Chapter 17

While onboard the ship, the ladies were encouraged to stay in their cabins for safety, but Elizabeth insisted on staying above decks and staring out from the railing. Eventually, Will came to her and inquired if anything was the matter. "You would think I would be overjoyed to be going to Kitty. But… though it is probably only right that I go see what has been done, I find that I am apprehensive about seeing what has been wrought by us in Ireland."

"Elizabeth, what on earth do you mean?" Darcy asked, feeling alarmed.

"You have seen the newspapers. How the army is going to end the famine by ceasing to remove foodstuffs and crops from Ireland, Will." At his nod, she continued, "Have you not asked yourself what they were doing removing crops and food from a nation that has been starving to death for four years?" Her husband began to look shocked as she went on. "Well, the question did occur to me, and so I wrote to Her Majesty about it when I read it in The Times. Her reply came a few days before the express. She ended it, Will, when it was brought to her attention. Everyone knew that there was a terrible crop failure, an infection of the potato. It was apparently an open secret that the government was using the crop failures as an excuse for the regiments to take the healthy crops from the very people that were starving to death while growing them, never leaving them enough to keep themselves fed. They saw it as a solution to the overpopulation in Ireland, and the deaths could be blamed on the famine. One politician actually argued that they could not cease yet, that enough Irish had not yet died to solve the overpopulation crisis. Our army has been taking all the foodstuffs from Ireland for years, and watching them die in the streets, all the while calling them lazy. And taking the spoils home on ships that I built, or refurbished."

Darcy gasped as Elizabeth continued. "Do you know how much money we have made from those ships, Will?" Her husband nodded, turning green. He kept abreast of all his wife's business, just as she did with all the business of Pemberley.

"You do not only build those ships, Elizabeth. You build and repair ships all over England. For the navy, for importers, and merchants. They go all over the world. You did not do this, Elizabeth. You did not set out to build ships that would go out pirating," Darcy attempted to reason.

"I still profited, Will. We became millionaires nearly overnight when I signed that contract with the navy, and have only made more and more since. It makes me wish to sell the shipyards entirely! I have no wish to be associated with them anymore. I can make more with locomotives."

"I thought you wished to do both," Darcy said.

"I did, but now I am less sure," Elizabeth answered, not meeting his eye.

"And when some government elsewhere begins to use railroads to commit a terrible crime, as will surely happen one day, will you turn away from locomotives as well?" Will asked, turning her chin toward him. "You did not do this, Elizabeth. Perhaps we owe some restitution. We can still attempt to help now. And when we go, we will learn what is needed. You will have firsthand knowledge of how to help."

Elizabeth calmed a bit, knowing he was correct. She might as well have blamed the horses for killing Christopher, if she was going to blame her shipyards for the famine. But Will was correct. She must do something to help now. She was ready to learn what she must do.

*****

The voyage took more than twelve hours, and poor Mrs Bennet was quite green and weak with sickness by the end of it. She would not, however, hear of being left at the hotel with Mrs Hill. She would go and be with her family when her daughter was found. She travelled the rest of the way holding a bucket in her lap in the carriage. She ate and drank nothing, as it would only come back up again. But she made nary a complaint, because she was going to her dear Kitty.

Elizabeth cringed each time they passed through a town. She could not bear to see the starving people in the streets. She cringed at how afraid the people were of the officers, who seemed to be everywhere. After a day and a half on the roads, where few of the travellers could bear to eat while watching what was happening around them, they finally arrived at Wicklow Edge. Elizabeth and Darcy were both ill from all they had seen. There were two grooms on horses waiting when they arrived. One bade them follow him to Glenholme, the home of the magistrate, while the other took off ahead at a gallop to alert the house.

Every heart was in every throat as they made their way to Glenholme. Absolutely everyone was apprehensive. They were all raging to see Kitty, but would it truly be her, or would it be another contrivance? Or, almost as bad, what if she were profoundly altered, or hurt, or had been abused? What if she had been starved along with most of this poor country? Fears abounded inside the carriage with the women, but Elizabeth reminded them, the letter said she had been treated kindly. What was kindly? Mrs Bennet wanted to know. Kind would have been to leave her at home with her mother, she sniffed.

