The Lost Heir

by Harriet Knowles

  “Very well.” Darcy nodded at him, and followed a footman up the stairs. He wondered how Elizabeth was. If he hurried, he might be back downstairs before she ventured down again. He longed to speak to her.

  47

  Elizabeth was pleased to find Georgiana seemed to feel more secure when she found herself in the house, and even more so, when they were taken to their bedchambers.

  The elegant lady who had accompanied them upstairs spoke to them both on the galleried landing. “I’m so glad my husband and your family have been able to take you from what must have been a dreadful time. I’m the Duchess of Durdar, and my own daughters are not much older than you are.” She smiled. “I believe the first thing you both want to do is take a lovely hot bath and relax. Am I correct?”

  Elizabeth sighed. “Your Grace, we’re very grateful to you for welcoming us so kindly. This is Miss Georgiana Darcy, and I’m a friend of hers, Elizabeth Bennet.” She managed a curtsy and was pleased to see Georgiana follow suit. She laughed softly. “And a bath is the most wonderful thought.”

  The older woman reminded her a little of Aunt Gardiner, especially when she smiled as she did now. “All right. I’ve had the kitchens and scullery set to boiling water enough for both of you. You’ll find maids waiting to assist you in your chambers.” She looked at them both consideringly. “And now I’ve seen you, I will be able to find plenty of clothes to fit you.”

  “Thank you.” Georgiana’s voice was quiet, but Elizabeth was grateful to hear it. She didn’t want Georgiana to dwell on what had happened.

  She turned to the girl. “It’s going to be wonderful, isn’t it? If you’re ready first, you may come and find me — and if I’m asleep, you must wake me!”

  The duchess clapped her hands together, and laughed. “Both of you do look weary, I will admit. If you wish to stay upstairs and rest, you may do so for as long as you like. But I will be delighted to receive you downstairs, whenever you feel able.”

  “Thank you for being so understanding.” Elizabeth turned to Georgiana.

  “I’ll see you in a little while.” She would not pander to the girl’s fears of leaving her — not unless she had to. But she was pleased to see her accept and turn into the bedchamber by herself to be assisted by the maids.

  The duchess caught Elizabeth’s hand. “I can see you’ve had a dreadful time. If there is anything at all you need, you must tell me. Ought I to call the physician?”

  Elizabeth shook her head. “You’re very kind, Your Grace. We don’t need a physician, thank you. Only rest and the opportunity to refresh ourselves.”

  She hesitated. “Might I be a little forward?” She dipped a curtsy again. “If it is possible for you to find out if Georgiana’s brother and cousin are well? I know they too, must have had a difficult and anxious pursuit; while feeling the guilt of knowing they hadn’t been able to keep her safe …”

  “Of course I will.” The older woman patted Elizabeth’s hand. “I’m sure they’re very grateful to you for being able to assist her to escape and for staying with her. Her reliance on you is apparent. Now, I mustn’t keep you from your bath any more.”

  As Elizabeth sank into the warm bath, deeper than any she’d ever experienced before, she sighed in bliss. The maid had asked her favourite flowers, and now dried lavender petals in the water swirled the scent around her, soporific and comforting.

  She could barely drag herself from the tub even when the water cooled, because the maid kept pouring more hot water in. Eventually, Elizabeth laughed and waved her away. “It’s been wonderful. But I must get out.”

  There was a nightshift temptingly laid out, and the maid hurried in first. “If you wish to rest, Miss Bennet, there are warming pans in the bed.”

  Elizabeth shook her head. “If I climb in, I will not waken for a week, and that would be very rude. No, I would like to dress, if Her Grace was able to find something that would fit me.”

  When the maid opened the closet, Elizabeth couldn’t contain her gasp of surprise. “Oh! they’re beautiful, but far too fine for me. I would be afraid of spoiling any of them.” But there seemed to be no other option, her own dress had been taken for a long overdue wash. Elizabeth smiled. I wonder if it will survive the shock. With the maid’s assistance, she searched through the garments, all of which were finer than she’d ever worn before.

