Soon to be en route to Pemberley.

Chapter 46: London Crowd

London, Cheapside, Thursday the thirteenth August. Ninth day

"We have a problem..." said Kennedy while rushing into the house followed by four of his men.

Mr. Bennet sighed.

They had already lost more time than he would have thought possible.

"What's the matter?"

Kennedy went to the nearest window and signaled him to come to his side.

Mr. Bennet did as he was told and looked out the window.

"What do they want?" asked he after having seen hundreds of people standing on the street in front of the Gardiner's House.

"No idea, Mr. Bennet. Only interesting thing, they are calm and don't shout. Good business that. Perhaps it's not a riot..."

"How many?"

"More than five hundred, that's for sure. But there are more on the side streets. Could be more than a thousand..."

"Can we quit the house without being seen by them?"

"No chance, they are everywhere. And they are surrounding the carriages. We would have to force our way through the mob. Could kill quite a lot of them. Lots of women out there. Even saw children. A good sign that, but it does not make our departure any easier..."

Jane's voice came from the upper floor.

"Papa, there are people outside. Lots of people... What could be the matter?"

Mr. Bennet had a very good idea what could be the matter. The only thing he was unable to decide was what they wanted with her?

"No sticks or forks?"

Kennedy couldn't help but laugh.

"I saw a few walking sticks. Could be used as weapons but not in that sort of throng. What I fear are stones. If they decide to begin to throw things at us, the house will suffer..."

"Doesn't look like they would want to destroy us... They..."

A shout came from the mob and soon there was a continuous rumble...

"What happened?" shouted Mr. Bennet toward upstairs.

"They saw Jane at the window," answered Mary. "It's Lydia she just pushed her at the window..."

Mr. Bennet looked back at the crowd.

The people were shouting but they weren't insulting or booing.

"Looks like they are applauding," said Kennedy. "Would it be a meeting of your daughters' supporters?"

"Could be," agreed Mr. Bennet. "But even supporters can become angry and troublesome. It would need only a few opponents to stir this crowd up to mischief..."

Kennedy looked at his men.

"We should take measures to put her out of harm's way. Are the tunnels ready?"

"Everything's ready. We could evacuate everybody within a few minutes. And with Maureen guiding them we could stay and assure the rearguard battle."

Mr Bennet lifted both hands.

"Calm down! We are not yet in a battle situation and I really hope we will be able to deflate this little incident. What we need is to remain calm and collected?..."

"What we need is the crowd to go home," said one of Kennedy's men. "If they stay there, we are cornered and I hate being cornered..."

At that moment Mary came running down the stairs.

"Papa, you must come immediately, they won't listen to me..."

"Those are your supporters, Jane," said Lydia. "They came to see you..."

"How could they know?"

Lydia burst out laughing.

"Jane this is Town! Everything is known here in less time than you can believe. They know who you are and what you've done for them..."

Jane looked at her sister with surprised eyes.

"I've done nothing for them. Indeed I've done nothing at all..."

"You've protected them against Duroc's invasion, Jane. Everybody in town knows that. You pleaded with d'Arcy and he leashed his crazy butcher..."

Jane could do nothing but shake her head.

"We never even spoke of it..."

Lydia shot her a salacious glance.

"Had too little time or too many encounters to remember the little detail of saving London?"

Jane felt her cheeks heat and was sure that she became as crimson as was humanly possible.

"Lydia! How can you imply that..."

"I imply not a thing, sister dear. I'm quite nosy as you know and I smelt your perfume on your boyfriend when he came asking for your hand..."

She leaned over.

"And I'm sure nobody gets that fragrance without being very near to you or Lizzie. And since Lizzie is in Pemberley probably doing the same as you with handsome Fitzwilliam Darcy, I excluded her as a possible candidate..."

Jane was wrong, one could be more crimson than crimson...

She tried to hush her sister.

"You can't say such things, Lydia, what about my reputation..."

Lydia looked at the heavens.

