Chapter 10
“Lizzy! Lizzy? Lizzy my dear, wake up!”
The tender voice and gentle touch startled Elizabeth. She opened her eyes, staring around in panic. Jane and her aunt Gardiner were calling her, trying to awaken her. Outside the carriage, Darcy, Bingley and her uncle Gardiner, were waiting.
She climbed down, stopping in front of the manor that had been her prison for more than a month. A month that had seemed longer than a lifetime. Instinctively, she touched her face through the veil and the immediate pain brought back tormenting memories.
“The trustees are here. So is Lady Sedgewick’s solicitor, and her executor,” Mr. Gardiner explained. As Elizabeth still hesitated, he continued.
“My darling, you are with us now. You have no reason to fear.”
She returned a little smile, but any movement of her face was painful.
“I know, Uncle. Let us enter. Mr. Darcy, may I have your arm, please?”
He was the strongest one. The most powerful. The one who had saved her, entering the house by force, with no hesitation, confronting the sadistic man, even if he was holding a gun.
“I would be honoured, Lady Barrington,” he answered briefly.
They all stepped forward together, with Elizabeth and Darcy leading the party, the solicitors and trustees following, and finally Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, Bingley and Jane.
At the main door, Elizabeth released Darcy’s arm and stepped forward by herself.
The door was locked. She knocked with her fist, again and again, until the door opened.
“Lady Barrington…Lady Augusta is already at the chapel. For the funeral,” the butler said.
“Thank you, Peter.”
She turned and walked away from the house hastily, with everyone following her. In front of the chapel she paused again, briefly considering that it could have been her own funeral today instead, and perhaps her family would not have been allowed to attend.
She entered daringly, her steps sounding so loudly that her own head was aching.
There was her late husband’s mother and several friends whom she recognised. Lord Barrington was lying in the coffin. She could not gather her courage to look at him more closely. Next to him, was the vicar.
The two parties faced each other.
“What are you doing here? How dare you pollute my son’s memory! You murdered him! It is your fault he is dead. Do you want to ruin his funeral too? All of you! Why are you here?”
“Lady Augusta, we have come at Lady Barrington’s request, to settle the legal matters.
The circumstances are very peculiar and need careful examination.
Lady Barrington wishes to have all the matters resolved today.
We will wait until the funeral ends,” Mr. Thorn said.
Without waiting for a reply, the two trustees and the executor withdrew from the chapel.
Elizabeth remained, so her family and friends did the same.
“We have come to attend the funeral. We may speak about the rest later,” Elizabeth interjected, so coldly that she shivered at the sound of her own voice.
“I forbid you to attend the funeral! Get out!” Lady Augusta shouted.
It was Mr. Gardiner who intervened loudly.
“I am begging your ladyship not to insult my niece further! She has suffered enough!”
“She has suffered, but my son is dead because of her! I forbid you to speak in front of me! You are now nothing to me! Less than a servant! You have no right to interfere!”
Darcy stepped forward, standing side-by-side with Mr. Gardiner. Tall and powerful, his face twisted in anger, he spoke calmly.
“And why would Mr. Gardiner have no right to speak on behalf of his niece? It is his duty and his right to protect her, and he was forbidden to do so by everyone who kept Lady Barrington imprisoned for weeks! Does his title give your son the right to behave like a cruel savage?”
“Do not speak in such a manner! My son was innocent of any charge!”
“Was he? Then do tell us who the criminals are? You forgot that I witnessed the entire drama? Who harmed Lady Barrington and several other servants? Who threatened us with a pistol when we only demanded to see Lady Barrington? Let us know who he was, and he will be charged as a criminal!”
“You should not be here!” the lady shouted.
“Ladies, gentlemen, we are in the Lord’s house, to witness a sad event,” the vicar interjected. “The Lord Himself knows the truth better than any of us. Let us not fight on this tragic and solemn occasion. Let us complete the service and return to worldly things afterwards.”
“But I do not wish them to be here!” Lady Augusta cried.
“We will keep our distance. We do not wish for any more fights,” Mr. Gardiner agreed, trying to calm the high tempers.
As a gesture of goodwill, with a last glance at the coffin, Elizabeth left the chapel and, with growing emotion, she walked towards the grave. The hole was dark and deep and she stared into it, absently.
Her family and friends surrounded her but she barely saw them. She noticed Darcy slightly behind her, and a sense of safety warmed her.
Eventually, the service ended. The coffin was lowered into the hole and covered.
Elizabeth did not speak, did not move, and hardly breathed.
Every thought in her mind screamed that she might have been there, in his place.
She had escaped from such a fate only by God’s mercy. And Sarah’s dangerous plan.
When the Barrington party walked towards the house, Elizabeth and her family followed them.
In the house, with several servants present, no other word was said until they entered the library.
There, the door was closed and Lady Augusta, flanked by Mr. St. Claire and Mr. Lambert and with her solicitor—Mr. Wood—near her, shouted at the strangers.
“You should not be here! You have no right to disturb me!”
“I beg your pardon, madam, but the trustees, as well as Lady Sedgewick’s solicitor and executor informed my niece that she had every right to be here,” Mr. Gardiner declared.
“Yes, but decency and common sense would tell you otherwise,” St. Claire intervened arrogantly. “Since Lord Barrington died in circumstances that involved his wife and all of you, you should have at least saved his mother from more grief and left her to mourn her son.”
