by Wendi Sotis
William shot up off the couch, uttering something under his breath. After a couple of minutes of staring out the window into the darkness, he said, “If I ever see that snake again, someone’s going to have to hold me back from killing him.”
When he returned to the couch, Elizabeth could feel he was trembling slightly. She wanted to wrap her arms around him, but she wasn’t sure how he’d take it. She briefly leaned into him again.
Once Elizabeth straightened, William put his arm across the back of the couch behind Elizabeth. Elizabeth sighed in relief. He didn’t hate her.
“Are there any more pictures—other than the ones we saw at the restaurant?”
“One more. Oh... and this one didn’t happen yet.” She showed them the picture at the baseball field.
William shook his head. “Where is this?”
“It must be the Founders Day picnic,” Jane replied.
Elizabeth nodded. “That’s what I thought, too.”
“I’m going to have a fight with Dan King?”
“Well, it certainly looks like Lizzy is the only thing keeping you and Dan from hitting each other.” Jane shifted so she could look at her sister more easily. “But I can’t imagine this happening. I’ve only seen Dan hit someone once in all the years we’ve known him. Remember, Lizzy? That night Collin Hunsford got drunk and was hanging all over you at the concert?”
“Yes, I remember it well.” Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “That was a horrible night, and it’s the reason he only bothers me now when Dan’s not around... or Richie, after that night he chased Collin away.” She gestured at her phone. “Maybe this serves as a warning, Will.”
William stiffened. “Well, I’ll try to keep myself from beating up your boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend?” Elizabeth laughed. “Dan’s not my boyfriend. Whatever gave you that idea?”
“You’ve got pictures of the guy all over your room, and—” he stopped short.
“What?”
William refused to continue.
“We grew up together and hung around in the same crowd. Dan took pity on me when I didn’t have a date for my prom and agreed to go with me as friends, but that’s about it.”
William looked uncomfortable. “He’s very... possessive of you.”
“Possessive? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“He always has been,” Jane answered for William.
“But Dan’s like a brother to me...” Elizabeth was dumbfounded.
“I don’t think that’s how Dan feels.” Jane glanced at William’s arm, which was pretty much resting on Elizabeth’s shoulders at this point, and then at his face for a few seconds before returning her gaze to the picture. “I’ve changed my mind—I can see this happening.”
William removed his arm from the back of the couch, stood up, and walked over to a bookcase.
Elizabeth rose as well. “I’m going to take a look at what’s in that trunk. I doubt we’ll have time to go over her journals, but I want to see the drawings she received, at least. Do either of you want to see them?”
Without hesitation, Jane agreed, and the ladies moved to the desk.
While looking over the titles of her father’s books, William muttered, “Sure.”
~
Brilliant, Darcy! William thought as he feigned interest in the books on Mr. Bennett’s shelves. After seeing that picture of Georgiana and hearing Elizabeth’s explanation, I feel like an even bigger idiot than I did before. Now Jane knows how I feel about Elizabeth, too. And, by making Elizabeth aware of Dan King’s interest, I’ve practically pushed her into the man’s arms. What a productive meeting this has been!
He straightened and turned toward the desk when Jane exclaimed, “That’s really strange. It’s almost the same! There’s something written on the back—”
Jane gasped, and Elizabeth looked as if she was about to faint.
William rushed over to stand next to Elizabeth in case she did. “Are you all right?”
Elizabeth shook her head but didn’t look away from the page. Pointing to the bottom edge of back of the drawing, Elizabeth whispered, “Two of Elizabeth’s sisters were named Jane and Lydia.” She turned it over and showed him the drawing. “It’s almost the same as the picture at our dinner table. That’s Lydia with the stain down the front of her dress.”
Her body shuddered, and William had to keep himself from taking her into his arms.
“And look at this one! It talks about Elizabeth’s good friend, Charlotte Lucas.” Elizabeth looked up at William. “This can’t be real, can it?”