  Finally, dressed in a classically simple gown, she looked at herself in the glass. The quality of the satin against her skin was testament to the fact she was moving in exalted circles.

  While the maid dressed her hair, Elizabeth considered her position. The duke was a friend of Mr. Darcy’s uncle, the earl, and it brought home to her what rarified circles the Darcy family moved in.

  She didn’t belong here, and once the duke and his wife realised how much lower her status was than theirs, they would not be so happy to entertain her here. She smiled slightly — except as a companion to Georgiana, she supposed. But they’d be embarrassed at having treated her as a guest, rather than staff. No, she must be careful.

  “Thank you, Ellen.” She looked at her hairstyle. “That’s very good, I like it.” As she glanced at her tired features, she hoped no one would comment on her appearance, she needed to forget her weariness, and be sociable.

  She smoothed her skirts as she rose. I wonder if Mr. Darcy will recognise the fabric? I did. She smiled as she went to the adjacent bedchamber and knocked softly.

  When the little maid answered the door, she held it wider for Elizabeth to enter. “Miss Darcy fell asleep in the bath, madam. I helped her straight into bed, at her request,” she whispered.

  Elizabeth stifled a laugh, and went to look. Her friend was sound asleep, holding the edge of the coverlet tightly near her face. She looked clean and comfortable, although her hair was loose and still a little tangled.

  “I didn’t have time to do her hair.” The maid looked anxious, and Elizabeth smiled.

  “There’ll be time tomorrow.” She turned away. “I’m going downstairs. Please have me called as soon as she wishes it.”

  The maid bobbed a curtsy. “Of course, Miss Bennet.”

  Elizabeth’s heart raced as she descended the grand staircase, the walls lined with ancient portraits. This was Mr. Darcy’s life now. This was the life of his family and friends. It was all far, far beyond her.

  Mr. Darcy would be waiting for her. Somehow she knew it. He would always be waiting for her. But ought she to allow him to make such an unsuitable marriage? She shook her head and berated herself. He’d given no indication that he was considering making her an offer — not since he had discovered who he really was. She must not betray any sign that she expected him to maintain the way they had been before. After all, it had merely been a business arrangement.

  48

  The footman opened the door to the drawing room, and she took a deep breath before entering. The three people within all looked up.

  Mr. Darcy rose to his feet and bowed. The duke nodded at her, and the duchess smiled encouragingly.

  “Miss Bennet, I’m happy you feel restored enough to join us.” She patted the seat beside her. “Come and sit with me.”

  Elizabeth curtsied. “Thank you, Your Grace.” Once she’d taken the seat, she suffered the lady taking her hand, but couldn’t prevent stealing a glance at Mr. Darcy. His expression was tightly controlled, and he seemed to be rather detached from her gaze. He looked nothing like the gentleman who’d held her, spoken her name, back in that small cottage.

  “Miss Bennet, I wonder if you are able to inform us how my sister fares?”

  She laughed softly, hoping to reassure him, though her heart almost broke as she felt his distance. “I am told Georgiana fell asleep in the bath, and was assisted into bed. I’ve been to see her, and she is fast asleep, and looks untroubled by any dream.”

  He looked relieved. “Thank you.”

  She looked at him. “Where is your cousin, sir? I seem to remember Colonel Fitzwilliam at the cottage.”

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bsp; He nodded. “He has escorted the men who took you — and Wickham — to Carlisle. He will lay the early complaint of their crimes.” He glanced at the duke, who rose to his feet and drew closer to her.

  “Yes. Miss Bennet. I am happy you felt able to come downstairs today.” He drew up a chair. “As you know, the victims of crime must lay the complaint, and produce as much evidence as possible to aid the judge as he dispenses justice.”

  Elizabeth looked down. “I understand, but I don’t know what I need to do.”

  “Of course. I would not expect you to do so. I have summoned my lawyer, who will be arriving this afternoon. What I would like to do is to ask you to tell me, now, in as much detail as you can remember, what happened to you and Miss Darcy since you left your home in London.”

