It had taken the jury, comprised of six officers, minutes to return a verdict of guilty on both charges. The presiding general had ordered the prisoner be taken away for the sentence to be carried out immediately.
A half hour later, George Wickham, snivelling, crying, begging, and blaming everyone but himself, met the firing squad, and his wasted life was ended.
It was not with pleasure or satisfaction that Holder had reported the news to those at Holder Heights. With that letter, the sad tale of George Wickham was over, and his name would never again be mentioned by any of them.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
On the final day of April, a Sabbath, Charlotte delivered a son and heir. He was named Paul William after his grandfathers. Little Paul and Charlotte both came through the travails of childbirth without any lasting effects.
Both sets of first-time grandparents were beyond ecstatic. Holder, accompanied by Matlock, Darcy, and Fitzwilliam, had arrived a sennight before the delivery, and Sir William had providentially arrived the day prior to Paul’s birth. As such, thanks to the ladies present, Charlotte had more than enough support as she laboured. At the same time, the men were able to distract Jamey enough so that he did not bolt up the stairs and into the birthing chamber each time Charlotte screamed out in pain.
Neither of the new parents had cared what the sex of their child would be, as long as he or she was healthy. The latter was true; Little Paul was as healthy as any newborn had been, so it was an added bonus they had been blessed with a son.
Except for the Lucases, all of those who had been present at the birth departed about ten days after Charlotte delivered her son. They needed to return to Holder Heights, as Lizzy and William’s wedding was fast approaching. Even though the latter two had indicated they would willingly forgo a prewedding ball, they had been overruled by Ladies Elaine and Anne, the two ladies who would be hosting the ball, so they had ceased their opposition.
The ball would be on the Saturday before the wedding. As the wedding was on the final day of May, a Wednesday, there would be three full days of rest afterward.
As it was too soon for Charlotte to attend, Jamey would arrive at Holder Heights the evening before the wedding and depart right after the ceremony. His beloved wife would not be left alone. The Lucases had been invited to attend the wedding; however, they had chosen to remain at Hadlock with Charlotte and little Paul and would remain with her until, at the very minimum, Jamey returned from the wedding.
Elizabeth and William kept away from the planning of their wedding as much as they were able, preferring instead to spend time in one another’s company. No matter how Lizzy’s memory made winning debates against her difficult, William loved trying, thereby making his few victories that much sweeter. Unfortunately, they were always well chaperoned.
When their parents had informed them that John Biggs and Brian Johns had been canvassed, and they were pleased to keep working for Miss Lizzy after she married, Elizabeth and William had not objected in the least. The opposite was true; Elizabeth had become close to the two gentle giants, as she had always referred to them.
Like it had for Jane’s wedding, Holder Heights filled up rapidly as the day of the ball approached. The Gardiners travelled to Longbourn and from there, they and the Phillipses travelled together to the Carringtons’ estate.
One evening, three days before the ball, Holder asked Phillips how he would feel when an heir who would inherit Longbourn was born. Phillips had revealed his ownership of Purvis Lodge, which he would rename Phillips Lodge when they took up residence there, and explained that combined with Lawrence being the heir to his grandfather’s estate, they would never want for a home. He emphasised that he and his family were only trustees until one of Bennet’s blood claimed their birthright. As it was, that was still many years off because when Jane had her first son, he would be the heir to Rosings Park. The Darcys had five satellite estates, so with Pemberley, Lizzy and William would need to birth a seventh son before Jane and Fitzwilliam had two. Besides, who knew who would capture Mary’s heart? It may be one without an estate of his own.
One of the final families of guests to arrive was the Chamberlains. The parents were Lord Archibald and Lady Alicia, the Duke and Duchess of Hertfordshire. They had only been blessed with one son, Lord Winston, the Marquess of Hertford. His parents did indulge him but did not spoil their only child, who had been born more than fifteen years after their marriage—some years after they gave up hoping for a child. The marquess was one and twenty and had graduated from Oxford at the end of the previous school year.
Where most males were encouraged away from playing a musical instrument, Hertford, who loved the pianoforte, had not been. He had heard about the virtuoso, Lady Mary Carrington-Bennet, who had entertained the Queen and caused Her Majesty to say, to not a few people, that she had never heard better. He was excited that he would finally meet her.
The previous time his parents had been in company with the Carringtons, Hertford had been at school or with friends.
From the first time they met, the two connected over their love of music, and more specifically, the pianoforte. Hertford learnt that if anything, the praise for Lady Mary’s playing had been understated. Mary had never imagined a man playing the instrument with as much feeling for the music as Lord Hertford. Always with either Mrs Annesley or Mrs Healy with them, the two spent much time together in the music room.
When Hertford discovered that Lady Mary was out locally and would attend the ball, he requested two sets but he had to settle for one as her parents would not allow her to dance more than one with any non-family member.
Edith had an idea she was seeing Mary’s future husband. She was gratified that it would be three to five years before the Marquess would be ready to marry.
The evening before the ball, Elizabeth asked William to meet her at the stables before sunrise the next day. William, who would deny her nothing, agreed.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
There was a hill a mile from the manor house very creatively called ‘Holder Heights Hill’. It was at least twice as high as Oakham Mount, and the summit was far larger. It was where Elizabeth loved to go to see the sunrise when at home. The added attraction was the Southwest Peaks, specifically Dark Peak, which were visible in the distance. On a clear day, the mountains would look even more magnificent as the sun rose in the east, and its rays hit the majestic peaks.
On this morning, as the sun would be up before four, Elizabeth and William met at the stables at a little after three as the first glow of the approaching sun was visible in the eastern sky.
They mounted, with Biggs, Johns, and Mrs Annesley as escorts, and began to ride towards the hill, which was still swathed in darkness. They had been riding no faster than a trot, so it took some time until the foot of the hill was reached. As they guided their horses up the bridle path, the eastern horizon was coloured with shades of orange, yellow, pink, and red, which told them the sun would make an appearance in about twenty minutes. It would take them about ten minutes to reach the summit.
Once on the top of the hill, William dismounted and then assisted his betrothed from her saddle. Johns did the same for Mrs Annesley. This being a popular destination for the residents of the estate, there were facilities to tether the horses, a gazebo on the eastern side with seating within, and benches scattered about.
By the time the engaged couple and their chaperone arrived in the gazebo, the orange and yellow colours were all but gone and had been replaced with the dark blue of the pre-sunrise morning sky.
Less than ten minutes later, the sun cracked the horizon, which meant they could no longer look directly at it.
“Mrs Annesley, William and I would like to walk to the western side to see how the sun lights up Dark Peak. We will be visible to you at all times. May we go?” Elizabeth requested.
“You may, Lady Elizabeth. Be sure you can see me at all times, because then I am able to see you,” Mrs Annesley allowed.
