Chapter 25 Hold My Hand
"What name should I call you?"
"What?" wonder chained his tongue as he contemplated where her question tended. They were nearing Longbourn, her ancestral home and he had been deep in thought, dreading how his reception might be.
"Do you prefer George, as you have always been called or Fitzwilliam, the name your mother intended for you?"
"Fitzwilliam is her maiden name; she is the sister of the Earl of Matlock whose surname is Fitzwilliam. It is custom in the Fitzwilliam family to name the heir after his mother's maiden name, I have a cousin named Montgomery although I have never met him. I suppose now that there is no longer any threat of exposure, I would prefer Fitzwilliam or at least when it is coming from your mouth. You have a particular way of pronouncing it, it sounds cheerful as opposed to George which has a somewhat dour sound to it and happens to be one, I share with my father and my half-brother."
"Fitzwilliam it is then."
The ticket of beech was supplanted by a neat row of sycamore trees before the road led them into a quaint town square. Miscellaneous shops encircled a watering hole for the horses and in their midst, the White Lion Inn stood a floor above the rest.
"Stop the carriage!"
"Have you changed your mind about visiting your childhood home?" he tried to keep out the sliver hopefulness from his voice.
"I have to get out!"
The surge of hope turned to concern. She might feel sick and here he was, dreaming of returning home to the Highlands practically on Mr Bennet's front step—he was an ogre. Three short raps on the roof halted the carriage in the middle of the square, Elizabeth bolted out with the laird following close by.
He had thought she would wear off to the side and hide behind a building but his wife approached a peacefully strolling couple in the streets.
"Lydia!"
This particular tone of voice, he had not heard coming from his wife's mouth before. It was firm and admonishing, bordering on rude. Wait, Lydia was her sister was she not?
"Elizabeth! Is it really you?"
"Of course it is, get away from that man immediately, Miss Lydia!"
"I cannot and I am not!"
"Have you changed your name all of a sudden?"
"I have actually, it is Mrs Wickham now and has been for the last three years. I now you did not approve of him but that does not mean that others may very well find him the most handsome and amiable gentleman of their acquaintance."
"Miss Bennet, we are brother and sister now. Can we agree to leave the last behind and remember only what gives us pleasure?"
Elizabeth took an inordinate amount of time to realise that by Miss Bennet, Mr Wickham meant her. She had been Lady Eilein for so long that she no longer responded to Miss Bennet, not that it had ever been a name she had been addressed much. Miss Bennet was Jane in her mind, she had once been known as Miss Elizabeth but it felt too long ago to apply to the present.
"I do not understand..."
Mr Wickham's eyes widened and his countenance went pale as a ghost's. She did not need to turn around to know what had affected Mr Wickham's reaction, she could feel her husband's presence behind her. For a split second she wished he had been in his formal Highland garb, he was never as intimidating as when he donned his kilt. It straightened his back and lifted his chin more than was probably healthy for the poor females surrounding him. That he elicited such a profound reaction from a soldier made her heart surge with pride, especially because it was a gentleman who barely warranted the name.
"Dear Lord! It makes much more sense now..." Mr Wickham found his voice after what felt like minutes of stunned silence.
"What makes sense?" Elizabeth enquired with a frown.
"Since we are family, I suppose you deserve to know. Mrs Darcy was eager to tell me nefarious rumours about you in town. I did question her motivation for spreading rumours about her own son but the inducement far outweighed my curiosity. She must have been petrified you would turn up with your companion in superior society. The likeness is cunning."
"Who is this man, Elizabeth?" the laird of Eilein's low timber wafted from behind.
"It is Mr Wickham, he is a persona non grata in the Darcy household, Fitzwilliam," Elizabeth mentioned so that he would understand her hesitancy.
That little tidbit of news did not lower the man in her husband's eyes, he stepped forward and shook the astounded gentleman's hand.
"A pleasure to meet you, Sir."
"You have forgotten to introduce your travelling companion, Elizabeth. What strapping looking man and so discerning."
"Meet my husband, the laird of Eilein, Lydia." Elizabeth kept her voice as mellow as possible at her eyelash-batting sister.
"Oh! You have married, how exciting, so have I. Kitty is the only remaining unwed Bennet sister. Mary already has a large brood of children, poor thing. I am not sure if her fourth have been born yet but who is keeping count. The essential is that the line of Bennet's at Longbourn has been secured. The former Mr Collins has already changed his name so that his offspring should have the correct one, you know, the entail demanded he takes the name of Bennet or he would have forfeited his inheritance."
"Have you been long in the area? Do you know how mother is faring with almost all her daughter's secured in matrimony?"
"No, we just arrived on the stagecoach for a surprise visit. We have been to London, my husband had business there but I was longing for home and Mr Wickham indulged me. It is not so long ago since we paid Mary a visit though. A month, I think..."
More likely they had run out of coin, Elizabeth thought wryly but she offered the couple on foot a seat in their carriage for the mile that remained before Longbourn came into view.
#
The mistress of Longbourn fainted dead away when a certain Lady Eilein was announced and in her parlour and none other than her long lost daughter, Elizabeth, entered.
She made a strangled sound before she fell into a boneless heap on the floor, old Mrs Hill had to hasten and fetch her smelling salts. She was revived with much upheaval and had plenty to say when her ability to speak was restored.
"Mr Bennet! Hill, call for Mr Bennet, he must come and greet you all."
Mr Bennet had related the news of Elizabeth's appearance in the Scottish Highland but she had not believed him, not entirely anyway. She had not managed to picture Elizabeth as the Lady of a castle but the mature woman before her seemed much more ladylike than Miss Elizabeth had ever been. Her dress was very fine and her husband was most pleasing to the eye although he seemed of a taciturn disposition. He had not uttered a word since he entered her parlour.
