Kennedy's going on with his tale.
Chapter 26: Pemberley Ballad
Derbyshire, Pemberley, Sunday the 9th evening.
As everyone in the Billiard room was looking at him, Darcy couldn't help but raise his hands in surrender.
"Sorry, gentlemen, nobody gave me a forewarning that I climbed into Godhood a few years ago..."
He looked at Kennedy.
"I'm not the d'Arcy you're speaking of. Am I?"
Kennedy chuckled.
"No, you're not. You're family, that's for sure, but you're an Englishman to the blood. He's not! He a d'Arcy from the French root of the family. The last of them."
Darcy shook his head.
"There are no more French Darcys, they all died in the revolution..."
"I believe you're wrong there. There's one left. Geoffroy d'Arcy's his name. That one's too smart to get caught by anyone. He came through it and now he's the Corsican's best strategist. And while we are speaking, he's conquering Great Britain with seventy thousand experienced soldiers..."
Kennedy's smile blossomed with mirth.
"You stand no chance. And soon, Englishmen will suffer from the French the same we suffered from them. And we will help them with guile and pleasure, bet on it! Since 98 is very fresh in our memories, we won't have difficulties to copy the right maneuvers to crush each and every insurrection you'll stage..."
He rubbed his hands with anticipation.
"We really look forward to it..."
"So you came ashore with this d'Arcy in Brighton?"
Bingley could not help himself but ask more. They had a direct witness of what had happened in the South and they needed to know.
"So we did. The first wave out of the barges. He at our side, as usual. We caught the famous British troops with their trousers around their ankles. Didn't even fight. Way too easy. And since we were not allowed to slaughter the prisoners, believe it, we were quite frustrated. But we came around. We were there, on English soil with seventy thousand veterans at our side. Victory was certain..."
Mr. Gardiner was quite upset with the Irishman's address.
"What about the Navy? Why weren't they along the Channel sinking your bloody barges?"
Kennedy could not help but laugh aloud.
"Because they were guarding the Irish coasts, my dear Mr. Gardiner. They had captured thousands of Irish insurgents and all had said --under torture-- the same thing, He would come back with troops to free Ireland. And the day we began to board, we Irish in the first line, all English spies have sent the obvious message to their masters. We were going to Ireland... And soon most of the Royal Navy was trying to intercept empty frigates going to Ireland..."
Bingley made a face.
"Bloody idiots. Why send most of the fleet. To blockade Ireland a few dozens ships would have been enough..."
"We had our own ships, Mr. Bingley. The channel was not empty of English vessels. There were a few to stand guard. Our steam ship sank them in the early stages of the invasion."
Bingley stopped him with a wave of his hand.
"Steam ships?"
Kennedy smiled happily at him.
"Steam ship, Mr. Bingley! Ugly shallow pieces of iron floating God only knows how and armed with the greatest guns I have ever seen. Those things have twice the range of normal ship canons even if they are only a few inches over the sea level. And when their cannonballs hit, they explode! I loved it to see those proud English ship of the line sink after only two hits. We cheered each and every one of the kills."
"Impossible," said Bingley. "I've studied the theories of Denis Papin in Acta Erudicorum and I agreed with my master that it would be impossible to build..."
Kennedy could not help but mock the young man's cock sureness.
"What you believe impossible, d'Arcy did it and even if it seems impossible, his steamboats float and move without any help of wind and currents. They have great turning crosses astern which are pushing them! Quite impressive, you can believe me who saw them... That's the new way ships are going to be built, Mr. Bingley and thanks to d'Arcy, it's France who knows how to do it..."
He gave Darcy a proud look.
"You can be proud of your cousin, Mr. Darcy. He is a genius and a very clever man. Thanks to him, I fear, the British Empire will soon lose its hold on the seas. Soon, there will be more iron armored French vessels than wooden English ones to patrol the world oceans. And you know as well as I that without the control of the seas most of Britain's wealth will soon disappear. Bad times ahead of the English Aristocracy, gentlemen..."
Mr. Gardiner stood and came to stand at the side of Darcy.
