Chapter 45: Solved
Darcy had never felt so uncomfortable in Ashton Park in his whole life. But now, as he sat in the study along with Elizabeth, Lord Philip and Lady Martha, he found no words to explain the tension he felt in the air. The morning had started out as usual, but he was surprised to receive a note from Lady Martha requesting his presence at Ashton Park immediately. He was extremely agitated and was certain that it had something to do with Elizabeth.
He raced to Ashton Park on his horse and was glad to see her waiting for him at the entrance of the house and the expression on her face scared him.
"Elizabeth, what is wrong?" he asked in a hurry as she ran up to him.
"Thank you for coming, we need you here."
"What happened? Are you unwell?"
"Nothing is wrong with me, but a lot has happened since last night and it has nothing to do with Lord Anderson."
"You are scaring me, what happened? Did someone try to hurt you?"
She held his hand and reassured him and led him to the study. Within ten minutes, he became aware all the horrific details of the blackmail and Lady Isabella's secret.
"Philip, I do not know what to say? How could this happen to our family?" Darcy finally asked.
Lord Ashton was silent.
"Fitzwilliam, none of us have slept a wink since last night. I have not disclosed this to anyone, except my brothers. I have a strong feeling that the culprit is from Ashton Park," Lady Martha said.
"I feel so too. I cannot believe it; we all thought that it was an accident. Forgive me, for asking this so bluntly, could it have been a suicide?" he asked and watched the agony on Lord Ashton's face.
"I do not know. According to Isabella, the blackmailer has a letter stating that she committed suicide. She is gone, suffered and died in a way no woman should have, not her. She loved everyone and I cannot believe Isabella did this to her and fooled me for so long."
Elizabeth expected Lady Martha to vent out her anger against Lady Isabella, but to her surprise Lady Martha she kept silent.
"So, you saw someone in the garden?" Darcy asked Elizabeth.
"I thought I did, again I was not certain about anything. But I must confess I did doubt something was going on with Lady Isabella," she said looking guiltily at Lady Isabella.
"I am not upset with you, Elizabeth. Honestly, I do not know whom to be angry with, more than myself. Someone has been threating a member of this family and she did not trust us to help her, it only shows that I have failed to treat her with the respect she deserved. I do not want to judge what she did, nor the complication of her relationship with my son. I do not have a say in that."
"But I can say for certain, mother. I can never forgive her. One way or the other she is the reason Sophia is dead."
Darcy and Elizabeth felt extremely uncomfortable to be a part of the discussion.
"We cannot allow this to continue, whoever it is they must pay for it. Philip, I understand how difficult this would be for you, but we must stop this. When did she receive the last letter?"
"I think a week ago, someone has been placing the letters in the garden and that is the way she has been communicating with them."
"Do not worry, we will catch whoever is behind this."
Just then, Lord Anderson and his brother joined them, Elizabeth immediately stood.
"Kindly excuse me," she said and left the room.
Darcy noticed the sadness in Lord Anderson's face as he watched Elizabeth leave the room.
"I hope you have been updated with the recent developments, Mr. Darcy," Lord Anderson said.
"Yes, it is very unfortunate that our family has to endure something like this."
"The question is what do we plan to do."
"It may not be a difficult task to catch whoever is behind is, but whatever we do must be done in secrecy as I strongly suspect the culprit is somewhere close to us, or even in this house."
"You are right, if Sophia had the diary with her that night and it went missing later, someone here must have stolen it. We were all there that night of the ball, I still cannot believe it," Lord Anderson said.
"Philip, I am sorry to ask you this, when did you last see Sophia that night?" Lady Martha asked her son.
"We retired after the ball and I remember her leaving the room to see the children, but she returned after sometime. She looked worried and I remember asking her is the children were unwell. But I am not certain why she left the room after that, all I remember is the housekeeper waking me early in the hours informing me of her death."
"What time was it when she returned to your room that night?" Darcy asked.
"Maybe half past 12, I was so tired that day and do not remember anything after that."
"Did she have the diary with her, do you remember?" Darcy asked.
"No, she did not, actually she might have, I am not certain. I remember her last words to me that night, she said the children are well, do not worry. But, wait I do remember, she was looking for something."
All in the room stared at Lord Ashton.
