Chapter 12

L ord Sedgewick Rhys-Davies was well pleased the final spaces on The Rose had been taken by the Featheringtons. The bond between his family and theirs stretched back across the centuries. Even when the Earl of Rundell had been stripped of his title in 1643, the Rhys-Davies had stood by the Featheringtons.

The Earl had angered King Charles I to the extent he had made the loss of the title and lands associated with it irrevocable. No one remembered what the late Humphry Featherington had done to anger the King to that extent, but the result was the family had been untitled ever since. Over the years with the closeness between the Featheringtons and the Rhys-Davies, Dukes of Bedford had applied to have the title and confiscated land returned to the family, but thanks to the way the long dead king had his order transcribed, it could not be changed.

With the addition of the final family—husband, wife, two sons, and a daughter—to the party who would sail with The Rose , Hertfordshire's wife, Lady Gwendoline had decided to change her mind—to Rose's chagrin—and sail with the rest of them. Hermoine Featherington and Gwendoline Winston were as close as the latter was to Rose, and with the fact Edith Carrington would be one of the party, the ladies would have a wonderful time together.

On his breaking the news to Rose that her friend Gwen would not remain in England, his wife had accepted the news stoically. She had told him she understood the lure of a once in a lifetime journey and had it not been for Marie being on the precipice of delivering her first child, she too would have been with them.

It would be the longest Bedford would be separated from his Rose since the day they wed. He would not plan the next family holiday on board The Rose unless he was certain the woman he loved, for whom the ship was named, would be with him.

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

If Wickham had not been convinced of the need to avenge himself on the dark haired beauty, being trapped inside Mrs. Younge's boarding house on Edward Street would have been enough to make him sure of the rectitude of his aim.

He had arrived after dark the day he had fled Meryton. The gelding he had liberated from the blowhard knight had been allowed to rest overnight and then the next day he had paid a lad a few coins to take the horse to an inn to sell him. Without being able to prove he was the owner; he had told the lad to sell it for as much as he was able. After a cut for the boy, Wickham had been left with five pounds.

Thanks to the fact the Spaniard had eyes and ears everywhere, Wickham could not risk leaving the house in the light of day. He never considered he was also being hunted for stealing a horse and desertion, among other reasons.

All he could do was sit and stew about how unfairly he had been treated and his bad luck. Not only had the chit disrespected him, but those bastards Fitzwilliam and Darcy had been there, and it seemed they intended to extract retribution for his aborted plans at Ramsgate.

He would take his five pounds and whatever he could liberate from Karen and get as far away from London as possible so he could plan his vengeance. He needed to exercise a little patience. Right now Karen Younge was vigilant. After a few days, a sennight at the most, she would relax and then he would be able to relieve her of the contents of the box hidden under the loose floorboard in one corner of her bedchamber.

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

Richard Fitzwilliam had noticed a change in Miss Bingley from the time he joined the rest of the residents for dinner later the same evening after he had issued his not too polite words directed at her and Bingley.

She was polite, but the fawning was gone. She did nothing to court his good opinion and only spoke when she could add something to the conversation. What had caused this sea change to the way she related to him was unknown, but he had no intention of looking a gift horse in the mouth.

William had been even more taciturn than usual which Richard ascribed to his cousin not being happy with what had been said to him in the library. William was not the only one sulking, Bingley was as well. For dinner he had taken a tray in his study claiming work he could not put off. There was no doubt that Bingley was not working in the evening, he hardly did any estate related work during the day. His family members did not seem to repine his absence so neither Richard nor William commented about his not being at the table.

The next day, Thursday, Richard rode to Longbourn after he had broken his fast. William had broken his own fast earlier before he left for a ride on Zeus, from which he had not yet returned by the time Richard departed. Bingley was not present, and again his sisters and brother-in-law had not referred to their missing brother. Based on how she related to him during the morning meal, Richard was pleased to see Miss Bingley's behaviour the previous night had not been an aberration.

He was welcomed at the Bennets' estate and had the pleasure of spending most of Thursday at Longbourn. It gave him considerable time with Miss Mary when he was not needed by Bennet to discuss mutual estate issues or play chess, something all three of his daughters could play quite well .

There was a hum of excitement in all three Bennet sisters in anticipation of their brothers arriving home on the morrow. From some of the stories about the imp who was the younger brother, Tommy, Richard could tell the boy was very much like he had been at the same age. He had learnt that the older brother, Henry, was more like his father and eldest sister in character—quieter and more contemplative.

Mrs. Bennet had issued an invitation for Richard to remain for dinner, which from the look of pleasure which suffused Miss Mary's face, she heartily approved of. He had accepted with alacrity, but sent a note to Mrs. Hurst so she would not expect him for the evening meal.

By the time Richard mounted Invictus to return to Netherfield Park after a most enjoyable time, he was more than pleased with the growing affection between himself and Miss Mary. He decided he would seek a private interview with her the day after Bingley's ball.

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

Richard had just poured himself a nightcap in the sitting room shared with William when the latter entered the room from his bedchamber. "You offended Bingley so badly he has shut himself away from the rest of his party," Darcy stated without preamble.

"Truly, William, are you so blinded you cannot identify his behaviour as that of a child in a snit?" Richard barked. He had had a wonderful day, but that did not make him any more disposed to placate William's bruised ego. "What did I say which was not true? Is he not the son of a tradesman? It is something you seem to forget when you look down on those higher than your friend. Does he not think himself above those he is below? What the hell is wrong with you, William?"

