The air was considerably colder the day Lady Matlock made good on her plan to take Richard from the park. She had waited on three afternoons to find whether Mr. Harley might bring the boy out. On the fourth afternoon, she was rewarded for her patience.
Once the butler had gone into the park with Richard and the Gardiner children, she sent the footman along the path to follow them at a distance. The footman was instructed to distract Mr. Harley for a moment while she would attempt to take Richard and hurry back to the carriage.
Before the footman might strike up a conversation with Mr. Harley, Mr. Gardiner appeared on the path and approached Lady Matlock. She fought to maintain her composure but her anger was evident in her expression.
“Lady Matlock, I did not know you were fond of this park. I would imagine Hyde Park is more to your liking had I ever thought you walked the parks of London.”
Elizabeth’s uncle was not surprised for he had seen the carriage that had sat conspicuously near the entrance to the park for several days.
The footman had turned and seen Mr. Gardiner with his mistress. He passed Mr. Harley and the children where they had left the path to walk through the grass.
Her plan spoiled, Lady Matlock glared at Mr. Gardiner. “I only wished to see my grandson for a time. Certainly you cannot blame me for that.”
Mr. Gardiner lifted his chin. “You are welcome at my home whenever you wish to visit with Richard. We are quite careful with him after all that transpired in Hertfordshire. Surely, you understand and approve.”
Lady Matlock was unable to object. Mr. Gardiner offered his arm. “Come along then, if you will. Richard will be pleased to see you again. He does see his other grandmother as my sister is at Fitzwilliam House with my nieces. Had you heard?”
The woman maintained her composure since Mr. Gardiner had not accused her of any terrible motivations upon finding her in the park. “I am aware. There is very little that happens at Fitzwilliam House that I do not know. How long do you think the Bennets shall remain in Town?”
Mr. Gardiner waved at Mr. Harley as they approached. “I do not know since my nieces now prefer the society of London to that of Meryton. And my sister is happy to write to her sister and friends back home of the wonderful circumstance of being related to the Fitzwilliams and Darcys.”
A flash of anger shot through Lady Matlock’s very soul and Mr. Gardiner saw that she was unhappy. Mr. Harley came to them on the path with Richard. The boy looked up and smiled at his grandmother.
“I am pleased you have come to the park, Grandmother Fitzwilliam. Would you care to walk with me to see the lake? The birds have all gone, but we may see a straggler.”
In spite of her plans being thwarted, Lady Matlock took the hand her grandson held out to her. “I would love nothing more, Richard. I came to see whether you were happy with your cousins since you may not return to Darcy House.”
They walked along with Mr. Harley following behind. Mr. Gardiner stayed with his children where they played on the grass. They were much older than Richard, but they still did enjoy the park.
His mind turned to his niece at Darcy House. He hated to think of writing to her of Lady Matlock’s behavior, but he would not keep it secret.
Elizabeth rested easier with Mr. Darcy’s health returning day by day. The draughts Dr. Brixton had mixed for her own comfort at night had greatly improved her sleep. Any day she believed the quarantine would be lifted and Richard could return home.
In the salon, she worked on the few items she intended to add to the babe’s small trunk of clothing she had been putting away. Some of it she had saved from when Richard was a babe, things she had kept that were in good repair, and some were little treasures she had found in Mayfair before Mr. Darcy had grown terribly ill.
The pieces she worked to complete now were not needed, but they kept her hands and mind busy so that she might not worry over her son. Her aunt and uncle in Cheapside had written daily to keep her informed on his coming and going from Gardiner House and his safety.
Lady Matlock had not been circumspect in her conversation and several of the servants of Darcy House had come to her of their own volition and admitted all they had been told by the servants at Matlock House regarding the woman’s plans for young Richard.
Elizabeth suspected she would soon face a direct challenge. It was simply Lady Matlock’s nature to try and get her way. Her need for control only grew when she was denied.
No sooner had she thought this than a footman entered the salon with a missive from Cheapside. “It has only just come, Mrs. Darcy. Dinner will be served in half an hour. Will you take it upstairs with Mr. Darcy again?”
Elizabeth nodded and thanked the servant. When she was alone again, she opened the letter and read it’s scant contents. She shook her head and felt anger rising in her breast.
It would serve no purpose to waste her emotions on the woman when she was stuck inside Darcy House and so she laughed instead at her uncle’s description of having caught Lady Matlock in the park with a footman eyeing Mr. Harley and the children.
Elizabeth knew that if the lady had not dissembled before her uncle at being thwarted, it was only because the children were near. Never would she deign to visit the Gardiner townhome long enough to see Richard and so she had been trying to take Richard from Mr. Harley.
