Chapter 26

Latter half of October 1811

I n September, Elizabeth’s splints had been confined to her lower left leg, and she had begun to walk aided with crutches. As much as she had appreciated all of those who pushed her in the bath chair, especially Mr Darcy before his departure, she was overjoyed that at long last she could move under her own power.

The warnings Messrs Winthorpe and Winklevoss issued about overdoing things leading to a setback, and longer before she would be able to walk on her leg unaided again, ensured that Elizabeth had been circumspect and had not done anything not recommended by the two medical men.

September had become October, and in the second week of the month her father had returned to the Pavilion. Elizabeth was aware her older sister and next younger sister were in great anticipation of Andrew’s and Richard’s arrival in a few days, but that all paled in comparison for Elizabeth. On Wednesday, the sixteenth of October, she was being examined by both the doctor and surgeon. Aunt Maria—she had invited the Bennet sisters to address her thusly, Jane, and a maid were all present to preserve propriety as the two men felt, poked, and prodded her leg.

“From what we can feel, the bone has knitted just as we would have hoped, Your Grace,” Winthorpe announced as Winklevoss nodded his agreement.

“When I rotated your leg without the splint on it, did you feel any pain, even mild to severe discomfort?” Winklevoss enquired. Elizabeth shook her head emphatically. “And If I press down on your knee, like this, while elevating your ankle?”

“It is uncomfortable, but there is no pain in my leg,” Elizabeth reported.

Winklevoss looked at Winthorpe and nodded. “In that case, Your Grace, we are pleased to inform you that your leg has healed.” Seeing the joyful effusions building on the young heroine, the doctor raised his hand. “It is very important you walk with a cane in your left hand to start with. I understand you are a great walker?” Elizabeth nodded, as did Jane. “Your muscles are like anything else, they weaken when not used, so you will have to be patient and gradually build your strength. You know what they say about Rome, do you not?”

“It was not built in one day,” Elizabeth stated.

“Exactly, it is the same with the strength you will need to begin to walk and do all the things you were able to do before your leg was broken. You must build up your muscles slowly. The body is good at telling us when we are doing too much, and we need you to listen to yours.” Winthorpe looked at the duchess waiting for her questions.

“How long before I am able to walk as I did before?” Elizabeth queried.

“Lizzy, I know it is not your favourite thing, but in this you will need to exhibit patience. You do not want to cause permanent damage to your leg, do you?” Jane warned.

“I dare say I do not,” Elizabeth owned. She turned back to the medical men. “I know you cannot give me a precise answer, but how long would you estimate it will be before I am at full strength again?” She arched an eyebrow and waited for a reply from either of the two. Elizabeth waited as she watched the doctor and surgeon confer with one another quietly.

“As you say, Your Grace, it would only be an estimation,” Winthorpe prefaced his comments. Elizabeth acknowledged that fact. “Depending on how soon your muscles recover their previous strength, our best guess is three to six weeks. It could be sooner or longer. I must prepare you for something. It is possible you may have a limp for the rest of your days.”

A horrified look appeared on Elizabeth’s countenance. She was about to protest when she realised the men had to warn her of the possibility. It was all the more reason to not overdo things. A limp would not be the end of the world, but she preferred walking without one.

“Are you ready, Your Grace?” Winklevoss enquired.

“I am,” Elizabeth responded succinctly.

Jane and the maid assisted Elizabeth into a sitting position with her legs hanging over the side of the bed. As soon as she nodded, with the maid on her right, and Jane on her left to support her as needed, Elizabeth stood on the floor. It was the first time she had stood on both of her feet since the tenth day of July, the day she had pushed Emma out of the reach of that despicable criminal.

It was understandable she was somewhat unsteady. Jane and the maid both continued to hold onto Elizabeth’s arms until she nodded that she felt more steady on her feet. At long last she was standing unaided on her own two feet. She took one tentative small step. It was wobbly and caused Jane to take her left arm for support.

“How did that feel, Dearest?” Jane asked worriedly.

“Good, but I understand why it is recommended I use a walking stick for now.” She looked at the concerned faces of the two medical men. “Not one jot of pain when I put weight on my left leg,” she assured them.

“You know what this means, do you not?” the Regent boomed. He had entered the room just before Lizzy stood up. His Highness had returned to Brighton a few days previously but would need to depart in not many more days as his duties were calling him back to the capital. The Prince smiled as everyone, save Maria looked at him questioningly. “You can soon travel, no?” The Regent looked at the physician and surgeon. Both nodded. “That means you will meet Mother, who even before she has met you calls you liebchen . And then there is the little matter of investitures for you, Lord Henderson, and Sir Edward.”

