Not entirely happy with this chapter but our story is winding down and loose ends needed to be tied. There is a huge possibility that this scene will be rewritten but I hope you enjoy it.
I thought I should shine a light at the end of the darkness.
"Are you ready to die, Lizzy?"
"Not particularly, no" Elizabeth replied calmly as she watched Jane walk toward her with a pitchfork.
She had just 'sent' Davies to fetch her a shawl from the house and stood waiting by the tree Travis was hidden behind. She was not scared. She was angry. This wanton harpy had brazenly come to her home where she was told never to return and offered herself to her husband and now she had to leave her father's bedside for the first time since he woke to deal with her.
"If you wanted to live you should not have sent your guard away. You should not have ever returned and thrown us from our home, and you most assuredly should not have married my duke!"
"Your duke? Jane dear, why would your duke marry another?"
"He did not marry you by choice, as you well know."
"Did he not? Why ever would he marry if not by choice?"
"I am sure you compromised him or threatened him in some way."
"I am not Fanny Lewis, dear. I have no reason to trap a man."
"He would have never married you otherwise. He cares for me!"
"Does he?" she asked in feigned surprise. "Did my husband tell you he cares for you? Why, that dashing rake!"
"He does not have to say it, I know it to be true."
"That is singular. My husband always tells me how much he cares for me. He is not open with a lot of people but when he cares for someone he tells them. If he has not told you, how do you know?"
"He stared at me."
"In disgust."
"He spoke with me."
"Unwillingly and mockingly."
"He returned for me."
"To throw you and your vile family from my home."
"He brought his sister to meet me."
"We rarely travel without her."
"Oh hush Lizzy! You think you are so clever! You are nothing to me! The duke cares for me. I knew it the first time we met and if it were not for you we would be married by now. I told him I would get him out of his wretched marriage to you and he said nothing to stop me. I know he wants to rid himself of you."
"He was astounded by your brazenness and your feeble mind. He believes you are unstable and looking upon you now, I have to agree."
"Lies! You have always been jealous of me."
"Oh Jane you make me laugh. Of what is there to be jealous of? Your substandard looks, your vulgar mother, your silly sisters, your wantonness, your simple mind, your spiteful ways? What is there? You will never be considered more handsome than I or my sister, my mother was a beautiful, kind hearted, intelligent woman that was loved by all she met.
"My sister is one of the most thoughtful, insightful, sweetest persons I have ever met, I have offered my favors to no one besides my husband after we were wed, I am well read and considered intelligent and witty by all, and the only spite I feel is when I am wronged by someone. Have I forgotten anything? Of what am I jealous of dear Jane? What do you have that I do not? I even have your duke."
Jane had no response. Elizabeth had never shown any jealousy towards her and if she were truthful with herself she knew there was no reason to. But that mattered not. There would be nothing left of Lizzy when she was done.
"The duke will be mine as we both so dearly want. You could never satisfy him. As soon as I am finished here I will go and bring him real pleasure."
"The only pleasure my husband would ever derive from your person is watching it hang from a rope. He despises you and your vile family for what you did to his beloved wife and if it were his decision you would be in the tower right now instead of threatening me. My husband loves me, dear. He married me because he wanted me as his duchess.
"He loved me when there was not much to love and he loves me even more now. He does not care for you. He cannot stand to look upon you. He thinks you are a vapid, useless, spiteful, unstable hussy. You are a hateful, jealous, little wanton whore and my husband would never come near you."
And then it was very quickly over. Elizabeth was pulled behind the tree as Jane charged toward her with her pitchfork raised in anger at her words. Travis jumped out and pushed Jane to the ground before she could get closer and she let out a bloodcurdling scream as the colonel and the rest of the hidden men ran out to secure her.
Elizabeth was held in her husband's arms in a crushing hug. He had taken Travis' place behind the tree. He knew Travis would protect her with his life but he trusted no one else to pull his wife to safety if Miss Lewis got too close.
He quickly turned his wife in his arms and buried her head in his chest so she could not see Jane. She had fallen onto the pitchfork when Travis pushed her to the ground and she was lying on the ground still screaming in pain, bleeding profusely and cursing his wife. She soon stopped screaming as she passed out. Travis bent to get a closer look, he checked her pulse, and then shook his head at the duke.
