Chapter 14 #2
“There is no need, Lizzy, you are not attending any celebration; it is a game of chess. We will not be travelling to Town so you will have to wait to meet the gentleman and play in person, but there is no reason to halt your games,” Elaine explained to her daughter.
“Then will you excuse me while I write to Mr Bennet and explain that I will defer the in-person match for at least a year.” Elaine kissed her daughter on both cheeks and sent her on her way.”
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
A day later, Bennet was sitting in his study when Hill delivered the post. He recognised the writing of his young chess opponent and was somewhat surprised to receive a letter from her as he had read the news of her father’s murder.
He opened the missive, there was a small piece of paper with her move and a letter.
6 August 1804
Snowhaven
Derbyshire
Mr Bennet,
I am sure that you understand that I will not be able to challenge you face-to-face as we will not leave our estate for one year of mourning.
It was my opinion that I should suspend our games by post in deference to my dearest late father, but my mother overruled me and said that a game of chess in no way contravenes the norms of mourning.
I look forward to your next move.
Lady Elizabeth Fitzwilliam
Bennet made her move and saw that there was nothing that he could do that would save his king from checkmate in one or two more moves. He sat down and wrote a letter expressing his condolences to his opponent and all of her family.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Oscar and Martha Bingley decided that they would not journey to Snowhaven to attend the funeral of the Earl. They had grown to like him, but their connection was through the Darcys. They wrote a condolence letter and would wait to see the families when they returned to Town after their mourning.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The day of the funeral dawned with clouds scudding across the sky as the wind drove them on their way.
There was a huge crowd on hand to show their respects for the late Earl of Matlock.
The Queen had sent the Archbishop of Canterbury to conduct the services.
The Prince of Wales made one of his rare tips out of London that was not to the Pavilion in Brighton.
He was joined by one of his brothers and two of his sisters.
Besides Perry, there were a slew of Dukes and peers of every stripe in attendance along with baronets, knights, and gentlemen.
Snowhaven’s tenants and servants stood in the back of the church for the service.
When the Archbishop concluded the service, the congregation followed the coffin carried by his sons, nephew, brother-in-law, the Duke of Bedford, and as a way to show just how highly the late Earl had been thought of, Prince Edward.
Matlock’s vicar gave the short graveside service as Reginald Fitzwilliam was laid to rest next to his mother and father.
While the men were at the church and graveyard, the women, led by two princesses, kept the new Countess, the Dowager Countess, and the family company.
Lady Jersey sat on one side of her friend while Lady Rosamond Rhys-Davies sat on her other.
“All of the perpetrators are lucky that they have been dealt with or there would have been many, my Cyril among them, who would have taken pleasure in tearing them to pieces,” Sarah De Melville stated in all seriousness.
The ladies, including Princess Elizabeth who were close by, all nodded their agreement.
The children and younger ladies were sitting in another drawing room.
Lizzy was sitting with Georgiana, Amy Ashby, Retta De Melville, Anne de Bourgh, and a few other young ladies as they watched Alex and some of the other young boys who were present play with toy soldiers.
“I miss Uncle Reggie all the time,” Georgiana shared.
“As do we all, Gigi,” Elizabeth responded.
She was still sad and grieving her father, but she had fully accepted that this was another situation where she had no control over what had happened.
Others, her dear Papa included, made their own decisions.
How she wished that he had called Richard home before that fateful day or had agreed for the Darcys to be there.
She halted the thoughts as she told herself that thinking of every ‘what if’ in the world would not change the reality that her beloved papa was being laid to rest in Snowhaven’s graveyard for his eternal slumber.
One thing that Elizabeth now fully accepted that, no matter how sad she felt as she mourned her papa, she, all of the family, would eventually be okay.
Knowing that her birth father had loved her, that it was only one deranged woman that caused her to be discarded helped her feel somewhat better.
She realised that she had to be thankful that no matter how bad he was, the man had not fulfilled his charge to murder her at the age of one.
‘If only he had never come back!’ Elizabeth thought and then chastised herself for another meaningless ‘what if’ that would not bring her papa back to her.
She realised that Retta had been asking her something that she had not heard.
She apologised and asked that her friend repeat her question.
By the next day, most who had attended the funeral had left.
Besides the family, the De Melvilles and the Ashbys remained.
It was decided that the two families would be told the full story of the criminal’s intentions.
They were taken aback that a thirteen-year-old girl would be targeted in such a fashion.
When the story was told, the Earl of Ashbury remembered something from twelve years previously.
“For the life of me, I cannot remember the details all of these years later, but I do remember a notice about a girl that was stolen from her family twelve years ago,” Lord Maxwell told them.
“You do not remember the shire or the name my Lord?” Elizabeth asked, certain that the notice was from her birth father as he sought her.
“I am sorry my dear, no I do not,” the Earl responded, “I have trouble remembering what happened a sennight ago, never mind twelve years in the past,” he quipped.
Elizabeth had mixed emotions. Frustration at another clue to her past but no information and happiness of further proof that her birth father had vigorously searched for her.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The Phillips were at Longbourn for one of the weekly family dinners that was held. The two sets of parents were sitting together after the meal that had been enjoyed by all. “When I read the article about the murder of the Earl, I got chills,” Hattie Phillips stated.
“Why is that Hattie,” her husband asked.
“Thomas, do you not remember that I told you that I had seen Jane’s birth mother,” Her sister’s name was not mentioned at Longbourn ever, “going into Sam Hodges’s dwelling unchaperoned a few days before Lizzy was stolen from you?”
“Yes, I remember that, but,” Bennet cautioned, “we do not know if this was the same one; it is a commonly used name, and the criminal may have been using an alias to hide his true identity.”
“Is it not worth investigating Thomas?” Hattie asked.
“No sister, I do not believe so,” Bennet answered.
“There are a number of reasons. We have heard of her for years and never had there been a mention of her being a foundling.” Seeing that Hattie was about to protest, Bennet continued before she could.
“Do not forget that the Bingleys have been close to the Darcys for years, they even spent a vacation near Brighton with them and the Fitzwilliams were present. In all that time, there has never been one whisper from them that shows that the girl that I am playing chess with is anything but their daughter from birth. I will not compound their grief by making enquiries that will only bring pain to them and myself. For me, it is a closed subject.” Bennet’s stubborn streak was on display and all who knew him knew the futility of trying to argue their case when it kicked in.
Unknowingly, he had passed on this trait to his second daughter.
“Have you asked the Bingleys about her?” Hattie persisted.
“Please drop the subject,” Bennet said with asperity. “And do not think of raising it with the Bingleys or anyone else!” Frank Phillips whispered in his wife’s ear, and she allowed the subject to rest.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Two days later, the Ashbys and De Melvilles departed for their estates.
A sennight later, the Darcys and the Rhys-Davies left Snowhaven as well.
The house seemed empty without some family and friends with them.
It was time to get on with the business of living and mourning.
A fortnight later Richard departed to re-join the Dragoons to tears from his two young sisters and a few from his mother.
Reggie Fitzwilliam’s presence would always be missed, but day by day, his family learnt to live without him physically being in their midst, but he would never leave their hearts.