"What a fine-looking husband you have. I knew you could not be so clever for nothing... Oh my! Who is this strapping little man?" Mrs Bennet had just noticed Maddock who was sitting on his father's arm. The attention made him bury his face in his father's neck and hide from his zealous grandmamma.
Evina, who had been somewhat concealed behind her master and mistress, was discovered by the much recovered Mrs Bennet who cooed at the adorable sleeping infant when her husband entered the parlour. His eyes went immediately to the laird of Eilein and widened as he recognised the fierce Highlander. The arrival of his youngest daughter went unnoticed until she demanded his attention by addressing him.
"Papa, I am home!"
Mr Bennet spared her a swift glance and a nod before returning his attention to his second eldest daughter. She was relieving Evina of her daughter as her mother had managed to wake her up.
"I surmise it was Mrs Darcy who conveyed where Elizabeth could be found?" Mr Bennet addressed the laird.
"No, I followed you from Càrn Gorm, why, are you intimate with the lady?"
"No, not at all but I had business in London before I went home to Longbourn. I ran into Mrs Darcy on Oxford Street, I thought she deserved to know what had happened to her guest.
"The Darcys were very accommodating, particularly the father and son who aided my search for Elizabeth after she disappeared. I informed them that I had had word of a possible imposter who had written me from the Scottish Highland. I visited Mr Darcy in London after your first letter arrived because I wondered if there might be any truth to it. Mr Darcy had investigated far and wide as to who had been in the area about the time you went missing. No one with any connections to that part had been in Derbyshire during the time in question.
"Unfortunately, Mr Darcy was not at home but I related my business to his wife and found her most accommodating. She knew the Matlocks had a distant connection to the Highlands through the old castle of Loch Eilein but she was under the impression it was an uninhabitable ruin on an inaccessible island. Mr Darcy later wrote to me and confirmed his wife's assumptions. He had never heard about Càrn Gorm Castle but thought the name sounded invented as it closely resembled the Cairngorm mountain."
"That explains how the Darcys were able to descend so quickly upon Kimberley Heights," Elizabeth mused out loud while her thoughts reeled of other possibilities. Unconsciously, she sought the comfort of her husband's closeness.
"I also believe we are closer to a resolution, Elizabeth, the question is what to do about it."
"Should we not confront them and give the perpetrator her comeuppance?" Elizabeth whispered to her husband while giving the impression her attention was fixed on enticing her shy son to greet his family.
"We will discuss this later, Elizabeth, but I do believe some introductions are in order."
"Oh my, I completely forgot you are not acquainted with everyone here."
Elizabeth performed the necessary and the rest of the day was spent reacquainting Elizabeth with the local gossip.
Tucked in at night, the laird and his lady discussed the sense in questioning her father and Wickham further but both agreed they knew enough to confront the Darcys at their house.
#
Darcy House, Grosvenor Square
With Maddock and Inghinn safely ensconced in Mrs Gardiner's nursery, the laird and lady came unannounced to visit Darcy House. Unfortunately, only the senior Mr Darcy was at home and the confrontation they had assumed to follow, would not take place. Mr Darcy was a staid man, not prone to loud quarrels nor dramatic antics. They were guided into the privacy of his study where they were offered a seat and refreshments which they both declined. Neither had forgotten about the chocolate that had been sent to Lady Annabel.
Mr Darcy rose somewhat in their esteem by not berating them for coming and risk revealing what neither was of a mind to inform society at large. The laird had taken some precautions though, as not to be so easily recognised. He wore his long hair down to curtain his cheeks and his hat was pulled down over his eyes. He had taken precautions to have his back at the butler who had taken his coat and hat after they had been admitted into the hallway.
"What brings you here, Fitzwilliam?"
The laird was startled at being addressed by his Christian name by his father.
"We have come because we have some questions who need answers. First and foremost, why Mrs Darcy would pay Mr Wickham to spread vicious rumours about her son and my wife. I can think of no other reason but ruin his friendship with Mr Bingley. Why I cannot fathom. There must have been easier ways to drive two friends apart than by the way of the gossipmongers."
"My son has inherited the Darcy stubbornness and our abhorrence for having our name dragged to the gutter."
Elizabeth wondered if that was meant as a warning to herself and her husband. Mr Darcy needed not to worry. If it were something they both agreed upon, it was that neither had any interest in this getting widely known.
"In addition, he does not make friends easily. George would not have let himself be persuaded by his mother of which his marriage is proof of. Susan was very much opposed to his union with Caroline but he prevailed as his mind was fixed on the course. I doubt, however, that Susan would have any greater interest in ruining our reputation than George and I..."
"May suggest that you search your ledgers for a substantial withdrawal from your household account that cannot otherwise be explained? Mr Wickham implied that he had been paid handsomely for his service, there must be some evidence if a large sum has exchanged hands.
"I have not come to seek revenge of the lives and minds that cannot be restored but to prevent further injury. My mother's health is permanently harmed and the undertaker cannot be brought back to life. I want for nothing but peace of mind that the perpetrator is unarmed and secured from repeating the performance."
"You believe Mrs Reynolds brother was murdered?"
"I do."
"I understand you no longer believe I had anything to do with your misfortune."
"I cannot be certain, it happened too long ago for a proper investigation to be conducted. I have spent most of my life loathing your very existence, I intend to utilise the rest of my days loving my wife and children. They are my responsibility, Lady Susan Vernon is yours, good day."
With that last pronouncement, the laird of Eilein turned on his heel to put the past behind him and moved on to greener pastures, the fir tree forest of Càrn Gorm Castle. He offered his wife his arm and strolled out of Darcy House.
"My queen, my consort, let us go home and rule our castle in equal sway[footnoteRef:1]." [1: Homer—The Odyssey ]