"She was looking for a pen. Maybe she did write the letter and end her life, Oh! Lord! I was with her in that moment and never realized what she meant to do."
"Do not jump into conclusions. What time did Lady Isabella say they met in her room?"
"Elizabeth asked her, she said around twelve," Lady Martha replied.
"So, she did return to the room after the arguement. What made her venture out to the guest wing again?" Darcy asked.
The rest of them were silent.
"We do not have time to waste, if I am right Lady Isabella received a letter recently demanding more money," Mr. Anderson mentioned.
"Yes, I assume she was supposed to leave the money tomorrow night in the garden," Lord Ashton said.
"We do not have much time and whatever we plan to must not raise suspicion."
"Do not worry, Mr. Anderson, whoever it is will be caught and they have to pay a price for this horrendous act," Darcy said with confidence.
Lady Martha left the men as they discussed their plans. Within half an hour, everything was discussed and Darcy could sense that no matter what the outcome, was his friend was not willing to forgive Lady Isabella. He was impatient to see Elizabeth and once he left the study he headed to upstairs where she sat with the children helping them with their lessons.
As soon as she saw him, she smiled and Darcy stared at her with admiration for what she had done the previous night.
The children ran up to him with affection.
"Fitzwilliam, when is the next ball, can we attend that too?" Edmund asked with excitement and Darcy laughed.
"The next ball should be during Christmas, but you will have many more exciting parties to attend before that and a wedding," he said not taking his eyes off Elizabeth.
"Your wedding with Miss Smith, am I right?" Emily asked.
"Yes, you are."
"And when is that Mr. Darcy?" Elizabeth asked him teasingly.
Darcy left the children and walked to the table where she was seated and Elizabeth immediately stood.
"If you agree, I can make it happen tomorrow," he said gazing into her beautiful eyes, and Elizabeth lost herself as she stared at him, forgetting the present and the couple were brought back to reality when the children joined them at the table.
"I thought you would not resume lessons until we left to London," Darcy said.
"How could I not, I cannot neglect them because of what is going on in our lives. This is the only thing that feels real in my life now," she said and watched Darcy frown.
"Apart from you," Elizabeth added.
Just then, they heard a knock and the children's nanny entered the room, she looked uneasy.
"What is it, Mrs. Davidson?" Elizabeth asked.
"Miss Smith, I mean Lady Martha asked me to stay here until Mr. Darcy leaves, I mean just stay here with you," she said.
"Good Heavens!" Darcy cried to himself and saw Elizabeth try hard not to smile.
She is still concerned about the chaperone situation.
"You can say here as along as you want, I was just leaving," he cried with irritation and left the room.
"Did I do something to upset him?" Mrs. Davidson asked.
"It has nothing to do with you, please do not worry," Elizabeth smiled at her. She was impatient to know what had transpired after the discussion downstairs but continued with the lessons, as her mind circled around Lady Isabella.
She recalled the events of the previous night, pained by the shock and horror she witnessed on both Lord Ashton and Lady Martha's face, as the secret unraveled through her.
She had been in Lady Isabella's room until the early hours, trying to understand her situation better. By morning, Lady Martha decided to inform Darcy and had sent a note to Pemberley. Once the children completed the lessons and Elizabeth headed to the dinning room for dinner. As expected, the whole family was gathered for the meal, Lady Martha made certain that everyone continued their routine, despite the developments, she did not want any of the staff to suspect anything, as she also had a strong feeling that the culprit was someone in Ashton Park.
The moment Elizabeth entered the room, she locked eyes with Lord Anderson and struggled to compose herself, and beside him sat Lady Anderson and her temperament mirrored that of Elizabeth. She could not bear the sight of Elizabeth and her daughter looked away in anger. It was evident to everyone that Miss Anderson was still unaware about her father's past. Elizabeth could sense it as well.
I am certain her mother did not reveal the truth yet. I can see it in her eyes, she does not know yet.
All of them sat down to eat and Elizabeth sat next to Lady Isabella, who looked distraught.
Mr. Anderson and Darcy kept the conversation flowing and whenever it touched the topic about their marriage Elizabeth saw the displeasure on Lady Anderson's face. Her piercing gaze fell on Elizabeth more often than not and Darcy was very much aware of this. He could not stand anyone treating Elizabeth in such a way, and looked at Lady Anderson with anger, his expression clearly warning her to behave with respect.
