The storyline, new character development, new events, and new characters are my intellectual property. Glorioux
Sorry, I cannot answer comments. It seems to be a problem on and off.
2022 Longbourn
Cellar
In the room, they saw glowing symbols around Lady Catherine's wrist. Then both newcomers raised their sleeves. They had similar markings. Inga, Thomas Bennet's mother, touched three symbols that glowed in different colors as she moved her finger and a closed door appeared. "It is locked for now. It is there to get us ready. Or I can send a message to myself elsewhere. Like this," she slid her finger around her wrist in rapid succession.
"What did you do? My aunt can do much and taught us in the place she found. But nothing like this." Richard asked.
"They are codes. We can use them for everything. We are born with them. You will soon know more and see yours, I hope." Inga told him.
Upstairs
Lydia didn't like the overdressed man. Her mother thought he was perfect for Lizzie. But Lydia thought Reverend Collins, with his diamond rings and gold watch, was detestable. "I heard not a trace of her was found. Is it possible she wasn't in the car?" Collins asked.
Fanny was going to tell him about the ongoing investigation, but Lydia didn't like his eager look. "I don't know where you heard that. Right, Mom?" Lydia looked at her mother in a way that made Fanny squirm. Lydia's eyes looked different, scaring her mother and compelling her to listen.
"Yes, that is right. We don't know anything other than we are grieving. I guess you must be Mr. Jones? Because that is the only guest not here yet." Fanny asked, noticing how Reverend Collins was looking everywhere, and she didn't like that.
"Yes, I have a big following and like to travel incognito. It is easier." He looked full of himself. Carwas coming back from her walk and saw Collins.
"Did someone have an accident? What happened?" Caroline asked, ignoring Collins.
Once again, Lydia answered, why all the questions? She was already uneasy after the dead 'whatever' crashed against the window vanished, yet left a pool of blood and feathers. "An accident earlier, we don't know the, ahem, lady. I imagine the car will be picked up." Lydia didn't like the woman with ginger hair and matching orange clothes. What she wanted was to be invited down to the basement. She was going to knock.
Fanny checked Collins in and invited Caroline and Collins for a welcome tea. Then sent Lydia to take Collins to his room. She was edgy, knowing Lydia didn't like the new guests. She remembered the shattered glass, and she had a guest who wanted her husband; no, she wouldn't allow that. Fanny cared for Thomas; too bad he wasn't the man she loved.
Although Fanny didn't love men, she liked them well enough. She knew men used women, young women, and abandoned them, and, sometimes, they married your older sister and took your baby away for your own good was the excuse. Indeed, you had to drink to forget. She understood Lydia; she was 13 when her sister married, and thinking about it, a tear ran down her cheek. Her sister died in an accident, and a few weeks ago, she received a letter she had not read. What for?
Fanny might not love men, but she loved her daughters, and Lydia was uneasy. Lydia could feel when things were wrong. "I need a nip, a small drink." She said aloud and walked to the bar, ignoring the shattered glass, ignoring the mess she was making out of her life.
Caroline went back to her suite of rooms. Charles had his tablet out. "Caroline, we are leaving as soon as I'm ready. I heard Bartlett Fitzwilliams is on his way to the Hertfordshire. I don't want to chance meeting him." Charles grabbed his phone to call Ms. Reynolds. "Yes, ah, I see. Where? I see. Yes, effective right now…No, best in person. All-access is to be blocked immediately. I see..."
Charles's face had lost all color. "I am leaving as soon as I pack my things. Fitzwilliams and Ms. Reynolds are on their way here. Apparently, for a private meeting with his family at this hotel. I hope they didn't see me."
Caroline asked, "How will we get back to London?"
"Your problem, not mine; either come with me or find your way." Charles went into his room and closed the door. When he came out, his sisters were not in the room. He went to pay for their stay, saying something urgent had come up. As he was driving out, he recognized Fitzwilliams's car and was relieved. Caroline was a liability. He wanted to be independent. It was time.