  Elizabeth shuddered, and Mr. Darcy leaned forward. She hadn’t even noticed he had drawn up a chair, too. “Are you well, Miss Bennet? Perhaps we ought to wait until the morning. You do look very fatigued.”

  “I know you may wish to be kind, Darcy,” the duke censured him. “But I must ask Miss Bennet to continue to show the courage and intelligence we saw from her at the cottage.” He turned to Elizabeth.

  “You see, the assize judges happen to be sitting in the quarter session in Carlisle in the next two days, so we need as much evidence as we can quickly lay before them — certainly against Wickham — for I never want him to be free to make an attempt on Miss Darcy again. If we miss this opportunity, we may have to go to London, or find an assize sitting elsewhere. I believe it will be better for Miss Darcy’s peace of mind if justice is done as soon as possible.”

  Elizabeth nodded. “I understand.”

  The duchess patted her hand. “I’m sorry we have to do this. I’ll stay with you, but I think both my husband and Darcy need to be able to ask you questions and make notes, so they can give full information to the lawyer.”

  “Will I have to give evidence in court — or will Georgiana?” Elizabeth looked straight at the duke.

  He looked a little uncomfortable. “I am hoping not. Certainly, we saw enough at the cottage to accuse him of quite heinous offences, and I would hope a written statement from you, made up by my lawyer, will suffice to prove the connivance of the other thugs. But it may be the judges will demand to speak to you.”

  Elizabeth looked at Mr. Darcy. “I have some concerns.”

  “Please inform us, Miss Bennet,” he said quietly. “We will attempt to allay them as best we can.”

  She bowed her head. “Your father is in London. It must have been a dreadful shock to him to find his ward has done this. And that many of his servants were in his thrall, too. Might it not be better that this matter is delayed until he can see the need himself, and not have it presented as a fait accompli?”

  Mr. Darcy grimaced, and glanced at the duke, who shook his head.

  “Justice does not work like that, Miss Bennet. I’m sure you know of someone who has faced it, and understand that trial and sentence are not long delayed.”

  “Yes, Your Grace.” Elizabeth sighed. It seemed there was nothing else to be done. A thought came to her, and she met the older man’s eyes. “There was — one of them. I could see he wasn’t happy with the situation. It was he who warned me what he was going to do, and when, so I was prepared to take the opportunity when he incapacitated Mr. Wickham and escaped himself.” She took a deep breath. “I would not like to see him punished.”

  The duke nodded. “I can make no promises, of course, but your word will count for a great deal should he ever be brought before a judge. And if he has escaped as you say, it is likely that he’ll never be connected with the events of today.”

  He drew the side table towards him. “With your permission, we will take notes. First, I would like you to tell the story straight through, as much as you can remember. Then we will ask pertinent questions, to draw out more detail where it is needed.”

  “I understand, Your Grace,” Elizabeth said quietly, blushing her discomposure of what intimacies she’d have to speak of in front of them. She turned first to Mr. Darcy.

  “First, I’d like to say that your suspicions of him being the cause of your original accident are almost certainly correct, sir. At one moment, when Mr. Wickham was speaking of the trap he was setting for you, he said that once he had you, you would suffer ‘another terrible accident’, and ‘this time’, it would be permanent.”

  49

  Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam sat back in the duke’s second-best coach and relaxed for a few minutes. It had been a very satisfactory day, not least of which was the knowledge that, in having to restrain Wickham, Reed and Monckton had found it necessary to do so with considerable firmness. Richard was exceedingly pleased with the resulting bruises on Wickham’s person. His greatest vexation was that he had been too busy with Georgiana to be able to inflict a few of his own.

  What had she suffered, to be so distressed? Richard was rather discomposed himself at the unaccustomed feelings within him when she had sobbed on his shoulder. He was very grateful to Miss Bennet for rescuing him — he would not have wanted his feelings to be thus for too long. Georgiana was much too young, and he’d known her since she was a child. He ought not to be feeling this way about her, definitely not. He hoped it was just because she’d been so helpless, and his feelings were merely that of protectiveness, but a sinking feeling within him told him otherwise.

