Chapter 1
The Darcys and Fitzwilliams had been invited to Kiveton Park to pass a month of the summer with the Osbornes. It was the way of the friends to be together at one of the principal estates belonging to one of the families for a significant part of the summer.
It had been Snowhaven—the Fitzwilliams’ principal estate near Matlock—the previous year.
By rights, the three families should have been together at Pemberley this year.
However, with Bethie being only three months of age, Lady Amelia had not wanted to travel with her yet.
She approached Lady Anne Darcy with a request that they all meet in Yorkshire, even though it was not the Osbornes’ turn to be the hosts for the summer gathering.
Understanding how long Amelia had waited for her and Francis to be blessed with a child, Anne had agreed without a thought, and her Robert had fully supported her decision.
The three cousins cared not at which estate they were at as long as they were together and could ride horses or, for the younger two, cobs and have adventurous fun together.
Andrew was eleven, Richard would be eight in July, and William—the name all of his family used instead of Fitzwilliam—had turned seven in April past.
Shortly after arriving, and before the cousins made for the extensive stables, they stopped in the nursery where their mothers and Aunt Amelia were admiring the babe in her cradle.
“Is that all she does?” William asked after he gave the tiny girl a perfunctory look.
“Sleeping, eating, and growing is all Bethie is meant to do at this stage of her life. It may be shocking to you, my son, but at the same age, you did no more than what my goddaughter does,” Lady Anne stated indulgently.
She looked at her nephews who Anne could see were about to tease her son.
“You two were no different at the same age.”
The Fitzwilliam brothers closed their mouths, swallowing the ribbing they were about to bestow on William.
William looked at the sleeping babe’s head on the left-hand side. “Mamma, I can see the birthmark you told me about. It does resemble a crescent moon,” William observed.
“Indeed, it does,” Lady Amelia agreed. “It is just like her father’s and her late grandfather’s.
” She smiled as she looked at the boys who were like her family even though they were not related by blood or marriage.
“I can hear the stables and your mounts calling you. Feel free to go. We old ladies will remain here and admire Bethie. It is only right that my friends should admire her, seeing that they are both Bethie’s godmothers. ”
The three boys did not need to be told twice. After kisses to their respective mothers’ cheeks and a bow to Aunt Amelia, they were gone.
“Anne, you wrote about that new steward and the way his wife was attempting to have Robert become her son’s godfather,” Lady Amelia stated once the noise of the boys’ boots running along the hallway towards the stairs had faded. “Has Robert spoken to Mr Wickham about his wife?”
“Indeed, he did. Robert explained that he would not become the godfather to one so wholly unconnected to our family; and further, if the wife kept importuning him, then Robert would have to reconsider his decision to employ Mr Wickham as his steward,” Lady Anne reported.
“My Robert grew tired of Mrs Wickham, with her son, George, in tow, always, by chance, being in the same place he was to be on the estate. He felt he could not speak to the woman in the way he needed to without being discourteous. Hence, he addressed the issue with the steward.”
“I know that was Robert’s intention due to what Reggie related to me,” Lady Elaine said, “however, until this moment I had not heard the conversation had occurred. Has it had the effect Robert desired? What of the Wickham boy always trying to insert himself with William and my sons when they are at Pemberley?”
“Robert’s warning to Mr Wickham has had positive effects on both fronts,” Lady Anne responded.
“Mrs Wickham does not approach any of us any longer, and neither does her son. He has been told that only unless, or if, an invitation is issued, he is not welcome at the house or the park around it.” She paused.
“I am well pleased that young George has been separated from our boys, and it is not for the reason my older sister would give about him being the son of a steward. I find the boy very manipulative and adept at presenting himself as he thinks will please others. I pray I am wrong, but I believe he has the capacity for evil within him.”
“Then it is just as well he will be kept away from your family,” Lady Amelia opined.
The ladies all agreed. They went on to discuss far more palatable subjects.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“From what I have heard, the damned girl is growing stronger and will survive unless we take steps to make sure that does not occur,” Lady Catherine spat out after reading a report from one she paid for news about the Osbornes.
