Chapter 28 #2
Karen Younge thought to try and push past the older woman and run until she saw the two brawny men just outside the door. Giving one and all sullen looks, she followed the two housekeepers into the butler’s office.
When Clay Younge saw his sister enter the office and the four large footmen outside, he knew they were in trouble. He looked to Karen; she was the clever one.
“Before I knew your mother gained employment here under false pretences, I used to like her. and often we would speak,” Mrs Buxton began.
“Our Ma did nothing wrong!” Karen Younge exclaimed. “The Osborne’s murdered her. My brother and I want our revenge, and we are assisting one of the murdering late duke’s natural sons to regain the legacy his father was promised before he too was murdered,”
“Who told you this fiction that your mother was murdered by the family?” Mr Buxton demanded.
“Well…no one, but when our Da refused to speak of it, we thought it was the Duke because I remember his men came to see Da. After that he refused to speak of Mamma or Uncle Jim,” Karen Younge admitted. “We thought that our father had been intimidated by the duke. He died before we could ask him.”
“How old were you then?” Mrs Buxton enquired.
“Seven, almost eight,” Karen Younge responded. Could it be that they had made incorrect assumptions?
Buxton looked up to one of the footmen just outside of the door. “Peters, is Harelson still training the new footmen?” Seeing the man nod, he instructed him to have Mr Harelson join them.
The Younge twins shifted uneasily while they waited. They knew they were in trouble; the only question was how much.
“Mr Buxton, Peters said you needed me?” Tom said from the doorway.
“Come in, Harelson. These are the Younge twins,” Buxton intoned. “They want to know who murdered their mother and what she did that led to said murder.”
Looking at the brother and sister, Tom recounted the history of Lady Bethany’s kidnapping.
“The one named Jim Younge killed Mrs Younge, ‘is sister-in-law.
She was working with ‘im to kidnap Lady Bethany, she thought for ransom, but your uncle intended to murder ‘er at the behest of those who had employed ‘im…” Tom told all he knew, including when he had accompanied some of the late duke’s men to Tickhill to see Mr Younge.
“Your father only agreed to allow ‘is wife to ‘elp because ‘e too believed the child would not be ‘armed.
‘E refused to mention it due to guilt and anger against ‘is brother.”
“No! It be lies!” Clay Younge exclaimed.
“There is a confession your father signed in the late master’s study, and Harelson, here, was coshed by your uncle.
However, not well enough, because our man was able to get off a shot.
From what we know today, his shot killed your uncle and stopped him killing Lady Bethany as he planned to do,” Buxton stated.
Then, he remembered something. “What was this about the late Duke fathering natural children? Whoever told you that is lying.”
“Clay, remember, we saw what we saw as young children and made assumptions because Da would not tell us anything,” Karen Younge realised.
“These people have no reason to prevaricate.” She paused as she began to see that George had lied to them.
“George Wickham claimed he is a natural son. It was he who wrote the characters for us. He said his father used to be the steward of an estate called Pemberley, and the late duke murdered him rather than pay a promised legacy.”
“Lord Holderness, the owner of Pemberley is at Hornby Castle,” Mrs Buxton interjected.
“You two will be coming wif us to the castle. I suggest you do so willingly, or we can tie and gag you,” Tom stated. “Your choice.”
The Younge twins looked at one another. Understanding passed between them that cooperation was the only viable option. “We will accompany you without any resistance,” Karen Younge stated.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Like many did on seeing Hornby Castle the first time, the Younge twins were more than awed when they saw the size of the mansion, which made Kiveton Park’s house look small. They were led through one of the many servants’ entrances to a room where a sizeable group waited for them.
Tom had ridden ahead to inform Their Graces what had occurred at Kiveton Park and who was on the way to the castle.
“You look like your mother,” Lady Amelia said to Karen Younge.
“You say that George Wickham claimed that he was the natural son of my late friend, Leeds, and said friend murdered his acknowledged father, who had been my steward at Pemberley?” Holderness interrogated.
In a room with so many obviously highborn people, the Younges were intimidated, so they only nodded.
“That is rich. His father, Lucas Wickham, is hale and healthy and still my steward at Pemberley,” Holderness said with a bark of derisive laughter.
“I also know that George Wickham was born in May 1785. The Osbornes were on the Island of Sicily at the estate they leased from the Crown from August of 1783 until January of 1785. Neither Mr nor Mrs Wickham ever left England, so how would Leeds be George Wickham’s natural father as he was over three thousand miles away? ”
“And that does not take into account the fact that neither I nor my late husband were ever unfaithful one to the other. We took our marriage vows very seriously,” Lady Amelia hissed.
“What did you intend? I had my daughter stolen from me once thanks in great part to your late mother. Notwithstanding the fact that your late uncle betrayed your mother, and then, murdered her, she was still part of the conspiracy to kidnap my child. I, we,” Lady Amelia indicated all of those in the room opposite the Younges, “will never allow another to harm her. By the by, this is my daughter, Lady Bethany Anne Elaine Osborne, the suo jure Duchess of Leeds.”
Karen Younge was reeling. Nothing George told them had been true. Not only that, all of her assumptions had been wrong. She realised that the only way to save their necks would be to tell the absolute truth, so that is what she did.
“As far as we are concerned,” Lady Amelia said once the recitation was complete, “you have done nothing against us. You were misguided and made assumptions, but that is not criminal. We could have you arrested for fraud as you attempted to pass off characters that are not your own, but as long as you assist us with this George Wickham, we will not do so. You lost your mother before you were eight, and some ten years later, your father. You have suffered enough. When this is all over, we will see what, if any, reward you are entitled to.”
Both Karen and Clay Younge realised that God was being good to them. It could have gone far worse for them. After all the lies George Wickham told to manipulate them, they were willing to help in any way they were able.
“In order to make sure that man never bedevils us or any other again, we must allow him to make his attempt and then send him to the tower,” Lady Amelia said.
“It will be difficult for Wickham to hear what his son has become, but I know my steward tried everything he could to counter his late wife’s influence.
However, his son did not want to consider anything which did not give him a road to wealth where he did not need to work for it,” Holderness revealed.
It was a fortnight later that Karen Younge wrote the first letter to George Wickham.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
From that day on, George Wickham was always being watched. When he rode post to Meryton, two of Biggs’s and Johns’s men were with him at all times. They rotated every time they stopped to change horses or every few days, so Wickham never saw the same two men too often.
He was seen when he purchased the pistol, and not too many nights later, when he had been observed to be inebriated that a man slipped into his room, removed the pistol, and later replaced it along with fake powder and an adjusted hammer which would not strike properly.
Karen Younge wrote the instructions for Wickham’s attempt at kidnapping Lady Bethany just like she had been instructed.
When he saw the coaches departing, instead of taking the road north, they had turned onto a lane a mile later, which brought them back to Longbourn.
Just in case Wickham was still watching, none of those who he thought had left went out of doors after returning.
Amelia and Fanny had tried to argue that it should not be Bethie to walk with Clay, but Bethany had pointed out that according to the Younges, he had seen her in Hyde Park more than once. Hence, he would know something was wrong if he saw any other in her place.
As soon as the men hidden on the summit of Oakham Mount saw Wickham take his place where he was waiting for Lady Bethany, one of them signalled to the rest of the men, and they moved in from all sides.
No one explained to Wickham why his plan failed, but it had never had a chance of success.
The next morning, a bound and gagged Wickham—he would not stop screaming like a little girl—was on his way to the Tower where he would be afforded a trial before paying the ultimate price for his attempt to harm Lady Bethany.
George Wickham would finally get his due.