“Aye, Your Grace,” Johns responded for the two men. “We will wait some twenty yards away.”
Once the two men had retreated, William looked into the beautiful eyes deeply. “If I am not too forward, Your Grace, are you well?” he asked.
Elizabeth was about to deny she was anything but well when she realised it was the sound of her crying which had more than likely brought Master Darcy to her.
“If you would like to unburden yourself, Your Grace,” William offered. “My cousins and I will be the souls of discretion and there are times when a problem shared is one halved.”
Elizabeth looked from man to man and saw nothing but compassion reflected in their eyes. She did not know why, but she instinctively knew she could trust them. What the young man, Darcy, said about unburdening herself rang true. Until this moment she did not realise how much she needed to do so.
“How much time do you have?” she enquired.
“As much as you need, Your Grace,” Andrew stated for all three.
“It is a long story,” Elizabeth related as she sat back down on her boulder. “It all begins one night in April of last year at the assembly in the town near the estate where I grew up…”
When she was done, all three men’s eyes were suspiciously moist. “You love your sister so deeply you married a man you detest to protect…Jane?” Andrew verified in wonder.
Before the Duchess responded, William needed to make another amends. “Please pardon me once again. When I heard the Duke of Hertfordshire had found another wife, I made the assumption she—you—were a social climber and fortune hunter. I could not have been more wrong if I had attempted to do so. The bravery and nobility of sacrificing your own comfort and happiness to protect your sister, is beyond anything I have ever heard of in my life.”
“As I told my aunt, I always swore to marry for the deepest love, and I did so, for the love of Janey,” Elizabeth stated wistfully.
“And your parents…” Richard began before he was cut off by an angry retort.
“Mr. and Mrs. Bennet arenotmy parents, I have none!” Elizabeth barked.
“Bennet,” Andrew repeated, “Do you have a younger sister Miss Mary?”
“Yes, I do, how would you know that?” Elizabeth puzzled.
“My goodness, it is my day for apologies,” William stated. “He then proceeded to tell the Duchess about the meeting in Hyde Park and his ill-advised accusations.
A tinkling laugh, like a glass bell being rung, issued forth from Her Grace.
“Mary may be slower to forgive, but I am sure Jane will forgive you, if she has not already,” Elizabeth stated.
“He apologised to your sisters right away, Your Grace, and they forgave him, Miss Mary too,” Andrew related.
“And I was there to see our William’s performance, it was a few days before my regiment departed for the Peninsula,” Richard revealed.
“You have been candid with us, Your Grace, may we be the same with you?” Andrew requested.
Elizabeth inclined her head in permission.
“It may sound fantastical, but I felt a connection with Miss Bennet and have been seeking her out since then. I saw her in Lambton the day we three arrived from my estate,” Andrew reported.
“Your Grace, do we have your leave to talk to our parents about what you have revealed?” William questioned. “They have no more love for your husband than you or we do and they may have an idea how to affect a meeting between you, your family, and friends away from prying eyes.”
The chance of seeing her loved ones and being able to be open with them was too great an attraction to Elizabeth. “You may. I would like nothing more than to see them openly.”
“If that be the case, we need to return to Pemberley. One of us, or one of our parents will be in touch, Your Grace,” William stated.
The three men bowed and then made for where they had left their horses. Elizabeth turned and walked towards where her guards waited and as soon as she passed them, they fell in behind her as she struck out towards the mansion.
Chapter 22
“Wemustassist her!” Lady Anne exclaimed, tears running down her cheeks. “I feel so guilty we did not call on her as soon as we became aware Her Grace was resident at Castlemere.”
Darcy wrapped his tender hearted wife in his arms. “Do not take on yourself the guilt which belongs to me. It was me and my damnable Darcy pride which insisted we be circumspect in approaching the Duchess,” Darcy acknowledged. “I have never heard of such an act of selfless love before. To sacrifice her own happiness and freedom to protect a most loved sister—all of her sisters—is also the bravest action to which I have ever been privy. If she can be so brave, we can fend off the dastardly man if he tries to exploit the connection.”
