Page 145 of The Governess of My Heart
“I must give these to Elizabeth; she is not ready to see you now. But once she reads the letters, she will have questions. I do not know what to say, Mark; how could the same woman who loved and married you change so suddenly? Why didn’t you think about it?”
"I did, and you can see in some of the letters I wrote demanding answers, and she replied stating that our marriage was a mistake and her father’s business was more important to her. She stated that I took advantage of her and described our union as a sin. Martha, whatever happened between us that night was out of love; I know it is easy to state this and not take the blame. But I truly loved her, and that is why I married her. When she accused me in such a way, I could no longer bear it and finally realized Father was right. But now, I do not understand why she did not marry Thomas Bennet and never informed me that she was pregnant.”
“Maybe since she was pregnant, he refused to marry her and married her sister?” Mr. Anderson asked.
“If that were the case, she would have written to me, rightfully claimed a place in society as my wife, and she was with my child. None of this makes sense, and I know Elizab…,” he paused, “Miss Smith may object, but I need to go with them to London. I must know the truth,” Lord Anderson said with resolve.
Lady Martha agreed and wondered what they would find in London.
***
Elizabeth trembled as she looked at the letters on her desk. A servant had brought her a parcel some time ago, stating it was something important that Lady Martha wanted to hand to her. She opened the parcel in a hurry and found the letters.
Finally, the moment is here.
She mustered courage as she opened the first one, and the moment her eyes fell on the letter, she froze.
***
In the same house, Lady Anderson was confused about why her sister had requested her presence that morning. She entered the study, preparing all the points she would put forward regarding Darcy and Elizabeth’s engagement, assuming the discussion was about the same. She could not bear the distress of her beloved daughter, who had cried herself to sleep the whole night.
That girl has nobody to support her in this; if I convince Lady Martha, she can somehow stop the marriage. How could he marry so low? Maybe she compromised him; if I send her away, everything is solved. I am certain Mr. Darcy will marry Beatrice if Martha insists.
She was surprised to find all the siblings in the study and wondered why Mr. Anderson was there.
“Good morning, Augusta,” Lady Martha said to her sister.
“Good morning. I do not understand why Mr. Anderson needs to be here for this discussion,” she said with irritation since she had never liked her brother.
“You do not understand the reason for us summoning you here; it is a matter of discussion we must have as a family.”
“I am well aware of the reason; I hope you learned from your brother the amount of distress the ball caused Beatrice. We were invited there and insulted last night. How could he have done that to my daughter? His announcement broke her, and youmust fix this for your niece. Send that girl out of Ashton Park; I am certain she compromised Mr. Darcy; otherwise, why would he marry a servant.”
“Enough Augusta! Elizabeth is not a servant; please watch your words. I will not have you insult her thus,” Lord Anderson cried without thought.
“Elizabeth? You address her by her name; what happened to you, Mark? Your daughter is still crying upstairs, and you support that girl?”
“He is right; I will not have you say a word against her honor. You have no idea about their relationship, and they are not indebted to explain anything to you. They are to be married, and she will be Mrs. Darcy. If you thought the reason for requesting your presence here was to discuss the engagement, then I am sorry; the matter is nothing concerning that. You must allow us…” Lady Martha was interrupted.
“Whatever that relationship is, you must end it. That governess has no one here; send her away and convince Mr. Darcy to marry Beatrice. Won’t you do this for your niece? Mark, how could you sideline your daughter’s wishes? She has wanted to marry him since the time she met him, you know that. Are you not her father? My father did it for me; he fulfilled my wish to marry you; how could you not do this for Beatrice?”
Lord Anderson struggled to compose himself and did not know how to reveal the truth to his wife.
“Augusta, I hope you understand that Fitzwilliam will never marry anyone else, come what may. You are completely oblivious to the truth. I can understand if Beatrice is irrational; she is young, but you are a mature woman. How could you ask such a thing? Please listen to the matter we need to discuss. It concerns Elizabeth’s identity, and you must know this from my brother.”
Lady Anderson was perplexed.
“What are you saying?” she asked in confusion.
“Elizabeth is my daughter,” Lord Anderson confessed, having no other way to state the truth. The three siblings watched Lady Anderson’s face tremble as she absorbed her husband’s statement.
“What?” she cried in shock.
“Yes, she was born from my marriage with Sarah Gardiner. We were married in Scotland and ended our relationship due to circumstances; I did not know she had my child.”
Lady Anderson felt unwell and could not stand; she sank into the chair, unable to process the revelation. She had always known that her husband did not love her, and he had his reasons, according to her. Lady Anderson had known him since childhood and had been in love with him for a long time, and their families were responsible for their marriage. She knew he was in love with someone else before marrying her, but Lord Anderson’s father had informed her that it was mere infatuation and nothing else, and she never knew the truth that he was married. Lady Anderson fought hard to compose herself as memories from the past haunted her, and she finally realized why he could never love her. She had assumed all those years that he did not love her because of the nature of their marriage and something else known only between them. But now she had a whole new picture of why he married her.
Lady Martha was concerned about her sister’s silence. She took the opportunity to briefly explain the nature of the discovery the previous night and also provide painful details about why her brother had ended the relationship with Elizabeth’s mother.
