Chapter 15
If Lady Amelia Osborne had thought there was any way to make her coach move faster, she would have done it. She tamped her impatience down with the knowledge that each mile she travelled brought her one mile closer to Bethie, or as she was now known, Lizzy.
It was Monday, and before this day was out, she would be in Bethie’s company. The last time she had touched her daughter, she had been a babe of five months of age.
She cared not how her daughter was addressed as long as she was able to see and hold her.
Knowing that her daughter knew no parents other than those who had raised her—according to Elaine and Anne—very well and with loving care, she tamped down her expectations that her daughter would fall into her arms proclaiming ‘Mamma.’ However, other than them looking alike, as Anne and Elaine wrote, Bethie would not know her at all.
That realisation led her to a dark place.
Amelia had not thought of the late de Bourghs, specifically Catherine de Bourgh, for many years.
Now her thoughts turned to them. This was all of their doing!
Had they not wanted Bethie stolen and murdered, then Amelia would have been the one to raise her daughter.
She also believed that Francis’s death was a direct result of what those criminals had attempted.
He had ended his political aspirations to be a father and wanted nothing more than to be a family for as long as God granted him in the mortal world.
The distance between them, and the recklessness which had resulted in him contracting the disease which had ended his time in the mortal world could all be traced back to what the de Bourghs did.
She knew that Mr de Bourgh had repented and asked God’s forgiveness, so perhaps he was not in hell, but she would not repine if he were.
She was positive, however, that Catherine de Bourgh was suffering the eternal fires of damnation in hell.
As far as Amelia was concerned, an eternity was not long enough.
Seeing that the de Bourghs had deservedly lost their heads, there was no further retribution she could extract from them.
She was well aware it was her Christian duty to forgive those who trespassed against her, but even after so many years she was not ready to pardon either of the dead de Bourghs.
Perhaps after she saw her daughter again; but even then, Amelia was not sure she would be able to go so far as to give them any forgiveness.
Could the Bennets have saved Francis had they searched for her and her husband before he became reckless? She would not push to answer that question, but she did not know how she would react if it turned out they suspected who Bethie was before Francis went to his final reward.
Before the melancholy overtook her, Amelia admonished herself that she could not change the past, and she was to see her daughter in a matter of hours.
That was the only thing of importance for now.
If there was more to learn, she would in time.
The first order of business was for her to hold Bethie in her arms, see the birthmark for herself, and give thanks to God for her daughter’s deliverance.
Her friends had written that her daughter looked very much like she did when she came out. Remembering that could not but put a smile on Amelia’s face.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Lady Amelia’s coach entered Meryton from the northern end of the market town.
Having seen a sign announcing the name of the town, Amelia recognised it from the letter Anne and Elaine had sent her.
She knew they were close, causing the anticipation she had felt since reading the epistle to heighten significantly.
She saw several people in the town staring at her coach with the Leeds coat on the doors.
Charlotte Lucas was on her way to the haberdashery with the youngest Lucas, Maria, who had been born the same year as Kitty Bennet, but two months after her.
Seeing that their parents would not allow Maria to walk into Meryton on her own, a sensible restriction because Maria would only be thirteen in November, Charlotte usually volunteered to walk with her.
She was looking across the main thoroughfare running between the stores and homes in the town, when she noticed a large, very fancy coach.
She saw the name ‘Leeds’ below the coat of arms on the door.
At first, she asked herself why a carriage associated with the Leeds Dukedom was in Meryton; but she remembered that a plethora of nobles were being hosted at Longbourn, so she reasoned that it was not so surprising to see another one arriving.
She had called on her friends at Longbourn earlier in the day, as she did at least twice a week—it was mid-afternoon now—and both Jane and Eliza had not been like they normally were.
Mrs Bennet also seemed to be concerned about something.
Charlotte was too well mannered to ask them about whatever was worrying them.
She was sure that if or when they had something to share, they would.
As they were about to enter the shop, one which used to belong to her father before he sold it, Charlotte concentrated on Maria rather than think any more about the meaning, if any, of the arrival of the conveyance she had seen.
When the coachman guided the equipage into a turn to the left, Amelia sat on the edge of the bench, sensing that they were near to the destination and the realisation of almost sixteen years of dreams.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Once word reached those in the drawing room at Longbourn that carriages had just passed the gates, there were myriad emotions from trepidation to joy and everything in-between. As had been agreed earlier that morning, Elizabeth and the two countesses would wait outside.
There was no doubt that there would be an emotional reunion on the dowager duchess’s side, and she would appreciate some time with her daughter and best friends before facing everyone in the house.
So that there would not be an overwhelming crowd, the Collinses were at Netherfield Park, and the Gardiners had accepted an invitation to visit the Phillipses.
Having her brother, sister-in-law, and their children in her house was a pleasure for Hattie Phillips, who had never been blessed with children of her own.
Hence, she poured all of her maternal love into her nieces and nephews.
It was only the four adult Bennets and the four Bennet siblings waiting to greet Lady Amelia in the drawing room.
Her conveyance slowed and made a slight turn to the right.
Amelia, who had been sitting on the left-hand side of the forward-facing bench, immediately saw Elaine and Anne.
She looked between them, and the sight she saw caused her to become perfectly still, not even daring to breathe in case moving would make what she was seeing vanish as if it were a wisp in the willows.
She was looking at herself more than twenty years past. Where she had streaks of grey in her hair and some wrinkles around her eyes, her younger self had none. Amelia stopped the thought. That was not her younger self; it was her daughter, her Bethie.
Elizabeth, who always claimed that she would not allow anything to intimidate her, was actually nervous.
She had listened to and remembered everything Aunts Elaine and Anne told her about her mother.
For a brief moment, she had wondered if any of the blame for her being missing for so many years would be apportioned to her.
Elizabeth had spoken to Mamma about her fears the previous night, and Mamma had disabused her of the notion without delay.
Mamma had simply told Elizabeth to think of her reaction to Anne Fitzwilliam’s attempt to apologise for something in which she had no part. As she could remember the conversation word for word, she had realised that the worry was a completely irrational one.
Remembering her conversation with Mamma did not reduce the fluttering in her belly caused by a very out-of-character attack of nerves.
As soon as the coach was brought to a halt, Biggs placed the step and opened the door before the footmen had jumped down from the back bench.
The Leeds footman, Tom, who was not a small man, may have reprimanded the man who had done his job except that, next to Biggs, he felt small indeed.
To compensate, he made sure he was ready to hand Her Grace from the coach.
Tom had been so busy getting into place to discharge his duty, he had not paid attention to the three ladies waiting for the mistress to alight.
As soon as he saw a younger version of his employer, Tom had the urge to pull her into a hug, but he resisted it knowing it was not for him to do.
His mind flashed back to the final time he saw her in the criminal’s hands on that terrible day when he had been coshed and Lady Bethany had been stolen.
Here she was, a lady almost fully grown.
The moment she felt Tom hand her out, Amelia’s vision narrowed, and all she saw was her daughter. She did not command her feet and legs to move, but they did. She wanted to release a stream of tears of joy, but she had to be sure first.
Anne and Elaine had seen the birthmark, but until she saw it herself, there was still the slightest bit of doubt.
As she approached, it was like looking into a mirror that reflected one as he or she was many years ago.
She stopped and moved the hair from above the left ear.
Amelia took a deep breath as she bent the top of the left ear ever so gently.
There it was. Its position and its shape was as it should be; the same crescent moon birthmark that her late Francis also had.