Page 93 of May I Have the Pleasure
“Haha!I concede the field my lady. Your impertinence is sufficient. Would you be available for supper before you depart? Of course, you must include Miss Lucas, your aunt and uncle, and any other acquaintances you choose.Georgiana would like to know you, and my cousin the colonel would like to know he is out of your brown books.”
“That little imp!That wasyears ago, and I would forget the matter entirely if he did not bring it up.”
“Can you come to supper?”
“I would not wish to trouble you.”
“To the contrary. I would greatly appreciate it.”
“It would be my greatest pleasure.”
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“Bon voyage, Elizabeth. You will come to Pemberley when you return?”
“Yes. I am keen to see it.”
“Safe travels, my friend.”
Mediterranean Sea, June 1815
3½ years after Netherfield
“I beg your pardon, Lady Mawbry. Your husband just died.”
“I thank you for informing me, captain. It was exceedingly kind of you to see to our nuptials so suddenly when the fever took. I was very much hoping he would survive, but it was not to be.”
“Did you know your husband long, my lady?”
“I knew Lord Mawbry for a bit over two years. He was kind enough to escort me on my planned tour.”
“I am sorry for your loss, my lady.”
“I thank you. It is kind of you to see to my needs. It was important for my husband to secure his inheritance. He nearly waited too long.”
“It was my pleasure. It was pure good fortune that we had three solicitors and a bishop on board. I doubt there is a single scrap of paper or drop of ink left on the ship. That was quite an endeavour. Four days of madness as far as I could tell.”
“Yes, it was. You no doubt noticed it was a marriage of convenience?”
“I would not invade your privacy for the world, but confess I am somewhat curious.”
“I trust you to keep my confidence, and it would unburden me to tell someone. My husband, as you probably noticed, was older than my father. He had no intention of marrying again, as he had three particularly good heirs in line. He was simply escorting me for a holiday. He was a good friend to me when I needed one. He saved my fortune, and quite possibly my life a couple of years ago, but that is another story.”
“Why the change, if I might ask?”
“Pray, do not look so sheepish. Your questions might seem presumptuous, but I do not mind in the least so long as the story goes nofarther than your wife.”
“You may depend on our discretion.”
“It is all about the succession. The earl well approved of the first three heirs in line, so he considered his estates, titles, and dependents well settled. He even trained the first two in estate management personally. However, all three were killed over two months between a scarlet fever epidemic and a carriage accident. It was as if the gods specifically targeted his family.”
“That is abominable luck!”
“Quite so! He was left with the fourth in line as heir. The man is a dissolute rake and gambler, who would have destroyed five generations of work in a few years. By an odd coincidence, Lord Mawbry was looking for the same nephew in a notorious gambling hell when he managed to save my fortune, and likely my life, the day I met him.”
“If he had the pleasure of your friendship, I am not certain he need repine his family’s luck.”
“I thank you, sir.”