A thought occurred to Elizabeth, and though it was likely the earl would be unable to control his wife, he had not in all these years, she hoped he might dissuade her from her kidnapping schemes.
She rose and moved to the writing desk. Elizabeth hurried to put her thoughts onto the paper so that she might join her husband for dinner.
When she was done, she called for the footman and asked that he deliver the missive to Matlock House without delay. He was to wait if the earl wished to reply.
“If he does write back, you must give the letter to my maid and have her take it to my rooms. I do not wish to worry Mr. Darcy over my dealings with his family at this time.”
Her servant took the letter and rushed to do her bidding. Elizabeth breathed deeply and turned to make her way upstairs to Mr. Darcy’s sickroom. For his health, she would behave as though nothing was amiss other than her longing for Richard to be home.
The earl received the letter from Elizabeth just before he walked in to dinner with his wife.
“Who would send a note so late in the evening?” she asked, worried that perhaps the Gardiners had decided to reveal her second kidnapping plot.
Reginald Fitzwilliam tore open the seal and looked to find that it was from Elizabeth. “It seems Mrs. Darcy has sent this letter.”
Lady Matlock forgot about the Gardiners and hope lit her eyes. “Could she wish for us to take Richard, then? There is no other reason she might write.”
“She might if Darcy’s condition has worsened,” the earl replied but he had taken out his reading glasses as they went into the dining room.
“For that, she would send word and not bother with writing, do you not think? It must be that she has come to her senses at last where Richard is concerned. Will wonders never cease?”
Lady Matlock smiled to think that perhaps Elizabeth was so consumed with Darcy’s illness that she would ask the Fitzwilliams for assistance. It was only as it should be. Perhaps they might have an understanding in the future where Richard could visit with them whenever he wished.
After the first course was served, the earl dismissed the butler and footman. Lady Matlock looked up from her artichoke soup and eyed her husband. He never dismissed the servants unless there was some terrible or scandalous news to discuss. Or secrets to be kept.
His countenance had sobered and he shook the letter at her. “Is it true you saw Richard at a park in Cheapside, Margaret?”
She blanched at this bombardment. Her husband was terribly angry. Instead of attempting to explain herself again, Lady Matlock dropped her soup spoon and slammed a palm on the table. “I have endured this insult with as much civility as any lady of my station might, but I will not endure it any longer Reginald. Either you bring that boy here where he belongs or I shall never speak with you again.”
The earl furrowed his brows and then gave a great, hearty laugh. Lady Matlock was stupefied by this reaction. She wondered what on earth he found amusing. “Reginald! This is no laughing matter. I promise you there will be no further discourse, nor felicity, between us unless you bring my grandson to Matlock House this very night.”
The earl wiped his tears and stood. “I admit I shall miss your company, Margaret. Richard will not be coming to Matlock House without Elizabeth’s consent. Since that is not likely to occur if this letter is any indication of her feelings, you are the one who must quit your lodgings this very night.”
He walked to the dining room doors and called for the lady’s maid who served his wife. “Pack her trunks this instant and do not delay no matter how she begs, unless you hope to find yourself employment elsewhere.”
Lady Matlock rose from her seat at the dinner table and tried to reason with her husband. “Reginald, you cannot mean to banish me from London. It will not do! My friends shall gossip of it and I will never recover. I cannot go at night! Surely you do not mean to risk my safety in such a manner?”
The earl turned to her and shook his head. “I warned you, Margaret, and you chose not to heed my words. Now you must repair to Derbyshire and hope the Darcy’s will allow you to attend Georgie’s wedding. I believe they shall be so gracious and you can mend your friendships then.”
The earl turned on his heel and left her standing in the dining room with their soup growing cold on the table. He called for the butler and asked that a carriage be ready after breakfast for his wife. “Lady Matlock shall leave in the morning so that she will not have to fear highwaymen along the way.”
Margaret Fitzwilliam watched as her husband went to his study. Never in all their years of marriage had the man countenanced such a thing, never had he spoken to her in such a terrible manner.
She had only hoped to keep her grandson in a home that was fitting considering his parentage. He belonged within the circle he and his father were born to and not to that of his mother and her people.
Lady Matlock climbed the stairs of Matlock House to her rooms and watched as her lady’s maid packed her things. There would be gossip up and down Grosvenor below stairs. All the servants would know and not long after, all the families they served would know.
Elizabeth Darcy might have exacted her revenge this time but there was still the matter of the wedding at Pemberley. She was wholly unsuited to carry off such an event and Lady Matlock would be more than pleased to see the woman who stole her son and grandson falter.
Poor Georgie would be mortified and Darcy would rue the day he had married beneath his station. The idea of it gave her cold comfort as the skies darkened over Matlock House.