Chapter XXXVII.

Rosings Park, 25th September 1820.

When Richard visited Rosings Park in the year 1812 he had not expected to encounter a woman that would fit his idea of perfection. He was most surprised then when he was introduced to Miss Elizabeth Bennet.

Having established his inclination after only an and afternoon and an evening of acquaintance, he had not expected to find any faults. But find them he did and there were three. Firstly, Miss Bennet saw him as merely a pleasing acquaintance, perhaps a good friend, but nothing more, that much he had been certain of.

Secondly, she had no dowry, or indeed any hope of one coming to her. Inclined as he was to feel an attraction to her, Richard could not ignore this barrier. His position in life as the younger son of an Earl, with only his reputation as a Colonel of the army to his name, would seriously prevent any idea of marriage between himself and a lady of no financial fortune.

However cold and mercenary this might sound to the conscience, it had been a fact which Richard had been resigned to all his life, thus one he could not go back on now. In these times a marriage of pure love was rare and it was the general opinion that nothing came of such a match.

Thirdly and perhaps most importantly, his cousin was already in love with her.

Richard had come to this conclusion rather rapidly, although it had taken quite a lot from his cousin to actually admit to being so. To be confronted with the information that the Rev. Collins had married, to witness Darcy's somewhat puzzling and rather fleeting flicker of horror, only then to hear the actual name of the new mistress at the parsonage, and see his cousin utter a quiet sigh of relief upon hearing that, was somewhat mysterious in itself to begin with, as to his knowledge, neither of them had even met their Aunt's new curate.

When their Aunt then announced five minutes later that they had guests at the parsonage, the wife's friend and sister, the former of which being rather impertinent to Lady Catherine's mind, Richard had not expected Darcy to casually suggest that they went to pay their respects at the parsonage that instance.

After returning from this rather revealing visit, Richard had arrived at his three previously mentioned conclusions. Desiring only some proof to make certain the third, he took the liberty of trapping his cousin in the library, the one room that he could be sure that Lady Catherine never frequented.

Once this task was accomplished and Richard had received the satisfactory confirmation of his cousin's regard; he decided to encourage him in his affections, not realising at the time that the lady in question had a strong dislike of his cousin. Richard had also decided to try and help Darcy as much as he could. Knowing his cousin's reserved nature in company at Rosings he attempted as much as possible to draw Miss Bennet into conversation, hoping that Darcy would eventually become a third party in their talks.

When he actually did do this, the occasions were unfortunately so few and often put to an end by their ever controlling Aunt. After despairing over this, and with the lady's day of departure drawing ever closer, Richard had decided to make his cousin declare his intentions before all possibility of doing so disappeared forever. Little did he realise what trouble would come of it, even if it proved significant in the long run.

Thus, after helping his cousin through all of this, Richard came to the conclusion through his reflection of it, that he had never really fallen for Elizabeth Bennet at all. Confronted as he had been with his idea of perfection at the same time his cousin having an affection for her, he had never really had a chance to look on her as anything more than a future cousin in law, as the next Mrs Darcy. All that had resulted from their acquaintance, was a long friendship, which was to remain between the both of them for the rest of their future years.

It was this friendship, that induced Richard Fitzwilliam to seek his cousin in law out one afternoon during her stay at Rosings Park, in order to speak to her about the mystery that had encompassed all of his extended family.

"My dear Mrs Darcy," he began upon encountering her in the grounds.

"Mr Fitzwilliam," Elizabeth returned formally, her eyes twinkling in amusement. Her cousin was rarely formal, yet they had always greeted each other like this before proceeding with a conversation. This remark proved no exception.

"I have received some news from my army contacts and thought it best to make the details known to you," Richard began as Elizabeth fell into step with his stride.

"I think I can gather from you tone that this news is not good," Elizabeth commented, looking at him.

Richard nodded. "Unfortunately, I am afraid that is the case. I had hoped to have found something worthy of note for you to grasp hope from, but I fear this will only bring up more questions."

Elizabeth quickly reassured him; "it does not matter, Richard, I was half expecting your news to do so. Please, tell what you have learned."

"Well, it seems that no Lawrence Alexander Bennet existed in the ranks of both battalions of the Oxfordshire. Of course, he has told that he was an officer anyway, but I needed to be sure on that point before proceeding any further. However I could not find him on the list of the officers of the 52nd either."

