Chapter 5 #2
In a long, raving drunken rant, de Bourgh told the pastor all they had attempted to do to try to ensure their ascendance to the Leeds Dukedom. “I should have never helped that inshane womensh!”
Collins could not believe what he was hearing.
Mr and Mrs de Bourgh had wanted to have an innocent babe murdered for avarice and to be able to rise above the Earl and Countess of Holderness.
When he had received the letter from Lord Matlock, he had not wanted to believe that, no matter their deficiencies, his patron and the then Lady Catherine could have been so evil. It seemed his hope had been in vain.
And here sat Mr de Bourgh, deep in his cups, trying to shift the blame for the deplorable actions to his wife alone when he was no less culpable than she was.
Collins was very pleased that Their Majesties had acted to make sure that the de Bourghs would never profit from their crimes even if the body of the innocent Lady Bethany Osborne were never found.
Collins’s every instinct was to bodily eject the disgusting criminal from his house, but he knew he needed to be calm and not give the man a clue as to what was to happen to him and his insane wife.
When de Bourgh kept dropping off, Collins enlisted the aid of the cook-housekeeper to half carry and half drag the inebriated man to the front door. From there the Rosings Park groom assisted the reverend to pour Mr de Bourgh into the phaeton.
After watching the small carriage disappear from sight, Collins returned to his study and composed a letter.
Once he was happy with it, he hitched his gig to the one horse he kept, rode into Hunsford, and engaged an express rider at the inn in the town.
Thereafter, he returned to the parsonage to see his wife.
Once the nursemaid took William to play outside for a spell, Collins related all, from receiving the letter from the Earl of Matlock, its contents, to everything Mr de Bourgh had told him, ending with his own letter on its way to said earl. “Do you think my actions were correct?”
“You are absolutely doing the right thing, Clem,” Ophelia insisted. “Pure evil such as that needs to be punished. It is not you who will condemn them; rather, their own actions will do that. I never liked Lady…Mrs de Bourgh, but I never expected this of her.”
“It is out of my hands now,” Collins stated.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The express rider arrived at Kiveton Park on the morning of Friday, the second day of September.
Seeing that Lord Matlock had posted his letter from that address, Collins had sent it back to the same.
After the butler handed the rider some coin and directed him to the back of the house to go to the kitchens, he placed the epistle on the salver and made for the master’s study where he knew the two earls were with His Grace.
“Is that for me, Buxton?” Leeds queried.
“No, Your Grace, it is for Lord Matlock,” the butler said as he bowed and proffered the salver to the earl.
“It is from Collins, the parson in Hunsford,” Matlock stated with raised eyebrows. “I wrote to him requesting that he let me know if he finds any proof of Mr or Mrs de Bourghs’ guilt, or anything at all which would be useful in our search for Bethie.”
“Then do not dally, Matlock, read the missive,” Holderness urged.
“I agree with your brother-in-law,” Leeds added. “We have not learnt anything new since we visited Mr Younge.”
“In that case, I will read it to you,” Matlock decided. He looked at the other two men and saw nods of agreement from both. He broke the plain seal and opened the epistle. With that done, he began to read.
29 August 1791
The Parsonage
Hunsford
Kent
Lord Matlock:
When I read your letter earlier today, I did not want to believe that anyone, never mind one who is my patron, would be so evil as to order the murder of a babe in arms.
I would of course do as you asked of me; however, I convinced myself that there would be nothing to discover.
While I was working in my study less than 2 hours after I read your epistle, the man I thought had the title of Sir, Mr Lewis de Bourgh, called at my home.
He was deep in his cups. I would like to be able to say that his being foxed in the middle of the day was an aberration, but I could not if I wanted to remain honest. The difference this time was that he was completely inebriated, far worse than I have ever seen him.
He was slurring his words but still knew what he was about. He informed me that the titles of both his wife and himself had been stripped. He did not mention the circumstances, only that his wife was responsible for the straits they found themselves in at this time.
