The storyline, new character development, new events, and new characters are my intellectual property. Glorioux

A letter and a Bad Apple

Six Months Later -

"Father," Lizzie ran to her father's room, her eyes were filled with tears, "I have a letter from Otto, my cousin. It is very nasty."

Richard was away, still in the Army, much to his parents' dismay. His brother, Bartlett, came daily for one thing or the other. Elizabeth would make herself scarce at such times; she was grateful when her father and sisters were there. It was a way for Elizabeth to spend anxious days, while Richard was away in the war business. His absence weighed heavily on her, always afraid he would be killed. Today was a day that she could really use him by her.

Bennet read the letter with a heavy heart. Penelope had vanished. According to eyewitnesses, while her husband had gone on holiday with one of his many mistresses. Penny had gone with her sons to their lodge in the Black Forest, a favorite of hers.

Several saw Penny talking with a very tall stranger wearing a hooded cape made of fine cloth and fur, carrying a bow and a quiver of arrows. They thought him a hunter. Some said that he was over two meters tall. Penny was going for her daily walk, and according to a gardener, the man had come from nowhere, no carriages or horses had come up the private driveway. The house was located on a small hill with steep access.

The gardener and other house employees had come out to look. They said the man stood very close to their short mistress, and he had caressed her face. One thing they all agreed was to hearing her happy laughter, most unusual. She seldom laughed or smile, but this time she sounded happy.

Then she took his hand and walked toward the nearby thick forest, and that was the last anyone saw Penelope. Search parties were sent, but not a trace was found.

Thomas read aloud,

"This is all your fault. Our mother has only loved her precious and beloved Elizabeth, she talks about you all day long. We are not dumb; our mother loves you and whoever your father was. She cries whenever she sees your likeness. It is heartbreaking but not right, we are also her sons. We heard your father was a dead officer, maybe he is not so dead.

We think you know where she is, we want her back. It is not our fault she thought her husband dead. For loving him, she drove our father away, and now she is gone. You are married, and we need her. Send her back..."

Elizabeth was right, they wanted their mother back. Lizzie sat next to her father and cried. While they sat, another letter arrived. It contained another envelope inside. The envelope read, "To be opened when you have a child." She tried to open it, but the envelope seemed made out of steel. Later on, she would try, but it would not open.

Her father cried for Penny and confided on Elizabeth, whose heart broke in many pieces. He told her from the time his father died. His suspicions about his half-brother were unfounded. Apparently, when he found out about Penny being with a child, he wanted the babe since his wife was unable to conceive. Penny had told Thomas an unbelievable tale, which might be right, after all, he concluded.

Afterward, Elizabeth avoided Fanny Bennett, finally understanding her hatred. She hated Elizabeth because she wasn't her child and had taken the place of her stillborn son.

Thomas's fears had been justified. Penny should have never come back; because of her, the father had found Elizabeth. He had read much about the Forest Folk. Some called them Fairies, the Fae, and many other names, he believed they had the base in reality.

After studying many old manuscripts, Thomas believed they, whoever they were, came from other places. He wanted to keep Penelope away from dangers; afraid she would never been seen again. Thomas read tales, an ocean between 'them,' and the person of their desire was enough to keep them apart.

What Penny had told him made him afraid. As the years had passed, he had read more. In an old text, he learned that the children they had with humans were beacons of light, so when Penny came back, he must have sensed her. They were that powerful. The one who Penny said was the father, was guided by their combined light, and found them.

That was the main reason not to let Elizabeth go and live with Penny. He already knew that. He also read they could hear the laughter and calls of their young ones.

"Thomas, Penny doesn't need Elizabeth here. I hear you, the ocean might confuse him but not for long. With Elizabeth here for a length of time, one of his people, who are everywhere, will recognize their combined 'light.' Penny is marrying, let her be happy."

Penny had not been happy. Frederick was a ladies man, he didn't believe in loyalty, nothing to do with Penny. Frederick had invited Thomas to outings with his friends, and whoever was his mistress at the time. He had told Thomas that fidelity was for the 'simple' people.

