"Where is she?" screeched Mrs. Bennet as she pushed her way inside her brother's townhouse.
"I beg your pardon?" said Mrs. Timbers, the housekeeper, at the unheard of behavior as the rest of her family followed in her wake.
"Where is my daughter?" the woman demanded as she threw her outerwear at her.
"Miss Lizzy?" Mrs. Timbers asked in confusion as the noise brought her master and mistress to the entryway where they still stood.
"Of course Miss Lizzy!" Mrs. Bennet screeched.
"What is the meaning of such disrespect, sister?" bellowed Mr. Gardiner as he came upon the untoward scene playing out in his foyer.
"Where is that Lizzy, brother? I know you are hiding her here. You never returned her to Longbourn as you led me to believe" she said in smug anger.
"I do not take your meaning, sister" Mr. Gardiner said as calmly as he could as he exchanged alarmed glances with his wife.
"Mr. Gardiner, we have come to believe that you are holding my intended against her will, and I, as her future husband and current guardian, have come to collect her" said Mr. Collins with authority once Mrs. Gardiner calmly led everyone to the drawing room and called for tea.
"I assure you nothing of the sort has happened, Mr. Collins" said Mr. Gardiner as he tried to rein in his anger at the officious man. "Why would I have a need to hold Lizzy against her will?"
"Because she most assuredly is anxious to return home and complete our nuptials. I cannot see her being absent for any other reason than that one" Mr. Collins said with his chest puffed out in self-importance.
"You think she is eager to become Mrs. Collins, and only our machinations are stopping her from fulfilling her wish, sir?" asked Mrs. Gardiner in amusement.
"Undoubtedly" Mr. Collins answered immediately, eliciting giggles from the silly Lydia and Kitty Bennet, who even they knew he was out of his senses to think thus.
"While I hate to contradict a guest in my home, your conjecture is entirely untrue. Anyone who knows my niece will tell you she cannot be kept from doing anything she truly wants to. So if it was her desire to become Mrs. Collins at her earliest convenience, not even I could stop her" said Mr. Gardiner, equally amused at the ridiculous statement
"What are you alleging, sir?" asked the outraged Mr. Collins.
"Only that we most certainly could not hold our niece against her will, even if we wanted to, which we most assuredly never would."
"You may not be holding her against her will, but you are most surely hiding her here. You never sent her home!" declared Mrs. Bennet.
"And why would we not when she is so eager to marry Mr. Collins, Fanny?" asked Mrs. Gardiner.
"Do not play coy with us, aunt!" sneered Jane, tired of the games and refusing to let Lizzy escape her fate as Mrs. Collins.
"You better hold your tongue and be careful of the way you speak to me, Miss Bennet" said Mrs. Gardiner in anger at the disrespectful chit.
"Especially in her own home" added her equally angry uncle.
"I apologize, I assure you I meant no offense" dissembled Jane as she switched on her innocent maiden act. "You cannot imagine how unbearable Longbourn is becoming due to Lizzy's continuous absence. We now know that she never came to Hertfordshire, and most certainly never took a post south. Can you not call her down so that we may end the strife, uncle?" she pleaded softly.
"I am sorry for your woes, niece" said Mr. Gardiner, not falling for her act, having heard of her despicable behavior from his wife as related to her by Lizzy. "But as we have stated numerous times before, Lizzy is not in our care and we most assuredly sent her back to Hertfordshire."
"Then you would not mind if we searched your home for her presence?" asked Mr. Collins smugly, determined not to leave town without his beautiful Elizabeth.
"Though that is a highly inappropriate request and I cannot but be insulted by it, if you feel that is necessary, by all means do so" said Mr. Gardiner immediately, wiping the smug smile from his face and causing Mary to gasp in surprise.
"She is not here, mama" Mary immediately countered, to everyone but the Gardiners' surprise.
"What do you mean, Mary? Of course she is. You were sure of it" said Mrs. Bennet in confusion.
"I was until my uncle so quickly and willingly allowed the search of his home. Do you not see that he would not have done so if she was indeed here? They obviously had no knowledge of our coming, so it is not as if she was here and then suddenly left as we arrived. No, Lizzy is not here and has not been here for a while" she concluded.
"You always were a clever one, Mary" said Mr. Gardiner, not surprised at the usually quiet girl's correct take on the situation.
"But not as clever as Lizzy" she answered bitterly. "Where is my sister? For she most certainly never came to Hertfordshire, and I am sure she is now cleverly hidden until her majority."
"Even if you were correct, what would compel me to divulge her location, if I indeed know it?" her uncle asked, now seeing no reason to try and continue the ruse they no longer believed.