Taking a chance, I inquired as to what had led Mr de Bourgh to be in the state he was. At first, I thought he would not reply, but then it all came spilling out.
His wife had something she held over Mr Younge’s head (he did not tell me what) and had gotten him to agree to take Lady Bethany and murder her for the sum of ?20,000.
He told me that his wife had only paid ?10,000, with the rest due on proof of the babe’s death.
He related that she never intended to pay the rest of the money she promised Mr Younge.
“Whether Bethie is found alive or not, I want them executed. His Majesty has already said it is treason regardless of my darling daughter being discovered or not. Matlock, were they not family members of yours, I would have asked to swing the axe myself!” Leeds insisted.
“Pardon the interruption; please continue reading.”
Possibly because in vino veritas, or he just needed to unburden himself, Mr de Bourgh admitted that he went along with his wife so he would receive the funds and lands that he coveted.
For her, the title was most important so she would have a higher rank than the Countess of Holderness.
Of course, being able to lord her rank as a duchess over all of you in her family was a great attraction to Mrs de Bourgh.
As a clergyman, I am a man of peace and forgiveness; however, the crime here is one of pure evil! As such, if needed, I will testify in a court of law to Mr de Bourgh’s admission or swear to it in an affidavit, or both, if that is what is called for me to do.
If they repent their sins before meeting their end, they may attain God’s grace in the next world.
That being said, it does not mean that Mr and Mrs de Bourgh should escape the consequences of their actions in the mortal world.
My stated opinion is confirmed by the fact that Mr de Bourgh expressed no remorse over what he and his wife did.
To me, his only regret was the loss of his title and the removal from the line of succession to the Leeds Dukedom.
I await further instructions if you have any,
Reverend Clem Collins
“This is the last chance for you two to ask for another sentence other than execution,” Leeds stated as he looked from Matlock to Holderness.
“As I said when you asked this some weeks back, I will not stand in the way of justice. I agree with Mr Collins insofar as what the de Bourghs planned was evil personified. The truth is that dead or alive, Bethie is missing for no other reason than them being driven by greed, pride, and a desire to rise to a rank to which the de Bourghs are not worthy,” Matlock stated.
“I, too, stand by what I said then. Like Matlock and Elaine, Anne and I do not accept the de Bourgh parents as family any longer,” Holderness added. “At four, our niece is young enough that she will likely not remember who her birth parents were.”
“In that case, I will write to Their Majesties, but first, we need to inform our wives of what we have learned. I do not know about your ladies, but Amelia will not appreciate me not including her in this,” Leeds stated. Leeds saw his friends raise their hands, indicating they felt the same way.
They made their way to the drawing room where their ladies and the Fitzwilliam and Darcy sons were.
Lady Amelia did not miss the serious look on her husband’s face. “You have some news, do you not?” she asked. She saw the three nods from the men. “Then come and tell us.” She turned to Andrew, the eldest of the three cousins. “Andrew, this may be a good time for you three to go ride.”
The cousins never had to be told twice, as all three loved riding horses above all other activities.
Once the boys were out of the room, the three ladies looked at their husbands expectantly. Matlock told them about the epistle he wrote to the parson at Hunsford and gave them the gist of the information received in the parson’s return missive that day.
The three ladies were crying softly, but they were tears of anger, not sadness. “Your resolve to have those two abhorrent persons tried and convicted of treason, and then executed, has not softened, has it?” Lady Amelia asked the three men. “It would not please me if you have.”
“No, Amelia, my dear wife, there will be no reprieve for them. Even though I am hopeful that Bethie still lives seeing that no body has been discovered; we know what they intended. It will be the tower. Hanging is too good for them,” Leeds said.
Neither Lady Elaine nor Lady Anne disagreed.
“So be it. I will have a letter on its way for His Majesty with one of my couriers within the hour. There will be no mercy for the de Bourghs,” Leeds determined and then made for his study.
As he had said it would be, the missive was shortly on its way.
The next day, the three families departed for London. They wanted to be present when the criminals were brought to justice.