Thomas had known when the coffer arrived, he knew it and should have done something then, but what? The father had found Elizabeth thanks to Thomas' shortsightedness.

Maybe he should warn Elizabeth. Penny was her mother, her brothers were right. He wouldn't tell her what Penny had told him, it just wasn't possible. Even with all the mounting evidence, he still wanted to believe it wasn't possible. He feared for, 'his Lizzie.' But again, he said nothing.

When Frederick came to visit, he told her that she was Penny's daughter, and there had never been a formal adoption. Richard sat in the meeting, he was incensed. Frederick was a step above Richard, so Richard had to hold his tongue.

The one terrible mistake was that Tante Hilde had paid for Penny's forged married papers to a dead British officer. So the taint of Elizabeth being a child out wedlock didn't exist. Elizabeth was in effect Frederick and Penny's child. He had married the mother; they had requested that Elizabeth was sent back, and Thomas had refused.

Hence, he wanted to claim Elizabeth as a daughter and wished for her to live close to him. He said that since he was Catholic, her marriage counted for nothing, and he hadn't approved it. He had a solicitor looking into it; this was a cloud on Lizzie's life.

His father was a count with ties to the British monarchy, and his mother was also a noble, the daughter of a Prussian prince. Both had met Elizabeth and wanted her to live near them. With all the connections, he stood an excellent chance to win.

Thomas was no fool; he saw lust on Frederick's eyes. He warned Richard. However, business relations didn't suffer any setbacks. He was sure that Frederick would come back; sooner or later, the laws of the Germanic state were different and honored by the British monarchy. Richard didn't believe it was just lust, Frederick wanted Elizabeth's brilliant mind and hoped Penny would come back.

During the next months, the gardens filled up with wildlife. To everyone's surprise, the animals didn't destroy the gardens. Whenever Elizabeth went out, it would seem that she was always surrounded by birds, squirrels, and sometimes deer. Under her request, hunting was forbidden in the estate grounds, which angered Bartlett, who was fond of hunting parties. However, his opinion mattered little.

Large falcons would always perch on trees outside of whichever room Lizzie occupied, a fact observed by Mr. Bennet, who had taken to accompanying his daughter on her walks. When he wasn't able, he made sure one of her sisters was out with her. The fear never stopped, Mr. Bennet felt eyes when they went to walk on the forest paths. He was afraid he understood the meaning of the cryptic message, but he didn't say anything.

Bartlett turned into a problem, Richard finally figured out the less than brotherly interest for Richard's wife. Richard had Bartlett investigated and found out evidence that the death of Bartlett's wife's parents was no accident. It seemed that his wife was tired of his infidelities, and her doting parents had offered her to come back home. They were from Belgium and were requesting a dissolution of the marriage along with taking the dowry back.

Two years later

Tragedy

As time went by, Richard had suspicions and decided to write a letter. He wanted Elizabeth to be safe. His father had told Bartlett more than once he wasn't welcome. The Earl knew it, Bartlett wanted Lizzie, and his father feared to what extent he would go to make it happen.

He had talked to his solicitor to disinherit Bartlett in favor of Richard, the procedure had started. That was perhaps the worse idea of all.

Pemberley

Wickham sat to read Darcy's last letter, William had an urgent request. After reading the letter, he left someone in charge and went to London to get Darcy what he requested. If the date of the letter was right, there was little time left.

1811 – Devonshire, Matlock's Estate. A Murder

The house was gloomy, the entire household was mourning. It seemed as if the sun was always behind a cloud. It felt as if nothing would ever be right again.

"Darling, I am afraid for Lizzy, she is nearing her confinement, and she has quit eating, what are we to do? And her horrid mother insists she must go to them, not in my lifetime! Her father is a weakling. That woman is not even a mother to our daughter, Richard's mother cried.

Her husband, Lord Eugene Fitzwilliams, Earl of Matlock, looked at her with sorrowful eyes, "I am lost for words; I cannot find solace. Who could have predicted this outcome, certainly not I? Our Richard coming back unharmed from Spain and taking a bullet for his brother, courtesy of a cuckolded husband."

