Two of the soldiers bound her legs so she could no longer kick before she was tied to a ring in the bed of the cart, so there was no chance of escape.
The ten miles from Rosings Park to Bedlam were covered in about two hours. Soon enough, the former great lady was changed into a white gown made of a scratchy fabric and consigned to a cell which would be her home for the rest of her days in the mortal world.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“It is done,” Matlock announced. “Catherine is in her new home, and according to the doctors, she slips further and further into insanity with each passing day.” The note from the hospital’s governor reporting his sister’s arrival had reached him an hour earlier.
“She brought this all on her own head,” Lady Anne opined. “However, as her sister I am saddened that she allowed her need to control everything and everyone around her to lead her to this end.”
“None of us, related to her or not, are pleased that there was no choice,” Edith stated. “At least, she gets to keep her head. She was almost sent to the tower.”
“You told my nieces what Catherine wrote, did you not?” Lady Elaine asked.
“Yes, we did,” Holder replied. “It did not truly affect them, as they did not know Mrs de Bourgh. After we heard how she disparaged the girls that first time not long after they came to live with us, we never allowed them near her, so the only thing they know about her is that she is Aunt Anne’s and Uncle Reggie’s sister, and she is not well.”
“Perhaps we should not have given her one last chance when she attempted acoup d’étatthe first time Richard was away from Rosings Park. I really believed that she had learnt her lesson after that instance,” Matlock lamented. “Had we sent her to the Outer Hebrides, she would not have been in a position to cause mischief.”
“Reggie, you are my brother, and I love you, but you are wrong,” Lady Anne insisted. “Catherine was always driven by avarice and what she considered her power. She was so obsessed with both that every time things did not go according to the way she wanted them, she slipped a little closer to insanity until her reaction to the elevation of Jane, Lizzy, and Mary pushed her off the precipice, and she lost all connection with reality.”
“I think that Anne is absolutely correct,” Lady Elaine said as she squeezed her husband’s hand. “Other than trying to show Catherine some compassion, you never did anything wrong. Of course, you and Richard gave her one more chance. You are good and honourable men and would not banish her until everything else was exhausted.”
“Let us talk of happier things,” Edith suggested. “For instance, Jamey is courting Charlotte, and my daughters are very pleased that she will be their sister one day. An additional pleasing subject is that Jane only goes to balls because she knows she will dance one of the significant sets with Richard.”
“Are there still some men who think they have a chance of convincing her to see them as a suitor?” Lady Anne enquired. “William told me that his friend, Bingley, has given up trying to gain Jane’s notice. He eventually could tell the way the wind was blowing.”
“There are a few who request permission to call on Jane, and she always refuses them in the nicest way,” Edith revealed.
“I think it is time that I inform Richard that he does not need to wait until the end of the upcoming season. Jane sees no man in that way but him, and neither Edith nor I see that ever changing,” Holder mused. His daughter celebrated her eighteenth birthday three months past, but it was obvious that she was ready for the next step in her life, just as it was plain there was only one man she would consider as her husband.
“Paul, when you inform Richard, it will be music to his ears. Even though he imposed the waiting on himself, he has had to fight hard to stop himself from declaring his intentions each time he sees Jane,” Lady Elaine said.
In her mind, Edith saw an image of Jane as the little mite they had found in Hyde Park that fateful day. Now, she was a woman full grown, ready to leave her childhood home and cleave unto Richard. When they married, and Edith was sure they would, she would no longer see Jane every day, but they would see one another often.
Thinking of Jane’s future caused Edith to consider Lizzy and William. She was relatively sure that they would be married one day; however, she hoped that Lizzy would not be ready for that kind of relationship for two or three years yet. It was strange that there was no sense of possible loss with the prospect of Jamey marrying Charlotte. She supposed it was the difference between sons and daughters.
Regardless of her preference, Edith would never try to influence any of her daughters’ decisions about their futures for selfish reasons.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
When he had escaped London the day Karen had botched his perfect plan, Wickham had travelled south until he reached Devonshire. He was confident that no one would pursue him so far south. Rather, he was sure they would search in and around London and possibly north of Town.
He had been in the county for about a sennight when he realised he needed some form of employment to allow him to subsist. Much to his chagrin, Wickham had lost most of his money in games of chance. All that remained of the funds he had liberated from Karen’s strongbox was five pounds and a few odd coins. He did not want anything with too much work.
It was in the town of Tavistock he met a lieutenant and captain in the Devonshire Militia. It did not take Wickham long to glean that there was not much manual labour involved and that most people in towns like this one where they were encamped showed them respect.
When he asked how one became an officer, Wickham was told he only needed a gentleman’s education, and then he needed to be appointed by Devonshire’s Lord Lieutenant, Earl Fortescue. To see him, Wickham had to travel to the Town of Filleigh, where the Earl resided just outside of the town at Castle Hill.
Knowing he could charm his way into a commission, Wickham paid most of his remaining funds to rent a nag, which he rode to Castle Hill. He was able to convince Earl Fortescue he was an honourable, Godly man, with the required education. The Lord Lieutenant appointed him as a lieutenant and sent him to Tavistock with a letter of introduction to the major in command of the regiment.
He would bide his time, and when the time was ripe, he would have his revenge and get his due.
Chapter 26
Richard Fitzwilliam shook his head in disbelief. Had Jane’s father really just told him there was no need to wait until June of 1808 to declare himself for her?
“I can see the confusion written on your face. You did not mishear me. I am giving you leave to speak to Jane about a shared future when you both agree it is time,” Holder reiterated. “My eldest daughter has not granted a single request made by any other gentleman to call on her, and in my and your aunt’s opinions, she will not do so, as she has decided there is only one man who will be granted that privilege. That, Richard, is most decidedly you.”
Had he not been so much of a gentleman, Richard would have jumped out of his chair whooping for joy. As it was, he was maintaining his equanimity by the thinnest of threads. “May I be excused to seek out Jane?” he requested.
