“You were not the only who noted that, Lizzy, so did I. I have no idea why, but I doubt we will ever see the lady again,” Fanny responded. She would not admit it—could not admit it—but Fanny felt she knew exactly why Lady Anne Darcy had started at Lizzy. She might have need of the fifth letter she carried with her.
“How long will it take us to reach Uncle Paul and Aunt Edith on the morrow?” Jane asked.
“It is about four hours,” Bennet averred. “Do you have somewhere you need to be tomorrow that you worry about the time it will take us?”
“No, silly Papa; I just wanted to know,” Jane returned through a big smile.
“You have the right of it, Janie. Your Papa can be silly, can he not?” Fanny responded playfully to her now giggling daughters.
“Do not be silly, Papa,” Mary told her father in between giggles.
Bennet gave a mock-stern look which caused his three daughters to giggle all the harder, a sound he could never hear enough times in a day. “If I see that mean boy again, I will kick him,” Elizabeth insisted. It was true she had been upset, but at some point that had turned to anger. William, that was his name, the housekeeper had called him William. Insufferable William!
“If that rude boy shows his face again, Uncle Phillips and your father will protect you,” Hattie stated with conviction. She would have loved to have given the boy a piece of her mind, for no one frightened her nieces and got off scot-free!
“If I see him, I will box his ears,” Jane insisted, her arms akimbo, “No one talks to my sister in that fashion!”
“If I were the rude boy, I would keep far away from you, Jane,” Fanny stated with amusement.
“Will you box his ears if he apologises?” Bennet asked, trying to hide his grin from his almost eight-year-old.
“Mayhap not if it is a sincere apology,” Jane replied thoughtfully. “I may hold off punishing him for now,” Jane related perfectly seriously.
“Do not forget, daughters,” Fanny stated as they entered their suite of rooms, “we must always allow those who trespass against us the chance to own their error and beg the aggrieved party’s pardon first.”
“Yes, Mama,” all three girls chorused.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
That evening at the inn, as their servants packed for their departure to Holder Heights, another group of servants were packing for the master, mistress, the young master, and their nephew, young master Fitzwilliam.
Like the Bennets and Phillipses, the Darcys planned to depart for the Carrington’s estate early the next morning. The Earl and Countess of Matlock, Lord Reginald and Lady Elaine Fitzwilliam, and their older son and heir, Andrew Fitzwilliam, Viscount Hilldale, would arrive at Holder Heights early in the afternoon that Saturday, if all went as planned.
Chapter 5
As the Bennet and Phillips families were disembarking from their coaches, another coach arrived behind theirs. It was the largest of the Darcy travelling carriages. Elizabeth recognised the adults from the wedding breakfast, and it seemed the lady was staring at her again. She became self-conscious, wondering if she had dirt on her person or outfit.
She was about to move to where Uncle Paul and Aunt Edith were greeting her parents when she sawhim. Without thinking, she forgot what her mother had said regarding allowing an apology first and marched up to the frozen lad and kicked his shin. As she was wearing slippers and not half boots, it was not painful, just surprising.
“Why did you follow me to Uncle Paul’s?” Elizabeth demanded. “Did you come to be rude and hateful to me again?” When her parents reached her, her mother gently drew Elizabeth to her.
Robert Darcy and Richard Fitzwilliam both guffawed, and Lady Anne just stared at Elizabeth, as from close up there was no question in her mind the girl looked exactly like Priscilla. Not only that, but she also sounded like her friend.
“Lizzy, a young lady does not kick anyone, regardless how much he deserves it,” Fanny admonished her daughter, though she was fighting the urge to smile, then looked directly at William Darcy, who did not know where to look.
“Your daughter has my blessing to kick William anytime he behaves as he did to you the other day at Pemberley,” Robert Darcy assured Fanny Bennet when he managed to control his laughter.
“Should we all repair to the drawing room and I can effect introductions and hear why William deserves to be kicked by our little Lizzy?” Lord Holder asked.
The Darcys were the last group heading indoors. “You are right, my dear. I only met Priscilla after I started to court you, but my goodness, the one they call Lizzy could be her daughter,” Darcy said softly to his wife so no one else could hear him, and Lady Anne simply nodded.
Her emotions were in turmoil; how could it be that the daughter of one she never met look so much like her friend? Hopefully, she would glean some answers during the sennight the Darcys were to be at Holder Heights.
In the drawing room, the Earl introduced the arriving parties one to the other. The two youngest Bennets were taken up to the nursery. Before any could talk, William cleared his throat. “Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, Miss Bennet, Miss Elizabeth, and Miss Mary, please allow me to proffer my most sincere apologies for my unconscionable rudeness to you at Pemberley the day you were touring the house. My presumptions were arrogant and based on assumptions with no facts to support them.” He turned and addressed Elizabeth directly. “Miss Elizabeth, you are correct. I was rude and hateful, and even worse, I did not behave like a gentleman. Your kick was well deserved. Please know that I deeply regret my actions and beg your, and your family’s, forgiveness.”
Elizabeth looked to her mother and father, both of whom nodded. “In that case, Master William, you are forgiven,” Elizabeth allowed.
“Miss Elizabeth,” Lady Anne addressed Elizabeth, “any time you happen to be at Pemberley, you and your sisters are more than welcome to play any of the instruments you see.” Lady Anne bent down and made like she was whispering conspiratorially to Elizabeth. “I too love to play the pianoforte and I heard you are an extremely good pianist. Will we hear you play while we are here?”
