September 24, 2014 – Time to make the donuts! Er, I mean time to find out how Anne de Bourgh became Anne de Bourgh. I should fess up now and admit that there is a very small but important change I made to canon. (Besides the very big change I made to canon.) I'll explain it more at the end of the chapter. And thanks for all the reviews for the last chapter. I knew you folks would be bursting to let me know what you thought. I suspect there will be more airing of ideas at the end of this chapter as well. I'm not bothered. lol
Chapter 17
Sir William had spent many years cultivating his civility. He had left behind his business and retired to the life of a country squire. However, the qualities that had first earned him his knighthood once again came to the fore as he faced the situation before him. He peered into the confused face of Mrs. Darcy and saw in it the echoes of the woman he had known twenty years before. His wife must have seen the same thing, for without his prompting she looked him squarely in the eye.
"I will send for George immediately."
"Thank you, dear." He then turned his attention to the others as Lady Lucas hurried to complete her commission. "Mr. Bingley, Mr. Darcy, can you please help me remove Mrs. Bennet to a private room?" The incident had been noticed and the room was filled with murmuring.
Darcy moved first. "Of course, sir." Bingley joined him, taking Sir William's place. "Lead the way."
"Miss Bennet, Miss Mary, would you please see Mrs. Darcy to the blue room. I will come to bring you to your mother shortly."
They obeyed and the room watched as the Mrs. Bennet was carried out by the two gentleman.
Miss Bennet and Miss Mary sat with Anne in the appointed place. No one seemed inclined to speak. Sir William came back to them with Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy as soon as Lady Lucas had returned from sending the servant for Mr. Bennet. He sent Miss Bennet to her mother and Miss Mary to tell her sister, Miss Catherine, that they would need to leave soon. Mr. Bingley returned to the rest of his party.
"Sir William," Darcy began as soon as the door was closed, "Will you please explain what the devil is going on! Why is a woman we have never met calling my wife by my daughter's name?"
"Mr. Darcy, I… You have a daughter named Elizabeth?"
"Yes, she is but two months old."
Sir William shook his head. "I do not know where to begin. I fear this is not my tale to tell. I have summoned Mr. Bennet. He lives but a mile from Meryton and I expect him within minutes."
Darcy was not happy. Something was terribly wrong; he knew it with all his being.
"Mrs. Darcy, please forgive my impertinence, but could you kindly tell me how old you are?"
"Whatever for?" Anne asked, incredulous.
"Please, I would not ask if it were not important."
"I turned twenty last month."
Sir William looked very grave.
"I say, what has my wife's age to do with this?" Darcy demanded.
"Unless I am mistaken, Mr. Darcy, everything."
~~~/~~~
The servant had arrived at Longbourn nearly out of breath.
"Lady Lucas has sent me to tell you… that Mrs. Bennet has fainted… that you are needed immediately. She says to tell you that it is a matter of life and death… and that you must come now. You are to take my horse, sir."
George Bennet was used to his wife's fits of nerves, but Lady Lucas's message caught his attention. Whatever had happened?
He took the lad's mount and made fast time between his estate and Meryton. He was obviously expected, for he received directions to a room upstairs without needing to ask.
Instead of his wife, he found Sir William with a couple he did not recognize.
"Where is Harriet?"
"She is resting with Jane and my wife. May I introduce to you Mr. and Mrs. Darcy? They were with your wife when she fainted. Mr. and Mrs. Darcy, this is George Bennet, master of Longbourn."
"How do you do? Welcome to Hertfordshire… Please excuse me, I would like to see my wife."
Sir William stopped him from leaving the room. "Look again, George, at Mrs. Darcy."
Mr. Bennet was becoming perturbed with his neighbor, but did as asked in exasperation, hoping he would then be allowed to see his wife. As he looked upon the unknown woman in front of him, it slowly dawned on him that he was looking at his wife – or rather what his Harriet had looked like twenty years before.
"Could it be?" he gasped.
"Her twentieth birthday was last month."
"My God…" And Mr. Bennet went weak in his knees.
"Here, take a seat," Sir William said, pulling a chair near with his free hand. Mr. Bennet sat and started to weep.
