Chapter 16
As cold as it was, Jones was pleased to be returning to Pemberley.
He and three other Pemberley stable hands were in an old carriage that Branch was driving.
He had been told that the families would be returning to Derbyshire after Twelfth Night rather than return to Town for the season in order to prepare for a trip to the lakes for Easter.
When he had checked with Branch, his friend had confirmed that all members of the Darcy and Fitzwilliam families would be headed to the Fitzwilliams’ property, Lake View House.
Jones wanted a note placed in the tree as soon as they arrived back at the estate, but changed his mind when Branch reminded him that the note that they sent before their departure had said only to check the knothole after Twelfth Night, so there would be no point in placing the note.
A few days before the family headed to Hertfordshire for Christmastide, Branch was summoned to the kitchen.
Killion, the Darcy House Butler, then led him to the master’s study where he met with the master, his son, the nephew in the army, and the gentleman, Mr Bennet.
He was informed that the date he would provide in his note was the second day of April, the Monday before the Easter weekend.
The men had given him leave to use his discretion on when and how to take Jones into custody, whether he felt the need to do so quietly once Branch and those travelling with him returned to Pemberley or at any time after.
The master then had given him a missive for Mr Forester, the former officer in command of the guards and outriders at the Darcy estate.
As he drove the team north, Branch did not think there would be a reason to detain Jones before the first Monday in April, but he would keep his eyes open and arrest him if he felt it was needed.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
‘This is the last Christmas those who disrespected me will have,’ Mrs Fitzpatrick cackled to herself. ‘It will all be mine soon, I will get everything I deserve, should always have had!’
She had continued her fortnightly meetings with McLamb and was satisfied that her plan would be executed flawlessly.
She had, after all, threatened him with the intent to not pay him if he did not do as she decreed.
It was not an idle threat as he would never be able to see that kind of money for a single day’s action, she was certain she would soon have her due.
And McLamb had been correct, his nine men had easily recruited nine more who would have sold their souls for the one hundred pounds that they would earn.
A more degenerate bunch she could not imagine!
There was not a single conscience between them, and that exactly suited her purposes.
She required men of no morals that would not balk at the disposal of women or children.
Just a day earlier she had told Wickham that he would finally be of use to her. Little did she know, Wickham was currently reviewing their conversation yet again.
“We will soon be moving against your old friends,” she informed Wickham, looking uncommonly pleased with herself. “You will be told the details closer to the time, but your knowledge of the area around Pemberley will be valuable. I will be rid of all of them in one fell swoop!”
“When and where will this take place?” Wickham asked, hoping she would reveal at least some details.
“Closer to the time, I said. In the meanwhile, the man who will lead the operation for me may have questions about the area; if he does, you will answer anything he asks. Do not let me hear that you have tried to ask him any questions. Am I rightly understood?” she asked acerbically.
“Yes, you are Mrs Fitzpatrick,” was his sullen reply.
Finally, they were to move against his enemies, and in truth, he only cared about two things; that he got to kill the foundling himself, and that he could somehow spirit Miss Darcy away, alive.
He was hoping to make his own arrangement with this McLamb character in which he would pay him a hefty sum for his assistance as soon as he married Georgiana Darcy.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
It was a very merry Christmas at Longbourn in 1807.
The house was overflowing with family and friends, and the normally quiet master of the house was celebrating as much as anyone.
All the principal families in the area had accepted invitations to a Christmas Eve party that was held in the ballroom to accommodate all of the guests.
Only the children ages three or younger were in the nursery.
May Gardiner was enormously proud that at four, she just missed the cut-off to have to be in the nursery.
Mary Hurst was not happy that she was on the wrong side of the cut-off.
Andrew, Marie, and little Reggie had arrived two days earlier.
At close to three months of age and a very robust, healthy boy, his parents had decided that he could travel.
On the way to Longbourn, they had stopped often, making sure to exchange the cool warming bricks for hot ones as much as needed, turning the two-day trip into three days of travel.
