“There is no argument from me there; I will be forever grateful for the distinction.” Relief showed in George’s face, showing that he knew how close he came to surrendering his freedom.
The next day, the family took their conveyances into the town ofBowness-on-Windermere,which was right on the lake’s shore. From there they walked around parts of the lake’s coastline. After a few hours of exploring, no one managed to fall into the lake, or in the case of the three older cousins be pushed in, they found an inn in the town that had a magnificent view of Lake Windermere.
They were shown to a deck that would be for their own use and their food was served as they looked at the beauty of the lake. The wind had died, so there was nary a ripple on the water asScafell, Scafell Pike, and Helvellyn mountains were clearly reflected on the surface. Alex wanted to know why there were upside-down mountains in the lake, earning him a round of laughter.
Before they returned to Lakeview House, they walked around the small town, patronising the businesses that were dotted along the quaint main street. Not long after they entered their waiting carriages and returned to the house and an anxiously-waiting Aggie, who was most indignant about being left at the house.
Just like it had at Seaview, the two weeks flew by. The highlight was a tour of the big lake by boat. They had divided themselves over the three longboats rowed by some extraordinarily strong men. On that day, Aggie had been brought with them and was left to bark on the shore in the custody of Biggs and Johns who were some of the few that could hold her without being pulled hither and thither. The horses had been left at the two estates so there was no riding, but there was a lot of walking to see the various vistas that nature offered. As much as she loved riding, Lizzy was vastly pleased when able to take a long walk.
Before they knew it, their time at the lakes was over and they were headed back to Pemberley to say farewell to Andrew who would meet them there with his friend before they headed to Dover for the crossing to the Kingdom of Portugal. Given what was going on in France, it had been decided by the families of both young men that the country in the middle of the great terror would not be visited. Luckily for both, there were enough countries to visit besides France so as to not spoil their tour.
On the day that they wished Andrew farewell, Elizabeth held onto her brother as if her life depended on it.“You will write often will you not, Andrew?” She sniffed.
“On my life, sprite,” he promised as he kissed her forehead.“You will hear about many of the places that you read about.”
“Do you have to be gone for a whole year?” she asked plaintively.
“It could be less than that, sprite,” he told her.
“Or longer!” Richard interjected.
“Itch!” Elizabeth admonished,“do not say that!” She gave him a look that let him know of her low opinion of a longer tour.
“I will miss you too, Lizzy, but before you know it, I will be back, and I will find an old lady waiting for me when I do!” he teased his sister.
“Old Lady! I think not, I will only be ten!” she sniffed.
“Will you look after Orion for me while I am away Lizzy?” he requested. She nodded her head yes as a few tears rolled down her cheeks and sadly released her beloved older brother. After wishes and hugs from everyone, Andrew joined his friend in the lead carriage.
They would be accompanied by their valets and two very well trained and armed footmen guards to ensure their safety. Once they arrived, they would purchase a carriage to use for their travels and hire a driver and outriders. The family walked out of the courtyard to the drive and waved until the carriages were out of sight.
In a few weeks, Richard and William would depart for Cambridge. With it being Williams first year at the venerable institution of higher learning, his father would accompany him to Cambridge to help assist with the move into his housing. He and Richard would share an apartment that had three bedchambers, a study, and a sitting room. When Bingley joined them the following year, he would use the third chamber. The rest of the summer rolled on by and soon it was time to farewell the two Cambridge men.
Chapter9
June 1801
Elizabeth was to turn ten in a matter of a few days, and she was sad that her brother Andrew had not returned to the shores of England yet. She knew that it was only ten months since he had left, but she thought that she had heard her papa tell her mama that Andrew and Lord Perry were cutting the trip short because the Duke of Bedford had taken ill.
Elizabeth treasured every letter that she received from her brother; he had, as he had promised that he would, been a faithful correspondent. She sat in her chamber and reviewed the neatly-ordered letters that Andrew had sent her and looked at the globe that her papa had gifted her where she traced Andrew’s journey on his tour.
He had sent a letter from Dover before they boarded the Dennington Lines ship that would be at their disposal until they returned to England. The first letter from the continent was dated the tenth of August from Lisbon in the Kingdom of Portugal, their first stop. There were two more letters from other cities in that Kingdom. A week later, she received a letter dated the sixth of September from Madrid in the Kingdom of Spain. Andrew told her of the bull fighting, in her opinion a barbaric sport, and how bewitching an instrument the guitar was, played by gypsies in England, but used to accompany those dancing a fast-paced dance called the flamenco. Andrew told his sister that he had acquired a guitar for himself and castanets for her, Anne, and Gigi.
Not long after, he and Perry, as he called the Marquess of Birchington, reached the east coast of the kingdom at the city of Valencia. There they loaded their coach on the Duke’s ship, which transported them across the Mediterranean Sea stopping for some days at the islands of Ibiza, Majorca, Minorca, and Sardinia, where they spent a fortnight. They did not visit Corsica as it was part of France.
In mid-October, a letter was posted from Palermo, an island that was part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Another fortnight was spent on the island before they sailed to Policastro on the mainland of the kingdom. From there they used about a month as they travelled north through Salerno and Naples to Rome in the States of the Church. By the beginning of December of 1800, after visiting Venice, Milan, Pisa, where they climbed up the famous leaning tower, and Milan, they made the crossing of the Swiss Alps as the way over the mountains was thankfully not closed by snow when they crossed over.
A few days before Christmas, Andrew posted a letter from Zurich in Switzerland where he and his friend would spend the Lord’s birthday with some family of the Duchess of Bedford. The last letter from Switzerland was dated just after Twelfth Night, as they were about to travel east into the Empire and then the Kingdom of Hungary. Elizabeth had letters from Innsbruck, Carinthia, Styria, and then in mid-February 1801, a missive announcing their arrival in Buda, just across the Danube River from Pest.
Their next leg had them travelling north through Vienna, where Andrew promised to purchase some new scores by the local composers, Prague, Dresden, Berlin, Hamburg. In May, his letter was sent from Tönning in Denmark, and Norway. That is when the Duke was taken ill. The original plan was after Copenhagen, to see some of the Kingdom of Sweden where the ship was to meet them, sail to the Netherlands and then after they toured that country, the Dennington Lines ship would bring them back to London, sailing up the Thames.
Since the notification of the Duke’s illness had been sent, Elizabeth had received no further letters from Andrew and was concerned at hearing no further news from her brother but hoped that it was simply that being rushed, there had not been the time to post another letter. At least Richard and Will were home from Cambridge. That in itself was a worrying proposition for Elizabeth as, after Richard graduated in a year, he would not take a grand tour but would be inducted into the regulars after papa purchased him his commission. Her worry over Richard was interrupted as she heard the crunch of a carriage’s wheels on the gravel of the drive.
Leaving her box of letters where it was, she took off down the stairs toward the entrance where she saw that her parents, Anne, and Richard were all heading out of the door. She caught up with them as they arrived on the bottom step in time to see the door open and Andrew emerge from within. As much as she wanted to leap into his arms, she restrained herself knowing that she needed to wait until her parents greeted him first.
“Andrew how well you look,” Elaine gushed after she received kisses on both cheeks and a warm hug from her oldest child.
“As do all of you,” Andrew replied as he was grasping his father’s hand and shaking it vigorously. Elizabeth was at the end of her patience and launched herself into her brother’s welcoming arms.