  He pushed the thoughts away; he’d soon be at Blackwell Court, and he expected there would be a great deal to talk about. Perhaps the ladies would be refreshed and would be downstairs. That would be reassuring. He might find out what had happened.

  Richard leaned his head back against the cushions. He could deal with whatever he found out; he just needed to know. It was not knowing that had troubled him. He smiled; Darcy had been discomposed about it, too.

  At Blackwell Court, he was greeted by the butler, and taken straight into the duke’s library, where His Grace was sitting in conference with Darcy and an older man, who turned out to be the lawyer, a Mr. Soames. He seemed a reasonable man, and Richard sank into a chair to try and catch up with what had occurred.

  Soames was going through the incident in the cottage — in a great deal of detail, and he was soon questioning Richard exhaustively. In a rare quiet moment, Richard leaned over to murmur to Darcy.

  “Have you seen the ladies? Are they somewhat restored?”

  His cousin nodded. “Only Miss Bennet. She’s been very helpful, although she looks very fatigued, and was somewhat distressed by various of the incidents she had to recall.” He smiled faintly. “She said Georgiana fell asleep in the bath and was sound asleep in bed when she checked on her.”

  Richard chuckled. A good night’s sleep would be helpful to his young cousin. Not so young any more, his heart reminded him.

  Darcy nudged him. “Here are the notes I took of Miss Bennet’s account. We’ll be going through them in a moment, if you want to glance at them first.”

  “Thanks.” Richard began scanning them as quickly as he could, his lips tight. It could not have been an easy week for them. No wonder Georgiana had been so distressed.

  But Miss Bennet had suffered as well. He was taken aback by her calm acceptance of the fact she was unlikely to survive had Wickham’s plan succeeded. He wondered soberly if Georgiana could ever develop that same calm resilience.

  He thought uncomfortably of his parents’ — and his own — opposition to Miss Bennet as a future Mrs Darcy, and began to understand why his cousin was so attached to her. It wasn’t just her attractive features, and dancing eyes, it was her steadfastness, her intelligence and loyalty.

  When he read of the man Tom crashing a rock on Wickham’s head, and her words to Georgiana that he deserved it after what he’d done to Darcy, he wondered at the connection between them.

  Certainly, the family ought to withdraw their opposition, and he wished he’d made her acquaintance earlier. But he had to pull his attention to the room as the lawyer was speaking.


  “Well, Your Grace, if you three gentlemen are able to give evidence as you have today about what you heard of the abduction, and also what you heard and saw in the cottage, I have little doubt there will be enough to see Mr. Wickham convicted of several capital offences.” He turned over a page of his notes.

  “I am thinking particularly of possession of a loaded firearm with intent to murder, proved by the discharge of the weapon; the verbal threats to murder, first, to Mr. Darcy, and then to Miss Bennet, an innocent bystander of the feud; and also, the abduction and keeping prisoner of the two ladies, wholly unrelated to him.” He shook his head. “Certainly enough to convict, in my opinion.”

  “Miss Bennet seemed to prefer not to be summoned to give evidence,” Darcy persisted. “Do you think she will have to attend?”

  The lawyer shook his head. “The senior judge this week is Lord Bramall. If we can get all the statements in tomorrow, I think he will not subject the ladies to such an ordeal. He is a kindly man, with daughters of about the same age. I will get my clerk to draft a statement for Miss Bennet to sign, and we will say Miss Darcy is too troubled by her ordeal to be able to give evidence — unless she is very much better in the morning.” He looked round at them all. “I will return tomorrow with all the statements, one for Miss Bennet and one each for you gentlemen. Once they are signed, I will go and make the depositions. It is likely you will need to be available on Thursday for the trial.” He bundled up their notes. “Do you have any questions before I go to write the statements?”

  Richard and Darcy walked out in the gardens before dinner. Richard was anxious to regain the easy friendship he’d once had, and, now this business was nearly done, he might begin to regain Darcy’s trust.

  “What Miss Bennet said to you at first — about how your father will react? I thought she showed a commendable concern for him.”