Jump to new as of January 3, 2000
Chapter 1
Author's note: This story takes place some eight years after Manglefield Park: Turf Wars
Fitzwilliam Darcy rode through the gates of his home to be greeted by an enthusiastic pair of children. Jane, the eldest at eight years old was the very image of her mother Lizzy, while Willy, at six looked very much like a younger version of his mother's father.
"Daddy! You are home so soon, Mama will be pleased!" Jane said in her clear voice.
"Did you bring us anything?" chimed in her brother.
"Hmmm...have you been good while I was away?" replied Darcy, knowing full well that his children were very active, and had a tendency to get out of hand from time to time.
"Certainly!" replied his daughter.
"You don't mind if I check with your mother on that do you?" he said with a laugh.
"Mother said we were good, didn't she Willy?"
"Uh-huh!"
"Well, let's let her be the judge of that, shall we?"
The crestfallen looks on his children's faces told him all he needed to know. Doubtless, some small mischief had been committed while he was gone, but he would leave it up to their mother to determine if it was serious enough to withhold the sweets that he had picked up for them in London. He went in to the house to greet his wife. Entering the house he was surprised by Lizzy flinging herself into his arms.
"Missed me I take it?" he said with a smile.
"Always, dearest!" she said before she kissed him soundly.
"I'm glad to see you, too," he said with a chuckle "but you seem excited by something."
"I am! Jane is coming with the children to stay for a fortnight, and Lydia and Edmund, too!"
"Hmmm..." Darcy enjoyed the company of his sister-in-law Jane very much, and her children were a good deal quieter than his own. Lydia and her husband Edmund were another matter entirely. Edmund was a reformed criminal who worked for the Crown as a special agent, seeking out and stopping other criminals who threatened England. While he had completely reformed and had been commended for his bravery several times, Darcy still had trouble forgiving the man for his part in the kidnapping of his wife. While Edmund had been key in freeing her, Darcy was not a man to forgive or forget very easily. However, if Lizzy could completely forgive, he was not one to make waves. Edmund was pleasant enough company, while Lydia could still irritate him within minutes of entering a room, perhaps he might arrange for a hunting party to spend a few days of the visit away from Pemberley. The idea sounded delightful, he would see what he could do to arrange it.
Arriving in his study, he looked over his correspondence to see if anything needed his immediate attention. He flipped through the letters until a letter in his sister's handwriting caught his eye. Georgiana had married five years earlier, and seemed the picture of happiness with her new husband. Sadly her husband had fallen ill two winters ago and had died, leaving her a widow. The letter was full of new tidings. It seemed she had met a young nobleman while traveling in Europe and had corresponded with the gentleman over the summer. Now the gentleman was traveling to England and she wished for her brother to meet him. Darcy had no objections to meeting the gentleman, in fact he wished to check the man's background very thoroughly, and see if the young man was suitable for his sister. He dashed off a letter to Georgiana telling her he would be happy to meet the man when he arrived in London, and congratulated her on meeting someone she cared for. He also dashed off a letter to Commander Bond, his former boss on his mission for the Crown. Bond would leave no stone unturned; if there was something about this man, Darcy would soon know of it.
Chapter 2
The day when everyone arrived was quite chaotic at Pemberley. Jane showed up first, with the surprising addition of her husband Bingley. He had finished his business in London earlier than expected and was able to join the party. Darcy was thrilled to see his old friend. Bingley had often been away and the two men had not been able to spend much time together now that their respective families were growing larger. Edmund and Lydia arrived shortly after with their two children, and the chaos was under way. The younger Jane, Willy, and their assorted cousins proceeded to tear through the house prompting Lizzy to threaten all of them with dire consequences if they did not take their playing outside. Young Jane was wise enough to lead them all outside where they could romp through Pemberley's extensive grounds. Lizzy didn't worry about the children knowing full well that the groundskeepers would keep them out of any serious mischief. As the evening wore on, Georgianna arrived, and Lizzy was glad to see that the sorrow that had haunted the sensitive young woman since her husband's death was gone. Darcy greeted his sister warmly and inquired after her journey.
"It was wonderful, dear brother! I saw so many things in Europe! No matter where I went, there was something new, churches, shops, beautiful scenery, it was all so lovely."
"Which countries did you visit?" Lizzy asked, "You weren't sure of where you would go in your last letter."
"I first visited France, it is quite lovely, and I bought several new gowns there. Then it was on to Switzerland, ah the views there are breathtaking! Then to Bavaria, Hamburg, all the way into the East. I visited Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Russia, so many places, I cannot remember them all! I kept a journal of my trip and if you like I will read from it later?"
"That would be lovely"
Darcy noticed then that she didn't make any mention of her new interest. Perhaps she was waiting to surprise them during her reading. He hadn't told anyone of her new suitor, and had no intentions of doing so, at least until he had checked him out thoroughly. He had received a letter from Commander Bond telling him that his son, James, was on the case and would have a detailed report for Darcy before the man arrived in London. Darcy was amazed at the speed with which the Crown's intelligence service could gather information. As the evening progressed to dinner Darcy was thrilled to see such happiness on his sister's face, it had been too long since she had smiled so.
Oddly though, Georgianna didn't enjoy her dinner very much, she inquired as to how heavily spiced the food was, which surprised Darcy as she had been recently in Europe were the food was generally spiced more, but he and Lizzy had fallen in love with the food in Florence while they had vacationed there two years ago and had recently gone out of their way to hire a cook from that region. Darcy hardly noticed because he was used to the food, but his sister hadn't journeyed to Italy as far as he knew, and probably hadn't gotten used to it as he and Lizzy had. As the party assembled in the drawing room afterwards, Darcy was glad to see his friends and family gathered around him, it gave him a feeling that all was well in the world. Little did he know that the feeling would fade as a nightmare of unimaginable horror would soon descend upon his family and friends.