Inside the cellar, they had a plan. They needed to start. But someone was knocking.
1812
Pemberley-
William had no idea what was happening with Aunt Catherine. He forbade her from coming to Pemberley. Why was she there? She was nothing like his aunt from later.
He dressed and went down while Richard and the newcomers stayed with Lizzie.
His aunt came to him to hug him. "I heard about your wife. So very sorry. I heard about Elizabeth from Reverend Collins. A while ago, I asked him to leave with his wife as soon as he found a position. He did. He is now not far from here. He came a few days ago. I'd told him I wouldn't tolerate anyone who spoke ill of you. Anne ran away with the steward, and they left for the continent." She lowered her voice. "I was told by a 'visitor' not to trust anyone and come here immediately. I sent an express to Bartlett. He will be here as well. Elizabeth's sisters will be coming with Bartlett, as requested by the visitor. He offered to pick them up, and Anne's companion lady will accompany them."
"What visitor?" William asked, his head spinning with all the news. Why Lizzie's sisters?
"A lady; she said she would see me here." Lady Catherine stopped and touched his face. "I have been sick worrying since you nearly got killed. You are my dear nephew. Your mother said you could be my boy."
William wasn't sure if he should trust her. He took her to breakfast after her trunks were carried to her room. On their way down, he had a big surprise. "You are here." Lady Catherine greeted Lizzie's grandmother.
Lizzie, who was coming down as well, was holding on to her father andthe other lady, who looked like Lizzie. Biscuit was right behind.
"Yes, we arrived last night. I came to meet my granddaughters, Thomas's girls." She told Lady Catherine.
William waited for his aunt to be haughty. "Lovely young ladies, they take after their father and grandmother. A pleasure to see you, Lady Bennet." His aunt grinned.
"Call me Ilsa." Lizzie's grandmother said, "She is Inga, my good friend." She said, introducing Lizzie's mother.
"Please call me Cathy." The three women walked together while William, Richard, and Lizzie stood, looking amazed.
William wondered what was happening, though he assumed his aunt's visitor was Lizzie's grandmother.
Lizzie noticed her father seemed happy and kept looking at the woman whose hair was like hers. Lizzie couldn't understand why this house seemed so familiar. Or how people could walk wearing uncomfortable shoes and uncomfortable clothes. Her headache was awful, making her wish for real medicine; ibuprofen would be welcome, she thought.
Mariah grimaced when she saw Lady Catherine and looked the other way. She knew her sister's husband was now working as a Vicar in a neighboring state. Mariah refused to see her sister after Kent so that she wouldn't visit her sister and hateful husband. She blamed them for forcing Lizzie to marry.
Lizzie tensed when Lady Catherine put her hand on her arm, "My dear, I hope you are better, and the past is forgotten." She seemed to be honest. William was mostly confused. He told Lizzie her younger sisters were arriving, as to why he had no idea.
"Lydia and Kitty?" Lizzie asked, realizing her sisters were also in this time. Maybe she was dead after all. She 'heard' a voice, 'No, you aren't dead.' Now she was hearing voices, she thought, worrying.
During breakfast, Lady Catherine was friendly, and her nephews and niece kept their eyes on her. The now Lord Bennet's mother announced, "We will meet after breakfast. But maybe it is best if we wait for the others. Of course, if the other visitors arrive, we must wait." She meant the Bingley. Richard knew Charles was coming and wondered if Jane cared for him.
"I know the place. I think it is the one you mentioned. It is the best place for us to talk." William knew others couldn't hear inside the room. He remembered what their aunt had taught them. Things were starting to make sense. But what he wanted was to be in bed with his wife.
They were finishing breakfast when the footman brought a message for Miss Lucas. Mariah read it. She stood to fill her plate from the buffet and went by Lizzie. "My sister wants me to go and see her. I don't want to. She said her husband would stop by later on his way somewhere, just in case I wanted to go with him. I don't want to see him. I want you to know." She squeezed Lizzie's shoulder.