"Will someone please tell us what is going on?" Darcy insisted on an answer.
Mr. Bennet and Sir William ignored him. "I must go to Harriet."
"Calm yourself first. Her shock has been just as great."
"We are leaving!" Darcy announced.
"Wait!" Mr. Bennet cried. He wiped the tears from his face and looked longingly at Anne. "I know you must be confused about all you have seen and heard this evening, but this is not the place to discuss it. I promise you a full accounting if you will call on Longbourn tomorrow morning. I give you my word that you shall know all I, and Sir William, know." Sir William nodded in assent.
Anne could see they would receive no answers that night.
"Fitzwilliam, let us do as they ask," she urged.
"Very well. We will come."
"Thank you," Mr. Bennet said quietly. Darcy and Anne hesitantly left the room. As she walked through the door she looked back. Mr. Bennet was watching her and she saw a look of desolation cross his face, followed by an expression of determination so intense that it made her spine tingle.
Again the door shut. Mr. Bennet looked at his old friend.
"Is it really she?"
"Perhaps. She certainly looks like Harriet."
"I should go to her now."
"Before you do, there is more you should know. She has a child. A daughter. They have named her Elizabeth."
Mr. Bennet was grateful for the chair behind him. He immediately sat back down.
"If Mrs. Darcy is not my daughter, then fate is playing us a cruel trick. How else can we account for the name of the child?"
"Yet to have your child return and bring news you have a grandchild, could anything be more amazing?"
"If it is really Elizabeth."
"I think it is time for me to take you to your wife; she is the one who noticed the resemblance."
Mrs. Bennet was attended by her three daughters and Lady Lucas. When the gentlemen entered, Lady Lucas put her hand on her friend's shoulder and kissed her on the cheek.
"I shall leave you to the care of your husband."
"Thank you, Juliet."
"I ordered your carriage when I sent the boy to you, Mr. Bennet. We shall inquire if it is ready and send word if it is." Mr. Bennet nodded in acknowledgement and Sir William and his wife left the Bennets alone in the parlor.
"Papa?" Jane said timidly.
"Not here, girls."
"Did you see her? Can it be? After all these years?" Mrs. Bennet asked her husband.
"I saw her, I really do not know. I have asked the Darcys to call on us at Longbourn in the morning. We should wait until then to get our hopes up."
"Mine are already."
"Are you speaking of Mrs. Darcy?" Mary inquired, unable to wait.
"Yes, but further discussion must wait until we are home," her father replied.
"Yes, Father."
It was an awkward journey. None of the girls dared ask their parents any more questions. Their father's admonition at the Assembly Rooms precluded it. They could also see that their father – their father! – had been crying. Their mother, normally a woman full of words, said not a thing and sat next to their father, holding his hand, with a look of unburdened joy spread over her face visible even in the moonlight.
Of all their siblings who had remained home, only their sister Lydia was still awake. Mr. Bennet had told the girls to wait for him in his book room. He would see that their younger sister was in bed and then come to speak with them. This in and of itself would have told them how extraordinary the events of the night had been. Never before had he asked more than one of his children to come into his room, other than to hand out discipline.
When he finally arrived and closed the door, the three girls sat forward on the edge of their seats.
"You have heard that you had a sister born after Jane?" They all nodded. "You may have also heard that she… disappeared."
"We have heard people gossip when they thought we could not hear. You have never spoken much about her," Kitty answered.
"I suppose they have been kind to you by not recalling our misfortunes in front of us. But it is true; you had a sister who was kidnapped from us only days after she was born. We had named her Elizabeth."
~~~/~~~
Meanwhile, at Netherfield, Anne and Darcy arrived less than two hours after they had left. They made their excuses to Bingley, who being witness to some of the distressing events, was sympathetic to their wishes to return to their daughter. Anne immediately went to the nursery to see for herself that her child was safe.
"What do you make of all this, Anne?" Darcy asked as they readied for bed.
"I have no idea! Neither of us has ever met with the Bennets before in our lives, but still…"
"Yes?"
She looked him in the eye as she spoke. "It was like I knew that I should know them."
