Page 91 of Introducing Mrs. Collins
47th Foot, 3rd Batt. 1 rank and file wounded.
Name of officer killed:
1st Royal Scot – Captain James Stewart
Wounded:
Royal Artillery – Lieutenant Hugh Morgan, severely
4th Division – Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, severely
And there, Charlotte’s eyes closed.
10th December 1813
Dear Mr Darcy,
I write to you with urgency. I have heard that your cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam was badly hurt in Spain in September, but I know nothing more than this. Do you know what his injury was? Have you heard from him? Where is he? Does he live? Please share with me anything you know, however small.
If you wonder at my asking, I beg you to delay your questions until he is found. Please help.
Yours,
Charlotte Collins
13th December 1813
Dear Mrs Collins,
I sent this out with a rider to meet the morning post, in order that it reach you swiftly. It is clear that you need to hear this news urgently, but I ask something of you: that you do not match that urgency in your response but proceed with some caution. What I have to tell you is not the worst news, but it is not what you would wish to hear. However, I can reassure you on one point: I know where he is.
Colonel Fitzwilliam was indeed injured at San Sebastián, at the second siege. He suffered a bayonet wound to his shoulder, as well as a blow to the head, and more besides, not all from the enemy. It was a very bad business all round. He was very disaffected by how the siege played out, and there was more to recover from than merely bodily injury. He was sent to Tolbrooke Hall and was not well cared for there, receiving scant attention.
By the end of November, he was desperate to leave that place and was sufficiently recovered to be able to do so, though barely. He wrote to ask me if he could stay at Pemberley, and I of course accepted. I was shocked by his appearance when he arrived; he looked very different – scarred certainly but also unkempt, verging on wild. But it is his demeanour that has changed the most; he is not the man you knew. He is plagued by memories of the siege. He is not up to company. He wakes in fits and spends his days in a dimmed room.
I do not know his plans; I doubt he has any. He has improved a little since he arrived, but he has no wish to see anyone and has forbidden me to write to anyone of his whereabouts for the time being, and I have agreed thus far. (I break with him in telling you of this.)
Mrs Collins, I do not know what is or was between yourself and my cousin, but I have suspected something in the past. If you can putany faith in my judgment, I ask you to do so now. He is no state to be to you again what he once was. I care deeply for him, and what I believe he needs is to live quietly, without disturbance, in peace. I do not believe that the renewal of whatever was between you will benefit him. Iknowit will not benefit you.
But you must do as you see fit. I only ask for your careful consideration, and as I write this, I realise I need not ask it. I have benefited from your careful consideration in the past; I have no doubt it is still your way.
Yours sincerely,
F. Darcy
CHAPTER XI
Charlotte would read the letter several times. The first was on the doorstep of Longbourn, after snatching it from the postmaster’s grip. She had consumed it quickly, hungrily, her eyes only truly absorbing the words:I know where he is, andPemberley.
Charlotte retreated to the hall, pacing quickly, and called out for Brooke. Her immediate future was clear to her: she would have the carriage readied and her trunk packed. She would wear her old green dress and the emerald ring with the ouroboros and style her hair loosely as she knew he liked it. She would get into the carriage and order the coachman to drive fast, and they would rattle down the country roads, heading towards Pemberley, and the beginning of something new.
‘Yes, madam?’
As Brooke stood in front of her in the hall, Charlotte hesitated before issuing her instructions.
‘Are you well, madam? Is that news of your friend?’
Mrs Brooke observed her mistress now, the letter clutched in her hand, and wondered at what it contained. She had a clearer idea of its subject than Charlotte might have guessed – servants often possess a knack for learning things that would surprise their employers. Of course, Mrs Brooke had met the colonel before on his visits to Hunsford, and she was aware that Charlotte and he had taken a carriage together to Pemberley. On their return, she had noticed Charlotte’s frequent absences from the house – curiouslylong walks on such cold days. She had noticed Charlotte’s mood change during those months, how her tastes were bolder, her steps lighter. And then, she had seen the letter, tucked into a poetry book – seen and read it, before carefully replacing it.
