Chapter 18
The day that Elizabeth first walked out with Mother, she was pleased to discover that her birthmother was as good a walker as Aunts Elaine and Anne had told her she was. John and another of his men escorted them, but so did one of Mother’s footmen, one named Tom.
Mother and daughter walked in companionable silence for the first quarter of an hour.
Lady Amelia turned her head towards her daughter.
“You have heard Fanny and Thomas speak of the dead criminal who was leaning against a tree when your Mamma discovered you, have you not? Did you hear their opinions that the miscreant’s death resulted in him not being able to carry out his despicable orders as well? ”
“I did, Mother,” Elizabeth responded questioningly.
“The Leeds footman who is walking next to the enormous one you call John is named Tom. The day you were stolen from us, he was escorting the nursemaid who was pushing you in your perambulator, something you used to love doing, by the by. He was hit on the head before the nursemaid was murdered, but the blow was not hard enough. He regained enough of his senses to draw his pistol, and once he saw you were in the carriage, he fired a shot. It was that which eventually led to the death of the vile kidnapper. Francis and I wanted to reward him for his attempt to save you, but Tom always refused, saying that he failed because you had been taken.”
“He is not walking with us because you doubt my guards’ abilities, is he?”
“Indeed not. He felt misplaced guilt over the years for your kidnapping, for which he had no blame. Hence, having Tom escort us allows him to see he did not fail and how well and happy you are.”
“It pleases me that you care for your servants so well.”
“Bethie, they are not my servants; they are yours. I am the dowager duchess, while you, daughter dear, are the Duchess of Leeds. Technically, the Crown will appoint a guardian and trustees until you reach your majority, which means that you will not have direct power over your estates, houses, and fortune until you are one and twenty or if you marry before then. I intend to request that your uncles, Reggie and Robert, be appointed to the role of trustee. They will not make arbitrary decisions and will consult you to make sure you are sanguine with anything they conclude.”
“Will His Majesty follow your recommendation?”
“I believe so.” Lady Amelia paused for a few moments. “You have not asked me what you own and where.”
“That is all information I will learn in due course. For now, I just want to come to know you and for you to know me.” Elizabeth cogitated for some seconds.
“It must have been so very hard for you and my late father to live without knowing what had happened to me. I know it is not my fault, but I am very sorry for the pain that you two suffered. You know that until I was told I was not a Bennet by blood on the day we celebrated my sixteenth year, I was unaware of the truth.”
“Yes, Bethie, I do know that. However, it seems that even had the Bingleys not met me last summer, the connection would have been discovered when your parents spoke to Mr Collins. That does not diminish my gratitude for Mr and Miss Bingley that they were able to see me in you.”
Elizabeth stopped and turned to her mother. “You are not angry with Papa for never acting on his suspicion that I was your daughter, after he read about Father passing away, are you?” With the question asked, the two began to walk again.
“I will not prevaricate and tell you that I am not disappointed that he did not investigate and that, in turn, cost me another eight years without you. But I do understand why he did not. He had no definitive information that it was you. If he had conjectured who you were before my Francis met his end, I would have been angry.” As she did not want Bethie to feel the guilt of being told that her father may not have died had she been found in time, Amelia did not mention that.
“My anger would have been driven by my knowledge of how much your father wanted to see you again. That was not the case; hence, I am able to understand why Thomas hesitated then.”
“It does not seem that you would. However, Mother, I must ask the question. You would never demand that I break the connection with the Bennets, Gardiners, and Phillipses, would you?”
Amelia stopped. She turned and faced her daughter and took each of her gloved hands into her own.
“Bethany Anne Elaine Osborne, let me be very clear in this. I will never attempt to come between you and the Bennets. Until you learned the truth, the Bennets were the only family you had ever known. You had every reason to believe you were one of them. Sundering the connection between you is not something I would ever attempt. If I were the kind of person to try that, I am sure you would renounce the Osborne name, and I would be the one who would lose the connection.”
“Thank you, Mother,” Elizabeth said as she applied pressure to her mother’s hands. They began to walk again, the arms closest to one another interlinked. “I did not suppose you would, but I felt that I had to ask the question to be certain.”