"Dear God, Jane, what's the matter with you? Your reputation can no more be blemished! He asked Papa and Papa accepted. You're betrothed now to the man who holds all of England in his hand. Nobody will ever dare say anything." She burst out laughing. "He even confessed to Papa of his having kissed you... A very lengthy kiss if I remember well..."

Jane frowned.

"You listened to Papa and d'Arcy!"

Lydia looked at her with surprise in her eyes.

"Of course I listened. Even Mary, with all her haughty behavior and promptness to judge and condemn, listened! We wanted to know! Isn't it natural for sisters to be interested in their preferred sister's love life?"

"You both spied on Papa?"

She shot an outraged glance at Mary who had stayed unnaturally silent these last few minutes.

"I tried to pull her out of the room, Jane. I promise. But she wouldn't let go of the chimney and I couldn't shout... They would have heard us as we were overhearing them... And I would have died of shame..."

Lydia laughed ironically.

"She didn't pull very forcefully, indeed. It was all staged to give her the opportunity to listen while pretending to try to get me out... She spent the whole conversation between Papa and your d'Arcy not uttering a word! If that's not proof enough?"

It was Mary's turn to turn crimson and to look at the floor.

As usual, Jane couldn't stand it when Mary, who was probably the most fragile of them all, was on the brink of tears.
She went to her and hugged her.

"Thanks for trying, dear," whispered she. "I know she can be quite stubborn when she's decided to get something..."

"I really had no intend to listen. Really..."

"I know, and it's not upsetting me that you listened. It was not in my intention to deny to my sisters his coming to see me. And it's true, he woke me with a kiss..."

Lydia literally shouted her pleasure.

"I knew it, there's no more romantic man than a Frenchman..."

She danced around the room.

"He woke her with a kiss, he woke her with a kiss..."

Both Jane and Mary hushed her.

"Please, not everybody needs to know."

"Yes, indeed everybody needs to know!" She pointed toward the street. "They need to know. Nothing's more romantic than a true love story that shatters everything in its way..."

"We shattered nothing," interrupted Jane. "We..."

Lydia looked once more toward the heavens.

"Jane, please, stop being so reasonable! Let yourself be overwhelmed by love and joy! Let happiness come to you! Holy goodness, Jane, he braved a whole garrison of home guards just to wake you with a kiss! What on earth can be more romantic? What more could drive a maiden into ecstasy!"

Jane stomped toward her sister.

"Cease using words you don't understand..."

Mary saw Lydia's sparkling eyes and knew that she was preparing something.

"Jane, don't! She's..."

But her warning came too late.

Lydia strode back to the window and just when Jane was at her side, she pulled the curtains out of her way and pushed her sister against the window.

Immediately there was a great shout outside and Lydia was behind her raising her hand and forcing her to greet the crowd.

"Smile, Jane, they love you... They just want to see you..."

Mary was already at the door when her father's voice could be heard.

"What happened?" shouted Mr. Bennet from downstairs

"They saw Jane at the window," said Mary. "It's Lydia, she just pushed her at the window..."

Jane heard Lydia's teeth grind when she heard Mary's comment.

"Ugly little telltale," whispered she while smiling at the crowd. "Always telling everything to Papa and Mama..."

Jane couldn't help but greet the waiting crowd with hand movements.

"You should go out, Jane... They are here to see, they are here to hear you reassure them that the French won't raze the city..."

She leaned toward her sister.

"He said something of the sort, didn't he?"

"No, he said nothing about London. We just spoke of us..."

"Oh, it's called speaking, now?" said Lydia trying to be sarcastic. "But it doesn't matter. These people believe in you and in the fact that you protected them and that you will continue to protect them. Let them hear what they want to hear..."

Jane looked at her sister.

"But I don't know anything about what he wants to do with London. He didn't speak about it. It would be lying..."

Lydia shook her head while continuing to smile and greet the people outside.

"It would be saving our life, Jane. Look at them, they want you to reassure them. They won't leave before you do. And if they don't begin to leave soon, they'll stay there all day and all night. And we'll miss the wedding..."

Jane looked at he with anger in her eyes.

"You're forcing my hand..."

