Pride and Prejudice

Fan Fiction

Cracking the Mask

Previously:

"I thank you for thinking of us. If Mrs. Caddick does not mind, I see no reason why we should not travel together."

"I see no reason why not." Lady Arwen loved the idea of having Mrs. Gardiner as company.

NOTE: I am sorry, I know Elizabeth cares about her father but, in this story, she refused to come to Netherfield. Therefore, since I felt no sickness on her part, I was left to reason it was because she felt she would not be able to keep her mouth shut.

Netherfield

Ch. 18

Once again, people gathered in the drawing room of Netherfield, but this time, Mr. and Mrs. Darcy were not there. Elizabeth was not convinced she would be able to keep her mouth shut. So, she had stayed home. It was only Charles, Jane, Mary and her husband, Kitty, along with the Duke and Duchess. They were all reminding themselves how important it would be to call their own father Mr. Caddick, and not Papa.

"I do not know if I can do this." Kitty said, standing up and beginning to pace the floor nervously.

"If you cannot, you better decide now. Mr. Caddick will be arriving shortly." Mrs. Wadsworth said, sharply, not having time to soften her words. "Sister can send you home and you can pack for Pemberley. We do not need to chase father off without giving him a chance to remember things before he has taken even two steps inside Netherfield."

"Your sister is right." The Duchess said, with more tact, as she rose and walked up to Kitty. She laid a hand on Kitty's shoulder and pitied the young lady. "I know it is hard, but if you value anything at all - even the mere fact that Mr. Bennet kept a roof over your head - then we need to support him, even as Mr. Caddick, if that is who he has become. And, yes, his physical appearance has changed; well, his hair has from what you have told me. His hair is longer, and your father now sports a full beard. "

"I can accept the hair bit; I just hope his lack of memory is not for good." Kitty looked into the duchess' face. "May I sit by you when they come? I will need to hold onto someone's hand if I am to pull this off."

"You most certainly may." Lady Audra replied, kindly.

That was why Kitty was sitting next to her, holding her hand, an hour later, when Mr. Caleb Caddick was introduced, along with his wife and two children.

"I thank you for having us as guests, your Grace." Mr. Caddick said, shaking hands with the duke.

"Please, no one calls me Your Grace in my own home. Please, just call me Paul. If I had my way, I would get away with a simple Mister, but…" He winked, "You did not hear that from me." Instantly, Caleb felt the same connection as before. He had to have met this gentleman before. However, it was a topic Mr. Caddick preferred to discuss with the man, alone, not in front of his guests.

"Let me introduce you to my recently adopted family." The duke said, leading him to Charles and Jane. "As you have been told, this is Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner's niece, Jane, and her husband, Charles. I view her as my own blood, as I do her sisters." He turned and introduced the Caddicks to Mary and her husband, James. Turning to Kitty, Lord Paul spoke with the greatest of affection. "Kitty is my youngest adopted niece. She is eighteen and is - temporarily - in my charge for her mother has passed and her father ill."

"You are a pretty young lady. Your uncle must have his hands full with all the suitors who come your way."

Kitty squirmed and squeezed the duchess' hand. Mr. Caddick thought he had made the young lady uncomfortable and apologized. "I meant no offense. I did not mean to cause you distress. Please, forgive me."

"You are forgiven. You did not offend me." Kitty said, forcing a smile. "I…I just have not been dealing well with…strangers lately." It sounded lame to her ears, but how did one explain things to their own father when he did not even know their true identity?

Kitty, as well as Lady Arwen, was stunned when Iona walked quietly over to Miss Bennet and sat down next to her, laying a hand on her arm. She spoke no word, but her eyes said it all. The youngest Bennet sister let go of the duchess' hand and put an arm around Miss Caddick.

"I think, my dear, our daughter has made a new friend." Mr. Caddick said, smiling broadly and winking. "If this keeps up, we might have to move down here." It was a good thing the couple was looking at each other, for it gave the others time to stop their own instant squirming or fidgeting.

"I suppose we might." Lady Arwen agreed, deciding right then and there, if possible, that was exactly what they would do. Probably not to Longbourn, for his hand had twitched at that name while in London, but there was nothing wrong with being close to the Duke and Mrs. Bingley. That would put them within reasonable distance of Longbourn. Word was that William Collins was now pushing to move into that estate, since Mr. Bennet had no memory of who he was so, logical speaking, that had to be her husband's real home. It was an action that Collins fellow might have succeeded in only he had one blockade stopping him...the duke, so Lady Arwen suspected.