Chapter 3
The day dawned brightly as Darcy rode into town. A message had been delivered to Pemberley from Commander Bond, telling him that he would meet Darcy in the village with the information about Georgiana's suitor. Wishing to waste no time, he hurried towards the inn where his former boss was staying. No doubt, but the man would be ready for Darcy's arrival, he had an irritating habit of never being surprised by anything. As Darcy strode into the inn his boss was taking his breakfast in the common room and called him over.
"Ah, Darcy! Good to see you again, how are things at Pemberley?"
"Well enough, though I welcomed getting away this morning as the children have a tendency to rise far earlier than I do!" he said with a laugh. "So you have the information I asked for?"
"I do. Truth to tell there isn't much to it. James investigated in great detail and came up with precious little, good or bad. It seems this fellow is the last of his line, a Count by title, with some sizable lands, good income, actually his forefathers were Princes in the area hundreds of years ago, but other than that, we have very little to go on. He talked with several of his people, but all he could get was that 'The master is kindly and protects us,' repeated again and again."
"Do you think him a harsh master with his people afraid of him?"
"Oddly enough, James seemed to think they respected him. One old fellow told him something about the master boasting that his village was the safest in all the land, that you could leave a bag of gold on the street and it would be there the next morning."
"So their nobles have more responsibility than ours?"
"Yes, the local Count or Earl is still the law in most of these places, damned odd, if you ask me, but that's the way it is in the east. It would seem he is fond of law and order in his village."
"Has the man not courted any other ladies in the area?"
"He has no record of doing so, but then his lands are rather far away, there are no other families with titles within less than three days ride through the mountains. James asked some of the other nobles in the country about him, but all anyone would say is that the man was welcome to his castle in the mountains and that they wished he would stay there."
"Chief, that is somewhat suspicious, don't you think?"
"I'm inclined to think that it may be jealousy on their parts, the Count has a reputation as a man few would cross, and I suspect he is not a man to tolerate fools gladly. The picture I'm getting of the man is that he is throwback to the times when a noble was expected to defend his lands by force, I have no doubt that he would be capable of a good fight. The rest of the nobles seem a soft, pampered lot according to James. Rest assured that we shall keep an eye on this fellow while he is in England, if he is bad news, well, then he shall be asked to leave, actually tossed into the hold of an outbound ship if he doesn't cooperate."
"Good, I suppose I will keep an eye on him myself if I invite him to Pemberley."
"If you like, I can have a lad or two sent out to act as footmen to help."
"That would be nice, thank you. I'm still not sure how to pronounce his name, it seems so strange compared to English, it is an odd name, Vlad Tepesh, very odd."
Chapter 4
The time of Geogianna's suitor's visit came near. The young woman was obviously excited to see him again and chattered nonstop throughout the ride to London. Darcy resolved to keep a close eye on the man, no matter how friendly he might seem, the Chief's report had him troubled. Darcy had decided to stay a few days in London, and entertain the visitor at his townhouse. Not coincidentally, the townhouse was within short distance of numerous officers of the law, and a fair amount of agents of the Crown. Commander Bond's son, James was detailed as a servant at the house as well. When the man arrived Darcy was surprised at the cool, elegant stranger's looks. He was tall & pale, with a regal bearing. In lightly accented English he spoke: "Good evening Mr. Darcy, I am glad to finally make your acquaintance. Dear Georgiana has told me so much about you."
"I am glad to meet you as well," Darcy replied with a firm handshake, "Should I address you as Count? I am unsure of the address in your country."
"Vlad will do, I am bored with titles from home. At one time I was considered a prince, I long to simply be Vlad while in England."
"Vlad it is then. We'll be off to my townhouse now."
Along the way Darcy pointed out some of the sights of London to his visitor. He seemed impressed by some, and actually recoiled from the sight of churches. He would only explain that there had been much trouble between the church and the nobility in his land, and he felt no love for the church as a result. They arrived at the townhouse in short order, yet the man hesitated at the step.
"Ah, Mr. Darcy, it is a custom in my country to ask a visitor into your home. While I would like to leave my home behind me, there are certain customs I feel obliged to uphold."
"Well, would you enter my home as my guest?"
"Why certainly, thank you, my friend." As he passed the threshold Darcy saw what could only be a gleam of triumph in his eyes. Vlad looked the room over, taking in every detail in a single glance.
"Although you've arrived a bit later than expected, I can have some supper made for you if you wish?"
"Ah, no, that will not be necessary, I dined on board the ship. Where is Georgianna?"
"She'll join us in the morning, she's visiting a friend in the neighborhood."
"A pity. I had wished to see her, it has been so long since she visited me in my mountain home. Well, there is nothing to be done about it. Mr. Darcy, it has been a long and tiring journey, I would appreciate it if no one disturbed me in the morning."
"That shall not be a problem. James! Help our visitor with his bags!"
The younger Bond grinned at Darcy as he grabbed the luggage. "Righto, sir, this way then!"
When Vlad had gone upstairs, Darcy sat at his desk to ponder the situation. The man seemed all right, but the look in his eyes when he entered the house left Darcy uneasy. His directness in asking after his sister also concerned him, but perhaps the man wasn't used to the same rules of society that Darcy was.