“It will be my great honour to meet Her Majesty, and I am honoured she calls me sweetheart, or does she mean darling?” Elizabeth responded with a deadpan look.

“You understand German?” the Regent shook his head. Nothing about this heroic, wonderful woman should surprise him any longer.

“I did learn the language, eure Hoheit ,” Elizabeth responded in a perfect German accent using the German for your highness.

The Regent guffawed. “Mother will love you even more. Speak her native language to her, and you will have a friend for life. And that is on top of the way she feels about you after saving her unacknowledged granddaughter. She loves Mary Anne and Emma no less than if my marriage to Maria had been accepted by the Crown.”

Soon enough, with a walking stick in her left hand and Jane hovering close by—just in case—Elizabeth stepped into the hallway. Kate, Anna, Mary Anne, Lydia, and Emma were all waiting to see Elizabeth on her feet again and clapped uproariously when they saw her exit the suite.

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

“I thought by now that damned Elizabeth Bennet would have left Prinny’s fortress,” Wickham whinged. It was past the middle of October and not a word in the papers or gossip rags about the so-called duchess leaving Brighton.” He spat out her title as if it left a bad taste in his mouth.

“Then I know something you do not,” Karen Younge taunted .

“What is it?” Wickham barked. He could not show he was frustrated with her, he still needed her until the ransom money was delivered. “I apologise Karen, I am tired of waiting. What did you discover?”

Regardless of his apology, Miss Younge had seen Wickham’s anger. He uttered pretty words, but his eyes said something else altogether. “Does the duchess have sisters named Jane and Mary? You did say she was one of five Bennet sisters, did you not?”

“Yes, indeed I did. If memory serves, the older one is named Jane, and the next younger one after her is Mary. Why would the younger one be in the papers? She was rather plain and yammered on with sermons from Fordyce,” Wickham sneered.

“I remember reading, at either the end of August, or the beginning of September, that those two are engaged, and the weddings are to be from their estate in Hertfordshire on the ninth of November. We do not have to go find them, we know when they will all be home,” Karen Younge crowed.

“Do you remember the grooms’ names? If they are wealthy, it would be possible to get even more money for that lightskirt,” Wickham schemed.

“Sorry George, I do not remember that. I only looked at the notice because they were Bennets,” she dissembled. She knew exactly who the grooms were, but if she told the cowardly George Wickham, he would concoct a reason and make excuses why they could not carry out the plan. If the former Colonel was marrying, she was sure Mr Darcy would be in attendance. She needed to get George to put the plan into motion a few days earlier, hopefully before Mr Darcy and the Fitzwilliams arrived in the area.

“Then the day of the wedding will be ideal,” Wickham decided.

“It could be, but you forget the duchess will be present,” Karen Younge pointed out nonchalantly.

“What of it?” Wickham demanded.

“Did you not tell me that someone like a duke has many guards around them? What if they are around the family during the wedding festivities?”

Wickham shuddered as he thought of the two huge men who were attempting to reach him before the interfering woman stole his prize. Surely she would not have guards like those men in the Royal Guard? Then again, why take the chance? “I have decided we will make for Hertfordshire at the end of this month. We will find a room in a nearby town, but not too close to Meryton, and then put my…our brilliant plan into action,” Wickham stated authoritatively.

“That sounds like an excellent plan,” Karen Younge agreed. She needed to notify her late brother’s former men. It was time to gain what she deserved.

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

Couriers were dispatched to inform those who had intended to return to the Pavilion to come to London as the residents would be departing Brighton in two days. It was no surprise to anyone that Elizabeth—who was more than pleased she had no trace of a limp—was already doing better than had been predicted; it was who she was. The surgeon opined her level of fitness before the day she was attacked was a contributing factor to the way she was progressing now.

Five days after Elizabeth took her first tentative steps since she had been confined to bed, a long convoy of opulent coaches departed the Pavilion. A full regiment of the Royal Guard was with them. There was a double column of men riding either side of the conveyances, a group ten deep and six across, riding ahead of the carriages, and a similar number bringing up the rear of the convoy.

Making rest stops along the way, they eventually arrived at the Golden Bull Inn which had been reserved for the Regent and his party in its entirety. For that night with the soldiers and officers sleeping in shifts it must have been the safest inn in the known world. There was nothing which was needed that the landlord and his wife did not provide. It was worth it to them as they knew from past experience just how generous the Prince of Wales was when the service was exceptional.

After a sumptuous early morning meal, leaving behind owners who had earned more than a year’s income in one night, the second half of the journey to London began.