And then suddenly they were there, and Kitty was there, looking rather bruised, but smiling radiantly and holding hands with Colonel Brandon! Kitty positively howled with tears as she realised every one of her sisters and mother had rushed across England and the icy waters to fetch her. And Jane! Jane and Charles were here! Kitty had often wondered if Jane had ever returned to England, or if their travels would be successful, and here was little Catherine Elizabeth! Kitty held the little one and sobbed over her, hardly believing her family was here, and she was going home. Even Mrs Hill had come!

The moment between Mrs Bennet and Kitty was the most poignant. Only they had been there that terrible day. Hill might have been in the house, but only Mrs Bennet and Kitty had been in the drawing room with the terrible man who spoke in her father's voice and wore her father's clothes, yet seemed to have become the very devil himself. Only they remembered that terrifying moment when Kitty had been dragged from the drawing room screaming for her mother. Mrs Bennet heard it play over and over every night in her nightmares and was certain she would never recover.

The party was finally introduced to their host and his family, and Elizabeth put her hostess at ease as they entered the house. The magistrate and his wife were generosity itself for taking them in under the circumstances. Elizabeth assured the woman that any accommodations whatsoever would be eminently acceptable and appreciated. The party sat, and Brandon and Kitty made everyone aware of the events that occurred since the death of the Earl of Clive.

The ladies exclaimed over the frightening parts, and the gentlemen marvelled over the courage of the maid. Kitty informed Elizabeth that Corrigan must return to England as her maid, and Brandon had gone over with Wilson to look over Mr Corrigan's farm. The man was obviously a hard worker, though he had little to work with due to his circumstances, and Brandon had offered the man a tenancy on his estate as well as passage to England. Charles had promised work for his older sons at Tatton Hall, if they cared to leave their current employment to follow their family. Circumstances in Ireland being what they were, there was little chance that they would not accept.

The magistrate then turned the matter to business. The bodies of the dead had been removed from Wicklow Edge. The footman had been buried, and the earl's body was in the rectory, there being no family or servants to sit with it at Wicklow Edge. The earl was attended by the curates. The magistrate had alerted the earl's daughter-in-law, and had arranged for the local solicitor to visit the following day, after the earl's funeral. The daughter-in-law was not expected to attend, travel was difficult and dangerous in Ireland now. The solicitor would send a clerk to visit her to inform her of any mention in the earl's will.

The following day, the men attended the funeral. Later, Elizabeth and Darcy sat with Kitty, who the solicitor had insisted be present, and Brandon, whom Kitty insisted be present, as the will was read. The Earl of Clive's line had ended. He had no other sons, and there were no nephews or male cousins, so the title would revert to the crown. None of his properties were entailed, and so the will was set forth as such. The earl owned three decent sized estates in Ireland, in counties Wicklow, Kildare, and Limerick, one estate in England, houses in London and Dublin, and there was a fortune of just over two hundred thousand pounds. His daughter-in-law had already inherited the estate she lived on from her husband, and her portion was now secure. Each of his three granddaughters were left an estate in Ireland, and fifty thousand pounds. Kitty was left the English estate of six thousand a year, Shannon View, near a sea town called Sanditon, his house in London, and fifty thousand pounds. There was also a small bequest for Conor; Nancy received one hundred pounds, and other small amounts and trinkets were left to old friends, neighbours, and assorted retainers. Kitty was aghast that he had left her anything at all. "Why would he leave me anything? I do not understand."

The solicitor pulled off his spectacles and polished them with his handkerchief, considering what he was about to say carefully and took a breath. "Lady Clive, his lordship was not only my client, he was also my oldest friend, and we shared a tutor as boys. I have known him as long as anyone. A few months ago, when he updated his will was when I learned of your existence, he hid you exceedingly well. I have been in this house a hundred times since you arrived, and never suspected your presence. Even the magistrate did not know of your existence, and feared you were an imposter until I assured him that I knew of you.

"Clive shared with me that he had no desire to marry you. His first union was not a love match at first, but soon became one. His wife, a wonderful and kind woman, was irreplaceable. But his daughter-in-law stood to lose nearly everything. He could have just sent his son's family to another of his estates, and given his daughter-in-law an income, and might have done, but the Duke of Leeds was a ruthless man. Clive did not put it past him to drown you somewhere if he refused him. He knew that if he took you, he could at the very least ensure your safety and comfort.