Lady Rose had been correct. Reggie had the deep green eyes of his mother and Uncle Perry, the same colour that his late grandfather Sed had.
He and the five-month-old Hurst heir, Harry, garnered much attention, especially from proud grandparents and in Harry’s case, a great-grandparent, along with aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Martha Bingley did not repine her decision to once again attend celebrations now that she was in half mourning.
Now that Louisa was fully recovered from Harry’s birth, Martha was feeling much happier.
She had been very worried as Louisa had lost more blood than Mr Jones had been happy with, and it had taken her almost three weeks to recover; but recover she had, and by the end of October, she was back to her old self.
Mrs Beckett was slowing as she approached her eighth decade, as was to be expected.
Martha had planned with her brother and sisters that they would visit Netherfield in June, and then at the end of the month, they would all take a slow trip to Scarborough with their mother.
She would spend time with them until the end of August when she and Charles would then travel to Yorkshire and bring mother back to her home at Netherfield before the cold of the north set in.
Jane had not missed the looks that passed between her friend Mandy and Charles Bingley.
She invited Mandy to come sit with her, Louisa Hurst, and Charlotte Pierce in a corner that had two settees place to form an ‘L.’ “I could not but notice that our Mr Bingley seems to follow you with his eyes wherever you go, Mandy,” Jane observed.
“We are friends,” Mandy hedged, though she blushed from the roots of her hair to her neck.
“There are not too many ‘just friends’ that look at one another the way that you and Mr Bingley look at each other,” Charlotte said it for her so that their friend would be at ease to know that she was understood.
Then she turned to her best friend. “What do you know, Louisa? Do not tell me that your brother does not talk about our Mandy at home.”
“He may have said something to me…in confidence,” Louisa agreed.
“When will you be out, Mandy?” Jane enquired.
“Papa said I will come out fully after I turn seventeen, in June,” Mandy shared.
“Has he said when someone, let us say, a certain man with a red tinge in his hair who lives at Netherfield, may declare himself?” Charlotte asked with a smile and Mandy nodded.
“If he pays you his addresses, would you welcome them?” Jane asked gently. Mandy just looked at her hands as her blush burned hotter.
“You know it is your duty to answer a duchess, do you not?” Charlotte teased.
“Mandy, no one will force a confidence,” Jane told her as she took her hand in hers and patted it.
“All I hope is that, whether it is Louisa’s brother who wins your heart or another, you choose your mate for love, felicity, and respect.
I can tell you from my experience of almost a year, that there is nothing better than such a marriage. ”
“I agree,” both Louisa and Charlotte chorused at the same time.
“When there is news to tell, I promise you that you will be among the first to know,” Mandy said as her blush started to slowly recede.
As Franklin Lucas was pouring himself a glass of punch, he noticed Lady Elizabeth heading for the punch bowl, and that she was unaccompanied.
He did not miss her brothers and cousin Darcy watching intently, ready to jump into action if there was a need.
He also did not miss the two enormous footmen that were watching her every move.
He was about to vacate the area of the punchbowl when she addressed him directly.
“Would you mind pouring me a glass of Mother Bennet’s punch please, Mr Lucas,” she requested.
“I do not think that your family will approve of my talking to you, your Ladyship,” he said with a bow.
“It is I who initiated the contact, and we all know that your behaviour since that time has been exemplary. Not only did you apologise, but your actions much more so than your words prove that you were sincere in your resolution to change your path. So, as I am not talking to the man that was, but rather the one that is, I feel comfortable making the request I did,” Elizabeth explained to a very relieved man.
He did as she asked and bowed. “I wish you and your family merry Christmastide, Lady Elizabeth.”
“And I wish you and your family the same,” Elizabeth returned as she curtsied and returned with her drink to where her brothers and Will were standing.
She did not miss how the three men relaxed now that they could see she was not ill at ease.
She would never be friends with Franklin Lucas, but she would now count him as an acquaintance.