Rivalry & Reparations: A Victorian Pride and Prejudice Vagary (The Victorian Vagaries Book 3) by Caroline Cartier

Author:Caroline Cartier [Cartier, Caroline]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-08-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Banks had Mr Roberts at Pemberley House ready to examine Caroline, but the physician claimed there was little wrong with her besides malnutrition and anxiety, other than a pressing need for sunshine and fresh air. He suggested that Lady Whitman may suffer from nervous or depressive complaints in the future, but that the family should avoid tonics that contained laudanum or opium, and that excessive consumption of spirits should be discouraged. Montague was contacted, and set to investigate the viscount’s family tree and the identity of the body in the locked room.

The day after the family arrived back in London, they were visited by Captain Spencer and his mother, bringing with them an infant child. As they sat down to tea in the drawing room with Will, Elizabeth opened the conversation. “Captain Spencer, Mrs Spencer, I am sure you must be here regarding the news we sent you of the new residence of the Duke of Leeds. It is kind of you to bring Master Andrew. He seems a sturdy little one, and we are happy to meet my cousin’s boy, but I find it curious that my cousin does not accompany you. Do you keep her confined to the house now, as well as obliging her to play second to your mother in the household?”

Captain Spencer coughed in embarrassment. “I wish I had kept her confined to the house, your ladyship. I wish fervently that I had posted guards at her door and window. As bonny as this young chap is, he is not Master Andrew. This is not my son.”

“Well, we knew he was not your son, Spencer, that was the whole point of all this,” observed Darcy. “Please inform us of your purpose here today, sir.”

“She’s gone,” Spencer replied. “Your cousin is up and gone, taking my son and leaving this changeling in his place.” Spencer went on to explain that they had woken the morning that Darcy’s express had arrived, to find Marianne and young Andrew gone, and this new child in the nursery with a strange nurse. The nurse carried a letter from the duke. All the time that Spencer thought Marianne had been unable to communicate with the new Duke of Leeds, she had been passing letters through the wet nurse that Spencer had hired. As it turned out, the young duke had been having Marianne and her household watched just as closely as Elizabeth had him watched. When Spencer advertised for a nurse, Leeds had sent several who had agreed to his scheme, and by luck, one of them had been chosen.

Upon taking up residence in the house, the nurse had delivered a letter to Marianne from Leeds. A correspondence was thus opened, and when the two baby boys had been born, and the duchess lost her life, a scheme was hatched. Marianne stayed in Spencer’s home, biding her time and recovering from delivery. When she decided she and her son were both strong enough for a long journey, she sent word to Leeds, who came for her.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.