"You said there are seventy thousand men ashore. What do the French want?"
"Conquer Great Britain, what else? You don't disembark seventy thousand men just to show that you have them. We're here to invade the British Isles. There was never a doubt in us that's what we came here for..."
Mr Gardiner looked at Darcy.
"Seventy thousand men? Do we stand a chance?"
Darcy shook his head;
"Never. For what I know, militias included ,we had thirty five thousand men in Great Britain and ten thousand in Ireland. And more then fifteen thousand men were encamped at Brighton. That means that we have thirty thousand to their seventy thousand."
"Twenty two thousand three hundred and fifteen," said Kennedy. "That's the number of prisoners we took in Brighton. And the only experienced troops you still have are the ten thousand horse guards of the royal regiments in London. Murat's cavalry is very eager to show them what real cavalrymen look like..."
Bingley raked his hair with his hands.
"For all we know, London could be French at this hour..."
"No chance" answered Kennedy. "He isn't interested in taking the Town. He doesn't want a battle there. He'll take the rest and wait... It's a matter of strategy, if I have got it right. He's sure he'll got the Capital without a fight if he waits long enough. No problem with me, there... Hate it to fight in streets and alleys. Hell of a way to fight..."
"You wouldn't know your Commander in chief's overall Strategy?"
Kennedy smiled at Bingley.
"Not the details, but the overall strategy is quite clear. Take the coasts and capture the ports. And then march inland. From Brighton he sent four armies to secure the south coasts and Cornwall. They should be in range by now..."
"Why are you saying this to us, Mr. Kennedy?" asked Bingley. "We are enemies, yous shouldn't even speak to us, much less give us details on your battle plans..."
"All part of his strategy," explained Kennedy. "He asked us to speak about it. Since you have no more forces to put against our armies for you to know the strategy is no problem. And knowing that you're outnumbered, out-gunned and outsmarted will do very bad things to your morale. And as he often says, to win you must believe in Victory. The day you start to consider defeat, you're out of the game..."
Darcy could only shook his head.
Why were these Irishmen here in Pemberley. Who was this d'Arcy?
"Why are you here, Mr. Kennedy? Why did you help Mrs. Bennet to journey safely to Pemberley?"
Kennedy mad a face.
"No choice, there, Mr. Darcy. Mr. Bennet ordered us to escort his wife, daughter and family. As I said, we had no choice. It was that or he would have refused to go to Rosings..."
Darcy jumped in.
"You know Rosings?"
Kennedy nodded.
"Indeed we do. We were encamped there just before the Old Man asked us to go to Longbourn..."
"You know Hunsford?"
Once more Kennedy nodded.
"Yes, it's the Parsonage of the old Dragon's parson. Ugly little weasel, this one..."
"Some guests, there?" insisted Darcy.
Kennedy nodded for the third time and smiled.
"Quite a few. Three Bennet daughters and retinue. Were all safe and sound the moment we rode out towards Longbourn."
He took a sip of his Port.
"And when we arrived there we saw that a carriage was being charged and a crowd of excited children was surrounding it. We were quite upset. They were probably preparing to go North. Going South would not be their goal of predilection. We would probably have to force them to follow us. That was not what we had in mind. Luckily, Kervadec and Mr. Bennet stroke a bargain. I was going North with the rest of the family and Kervadec South with Mr. Bennet to Rosings. Not exactly what the old man wanted but the best we could get out of the situation. In the end, it went for the best, don't you think? Without us, I'm quite sure the highwaymen would have increased their business..."
Bingley went to the table and poured himself a big glass of Port wine.
"But why were you in Longbourn. What has Longbourn to do with your Commander in chief?"
Kennedy looked at him and frowned.
"As I said, he wanted us to get the Bennets to Rosings."
"But why? What are his links with the Bennets?"
Once more Kennedy chuckled.
"There are no links, Mr. Bingley. There is only one link and that link is a beautiful blond blue eyed young Lady hosted at Hunsford."
Bingley turned towards him.
"Blond?"
