The Darcys and the Sirens' Songs Read online

  THE DARCYS AND THE SIRENS’ SONGS:

  A PRIDE AND PREJUDICE VARIATION

  Sequel to

  THE LUCK OF FITZWILLIAM DARCY

  AND

  THE DARCYS RETURN TO PEMBERLEY

  AND

  THE DARCYS AND THE DUKE

  By Glenna Mason

  Dedications

  Dedicated to all the animals I have loved who have loved me in return.

  Also by Glenna Mason

  Pride and Prejudice Variations:

  Mr. Darcy and the Lady with the Fine Eyes

  Mr. Darcy’s Foreboding

  The Pleasure of Mr. Darcy’s Love

  Darcy Meets Elizabeth in Kentucky

  The Luck of Fitzwilliam Darcy

  The Darcys Return to Pemberley

  The Darcys and the Duke

  Mystery Series:

  In the Rafters

  Of the Glen

  Cover Art

  The cover art for this novel is by artist Erin Shore

  PART I

  CHAPTER ONE

  “Father! Father!” Elizabeth called over the bannister of her Park Lane townhouse. “Oh, where is he?”

  Unbeknownst to Elizabeth, her father, Thomas Bennet, and her husband, Fitzwilliam Darcy, had just left in a carriage to go to lunch at their men’s club, White’s, in hopes of finding a game of whist to while away the cold, winter afternoon.

  Mrs. Chambers rounded the corner from her office in the back hall. She called up, “Mr. Darcy left you a note, Madame. He and Mr. Bennet have gone out.” Elizabeth flew down the steps and retrieved the note.

  “Off to the men’s club . . . hmm. Guess two can play that game,” Elizabeth murmured, as she started back up the stairs to the second floor. “Mrs. Chambers,” she called back down, leaning over the railing at the landing, “ask Duncan to have my curricle out front in a half hour. Tommy and I are going visiting.”

  “Certainly, Mrs. Darcy. Oh, and when do the Wickhams arrive?” Mrs. Chambers inquired. “We want to get their blankets aired and pillows fluffed, but not until the day they will need them.”

  “They should be here in two days. Major Wickham indicated that they would arrive in time for lunch on the twenty-second. Today is the twentieth.”

  “And Miss Lydia?”

  “There is no reason to make a room ready for Miss Lydia. The Bingleys and the Fitzwilliams are splitting her two week sojourn in London. She should arrive tomorrow. The plan is for her to visit with Miss Kitty the first week and Miss Jane the second. Then Mr. Bingley will guarantee that Miss Lydia is back to school on time.”

  “She certainly will be well chaperoned,” Mrs. Chambers noted with a smile. They both laughed at that undoubtedly correct pronouncement. “We’ve just the one couple, the Wickhams, then?”

  “Well, plus Father. My Aunt and Uncle Phillips will split their time between the Gardiners and the Masons.”

  “But Mr. Bennet does not seem like a guest. He’s one of the household in all the servants’ opinion.”

  “And in all our hearts.”

  “Most assuredly. We are still devastated by his loss,” Mrs. Chambers said, referring to the death of Francine Bennet, following a head injury in a carriage accident. Mrs. Bennet had lived a few weeks after the wreck, but had died the same day that Tommy Darcy was born, November the twelfth.

  “I’d better get that message to Duncan.”

  “And I need to get ready to drive the curricle when it arrives,” Elizabeth said. Turning to continue up the stairs, she shouted, “Clarise!”

  As Elizabeth hurried down the hall to her suite, Clarise emerged from the nursery at the far end. “When I heard you call, I assumed you wished to feed Master Tommy, Mrs. Darcy, so I stopped by and plucked him out of his crib,” Clarise announced, obviously proud of her assiduity.

  “Thank you, Clarise. Tommy shall eat, and then he and I are going on a little jaunt in the curricle. Could you get my driving outfit ready?”

  Elizabeth fed the baby and then donned a slightly more formal attire than her day dress, but one still casual enough to drive a curricle.

  Elizabeth placed her five week old son in a portable bassinet, covered him with blankets and put on her winter jacket. “Come, Tommy, you are going on your first trip to visit a cousin. The time has come to see the world outside #4 Park Lane.” She kissed his cheek. “In fact we’ll see how it goes. We might just fit in two or three cousins. Your father and grandfather are off for an afternoon session of cards, so we’ll just follow their lead and find some friendly amusement of our own.”