Tears rolled down his cheeks, "Our heir is a waste of breathing air, a rake, and a wastrel. Calling Richard to defend him, I will never forgive him. Nobody will take our girl away, not them." The Earl's eyes were red and puffy, it seemed as if the tears would not stop coming. Catherine, his sister, had just left, she was also beyond sadness. She suspected Bartlett of wrongdoing.

Amelia, Richard's aunt, said there were rumors about Bartlett. It was said he often bragged that he wasn't looking for a bride because he already had one. Bartlett had been telling his friends that his brother might become a casualty being in the Army; hence, his widow was his chosen one. Amelia, a recent widow, stayed with Richard's mother, who was her sister.

They held their hands in despair. Bartlett had buried a wife already and had no heirs, probably a result from his dissolute life; hence, they hoped Elizabeth would bear a son. They were planning to make the baby the heir of the Fitzwilliam family in place of Richard as they had planned. But not if Elizabeth continued her severe mourning. They might lose them both mother and child.

"Yes, to lose our good son, and if that were not hard enough, Lizzy's father resents the months spent here, he has written and visited, in hopes of bringing her back to the Hertfordshire. It is intolerable, Thomas has grown too dependent on our daughter, who is about to become a mother. She will lack the time to further assist her father. It is best if he just moves here.

Her husband agreed, Catherine had made the same observation, and Thomas Bennett was considering it; she figured out that Amelia was an incentive. It seemed his life with his wife was intolerable. Mrs. Bennet had taken to be a hostess of the military encamped near her estate; and it wasn't the first time.

Lord Andrew and his wife had come to pay respects. They talked to Lizzie, if she were carrying a son, he would be their heir. Thomas could see the significant change in his brother. Penny's disappearance had been hard on the couple, they had grown fond of her. They saw Penny as their ward and child. Thomas learned they had visited Penny in Germany several times. They disliked Fredrick intensely.

Andrew had talked privately to Thomas, and both grieved. People change, Thomas decided.

She continued," I was warned by Lord Andrew. He detests Mrs. Bennet. He said that Thomas shouldn't have married so beneath him. Nobody seems to like her. Personally, I cannot stand Mrs. Bennett with her artificial sweetness and her wicked ways. She had the gall to mention that she has someone interested in marrying our girl and giving her his name. Darling, we must do something to stop that woman." His wife commiserated.

"I agree. For now, I want to disinherit Bartlett as I planned before; if Lizzy has a son, the earldom will be his. If not, we will see. Bartlett brother's life over a skirt, damn him and his women," the Earl of Matlock cried.

They just sat, deep in their sorrow, the house was shrouded in grief.

Deep in the dark forest

The news of Elizabeth's sadness had reached inside a dark forest. When the messenger delivered the news, angry shouts could be heard all over the place, the forest critters all went into hiding. "She needs protection. How could this happen when she is carrying a precious child. My shortsightedness, and now she is in pain and suffering. She shouldn't be there. I knew it and allowed it, well knowing that it was a great mistake. It is my right to have her with me." Those were his words.

Scouts were sent, and the news were mixed. Elizabeth's new home was convenient, but Bartlett's infamy troubled the tall male. He wasn't allowed to kill humans, but that was his wish. Hours after Richard was murdered, the Matlock residence was surrounded by birds; all around the house, day and night, always listening. The tall man was not too far away, waiting for news. Ready to intervene and do what he wanted most, to take what belonged to him. He was losing his patience.

The Fitzwilliams sat with Amelia, the three of them couldn't stop crying when they heard Elizabeth cries.

"Lizzie, my dear, what is the matter," Lady Fitzwilliam rushed towards Elizabeth, who was sobbing aloud and walking very fast. She was walking away from someone, the shoulder of her gown was torn, and her hair in great disarray. Her father-in-law noticed the finger marks near her bosom and angered immediately.

Bartlett appeared a few seconds later, right behind her. "Son, stop there, what are you doing, and why have you hurt Lizzie?" Lord Fitzwilliams admonished his son, anger flaring out his eyes.

a/n have faith. It will all work out. I promise:) Sorry :( But who knows what will happen. Let's wait.