Chapter 3 #2
Two hours later, the new Mr and Mrs Bingley departed for Ramsgate, and those that had made the trip from London departed not long after to arrive at their various homes as dusk descended on the city.
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A few days after their return to Town, Elizabeth, Georgiana, Amy, and Retta were on their way to Bond Street when the coachman had to pull the carriage up short due to an obstacle in the road.
Two lads who thought that they had an easy, soft target advanced until Biggs and Johns stepped around from their place at the rear of the conveyance.
The two stopped dead in their tracks, and then they noticed the four men on horseback, all pointing pistols at them.
“I tol’ ya it were not a good idea,” one said as he slapped his mate on the back of the head.
“‘Ow wus I s’posed ta know about all them men,” the second said as he rubbed the spot which was smarting.
“Why do you think that you can rob money from good people?” Elizabeth asked as she stood between her footmen, who were not happy that she had exited the carriage.
They did not know if there was more danger lurking, so they were hypervigilant and signalled the outriders to take up station on either side of Lady Elizabeth.
“We ‘ad no choice, mi’lady,” the first one said.
“There is always a choice; you could work to earn money rather than try and steal it,” Elizabeth said with her hands on her hips. The other three ladies decided to stay in the carriage with Mrs Annesley.
“Our ma is sick an’ we don ‘ave money for medicine, mi’lady,” the second lad said. “She needs it now, an’ we need to work weeks ta earn enuf ta pay fir it, and in meanwhile our brother an’ sister go ‘ungry.”
“Where does your mother live?” Elizabeth asked.
“Seven dials,” the older-looking lad, who could not have been more than ten, answered.
“I will send two of the guards on horses, each of you can sit behind one of them. They will see if what you say is true, and if it be so, I will help you. But if you have lied, they will take you to the runners. Do you understand?” Elizabeth asked the lads.
When both boys nodded, Elizabeth handed a ten-pound banknote to one of the outriders with the instruction to verify the story. Each man lifted a boy up behind him.
Biggs suggested that a third rider accompany the other two, just in case.
“If what you say is true, then one of our men will give you directions to come to my house on the morrow, and we will see what we can do for you. I hope for your sake what you told us was not a lie,” Elizabeth stated before the guards urged their horses forward.
Johns quickly removed the obstacle with the minimum of effort, and they were soon underway again. “You were so brave to go outside and talk to those two, Lizzy,” Georgiana stated with admiration.
“In hindsight, Gigi, I should not have exited the carriage until Biggs and Johns indicated that it was safe to do so; I was impetuous. Besides with Biggs and Johns, not to mention four outriders and the driver being armed, it was not so very brave, Gigi. They were but lads, and although I do not agree with the way that they were trying to help, if what they said is true, and I suspect that it is, then they were trying to save their mother and siblings,” Elizabeth explained.
“What will you do if they come to Matlock House on the morrow?” Amy asked.
“That will depend on what the guards report back to me,” Elizabeth replied.
“I would have never got out of the carriage, either,” Retta stated.
“Without all of the protection I had, neither would I,” Elizabeth told her friend with a smile.
“In my opinion,” Mrs Annesley stated, having listened to the four up to now without interjecting, “What you did, as you pointed out to Miss Darcy, Lady Elizabeth, was impulsive and an unnecessary risk. You did not know if more men were hidden, so the correct course of action would have been to stay in the carriage with us,” she told her charge, with mild rebuke.
“I acted without looking at all possibilities like I do when I play chess. Thank you for pointing that out to me, Mrs Annesley,” Elizabeth replied contritely.
The rest of the trip to modiste and then Gunter’s was uneventful, and after dropping Amy and Retta off at their homes, the Matlock coach returned to Grosvenor Square.
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When they arrived home, Elizabeth told Andrew all that had happened and made sure he knew that she was out of the door before her companion knew what she was about, leaving her with no choice but to stay with the three young ladies inside the vehicle.
Unsurprisingly, he agreed with Mrs Annesley and chastised his sister for not thinking the situation through properly and getting her companion’s permission before acting.
Elizabeth apologised and promised never to do such a thing again.
While they were talking, one of the guards who went with the lads was admitted to the study.
He confirmed that the boys had been honest about the situation but did not understand how sick their mother was, that she would not last too many more days.
When asked, he informed the master and his sister that besides the two would-be thieves, there were five more children.
The oldest lad was twelve and the youngest not yet two years old.
After Andrew dismissed the man with his thanks, Elizabeth turned to her brother. “Andrew, do you remember Mother Bennet telling us about the work that she and the committee do in Meryton and other places?”
“I do, Sprite. What idea have you in that pretty head of yours now?” he asked. He loved seeing his sister’s compassionate nature at work.