Mary had no answer to his poignant question, even clever as she thought herself, as she looked around in confusion. With no recourse to change the current events, and knowing her sister would not be found until she wanted to be, she knew not what to do next though her mother would undoubtedly look to her for a solution to the problem. Her mother never gave her such notice before and Mary now wished she had never spoken up, no matter how sure she was that Lizzy could be found here. If she were honest, she did not truly wish her most intelligent and beautiful sister to be stuck in such a marriage, but her comfort came before any other consideration, and she did not want to lose her home. She had to help locate her before her majority.
"She is my intended and I demand that you tell me her whereabouts posthaste!" blustered Mr. Collins.
"And who are you to demand anything of me, Mr. Collins?" bellowed Mr. Gardiner, tired of the ridiculous situation. "I am not a resident of Longbourn at your mercy for a home to live in, and you most assuredly will show me my due respect in my home! I advised you that I have no knowledge of my niece's whereabouts, and my position on the matter has not changed. You and your party will leave my home immediately. You can forgive me for not offering you my hospitality after such blatant disrespect has been shown to my wife and I, I am sure" he finished as he helped his wife up from her seat and quickly left the shocked party behind. Leaving instructions to his footman to make sure they leave, he hastened his movements to speak with their carriage driver before he brought the equipage around.
FD****************************FD
Not far away at a more lavishly decorated townhome in a just as fashionable area, sat another dissatisfied party, lamenting someone's absence from town. Lord Fayette had brought his family to town with the last of this year's yields and grand plans for the season. This was the season where he would affect the marriage of his eldest child to his brother's hated eldest child, even if he had to set up a compromise. He could afford to wait a few years to marry his son to his brother's daughter since she was still yet young and under the careful watch of her brother. He knew once his daughter married into that branch of the Darcy family, his son's access to his future wife would increase. All he needed to do now was to get to work on his plan. Unfortunately, a huge rub had been thrown in his way. His nephew was not in town for the season.
His wife, Lady Fayette and his daughter had spotted the elusive duke at the opening night of the theater, though he did arrive late and left early to avoid socializing as was his usual wont. The duke had been seen around town since then, in the shops, a few times at his club, and even escorting his sister in Hyde Park, but no one had seen him for several weeks as news spread of him canceling invitations he had previously accepted before abruptly leaving town for reasons unknown.
"Father, what shall I do with myself now that my intended is no longer in town and no one knows if he has any plans to return?" whined the spoiled Lady Alicia Darcy, already in her fifth season and desperate for the marriage to her wealthy cousin, the Duke of Derbyshire, to take place after years of promises from her father.
"Of course he shall return, my dear" hedged her father, though he was uncertain. "Until he does, I give you leave to enjoy your last season as a single maiden."
"For you shall return next season as Her Grace, Alicia Darcy, Duchess of Derbyshire, Countess of Santon, Baroness Claymore, while I shall return as the newly minted Her Grace, Lois Darcy, Duchess of Dextile & Countess of Fayette, as I should have been for many years now" declared her mother in satisfaction.
"What makes you so sure my cousin shall hand over the dukedom into your control, father?" asked Lord Henley, though he knew his cousin would do no such thing even if he had the power to do it, which, unlike his father, he knew he did not.
"Would he not want his father to take his rightful place in the world by giving him the seat he was born to have? Why should your father continue on as an earl when he should rightly be the Duke of Dextile?" his mother answered instead.
"If His Grace wanted to bestow the dukedom upon my father, would not he have done so as soon as he ascended?" the viscount reasoned, wondering why such snobs as his parents, who thought they knew all there was to know about the peerage, were unaware that his cousin could not transfer his title to anyone. He most assuredly could not fathom why they did not believe him when he told them so, repeatedly. So he just stopped trying and laughed at their delusions behind their backs.
"Now that he will be his father, he will want to do no less" said his mother unreasonably.
"I care not as long as I take my rightful place as his duchess" said Lady Alicia.
"What a selfish thing to say, daughter" said her father in anger. "While I work hard towards your future, you have not a care for mine?" he asked with something akin to hurt in his voice as his favorite child so carelessly stated her opinion.
"Of course I do, father" she said contritely. "Forgive me for my inconsiderate speech, but I am just so frustrated with the situation. This is the season where you made a guarantee I would be married, and my intended has quit town."
"I assure you he will return, he most assuredly cannot plan to miss the season in its entirety, even if he is not as active in the Lords as he rightly should be" her father reassured her. "We will know the moment he returns" he added, alluding to the men he had always watching Darcy and Derbyshire Houses for any signs of his wayward nephew.
Lord Henley only shook his head at the nonsense. He had overheard his father's plans to resort to desperate measures if his cousin did not come around to his way of thinking and he was worried. He too eagerly awaited his cousins' return, though he hoped he would stay away so that his father would do nothing to bring shame upon their family when his plans ultimately failed. Only Henley awaited His Grace's return so that he could put him on his guard against his father and the man who envied him most in the world.