Prologue - The History #3
Tom made the three-hour journey back to Longbourn knowing that although he did not need his father’s permission, he was a gentleman, and this news was something that his father should hear from him, not from an announcement in The Times.
He would go alone; he would not subject his beloved to the vitriol that his father tended to spew.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Knowing that his father was at Longfield Meadows for the Christmas season, Tom made the four-day journey, experiencing the freezing temperatures of the north that he did not miss in Hertfordshire.
His last stop was the little market town of Lambton in Derbyshire.
He intended to depart early in the morning for the last leg of his journey, into the southern part of Yorkshire to the Duke of Bedford’s primary estate.
As he was enjoying an ale in the public dining area, he saw a gentleman and his two sons enter.
They seemed to be well known and respected by all.
He overheard a man refer to the gentleman as Mr. Darcy.
Tom smiled to himself as he knew the Darcys owned much of Derbyshire in the form of their estate, Pemberley.
His father disdained the connection because no matter how wealthy they were, the Darcys were not titled.
The following morning, Tom was on the road just after he had broken his fast. Six hours later, he arrived at his childhood home, which he had visited only once in the last seven or eight years.
First, he sent one of his men though the servants’ hall to have Elizabeth and her governess prepare to leave.
Amelia’s marriage had been pushed forward and occurred but a month after their mother had died.
From the letters he received, he knew that his sister was bitterly unhappy, which made him even more determined to honour his mother’s wishes and save Elizabeth from the same fate.
After he knocked on the front door, Tom was shown into his father’s study, to find the Duke seated behind his enormous desk. “What do you want here, Thomas? I will not change my mind about your legacy or an allowance,” the Duke stated condescendingly.
“I am not here to ask you for anything, your Grace. As you well know from the court cases you lost, I am well able to support myself,” Tom returned, the steel in his voice making his father’s frown deepen.
Tom felt no filial affection for the man who had caused so much pain and strife in the family, so he used his father’s title and no other form of address.
“Yes, you stole…” the Duke started and was cut off by his son for the first time.
“How could I possibly steal that which was lawfully willed to me, your Grace? Have the laws in the Kingdom changed so very much in the year since I completed my studies?” Tom challenged.
“State your business and leave!” the Duke spat out, unwilling to further cross swords with his son when he was losing at every turn.
“I am informing you in person, before you see the announcement in the papers, that I am marrying Miss Karen Jamison of Ashford Dale in Bedfordshire. We will marry after Twelfth Night,” Tom stated, the factual retelling hiding his pleasure of finally being able to say it.
“You will NOT marry a country nobody!” the Duke thundered.
“I neither need your consent nor your blessing, your Grace,” Tom replied, altogether ignoring the petulant outburst.
“I will refuse to sign the settlement!” the Duke rebutted.
“That is already done, your Grace. You must have just forgotten that I reached my majority over a year ago.” Tom replied calmly, enjoying the sight of his father getting angrier with each failed point of argument.
“Then I will disown you! You do not deserve the Rhys-Davies name!” The Duke thought he had just played his trump card, and his anger intensifying when his son remained maddeningly calm.
“That would make little difference for me, your Grace, given the way you have treated me, my late mother, and my sisters these many years. It will be my pleasure to cast off the name Rhys-Davies.” Tom was certain that by now his footmen and outriders would have loaded Elizabeth and Miss Kingston’s trunks, and that his sister and her governess should have had enough time to enter his carriage which was waiting at the servants’ exit.
“I take no leave of you, your Grace. You will never see me again!” Tom turned and marched out of his father’s study, leaving the man shocked, sputtering.
The Duke could not understand what had just happened!
He was normally able to browbeat his opponents into submission, but nothing had worked with his second son.
Regardless of his threat, he knew he could never publicly disown his son, certain that, without true cause, polite society would condemn him roundly.
At least he no longer had to worry about his younger son influencing his heir, and he need never acknowledge the boy again.
Not want the Rhys-Davies name indeed! The Duke was convinced that his son would come back with his tail between his legs, and when he did, he would beg for his father’s forgiveness.
By the time Tom entered the carriage, he had made an irrevocable decision.
He would adopt his mother’s maiden name.
He wondered if she had compared him to her father for just this purpose.
His father had just proven again that there was no connection to save.
As soon as he could gain an appointment with his solicitor, he would become Mr. Tom Bennet.
Elizabeth and the governess remained covered by a blanket until they had exited the estate’s grounds, and when she emerged Tom explained that she would be known as Beth Bennet from that day forward.
“I like that name, Tom,” Beth said. “Now, what about Amy? She is desperately unhappy, and her husband is a brute despite the fact that he is old!” Beth pleaded.
“We will go and see her, for Staffordshire is on our way south. I cannot promise anything as a marriage is a contract, but I will see if the Earl of Lindenbury can be reasoned with,” Tom promised gently, and at the first stop, they relayed the change of destination to his coachman.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
At Longfield Meadows, a maid had been paid to report that Lady Elizabeth and her governess had gone for a walk.
When there was no sign of his youngest daughter by dinner, the Duke thought nothing of it, as he cared little for his inconsequential daughter until there might be gained in selling her for as much as he could receive, which would not be for some years.