"Yes, blond. She is the eldest, if I have correctly grasped the family bonds. Jane's her name. Mary is the brown haired in between and Lydia, the auburn, should be the youngest... Never saw three more different sisters. The eldest is quite the looker and one of the most sensible young woman I ever met. I do believe d'Arcy wanted to bring her family into safety..."
He looked at Darcy.
"I suppose that the rest of the Bennet being here in Pemberley, they can be considered as safe."
Darcy frowned and leaned forward.
"Why should it be so?"
Kennedy opened his eyes as if surprised.
"Isn't evident? Pemberley is a Darcy family property. As soon as the army gets here, the whole area will be patrolled and heavily guarded. This place, and Rosings and Matlock as well, will have the highest security measures conceivable. No surer places in whole Europe."
Darcy made a face.
"Why would this d'Arcy take such extreme measures to protect my Estate?"
Kennedy shrugged his shoulders.
"That, you'll have to ask him yourself. No doubt he will come himself soon enough. I know Pemberley is one of his primary goals. But if you don't mind a guess, he's very prone to protect his family's properties. He's very strong on family ties..."
Darcy couldn't help but look toward the sky. What could be the real intentions of this cousin of his?
What were his goals with him and Georgiana.
Seeing a lull in the conversation Bingley risked the question which was smothering him.
"Could we come back to Jane Bennet, please? What's her role in this whole story?"
Kennedy turned in his armchair ad looked at Bingley.
"Her role? Now? That, I don't know. What I know is that d'Arcy is quite interested in her and that her safety is, just now, very high in his mind. I'm with him since 99 and never saw him react like that. Being a normal human being, I'd say he's in love."
Another, more knowing smile replaced the puzzled expression of Kennedy.
"And having seen her reactions I'd say he was not without results in his courting. As it looks like, it could very well be that the Bennets will be in a very near future family..."
He flashed a happy smile at Darcy.
"As it looks, you soon could be brothers..."
A light rasp at the door called Elizabeth's attention.
She raised her head and listened.
Another light rasp.
She stood up and went to the door.
It was probably Emma who had asked her if she could sleep with her if she had trouble to escape the nightmares she was accustomed to.
She opened and stared wide eyed at the face of Fitzwilliam Darcy.
She looked at him and he looked at her.
Smiles came unknowingly and after a few seconds of the longest eternity she could remember, her feet took over and pushed her body to the side.
He glided in and her arm closed the door.
And then they were in each others arms, oblivious to the world, the war, the estate...
A long time later.
"Mr. Darcy, am I wrong or have you just intruded in my room and spent some time kissing me?"
He took a deep breath, inhaling her lilac and rose fragrance. She sensed he was smiling and so was she.
He had really no intention to let her go and the way her head was lying on his shoulder gave him some insurance that they both were quite happy with the situation.
"I do believe, Miss Bennet that you invited me to come in..."
"You do?"
"Yes," whispered he, "definitely, I do..."
"Strange, I do not remember having invited you..."
"You stepped aside..."
"And you concluded that this simple step was an invitation?"
"A few doubts remained but they all disappeared the second you began to kiss me!"
"I kissed you? I do believe it was just the contrary. You kissed me!"
He literally purred.
"Since I'm a gentleman, and even if it is not the case, I'll accept to bear the fault. I kissed you..."
She responded with a purr of her own.
"Well, I do like when you accept the responsibility for your acts, Mr. Darcy. You wouldn't want that I do believe you of acting ungentlemanly, would you?"
"Never again, dearest, loveliest Elizabeth..."
She hugged him with a force she could not have thought possible.
"Are you trying to seduce me with your wonderful words, Mr Darcy?"
"Would you mind?"
She took a few seconds to think about his question. Or to be more precise to let him believe she was thinking about it.
"Perhaps... Or to be frank I would mind if those words were not expressing the truth of your feelings, Mr. Darcy..."
"The truth of my feelings are beyond any doubt, Miss Elizabeth."
He hugged with as much force she had done it a few seconds earlier.
"You have bewitched me body and soul and I love, I love, I love you..."
She thanked him with another kiss and this time she was sure that she was initiating it.
Next chapter: Pemberley Magic