Lydia opened her reticule and pulled out the rings she had made by the river. “Reed grass is considered to be good luck; I collected some by the River Lea, and made you all a souvenir.” She passed them all out to the others, and Jane found that hers fit her middle finger perfectly.
Lydia offered two to their host. “For you and Mrs Hooper, sir. In thanks for your hospitality.”
“Why thank you Miss Lydia. It is not often that visitors to the grotto display their appreciation so kindly.”
Jane observed Kitty steaming, and Mr Bennet looking at Lydia in perplexity as they boarded their carriages for home.
Chapter Twenty
LYDIA
Since she had tiredof poetry, Lydia read aloud from Evelina on the journey home while Miss Jane worked again on Mrs Bingley’s wrap. Mr Bennet, unable to concentrate properly on his volume while the ladies distracted him with fiction, leaned his head back against the squabs and slept. When they had read as much as they wished, they took a notebook and a pencil, and Miss Jane made a list of recommended books for Lydia to read, both novels and educational.
“How will I know that I am learning what I ought?” Lydia asked. “Who will answer my questions when there is something I do not understand?”
“You will discuss them with your father, and he will amend and add to your list as he sees fit.” Miss Jane folded the list and handed it to Lydia, who placed it in her reticule.
“What if he refuses?” Lydia said nervously.
“He cannot refuse,” Miss Jane replied. “It is his duty. Until now, your lack of education has been blamed on your own disinclination to learn. If you present yourself in his library and demand to be taught–as your father–he must do so. And if that fails, you will have to turn to your sisters, Elizabeth and Miss Mary. It might slow your pace to discuss your reading by post, but if that is your only option, you must do so.”
“I will,” Lydia insisted firmly. Suddenly her father began to cough, and the two women looked at him suspiciously. Lydia suspected the man to be hiding laughter.
“Thank you for the reed grass ring. That was very kind of you, I think everyone was touched.” Miss Jane fingered the grass ring upon her finger. “I shall put it in a special box, and cherish it as a memento of a lovely afternoon.”
“Itwaslovely, wasn’t it?” Lydia sighed. “I wisheveryonehad truly thought so, but I saw Kitty throw her ring down before she boarded Mr Darcy’s carriage.”
“Your sister will remember herself ‘ere long,” Miss Jane promised.
“Halt! Stop right there, or you will all be shot!”
Lydia was startled awake a half hour later. She and Miss Jane hadbothnodded off during a lull in conversation. Her father was sleeping in earnest now, he had not even been awakened by the shout from outside, but Lydia had. Suddenly, there was a shot from outside the carriage, which had come to an abrupt stop.Thatwoke Mr Bennet, who was prevented from pulling a pistol from under his seat when the carriage door was yanked open and a pistol entered, pointing directly in his face.
“No getting excited there, sir, we would not wish for anyone to be hurt. Please step out of the carriage.” The voice commanded. It was obvious that whoever was speaking was attempting to speak in a rough tone to disguise his voice, but was doing a poor job of it. He had the unmistakably smooth drawl of a gentleman. Lydia’s father, not having any other alternative, complied with the order. “You too, ladies. Step down, please.”
Why would he disguise his voice if he is unknown to us?Lydia wondered to herself as she obeyed.
Lydia and Miss Jane stepped down to see a man in a tricorn hat with a kerchief over his face. His hair was pulled back, but his eyebrows were light in color, and his eyes were a handsome blue. Lydia had the strangest feeling that she ought to recognise him.
Another man was directing Colonel Fitzwilliam and the other ladiesout of Mr Darcy’s carriage. There was a man near the trees, holding a gun to the head of Mr Bingley’s stableboy, who had been riding on the back of Mr Darcy’s carriage before he was snatched by one of the men as the others pulled guns on the grooms who had–by now–been pulled down from the carriages, along with the passengers. Mr Bennet did not travel with outriders, only his groom, and on this short journey with her guardian, it had not been deemed necessary for Miss Darcy’s small, unmarked carriage. Only her footman James had ridden up top with the groom, whodidhave a pistol under his seat, but he had seen and heard the highwaymen too late to pull it out.
“Here all of ye’, no funny business! No one’ll be hurt, so long as you ladies give over yer jewels an’ reticules. You men, we’ll have yer purses an’ watches, an’ if you have signet rings, we’ll have them too. Anyone makes a move, and little Johnny here gets it!” The man holding young Oliver Farnum, Mr Bingley’s stableboy, shouted. Oliver was terrified, his eyes squeezed tightly shut.
“You will find thatmypockets hold little of value, that is of course, unless you have a fondness for stale peppermints.” Colonel Fitzwilliam drawled menacingly. “I warn you sir, I served under Wellington. If you shoot, you will do well to ensure you do not miss.”
“We will have less cheek from you, Colonel,” the man holding the Darcy carriage said, shifting his weapon to point at Kitty.
“Point that pistol at the lady again, and I will show you how an officer dispatches a coward, and to hell with the damned boy!” Colonel Fitzwilliam growled in a terrifying tone. Oliver moaned from near the trees, praying for his life. Kitty shrieked as she was shoved roughly towards Mrs Annesley, and the armed man swung his weapon directly at Colonel Fitzwilliam’s head.
“Better?” the highwayman asked.
“Much,” the colonel said menacingly. “Little good will it do you when I finally catch up with you.”
The highwaymen appeared few in number though everyone understood that there might be more hiding in the woods. It appeared that there were only four of them, three armed men and a young boy, who wasted no time entering the carriages to plunder them rapidly with his sack while the travellers were held by the armed men. The man holdingthe party from Mr Bennet's carriage was distracted by the party from the other carriages, Lydia noticed. He looked, then squinted closely at Colonel Fitzwilliam and Georgiana. His eyes darted back and forth between them and the unmarked carriage they had travelled in.
“I’ll be damned,” the man muttered in disbelief.
Lydia glanced at Miss Jane, who was staring at the same man with intensity, her brow furrowed as ifshefelt she should know him too.