Elizabeth looked at Richard in surprise. "But why would he be so specific about that regiment if he did not serve in it?"

"That is why I thought, so I have asked them to check again. My hope is that they have made a mistake. But if they have not..."

"If they have not," Elizabeth repeated, "we are no closer to finding out Lawrence's secret than we were before."

A paused passed between the two for a while as each considered the information they had received and the probable consequences of such information. Elizabeth then suddenly raised a question. "William spoke confidently when he told me that Lawrence's aim during shooting was of army origin. He must be a military man, correct?"

"Correct. Darce and I spent many a time together on the hunt and my aim was always slightly better because of my army background. Darcy would be able to tell the difference. Why, what concerns you?"

"I'm not sure. But we cannot just simply dismiss the military background to be a lie."

"I am not dismissing it," Richard reassured her. "The list at the 52nd's headquarters is. Of course if he was..." he trailed off, wondering if his cousin had mentioned his suspicions to his wife.

Elizabeth did not miss the hesitation. "If he was what, Rich?"

"Did Darce tell you my opinion of the case from my conversation with before he left for Derbyshire?"

"That you suspected Lawrence to be a military spy?"

"Yes. Well, if he was, his records at 52nd might have been erased. Then again, I have yet to receive a reply from Horseguards, so this could all just be idle speculation."

"What about the Colonel of the 52nd?"

"Has yet to contact me as well," Richard replied, with a grimace. "Although I have found out his address, which brings me closer than I was a few days ago."

"Could he have served in another regiment?"

"Of course, but that would have defeated the whole object of telling us which one he supposedly served in the first place. And to search the entire army for the name Bennet would take months." Richard paused in his ramblings to recollect on his thoughts. "Have you received anything in the nature of news from Longbourn?"

"No, at least not yet," Elizabeth replied. "My father rarely writes to any one as it is, being not fond of the habit, and Jane usually waits for a letter from me before she sends one herself. However, I do not think anything has occurred to warrant alerting us as yet."

Longbourn.

Elizabeth was right in some respects. Nothing had officially occurred. To Mr Bennet's mind however, something had, but as yet he was uncertain as to whether he should reveal it to the rest of his family. At least, to the intelligent quota of his family. After all, what he had witnessed two nights ago could not really prove to anyone, including Lawrence, that they had an impostor in their midst.

All he had seen was two men, one of which claimed to be his son, in conversation in the middle of the night. That was unusual in itself, but then what Mr Bennet had seen could hardly be described as simply a conversation. True, the dark had made it difficult to accurately make out the actions of the figures, but he had not missed Lawrence gripping the other man by his cuffs in clear anger.

It had only been then that the words passed between the two gentlemen became audible to him. Find him! I don't care whether it is by fair means or foul, find the man and bring back here. Delay him here as long as you possibly can, Lawrence had said to the man. Find who? Who was it they needed to delay from leaving the village? Why did they need to delay him in the first place?

Mr Bennet had become even more puzzled when he heard the next. By fair means or foul! If I leave to trail him now, this whole plan could disintegrate before us. We did not spend years on this only to abandon it on the first sign of trouble. You were assigned to help me and by god, you are going to help me! You found out he was missing, you are to bring him back. Is that clear?

This part of the conversation was by far the most incriminating, yet for Mr Bennet it only created more questions, in of answering any that had occurred to him before. Lawrence had come to Meryton with an ulterior motive, that much was obvious. This motive, he had now discovered, concerned another person who was also in Meryton, and was preparing to leave, but was prevented by the actions of his 'son'.

Mr Bennet had followed Lawrence the next night after spying him seeking out of the via his bedchamber window. He had listened carefully to the conversation which Lawrence had held with the same gentleman of the previous night. This second overheard conversation had answered one query of his wondering, that the gentleman they did not want to leave had been brought back to Meryton and was being kept under watch. The identity of this gentleman, however, and his importance to Lawrence, Mr Bennet had yet to learn.

Since that night there had been little disturbance in Longbourn. Lawrence had been his normal self, and Edmund Bennet had felt reluctant to query any of what he had witnessed because of this. He still felt that there was not enough evidence to confront Lawrence with. He needed something else, some proof that could not be denied. That proof was not going to be drawn from two conversation. He needed something tangible.

And that, he was about to find.