Page 56 of Her Favourite Daughter

“Accordin’ to ‘em, if they try ta loiter, they are shooed away,” Clay Younge shot back. “An’ if same lad return, ‘e is tossed in the clink. ‘Ow are we ta watch for the toffs wifout the lads?”

“That is a problem,” Karen Younge admitted. “I will keep my eye on the society pages. That will tell us what we want to know.”

“It will not be as easy as ya thinks,” Clay Younge opined. “Are you sure this is what we must do to get revenge for our ma’s death? Do this be what Ma woulda wanted?”

“It is. Mamma did not want to be murdered while working for the Duke of Leeds! So yes, this is what we must do,” Karen Younge insisted.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

George Wickham was another one who did not know how he would gain good intelligence on the movement of the new, extremely wealthy, duchess. He had attempted to wander about St James’s Square only to be told to move on or face arrest. Being locked up in gaol was not something that would help his plans to become wealthy.

He supposed all he could do was to continue reading the gossip sheets and society pages of the newspapers for the information he needed. As long as his employer was not too hard on him and allowed him some time in the mornings to read, all would be well. Wickham had considered paying young boys to spy on Leeds House, but after his own experience in the area, he decided that was not an option worth exploring.

If only he had some partners in this endeavour; it would make things much easier.

Chapter 21

Even though her body was used to walking and riding, after a full day of shopping Elizabeth was exhausted. She had always disliked being measured, poked, and prodded, and having it done to her in London was no more pleasant than it had been in Meryton.

Although Elizabeth understood the need to buy new clothes appropriate to her station, she was quick to point out that she was not yet, in fact, out in society, so she did not need as much as a debutante would. Mother had countered the argument by pointing out that because of the fact she was a duchess, the normal societal rules about how to dress before entering society did not apply. Once she accepted that fact, Elizabeth submitted, but with no good cheer. A stop at Gunter’s to indulge her sweet tooth had made her feel better, even with all of the attention she was garnering.

As soon as she entered Leeds House, Elizabeth made directly for the library, which was thankfully very well stocked with a few thousand books. She was aware that while the ladies of the party had been on Bond Street, Papa and Cousin Clem had been ensconced in the library. She found them yet there when she entered.

“Enough shopping for you for one day, Lizzy,” Bennet enquired with a grin.

“If I were never to visit another modiste’s shop, it would be too soon,” Elizabeth insisted as she flopped down into a comfortable leather wingback chair. “Where are Mr Bingley and Cousin William?”

“Bingley took William to Boodle’s, where Hurst will be, to meet some of their friends,” Collins related. “They should return soon.”

The Hursts had moved to Hurst House that morning.

“While we were at Gunter’s, Aunt Anne told me that when I officially enter society I will have to wear a hideous hooped dress and be presented to Her Majesty like all other debutants,” Elizabeth complained. “If I am meeting Their Majesties in a little more than a sennight, why do I have to be presented when I come out?”

“Those rules are set by the queen,” Bennet replied. “As a mere duchess, I am afraid you have to follow them like everyone else. You do have an advantage with your rank; you will be the first one presented, even ahead of duchesses who gained their titles via marriage.”

“That is something, but I will still have to wear the hooped monstrosity that was described to me,” Elizabeth retorted.

“Did Amelia introduce you to any members of high society?” Bennet queried.

“Yes, Mother did. I met the Duchesses of Bedford and Hertfordshire and the Countess of Jersey, among others. When people nearby heard who I was, there was much whispering behind fans and hands. By the time we reached Gunter’s, word of who I was had reached there. Hence, I am sure that by the morrow the gossip sheets will have tittle-tattle about me in them,” Elizabeth reported. “Mother and Aunts Elaine and Anne opined that it may not be the worst thing. The sooner society quenches their thirst for information about me, the sooner the gossips will move onto some new and interesting topics.” She paused for some moments. “I know this is my birthright, but does it make me a bad person that there are times when I wish I was nothing more than Elizabeth Rose Bennet, the second daughter of a country squire?”

“It does not make you wicked, but in my line of work, I do see the phenomenon of people wanting to be what they are not every now and again,” Collins stated. “Thinking of what may be is not evil; it is only when one attempts to move from thoughts to action. When one attempts to take what they want without regard to the legality or the harm they will cause, like Mr and Mrs de Bourgh did when they put their thoughts into action, it then becomes criminal depravity.”

“Do not misconstrue my meaning; I am very happy to have met more family members. Never will I regret coming to know Mother, my Darcy cousins, or the Fitzwilliams. It is just…I suppose I wish I were no more than the daughter of a gentleman, or even a duke, but not a duchess in my own right.”

Bennet placed his book on the side table, stood and came to kneel in front of his middle child—he would never stop thinking of her in that way—and took her hands in his own. “Lizzy, I would be surprised if you did not think about the subjects you mentioned. Until Mamma, Grandmamma Beth, Aunt Penelope, and I told you that you were not born of Mamma’s body, you were perfectly happy and secure with your place in the family and the world around us. That began to change with the revelation we made.

“I will freely admit that part of my reason for not wanting to tell you how you joined the family earlier was selfish. However, your mother helped me see that disclosing the truth to you before you had reached a level of maturity where you were able to assimilate the information and understand that we loved you no less because of it, was very important. Amelia opined that had you met her before you were ready, it could have harmed you in ways none of us wanted to see. In the end, it seems that my decision not to investigate my suspicion was a good one, even though in all honesty, it is not what I considered at the time.

“You already had to reconcile yourself with the fact you are not a Bennet by blood, and then the truth of who you are exploded on us when we least thought it would. With that discovery, you went from being Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Longbourn to Lady Bethany Osborne, suo jure Duchess of Leeds. Not only that, but you were told how you own, or will when you turn one and twenty, around nine estates, multiple homes and a fortune which makes you the fourth richest non-royal in the realm.

“Now, Lizzy, answer me this: Who would not be disconcerted learning all you did, even one at my age or older? You learnt all this at the tender age of sixteen! I do not know too many, if any, others who would have been able to hear everything you have of late and not slip the bounds of reason. It is my opinion that so far, you have reacted with far more aplomb than those double and triple your age would have been able to.”

Elizabeth sat and cogitated on her papa’s words for some minutes. “Thank you, Papa. Your words are very comforting to me, and I will keep them in mind any time I feel overwhelmed by my new situation.”

Amelia had been about to enter the library when she had heard Bethie’s first statement. She was not proud that rather than walk away, she had listened to the conversation. She was happy that she had when she heard the replies of the two men, especially what Thomas had just said to Bethie. She felt an unending pool of gratitude to Thomas for the wise counsel he had given her daughter. She had already believed that he had been an excellent father to her, but hearing his words made that belief become fact. If Francis could not have been the one raising and educating Bethie, then she was pleased and grateful in the extreme that it had been Thomas. Of course, Amelia wished that she had been the mother who had watched Bethie grow from one stage of life to the next, but there was no doubt in her mind that Fanny had been an excellent mother for Bethie.

Rather than enter the library, Amelia made her way to the drawing room.