Chapter 7
By the time Matlock and Holderness arrived back in London, Leeds had already returned to his wife, and they were with Elaine and Anne at Darcy House waiting for the earls to return.
There was a house on Park Lane, right next to Holder House, called Londonderry House, which belonged to the Earl of Holderness.
The current earl much preferred his original house, Darcy House, on Grosvenor Square, less than a quarter of a mile from the mansion on Park Lane.
Matlock House was just on the other side of the green in the centre of Grosvenor Square from Darcy House.
The three sons were playing at the Fitzwilliams’ house under the watchful eyes of the staff and servants as well as a governess, a tutor, and various footmen guards.
About two hours after Leeds arrived, Matlock and Holderness entered the drawing room at Darcy House. Anne Fitzwilliam was holding her father’s hand, and the two men were followed by a nursemaid.
“Anne, my dear daughter,” Lady Elaine enthused as she pulled her new daughter into a warm, motherly hug. “What a pretty girl you are.”
“Thank you, Mamma,” Anne responded.
On the journey to London, Matlock and Holderness had told Anne all about her mother, brothers, aunt, and cousin. Hence, when she entered the room, she was not overwhelmed.
Ladies Matlock and Holderness were introduced to Miss Jenkinson.
“Anne’s brothers are across the square at Matlock House,” Lady Elaine stated.
“The coach will take you there so the footmen may unload your trunks. Anne dear, you are in the nursery, and Miss Jenkinson will have one of the chambers connected to it.” Lady Elaine realised Anne had not met the Osbornes yet.
“This lady is Aunt Amelia and one of my best friends, and the man next to her is Uncle Francis, her husband.” She turned to the nursemaid.
“The boys are expecting Anne to arrive, but they will allow her space to get used to her new home. We will be home anon.”
Miss Jenkinson bobbed a curtsey and took her charge by the hand, leading her back down to the coach.
“Francis told us what happened until he left to accompany the dastards to their new homes,” Lady Anne said. “Will you two tell us what occurred after that point?”
Matlock and Holderness related all from the time that they had separated from Leeds.
“Robert is correct,” Lady Anne opined. “My former sister had no more fashion sense than any other kind.” She turned to her sister-in-law, and one of her best friends.
“If you will allow it, I would love to shop for clothing for Anne with you.” Lady Anne caught the look of sadness on Amelia’s face.
“Please pardon me, Amelia; here I was going on about clothing Anne when we know not where Bethie is.”
“Anne, you have nothing for which to be pardoned. Until I am able to hold my Bethie again, there will be a certain feeling of melancholy, but it is in no way connected to you being excited about dressing your namesake, or that Elaine and Reggie have a daughter. Your joy in no way adds to my sadness,” Lady Amelia assured her friends.
“Perhaps at some point, I will want to join you on the shopping expedition even if we do not know where Bethie is.” She looked at everyone in the room.
“My sadness was wholly caused by the two miscreants languishing in some dark dungeon in the Tower right now. I am not one who wishes death on anyone, but I am not sorry that neither of them is long for this world.”
There was agreement and understanding from the other five in the room.
“I intend to ask a boon of His Majesty that the trial not be made public, and the same with the execution. Even though the Fitzwilliams and Darcys have disavowed any connection to the de Bourghs, I do not want one person to throw guilt by association on any of you,” Leeds insisted.
Not long after the Osbornes left, the Fitzwilliams walked across the green to their own home to see how their new daughter was doing with all of the rapid and major changes to her life.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Under normal circumstances, trials for the high crime of treason were held in the Old Bailey or Westminster Hall and open to the public.
Given the potential for scandal with Mrs de Bourgh being sister to the Earl of Matlock and the Countess of Holderness, and in response to a request from the Duke of Leeds, the crown ordered the trial for the above-mentioned two, be held in private and inside a room at the Tower of London. There would be no jury.
The trial was to be held in the morning on the first Wednesday of September. A half hour before de Bourgh was to be led from his dank cell to the makeshift courtroom, Leeds, Matlock, and Holderness arrived at de Bourgh’s barred door.
