The five men—Matlock, Hilldale, Bennet, Hurst, and Fitzwilliam—knew better than to get in the way of the women as they put the final touches to their plans for the ball and subsequent wedding. For four of them, it was easy: hie to their estates and make sure everything was in place for a smooth harvest. As Bennet’s estate was not at a distance from the Valkyries busy with the preparations, he spent many hours in the saddle visiting tenants. For the last of the men, Fitzwilliam, although he had no estate to worry about, spent most of his waking hours at Lucas Lodge furthering his courtship with Charlotte.
The ladies had all of their plans in place by early September. From that time on, other than checking on a few items, they had time to interact with the friends they had made in the neighbourhood.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
As planned, Hurst made for Pemberley after supervising the harvest at Winsdale. When he arrived, he was shown to the chamber he and Louisa had shared when they last visited the estate. The ever-efficient Holcomb had Hurst ready to join the Darcys within a half hour.
Rather than the drawing room, Hurst was directed to Darcy’s study.
“My sister is at her lessons, so I saw no need for us to sit in a large drawing room on our own. Please sit.” Darcy indicated one of the wingback chairs in the study. He was not sure how to broach the subject he wanted to discuss. Darcy had been mulling some suspicions about Hurst in his head for some time.
He had reviewed the facts he had discovered, which flew in the face of what he had thought of Hurst previously. It had not been the first time, but it had been a rather stark example of when Hurst looked like he was foxed but yet was in control of all of his faculties. He was thinking of the time at White’s when Hurst had taken him to task, then reverted to the person Darcy believed him to be. Then, he had again changed before Darcy’s eyes as he had delivered some much-needed truths to Bingley. Regardless of what Darcy had thought of Hurst’s words at the time, it seemed that discussion had resulted in Bingley beginning to mature.
From then on, Darcy had begun to pay extra attention to Hurst and had come to the conclusion that although he always had a glass of some liquor in his hand when in company, he hardly ever sipped it. He also noted that whenever Hurst was near a plant or some other container, the drink was suddenly drained, and Hurst was pouring himself another.
Even his habitof sleepingoff hisoverindulgencehad come into question. Once Darcy really began to pay attention toHurst, he had seen more than once how one of his eyes would crack open.
The myth of Hurst’s indolence had been shattered when Darcy had visited Winsdale for the late Mr Hurst’s funeral. There, in moments when he thought he was not observed, Darcy had seen a master who was as involved in the running of his estate as he was at Pemberley.
The last piece was the issue of the reality of Hurst’s body. For years, based on the way his clothing hung and how much time Hurst spentsleeping; Darcy had thought he was rather soft and flabby. That was until not so very long ago, Darcy had bumped into Hurst unintentionally, and rather than soft, it had felt almost like walking into a wall.
One thing on its own could have been considered an aberration, but there were too many items Darcy had noticed which had led him to the conclusion that for whatever reason, the person Hurst portrayed was not the real Hurst.
He saw Hurst head to the sideboard where the silver tray was situated with several decanters and cut crystal glasses of various sizes on it.
“There is no need to try and act like you are imbibing. I am very sure you drink only as much or less than I do. That leads me to the question of why you would do that. Why would you want people to think you are in your cups and insensible? Why do you want people to think you are indolent when you are not? And you allow people to think your estate is small, poorly run, and with a low income, when we both know that is not the case,” Darcy questioned.
Hurst knew he had two options; one was to dissemble, but he was sure Darcy was too intelligent to believe a lie.The remaining option was to tell his friend some of the truth, excluding, of course, anything regarding the organisation Fitzwilliam led.
“I should have known that I could not fool you forever,” Hurst admitted. “What I am about to tell you, which is not everything, as there are things I am forbidden to share, must be kept in the strictest confidence,” Hurst began. “I can tell you that there are very good reasons for my subterfuge. I must have your word of honour.”
“You have it; nothing you tell me here will be repeated to another without your expressed permission,” Darcy vowed.
“Everything you just said about me is true. I am never in my cups, senseless, or asleep in company. As I hate indolence, I am not that way myself, and your conjectures about Winsdale were very accurate. I am portraying a persona, one that is overlooked and irrelevant. Now, although I have admitted the preceding to you, Imay nottell you why. All I will tell you is that it is for the good of the realm, and I am bound by a strict code of secrecy,” Hurst explained.
“Does what you do have something to do with Fitzwilliam’s work?” Darcy probed.
Hurst ignored the question. “Is there anything else you wish to know?”
That Hurst had not replied was very telling to Darcy. “No, I think that is all on this subject. We will depart for Snowhaven in the morning to meet my uncle and Andrew and travel south together. If we did not leave as soon as may be, I think my sister would have mounted her horse and begun to ride on her own. She is missing Miss Elizabeth greatly.”
‘Methinks she is not the only Darcy missing Lizzy,’ Hurst thought with a sly grin on his face. “I too am very keen to begin the journey to Netherfield Park. This is the longest I have ever been away from my wife and children.”
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
By the first Friday in October, the coaches from the north arrived at Netherfield Park. Lady Matlock and Louisa were beyond pleased to see their husbands again, and Hilldale was overjoyed that Jane was visiting the estate when they arrived.
Although he stood back when Gigi ran and wrapped her arms around Miss Elizabeth, Darcy could not but wish he was allowed to be the one to do so.
For her part, Elizabeth blushed prettily when she saw how intently Gigi’s brother was watching her. She knew she could get lost in the depths of his eyes, but she was still resolved that she was too young to form a romantic connection to him.
The new arrivals were greeted with the news that Fitzwilliam had proposed to, and been accepted by, Miss Lucas ten days previously, and Jane and Andrew’s wedding had, much to his mother’s delight, become a double wedding and the ball would celebrate two engagements.
As the wedding breakfast would be held at Netherfield Park, and not Longbourn or Lucas Lodge, Lady Lucas had agreed to the double wedding. Also, thanks to the expected number of those wanting to witness the nuptials, the ceremony would be conducted at St Alfred’s Church in Meryton, the one the Lucases had attended for many years, as it was two to three times larger than St Hugh’s in Longbourn Village.
The day after their arrival at Netherfield Park, the Darcys called at Longbourn. The connection between the three youngest Bennet sisters and Gigi had been almost instantaneous. The latter’s reticence in meeting new people seemed to have been banished.
It was decided that on the night of the prewedding ball, Gigi would join the three youngest Bennets, Maria Lucas, and a few other close friends at Longbourn, where the young girls and Tommy would all spend the night.