“Catherine, I too want to gain the dukedom, but surely you are not saying we should harm the babe?” Sir Lewis verified.
“And why not?” Lady Catherine demanded. “Had that brat not been born, then when your distant cousin favours us with his death, we would have been a duke and a duchess! I… we deserve no less than that. My younger sister has lorded the fact her husband is an earl and she a countess over us for far too long,” she prevaricated.
“It is only right that we will be above them, and we will put them in their places.”
“Catherine, the Osbornes are connected to, and very close to, Their Majesties. If it was revealed that we had a hand in the heir’s disappearance, never mind murder, it would be treason, and you and I would lose our heads before we ever ascend to the title,” Sir Lewis predicted.
“Then, we will make sure that it is done in a way that we are protected, and our names will not be connected with the act,” Lady Catherine shot back.
“I do not believe there is a way to insulate us from this if we do it. Is it worth us being convicted of treason and losing our heads to gain the titles we covet?” Sir Lewis was doubtful, but he was not listening to his wife with his full attention as he was to leave for London later that day. He had mistresses to see.
“I know you are not paying me heed now while you think of your London harlots. We will discuss this again once your unavoidable business is complete in Town.” With that, Lady Catherine swept out of the room.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Fanny was on one of her walks in Grantham’s forest deep in contemplation.
She had some time to herself and given her perturbation, she needed some exercise to settle her battered spirits.
So deep were her thoughts that she did not hear the birdsong, the sound of a nearby babbling brook, the susurration of the leaves, or the chirping of insects.
Her feet had carried her to the clearing she always visited when on her walks, but today she did not notice the oak, beech, or birch trees surrounding her.
The two children were with Nurse and Thomas was at Highclere Abbey.
He was currently tutoring Ladies Maria and Emeline.
Once he completed the lesson, he was to tutor Lord Patric and young Bertram in Latin.
The school where he was master would only recommence lessons in early September.
Until then, other than the days he was needed to tutor the Crawleys, Thomas was at home with his wife, Jane, and James.
Her thoughts were of the fact that after missing courses in March and April past, Fanny had another miscarriage in May.
After this last disappointment she had gone to see Mr Travis, the rector at All Saints’ church, to ask him if he thought she had somehow angered God.
The clergyman had assured Fanny that the Father was not a vindictive God, and none in the mortal world could conceive of His plan for each of us.
Being a woman of faith, Fanny had outwardly accepted Mr Travis’s words.
No matter what the rector had said, Fanny held on to her belief that she had done something in the sight of God for which He was punishing her.
She would not verbalise her belief to her beloved husband because Thomas had told her something very similar to what she had heard at the church.
The last thing she wanted was for her beloved Thomas to think she was silly.
As she walked, Fanny reminded herself that she had much for which to be thankful.
Her parents, Thomas’s mother and father, Henry and Penelope, Frank and Hattie, and Edward had all arrived prior to Easter and, except for Edward, who needed to return to his growing concern in London, remained until after James’s first birthday.
Her son had commenced to walk a sennight before the anniversary of his birth and had subsequently begun to say some words; ‘Mamma’ and ‘Papa’ were among the first intelligible sounds to come out of his mouth.
Jane was beautiful, outside and in, and it had made Fanny feel very proud when her mother had said that Jane looked just like Fanny did at the same age, an assertion with which Hattie had agreed. Edward had been too young to remember.
Hearing that from her mother had made Fanny happy while at the same time she never desired to have Jane become a copy of herself. Fanny and Thomas both wanted their children to be true to themselves and not be miniature versions of their parents.
She raised her eyes to the cloudless sky she could see between the gap the clearing made between the branches and leaves above her head. “Please, God on High, I beseech you to allow me another child. I beg this in Jesus’s name. Amen,” Fanny prayed aloud.
With that done, she turned and walked back towards the town and their home. She needed to hug her children. Also, it was time to feed James.
Even though he had just begun to eat some porridge, Fanny still fed him once a day. He had some teeth already, but thankfully he had not, so far, bitten her when she fed him.