Jane Lewis' jealous delusions had killed her.
The duke sighed in disgust. What a waste of life. He quickly looked down at his wife as he felt her start to tremble. Her face was pale and she was sweating. Then she fainted in his arms.
His heart nearly stopped as he gathered his wife in his arms and raced for his horse shouting orders at his men. He handed his wife to the colonel as he mounted his horse. He wrapped an arm around her after Richard handed her up to him, grabbed his reins, and raced back to the house as fast as he dared.
The colonel had the men secure the scene while Jeffries went for the magistrate. Sir William came with the undertaker and the local doctor. Once she was officially pronounced dead the scene was reviewed and statements were taken as Jane Lewis was removed from the woods by wagon.
The colonel offered to join Sir William when he went to speak with the Lewises. He was really worried about Elizabeth and gave orders to find him as soon as the doctor saw her, but he also wanted to observe their reactions and see if they too posed a danger to his cousin.
"Sir William, what brings you here after your treachery of allowing us to be removed from our home" Mrs. Lewis asked rudely before turning her eye to the colonel.
"And with such company" she snarked as the colonel bit back a smile.
"Mrs. Lewis I have the great displeasure of informing you that there has been an accident."
"An accident? What kind of accident? At Longbourn? Is Mr. Bennet dead?" she asked hopefully to the disgust of the two gentleman.
She just made Sir William's job easier.
"At Oakham Mount, madam. Your daughter, Miss Jane Lewis has perished."
"WHAT?! What are you saying? My Jane? My beautiful Jane? How? What has happened?" she yelled as her daughters hugged each other and cried.
"Miss Lewis fell on a pitchfork and died from her wounds."
"A pitchfork?! That is impossible. Why would my Jane be near a pitchfork? How did this happen?"
"She was running with the pitchfork before she fell and impaled herself on it."
"Why would she be runn…That Lizzy! She did this did she not? She killed my daughter! My Jane would never have a pitchfork. Did she take it from that wretched girl who was trying to kill her?"
"Madam, I am sure Sir William was trying not to hurt your sensibilities but I have no such sentiment when you disrespect my cousin in my presence and accuse her so unjustly. Your daughter followed Her Grace to Oakham Mount just as has she has been doing for over a fortnight."
"Why would she follow that…"
"Once my cousin's guard stepped away from her your daughter came out of hiding brandishing a pitchfork and threatening to kill the duchess" he continued as if she never said anything.
"She raised the pitchfork and ran towards my cousin in an attempt to harm her. Her husband grabbed his wife out of harm's way while another of Her Grace's guards tried stopping your daughter from getting closer to her. Your daughter then fell on the pitchfork that she herself brought with her in an attempt to murder a member of the royal family. If she had not died from her wounds she would have been strung up by the end of the week."
"How dare you?!"
"How dare I what, Madam? Tell you the truth about your daughter and her murderous intent or tell you the consequences of her actions had she lived? The Duke of Devonshire warned you and your family what would happen if you did not listen to his orders. My cousin granted you a reprieve after your horrible treatment of her, but not only are you not repentant, you dare to blame her for the consequences you face as a result of your actions.
"You should have been thanking His Grace for saving you from the hangman but instead your daughter tries to kill his wife and take her place! I suggest you learn a lesson from the loss of your daughter's life by her own hands and stay away from my family and give Her Grace, the Duchess of Devonshire, her due respect, Madam. Good day!" finished a very pissed off colonel.
He had to get away from there before his hands slipped around her neck. How dare she try to blame this on Elizabeth as if they had not put her through enough? She had better pray his cousin was well or he may be back with another pitchfork.
Elizabeth had awaken but was not very lucid as her husband placed her in her bed before being chased out by his sisters so they could prepare her for the doctor who was thankfully already at Longbourn checking on her father. Half an hour later he was pacing outside his wife's door as the doctor came out.
"Doctor, how does my wife?"
"You wife will be just fine sir but she does need to rest, she is very fatigued. Please go to her and I shall wait here to answer any questions you may have after you have spoken with her."
The duke was through the door before he could finish.