Darcy dropped his gaze for a moment and then looked back up at his wife. "They acted as if you were someone they had lost track of a long time ago."
"I know." Anne paused to think on his words. "Do you suppose that they are related through my father's mother? We know little about her family. That could explain some of their odd reactions."
"Perhaps, but one thing is certain." Darcy and Anne got in to bed and he pulled the covers up and over them. "I am not leaving Longbourn tomorrow until I have answers to all of my questions."
~~~/~~~
The adults of Longbourn were up very early for the day after an assembly. Lydia Bennet had hoped to hear of all the beaux her sisters had danced with and any news of the mysterious Netherfield party. None of her sisters would satisfy her questions. They were all too preoccupied with what they had learned and what they anticipated happening on this day.
The Darcys arrived a short while after Sir William Lucas. He had come at Mr. Bennet's request to act as a witness to the events twenty years in the past.
Anne noticed a painting had been removed from over the fireplace. One about the same size now leaned against the wall off to the side, its subject facing away from the room.
Mrs. Bennet sat quietly by her husband's side, unable to keep her eyes off of Anne. Strangely, this did not make Anne uncomfortable.
When they were all seated, Mr. Bennet began.
"Thank you for coming, Mr. and Mrs. Darcy. You must have thought us half-insane the way we carried on last night. When you hear what we have to say, I hope you will understand why we acted in such an… agitated manner."
"My wife and I are eager to hear your explanations."
Mr. Bennet looked at Anne and gave her a wistful smile before exhaling. Then he spoke.
"What I am about to tell you has not been spoken of in this house for nearly twenty years. Until last night, the memories of the event were so painful that my wife and I tacitly agreed never to speak of them. My children know little to nothing of what I am about to tell you.
"On the second day of September 1791, my wife gave birth to our second child. It was a girl and we named her Elizabeth after a great-grandmother. A few days later the weather was very balmy and I took my little girl for a walk to show her my favorite part of this estate while the maids changed the linens in her cradle…"
Mr. Trent's last hope of fulfilling his commission lay in a small estate in rural Hertfordshire. His client had requested a daughter of a gentleman. He had not been able to find a girl "in trouble" and due at the time he needed a child, and so he had looked to find a family who might also be expecting a baby then. None of his other prospects had turned out, and if this last child were unreachable, he would have to collect some foundling to pawn off to his employer. He really did not want to do that, though it was infinitely easier. There is honor even among thieves; Mr. Trent had promised the daughter of a gentleman and by heavens that is what he would try to deliver! He also knew by the amount he was being paid that the child he gave to his patron, whomever that might be, would be raised in great affluence. The plot was too elaborate and too well financed not to be the brainchild of a very wealthy person.
And so he had come to the small estate outside the village of Meryton. The house was not grand, but the grounds seemed well maintained. Fortunately, he was able to slip unnoticed into a wilderness off to the back of the house. From there he could observe the house and discern which room was the nursery. He watched for two days trying to formulate a plan. There was already another child in the nursery, about two years old if he was correct. Her presence complicated matters.
On the third day he had decided to wait for nightfall and then to sneak up the trellis and into the room while the household was asleep. While he waited, fate intervened.
A man, the master of the estate, Mr. Trent believed, came out of the house holding the newborn child. He was talking to the bundle in his arms, smiling and laughing and walking in the direction of the wilderness and Mr. Trent. Ever aware of opportunity, Mr. Trent hid himself and waited. The man holding the child walked past his hiding place and before he could react, Mr. Trent had leapt out and hit him over the head with a rock he had found lying near his feet. Not wanting the man to wake too soon to sound the alarm, Trent bound his hands and feet and gagged him. He then picked up the little girl and slipped away.
"… As soon as I was free from my bonds, I went for help. I must have been unconscious for a while because by the time I was able to sound the alarm, there was no trace of my assailant or my daughter. We searched the area but there was no sign. I knew that if he or she had gone to London that all hope was lost. There was no description I could give. I knew not even if it was a man or a woman who had assaulted me. We soon were forced to give up the search. Our daughter Mary was born a year later but she could never replace the loss of Elizabeth."