He turned over the page again and examined the sketch, spending a lot of time on one member of the family in particular. Noticing the stack of letters on the desk, he took one off the top, unfolded it, and could have sworn his heart stopped beating. Returning it to the desk, he somehow managed to ask, “Can... can I see that letter?”
When he saw the family crest at the top of the page, William had to sit down.
“Will, what is it?” Elizabeth asked.
His sense of shock had temporarily rendered him unable to speak. He handed her the letter, pointed to the family crest, then removed his ring and placed it in her hand.
After looking at both, Elizabeth sank into the chair across from him. “Why do you have that same design on your ring?”
Although William cleared his throat, his voice was hoarse when he spoke. “It’s the Darcy family crest.” He blushed a little. “The heir always inherits the ring—it’s a signet ring... like an official seal.” He pointed to a woman sitting at the dinner table in one of the drawings. “That is Elizabeth Darcy.” He huffed out a breath something like a chuckle. “I guess I should say Elizabeth Bennet Darcy.” He retrieved the page he had left open on the desktop. “And this is Fitzwilliam Darcy... the man I’m named after. The portraits of all my ancestors are in the gallery at our estate in Derbyshire, England. They date back hundreds of years.” He swallowed hard. “The portrait of Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy is there, and I know it well. It’s directly across from the window seat where I used to sit and read during every summer vacation.” He looked up at Elizabeth. “The view of the grounds from that window is excellent.”
“Besides the obvious rationale, one of the reasons I didn’t think it was real when I first read that letter was because there’s a D on the stationery and not a B,” Elizabeth explained.
“If it’s 9:30 p.m. here, that means it’s 2:30 a.m. there...” he mumbled to himself as he stood and paced to the glass doors. “I’ll have to wait a few hours...”
“To do what?” Jane asked.
“I’m going to call the housekeeper at Pemberley and have her email a photo of the portrait.”
Jane suddenly stood straighter. “Oh! Our family Bible has a list of births and marriages.” Jane pulled it off the shelf and handed it to her sister.
William joined them at the desk.
“I checked it already.” Elizabeth opened the Bible to the correct page. “It begins when Emily Lashbrook marries Henry Bennett in the mid-nineteenth century.” She pointed to the first names written in the book. “The Bible was probably a wedding gift.”
William took the Bible from the desk and looked at it himself. “I have cousins with the last name Lashbrook. Wait here; I need my laptop.” William rushed from the room.
While he was gone, Elizabeth and Jane opened more of the drawings.
Elizabeth showed Jane the back of a drawing. “She numbered them, too. It must have been the order in which she received them.”
“Or it could be the order in which they came true.” Jane held up a picture of Fitzwilliam and his sister with a carriage in the background. Another lady stood behind them. “Look—here’s Georgiana Darcy!”
“Will’s parents must have named her after their ancestor, too.” She looked on the back again. “I wonder who Mrs. Younge is.” Elizabeth rubbed her arms to try to rid herself of the goose bumps. “This is all very strange, Jane.”
Jane nodded. �
�But it’s exciting, too.”
Elizabeth continued looking through pictures and turning them over to see the names.
William returned and placed his laptop on the desk.
Elizabeth gasped. “Wickham! This is George Wickham with Georgiana Darcy at Ramsgate. That’s in England, isn’t it?”
William nodded while taking the page out of her hand.
“Oh my...” Jane put a few pages behind her back.
“What are you hiding, Jane?”
“It’s too upsetting.”
“Jane, these things happened a long time ago...”
Jane handed the pages to Elizabeth. William moved behind her to look at them over her shoulder. “Poor Georgiana...” Elizabeth whispered, looking over a drawing showing Georgiana marrying Wickham, and another showing her crying.
“It looks like Wickham was just as much of a scoundrel two hundred years ago as his descendant is now,” William growled. “But I already knew that. There were several references in Fitzwilliam’s journals in the library at Pemberley to Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth Darcy taking in Wickham’s wife and son after he died.”