"Dearest, tell me. The doctor said you were fatigued but I know there has to be more."
"Fitzwilliam, I have been ill for quite a while as you must know, even before we left London."
He nodded. He knew she had been trying to hide it from him.
"Before we left London my godmother diagnosed me, but I thought she was wrong because we were so newly married, but oh my love she was right! I am carrying your child!"
The duke was stunned. He had imagined all of these horrible things that could be wrong with his wife and he was afraid it was some kind of internal injury from her abuse that was keeping her unwell. Never did the possibility of a babe enter his thoughts although her lack of courses should have been a sign.
"My Grace?" said Elizabeth, concerned for her quiet husband.
"I am to be a father?" he whispered in awe.
"You are to be a father, husband" she beamed.
"Oh my love, my heart! I love you so. Thank you! Thank you dearest! I am to be a father!"
He went and opened the door and yelled.
"I am to be a father!"
"Dearest! We should wait for the quickening to share our news" said an amused Elizabeth.
She could not fathom her husband's reaction. The Duke of Devonshire yelling down the hall indeed!
It was too late. Her sisters and the colonel, who had just returned, immediately ran into the room with congratulations as the duke left to speak with the doctor. The sisters gave her teary hugs and she asked Mary to go and see if her father had heard the joyful duke.
She hoped he had not because she had yet to tell him of her marriage and she wanted to tell him everything before sharing her news with him. She knew her father was still uneasy about her marriage and would not be at peace until he heard all.
A repentant duke returned and took her hand after everyone else had quit the room.
"I am sorry dearest. I was so very happy and wanted to shout our news to the world. Are you upset with me?"
"No my love. I am happy that you are so happy. It is only our family and possibly a servant or two" she teased.
"We shall wait for the quickening before sharing our news with anyone else. Based on my symptoms and the last time I had my courses the doctor said I should feel it within the next two months."
"And are you well? Is the babe well? The doctor said it was the shock of what happened and your fatigue that caused you to faint. You also have not been eating much, dearest. We must be careful with your health."
"My stomach has been upset and I have not had much of an appetite. The doctor said dry toast and tea in the mornings before I rise should help settle my stomach and I should try and eat smaller meals throughout the day until the morning sickness gets better."
"As soon as you are comfortable with being away from your father again we shall remove to Pemberley."
"Fitzwilliam, what about the season? The Countesses said our wedding announcement caused an even bigger stir than they imagined and our return is highly anticipated. We have the dinner with the Queen and your family, our wedding ball, I need to establish myself in the ton, I have dinner parties to throw, we have…."
"Dearest, none of that is as important as your wellbeing and the babe and that is all I want you to think about. Your father is doing remarkably well. His speech has improved, he can move his limbs, he sits up for some of the day, he will be better very soon. He is rapidly improving by sheer will. You can tell how hard he is fighting to regain his health. He has been away too long and wants to return to his life. We shall help him as much as he can while making sure you are well. Noting else matters."
"But Fitzwilliam, we planned on bringing the girls out soon. We can wait a few years to bring Georgie out but Mary will be seven and ten…"
"Dearest" he interrupted.
"Has not Mary spoken to you about this? She does not really want to do a season and if she decides to do one she wants to wait on Georgie."
"No she has not spoken to me about it. When did she tell you this?"
"During one of our walks in the garden. Actually, we were discussing you and your wellbeing. We were concerned that you were feeling unwell and I brought up everything we needed to do in London and that is when she told me. Speak with her and you can make a decision."
"I will, but Fitzwilliam…"
"Dearest, please. I have been so worried about you. London is not a good place for you as you increase. The fortnight we spent there before coming here was very stressful and it will be much worse now that our marriage has been announced. We do not need to put ourselves on display for the ton. You made a splash at the theater and every outing following that. They know who you are and they know you are a formidable duchess. We have nothing to prove. Please."
"I understand, Fitzwilliam, but may I ask the Countesses for their opinion on us not doing the season before we make any decisions?"
"By all means, but I cannot promise that they will have an impact on my decision."
"Yes, Your Grace. I understand, Your Grace. As you wish, Your Grace. My pleasu…"
The duke stopped his wife's teasing mouth with a kiss.