Darcy was rocked back on his heels. He had not expected Richard to react so vehemently. The truth was he was lashing out because he felt abandoned by Richard who he had always seen more as a brother than a cousin.

He ignored the inconvenient truth; he was the one pushing Richard away because his pride would not allow him to accompany his cousin to the Bennets' estate. It was not Richard's fault he had gone back on his own resolve to discuss all with him. If he had not been so concerned about Richard's censure, he would have told all, and more than likely done what he should have the day after the assembly by begging Miss Elizabeth's pardon for his words.

Trying to shift the focus was his way of relegating what he needed to do to a recess of his consciousness. The only problem was doing that did not solve the problem of his feelings for Miss Elizabeth. Not seeing her in no way weakened the attraction like he thought—hoped—it would.

His belief of what his duty to his name and family was, was at war with his desires to have Miss Elizabeth as his wife. It was his endeavour not to be tempted by her, as he surely would be, when in her company which in part drove his decision not to call on Longbourn and make amends. The last thing he wanted to do was raise expectations he could not meet.

The fact Richard had the right of it soured his mood even more. He reached a decision. He would remain until the ball, but the very next morning he would hie to London and hopefully once separated by over twenty miles from Miss Elizabeth's siren call he would surely get over his attraction. ‘ You are lying to yourself, you love her! ' his conscience screamed, but Darcy chose to ignore it.

"I see we will not agree on this," Darcy finally responded haughtily. "Where were you all day, and for dinner as well?"

"Not that it is any of your concern, but I was with the Bennets," Richard stated challenging his cousin to make a comment about who he had been with for most of the day. William wisely said nothing.

Darcy had been considering which words to use to not upset Richard too much. In the end he had decided against saying anything. There were already too many points of contention between them. He poured one finger of brandy and slumped into a wingback chair.

Other than wishing one another good night, no more discussion passed between them before Richard made for his chambers.

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

"Tommy!" Elizabeth called out as she pulled her little brother into a hug. The fact she barely reached his shoulder was beside the point. "You had best stop growing, I believe you are even taller than when you left for Eton in September."

Thanks to Eton being closer to Longbourn than Cambridge, the youngest Bennet had arrived home ahead of his brother. He pulled Elizabeth into a hug as she was closest to him. Jane and Mary stood back a little allowing him to expend some of his exuberance on Lizzy.

"It is good to see you Liz Bear, all of you," Tommy stated in his deep voice.

"Thomas James Bennet, did I not ask you not to call me that?" Elizabeth huffed with put on indignance.

"Call you what, Liz Bear ?" Tommy grinned at his sister impishly. They loved to tease one another.

"Enough tomfoolery," Bennet said benevolently, "Lizzy is not the only one for you to greet."

"Mother, Father, Jane, and Mary." He named each one as he hugged the ladies and shook his father's hand. "It is a pleasure to see all of you before the Christmastide term break, even if it is to finally pierce the delusions of that cousin of ours." It was then Tommy noticed the unknown man standing near his family.

"Come, it is too cold to stand in the drive," Priscilla asserted, "Let us return to the warmth of the house and then you will be introduced." She took her younger son's arm and led the family and Richard back inside.

Once the introductions were made, Tommy had a question for his parents: "Why are there so many new men employed, and could you not have found smaller men than the two giants?"

Bennet gave his son a synopsis of the reasons for the increased security. "Some of the men will return with you and Henry to act as your personal guards. I will not take a chance with the safety of any of my children," Bennet explained.

Tommy loved to fence and would have enjoyed facing the deserter on a field of honour, but he was well aware his parents would never forgive him if he ever did something so reckless. Even though he was already sixteen, Tommy was sure his father would deliver a severe physical punishment for such a poor exercise of his judgement.

He made his way up to his chambers to change and refresh himself.

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

Less than an hour later the second carriage arrived bearing Henry Bennet home. Just like Tommy had made a beeline for Lizzy, Henry's first stop was where his twin stood. He threw his arms about her and lifted her feet off the drive effortlessly. The normally calm Bennet heir was excited to see his sister.

"Henry Phineas Bennet, put me down this instant!" Mary demanded. She loved her twin but she was not sure what Mr. Fitzwilliam would think of such a display.

"I act the same with those I love when we have been parted," Richard said near Mary's ear so only she could hear.

Mary was pleased he understood the special bond between her and Henry, and did not think any less of her.

Henry greeted the rest of the family which by then included Tommy, and then like she had when Tommy had arrived, Cilla took her eldest son's arm and led him and the rest of the family back indoors.

He was introduced to Mr. Fitzwilliam in the drawing room. It did not take Henry long to see the looks passing between Mary and the newly met man.

"When the coach turned into the drive, I noticed a gig waiting just outside the gateposts," Henry reported. "There was a rather corpulent man dressed in black on the bench next to the driver."

"That is your illustrious cousin, William Collins. He heard my aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh wax on the importance of punctuality and since then he makes sure he is precisely on time," Richard related. Seeing the older Bennet son's questioning look, Richard explained why he had been unfortunate enough to make the man's acquaintance.

Bennet looked at the clock. "Henry, if you would like to go change, you have a little more than twenty minutes before the olive-branch bearing parson arrives."

A few minutes after Henry had taken himself up to his bedchamber, the two Philips men arrived at Longbourn. As Bennet had requested of him, the older Philips had brought the official copy of the entail documents.

The gig was pulled to a halt in the drive two minutes after Henry returned to the drawing room.