Elizabeth’s eyebrows rose. “So he married?”
“Yes—it seems he was married before he tried this.” He took the last drawing from Elizabeth. “He charmed the lady into marriage, then left her—pregnant and penniless. When his money ran out, it seems he forgot all about already being married and tried to do the same with Georgiana.” His nostrils flared. “His wife came looking for him at Pemberley the spring after Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam married, and they took care of them.”
Jane’s eyes were filled with tears. “Did she marry him?”
Obviously lost in his thoughts, William looked at her with confusion. “Who?”
“Georgiana Darcy.” She gestured to the drawing in his hand. “Did she marry Wickham... or think she married him?”
“I know for a fact that she didn’t.” He pressed a few keys on his laptop. “This is my family tree. When I became friends with Charles, I reconstructed what I could from the family Bible at Pemberley.”
Jane asked, “Why?”
“Because he’s a cousin...” He scrolled down and clicked on another button, then laughed. “In 1811, Charles Bingley married Jane Bennet at a double wedding with Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy!”
Jane paled significantly. “So, if we’re related, does that mean Charles is my cousin?”
William held back a smile. “There are too many generations in between to worry about it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Oh, I’m sure. Catherine de Bourgh has pounded it into my head for ages.” When he saw the ladies’ confused expressions, he clarified, “The de Bourghs are related from around that time, too—Anne is my cousin, but I can’t even fathom by how many degrees. And, my parents were related to the same degree... my mom’s brother is Richard’s father.” William pointed to the drawing of Fitzwilliam Darcy. “His mother was also a Fitzwilliam, which is where they got the first name.” He pressed a few more keys. “This is the Lashbrook line.”
They traced it backwards and matched it up with the list in the Bennett’s Bible. Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy’s daughter, Anna, was Emily Lashbrook’s mother.
Elizabeth held up a drawing of Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam walking in a rose garden, which William had told them was at Pemberley. “So you and Georgie are descended through their son, and we are descended through their daughter...” Elizabeth hesitated. “If you think about it, every single person in this house right now is related somehow to the Darcys of Derbyshire and the Bennets of Hertfordshire.”
Jane grinned. “It’s an extended family reunion!”
William picked up the letter written by Elizabeth Darcy nee Bennet. “And this finally explains a family mystery—a stipulation in the inheritance of Pemberley. My father had no idea why, and neither did my grandfather, but it has been mandated for many generations that a portion of the estate has had to be set aside exclusively for a band of gypsies whenever they wanted to use it. We’ve also kept to the tradition of hiring them to work the farm at harvest time. They must be the descendants of those who put the blessing on Elizabeth Bennet.”
“This is amazing,” Jane said.
Elizabeth couldn’t stifle a yawn. “I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m exhausted, and it’s going to be a long day tomorrow. I need to get some sleep. Maybe we could continue this tomorrow evening?” She looked at William. “It really isn’t a problem if you and Georgie want to stay on here, Will. After all, we are family.” She smiled widely. “Charles and Richie are leaving in the morning. Mrs. Reynolds can take one of those rooms until you get the furniture delivered. I already planned to stay in the loft for an extended sleep-over with Anne—it wasn’t difficult to talk her into staying longer. Georgie can stay with us, too, and the two of them can go into Longbourn to look for an apartment.”
“I’ll be returning to Longbourn in the morning,” said Jane. “Mrs. Reynolds is welcome to use my room.”
William ground his teeth for a few moments. It would be nice to see Elizabeth every day, but the temptation of living in the same house is too great.
“Please, Will? I’m going to start reading Elizabeth Darcy’s journals whenever I have some free time... It would be much easier to have someone here who I can discuss all this with.” Elizabeth gestured toward the trunk.