"I asked him then, why did he not return you to your family when he knew the duke was dead, but he was ashamed and embarrassed to have been part of the affair, and feared your sister might ruin him somehow. He had been through much since he lost his wife. All he wished for was peace, and not to be disturbed until he joined her. It was selfish, but that is why he never sent you home or sent your letters. He did not wish his last years to be a torment or an embarrassment. He had not believed he would live so long, in any case. But he left you this legacy in acknowledgement of his debt. He wished to know you would live in comfort, regardless of your family's wealth. He told me he hoped you would accept the legacy, for he had stolen a piece of your youth, and he felt he owed it to you, even though he had tried to treat you with kindness and respect."

"And he did. I cannot deny it," Kitty bowed her head, in tears for the man she had barely even spoken to. "I never wanted to marry him, and every moment I was in his house, all I wanted was to go home. But he was always kind. Never imposed himself upon me in any way. He was generous with books and art supplies and anything he thought might bring me comfort. He even educated my maid so that she might play the instrument for my amusement. I was rather unkind to him. I believe I barely spoke a hundred words to him in all of two years."

Later that day, Elizabeth walked with Kitty in the garden. Kitty informed Elizabeth that she intended to marry Colonel Brandon. "You have a dowry for me, do you not? Perhaps it is no longer necessary, Lizzy, considering my new fortune. You should keep it for your own children. How much can one woman spend?" Elizabeth had advised her to keep the properties, and Kitty had decided she would, and for now the properties would be managed by Montague.

"Will Colonel Brandon not have anything to say about that?" Elizabeth asked.

Kitty smiled. Two days before, while they had waited for Nancy and Wilson to return with her father and the magistrate, she and Colonel Brandon had much to speak of in the gardens at Wicklow Edge. After listening intently to Brandon as he poured out the story of her family's search for her, Kitty had taken his hand and asked, "Christopher, will you marry me?"

When he had gaped at her in shock, she squeezed his hand and said, "I know we have barely courted, but I felt something when I was with you before I went away. Every time I have dreamed of being rescued, I was saved by you. And now you are here. I thought perhaps you felt it too. I thought it might be why you came. Perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps you are only being a good friend to my sister and brother."

"How can you say that?" Brandon gasped. "Of course. Of course I feel it. Of course I save you every night in my dreams. But are you sure? It is too soon. You should wait a while. You were supposed to have your season. I was prepared to wait. Your sister-"

"Will not be happy, I know," Kitty chuckled. "We shall have to have a long engagement to soothe her. Six months will need to be enough, though. It would be lovely indeed to be an autumn bride at Pemberley, do you not agree?"

Brandon agreed wholeheartedly, and Kitty assured him that she had no desire for something as silly as a season now. Who has a season after being married for two years? It was too ridiculous for words. She was now twenty-one, she could marry as she liked.

Kitty related the content of their conversation to Elizabeth and assured her, she had already spoken to Brandon, and he was not expecting her to come with one hundred thousand pounds. Brandon was wealthy in his own right. Delaford was an estate of eight thousand a year, and there was also a house in town, and two smaller estates for younger sons. He also had a generous fortune in the percents, and Kitty would come with an enormous dowry. They had agreed the London house left by Clive would be leased and might one day be given to a younger son. For now, Shannon View in Sanditon would be kept vacant for their use, and the Brandons would now have a seaside retreat as well as a country one.

After hearing Kitty's rationalisations carefully, Elizabeth assured her that she had no intention of keeping her dowry. "How could that possibly be fair, Kitty? I shall treat you as I have each of my sisters, and of course you should not forfeit your dowry just because you inherited something."

Elizabeth met the next morning with the local vicar, the Catholic priest, the magistrate, and his wife, regarding what was needed most, and how the people of Ireland could be helped. She was obliged to chastise the vicar when he was less than gracious about the priest's attendance, and then threw him out altogether when she learned he was using food as a way to make Catholics convert their faith. Se railed at the man, and vowed to write to his bishop. She made lists of the needs of the people and began planning what she would do when she returned to England.

She was grateful that Captain Harrison had insisted that they take two covered wagons full of food with them. A portion of the first wagon had been distributed to people along their journey. Elizabeth was grateful now that she could replace what their party was consuming, because she knew their hosts had been unprepared for such a large party of visitors. What remained in the second wagon was distributed to their hosts as well as the tenants upon their property, and the tenants at Wicklow Edge, in the hopes of sustaining them until the earl's granddaughter or her guardian took charge of the estate. The housekeeper at Glenholme had taken Mrs Bennet's travelling sickness in hand, giving her a tonic that helped tremendously. The kind woman had given them more than enough for the journey home, and the receipt for future travels. Mrs Bennet felt much better by the time they left Glenholme, and suffered very little on the return journey. She was excited that she now would be much more inclined to travel extensively, and Elizabeth and Jane promised to provide the means for her to do so. Elizabeth had already gifted her a carriage, and she was still using the horses in Elizabeth's stables, but Charles and Jane promised her a handsome matched pair of her own, and the funds to maintain them and employ her own groom.

