Chapter 12
Lady Catherine was pleased she did not seem to need to send her man Dryden to Meryton to deal with her wayward clergyman, for his first report was gratifying.
He had purchased clothing to look the part of a man about town and was with his family at their estate, learning about the habits of the residents of Netherfield.
In Lady Catherine’s twisted mind, her long-held desire for Anne to be a duchess was about to be realised.
It would allow her to keep control of Rosings Park and have access to the vast Darcy wealth.
She was so sure of success that she sent reiteration of the instructions to her pastor to seduce and despoil the girl more than once, thinking to increase the pressure on her wayward nephew a hundredfold.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The subject of Lady Catherine’s reverie was attempting to determine the best way to contact the Duke. After his latest instruction, he knew he could not delay long. He could not simply approach the man; given the Duke’s enormous bodyguards, he would not be able to get close to him.
Bingley had no illusions about his mother and youngest sister.
They would be useless, as they would only look to turn the situation to their advantage.
He was not sure about Louisa until he saw her one morning walking with the younger Bennet daughter and another young lady, all arm-in-arm and very friendly.
Not only that, but Louisa was no longer corpulent.
She was by no means thin, but she looked well.
He believed Louisa would be his best avenue. He was well aware Elizabeth Bennet was far more intelligent than any of the Bingleys, former or present, and as Louisa seemed close to that lady, he surmised his sister would pass the information on to their stepsister.
He decided he would have to keep a close vigil and find a time when he could approach her out of the company of Elizabeth Bennet, who, he was sure, abhorred the sight of him after his attempt to grab her sister Jane.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Elizabeth asked Louisa to take a turn in the park with her when she returned from her ride.
When they reached the bench under the ancient oak tree, far enough from the house so no one could overhear their conversation, Elizabeth sat down, still trying to assimilate the meeting with Lady Georgiana, Cousin Gigi.
“Lizzy, you wanted to talk, yet you sit and do not say a word. What troubles you so?” Louisa asked as she took her friend’s hand. The physical contact seemed to spur Elizabeth to focus.
"Lulu, I have to tell you something, but before I do, you have to swear until I tell you otherwise you will not tell another soul!” Elizabeth implored her friend.
“I swear on my life, Lizzy, I will not breath a word to a single being other than you,” Louisa promised.
“The story starts when my Mama passed away. What you do not know is that besides Jane and me, we have a brother Tommy, who was two at the time…” Elizabeth told Louisa all. Her father’s reasoning for Tommy living with their cousins, who the cousins were and their ranks, everything.
She explained her father’s decision not to reveal the truth after Louisa’s mother compromised him.
She also related that her cousin Marie had married the Matlock heir.
She related how Jane and Tommy travelled with her cousins to Jamaica, which was why her father had been wracked by guilt after the ship had disappeared.
“You lost all of your family except for one cousin who is married to a viscount?” Louisa asked in amazement when Elizabeth paused in her recitation to catch her breath. “Why did you not go live with them, and how did you get the neighbours to never mention your brother?”
“The neighbours were keen to help us once they heard what your mother did to entrap my father. My late mother was a much-loved member of the community, which made them all view your mother as a usurper,” Elizabeth replied.
“I did not go live with my cousins as I will not abandon Longbourn to your mother. As you know, I run the estate; it is a duty I relish. If Tommy and Jane do not return to me in another four years, then Longbourn is mine. I am the mysterious heir,” Elizabeth revealed.
If Louisa had been surprised before, she was gobsmacked now.
“What of the entail?” Louisa asked.
“There is an entail, but my Papa allowed your mother to erroneously believe the estate would devolve to a male heir. The entail actually prohibits the estate being broken up or sold to one who is not a Bennet by blood, the same restriction which applies to inheriting the estate, but there is no restriction by gender.”
“I assume my mother, Caroline, and I will no longer be welcome when you inherit?” Louisa stated softly. “After I aided mother in the compromise, I would understand your action.”