Lizzie put her hand over Mariah's, "I know, darling, I do. You don't have to see him."
Lady Catherine overheard them. "Reverend Collins shouldn't be coming by here. I don't like it."
William was going to interject but decided it wasn't worth it. Instead, he looked at his wife. She put her hand on his knee, moving it up. He grabbed it when she moved it up near his crotch, making her smile. He liked this, Lizzie. He would work hard to be deserving and to show her how much he loved her forever. He noticed Georgiana keeping an eye on him, ensuring he treated Lizzie right.
Mrs. Reynolds came into the dining room. "Mr. Darcy, George is here. He is unconscious."
"Put him in the family wing at the end. Is someone with him? Send for my doctor." Darcy answered. It seemed like the right answer.
Lizzie said. "I will check," but stopped after she heard the voice inside. "Don't offer. Maybe someone is listening."
"Have someone watching him. He must stay safe." Lizzie's mother urged.
"We will do that. Let me go to see him. Richard, please stay with everyone here. I won't be long." Darcy turned around at Lizzie's request.
"I am coming with you," she looked down, biting her lip.
Her mother, Inga, said, "I am also joining you."
William shrugged his shoulder, finding the request rather unusual. But so be it.
Lizzie felt anxious; she didn't want George to die. She still loved him, but she couldn't trust him. What if George was here from the time she came from?
William was jealous, remembering Lizzie kissing George when he first saw her. He heard their love making and thought about it. He was ill. What if Lizzie still loved him? He didn't know she had broken up with George.
Lizzie reached for his hand, and it calmed him. She looked at him and winked. "Are you still tired after being awoken?"
He chuckled, a naughty Lizzie, "Not tired, but I wish I could have slept more." Biscuit followed them.
They went into the room, and George was pale. He had a bandage around his head and another around his chest. Lizzie was amazed, this George had longer hair and sideburns, but it was him. He smelled of infection. "Please close the door," Lizzie asked. William closed the door.
"I will check him, but I wish I had my bag. He has an infection. I can smell it. We need at least to change the bandages." Lizzie started.
"It makes sense; someone wants Ge, ahem, George dead. That way, we will fail. He is not waking up there, though we tried healing him. Why? Because he is dying here. Dear, you don't need whatever you are looking for. Let's take off the bandages." Inga said. William noticed the love in Inga's eyes. Lizzie was nearly a carbon copy of her mother.
The gash on George's head was red and swollen. But not as bad as the wound on his chest. It was very infected, dripping pus. George was burning up. Inga moved her hands over George, and a blue light covered him. It helped some but didn't heal him.
"I don't understand. Whoever injured him made sure we cannot heal him; that is why he cannot wake up." Inga was upset. "Lizzie you should know I am your mother and want you back."
"My mother? No, that cannot be. My mother is Fanny Bennet." Lizzie shook her head in denial. She thought about the future. Her mother didn't look like the Fanny here. "Am I dead?" She asked again.
"No, no, but you must wait till we are all together. I do have an idea. You said you had a bag. What is in the bag?" Inga asked.
"I am a medical doctor. My bag has medicines and some instruments. I take it everywhere. But it was left wherever. George is going to die." She couldn't stop her tears. "I cannot forgive him, but I don't want him to die. Though I imagine he is not the same George."
Darcy interrupted her. "Wait here, Biscuit, take care of your mommy. I love her." William kissed her hand.
William couldn't let George die. He had the feeling it was all part of the same puzzle. A footman stopped him. "Sir, the Bingley family has arrived. What should I do?"