*****

Darcy had informed Elizabeth that since they were already in Ireland, he wished to visit his estate there. Elizabeth agreed wholeheartedly. If there were people they were responsible for in this accursed country, they must be sure they had what they needed with their own eyes. Darcy had known about the famine since the beginning, of course, and had been sending funds to his Irish steward to ensure his tenants were fed.

What they found when they arrived at Hazeldene in County Kildare was not an estate provided for by its master. Hazeldene was supposed to be a thriving and extensive horse breeding estate, whose steeds were under contract to be purchased by the militia, yet there was not a single horse to be found. There was supposed to be a fully staffed manor, yet all they found at the house was one elderly housekeeper whom Darcy had pensioned off years ago. The loyal retainer had returned to the manor from her little cottage when the current housekeeper and servants had abandoned the place.

Darcy, his face forbidding, mounted his horse with his rifle and went with Richard, Brandon, and several outriders to the steward's house. The man was found in a house full of food, with a trunk full of money for the horses he had illegally sold, and the sale of so many had lined his pockets handsomely. He had kept all of the money meant to purchase hay and oats for the horses, all the wages meant to pay the stable hands and house staff, all the money for food for the tenants. The horses were long gone. The steward had been planning to load his carriage with trunks of food and money and flee, and Darcy had come just in time to catch him.

They went to the farm of a longtime trusted tenant, hoping for an account of what had happened and when. What they found was a man half out of his mind with starvation, whose wife and two of his children were dead, and who lunged at Darcy, raving and understandably murderous. The man had been subdued, and word was sent back to the house to send for food to be distributed to the tenants. Elizabeth had realised before their arrival that what they had brought would not be enough, and had sent a man and some outriders back to Dublin when the family was on their way to Hazeldene, with a request that Captain Harrison procure whatever was available in the way of foodstuffs and send it back to them. Elizabeth sent what they had, with a message that more would arrive hopefully very soon.

Darcy had to send for the militia, because the majority of the horses that had been stolen had already been paid for by the army. That meant the steward had stolen the army's horses, not Darcy's. Stealing a private horse would get you hung. Stealing dozens of steeds from the army would get you hung twice over. The colonel did not even hesitate. There was no hearing, no trial, no tribunal. The steward was hung forthwith, and the militia began to be very intimidating. Darcy owed the army horses, and horses, the army would have immediately, or there would be consequences. The colonel refused to accept the money in the trunks as payment, claiming that it was "evidence" and confiscating it. The colonel was emboldened by having been among the Irish for so long, that he forgot he was attempting to intimidate an English peer, not an Irish one.

Darcy was ready to write a bank draft for the amount the militia was owed, but the regiment did not need money, they needed horses. Eventually, after the colonel had attempted to extort Darcy for five times the amount the army had paid, and even began to suggest Darcy might be hung along with his steward, the two colonels with Darcy had put on their booming military voices and began to intimidate the colonel in return, promising to contact General Bradley, and that Her Majesty would hear of this. For a moment Darcy thought the over puffed young colonel would hang the lot of them, but eventually the colonel realised he could not summarily hang an earl and his friends, and then expect the war office to believe they had been stealing horses on their own land. He left Hazeldene, making threats and promising to return with a battalion of soldiers to imprison the Darcys for their crimes.

When Elizabeth learned of this, she immediately insisted that the entire family board their carriages and leave immediately. Darcy had baulked, insisting he must stay to help his tenants, but Elizabeth promised him that their servants were returning with wagons of food and that they could send more help when they returned to English soil, but she felt unsafe in a country full of soldiers that felt empowered to take people and hang them, or shoot them in the street and ask questions later, if they even asked questions at all. If the colonel's regiment returned seeking excessive reparations, Elizabeth had no intention of her family being anywhere near Ireland. Richard advised Darcy to listen to her. He and Brandon had sold their commissions. Their voices boomed like the colonels they had been, and they retained their titles out of respect for their service, but they had no more military power. Richard confided in Darcy that he was troubled by the accounts of the lawlessness and unaccountability of the regiments here. "It makes me quite grateful to have sold my commission."

