Page 119 of May I Have the Pleasure
“Surprisingly, it has not. I have been separated from the Bennet name long enough. Everyone who knows my entire history would never break a confidence, while nobody in Meryton has the slightest idea what happened to me, and I hope no one ever does. I last used the name Bennet back in my mourning period for Wickham. The name is not unknown, but nobody has connected all the pieces. Bennet is a common name, and I have never once mentioned Longbourn since I left, nor contacted anyone in Hertfordshire except you and Charlotte. That is all that saved me. Can you imagine the scandal if people knew she was my sister; or what she would have done had she found out what connexions she had. I can barely escape the palace as it is.”
“Lydia drove me from England sooner than we had planned, but it was all for the best. I have a son now—un ijo—and no need to think of Hertfordshire ever again.”
“That is as it should be. I am sorry I could not help you cross the channel when you were running and near your confinement. The king still will not allow me to step foot on English soil. Gibraltar is the closest I can get, and he will be beyond vexed if he finds out I plan to go there. They say it is easier to seek forgiveness than consent, and I plan to test the theory.”
“My husband, Fitzwilliam, and Anne took diligent care of me, so you need not worry. I was well protected, and you taught me to take care of myself anyway.”
“Still, you are my sister, and I was worried—and very desirous of being with you.”
“It was done and done well. Rest easy.”
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“Lizzy, you must try these padrón peppers. They are mostly mild, except an occasional hot one to keep you on your toes. Nobody can tell which ones are hot, so you just eat them and take your chances. They are delicious fried in olive oil.”
“That sounds… ah… interesting.”
“Come, come now Lizzy. You are no longer a stuffy English lady—closer to half-Viking, I should think. Are you to be intimidated by a vegetable?”
“I suppose my courage must rise to every dish here.”
“This is nothing! The colonies eat things that would catch the table on fire if you dropped them.”
“Let us not get ahead of ourselves. I shall try the padróns and some of that tortilla.”
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“Lizzy, I am very-very happy to have you here, but you did not travel two-thousand miles by ship to tell me about Lydia. You have the look of someone with something to say.”
“Father is dead.”
“Hardly surprising.”
“In my mind, he has been dead these six years since I left Hertfordshire. I have just been waiting for his body to catch up with his mind.”
“Some would think that unkind, but since he never really tried to make it up to you, nor help any of his other daughters, I am not among them. In the end, it was only Lydia’s behaviour that finally called him to account. Otherwise, he just spent the time after you left doing exactly as before. I suspect they took a week to find his body from the smell in the library.”
“I assume so.”
“You did not come here to tell me that either.”
“No, I did not. I came here to take care of some… business, and I need my business with you to… ah… distract certain people… if you are willing. I must warn you, though. I will ask you to do something that may bringa lotmore scandal.”
“What can I do? My husband and I are impervious to such. How can we help?”
“I need you to trade your estate in England for one in Spain—and I need it to require quite a few solicitors and a great deal of fuss and bother; enough to make our mother seem demure. Ideally, we will find one close by that needs many repairs, or better yet is embroiled in an estate or legal battle or border dispute of some kind. It must take several months at the least, a lot of legal negotiation, at least a dozen solicitors, and I naturally must stay here and assist you the entire time.”
“I do not have an estate in England.”
“Did I not tell you your father is dead?”
“Yes, but… but…YOU DID NOT!”
“I DID!You have been the heir to Longbourn since you came to me. Why do you think I went to so much trouble to teach you to run an estate?”
“Lizzy… Lizzy… Lizzy… you are incorrigible.”
“I do my best.”
