained the men’s background to Elizabeth and assured her they were more than qualified for their positions.
“I promised before, and I repeat that promise now—I will obey all of the strictures you put in place for my, and all of our, security,” Elizabeth vowed.
“I know it is being done for our own protection. I am sure that woman will not be happy if she notes Mary and Kitty are living here. Will that be all, Father?”
Gardiner nodded, excusing Elizabeth. He then summoned his butler and introduced him to all the new footmen-guards. Eight of the men were sent to the stablemaster; they would work as grooms and assistant coachmen.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Darcy dreaded hearing about Miss Elizabeth’s marriage to the buffoon who was his aunt’s parson, but he was interested in meeting the Gardiners who would be hosting him when he attended Richard’s wedding—and Miss Gardiner, as well.
He could not understand why his sister, Tiffany, his Aunt Elaine, and Richard all hinted in their letters that he would love to meet Miss Gardiner. Suddenly a memory stirred, but then he told himself it could not be the same people.
Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst had mentioned the name Gardiner.
What was it they said? Ah yes, there was a man named Gardiner, Mrs. Bennet’s brother, who was a tradesman in London, in Cheapside.
He cared not if the man was in trade, but considering he was Mrs. Bennet’s brother, Darcy assumed the brother was a male version of his sister.
It could not be the same family, as this Gardiner family was landed gentry.
As he thought of his source of the information, Miss Bingley, Darcy was more than pleased the woman was on her way to the Americas, never to return.
Even though he would never have taken her as his wife, it would be good to be in Bingley’s company without worrying about the cloying woman.
One thing confused Darcy. In Bingley’s letter informing him about his sister’s departure from the Kingdom, he had referenced another letter Darcy could not remember receiving.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Darcy met with his steward, Mr. Chalmers. Between them, they had determined there was nothing else for the master to do. The spring planting was fully planned, the Black’s new cottage was almost built, and there had been no further disasters to necessitate his remaining at Pemberley.
Darcy knew Richard was at Netherfield Park as a guest of the Gardiners, so he wrote to him with a request to arrive earlier than planned as he felt he could not write to one to whom he had not yet been introduced.
After he completed his letter he sent it via his personal courier, with instructions to wait for an answer before returning to Pemberley. Five days after his man departed, he returned and handed his master a reply.
21 January 1811
Netherfield Park, Hertfordshire
Mr. Darcy,
My husband and I invite you to arrive when convenient for you. We are fully moved in and ready to host additional guests.
As Richard, Tiffany, and Giana have been made honorary members of the family, it seems that extends to you as well.
We are all looking forward to welcoming you.
Yours etc,
Mrs. Madeline Gardiner
Darcy knew it would be difficult to cool his heels and not head directly for Hertfordshire, but he wrote back, informing his hostess he would depart his estate the final Wednesday in January and arrive on the first Friday in February.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
After almost three weeks of keeping herself hidden in the old dower house, early one morning Fanny made her way to a stand of trees just inside Netherfield Park’s boundary.
An hour later she was rewarded, as she saw the object of her hate riding with a large group—far too many for Fanny to do what she wanted to.
Then she saw two of her younger daughters, Mary and Kitty, were part of the riding party. How dare that succubus Elizabeth take two more of her daughters? Fanny had to repress her emotions before she launched herself towards the laughing Miss Lizzy.
Soon! It would be soon! She would end the demon’s life.