When he hesitated further, Elizabeth displayed an exaggerated pout. It was similar to an expression he had seen Lydia use when she was threatened with not getting what she wanted, but Elizabeth’s pout affected him in a much different way than her younger sister’s had.
He tried to hold back his smile, but when she fluttered her eyelashes, he couldn’t hold it back any longer. It would be good for Georgiana to stay here a few more days. “As long as you’re sure we won’t be in the way.”
Elizabeth’s bright smile was reward enough—for almost anything, he realized.
“Perfect!” Elizabeth turned to her sister. “You’ll be visiting Dad during your lunch hour tomorrow?”
“Yes, and after work, too. Tom’s classes don’t begin until next week, so he can take Mom to the hospital in the afternoon and cover for you at the store for at least part of every day this week.”
When Elizabeth opened her mouth to protest, Jane interrupted. “You’re giving up a lot so he can finish his Master’s degree. He feels the least he can do is help when he’s home. I’ll be coming home and working your hours on Sundays—and I will not take no for an answer.”
“Okay.” Elizabeth hugged Jane. When they moved away from each other, she asked, “Can I ask you both to keep all this quiet for a while—about the letter and pictures... and definitely the trunk?”
William asked, “Our being related, too?”
Elizabeth nodded. “For now, anyway.”
William and Jane agreed.
Chapter 11
The next day, William and Georgiana drove to the hospital to visit with Mr. Bennett, but as Mr. Bennett was not yet allowed visitors who were not immediate family, William left Georgiana with Elizabeth in the cafeteria, promising to return after a quick meeting with Mr. Gardiner two blocks away.
“I want to slow down,” William announced to Gardiner. “I’ve decided that Lambton Village should be broken down into two phases.”
“Two? The way it’s set up now, as soon as one plan is finished, we start on the next. I thought you wanted to do the same with the construction crews. Why the drastic change?”
William flared his nostrils, unused to having his business decisions questioned, except on occasion by his cousin Richard. Gardiner and William usually agreed, or Gardiner pointed out potential problems and then went along with what he decided without questioning it. After Gardiner’s speech yesterday, William especially did not want to tell the man his reasons, although he had a feeling Gardiner already knew.
“It’s Lizzy, isn’t it? You want to make sure she has a chance to submit her plans
.”
Yep, he knows. William steeled himself. “Even though she thinks she’ll be able to work on the drawings after working a full day at the store, we both know that more days than not, she’ll be too exhausted to get much done. Managing a store that size will take a toll. She’ll be much less productive than she was while working on drawings part-time after school. If the project is in two phases, Elizabeth can take her time and do it right. I want to choose from the best designs. I will not have Lambton Village end up being second-rate or a mash up of inconsistency.”
Gardiner stared at him for a minute before he commented. “You really are in love with her, aren’t you?”
William threw him a look that said he would not discuss the subject any further.
Gardiner held up both hands in defeat. “Okay, two phases it is. Let’s take a look at the specifications and figure out where you should make the break.” He hesitated a few moments. “By the way, there is something else I wanted to talk to you about. I’d like to rent a very small amount of office space somewhere close to Lambton during the project, where I can meet with Elizabeth without any interruptions. I know very well that my sister’s house will not work out for me—I’d never get anything accomplished there. I was wondering if the house you’ll be renting from my brother-in-law might have a small space? Just enough room for a drafting table and a file cabinet?”
William thought about it for a minute. “The main office will be downstairs in what used to be Mr. Bennett’s study, and the large room over the garage has a separate entrance and will be used for meetings. I’m converting it into a conference room with a couple of drafting tables so that I can spread out plans. The small room beyond that will have a foldout couch in case it’s needed, but mostly, it will be used for storage. You could put your file cabinet in a corner of that room and use one of the drafting tables in the conference room. There’s no sense in moving another one in.”
“Sounds perfect.”
~%~
A few minutes later, William entered the hospital cafeteria and approached Elizabeth.
“Hey.” Elizabeth greeted him with a smile that made his day.
