George Wickham had followed Hodges to the Wild Bull Inn a number of times, but as he remembered the knife at his throat, he never got too close and kept his hat pulled down low over his eyes. He was inquisitive and would have loved to get Hodges in trouble with the old bat, but he knew that Hodges would know who the source of her information was, so he had to be careful.
Almost a month back, Hodges had been gone for three days. On the third day he saw him return in a hired carriage with a man and woman. All he knew was that the woman was Mrs or Miss Younge, but no more than that. On the last day of July, he was following Hodges in the morning and into the Wild Bull he went again. Less than an hour later, the same small hired carriage emerged from the inn, Hodges was installed as the driver; the Younge woman was inside. A third man was in the footman’s position.
Wickham did know that Hodges was fully aware of the last few times the boy had followed him to the inn but had never gotten closer than the other side of the road, ineptly attempting to be unobtrusive. He decided that he would give the boy his promised reward when he returned from dropping Karen Younge off and hopefully being hired as the girl’s companion. He would take pleasure in dispatching him. Sam had no idea why Mrs Fitzpatrick kept him around.
Before they left the Wild Bull, the character that Karen Younge would present to the toffs was checked to make sure that it looked in order. She dressed conservatively, unlike a woman who earned her money on her back occasionally. They set off at ten and would overnight about half way; they expected to arrive at the estate by eleven the next day.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Bennet was impressed. He now understood how this thirteen-year-old girl beat both Darcys at chess routinely. He had just received her sixth move and she had moved her knight to put him in check, in a position that all he had to do was accept the sacrifice and he would be out of check, except after studying the board, he knew that was exactly what she hoped that he would do. If he took her knight with his king, she would have him in two or three moves. He retreated towards his queen and wrote down his move, wrote his missive, sealed it, and placed on the salver for Hill to hand to the courier.
He was looking forward to seeing her in the flesh and playing a game or three against her when they stopped at the Bingleys on their way to Town for the little season. He was fascinated by the strategic ability that this young lady was displaying, far better than men two to three times her age. He was willing to wager that his Lizzy would have been like this girl if he remembered her innate intelligence correctly. Even at just over one, he had seen it in her.
After hearing the reports of both the Bingleys and Gardiner, who her father was an investor with, Bennet was looking forward to meeting the Earl. He did not sound like your typical puffed-up self-important peer of the realm. The rest of his family was looking forward to meeting the Fitzwilliams in early October. For Jane this would be a second meeting. After Lady Elizabeth’s name was mentioned as a chess opponent, she shared that she had met her almost ten years ago, at her Uncle’s warehouse near Cheapside. It spoke well of the family that they would shop there and not only the highfalutin stores on Bond Street.
Thanks to Charles Bingley not always paying attention to details, the only description they had was very pretty, petite, and dark hair. That broad a description could have fit his Lizzy, but thousands of other girls as well. When Bennet had asked the steward, who made the sale to the Fitzwilliams, he was of no more help that young Bingley. The steward had been busy with the father and had remembered only her dark hair. Bennet could have canvassed others in the Bingley household, but he did not want any of them to think he was paying an improper amount of attention to a girl that he had never met.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Andrew and Marie Fitzwilliam were enjoying their wedding trip and hated the thought that it would be over far too soon. The wedding night had been subdued as they were at an inn and the walls were thin, but that did not deter them entirely; however, they had to take care to be as quiet as humanly possible. The next afternoon they arrived at Lakeview House and after admiring the magnificent view, they had retired to the much more inviting view of each other wearing no more clothing than the day that they were born. Save for their personal servants, they were unseen for four days before they emerged from the bedchamber.
They had loved their time in the lakes once they got to actually see them, and after a fortnight they had begun the four-day journey to East Sussex, as Brighton and Seaview were not far from the border with Kent. They had not pushed the travel each day, so they were not tired when they arrived at the cottage. Marie had made the same comment that most made on first viewing the house—it was not a cottage!
The first time that they had taken a large sable blanket down to the beach in the cove, Marie had been somewhat nervous. From his past experience Andrew assured his wife that there was absolute privacy. When they arrived at the end of the path and she looked around, Marie relaxed as she saw that her husband was not exaggerating in the least about the solitude that they enjoyed on the beach; the blanket had been well used, multiple times, that day and on many subsequent days.
They had ridden into Brighton on two occasions to explore the town, but the newlyweds spent the rest of their time lost in their own company. They had strolled along the bluff and explored the property that Seaview sat on. After a fortnight they were down to a sennight before it would be time to return to the world.
Marie had written to her mother once when they arrived in East Sussex. She missed her mother and brother, but not nearly as much as she thought she would. Marie expected them to visit Hilldale, and Mama would be able to spend a fortnight and help her with redecorating before everyone joined the Darcys and Fitzwilliams to travel to London for the little season.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Should we not go to Snowhaven regardless of what Uncle Reggie said?” asked a concerned William.
“No son,” his father answered with resignation.“If it were me and I made a decision as my brother-in-law did, I would resent it if my wishes were disregarded and countermanded.”
“I suppose that I understand that father,” William capitulated although he was not happy about it. Then he had an epiphany.“What if I take Georgie and Alex to go visit their cousins?” he asked his father hopefully.
“That would look very suspect if you went this morning; however, if you want to take your brother and sister to go visit Anne and Lizzy after one, then that would be agreeable, as the woman will be there in two hours.” Seeing his adult son’s almost pout, George placed his hand on William’s shoulder.“I am worried too, son, but I have to honour Reggie’s wishes.”
“I agree with your father,” his mother added. She had been silent during their discussion up to that point.“We may not like it, but we need to respect my brother’s decision. George, what say you that all of us go? We can spend a few days with our brother and sister and you big strong men will be able to make sure that everyone is safe,” she teased.
It was agreed that they would all go, so Lady Anne summoned Mrs Reynolds to inform her so that cook would know not to make the normal meals for a few days. The housekeeper was told that the meal prepared for that day was to be given to the servants, as the mistress hated the idea of good food going to waste.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Mama, it is eleven, can we not return now?” Lizzy asked plaintively.
“I suppose that we can, it will take us just over a half hour to return so hopefully by then your father will know what this woman wants from us and whether there is a threat to you or any of us, Lizzy,” Elaine stated. She rapped on the ceiling with her parasol and once the driver brought the carriage to a halt, she instructed him to turn for home. The driver was torn for a moment; the master had said not to start the return before twelve, but who was he to gainsay the mistress.
He did take a lot longer to get the team to turn the carriage around as his way of trying to add some additional minutes to their time away from the manor house.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Mrs Younge, your Lordship,” Smythe intoned a few minutes prior to eleven as he showed the woman into the Earl’s study.
“Smythe, please have tea delivered,” he said in order to give the impression that he did not suspect anything.
“Yes, my Lord,” Smythe bowed as he closed the door to the study. No sooner than the door closed, two well-armed guards took station in the hall on each side of the door. Reggie knew that the other two were in the concealed antechamber but could see and hear all through small hole in the door that looked for all the world like a bookcase behind the desk.
