Chapter 16
Fanny was very happy when Lizzy had asked her to join her for a morning walk. Her second daughter decided to forgo riding Jupiter to walk with her, and Fanny was very thankful as she had not had the opportunity to ask Lizzy how she felt after meeting her mother the previous day.
As the eastern sky barely began to lighten, they left via the kitchen door—Cook had warm baked goods wrapped in a cloth ready for them—crossed the kitchen garden and exited via the wooden gate in the low stone wall around the garden.
The wall had been built at a height to keep any escaped pigs from being able to scale it to reach the herbs and vegetables on the other side.
Elizabeth and her mother were escorted by Brian Johns, who had been waiting for them just outside the kitchen.
He was the one who closed and secured the gate.
No one at Longbourn wanted a repeat of the destruction the two escaped pigs wrought on the kitchen garden when the gate had not been secured properly.
As such, making sure it was securely closed was double-checked each time it was used.
The inadvertent culprit had been none other than Lizzy when she was seven.
Knowing that with his long strides Brian would not have to expend any effort to keep pace with them, mother and daughter took off at the blistering pace they preferred when they walked together.
Once Brian had satisfied himself there was no one else on the summit of the hill, Fanny and Lizzy walked to the eastern edge and took a seat on the flattened boulder they always used.
Fanny pulled the still-warm cloth from her pocket.
She looked back to see that John had extracted his own cloth from Cook.
There were orders in the kitchen that whenever some baked goods were prepared for the walkers, some were to be made for the escorts as well.
While the light in the east brightened, Fanny and Lizzy enjoyed a warm roll and a muffin each.
With their treats eaten, they sat in companionable silence watching the birth of a new day.
The only noise was the song emanating from the birds in the branches of the fully verdant oak trees on the top of Oakham Mount.
“Lizzy, how are you coping with all of the changes to your life?” Fanny asked gently once the sun was fully above the horizon.
Rather than reply right away, Elizabeth cogitated for a few moments.
When she was ready, she turned and faced Mamma.
“Had I not been told the truth of my birth on the day we thought I had turned sixteen, then, when Caroline and her brother told us I looked so much like the lady I now know as Mother, everything that has occurred since would have been much more of a surprise and a significant upset to my equanimity.
Because of that disclosure, and then when Caroline recognised me and Cousin Clem filled in the parts about the criminals who conspired to have me kidnapped and murdered, I was not as thunderstruck as I might have otherwise been.
“By the time my new aunts and uncles arrived with their families, I was ready to see them. What they told me of Mother ensured that I was in anticipation of meeting her.” Elizabeth paused and squeezed her mamma’s hand.
“My question for you, Mamma, is have you been able to reconcile yourself to my change in circumstances?”
“I will not lie and tell you that from the time your papa told me that it was possible our assumptions about who wanted to harm you may be wrong, I have felt trepidation that we could lose you and even possibly be blamed for keeping you. However, since meeting the Fitzwilliams and Darcys, and now Amelia, I do not believe that any of them are here to seek recriminations. Also, I was fearful that your birth family would possibly want to sunder the connection between us. I do not believe any of them intend to do so.”
“Mamma, I happen to know a duchess,” Elizabeth teased.
“I promise you that she will never allow anyone to come between us. In all seriousness, Mother and the rest of my new family are too intelligent not to realise that any such attempt would alienate me. If I were forced to chuse, I would chuse the family I have known since I can remember. Although, I do not believe either you or they will put me in a position to have to do so.”
“Lizzy, you are and have always been a very strong person. I am not sure I would have the strength of character were I to learn everything you have, including that you are a duchess, and maintain my equanimity.”
“Are you and Papa ready to speak to Mother after we break our fasts this morning?”
“We have nothing to hide. Hence, I do not fear telling Amelia all.”
The two stood and nodded to Brian, who led the way down the path to the base of the hill and took his position a little behind them as they walked back towards the manor house.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Regardless of how she had suffered without Bethie for so many years, Lady Amelia could see one truth without any doubt.
