“I hope that my previous history with the queen will convince her that I am telling the truth. As you know, I was one of Princess Charlotte’s original German Ladies in Waiting. We left Cuxhaven on the 28thof August, accompanied by a flotilla under the command of Admiral Lord Anson. The five royal yachts were escorted by six ships of war. During the passage, we suffered three major storms that forced us to land in Harwich and continue by coach to London.
“Princess Charlotte declared the sea an ‘element terrible’! The poor dear spoke hardly any English and could not even make herself understood by the Earl of Harcourt, who accompanied us to London. I knew the language well due to my philosophical brother Herman. He had visited London for an extended period six years prior and had studied under anatomists John Hunter and James Douglas. He returned with inventive ideas about smallpox vaccination and lightning rods, and a thorough knowledge of the English language.
“It was, however, Herman’s friend, who accompanied him home, that sparked my interest in learning to speak English. I was full young, but the exceedingly polite, tall, and awkward English gentleman’s son, though not at all a flirt, captured my attention. He was in possession of these remarkably beautiful green eyes that made my knees grow weak every time he glanced in my direction.”
Elizabeth chuckled at the image of her smitten grandmother and her stoic grandfather, whose eyes she had inherited.
“Of course, I believed nothing would come of it. I knew my tyrant father would never allow me to marry so far beneath us in consequence… Well, back to the princess. When we arrived at St James’s, Charlotte’s knees were shaking when the group espied the king, waiting for his bride. She hastened out of the carriage and threw herself at his feet. I was much relieved when King George lifted the prone princess from the ground and enveloped her in a warm embrace before escorting her into the palace. They married a few hours later. However, over the coming weeks jealousy soared between the German and English factions. I escaped out of doors as often as possible and was allowed to roam the private park, until one day when I spotted the handsome Mr Bennet in a flaming red coat. A whirlwind romance ensued, and when he proposed, my happiness was complete until I received my father’s reply to my beau’s request for my hand. He did not sanction the marriage, but it was too late for a breach of promise. One evening, we had both been carried away by our feelings, and there was a chance that I was with child.”
Lady Louise’s cheeks turned pink at this admission, but Elizabeth knew enough about the pull of passion to refrain from judging her grandmother too harshly.
“The result was that Count Reimarus no longer had a daughter named Louise, and I no longer had a fortune. He strictly forbade me from approaching my family, and my connection to the queen naturally had to be severed. We wed quietly in Longbourn chapel, and I signed the church register as plain Ilse Louise Reimarus. However, no scandal arose about my marriage. As far as the queen knows, I left court to do my duty to my husband. We were childhood friends and grew up together. That must count for something, even after all these years.”
“I hope your endeavours will be richly rewarded.”
“As they should. Conviction and determination are the order of the day.”
Elizabeth nodded.
“We must order our court dresses immediately. The monstrosities take an eternity to make, and you need to rehearse walking backwards whilst wearing hoops and a long train.”
Chapter 25 Sapere Aude—Dare to Know
London, 21stJune
With mounting fear, Darcy had to acknowledge that a week of surveillance had left him with nothing. His men had uncovered no clues about Elizabeth’s whereabouts, nor a hint that either she or her sister was staying in Gracechurch Street, Hunsford, or Longbourn. Neither sister had as much as looked out of a window, and he was beginning to wonder whether his conclusion was a mistaken one.
At first, the newspapers had run rampant with speculations that Mrs Darcy had run off with Mr Wickham; Darcy’s mad dash to the Serpentine had gone unnoticed. The advantage to this calamity was that no one spoke about Georgiana or Lydia any longer. A unified press had retracted the allegations towards the young ladies and had even gone as far as begging them pardon for writing the damaging twaddle. And after the dastardly Wickham had been frequently seen strutting about town with Mrs Younge on his arm, even the rumours about him absconding with Elizabeth were silenced.
Richard sighed heavily; it must be on purpose to disturb his thoughts.
“What?”
“I was only contemplating the movement of time. Half my leave is already gone. I have to report at my headquarters in ten days.”
“Do you know where you will go for your next deployment?”
“Yes, I am for Copenhagen on diplomatic business. Depending on the outcome, I might have todetourto Holstein before I return.”
“Is that not dangerous in these times of war? The neutral Denmark was, after all, forced into an alliance with Napoleon after the British bombardment of Copenhagen.”
“No, not particularly. Diplomacy is very civil. The Danish are desperate after we seized their fleet, disrupting their trade, and the massive inflation that followed. The country is on the brink of state bankruptcy and eager to make a deal.”
“Hmm… Holstein, you said. Are you going to Kiel?”
“No. We usually meet at the town hall in Altstadt. It is in the old part of Rendsburg, situated on an island in the Eider river.”
Rendsburg tickled something in his memory. It had been mentioned in reference to a family connection of Elizabeth’s grandmother. A sickly brother of some influence in that part of the world.But Elizabeth said she did not travel that far but stopped somewhere in the west, visiting friends, or was it her brother’s summer house?
Darcy leapt to his feet, startling Richard so much that he spilt coffee down his chin.
“What is the matter?” his cousin shouted. “I could have burnt myself!”
“I am an idiot!” Darcy cried.
“I shall not argue the obvious, only enquire as to what led you to that outstanding conclusion.”
“Where is Mary?” he muttered to himself, stalking out of his study.