“Now, what is this I have been told about your tree-climbing abilities?”
“I will have to take James to task,” Elizabeth huffed. “He is the only one who would share some of my less-than-ladylike childhood exploits. This is his way of embarrassing me because I invariably beat him when we race our horses, never mind his inability to best me at chess.”
“And are you abashed if I am told what you were like as a little child?”
“No, I suppose not. It is only natural for you to want to discover as much about my childhood as possible, seeing that the actions of the criminals stole all those years from us.” Elizabeth paused as she considered her next words.
“I loved growing up as a Bennet in a large loving family; however, the years with you were purloined from me as well.”
“Did I tell you that I wrote to the king informing His Majesty that you are alive and that, with your discovery, the Leeds Dukedom will continue?”
“I suppose the days of my being Miss Elizabeth Rose Bennet, daughter of a country squire, are coming to an end. Will I have to be presented to the King and Queen?”
“They will ask to be informed how we identified you and then, yes. You will go before Their Majesties, where the king will officially bestow your title on you.”
“The Bennets will not be punished, will they?”
Lady Amelia allowed a giggle to escape. “Punishment? Never! If anything, His Majesty will want to reward Fanny and Thomas for saving you and raising you in love for so many years.” She raised her hand to stop the forming protest Bethie was about to let loose.
“I am fully aware that nothing which was done was done with an eye to reward. It is King George’s way to reward, even for the slightest thing.
Did you not tell me of your friend’s father who was knighted for a pretty speech to Their Majesties? ”
“Yes, I did. Charlotte Lucas’s father, Sir William.” Elizabeth cogitated again. “Just like I will not have to contemplate cutting the connection to my Bennet family, the same will be true of my friends like Charlotte, will it not?”
“Bethie, you will be gaining family and some new friends, but not at the cost of those you already have,” Lady Amelia assured her daughter. “Do you still want me to be present when you inform Miss Lucas of the truth of who you are? If that is what you desire, I will, of course, be with you.”
“Yes, please, Mother. I think it would be best. With you in the room with me, Charlotte will not accuse me of teasing her.”
Charlotte Lucas would be the first person who was not family to be told the truth of Elizabeth’s parentage and rank.
She had requested, and Mother had agreed, to be present along with Mamma when Elizabeth told Charlotte she was not a Bennet by blood.
Charlotte was already three and twenty, so Elizabeth hoped her friend would accept an invitation to London where there were many more eligible men.
An added advantage of being in London would be that if Charlotte met a man, she would be able to conduct a courtship without her mother’s idea of assisting.
That assistance usually had the opposite effect to the detriment of any possible courtship.
“I have heard your sisters and brother mention your penchant for teasing them and your friends. It seems that we have something else in common aside from our looks and shared blood. I too dearly love to laugh.” She did not mention that until seeing Bethie again, she had had very little reason to be mirthful.
Mother and daughter spoke of less consequential subjects until they reached Oakham Mount.
After watching the sunrise from the summit, Amelia had to agree that Bethie’s statement about the beauty of the view from the hill was accurate. As she sat next to her daughter, their arms interlinked, Amelia recited one of the many prayers of thanksgiving she had offered up to God of late.
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“Welcome, Charlotte,” Elizabeth sang when Hill directed said friend to the parlour where she sat with Mamma and Mother.
“Will you introduce your friend, please?” Lady Amelia requested.
Although she maintained her composure, Charlotte was very surprised to be presented to the Dowager Duchess of Leeds.
It must have been Her Grace who Charlotte had seen while in Meryton with Maria the other day.
Then, she looked between Eliza and Her Grace.
How could this be? Eliza looked very much like the dowager duchess, far more so than she looked like her Grandmama Beth.
“Charlotte, I have a story to relate to you, and I ask that you allow me to finish the telling before you ask any questions, of which I am sure there will be many,” Elizabeth stated. “It will answer why we look so much alike.”
“You have piqued my interest. I will listen until you have said all you wish to say,” Charlotte vowed as she kept looking between her friend and Her Grace.