Page 42 of Her Favourite Daughter

Elizabeth, who always claimed that she would not allow anything to intimidate her, was actually nervous. She had listened to and remembered everything Aunts Elaine and Anne told her about her mother. For a brief moment, she had wondered if any of the blame for her being missing for so many years would be apportioned to her. Elizabeth had spoken to Mamma about her fears the previous night, and Mamma had disabused her of the notion without delay.

Mamma had simply told Elizabeth to think of her reaction to Anne Fitzwilliam’s attempt to apologise for something in which she had no part. As she could remember the conversation word for word, she had realised that the worry was a completely irrational one.

Remembering her conversation with Mamma did not reduce the fluttering in her belly caused by a very out-of-character attack of nerves.

As soon as the coach was brought to a halt, Biggs placed the step and opened the door before the footmen had jumped down from the back bench. The Leeds footman, Tom, who was not a small man, may have reprimanded the man who had done his job except that, next to Biggs, he felt small indeed. To compensate, he made sure he was ready to hand Her Grace from the coach.

Tom had been so busy getting into place to discharge his duty, he had not paid attention to the three ladies waiting for the mistress to alight. As soon as he saw a younger version of his employer, Tom had the urge to pull her into a hug, but he resisted it knowing it was not for him to do. His mind flashed back to the final time he saw her in the criminal’s hands on that terrible day when he had been coshed and Lady Bethany had been stolen. Here she was, a lady almost fully grown.

The moment she felt Tom hand her out, Amelia’s vision narrowed, and all she saw was her daughter. She did not command her feet and legs to move, but they did. She wanted to release a stream of tears of joy, but she had to be sure first.

Anne and Elaine had seen the birthmark, but until she saw it herself, there was still the slightest bit of doubt. As she approached, it was like looking into a mirror that reflected one as he or she was many years ago. She stopped and moved the hair from above the left ear. Amelia took a deep breath as she bent the top of the left ear ever so gently. There it was. Its position and its shape was as it should be; the same crescent moon birthmark that her late Francis also had.

The confirmation gained opened the floodgates, and Amelia began to sob as the tears ran down her cheeks in rivulets. “I…so much…wanted to…see you…again…but…I did not…think…He would…grant my prayer,” Lady Amelia managed between sobs as she threw her arms around her daughter and pulled her into as tight a hug as she was able.

Fanny was standing at the parlour window facing the drive. She felt sadness, not at Lizzy’s mother being reunited with her, but at the very obvious pain Lady Amelia had lived with for so many years. She returned across the hall to the drawing room, feeling like she was intruding on this tender moment.

“Amelia, come inside. Fanny has made sure that one of the parlours is ready for us,” Lady Elaine suggested.

“It is far more comfortable than the drive,” Anne agreed.

All Amelia could manage was a watery nod. However, she refused to release Bethie and held onto her hand as they walked into the house. There was no stopping to remove her light outerwear as, with her arm laced with her daughter’s, Amelia followed her friends to the mentioned parlour. She was thankful that, other than the butler and a maid, she saw no other residents of the house. Amelia wanted to put herself to rights before she met the people who had raised her daughter.

As Tom accompanied the coach to the stables and coach house, he could not have been happier. To see the joy on Her Grace’s face at seeing Lady Bethany was enough to wash away the misplaced guilt he had felt with regard to the kidnapping. Even though many times over the years he had been told that given how he was attacked from behind that he could not have done more than he did, he still felt some responsibility for the babe being stolen away. Now to see Her Grace reunited with her daughter was a balm to his soul.

Lady Anne closed the door once Amelia and Bethie entered the parlour. She and Elaine sat in armchairs while mother and daughter sat on the settee opposite.

“You are beautiful,” Lady Amelia stated once she was calm enough to speak. “I suppose that is vain due to how similar we look. All jesting aside, your late father and I have always regretted that we did not protect you and save you from those peoples’ machinations.”

“Mother, unless you and my late father were soothsayers, or perhaps druids, you had no way to know what was being plotted,” Elizabeth disagreed. “As I told Anne Fitzwilliam when she tried to apologise for what the late Mr and Mrs de Bourgh did, and as my Mamma told me this morning when I wondered if I was to blame for your suffering, you are no more culpable for the actions of others than either Anne or me.”

As much as it pained her to hear Bethie call another woman ‘Mamma’ Amelia said nothing on the subject. After all, the woman Bethie addressed in that way was the only mother she had ever known. She needed to think of the positive and be appreciative of the fact that her daughter was already addressing her as ‘Mother’ which meant she had accepted the truth of to whom she was born.

“You are very wise for one who is only sixteen,” Amelia allowed. She was impressed that her daughter had not mentioned her title or all of the wealth which was hers. It was a relief to learn that Bethie did not seem to have a mercenary bone in her body.

“Amelia, your daughter has instant recall. If she has read, seen, or heard something once, she will never forget it,” Lady Anne revealed.

“My late father had the same ability,” Lady Amelia stated. “It skipped me because I am a little forgetful at times.” She paused as a look of sadness flashed across her eyes. “I am very sorry my Francis was not able to meet you other than from when you were born until that criminal stole you away from us. That being said, as much as I would have wanted you to grow up with me as your mother, I can see that you are a happy, well-raised, polite, and dare I ask, accomplished, young lady?”

Elizabeth blushed as she did not like to boast about herself.

“Lizzy plays very well and sings even better, and when singing, she has the contralto voice of an angel,” Lady Elaine responded. “Not to mention that she is fluent in five languages and is the best chess player any of us have ever encountered.”

As Aunt Elaine extolled her virtues, Elizabeth blushed.

“What do you like to do for entertainment, Bethie… Lizzy?” Lady Amelia queried.

“Mother, I am fully aware that Bethany Anne Elaine Osborne is the name I was christened with. Hence, I will answer to my given name when addressed by it. However, the truth is that for the whole of my life I can remember, I have only known of one name, that of Elizabeth Rose Bennet and called ‘Lizzy’ by most, except for the Lucas family. They have always used ‘Eliza’, and they are the only ones I am willing to allow to use that form of Elizabeth.”

“It pleases me to hear you say that, as it is difficult for me to address you by any other name,” Lady Amelia admitted. “Once I had read the letter from your godmothers, I told myself that as long as I was able to see you and be with you, I would not care what name you were addressed by; but on seeing you, putting that into practise was much more difficult than I expected it to be. With the question of what name to use settled, will you answer my question about what you like to do?”

“I find pleasure in many things,” Elizabeth responded. “Chief among them are reading, debating, playing chess, and education. I understand from Aunt Anne that we share enjoyment in walking. Mamma and I walk the farthest and fastest. The other exercise I love is riding my mare, Jupiter. Mamma and Papa gifted her to me on my fourteenth birthday, well, the date we have used to celebrate my birthday.”

“Fanny and Thomas, Bethie’s adoptive parents, selected the third day of February to celebrate her birthday. It was an arbitrary date based on when she began to crawl,” Lady Elaine explained. “We told the Bennets what her real birthdate is.”

At that moment, Amelia resolved that as long as she was alive, she would endeavour to be present at each of her daughter’s future birthdays. She knew not to push too hard, regardless of her desires. For Bethie, this meeting was with new people with whom she had no ties. Yes, they were connected by blood, and Bethie had accepted her as mother, but they had a long road to travel before her daughter would feel comfortable in her presence.

“Before I meet the Bennets, will you three tell me what you know of how Bethie was discovered? I am sure I owe the Bennets a debt I would be unable to pay in multiple lifetimes,” Lady Amelia requested.