The family immediately boarded their carriages. Poor Jane and Mrs Bennet were overcome with exhaustion, but the family headed back to Dublin. They met their servant on the road early on the second day, and instructed him to take some more of the outriders with him to distribute the food to the tenants, and gave him funds for passage home. The Darcys were returning forthwith to England and Elizabeth would not delay. After two days on the road, the Darcys arrived in Dublin and presented themselves to Captain Harrison. Elizabeth thanked the Lord, she had pushed the grooms and horses relentlessly, but she was determined to get away from this place before something dreadful happened to her family.

The family made themselves comfortable in their cabins as they awaited the tide. Shortly before they were to sail, there was a knock upon the door of Elizabeth and Darcy's cabin. As she opened the door, Captain Harrison was there, looking apologetic and afraid, with two armed soldiers behind him. He coughed, "Lady Darcy, I beg your pardon, but there is a regiment here that says that Lord Darcy is a fugitive from justice, ma'am."

"Do they have a warrant, then?" Elizabeth challenged.

"They do not need warrants here, ma'am. The citizens of Ireland are beneath such concerns. The army does what it wants here, with very little oversight or consequences. They have boarded the ship, and I have no means to prevent them," the captain said, his voice shaking.

Elizabeth screamed as the officers pushed her and the captain aside and entered the cabin in search of Darcy. More soldiers filled the ship, pushing into cabins, shoving the terrified Bennet ladies aside roughly with their rifles. Richard and Colonel Brandon were quickly subdued by the officers and their rifles. Darcy came forward and said, "Hiding is beneath me. Do what you must, gentlemen."

Darcy was dragged from the ship and put in irons. Elizabeth pushed forward and demanded to speak with the colonel, then demanded to know by what right he took custody of a peer.

"Peer or no Peer, he is a fugitive from justice. He and his steward stole fifty horses that the army paid for, and stealing horses is a hanging offence. Then to make matters worse, he fled." The colonel said pompously.

"The horses were stolen by the steward. You knew that. We were the ones who reported the crime. He stole from us as well, and our tenants, and you were more than repaid when you seized and kept the trunks of money and food from his house. We were returning to London to discuss the matter with the war office. Our contract is with them, not your regiment. You have not the authority to decide such matters, nor to determine the amount of repayment. My husband attempted to pay you, even after you seized the money, and you decided you must extort him. Five times what had been originally paid!" Elizabeth raged.

"And he will wish for the rest of his short life that he had paid it, instead of fleeing the country," the colonel retorted arrogantly.

"You wanted the money. I will pay it." Elizabeth announced. As she wrote the bank draft she muttered and swore angrily, and then handed it to the colonel. "Thank you, Lady Darcy," the colonel said cordially. "Take him away!" He shouted to his men.

"I've just paid you! You are holding a bank draft for over nineteen thousand pounds! You have what you wanted!" Elizabeth screamed hysterically, fighting and shoving to reach her husband.

"There is no fine or forgiveness for running from justice, Lady Darcy. Lord Darcy must face a trial," the young colonel smirked. Richard and Brandon swore and cursed the officer as they were held down by his men.

"Then I will go with him," Elizabeth insisted, pushing herself forward.

"No, you will NOT!" Darcy screamed, fighting and struggling against his bonds. "Elizabeth, get back on the ship! Elizabeth, I ABSOLUTELY INSIST!"

"I will not permit him to go without me. If he is guilty of a crime, then so am I," Elizabeth insisted, her voice trembling.

"I care not. Take her then. We will charge her as well. Horse Stealing, Obstruction of Justice, and Bribing an Official! Take her with him!" Colonel Davis barked with a laugh. Brandon and Richard fought savagely, along with the captain, and the ladies shrieked and cried on the deck.

"Captain! Get them home and return for us!" Elizabeth cried. "Richard! Get to the general!"

Darcy raged and scolded Elizabeth as they were dragged away. They were taken to the military barracks, and put into a stone cell. A room the likes of which Elizabeth had never seen in her life, but she sat down quietly on a wooden bench, grateful it was only the two of them in the cell, as her husband spun about and turned on her.

"How could you!" Darcy shouted. "How could you do this!" he paced back and forth across the room rapidly, his head in his hands. "I have stood quietly for years, and never once imposed my will upon you, Elizabeth, but the one time! The one time I made a demand! How could you? What will you do if they decide to hang us? The chances of us being allowed to go free now are non-existent, that colonel knows we will ruin him if we return home! Who will raise our children?" he bellowed in a justifiably terrible rage.

