Chapter 22
Now that he was no longer employed and having read that the new duchess often rode in Hyde Park early in the morning, Wickham made his way to the park on consecutive mornings.
The first time, he was not gratified by seeing a riding party; at the time she was supposed to enjoy the exercise.
What he was unaware of was that on that day, Lady Bethany had walked out with her two mothers and her attendant guards, but rather than walk in Hyde Park, they had done so in Green Park and St James Park.
The next morning, Wickham saw a riding party consisting of not a few riders enter via the Grosvenor Gate.
He was about to get closer for a better look at the duchess when he saw William Darcy, now Viscount Conyers and the Fitzwilliam brothers.
They were complications on which he had not banked.
Wickham backed himself further into the stand of trees he had been about to exit.
There were other ladies as well, and he suspected one was Lady Georgiana.
He still lamented that he had never been allowed to approach her as a young girl to accustom her to his presence and prepare the groundwork for when she was older.
He could not regret that too much, as now he was aiming for one whose wealth made whatever Lady Georgiana’s dowry was, look like a pittance.
It was then that his musings were interrupted as he noted two of the biggest footmen he had ever seen.
They were watching one female rider specifically.
He had never previously seen Lady Bethany, but he did remember the articles in the society pages that wrote about how Lady Bethany and her mother, Lady Amelia, looked very similar—other than the fact that one was older and the other younger.
He noticed the one who was being guarded and the older one truly looked like they could have been twins had they been the same age.
As he looked to the rear and sides of the riders, he identified at least six footmen as well as two grooms.
If all that was not bad enough, Wickham noticed that in addition to their sons, the Earls and Countesses of Matlock and Holderness were also present.
It seemed that Lady Bethany was always surrounded by so many who could identify him and inform her of the truth about anything he tried to tell her.
To him, she was just a silly girl of sixteen, and he had thought to use her immaturity and the romantic sensibilities all females have at that age to get her to agree to an elopement.
However, what he was seeing now told him that his plan to charm her would not succeed.
Wickham waited until all the riders were well past the spot where he was hidden before he made his way out of the other side of the stand and walked in the opposite direction.
It seemed he would need to use the Younge siblings to have success.
As of yet, he had no plan as to how he could utilise them.
He would need to think, and it was time to coax Karen Younge into his bed.
That would make her more malleable. He was confident that with his innate intelligence, it would not take him long to form an infallible plan.
As he thought the last, he forgot, or ignored, the inconvenient truth that he had thought his original plan to charm Lady Bethany and have her agree to an elopement was a plan without fault.
On his way back to Edward Street a new plan formed in his mind. The more he considered it, the more certain he was that it would be a success.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The morning of Monday, the twentieth day of July, arrived all too soon. Elizabeth would have agreed to more days of intense shopping to defer her appearance at St James’s Palace.
As the previous day had been the Sabbath, everyone had worshipped at St George’s Church in Hanover Square.
Even being surrounded by so many, there were those in the church who had their eyes on her rather than the vicar as he delivered his sermon for the day.
With so many members of the extended family around her, Elizabeth had not been approached by anyone she had not already met.
As she sat up in her bed, Elizabeth’s thoughts returned to the upcoming meeting at the palace and how once His Majesty touched her on her shoulder with his ceremonial sword, a threshold would be crossed.
It was one from which there was no return.
From that moment on she would be Lady Bethany Osborne, the suo jure Duchess of Leeds.
She was not certain that after today the Bennets, Gardiners, Phillipses, and others with whom she was friends from her years of growing up at Longbourn would still address her as Elizabeth.
Until today, everything had been in the future.
Before this day, she had still been carefree Lizzy Bennet.
With that one tap on her shoulder, everything would change.
It was then Elizabeth realised that the change had been who she was as Elizabeth Rose Bennet and not the other way around.
Although she had not been aware of the fact, since the day of her birth she had been Lady Bethany Anne Elaine Osborne.
Rather than think of what she was losing in the persona of Lizzy Bennet, Lady Bethany needed to think of the power she had to improve the lives of the hundreds, possibly thousands, of dependents on her estates and other properties.
She could use some of her wealth to support charities, thereby helping many more.
It was time to put childish desires aside and accept the reality of her situation.
When she had spoken to others about the changes to her life, she claimed she was ready, but she now knew it had been easy to say because it was not real yet.
The moment Bethany accepted who she was, and always had been, was the first time she was truly ready for what was to come.
She reminded herself that no matter what name she used, she allowed no one to intimidate her.
She was pleased that her name contained the name by which Grandmamma Beth was addressed. In her mind, that made Elizabeth part of her name.
Rather than ring for her maid, Bethany slipped off the huge, soft bed and donned her dressing gown and sheep-wool lined slippers. She entered the sitting room where both Jane and Charlotte were waiting for her.
“Good morning, Lizzy,” Jane sang. “This is an important day. Charlotte and I rang for hot chocolate, which should arrive any minute.”
Bethany did not ask Jane to use the name with which she had been christened.
She would speak to Jane, the rest of her Bennet family, and others after the meeting with the king.
She had decided that in private those who knew her as Lizzy or Eliza were free to address her by that name.
However, in any public setting it had to be Bethany, or Bethie, as Mother, her godmothers, and their family called her.
Unless it was an extremely formal occasion which demanded such, Bethany did not want any member of her family or close friends to address her with ‘Lady’ before her name or, heaven forfend, her full title.
“I hope you two slept better than I did. It took a while before Morpheus claimed me yester-night,” Bethany replied with a light smile.
A maid delivered the tray with a pot of steaming hot chocolate and three cups.
She bobbed a curtsy and withdrew. Jane poured the rich, decadent liquid for all three of them and handed cups to Lizzy and Charlotte.
She could not help but notice that Lizzy was far more serious than was her wont.
She supposed meeting the king and queen in a few hours along with all the other changes which had occurred, would make anyone more serious, even one who loved to laugh as much as Lizzy did.
Once her sister and their friend had their cups, steam still rising from them, Jane took her seat once again.
“I would have been more surprised had you told me that you had managed to fall asleep without delay,” Charlotte stated after her second sip. “You will be well, Eliza; that is as long as His Majesty does not tap your shoulder too hard.”
Charlotte’s jest caused Bethany to smile. She was certain the king had tapped enough shoulders to know how much force to use. Besides, the blade was dull.
“As you are in a teasing mood, Charlotte, do not think I have missed how you and Richard Fitzwilliam gravitate one to the other. He is, in my opinion, a very good man. What do you think about him?” Bethany queried.
“Lizzy has the right of it,” Jane agreed. “I too think that Richard is a good man for Charlotte.”
“If I were you, Jane Elizabeth Bennet, I would not tease Charlotte about Richard when you have been in Andrew’s company just as much,” Bethany jested.
“Another excellent man. So, I would ask you the same question I asked Charlotte. But I will hear our friend’s reply first.” Bethany was pleased to see her older sister begin to blush.
“He is everything that a gentleman should be,” Charlotte stated as her cheeks bloomed pink. “I have not written anything to Mamma yet because there is nothing to tell. Also, I suppose I do not want her to travel to London to give me help.”
“And you, Jane? Do not think my memory has deserted me suddenly? You seem to have chosen between Charles and Andrew,” Bethany said.