“Lulu, you were a child then, and you are now a sister of the heart. You will have a home at Longbourn for as long as you need it. Your mother and Caroline will be gone the day I inherit. I still pray Jane and Tommy are alive and that he will be the next master of the estate!” Elizabeth stated wistfully.
“There is more, my friend; there are connections I only discovered this very morning on my ride.”
“This morning while you were riding?” Louisa parroted in confusion.
“I met Gigi, Lady Georgiana, while I was riding. She told me her first cousin is Andrew Fitzwilliam, Viscount Hilldale, my cousin Lady Marie’s husband,” Elizabeth explained.
Louisa cogitated for a few seconds, then it hit her. “You are related to the Duke!”
“So it seems. We are cousins, and I am to visit them this afternoon. Miss Jones will accompany me in the carriage. If your mother and Caroline question me about where I am going, I will tell them it is business related,” Elizabeth stated.
“Does that mean you will see Mr. Hurst, the Duke’s private secretary?” Louisa asked, as she blushed becomingly.
“I am not sure, but once I explain you are a sister of my heart, I am sure you will be invited to join me next time I visit, if I am invited back after being rude to the Duke twice already,” Elizabeth reported, with embarrassment.
“Twice? I only know of once,” Louisa looked at her friend questioningly, though not quite able to check her smile at the idea as the last one did involve almost being knocked over by him.
By the time Elizabeth had narrated the happenings in the apple orchard, Louisa was nearly crying from laughing so hard. “I am mortified at my behaviour, Louisa! You do not have to laugh quite so much as that!” Elizabeth smacked her friend’s arm, playfully.
“That is the fearless Lizzy I know and love. I am sure he will forgive you; he is your cousin after all.” Louisa dried her eyes.
The two walked arm in arm back towards the manor house, and Elizabeth joined in the laughter at herself; it had been a long time since she had laughed so freely.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Brother, you are not angry at me for revealing our connection to Lizzy, are you?” Lady Georgiana confirmed nervously. “I know you wanted to give her time, but the moment seemed right.”
“No Gigi, I am not upset with you at all. You were accurate in reading the situation, so I am quite proud of you. You did very well!” Lord William praised his sister, who beamed with pleasure as she received his approbation; he did not want to see her smile slip, so he did not comment on her use of their cousin’s familiar name.
“Our ward is maturing nicely,” Richard opined, after the lady in question excused herself to practice a piece on the pianoforte.
“She is, but the comfort level with which she described our cousin, which Miss Younge also reported to me, I have never seen before. Somehow, Miss Bennet was able to coax Gigi out of her shell faster and more fully than any new or long-time acquaintance has before. It seems our cousin has more than just a good arm with which to launch apples,” Lord William grinned at the remembrance.
The Duke realised that, had he and his sister been able to attend Andrew’s wedding, none of the confusion would have taken place as the Darcys and the Bennets would have met.
Not just the time when the intriguing lady with the green eyes was a mite of four.
The Duke acknowledged she showed great strength of spirit for one who had experienced so much loss in her relatively short life.
He and Gigi had lost their parents, but this young lady had lost much of her family while being left to manage the family’s estate.
When she hit him with the apple, he had been more amused than aggrieved.
He was the one unknowingly trespassing, and taking her fruit without permission, after all.
When he had bumped into her in Meryton, he had been deep in thought.
For all his wealth and rank, he still had difficulty conversing with those he did not know well.
His only regret was his inability to articulate anything before she had turned and stormed off.
Hurst knocked, and when bade to enter, placed some documents needing the Duke’s signature before him. He carefully read each document before affixing his signature and seal.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Louisa Bingley walked into Meryton the afternoon Elizabeth was to visit Netherfield; she was to meet Charlotte Lucas at the tearoom.
“Louisa!” she heard a familiar voice call; one she had not heard in some years.
At first, she thought it might be her imagination, but then she heard her brother’s voice again.
Louisa entered the alleyway where her brother was hidden from view.
“Charles, why are you in Meryton? You know you are not allowed to set foot on Longbourn’s lands!
” Louisa exclaimed. She had no time for her brother; all she remembered was the selfish and vile propensities her brother had when he lived at Longbourn.