Chapter 15
In coordination with the Bennets, it had been decided that the Fitzwilliams, Rhys-Davies, and Darcys would arrive in town on the twelfth day of October.
The Ashbys, both from Kent and Surrey, and the De Melvilles would also arrive close to that same date.
There was no doubt that when the knocker at Bennet House was set, that there would be a deluge of ladies of the Ton who wanted to pay a morning call.
But if they suspected that they would have a chance to ingratiate themselves with Mrs Bennet on her own, they would be sorely disappointed.
The current plan was that they would walk into a room with duchesses, countesses, and some merely titled ‘Lady’ so anyone who thought that they could take advantage of the perceived na?veté of the mistress of the house, would be put in their place before they knew what was happening.
Elaine was torn between accompanying Elizabeth to town and staying home with the proud parents.
On the eighth day of October, Marie had entered her final confinement, and after many hours a squalling, Lord Hilldale was born.
He was named Reginald Sedgewick Fitzwilliam after his two grandpapas, neither of whom he would ever have the pleasure of knowing.
Both Elaine and Rose were beyond pleased with the name Andrew and Marie chose, and both swore that they could see their late husbands in the new babe.
No one contradicted them even though they all knew that it would be at least a year before one could see any such likenesses.
Little Lord Reggie, as his nursemaid had dubbed him, had an enormously powerful set of lungs, so when he was hungry or upset there were few at Snowhaven who were not aware of the fact.
Marie elected to ignore the mores of the Ton and would feed her son herself; she felt that she bonded with him in ways that those who did not provide sustenance to their new-borns did not.
She did agree to have a wet nurse hired for the night time feedings so that she could get a restful night’s sleep and recover that much faster from the birth of her son.
Dr. Gravelle had been in the next room but was never needed, as the midwife had delivered the Fitzwilliam heir with no issues.
He was bald when he was born, and rather than the deep blue Fitzwilliam’s eyes, his had a touch of green in the blue that most babies are born with.
Grandmother Rose informed them that both Perry and Marie had been born with the same colour eyes, then within weeks, theirs changed to the deep green colour they now had.
As much as both grandmothers hated to leave Marie a few days after her giving birth, knowing she was in no danger, and with Andrew and all of their fussing servants, she and the babe would be well taken care of, the two dowagers agreed to leave as scheduled.
Alex was one of the happiest in the family to learn that little Reggie had been born as he was tired of being the youngest even though he was a full ten years old.
He happily resigned the title and passed it onto Reggie whether he wanted it or not.
Alex was doing very well with his tutors and seemed to follow his father and brother with an affinity for the written word.
Being so close to the Dragoons training grounds, Richard would be able to see his family in Town a few times a week.
Elaine and Elizabeth, in particular, were keen to see him again as they had not since his surprise visit to Snowhaven in June.
Seeing her second son was one of the factors that tipped the scale for Elaine in her decision to go to Town rather than stay with her first grandson and his parents.
Although it was cold already in the north, Will and his father elected to ride alongside the carriages, at least part of the way.
Aunt Anne, Elizabeth, Georgiana, and Alex rode in a coach which was more than large enough to accommodate them when they decided that they would like to be inside out of the elements.
Luckily, Aggie was stretched out on a bench in one of the servant’s conveyances; otherwise, there would not have been room for six.
Will decided to brave the cold for as long as he could, as he was aware that if he sat opposite the object of his love, he would stare at her, and he neither wanted her to think that he was looking to find fault as his father warned nor did he want to sit there looking like the besotted man he was.
The fact that he did not ride inside all the times, that his father did harken the memory from years before when he had distanced himself from her.
Elizabeth started to wonder if she had done something to displease him as he again did not seem to want to be in company with her as much as he used to.
If she had been privy to his calendar as he crossed off each day, as they got ever closer to her come out, there would have been no such questions in her mind.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Before Branch departed for town, he had arranged that Jones be one of the stable hands that would be sent to London to augment the Darcy House hands while the family was in residence.
A note was left in the knothole by him before the departure so that Jones’ employer would not be suspicious, which would happen if the fortnightly reports ceased.
Jones trusted his good friend Branch completely with collaboration in gaining intelligence, but he had kept the name and location of his secret employer from Branch as he remembered her warning that she would see him dead if he ever divulged that information to anyone.
Branch had asked once, and when Jones explained why he could not share that information Branch did not push or ask him again as he was sure that would raise suspicion.
The master had rejected Branch’s suggestion that they lock Jones up since the notes were being written by himself and Jones was essentially superfluous.
The master had decided that, out of an abundance caution, Jones would be seen doing his normal tasks just in case there was anyone they were not aware of watching.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Mrs Fitzpatrick was annoyed that she would not receive any more notes until the critical one which would come once the families returned to Derbyshire after Twelfth Night.
She begrudgingly agreed with the note as she did know that most families of the Ton, and the Darcys in particular, always sent additional servants to London when they were to be in residence for any length of time. She read her note again:
I am to London. Smaller house so will not be able to slip away unnoticed and no arrangement for Town drop-offs made. Will be back days after Twelfth Night. Have your man check a week after Twelfth Night. The next note will have the date and details requested.
She hated that not everything was by her will, but she accepted that trying to force some sort of communication while he was in London had the potential of spoiling all of her plans.
She did dispatch one of her footmen to Town to ride past the mews at Darcy House to verify that Jones had been honest with her in saying he was in town.
Five days later, the man returned and confirmed that he had seen Jones working in the stables.
This for her confirmed all his missives as truth.
She met with McLamb fortnightly, not because there was any new information, but she loved to exert her will over all she paid to show them that they owed her deference while being beneath her notice. The plan was in place; all she needed now was the date.
Wickham had not been able to glean any information about the man that met with the old bat every fortnight.
As he was frustrated in those efforts, he expended his time imagining how it would feel to have control of Pemberley.
As soon as he was married to the Darcy girl, his first act would be to have Lady Catherine beaten to death with her own walking stick to repay her for all of the times that she had beaten him it.
He would get much pleasure taking the foundling’s life, regardless of the fact that she was not a mongrel.
How dare she be born higher than he! That meant Lady Catherine’s demise was actually second on his list and then remembered she was not Lady anything.
The crown had rescinded her honorific title some years back.
At the time she had raged against her family and added the offence to the long list that she already held against them.
It amused him how much she hated losing an appellation she could no longer use because of her assumed identity.
The only thing he did know was that whatever was being planned, it would happen in the new year. He was down to months of waiting left; after the years spent biding his time, what were a few more months?
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
As life tends to do, it moves on and in September, Louisa brought Harold Oscar Hurst into the world.
He would be known as Harry, named for his two grandfathers, one live and one deceased, and was the source of much joy for his parents, grandparents, great-grandmother, and various uncles and aunts.
It was especially good news for the Hursts whose entailed estate would now remain in the hands of a Hurst beyond the younger Mr Harold Hurst.
Little Harry, at six weeks old, had a tuft of light brown hair and his eyes were now light brown like his father’s.
Mary was enamoured with her new role of big sister, even if she had preferred that her mama gift her with a sister.
As her parents had explained, they could not exchange Harry for a sister, and he would have to do.