Lady Anderson fumed as she saw Darcy sit next to her.
She had stolen everything from us, the man I married and the man my daughter wants to marry. I cannot stand her sight.
Lady Anderson had struggled to reveal the truth about Elizabeth to her daughter. She understood that it would devastate her, as she already felt humiliated by Darcy's marriage with Elizabeth. It was a relief to everyone once dinner was over and Darcy planned to return to Pemberley.
"Fitzwilliam, what is the plan?" Elizabeth asked in a whisper as she led him out of the house.
"Trust me, the lesser we speak about this the better. Everything will be resolved tomorrow."
"I am worried about Lady Isabella and her safety as well."
Darcy looked at her with admiration, from what he has seen of the relationship between them, he was well aware of Lady Isabella's hostility towards Elizabeth.
"You saved her life and stopped this family from undergoing another heartache."
"Anyone in my place would have done the same."
"I assure you we will not allow anything to happen to her or anyone in this house. Please wait until tomorrow and we will have our answers," Darcy reassured her.
As he rode away, he fervently hoped nothing would go wrong the next day and hoped everything would end without causing anymore distress to the family he considered as his own. He was deeply grateful to Lady Martha, as he realized if not for her Elizabeth would never be in his.
"Fitzwilliam, what is it? Is Lizzy all right? You seem troubled since yesterday."
"There is nothing to worry, Georgiana. She is well."
"I sense something is wrong in Ashton Park. What is it?"
Darcy felt uncomfortable to reveal Lady Isabella's affairs to Georgiana, he thought it was better to keep Georgiana in the dark until the culprit was discovered and hoped his plans would work that night.
"Please do not worry, everything is all right," he assured her.
Meanwhile, in Ashton Park, Lady Isabella sat in deep thought, even though her husband shunned her after he understood her secret, she felt relieved after so many months to get the secret off her chest. She knew that her marriage was in trouble and did not care about the future. She had hurt so many people, due to her lack of courage to reveal her secret and now she was ready to face the aftermath.
Elizabeth had checked on her many times during the day and Lady Isabella felt grateful for her kindness.
"He does not want to see me anymore, Elizabeth. I have not spoken to him since yesterday night," Lady Isabella said as Elizabeth sat with her in her room.
"He must be angry and things will change after tomorrow, I assure you."
"Nothing will, either way she died because of me, if she had not read the diary none of this would have happened."
"I still don't understand why she doubted you all of a sudden."
"During the ball I refused to dance with Philip citing a headache, actually I have always refused to dance with him stating some reason or the other, I think she must have observed that. As much as I tried to hide it, I think when you are in love it is difficult to hide your emotions. I knew Mr. Darcy was in love with you ever since the night we spent in Pemberley. I could see it in his eyes."
Elizabeth stared at her in shock.
"We were friends since our childhood, it must have been obvious to Sophia. I assume she searched my room during the ball and found the diary. I had no idea that it was missing until she came to my room that night. I did not expect her to forgive me for what I had kept in my heart all these years, but as a friend I expected she would understand me, but she did not. I do not blame her as I might have reacted the same way."
Elizabeth understood that unless the truth came out about Lady Sophia's death, there would no peace in Ashton Park.
That night, Lady Isabella trembled as she stood in her room It was close to midnight and she knew it was time to carry out the plan. In the past months, she had trembled the same way while leaving money in the garden as instructed in the letters. Not once had she waited to see who came to collect those, all the while she had thought that she did not have the courage to do so. But now, she realized that she had the courage to finally unmask her tormentor. She took the money and left her room, knowing very well that this time she was not alone. Once she reached the garden, Lady Isabella walked to the usual spot where she left the money and held her breath.
I hope this is the last time I am doing this!
She left the money under the rock and walked back to the house, hoping against hope that she had not raised any suspicion. The men had instructed her to act normal and stay in the room for the rest of the night and Lady Isabella, did the same. She paced her room till morning, unable to understand what had transpired after she had left the money. In the early hours, she heard a knock on the door and froze. A servant informed her that she was needed in the library and Lady Isabella rushed down the stairs, unable to endure the feeling of not knowing what had happened. She was surprised to see all the men gathered there along with Lady Martha and Elizabeth.
"What happened?" Lady Isabella asked, not knowing whom to the direct the question to.