“You have one chance to escape the executioner,” Leeds stated with a hard edge to his voice. “If you can tell me where my daughter is and she still lives, you will be branded, transported, and pass the rest of your miserable life doing hard labour, but at least, you will be alive.”
“I swear if I knew what Younge did with Lady Bethany, I would tell you. We did not want to know the details, thus allowing us to be separated from the crime,” de Bourgh revealed.
“And how did that work for you?” Matlock asked derisively. “To allow your greed to override any sense of decency and assist Mrs de Bourgh, you deserve no leniency. I want to find Bethie as much as Leeds does, but I will not be sorry when you and your wife are on your way to hell.”
“I confessed my sins to a clergyman so I could gain absolution before my life is ended. Hopefully I will be allowed to enter the kingdom of heaven. My wife refused to repent as she still believes she did nothing so very wrong,” de Bourgh related.
“It seems we will not be in the same place for eternity.” He shook his head.
“I could see her trying to order God, the Son, and the angels about if she were allowed into His Kingdom. In all seriousness, I am ready to accept the punishment for what I did. I know it is far too late, but I am sorry I ever went along with Catherine’s insanity. ”
The three men turned away and walked back to the rough stone steps which would return them to the ground level where the room being used for the trial was located. Their wives were waiting for them there.
When de Bourgh walked in, he had his head held high and walked without assistance and went to stand in the dock.
He never looked at the three couples, all of whom used to be his family.
In contrast, Catherine de Bourgh was half carried and half dragged into the courtroom.
She was still gagged. The men shackled her to her part of the dock.
The lord judge had the prosecuting barrister read the charges against the accused.
He ordered the gag removed so that Mrs de Bourgh could state her guilt or innocence.
As soon as the barrier was removed, Catherine de Bourgh began spewing invectives and expletives, which led his Lordship to order her gagged again and restrained even more than she already was.
Once she was silenced and secured with ropes in addition to the manacles, the lord judge turned to Mr de Bourgh.
“Are you innocent or guilty of the charges as read by Mr Sinclair?” the lord judge asked.
“Guilty on all counts, your Lordship,” de Bourgh replied without hesitation. “In addition to the witnesses who will attest to hearing my wife and I admit our guilt; I am willing to testify that we did everything as read by the prosecuting barrister. I will provide any details the court requires.”
“Based on Mr de Bourgh’s statement in combination with the affidavits I have read, I am satisfied that the accused are guilty on all charges.
” The lord judge nodded to a bailiff who brought him his black cap[5].
“Their being guilty of many treasonous acts, I pronounce the sentence of death on Mr Lewis John de Bourgh and Mrs Catherine Bertha de Bourgh. The condemned are to be taken to the courtyard to meet the executioner without delay. May God have mercy on their souls.”
While her husband walked out between two beefeaters without any assistance, his head up, Mrs de Bourgh was dragged out by four men, all the while struggling impotently.
Even though Lady Amelia had wanted to see the evil ones who took Bethie put to death, she changed her mind and remained inside with Ladies Elaine and Anne while the deed was done.
Afterward, their husbands reported that de Bourgh went with quiet dignity, and his wife was the opposite.
Some men held her while others lashed her to the block.
She had squirmed in a vain attempt to escape until the moment the axe had come down and ended her.
Matlock opined that until that instant, she still thought she would escape her fate by force of will.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
February 1796
Lady Anne Darcy, the Countess of Holderness, waddled in a very un-countess-like manner on her husband’s arm as they took some exercise in Pemberley’s conservatory.
The warmth kept the cold away. It was caused by the snow-covered landscape and the frigid wind blowing from the west over the white blanket which stretched as far as the eye could see, all the way to the snow-crusted Peaks.
The winter of 1795-1796 had been a particularly cold one, but Lady Holderness had never felt cold. That was because she was with child again, and like it had been when she carried William, she felt very warm all of the time.
It was the beginning of February, and based on when she missed her first set of courses and felt the quickening, Lady Anne was sure she would deliver their second child by the end of the current month or early the next.
She allowed her hand to rest on her swollen belly as she walked, and her mind drifted back to the time when she thought there would be no more children after William.