“Excuse me?” Darcy intervened harshly. “If I remember correctly, Lord Barrington died in circumstances that also involved his mother and all of you! Furthermore, if any of you had possessed even a trace of decency and censured Lord Barrington’s behaviour instead of encouraging his defectuous inclinations, he would still be alive.
Do not dare put the blame on others!” he thundered.
“You have no right to speak of my son in such a manner! You barely knew him at all!” Lady Augusta yelled.
“Madam, the whole town knew your son and his evil inclinations and deprivations. No honourable family would connect themselves with him! That is why he chose to marry a gentlewoman with no connections in London! And this is how he deceived the Countess of Sedgewick! I am sorry to hurt you further, but do not take me for a fool, or believe me ignorant on this subject!”
“And what is your interest in this matter, Mr. Darcy? You cannot claim to be connected to this family!” the lady continued.
“Only by friendship and honour! I would have never allowed anyone to marry your son, if I had the time to intervene! This is precisely why you insisted on such a hasty marriage, Lady Augusta!”
“Oh, shut your mouth! The Bennets gained more than they could hope for from this marriage! They have their future secured and Elizabeth has more jewels and pin money than she ever imagined. Everything that happened was her fault! If she had minded her own business and not bothered my son, she would have nothing to complain about!”
“Nothing to complain about? Mind my own business?” Elizabeth finally spoke.
“Is this not enough reason to complain for you?” she asked with repressed bitterness, stepping out in front of the group.
She removed her veil, exposing her face, swollen and bruised with a cut on her left temple, to their curious gazes.
Then she took off the scarf, revealing her arms and neck with their dark traces of the aggression she had suffered.
“Should I take off my dress too, Lady Augusta? To show you more evidence of your son’s depravity?
Have you not seen the maids—even more badly hurt and abused in ways I cannot even speak of?
Were you blind to Sarah’s wounds that almost took her life?
I took her with me, but we are not even certain she will survive.
Yes, madam, if I had chosen to remain oblivious to your son’s deceptions and depravations, let him abuse those under his roof and purposefully steal Lady Sedgewick’s fortune, ignoring her will and the law’s requirements—if I had chosen to be like him, I would have had a comfortable life.
He would have likely not hurt me, if I accepted him hurting others.
I would have benefited from my pin money, if I accepted him stealing from those in need!
Just as you—madam—and you all, his so-called friends, have done for so many years! ”
Her accusations, her spiteful tone, her angry countenance, and the proof of her ordeal written on her body left the others speechless for a long time.
“Gentlemen, let us settle this horrifying situation once and for all,” Elizabeth continued.
I wish to know how this situation will be resolved.
What are my duties and responsibilities, and what means do I have to accomplish them?
My late husband denied me everything! He forbade me to keep my word and my promises, he even took the ring that Lady Sedgewick left me as a gift.
He stole it from me—as the lowest thief—and most likely paid his debts with it!
I wish to know my responsibilities and also my rights! ”
“My son was not a thief! As your husband, he had the right to decide upon any of your assets! And Lady Sedgewick was his aunt, not yours! Anything she left you, was in fact his legacy!” Lady Augusta cried.
Elizabeth’s response came sharply and was coldly accusatory, as she replaced her veil and scarf.
“He was the lowest and worst sort of thief, madam, as he stole not for need but for pleasure. Gentlemen—I am listening!”
The trustees and the executor looked at each other, momentarily puzzled. The whole exchange troubled them, as such scenes were rarely seen among people who needed their services.
Eventually, Mr. Reeves—the eldest of them—spoke.
“Three days ago, when we were summoned by Mr. Gardiner and Mr. Bingley to join them in their quest for Lady Barrington, we were puzzled and doubtful. The notion that Lord Barrington—one of the most prominent members of the ton—would abuse and entrap his wife was unbelievable. Since we were responsible for Lady Sedgewick's will, we eventually agreed, with the expectation of having all the allegations rejected. However, we were wrong. We witnessed Lord Barrington’s refusal to allow us into the house. He threatened us with a gun, endangering our lives, and then we took part in the accident that led to him losing his life. To this day and hour, we cannot be certain how the tragedy occured, but it was certainly a sorrowful happenstance.”
“They are to be blamed! If they had not barged into my son’s house…”
“We are to be blamed, madam? For freeing a young woman kept away from her family? Not all of you, for allowing this dreadful situation?” Darcy interjected harshly.
“Please, let us not begin another argument. As you all know, our main responsibility lies in executing Lady Sedgewick’s will and protecting her assets.
This is why, together with my distinguished colleagues, we have spent the time ever since, examining all the papers regarding this inheritance, to be certain we apply the law and the regulations accurately,” Mr. Reeves concluded.
“And what was your conclusion?” Mr. Lambert asked impatiently.
“Our conclusion is that the one who inherits the assets and has the power to decide over everything—except for selling the properties—is Lord Barrington’s closest relative, even if she is a woman!”
“Oh dear! Thank you, Lord! I was sure this would happen! There is nobody more entitled to inherit from my son! I am demanding you all to leave this instant!” Lady Augusta cried with rapture and fury.
Mr. Reeves and his colleagues exchanged several glances, then Mr. Thorn interjected.
“Madam, I am afraid you misunderstood my words. I am not referring to you, but to your son’s wife. There are still details to be fixed and we must wait for another nine months to be sure if there is an heir or not. But for the time being, Lady Elizabeth Barrington is the mistress of all!”