Between six and seven hours later, the coaches rolled to a halt at Buckingham House. Elizabeth had thought she would go to Hertfordshire House on Russell Square, but the Regent had simply told her his mother insisted she and her party were to be hosted at her London home. Elizabeth had not objected. After all, one did not gainsay the Queen of England.

Having become inured to the style in which royal houses were decorated after close to four months residing at the Pavilion, the ostentatious décor did not shock Elizabeth, her sisters, or Anna as they were led to the chambers which would be theirs in one of the guest wings.

Jane and Elizabeth were in a suite with a large shared and ornately decorated sitting room. They were speaking of the massive changes to their lives over the last months, when there was a knock on the door. It was opened by a footman in royal livery. A major-domo entered and struck the rug with the bottom of his staff three times.

“All rise for Her Majesty, Queen Charlotte, Queen of Great Britain, Ireland, and the Empire,” the man barked out.

“Sit, sit,” the Queen demanded as she swept into the room. “Perkinson, do you not know that Her Grace is still recovering from a broken leg?” she scolded lightly. The man bowed low and backed out of the room.

Jane and Elizabeth were standing and about to go into deep curtsies. “ Lady Elizabeth Bennet, you will not curtsy to us, we should give you that honour ,” the Queen said in German, and proceeded to give Elizabeth a shallow curtsy.

“ Your Majesty, there is no need to give me such an exceptional honour, ” Elizabeth responded in perfect German, “ May we speak English as my sister does not understand your language? ”

“Of course,” the Queen averred in slightly accented English. “We did not think of the possibility that everyone in the room may not speak our language. Please be seated, both of you.”

The Queen had her greyed hair piled on top of her head with gold pins and flowers holding the coiffure in place. She was a little taller than Jane, about Lydia’s height, and wore a white and gold hooped gown, like the ones Elizabeth had heard were demanded when debutantes were presented to Her Majesty.

“You are Miss Jane Bennet, are you not?” Jane nodded to Her Majesty. “You must be very proud of the bravery your sister showed in the face of that treasonous murderer’s man bearing down on her.”

“I am, Your Majesty. Then again, I am used to living with my brave Lizzy,” Jane replied.

“Our son George explained that although we cannot own the girls as true grandchildren, they are no less dear to us than they would be if we were allowed to own that they are our flesh and blood, did he not?” the Queen looked at Elizabeth when she spoke.

“Yes, Your Majesty, the Regent did explain how much you love Mary Anne and Emma,” Elizabeth owned.

“George told us you had no idea who you were saving when you threw yourself in the path of the one man who has evaded capture so far. She could have been the daughter of a servant for all you knew.” The Queen looked at Elizabeth searchingly .

“All I saw was a girl in peril, and a man without scruples trying to take her. I thought not if she was a princess or a pauper. But as I told your son, I did what most would have done in the same situation,” Elizabeth claimed.

“And as our son told you, nine and ninety out of a hundred men would not have done what you did, never mind persons of our own sex.”

“I would expect more ladies would. After all is it not us, the supposed weaker sex, who endure the travails of childbirth? How many men would be able to survive the pain a woman endures to bring life into the world?” Elizabeth looked at the queen. “Speaking of bravery and fortitude, has not Her Majesty brought fifteen children into the world?”

“Yes, we have. You may have a point there, Lady Elizabeth.” The Queen looked past Elizabeth to Jane. “We heard your sister could be impertinent. We heartily approve. We wish to bestow our approval of your fiancé; Lord Hilldale is a fine man. We invite all of you to join us in the family dining parlour for dinner. Then we can congratulate Miss Mary on her forthcoming marriage to Lord Henderson.” The Queen turned back to Elizabeth. “We hear a certain tall, dark, and handsome man from Derbyshire is paying court to you, Lady Elizabeth.”

“Nothing is official, Your Majesty,” Elizabeth insisted.

“Yet,” Jane added smugly.

“If he proposes, we will speak to him,” the Queen stated cryptically, not elaborating. She looked at Elizabeth again. “We thank you for receiving us informally. You have no idea the size of the favour you did for this old lady, it would have broken our heart had Emma come to harm.” The Queen stood, as did Jane and Elizabeth.

Before the sisters could curtsy, the Queen approached Elizabeth and pulled her into a warm hug and bestowed a kiss to her cheek. “I will never forget what you have done for me, my son, and for Maria,” she whispered to Elizabeth as a tear rolled down her cheek. Elizabeth was shocked the Queen spoke to her as she did, dropping the use of the third person she usually used, but rather as a grandmother and not a sovereign.

She allowed Jane to curtsy to her and then swept out of the sitting room. Neither Jane nor Elizabeth moved or said a word for some time after the Queen departed.