Chapter Fourteen #2
Richard sighed, his posture wilting before the ladies. “I wish to, and yet…. I fear I may have let this go too far. I like a prank as much as you, Rebecca, but there is something you must know, which may alter your opinion.”
Rebecca felt a strange presentiment course through her, and she regarded her brother with sudden gravity. “Sit. Tell me.”
He did as he was bid, and Jane took a seat at his side, on the divan that ran along the foot of Rebecca’s bed.
She perched on the chair beside the window, anxious for the impending revelation.
And then Richard proceeded to explain to the ladies that his friend was not Will Darcy at all, but a man named William Worthing.
Jane began to weep for her sister’s ill usage, and Rebecca was ready to help Lady Catherine arm herself with pistol and saber as she set off to retrieve Elizabeth.
Richard held up his hands. “I will say on his behalf that he did not misrepresent himself to Elizabeth in any other way. His words and actions were sincere – I believe that he loves her very much. He does intend to tell her the truth, to explain what I have told you about his wishing to occasionally escape the pressure of his responsibilities.”
Rebecca threw up her hands in frustration.
“I see! So, he is a liar and a fraud, but only because he is tragically burdened by an estate he was not born to, and enough of a fortune to comfortably debauch himself whenever he chooses! Good God, Lady Catherine was right – she is going to be insufferable after this.”
“We must tell her at once,” Jane said.
Richard agreed and gestured to Rebecca. “And you are wanted by the Council of Angry Mothers, anyhow.”
Rebecca nodded, tears of rage pricking at her eyes as she realized she would have to admit defeat. And then the hidden servants’ door opened, and Emily balked at the sight of Rebecca’s companions. She hastily tucked a note into her pocket.
“You, there – I saw that,” Richard cried. “A letter with a green seal – Darcy favors green wax in his correspondence. Ah, Mr. Worthing, I suppose.”
Emily gave Rebecca a look of panic, but Rebecca nodded to her. “You may hand it over, Emily. It seems the situation has taken a turn.”
Even so, Emily offered it directly to Rebecca, and Richard hovered over her as she read it.
Rebecca,
My beloved and I are departing Wildewood today for Scotland.
Stall their arrival here until we have at least made it north of London, if you can.
Tell our family I am sorry, and that I love them all dearly, but it is for love I am resolved to wed.
They will love him too, once they come to know him as I do.
Should they wish to celebrate my marriage, and my upcoming birthday, I expect we shall reach Pemberley on our return journey by the twenty-eighth, or perhaps the day before.
It would be a lovely place for a reunion, unless Mamma will receive us at Rosings.
One last thing – you might tell her, and Jane, that I have found Catherine Cardew, my half sister.
All my love and thanks,
Lizzy
Jane reached for the letter and examined it curiously. “She knows.”
Richard wrapped his arms around Jane and drew her close. “What do you mean, darling?”
“She does not say Darcy. She calls him her beloved – I should expect Lizzy to be laughing at signing her name Elizabeth Darcy already.”
Rebecca nodded thoughtfully, then turned and saw Emily lingered near the door.
She gave the girl an arch look, and a wave of dismissal.
“It is possible. I would not have expected her to still be at Wildewood three days later. Perhaps he did confess the truth to her, and she took some time to consider.”
Jane shook her head. “But how could she forgive such a thing?”
Richard took the letter and examined it, “At any rate, you are right, my love, that we should bring this to your mother. We must speak to the family and make a swift plan of action to recover her. I ought to have spoken up the moment my old friend confessed the truth to me, and I daresay our aunt shall flay us both side by side, Rebecca.”
Lady Catherine’s rage was heard from one side of the house to the other, and plans were rapidly put into motion for her immediate departure to Surrey.
Rebecca received another sound scolding, and even her mother berated her for allowing Elizabeth to endanger herself so recklessly.
Only Lady Anne was sympathetic, and once she had recovered from the shock of Mr. Darcy bearing another name entirely, she insisted upon accompanying her sister to Surrey. Lady Catherine would not hear of it.
Jane’s insistence, however, won her mother over.
She wished to meet her half-sister, and Lady Catherine hoped that Jane’s gentle, sensible tranquility would help Elizabeth see reason.
Richard was enlisted to accompany them, not only for safety but to talk some sense into his friend, if he could be reasoned with and made to abandon his pursuit of Elizabeth.
As Jane and Richard prepared to travel, Lady Catherine demanded another private word with Rebecca. She was to once again be locked in her room while her aunt went after Elizabeth, and Lady Catherine escorted Rebecca back to her chambers with a rough hold on her arm.
When the door closed behind them, Lady Catherine released her grasp, fairly shoving Rebecca down onto the chair by the window.
“If there is anything else you know of this Mr. Worthing, as he is apparently called, now would be the time to tell me, before I make any further discoveries in Surrey. If you are withholding anything, any detail at all, it could be vastly to Elizabeth’s detriment.
Indeed, there is much more than that at stake. ”
“I gave you Lizzy’s letter, did I not? You cannot imagine me to still champion their cause after discovering the truth of his identity. He is a liar and a fraud!”