Elizabeth approached the cousins as they prepared to take their leave. “Are you both my cousins? I know Richard’smother is Mrs Wendell’s sister.” She was not ready to call the unmet lady Mother yet.
“We are first cousins,” Richard replied. “William and I are the same. But there is no blood relationship between you and him. You are only cousins by marriage.”
“Thank you for elucidating, Richard,” Elizabeth returned gratefully. “She turned to William. “I look forward to meeting Miss Darcy on the morrow. Another cousin will not go amiss.” She paused as she cogitated for a moment. “I suppose I will have to become more sanguine with many changes in my life.”
Both of the men bowed over Elizabeth’s hand before they left the drawing room.
Bennet walked them out and handed Lady Catherine into the coach himself. “You may want to warn your friend that he is teetering on the edge of eviction. His sister’s unchecked behaviour at the assembly, not only to Lizzy, but to the rest of my neighbours, has put him on a dangerous path. Also, please do not mention me as the landlord to the Bingleys.”
“I will tell him I spoke to Phillips,” Richard decided.
Darcy extended his hand after Richard had done so. He boarded, and as soon as the footman closed the door and hopped up onto the rear bench, Darcy struck the ceiling with his cane, and they were off.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Beth sat next to Lizzy on the comfortable sofa after the guests had departed. She snaked her arm around Lizzy’s shoulders and pulled her to herself. “Are you well, dear girl?” she enquired. Lizzy looked sanguine with the revelations of that night, but Beth needed to verify that fact for herself.
“I am better than I would have expected with all of the changes on the horizon. From my conversations with Richard and William, I am confident my birth family will neverdemand that I break the connection to all of you. The way I am trying to see the upcoming changes is that I will gain more family, not lose those I already love.” Elizabeth looked at her grandmother. “If anything becomes overwhelming, I promise I will tell you.” She put her head on Grandmama Beth’s shoulder and felt far calmer than she had before.
Bennet and Fanny sat on the settee and watched Lizzy and her grandmother. “I was worried how Mother would react if she thought Lizzy would be ripped away and she would never see us again. After hearing what our guests had to say, I feel more confident that will not happen. When we meet on the morrow, it will be very telling.”
“As there is proof Lizzy is Ellie Wendell, and she has not reached her majority, if Mr Wendell decided to remove her on the morrow, he could, could he not?” Fanny worried. She wanted to believe all would be well, but the Wendells’ life with Ellie had been diverted. She knew if the roles were reversed, she would do anything she could to recover her lost child. While she could understand that urge, it would rip her heart—at least part of it—from her chest if Lizzy was separated from them in that fashion.
“Yes. Legally he would be within his rights to do so. However, I think they will do all that they can to make sure Lizzy is well. Sundering her from us right away will do her far more harm than anything else: something I am sure Jane has conveyed to them,” Bennet opined. “Let us not make assumptions until tomorrow when we will know much more.”
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The Gardiners and Jane were preparing to depart Fitzwilliam House after ten o’clock that night when word was conveyed to Wendell that a Darcy courier had arrived.
“They did attend the assembly this evening, and Ellie was recognised by Richard and William. Evidently, Ellie fainted when they mentioned her name. She is well, and LadyCatherine, Richard, and William went to Longbourn with the Bennets. They suggest wealltravel into Hertfordshire with all speed,” Wendell reported.
“All! Does that mean I may travel with you and see my Ellie?” Cilla enthused.
“Cilla dear, it may be only meeting with the Bennet parents on the morrow. Remember Jane’s words. When you meet our daughter, you need to not overwhelm her. And I meanmeet. Do not forget that to Ellie we are strangers,” Wendell told his wife gently.
“Cilla, dearest, I will be with you as well,” Lady Matlock assured her younger sister.
“In that case, Gardiner, we will arrive with more than one coach at your home at dawn on the morrow,” Matlock stated. “If Emily is feeling better, I have a feeling Andrew will want to accompany us. As the eldest cousin, he always felt he had failed in his responsibility to protect Ellie.”
David walked the Gardiners and Jane to the entrance hall where the butler stood with their outerwear. He placed a hand on one of her forearms before she accepted her items of clothing. “Jane, I will never force you to do anything against your inclination, but I believe we need to speak after we have seen Ellie.” It was still not real for David that the sister he had believed was in heaven was in fact twenty miles away. Until he saw her on the morrow, it would not be a fact.
When the Gardiners and Jane arrived back at the formers’ house, a note from Longbourn telling them what they already knew waited for them. Jane was unsurprised to see that Lizzy had Papa write a request from her that Jane’s calming presence was needed at home.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Charles, you will be ready when I scream, will you not?” Caroline Bingley commanded.
“This is not a good idea. Caroline, I told you whatboth Darcy and Fitzwilliam said about a compromise and the repercussions if I support you,” Bingley whinged. “If they meant it…”
“Of course, they did not,” Miss Bingley insisted. “They are too honourable for that, and your friendship is too valuable to cast you off.”
Rather than order his sister to desist, Bingley only attempted some half-hearted arguments to attempt to divert her. He reiterated the words of his friends with regard to any plan of Caroline’s. When that had not worked, and after a rather violent tantrum where she had not only berated him, but soundly slapped him, and scratched him on his torso so it would not be visible to others, Bingley decided that as she would not be convinced to change her course, his only choice was to acquiesce and assist Caroline.
Louisa had not been told what her sister had planned to do because the latter was worried Louisa would say something in Hurst’s hearing, and her husband would warn both Fitzwilliam and Darcy.
She had selected Mr Darcy to compromise not only because he was wealthier, but Mr Fitzwilliam’s bedchamber was locked, and his valet was always within. Caroline had managed to have Bingley’s valet offer Carstens—Darcy’s valet—a glass of wine which had been laced with laudanum. The drugged man was in the servants’ hallway behind his master’s bedchamber.
As soon as she heard the sounds of the Darcy coach arriving, Miss Bingley let her diaphanous nightgown drop and climbed into Mr Darcy’s bed.