And it was the duke who had, at Mr. Caddick's request, stepped outside with the gentleman and was now walking the gardens with him of Netherfield.

People could see them talking, but no one made any attempt to disrupt their conversation. "Tell me Paul..." Mr. Caddick spoke slowly. "I felt a connection to you when you came to Kendal, and I feel it again upon coming to Netherfield. Are we related? Have we met before other than the day you came to Kendall Hall?"

The duke knew his brother deserved answers, wanted to give them, but still had the doctor's orders ringing in his ears. 'We do not know much about head injuries' along with stern 'suggestions' they allow Mr. 'Caddick' to remember on his own without answering direct questions, not at first anyway. 'Give him time on his own first. If they do not come, say in six months, start spoon feeding him ones.'

Paul did not agree with the doctor. Thought it all stupidity. However, he had no desire to hurt Thomas either. So, he cautiously explained why he could not answer those questions and begged forgiveness for not replying.

"However, I will risk the doctor's wrath and say this much. Yes, we have always viewed each other as brothers though we share no blood." The duke did not feel bad about answering as he had not been the one to bring up the question, and he was keeping tabs on any signs of stress.

"Mind if I sit down?" Caleb pointed to a nearby stone bench.

"Be my guest." He then willingly joined Mr. Caddick.

"First, do not tell my wife this, but I overheard Dr. Jone's talking. I know why the Gardiners quit talking in their drawing room and what you now watch for."

"I see." Paul asked in an even tone of voice. "What is it that you wish to discuss that you do not wish your wife to be watching for signs then? And what makes you think I will continue our talk if your hand twitches?"

"Because something tells me we ignored authority...a lot."

"That was in our younger days." The duke laughed. "But yes, at Cambridge we, may have, gotten into a wee bit of trouble." That set both men to laughing until Caleb let out a long sigh.

"None of those faces in there I recognize and yet, something inside me shouts I should. Do you know how much that hurts? It comes along with a sense that I let them down, especially the ones you call Mrs. Wadsworth and Miss Kitty Bennet. Why would they even want me down here? If that is the case?"

"They want you down here. They hold nothing against you, not even this." He -gently - prodded Mr. Caddick and asked what else was bothering him.

"If I remember those people, you just introduced me to, will I forget Lady Arwen? Forget children that are now mine? I promised her father I would not desert them, we put it in a will." Caleb turned and looked at Lady Arwen who was looking at through the window, crossing her arms and biting her lips. "She could have left me stranded where I was, could have ignored my need. She could have argued with her brothers, and father, in spite of her two children; I am not one of the upper class that much I knew - everything in me shouted that. Lady Arwen willingly married far below her status. She cannot be walked away from; it is bad enough I feel as if that is what I have done to children I cannot remember. Worse yet, what happens if my whole mind goes blank and I recall no one?" Mr. Caddick turned his head away from the window as he did not wish for his wife to see his tears begin to flow.

"If you stay here, Mr. Caddick and any of those issues occur, I promise...I will make sure neither she, nor those children are walked away from. That legal document of the Castell family will be honored, and if you become incapable of taking care of even yourself, I and my family will step in. Mrs. Caddick and those children will not be neglected."

"Promise me?" Caleb dried his tears before facing back around.

"I promise, what are brothers for? Blood or not?"

"One more thing."

"Yes?"

"It was not the name of Longbourn, or the thought of it that made my hand twitch."

"What caused it then?"

"While I do not recall any one by the name of Collins, I got the strongest urge to lay my hands his neck when Mr. Gardiner mentioned his name. Pray tell, why would I feel such thing? Is he a criminal or something?"

"Or Something." Paul managed to reply, but it was difficult- the poor man had cracked up laughing extremely hard -as had others who had ventured out into the gardens and heard Mr. Caddick's last statement and question.

"I will take it I am not the only one to have those instincts, Miss Bennet?" He looked at Miss Kitty Bennet deciding, while he could not place her, reaching out to the young lady would not be a bad thing to start doing.

"No, no, Mr. Caddick you are not." Kitty replied with her own amused smile a mile wide.