"Mary and Richard, of course. As we put in our wills," Elizabeth whispered. She believed her husband was correct, and she might have gone too far this time. She could not get him out if she were in here with him, though she trusted Richard's and her captain's connections. Banks knew who to speak to in Liverpool as well. Her shipyards were always crawling with officers, naval men, admirals, generals, and men from the government, many of whom lived or worked in Liverpool. Her shipyard and Banks would know who was nearby, and could be contacted. It might not help, however, if the ship had to first cross the channel and come back. They might be hanged before help arrived.

But she could not bear to have Will pulled away from her. She must go where he went, even to the noose. She sat quietly and shivered on the bench. Darcy stood as close as possible to the small slit in the wall that provided some light and air, arms crossed, and ignored her for some time before he gave up. He came over and put his coat around her shoulders, then sat next to her on the bench and held her. They did not speak, just sat together quietly, attempting to bring one another comfort, for several hours. After nearly twelve hours, an officer brought them some bread and water, and left again without speaking to them. They slept upright upon the bench, leaning upon each other. Elizabeth refused to lay upon the straw in the corner, fearing rats.

Nearly twenty-seven hours after they had been taken, in an office in another part of the barracks, a judge was pacing back and forth in front of Colonel Davis. "You cannot mean to tell me that you have Lord and Lady Darcy of all people in a cell here? What are the charges? Are you crazy, man? Of course, the other judges refused. You are ruined, boy! Have you any idea who the woman is? I cannot bring a charge against her. Where is she? Consider the charges dropped, you idiot. Apologise and let her go, and pray she doesn't destroy you. You are finished, boy. In fact, I have no wish to be ruined with you. Where are they? Do you realise we have no ships to sail upon without this woman? She's built or refitted the entire damned naval fleet!"

Ten minutes later, the door to the cell opened and the judge came in. "Lord and Lady Darcy. I beg your pardon. I have no idea how you came to be here, but allow me to have you conducted to my home. You may rest safely there until you obtain passage back to England."

Elizabeth and Darcy followed the man gratefully as he ranted about the colonel's idiocy. "Whatever will his general say, that's what I want to know. Of course it's impossible, everything he said. No one would believe it in a thousand years. What do you mean you paid him? You paid an exorbitant sum that he demanded, and then he arrested you anyway? Heaven and earth. That boy is finished. What are these regiments coming to? This is what comes from promoting these young bucks too high!"

The judge put Elizabeth and Darcy in his own carriage, accompanied by his servant, and sent them to his home with a letter for his wife. Then he called for a pair of guards to apprehend the colonel. His general would have questions about the money, and there might be charges. The man was taken into custody before leaving the barracks, and placed in the same cell Elizabeth and Darcy had been held in.

Elizabeth and Darcy spoke little as they were plunged into baths, fed, and put to bed. The events of the last days had been beyond shocking, and the fear of hanging, combined with their conditions, had exhausted them. Having eaten little since entering the country had not helped their strength. When Elizabeth eventually woke twelve hours later, Will was sitting next to her bed, as he had been so many times since they wed. He was impeccably shaved, dressed, and waiting. Wilson was downstairs, he related, and Richard and Banks had returned with an admiral and a major general.

Colonel Davis had been arrested. Finally, had the reports of him burning manor houses and estates to the ground and then claiming the executed owners had obstructed justice and prevented him from carrying out his duties been investigated. Upon learning that Elizabeth's bank draft had been deposited in the colonel's bank, they investigated further and learned that he had extorted large sums of money from those other landowners as well. There would be a military hearing, and the colonel would hang.

When Elizabeth finally boarded her ship again, Captain Harrison told her, "Sadly, it will change nothing. He is not the first, nor will he be the last. The army abuses their position relentlessly in Ireland. He will be made an example of because he was exposed. Then they will continue to look the other way. If the judge had listened to him, you might have been hanged before we could return for you, but fortunately, he feared your title, and the anger of Her Majesty. There are many such as the colonel here."

Elizabeth and Darcy's family had waited for them in Liverpool, and Elizabeth insisted upon starting for home immediately. They had been gone long enough, and Elizabeth wanted to see her children. Jane had been travelling with her infant for too long, and Elizabeth could not wait to bring Kitty home to Pemberley.