“Sir?” the head clerk enquired as he stepped into his employer’s office.
“Make for Lucas Lodge at all speed and tell Sir William, he and Mr Jones are needed at Longbourn. Tell the magistrate he should have the undertaker make his way to the estate as well. I will meet him there. Take the gelding; I will take the gig and meet them at the manor house.” Phillips stood as soon as his clerk left his office. “Mrs Winters, please take the girls into the house and tell Mrs Phillips I have asked you to wait there with them.”
A year previously, William Lucas had been the mayor of Meryton—a largely ceremonial role—when the King and Queen had stopped in the town. One flowery, very complimentary speech later, and he was knighted. He sold his businesses and purchased a small estate between Meryton and Longbourn, which he renamed Lucas Lodge. Sir William was the current magistrate in the area.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Jones, can you tell who pushed whom? Not that it matters at this point,” Sir William enquired.
“Based on the way Mrs Collins’s hands are wrapped around him and his hands look like they were pushing her, I assume it was Mrs Collins who caused them to fall,” Jones opined.
‘It seems that Fanny put her selfishness aside this time and cared more about her daughters than herself,’ Phillips assumed silently. ‘It is a great pity she had this epiphany too late to save Janey, Lizzy, and Mary. If only she would have told us the truth. Now we will never know.’ Aloud, he said, “I will write to Gardiner. Even though he has broken with his sister, I know he is the girls’ only relative by blood.”
Neither Jones nor Sir William commented on the fact that the missing Bennet sisters were also related by blood.
The deaths were ruled accidental by Sir William without the need for an inquest. The next day, they were buried in the cemetery attached to St Alfred’s Church in Meryton.
Later that day, Maddie, Edward, and Lilly, born on the penultimate day of July the previous year, arrived.
Chapter 14
“I am pleased that Fanny learnt to value others’ needs above her own, if only at the end. I assume she left no clue as to where Janey, Lizzy, and Mary are, did she?” Gardiner mused after Phillips had told him all he knew. Their wives, children, and the two Collins girls were in the residence above them.
“I am afraid not,” Phillips responded. “What of Longbourn and your nieces?”
“Maddie and I spoke of this on the way here. Even though I am willing to take responsibility for Fanny’s two youngest daughters, thanks to my businesses, I cannot move here to live at Longbourn, and I am not sure I want to lease it out. I must always allow for the possibility Bennet’s daughters will be located. As such, why do you, Agatha, and little Lawrence not take up residence at the estate with Kitty and Lydia? You are only a mile from Meryton, so it will not impact your work. The funds in the dowry account are already approaching forty thousand pounds, so if I release some of the dividends each year, we will be able to employ a competent and experienced steward.”
“I need to speak to Agatha. If she agrees, I think this could work. Once word reaches far and wide that Collins is no longer polluting the estate, we should be able to fill the tenant farms easily. Then we will be able to evict the two lazy ones Collins found. Also, if Agatha does not object, we can offer any of the former Longbourn staff and servants working at Netherfield Park the opportunity to return.” Phillips cogitated for some moments. “Gardiner, if Agatha and I want to adopt the Collins girls, would you object? Besides them being very timid from growing up in a home with that monster and in need of love and protection, we will wipe the name Collins away.”
“As I believe that Maddie is with child again, I think she will agree to that, and Kitty and Lydia remaining in the country will be good for them.” Gardiner got a wistful look. “Do you realise Jane is ten already? Lizzy will be nine in February upcoming, and Mary turns eight in January. I know not if it is a need of mine that makes me believe they are alive, but I do.”
“If we move to Longbourn, and Agatha thinks it is a good idea, I will contact Lord Holder, who invests with you, to discover whether he still wants to purchase Netherfield Park,” Phillips mused.
“Has the area where the Collinses fell been cleaned?” Gardiner queried. He did not want his nieces near the house until there was no trace of what happened left on the floor.
“I paid the undertaker to have some of his servants clean the area thoroughly. In addition, a carpenter from Meryton will fabricate new bannisters for all of the stairs. I am not sure if Fanny was aware, but the wood was severely weakened.” Phillips had a thought. “Perhaps she did, which was why she acted in the way she chose to and selected that location.”
Gardiner nodded his agreement with the conclusions.
The two men left the office, entered the residence, and climbed the stairs to the first floor, where their wives and the children were.
There was no missing the way that Kitty and Lydia sat, hands in their laps, looking worriedly around them, as if they were about to be reprimanded or worse. When Gardiner approached his wife, his arms extended to hug her, the two Collins girls looked fearful, holding each other’s hands as if their lives depended on it. This was obviously because they were used to seeing their father lift his hands to their mother.
Gardiner drew Maddie into a gentle hug, and only when Kitty and Lydia saw Maddie smiling did they relax.
“Kitty and Lydia, I am your Uncle Edward Gardiner. This sweet lady is my wife, your Aunt Maddie. I am your mamma’s older brother,” Gardiner said once he had seated himself next to Maddie on the sofa.
“Must we call you Mr Gardiner like Father insisted we address him as Mr Collins?” Kitty asked barely above a whisper.
“No, Kitty dear, I am Uncle Edward.” Gardiner paused and decided it was time to broach a difficult subject so his nieces knew they were safe from the Collins brute. “Kitty and Lydia, have you ever heard adults speak of people you cannot see any more who are in heaven?”
Kitty nodded; Lydia shook her head.
“Your mother had an accident, and she is in heaven now,” Gardiner related gently. After her selfless act to protect these two girls, he believed that to be true. He was as certain as he could be that the bastard that was the late Collins was being consumed by the everlasting fires of Hell. He looked his nieces in their eyes so they could see his resolve. “Your father is gone forever as well. He will never be able to hurt your mother or any other person ever again. I swear to you that all of us adults here will make sure that from this day forward, you never have to fear a person who is supposed to protect you.”
Kitty and Lydia relaxed just a little bit. They had never before met a man who spoke so kindly to them.
Soon, the Phillips’ nursemaid came to collect the girls to take them to the nursery to enjoy something to drink and treats with the two toddlers who were awake.