Lady Martha held out a letter to her and she grabbed it in hurry. Her hands trembled as she opened the letter and immediately recognized her dearest friend's hand writing.
Isabella,
I do no recall how I became such a coward, that I am choosing to write this letter instead of facing you after everything I said. I still remember the day you gave me your favorite doll, because I liked it so much, if I am right, we were eight years old then. Since our childhood we were more than friends, a bond so strong and deep that I have valued it more than life itself. Whatever I said to you tonight, I am ashamed to state that I spoke out of anger. I accused you of so many things that you were not. The moment I stepped out of your room, I realized what I had done. I have hurt and wounded you beyond measure because of my anger. Now I realize that I was not angry at you for falling in love with Philip, but because you chose to hide your feelings from me. I distinctly remember the day I informed you that I was engaged to him, I could never be wrong, you were happy for me and genuinely so. There was not a hint of jealously in your eyes that day, but tears of joy for my happiness. I cannot fathom how you have lived all these years, unable to forget him and not wanting to find another life, but live with torment.
Every moment in his company must have been a torture to you and still you chose to endure it and I blindly accused you of trying to steal him away from me, but now I realize that you always distanced yourself from him. I have often noticed it, and tonight when you declined to dance with him, I finally realized that you were hiding something in your heart. It was cruel of me to have read your diary and I still do not know what made me do it. I regret my actions and every word I said to you in rage. To think of me being a cause for your unhappiness, pains me beyond measure. I wish I could turn back time and make everything right. I do not know what I could do for your happiness, except be the friend I was always to you. Your secret is safe with me Isabella, I do not want us to become distant because of this. All I want you to understand is that I accept the fact that you love him and I do not hold you in contempt for the way you feel. But never will I doubt your intentions towards me or my family, if I ever do, then it would only mock the sentiments I have held for you all my life as a friend. I hope you can forgive me for what I said to you, you do not deserve those words and honestly if Philip knew how I treated you he would never forgive me.
You are a part of our family Isabella and will always be, I can never sacrifice our friendship, I realize that now. My heart aches that the man you truly love can never be yours because of me, had I known about your feelings before my marriage, I would have done things differently. Unknowingly my happiness has been the reason for your misery and my conscience will always prick me for this. I wish I had the courage to face you now and apologize to you in the way you deserve, but I am scared to face you after hurting you in such a cruel way. I will find a way to put this letter in your hand before morning.
Yours,
Sophia
Lady Isabella, had opened the letter, without the slightest idea about the contents revealing what it did. Once she identified her friend's writing she immediately assumed it to be the letter written by her before she committed suicide, but as she read the content, she was shocked by the revelation of her friend's words before her death.
She has forgiven me, how could this be possible? Then why did she end her life. Oh! Lord! Sophia, what happened to you?
Lady Isabella sank into the sofa and sobbed.
"I do not understand any of this. Why did she end her life after writing this?" she asked looking at her husband.
"She did not," Lord Philip replied.
"Someone tell me what happened? Did you capture the blackmailer?"
"Yes, we did. As we suspected, it is someone employed in Ashton Park, none other than Sophia's maid, Ruth," Lady Martha said.
"What? I cannot believe it. She has been her maid for so many years, someone Sophia trusted."
"She did and that is why I had her employed here even after Sophia's death."
"She did not act alone, she had an accomplice, her husband who lives in Lambton," Darcy said and continued, " Once you left the money last night, we watch the spot for a long time and after a few hours a woman came and took the money. She did not return to the house, but ventured out of the property to meet someone. She met her husband and handed over the money, they were unaware of being watched. We allowed the maid to return to Ashton Park and followed her husband and captured him. We confronted him and he had no choice but to surrender and tell us the truth. Some time ago, we captured the maid as well. At first she feigned ignorance, but once she understood that her husband was caught, she had no choice but to accept her involvement. Lady Isabella's death was not a suicide but an accident. From what we from the made, Lady Sophia has returned to the guest wing that night, with the intent of handing over your diary and letter to you. The maid states that while Lady Sophia was near the stairs she missed her footing and fell. The maid was aware of everything since she had seen Lady Sophia in your room during the ball and later overheard the argument between you both."
"And Ruth let her die instead of saving her?" Lady Isabella asked in horror.