"It's necessary, Jane. They won't leave as long as they have not been reassured. And we are blocked here as long as they stay outside. There's no choice there, you must go out and speak to them..."

"Don't let her convince you," interrupted Mary who had come back. "It's way too dangerous. Someone could shoot at you..."

"Look at them, Jane, they are here to worship you, not kill you..."

"One's enough..."

"Don't listen to that chicken, we have no choice. You must do it..."

Seeing that she would never be able to stop Lydia, Mary turned around and began to run downstairs.

"Last chance," whispered Lydia. "She will come back with Papa and I'll have no choice but to surrender to him and then, we'll never be in time for Lizzie's wedding..."

Jane was very aware that Lydia was trying to manipulate her but she was also aware that a crowd could dissolve into a frenzy very soon if it didn't get what it wanted.

And right now they wanted to hear her.

They were seeing her but it was not calming them. She could see that more and more of the people meeting in front of her were becoming each second more agitated. If she let it go on some of them would lose it and then...

Nobody knew...

She looked at Lydia.

"Open the window and please stay with me..."

Lydia smile blossomed like an African giant flower.

"I'll be there, Jane and nothing will be able to tear me from your side..."

A booming outburst came up in the streets and Mr. Bennet knew he would arrive too late.

A small part of him was relieved that Jane and Lydia had acted before he was able to stop them. But and even greater part of him was scared to death.

What if there was a madman outside with a gun?

Was he about to lose his daughter?

He rushed into the room just when a strange silence replaced the big shout that had just boomed in the street.

He saw Jane and Lydia leaning out of the open window and while Lydia was waving like mad, Jane was very calm.

He came just at the window when she began to speak.

They were so numerous.

Never ever before had she seen so much people crammed in one little street.

And they looked up at her as if she were a pastor or a bishop. Or something even more powerful.

She shook her head and smiled.

"Well, you wanted to see me," said she in a surprisingly powerful voice. "Here I am. I hope you're not too disappointed because there's nothing more to see. I am not the Holy virgin and I'm not the King... I'm just simple Jane Bennet."

There was a murmur in the crowd and a female voice rose up from the crowd.

"Will they come? Will the French come?"

She looked at the face of the woman who had just spoken. She had a child in her arms and another one was sitting on her husband's shoulders.

"No," said she while shaking her head. "They won't come!"

There was an outburst which was very alike to a sigh of relief.

"They will stay out of London. He doesn't want London to be destroyed. He will wait for the time it takes the Prince Regent to hand the town over..."

A few boos were uttered when she had spoken of the Prince Regent but none when she had spoken of him... Why would they prefer a foreign invader to their own Crown Prince?

"Will you live in London?" asked another voice.

She had difficulties understanding to whom they were alluding.

Lydia much wiser in everything gossipy came to her rescue.

"Say yes," whispered she. "They'll love it to know you'll live with them..."

"Of course," answered Jane. "Where else?"

That brought another ovation.

"But now I need to go to my sister's wedding... Soon after the wedding we'll come back... I promise."

That was, once more, greeted with an ovation.

"Let us escort you out of Town!" came a shout.

"Let us escort you!..." shouted hundreds of voices. "Let us escort you!"

Kennedy who was listening from the door immediately gave orders.

The crowd was, for the moment, willing to let them go, he would not let this opportunity pass.

"Move, people," he shouted in the stairway. "I want everyone on horse back within five minutes. Do what you have to do but do it now!"

Jonas and the rest of the staff did what had to be done to insure the swift departure of their guests and ten minutes later they were boarding the carriage and followed by hundreds of people merrymaking around them they exited London in a two-hours long jolly procession.

Lydia, was, until the last moment, leaning out of the window, joking with everyone and always accepting little sheets of paper she was passing inside the compartment to her sister who, shy as always, just smiled and waved to their ever-changing followers.

Each and everyone of the sheets was a grievance or a demand. Jane took each and every one of them and began to read them.

Two days later when they entered Pemberley she would have read all of them.

Next chapter: Pemberley Reconciliation