William Darcy harrumphed. "Have them wait in the smaller receiving room. Have someone bring tea to them. I will see them as soon as I can." He went down the servants' stairway, not wanting to go past the receiving room. He landed by the library, went in, moved a lever behind a shelf, opened a door behind a tapestry, and entered a large room. In the room, he put his hand inside a fireplace and pulled a key. He opened a small door on the wall, not easy to see. He found the two bags Lizzie carried, took off his jacket, hung them across his chest, and hoped not to find anyone. He heard a woof. He had not seen Biscuit following him. William grinned. "Thank you, my boy. I guess I also need your help. Let us go."
The small dog stepped in front of him, growling and jumping on something that screamed. Darcy saw a strange rodent dead on the floor. Before he could do anything, Biscuit breathed out a blue something, and the dead thing turned into dust.
Darcy bent to pick up Biscuit, "Good boy, I guess we have things watching us. Why and what for? Let me pick you up, and we can go faster." Biscuit put his paws on his shoulder keeping an eye.
Darcy locked the door and ran to George's room. He told them about Biscuit killing something, "He is the best, I sent him to protect my child." Inga petted him.
When he gave the bags to Lizzie, she asked, "How?"
"You had them when I found you. We can talk later." Darcy didn't want to talk here.
"My dear, I am certain whoever injured George used something we cannot heal. Whoever is behind it wasn't counting on your bag. Your medicines might be what he needs." Inga explained.
2022
Lydia went to open the door. The blond man, dressed in casual trousers and a leather jacket, looked very familiar; she liked him. Why?
"My aunt Catherine is here, she sent for Ms. Reynolds and me. I am Bartlett Fitzwilliams." He greeted Lydia and smiled. She looked very familiar, very much so, curious. He liked her on sight
Lydia saw her chance to go into the basement. Caroline and Louisa saw Bartlett too late, and he saw them.
"Why are you here?" Bartlett disliked the Bingley sisters. Ms. Reynolds didn't trust them.
Caroline lied, "We are here to look a house we might buy."
"Indeed. I hope your trip is not related to George's fiancee. Ms. Reynolds already told me your brother fired you two. He said you are a liability." He looked at Lydia, "Please, let's go."
Lydia grinned looking at the irate Caroline and her sister. So was she spying? She hoped her mother heard. Fanny had, she nodded, looking at Caroline and her sister, and went to ask them to leave. The nerve, finding information about Lizzie, no respect.
Lydia knocked at the door of the cellar, her father opened. The room was back to normal. "Let my grandchild join us." His mother looked at Jane, her sisters and Mariah, who didn't want Lydia in the room. "My dears, no fighting. We must work together."
When Thomas closed the door, he heard his cousin Collins. "Lady Bennet, is my cousin in the cellar? I thought I heard him."
"What is he doing here?" Thomas was upset.
"Daddy, he is here as a guest." Lydia pouted.
The room changed again as before. Lydia said, "Wow," but didn't ask questions. Lady Catherine introduced her nephew and Ms. Reynolds.
"Now, we are all here. But George is still out. One moment, silence please, I hear something." Another open door appeared.
They could hear Lizzie. "Let me see what I have here." Then William Darcy.
"I remember, that is a digital lock." They heard William say. "I hope you can save him. I don't want him to die. He was raised with me. I think his father was my father's half-brother." Then silence.
Everyone was talking at once saying things like, "That was Lizzie," or "William, it is him." The sisters hugged each other. Aunt Catherine hugged Georgiana.
"Yes, the door is opening, but I guess we must wait. No word from there yet, and Geør is still out." Thomas mother informed them. "We need to sit and prepare."
"But why is Collins here?" Thomas asked.
Ms. Reynolds added, "And why the Bingley sisters."
A/n Indeed, why? This story has a little more to go. And that is it. I am still wrestling with the site. Besides, my life is a bit hectic right now. Poor Fanny, she is not a bad woman. She loves her daughters. So who is the enemy?
I do have a few stories as Darcy and Covid where Fanny and Bennet are happy. Frankly with such small number of players, we need someone acting off.