"She states she died immediately, honestly we do not want to believe her. If she had called for help we might have been able to save her. When she had your diary in her possession, she decided to team up with her husband and blackmail you."
Lady Isabella watched the rage on her husband's face and felt the same way.
"All these months I thought she died without forgiving me, but now after knowing the truth I feel even more guilty. One way or the other I am responsible for her death."
Elizabeth held her hand and comforted her, but Lord Philip said nothing. Elizabeth was deeply pained by the situation, when she became aware of the truth that morning and looked at Lady Isabella with sadness.
"Both of them have been handed over to the authorities," Lord Anderson said.
"Ruth has been her maid here since Sophia's marriage and someone whom Sophia trusted. I still cannot believe she chose to do this to her, I can no longer trust anyone employed in Ashton Park," Lady Martha said with remorse.
Lady Isabella looked at her husband and from the look on his face she realized that their relationship had ended forever.
The women left the library, leaving the men alone.
"Fitzwilliam, I thank you for your assistance in this matter," Lord Ashton said. Darcy merely nodded, and the whole affair was depressing for everyone. Darcy and Lord Ashton were enraged by the truth, and it was very difficult for them to hand over the culprits to the authorities, without taking matters into their hands. The letter Lady Sophia had written forgiving her friend moved everyone to tears.
Darcy left Ashton Park after a few hours and promised Elizabeth to return the next day. Now that they had solved the mystery of Lady Isabella's death, he wanted to leave to London as soon as possible. He was well aware of Elizabeth's discomfort in being in the same house has Lord Anderson and understood her need to find the truth about her past. Darcy was frustrated about the whole situation about his marriage, he always liked to have control over his life and now he felt that everything was dependent on what they would discover in London. More than everything, he could not imagine Elizabeth getting hurt in the process of finding the truth about her mother and hoped nothing would happen to cause her more torment.
"Have you spoken with Lord Ashton?" Elizabeth asked Lady Isabella that evening.
"There is nothing to discuss with him, everything is over."
"But you are not at fault, whatever happened was an unfortunate accident and if at all someone is to blame, it is that maid. I still cannot believe that someone could be this cruel. Lady Sophia's letter shows her kind heart and the dept of your friendship, if we she did not write it, we could have never found out how she felt before dying. You would have lived with guilt for the rest of your life."
"I still will. You do not understand Elizabeth, if she had not ventured out to my room that night she would not have died. Everything that happened to her, everything that this family has suffered, is because of me, it is because of what I wrote to free my heart from pain. Writing my feelings in my diary all these years, was a grave mistake. I did it because it gave me some relief from the torment in my heart, never did I imagine she would read those words. I cannot forgive myself and I understand why my husband is unable to."
"If you speak with him, you can sort this out, I am certain. Lady Martha is not angry with you and that is very…" Elizabeth hesitated.
"Surprising?"
"Well, yes! I am certain she will stand by you. The children need you Lady Isabella, especially after I leave. I think the only way to compensate whatever happened is to keep them happy. From what I know you were very attached to them before Lady Sophia's death."
"Yes, I was. But after I married Philip, I could not forget everything and be their mother, I just could not do it with the amount of guilt in my heart."
"But now you can. I have faith that in time everything will heal and this family can be peaceful as before, I think that is what Lady Sophia would want. I have heard so much about her from the children, but when I read her letter, I understood the kind of friendship she shared with you. You cannot give up on this life, at least for her sake."
Lady Isabella looked at Elizabeth gratefully.
"You truly have a kind heart. Despite how I treated you, you saved my life and in the past days you have been a great source of support to me and I cannot tell you how grateful I am. Even my mother, when she became aware of everything today, shunned me, but right from the very moment I revealed everything, you stood by my side."
"I did what was right and nothing more. You are not alone here, please remember that. I came to Ashton Park, with a past I wanted to forget, a future I was uncertain of, Lady Martha welcomed me with kindness. I was a stranger to her then, and yet she protected me. She would never forsake you."
Lady Isabella said nothing. It was two days since she had spoken with her husband and knew she had to at some point.
That night, the entire household in Ashton Park went to sleep with different emotions, and none of them expected to sleep that night, except the two children, who were oblivious to every gruesome detail about their mother's death.
Wish you all a very happy new year and thank you for the support.