“May I send a note to Mother Bennet to be here on the morrow, and rather than just the two boys, can we bring all seven children and their mother here so she can be comfortable at the end, at least?” she asked hopefully.
“There is no reason why not, Sprite,” Andrew replied.
Elizabeth sat and dashed off a note to be carried three doors down by one of the footmen, then requested that her mother and Marie join herself and Andrew in the study.
Once the full story was told, both Elaine and Marie had the same visceral reaction as Andrew to Elizabeth’s unwise decision but then were quickly in agreement with the plan to help the family.
A note was received from Mother Bennet confirming that she would be there in the morning and that she would send a note to Jane and to Martha Bingley, who was with the Hursts at their London home.
When the rider returned with the news that they would all be moved out of the hovel that they had been trying to survive in, the two lads could not believe someone who could have just as easily turned them over to the runners was going to assist them; and their ma would see a real doctor!
The next morning, Mr Tristan Bartholomew, the London physician of both the Darcys and Fitzwilliams, was waiting with the rest of the group when the two carts pulled into the mews at Matlock House.
The mother was carried on a litter to a servant’s room near the warmth of the kitchens, and the children were put in the three rooms next to where their mother was.
“With all of the funds that some very generous benefactor donated,” Martha Bingley said as she looked at Jane, “taking these unfortunate children into the home that was built between Longbourn and Bennington Fields will be no problem. They will be raised in the county, be educated, and never want for food or clothing. The boys will learn trades if they have an inclination, and the girls will be prepared to go into good service positions. Best of all, they will all be kept together.” Tammy nodded her agreement while Jane blushed at her gift, so publicly acknowledged.
“Why did we not think of it before, Marie! Can we talk to Aunts Anne and Rose, as well as you, Mama, and start a similar programme in Derbyshire?” Elizabeth asked excitedly.
“That is a capital idea, Lizzy,” Marie replied as her hand went to her belly instinctively.
When Elizabeth’s plan was put to Ladies Rose and Elaine, they agreed without reservation. With the help of Tammy Bennet and Martha Bingley, plans were drawn up to start instituting in Derbyshire the same programmes that the committee in Meryton had been running.
After the doctor examined the mother of the seven children, he informed them that she would be at peace in a few days.
In his opinion, it was cancer, and there was nothing that would stop in the inevitable.
The two oldest boys were summoned to the study, treated as the men they had attempted to be the day before, and as gently as possible, the truth of their mother’s situation was explained to them.
There were tears shed as the boys worried about what would befall them and their five brothers and sisters.
Tammy Bennet then laid out the plan which the adults had outlined to them for their approval on behalf of their family.
The boys sat for a moment to the side of the study, and although incredibly sad about the impending death of their mother, were relieved that all seven of them would be together and not in one of the dreaded workhouses.
When asked about their father, they relayed that he had died of illness just after the youngest girl was born, which had begun the downfall to the straits in which they had been found.
Three days later, as Mr Bartholomew predicted, the mother slipped from the mortal world and was finally at peace.
The Fitzwilliams paid for a decent burial for her in one of the local church’s graveyards.
The two oldest boys had attended to watch as their mother was laid to rest. The next day, they were in carriages far finer than they ever imagined that they would ride in and on their way to Hertfordshire.
Until they arrived at the newly-built home where they would live, they had not grasped the truth of their situation, thinking that it could not be as the nice people had told them.
From what the children could see, it was far better than anything that they imagined.
The four older children, the two boys and the two oldest girls, were placed in bedchambers that each pair would share, and the youngest three were placed in the nursery.
Rather than ending up in gaol as they likely would have if they had attempted to rob anyone else, they were in the country, in a house with caring people, and were living a life with more luxury than they could have conjured in their wildest dreams. To them, Lady Elizabeth Fitzwilliam was the angel that had saved all their lives.
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As plans for Christmas in Hertfordshire were finalised, the Derbyshire Committee, as they dubbed themselves, had grown to include Lady Anne Darcy as well.
They were relishing the upcoming time that they would all be at Longbourn for Christmastide, wanting their plans finalised as soon as may be; and they would be able to pick the brains of all the ladies that ran the charitable foundation in Meryton.
Elizabeth felt a purpose like she had never before.
She could have ended up in far worse straits than the seven children had been in if her brothers had not discovered her in Sherwood Forest. The shame she felt that she had not thought of emulating what was being done by Mother Bennet and her friends led to a determination that she would give back as much as she could.
She was most pleased when she shared her vision with Will, and he was as committed as she was.
On the seventeenth day of December, all of the family members, including the Gardiners, left London for Longbourn and Christmastide in Hertfordshire. Elizabeth could not wait to see how the seven children were adjusting to their new situation.