Chapter 30
Elizabeth remained at Longbourn for ten more pleasant days, surrounded by her family and friends.
Mr. Bennet wrote Colonel Forster a warning regarding Wickham, at Elizabeth’s request. Darcy added a few words of his own, offering to provide more evidence of the man’s questionable behavior, if necessary.
Elizabeth’s bond with Miss Darcy strengthened, as well as Darcy’s connection with her family. Mr. Bennet and Darcy enjoyed each other’s company and benefited from it as much as possible.
Her relationship with Darcy slowly returned to the friendship they had enjoyed before their distressing conversation, with lengthy discussions regarding her plans for each estate. Such encounters occurred usually in the Longbourn library, with Mr. Bennet and Cece assisting.
Dinners were mostly hosted at Longbourn, for Mr. Bennet’s comfort.
He had regained most of his past strength but his recovery was not complete yet.
Days were spent walking, in conversation and making plans for the future.
Evenings were filled with tasty dishes and the exquisite sound of the pianoforte and the nights allowed Elizabeth more and more sleep.
Her sleep became more and more filled with dreams of Darcy; some of them were so...peculiar, that she barely dared to remember them the next morning and they made her blush when she had to face him.
To her astonishment, more than once she found herself staring at him, at his small gestures, his smiles, his figure—and those observations returned to invade her dreams. She remembered how he used to stare at her when they first met and how wrongly she had judged his interest. They were in Hertfordshire again, in completely different circumstances, so changed in behaviour, yet very much the same in essence.
Among her usual correspondence from the Sedgewick properties, a letter signed by Mr. Reeves, Mr. Thorn and Mr. Hoskins urged Lady Barrington to return to London.
The gentlemen informed her that recent events had made a meeting with her mother-in-law, Lady Augusta, and her solicitor, Mr. Wood, urgent and imperative.
She replied, requesting a meeting with all interested parties at her townhouse, in two days time, at noon.
∞∞∞
Elizabeth’s return—together with Cece, Jane and Bingley—was welcomed with many smiles from the servants gathered in the main hall to greet her.
She was happy to see Sarah in good health and invited the newest maid to a meeting even before dinner. She was a young girl, of around Sarah’s age, with brown hair and brown eyes, who stood in front of the mistress shyly, waiting for her fate to be decided.
“My dear, please sit.”
“Oh no, Lady Barrington, thank you!”
“As you wish. Is your daughter well, I hope?”
“Oh yes, ma’am, very well. Thank you.”
“How old is she?”
“She is not eight months yet.”
“How lovely. What is your name?”
“Peggy Barnes.”
“And your daughter’s?”
“My daughter? Oh...Lucy Barnes, ma’am.”
“Very well, Peggy. I understand Jacob is your cousin. May I ask, how long did you work in the Barrington’s household?”
“About six months, ma’am.”
“And when did you leave?”
“Last year. I did nothing wrong there, ma’am, but I had to leave! I did not steal or do nothing wrong!”
“I am sure you did not. And where have you worked since then? Do you have a family? Do not worry, I only wish to know more about you. There is no reason to worry.”
“Yes, ma’am. My family is in Cambridgeshire.
I lived with Jacob’s mother, but there is not much room there.
And I must raise my girl. Jacob said I should come to beg your ladyship.
He said you are so kind and you were so good to them.
And I can do anything. I work hard, ma’am, but I cannot leave my girl!
And I can’t go back to the Barrington estate! ”
“Peggy, please do not cry! Why would you say that? Nobody would ask you to leave your daughter! And most certainly you will not return there. Come, have some water.”
“Oh no, ma’am. Thank you. May I leave now?”
“If you wish…Perhaps tomorrow you will introduce your daughter to me. Go to her now. Good night.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The meeting troubled Elizabeth exceedingly. She easily recognised the signs of abuse, so apparent in all those touched by Lord Barrington in some way. She had begun to change for dinner when Sarah entered to help her.
“Lady Barrington, forgive me… will you allow Peggy to remain here?”
“Of course. She will be treated in the same manner as all the servants—we will find the best situation for her and her child.”
“She may keep the child too?”
“Most certainly. How can you ask me such a question, Sarah?”
“I beg your forgiveness, your ladyship, I just thought that… She feared that…”
“What is it, Sarah? Please speak plainly, I am too tired to guess.”
Sarah began to arrange her hair, when a revelation, like lightning, struck Elizabeth.
“Sarah, is little Lucy Lord Barrington’s daughter?”
She felt the girl freeze.
“Sarah?”
