Page 63 of Till Death Us Do Part: Book 2
Longman handed Darcy a penknife, and with shaking hands, he opened the letter.
27 July 1812
HMS Neptune
Mr Darcy,
It is my unfortunate duty to inform you that your wife, Mrs Elizabeth Darcy, is dead. She was swept overboard on the night of 18 July in moderately but not excessively rough seas, approximately 200 miles northwest of Porto. I witnessed her death myself, along with her footman, one Noah Hervey, and two sailors. Mrs Darcy suffered terribly from seasickness and being at the railing helped considerably. She was always accompanied by me, or her footman, and we were close at hand. Unfortunately, a bowline snapped on the sails, and a pulley swung down, striking Mrs Darcy in the back of the head, sending her overboard. The captain did his best to recover her, but there was very little he could do, and no real chance of her survival.
My deepest condolences,
Daniel G. Baker
Darcy felt like he might collapse on the ground straightaway.
Lydia said, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. What is in the letter?” more gently than Darcy would have expected.
He could not speak, so he handed the sheet to Jane, who gathered her sisters around to read it silently. Everyone had too much of a sense of foreboding to read it aloud, and Darcy did not have the strength.What had he done?
Only a moment later, all four sisters were sobbing along with him, and he felt the most lost he ever had in his life. He had absolutely no idea what to do next. He thought he should comfort the sisters, or maybe he should regret showing them, but everything was dark and muddled.
He glanced at the second page, wondering what it could possibly add to the discussion, but desperate for any hint, or explanation, or really anything to occupy his mind for a moment, he read it.
For your eyes only,
Mr Darcy,
I am deeply sorry for your loss, sir. It may help if I explain my presence, but only to you. I will not reveal any of this to anyone else, including your late wife’s family, as I consider it your business alone, to disperse or not as you choose.
Mrs Darcy engaged me several months ago to find you. It was an unusual request, but not the strangest I ever had. She had some intelligence, I believe from one of your aunts, though she was never explicit, that you were on the Continent. Based on your aunt’s testimony, Mrs Darcy was under the strong impression that you were there doing something of which she certainly would not approve (no offence). I will not be more explicit, but you understand.
It took about a month to determine that you were in France at the behest of your uncle, Lord Matlock, but I wasunable to ascertain your exact location or purpose without compromising your mission, unless I travelled to the Continent myself. You understand that a journey to France is not undertaken lightly, as any English citizens are automatically considered enemy combatants and handled accordingly (gaoled or shot depending on the whim of the court). However, I do have several good contacts in Portugal, and it is far easier to communicate with France from there than from England. I judged I would be able to find you easily enough, given time.
I conveyed this to Mrs Darcy, and suggested she stay in London while I rousted you out, but she was adamant that she would go along with me. It is not quite as bad as it sounds, as Porto is as safe as London if you know where to go and where to avoid. I reluctantly agreed, so we set sail with Mrs Darcy, her maid, and her footman.
Mrs Darcy went overboard on the outbound leg of the journey. On arrival, I immediately booked passage on another ship, so I could return and notify you and her father. Mrs Darcy left a note in her luggage with funds for her maid and footman in case of any difficulties, so I gave that to them. They preferred to find their own passage back, so I left them in Porto. Mrs Darcy may have had other funds on her person or in London, but I have no way of knowing. She paid me in advance, including £500 for expenses, so I did not think any more of it. I returned the remainder of her expenses to your man of business in London. I do not know how much she gave the servants, but I suspect it was considerable.
I am certain it will not help you feel any better, but your wife took great pains to ensure her family reputation was not damaged by her unusual choice of travelling methods. I tell you this so you will not be surprised when you go to London. The lady, quite cleverly in my view, put it about that you were in the service of the war effort, and that she was called toyour assistance. I am to understand that she spread this about London with the assistance of a lady friend she knew from Hertfordshire, but she did not tell me her name, nor did I ask, as it was irrelevant to my task.
I apologise deeply for failing to deliver your wife safely.
Daniel G. Baker
Darcy started to ball the letter up but knew he would just be annoyed with himself later. Instead, he handed it to Longman, then walked over to a nearby bench and sat down with his head in his hands, wondering just what in the world he could do next.
23.Edinburgh
James Watt, Adam Smith, David Hume, Elizabeth Hamilton, Francis Hutcheson, Dugald Stewart, Alison Cockburn, Thomas Reid, Robert Burns, Adam Ferguson, John Playfair, Joseph Black, James Hutton, Elizabeth Montagu
Darcy stared in awe at the list of names and subjects from a recently purchased book on theScottish Enlightenment, wondering at the sheer enormity of so much brilliance concentrated across four or so universities and half a century. Steam, economics, moral philosophy, empiricism, scepticism, naturalism, poetry, philosophy, chemistry, geometry, mathematics, geology, manufacturing, fiction—the list seemed endless, and he was the most excited he had ever been for a journey in his life. It was an age of wonders, and that was just in Scotland, not to mention the rest of the world. England, France, Italy, and America had, of course, contributed their own share of advancements to theScientific Revolutionfollowed by theEnlightenment; but Darcy was particularly interested in the Scottish part right at that moment.
His interest had been piqued when he learned that the ageing James Watt lived a quiet, but still productive, retirement less than a day’s ride from Pemberley. Darcy owned shares of mines in Cornwall that used Boulton and Watt engines to remove water. More research convinced him they were on the brink of a revolution, though nobody could say with any assurance how it would proceed. Some thought the mills appearing in Manchester and other industrial cities of the north would become the dominant force in English life. Some thought that, with the recent defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo and the expansion of the British Empire, it would be trade. Some thought it might even be such mundane-sounding activities as banking. Others favouredmining, or industries not yet invented. Most of the landed gentry thought agriculture and land had always been paramount and always would be, since people would still need to eat no matter what. Their estates would maintain their lifestyles for ever. Many believed they only needed to do what their fathers and grandfathers had (or more likely instruct their stewards to do what their father’s stewards had done, and so forth). Even in that scenario, some thought new agricultural methods like crop rotation, better irrigation, and advances in chemistry or botany; might make those using the new methods dominant, and those who kept to the old increasingly obsolete.
Darcy did notknowif any or all these points of view were true, but of one thing he was certain. Six hundred years of Pemberley history had been replete with changes. They had been on the right side of some wars and the wrong side of others. Pemberley routinely endured fires, floods, infestations, mayhem, and revolutions; but they always managed to pull through, with the Darcy family advancing in some generations, retreating in others, but gradually becoming more ‘efficient’ in their management over time.
Now, he was the Master of Pemberley, and it was his turn on the spot. To simply assume things would go on as they always had would be foolhardy, and a degradation to his ancestors who placed him in that position. Hewouldeventually find a wife to replace Elizabeth. Hewouldeventually have children and grandchildren. Theywouldhave to make their place in a changing world. At the very least, he hoped to have multiple children, and only the eldest son would inherit Pemberley, while the other sons would have to make their own way, and his daughters would have to make good marriages. Whatever that change was, he wanted to be prepared, which either prompted his current journey or acted as good enough rationalisation.
Edinburgh was lovely in the springtime, and Darcy took a deep breath as he rode Omega up the hill to Edinburgh Castle. The horse was not as young as he had once been, but neither was Fitzwilliam Darcy. Where he had once found the stallion plodding, he now found him steady. He could not guess whether preferring steadiness to spirit was because of his advancing age, or he just liked the horse because his deceased wife had. Steadiness had been something he greatly required in the five years since her death. He had burned a lot of boats in his mad dash to play the foolhardy hero, trying to rescue his cousin in early 1812, and it took some time to rebuild them.
