Chapter Twenty-Three #2
“I believe she said she would be there for about a week and urged me to comfort Mr. Collins that her business might keep her in town longer. Once it was concluded to her satisfaction, she wrote she would return to begin plans for Miss de Bourgh’s upcoming nuptials.”
“How lovely for Miss de Bourgh,” Elizabeth enthused. “Did Lady Catherine say who the lucky man was? I would assume it would be someone from the surrounding area.”
“If I recall correctly, she said it was one of her nephews.” Sir William faced her husband. “You must know to whom she referred, Mr. Darcy, or is it a great secret amongst the family?”
“Lady Catherine has a few nephews from her husband’s side of the family. It may be to one them she referred.”
“Very true since you married the jewel of Hertfordshire. She has to look elsewhere.”
William’s grip on her arm tightened and she was glad of his sturdy presence. Sir William had no idea how much his information was much-needed intelligence.
“How thoughtful of Mr. Darcy’s aunt to send a gift and letter once she knew she had business elsewhere. Did she say when she was traveling to town? Again, I ask so that I might prepare for her visit.” Elizabeth said with a disarming smile.
“The gift was sent by express this very morning. My understanding is that she is in town as we speak.
Elizabeth turned that same smile onto her husband.
“How delightful, Mr. Darcy.”
By this time Richard and Jane had come alongside.
“What is this about our aunt?” he asked.
“Lady Catherine is in town, sooner than expected. We were just thanking Sir William for advising us so we could be prepared.”
Elizabeth gave Richard credit for not missing a beat when he turned to Sir William and asked, “Did she say where she was staying while in town? I know her townhouse is under renovation and my mother and father are in the country. I am sure Darcy will extend his aunt the courtesy of staying with him once he is back in town.”
“I do not recall a return address on the letter or gift…” Sir William trailed off but then brightened.
“However, the rider who brought the express is still here. We offered him some food from the wedding breakfast as he had to let his horse rest before returning. He will surely know where your aunt is staying.”
“I am certain she will stay with Lady Hortencia,” Elizabeth offered, keeping up the ruse. “They are such good friends.”
“I would like to speak with the lad, if you don’t mind, Sir William,” Richard said and took the gentleman’s arm, guiding him out of the room.
Elizabeth shared a look with her husband before saying quietly, “I believe we should return to Longbourn and make plans.”
They all agreed and as soon as it was polite to do so, the Bennet family along with Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy made their way to Longbourn.
Within the hour, Richard joined them and the men left for Uncle’s study.
Not wishing to alarm her Aunt Frances, Elizabeth stated she would start packing so that they could leave on the morrow.
She cleared the room, hurried down the hall, and slipped into her uncle’s study.
“What did you discover?”
***
The ride back to Longbourn was short and lively with Mrs. Bennet enthusing about the wedding, the food, the guests and their attire, and the amount of lace on the bride’s dress.
Once they reached the manor and had disembarked, all the ladies went on to the parlor while the men headed straight for the study.
Darcy knew by the look his wife gave him, that she wanted to be with them and not left out of what was being planned.
He understood her desire, but they needed to begin strategizing immediately.
With that in mind, he asked Richard bluntly what he had been told by the express rider. His wife’s uncle forestalled Richard from answering.
“You may as well wait, son. No sense in telling the tale twice,” Bennet advised. At their blank looks, he chuckled. “Do you think Lizzy will stay in the parlor with the womenfolk?”
He shook his head and sure enough, within less than a minute Elizabeth slid into the room, quiet as a wraith. Her first words were, “What did you discover?”
“The rider was to find out how long you plan to stay in Hertfordshire, but he was so hungry he forgot to ferret that information out.”
“Surely he is expected to return to Lady Catherine and report his findings?”
“He was, but I offered him a good portion of money if he took an express to Derbyshire for me.”
“Derbyshire!”