“We cannot know, ma’am,” the girl whispered in distress. “Lord Barrington used to… and there were his friends…and..”
Elizabeth turned to the maid, horror and anger suffocating her.
“My dear, what are you saying? Sarah!”
“When the maids fell pregnant, they had to leave. But they wanted to anyway. There was a girl who told nobody she was pregnant and she died one night and…”
The girl began to sob and Elizabeth stroked her hand.
“My dear, please calm yourself. I need you to tell me everything you know so I can help them. Were there other maids?”
“Yes…I believe so.”
“Do you know how many? Who they are?”
“I only know two of them…”
“And you?” Elizabeth whispered.
“No…”
“Sarah, I need your help, my dear. Please trust my word and my secrecy. I imagine Peggy wishes to keep her situation secret and so it will be. But please try to find out from the others and let me know. I wish nothing else but to help them if they need it.”
“The other servants know about Peggy, ma’am. We all knew how things happened. The word spread. She only feared that, if you knew, you would throw her out.”
Elizabeth covered her mouth with trembling hands.
“Oh, my dear. How could she imagine that? The fright in her eyes...How will I be able to ever alleviate so much dread, so much suffering…?”
It was Sarah’s turn to comfort her.
“Do not worry, Lady Barrington. All will be well…you said that and you always keep your promises. I will speak to Peggy. She is scared because she never met a mistress like you.”
“Please do so…”
“Shall I ask about the others?”
“Yes, please. You may leave now.”
Alone in her room, Elizabeth was caught in a tumult of anger, repugnance, disgust—and hate. Dark, powerful hate that defeated her reason and her senses and could only be soothed by revenge.
She could not reveal to anyone the horror she had just discovered, except for Darcy. He was the only one she could trust to be strong enough to share the horror with her if she would only dare to confess it to him.
She cleaned her face, arranged her appearance and rang for the housekeeper, who came in a hurry.
“Mrs. Gilford, I need your help,” she said with a coldness that stunned the woman. “Tomorrow we will have a very important meeting.”
“You have informed me, ma’am.”
“I wish Lady Sedgewick and Lord Sedgewick’s portraits to be hung in the drawing-room.”
“The portraits? But...” The housekeeper was stunned and puzzled.
“Please do as I ask. The guests will sit at the table, opposite the wall. I want them to look straight at the portraits!”
“Ohhh…. I see! I understand now. Very well, ma’am! We will do it this evening!”
“Please inform the entire staff that Lady Augusta, Mr. St. Claire and Mr. Lambert will be here. I do not wish anyone to be frightened or to assume that they might be in any danger. It is nothing but a business meeting, with no connection to the staff.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And Mrs. Gilford, please do not send any refreshments unless I specifically ask for them. We will serve those who arrive before the encounter only. There will be no courtesy during the meeting.”
The housekeeper struggled to conceal her satisfied smile.
“Very well, Lady Barrington. Everything will be as you have requested.”
∞∞∞
Darcy arrived at Elizabeth’s house earlier than the established hour. The meeting was fixed for noon and she had asked him to participate, together with Mr. Gardiner and Bingley.
He was invited into the drawing-room and was stunned to see two large portraits of the late Sedgewicks scrutinising the room. On one side of the table, sat Elizabeth, Cece, Mr. Gardiner and Bingley. They stood to greet him.
“Mr. Darcy.”
“Lady Barrington.”
“Thank you for coming, sir. May I have a word with you, please?”
“Of course.”
She seemed different, paler, with dark circles around her eyes.
She led him to a corner of the room, inviting him to sit face-to-face with her.
“What is the matter?” he whispered. “You look very ill. May I help you in any way? Are you unwell?”
“I am well, thank you for asking. Only tired. I heard more distressing news last night, that cannot be shared and is not related to this meeting.”
“You look very ill, Miss Bennet.”
“I know,” she said. “Sir, during the meeting, would you sit next to my uncle, please?”
“Of course.”
“And I beg you to not intervene unless I ask you to. Anything that happens, anything you hear, please allow me to handle it. If I need support, I will address you directly.”
“Very well,” he accepted, his concern increasing with every moment.
There was something worrisome in her voice, in her eyes, in her expression that had appeared in only one night. The lightness in her voice, the smiles, the sparkle in her eyes that had been restored during her stay at Longbourn, had vanished again.
He noticed the ring on her finger and smiled affectionately. “It suits you very well. And it is a powerful statement,” he said.
“I hope it will bring me luck,” she replied.
“Have you been informed about the subject of this meeting?”
“No. Apparently Lady Augusta and the two rascals have requested something that needs legal intervention.”