Darcy and Anne looked at each other, dangerous thoughts thundering through their minds.
"What does this have to do with my wife?" Darcy finally asked.
"Mrs. Darcy has an uncanny resemblance to my family, sir. She is the right age to be my long lost daughter."
"But this is impossible! I was but a young boy, but I remember my cousin's birth!"
"I thought Mrs. Darcy was your wife."
"She is, but we are also cousins. She is the former Miss Anne de Bourgh, daughter of my mother's sister. My mother was her godmother. I have known her all my life. There must be a mistake!"
"Please calm down, sir. Before you storm out of my house, there is one thing you must see." Mr. Bennet signaled to Sir William. He walked over to the painting Anne had noticed and picked it up. All eyes were on him as he turned it around for everyone to see. It was a portrait of a woman wearing the fashions of twenty years past. But for the different style of clothing and the styling of the hair, it looked for all the world to be a painting of Anne.
"This portrait was taken shortly after I was married. This is my wife, sir."
In shock, Anne stood and walked over to the painting for a closer look. It was her image, or nearly hers. There were a few subtle differences but she knew then, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that only the closest of blood relations could look so incredibility similar.
Impossible as it seemed, it could only be the image of her mother.
And there you have it. This really is a Darcy and Elizabeth story. Aren't you glad you trusted me now?
For those of you who don't like to read Author's Notes, you can stop now.
(And yes, I've had people tell me before that they do not like to read through long Author's Notes.)
~~~/~~~
This is where I tell you how this story came about and some important ideas that went into the writing as well and hints on what to look for in the coming chapters.
I was contemplating ideas for a story and one day I got to thinking about all of the stories where Jane/Elizabeth are really Darcy's family but were kidnapped and raised by the Bennets. There wasn't a story out there where they were born Bennets and raised by Darcy's family. At first I was going to go with Darcy's uncle, the earl, but then I got this harebrained scheme for it to be Lady Catherine and then I tried to figure out why she would do it and the idea for the plot bunny was born. (pesky things, those plot bunnies!) At the beginning I had no idea that this would be more than a 10-12 chapter story, never anticipating that it would take me 14 chapters of backstory to even get to this point!
From there I just tried to imagine the character of Elizabeth Bennet being raised as Anne de Bourgh. FYI I'm very much a nature vs nurture person with nature being the more dominant factor. I tried to write Elizabeth's personality being nurtured as a rich, spoiled granddaughter of a peer. I found it a very fun challenge.
But eventually I knew she would return as Anne Darcy to Hertfordshire and I needed to make a little change in canon so that it was very obvious that she was really Elizabeth Bennet returned home after 20 years. So I made her look just like her mother. That it not canon. It, canon, does not say she does or does not look like her mother, but I think it's implied that she does not by a lack any mention of the subject. (Plus do you really think she would have been anything but her mother's favorite if she really looked a lot like her mother?) I do think that there was a strong family resemblance in all the sisters, but nothing to the extent of this story. Let's just say those Gardiner genes were very strong in AMFW.
The rest of this story is how Anne – and by extension the rest of her two families – tries to discover how she ended up as Anne. It is also the story of how Anne learns to accept who she is and reconciles to her new, complex, family paradigm. If you look at the blurb I put on this story, I talk about pride. She's is going to have to deal with many of the same issues as Darcy did in canon, in her own way. Likewise, her family is also going to have to adjust. It will not always be a smooth transition. And there are some very weighty issues that will need to be addressed, by more than one person.
Don't worry, I promise you that there will be a happy ending. Will you all be completely satisfied? Nope. Nothing this complicated will end up with everyone satisfied, but the characters will find their peace with the past. When I posted this before, there was a lot of lively debate on the story arc choices I made. I will expand upon them when appropriate. If you are wondering if the light hearted tone will disappear, don't worry too much. I tried to include bits of levity along the way.
And one last thing before this note is finished. Please reread the italicized portion of the chapter. The decision to kidnap Elizabeth/Anne was made by Mr. Trent, not by Lady Catherine. That is important, and typical of how an off-handed comment can lead to some unforeseen circumstances. The laws of unintended consequences...