After a pleasant voyage across the North Sea, followed by days on the Eider river, Elizabeth had hired a carriage to convey them the last few miles. Her stomach clenched and her nerves fluttered. The journey was short—but five miles—and much sooner than she had anticipated, a large house rose beyond the hill.
“That cannot be Ritterhof,” Elizabeth whispered. Because if it was, her grandmother had seriously underrated her ancestral home. The Late-Baroque-styled palace looked quite new and perfectly maintained. For some reason, Elizabeth had expected a much smaller house or even an old, draughty castle of modest size.
Whether she and Lydia would be welcomed remained to be seen.
The carriage halted by the steps, and Karl aided the sisters out of their conveyance.
“Heaven forfend!” Lydia whispered.
“Yes. It is impressive, is it not?” Elizabeth agreed, ascended the steps, and knocked. She handed her card to the butler, who opened the door. Lydia did not have one.
After a few minutes, they were escorted to a light and airy parlour, where their grandmother awaited them, fortunately alone.
“Lizzy!” she exclaimed with a bewildered expression. “So you are Mrs Darcy… I suppose well wishes are in order. And Lydia too. Have you come all this way alone? Where are your husband and parents?”
“They are at home. We have come seeking your aid for Lydia to avoid a most imprudent marriage,” Elizabeth informed her grandmother.
“Do sit,” the lady prompted.
Elizabeth launched into the sordid tale that had put them in this predicament. Her grandmother listened until she related how Lydia entered Wickham’s hackney.
“But why would you enter a gentleman’s carriage, even if there was a female present?”
“I knew Mrs Younge from my sojourn in Brighton. She was Miss Beaufort’s companion and everything that is proper.”
“Well, that makes you less culpable, I suppose,” her grandmother allowed.
Once Elizabeth and Lydia had finished their tale, Lady Louise looked shocked.
“You must allow me to contemplate what is to be done.”
“But do you agree that Lydia should not be forced to marry such a man?”
“I do, but I sense there is more to this story.”
Lydia yawned, and Elizabeth met her grandmother’s gaze before looking pointedly at her sister.
“I can see that you are fatigued, dear,” Lady Louise remarked to her youngest granddaughter. “Would you like to rest before dinner is served?”
“Oh yes. And I would like to change out of this threadbare old rag. The fabric is coarse, and my back is itching dreadfully.”
Lady Louise entirely agreed with her description as she did not yet know that Lydia had pretended to be a lady’s maid rather than a gentleman’s daughter. She pulled the bell and ordered her housekeeper to escort the girl to her room.
“Now that we are alone, Elizabeth, I suggest that you tell me the full story of why you have come, unescorted, to my door.”
“Mr Gardiner arranged for two footmen to travel with us. We were not without protection.”
“That is well and good, but they cannot replace a husband or a father.”
“No, but it is a long story.”
“We have two hours before we need to dress for dinner.”
“Very well. Before I left, I discovered why Mr Darcy needs to press the matter of Lydia’s marriage. Speculations arose that his sister dallied, and even agreed to an elopement last summer, with the same Mr Wickham. The rumours are already in the newspapers, but Mr Darcy is refuting them by stating they have the wrong sister.”
Lady Louise wrinkled her forehead.
“There is more, but to explain I have to go back even further, to the time directly after Mr Darcy proposed to me. I did not think it so strange at the time, but I have had many hours to contemplate of late. During our engagement period I bemoaned Mr Darcy’s long and frequent absences. I have since discovered that he was so often away to conceal from his family that we were to marry.”