Her daughter had been raised with love and care.
Aside from her remarkable memory, Bethie was a well-rounded and happy young lady.
She could not have wished for more for her daughter.
She was still seated in the comfortable bed enjoying a cup of tea her maid brought her, like she did every morning.
Bethie had invited her to join her and her mamma when they walked at dawn this morning.
Although she had been gratified to receive the invite, Amelia had nevertheless refused for two reasons.
The first one was what she told Bethie. She had been truthful in telling her daughter she needed a good night’s sleep after her travels.
The unspoken reason was she did not want to overwhelm Bethie with her presence.
She could already tell that Bethie was not one to be forced into doing anything she did not want to do.
Anne and Elaine had informed her how Fanny and Bethie walk out some days and how much they enjoy their walks.
Amelia knew she would be able to join Bethie when she rode or walk with her on a day when Fanny was otherwise engaged.
After thinking about the walk, Amelia ruminated on the people she had met the prior evening.
Some of them, like Mr and Miss Bingley, she had met at Rosings Park.
The previous evening Amelia had thanked Miss Bingley for seeing her in Bethie’s face. Her gratitude to Mr Collins had been deep, given how it was he who had written to the Fitzwilliams and Darcys at Seaview House.
The more she spoke to members of the Bennets’ extended family, the more Amelia could see how valued Bethie was by all of them. As they knew not what her connections or rank were, their love was pure and had nothing to do with being able to gain some reward or advantage later.
Of one thing she was certain; even if she were inclined to, and she was not, Amelia would never attempt to break the contact between Bethie and the Bennets.
No matter that she had been born to her, she recognised that in every other way, she was Lizzy Bennet, and if she made any move to separate Bethie from the Bennets, her daughter would refuse, and in the end, it would lead to being rejected by Bethie.
After she broke her fast, Amelia would meet with Fanny and Thomas in the study, and she would learn all about the years Bethie had not been a part of her life.
Once she had satisfied her curiosity, Amelia knew that she could not delay informing the royals that Bethie had been found.
She would stress that her identity was confirmed beyond any possible question.
At some point, Bethie would have to appear before the king, or if he were indisposed, the Prince of Wales, to be officially recognised as the suo jure Duchess of Leeds.
Once that occurred, Amelia was aware that her daughter’s life would forever change.
Elaine and Anne had asked if she wanted them to be with her when she met the Bennets; however, Amelia had demurred. She would tell them all afterward, but she did not want the Bennets to think that she needed protection from them.
She rang for her maid and asked to be dressed for the day.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Clay and Karen Younge, the twins who had been born to Becky and Clay Younge, were the only two remaining members of the family. When they were eighteen, some four years past, the older Clay had been shot and killed when he had been caught cheating at cards.
The father had done his twins a great disservice insofar as he never told them who had killed their mother, or of the plot in which she and his murderous brother had been involved.
This mistake was compounded because the twins were very angry about the murder of their mother and the lack of information allowed their imaginations to conjure up all sorts of scenarios. Had their father ever deigned to tell them the truth before he was shot, he could have gifted his twins peace.
All they knew was that their mother had met her end while employed in the household of the Duke of Leeds, and the uncle they could hardly remember had died around the same time.
With the limited information Karen and Clay had in their possession, and without any facts to bolster their conclusion, they decided that the blame for their mother’s death rested on the shoulders of the late Duke of Leeds and his family.
Once they decided who was to blame for their mother’s murder, all they wanted was to exact revenge. They remained in Tickhill, the small town in Yorkshire they had lived in with their father until his death. They had been saving money to travel south and leave the town behind them.
With the limited funds they had in their possession after their father was shot combined with what they had saved, they made their way to London to seek their fortunes and see if they could extract a measure of revenge against those who killed their mother.
On their way south, as a way to increase their money, they burgled houses that appeared empty to them.