“I sent him off with a letter to Mrs. Reynolds and said he need not kill his horse getting there and gave him plenty of money for inns and stables. I suspect he will take about four days to get there and then another four to return.”
“What in the world did you say to Mrs. Reynolds?”
“That you were doing well and would probably not return to Pemberley until late August and to give him a bed for the night before he was sent off again.”
All four of them began to laugh. Finally, they settled down and Darcy had to ask, “But what of Lady Catherine? She will expect the rider to return and give a full report.”
Richard leaned back in his chair and crossed one leg over his knee.
“As you know, Lady Catherine does not look at her servants. All she will remember is that he was a slight lad with sandy-colored hair. Mr. Bennet here has a stable boy with the same build and coloring. He will tell her Darcy and Elizabeth are remaining in Hertfordshire for a few more days, returning next Tuesday. We leave tonight and will be at Darcy House before dawn. She will not know we are back in town.”
“When we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near,” Elizabeth said softly into the ensuing silence.
“Lady Catherine will not know where we are or what we are doing. It is wise that she thinks we are ignorant and happy, exposing our soft bellies to her blade, when in fact we are lying in wait for her to walk into our ambush.”
“My thoughts exactly. I have also sent an express to my men in London and they are to watch her house. Before Tuesday, I will have Father take her into custody. She will have no chance to warn her men. If we have not discovered their identities before next week, they will be caught red-handed and will swing.”
“That would expose your family,” Bennet protested. “The scandal would destroy their reputations.”
“I did not say they would be arrested. I said they would die.”
“I do not know if I could live with the blood of their deaths on my hands.”
Elizabeth sat twisting her fingers together in her lap. Without thought, Darcy reached over and covered her hands with his, and gave a comforting squeeze.
“Their blood would be on my hands, Elizabeth,” Richard said. “Mingling with all the others I have had to dispatch in my career.”
“Lizzy,” Bennet said, hesitating slightly. “These men have no heart, no moral code. You have no idea what they planned.”
“But I do, Uncle. I am very aware of what Lady Catherine expected of them.”
Bennet cast a furious glance in Darcy’s direction.
“I found I could not lie to my wife, sir. She deserved to know,” he said, his chin held high in defiance.
“Could we not have them deported?”
“Do you think they would become model citizens the minute they step on foreign soil?” Bennet said in a hard voice.
“I know you find this distasteful, Elizabeth, but you must see reason. These men do not care who they hurt and deporting them only places them in the vicinity of other innocent victims. We cannot take the easy way out.”
“Wait a minute,” Richard broke in. “Elizabeth may have the right of it. What about impressment?”
“You mean to press-gang them into service?”
“Exactly. It is a hard life and we are at war. Best of all, they would be separated from one another. I have many contacts within the Navy. It can be easily done.”
Later that afternoon, after Elizabeth had returned to visit with her aunt and cousins, Bennet poured them each a drink.
“We are fortunate Sir William is so garrulous,” Darcy said. “Without his telling us of our aunt’s generosity, we might not have discovered where she was hiding.”
“He is also without guile,” Bennet said and leaned back in his chair. “Before his knighthood, it was what made him a successful businessman. He was honest to a fault.”
“I raise my cup to honest people.” Richard raised his drink in a toast.
“Hear, hear.” Bennet and Darcy raised their glasses in tandem.
Once their drinks were finished, Richard went to the stables to prepare their rider for his errand.
They all agreed to find their beds sooner rather than later as Richard wanted to be on the road around four o’clock in the morning.
This way they could be in London before nine.
Bennet had the daunting task of explaining why the three of them and all the guards would have stolen away in the night and to try and curb his wife’s tongue from flapping in the wrong direction.
At dawn, he came up with the idea the whole family would take a trip to Bath, and in the ensuing chaos after his declaration over the breakfast table, Mrs. Bennet barely gave Elizabeth, Mr. Darcy, and the colonel another thought.
At Jane’s panicked expression, Mr. Bennet told her she would stay with the Gardiners for the interim.