  Elizabeth had the footman carry the bassinet down the stairs and load it in the curricle. She climbed into the seat beside it. Chewing on his fingers, Tommy Darcy’s eyes grew large at his first view of branches swaying over his head.

  “Your version of Gambrel Forest, I presume,” Elizabeth said, seeing her son’s awe and recalling the spooky tales her family had told of the eerie woods they had braved during last year’s Christmas in July. She had too busy at Pemberley, seeing to the care of her guests to accompany them, but had enjoyed their tales of bewitched enchantment. Maybe next year, she’d join the magical outing, guests or no guests.

  “Oh, my, Master Tommy. It is colder than I thought. Good thing we are only driving two blocks.”

  Five minutes later, Elizabeth pulled up in front of the Bingley townhouse. A footman rushed to assist her from the curricle. He carried Tommy in, entertaining the infant as he went, clicking his tongue and entwining the baby’s finger in his own.

  “Lizzy,” Jane called over the second floor bannister. “And Master Tommy! What a treat! Come on up. I’ll get Louisa and we’ll lay them on a blanket on the floor. They can stare at each other while we have tea.”

  Over tea, which the ladies drank sitting on the blanket with their babies, Elizabeth said, “We need to plan some very specific diversions. We have two intransigent ladies arriving, who not only abhor each other, but one of whom dislikes the rest of us too.”

  “I have already been running ideas through my mind. It is time for Lydia to do something useful. I believe that while she is visiting Kitty and me she should help hostess and assist with her new nieces too.”

  “Oh? Hostess? Lydia? And how do you suggest Lydia perform a feat that necessitates at least a small degree of accomplishment? Why, she and Caroline are more likely to rip each other’s hair out. Or, at the very least, insult each other into a shouting match.”

  “I agree. However, Caroline, Charles’ sister, will be in London for only one week. Lydia will stay put at Kitty’s that week, so that we Bingleys, as well as Louisa and Gilbert, can help you entertain Caroline and George Wickham. Remember Lydia and George also are not the best of friends.”

  “Good thinking! I am not sure that Louisa likes Lydia much either. So let’s assure that Caroline and George remain at our house most of the time, so you and Charles can enjoy your visit with his more amenable sister, Louisa, and her husband and son Gil . . . without either distraction: Lydia or Caroline,” Elizabeth offered.

  “Louisa and Gilbert don’t like George at all, so it is certainly fortuitous that Fitzwilliam insisted his new best friend George stay at #4 Park Lane,” Jane said. “Of course Louisa and Gilbert have their own London townhouse, but we encouraged them to stay at ours this Christmas, so we can be together more. I believe that Louisa is truly looking forward to spoiling her namesake.”

  “Fine! But how nice that they can go home for a night or two, or even a whole week, if Lydia becomes impossible – or Caroline for that matter.”

  “Yes, a break from those two for even a night would revitalize a burned out fire log.”

  “And, yes, you are correct, Jane. Appa
rently Fitzwilliam and George have turned a new page. They have ripped out all the intervening history and begun again at page sixteen, just before the two left for Cambridge,” Elizabeth said.

  “I am pleased. I hope that the regeneration of their friendship works for both of them. Nonetheless, we still have the two uncompromising, self-absorbed ladies arriving.”

  “Fitzwilliam and I will divert the Wickhams,” Elizabeth abruptly decided. “I shall arrange a couple of occasions for them to invite their acquaintances to Park Lane, and I will also plan evenings at a play, a concert and a dinner at the Ritz. I’d like you, Charles and the Hursts to join us for the dinner. Fitzwilliam and I will host the entire family at an all-day Christmas party. With mother’s death so recent, we are not yet ready to invite a large gathering from the ton. No one expects it.”

  “Surely Caroline and Lydia can be together one evening,” Jane said.

  “I hope so. We’ll see. Lydia unfortunately places no bounds on her behavior,” Elizabeth said, adding, “Once the Wickhams go to Kent, and Lydia ends up at your house, perhaps the Hursts can come to #4 for a night or two, before we head home.”

  “Head home. How grand that sounds.”

  “Yes. I am determined Fitzwilliam and I will not venture out from Pemberley again, except for duty, until Maria and Ralph’s wedding in May. Enough partying. We all need rest, and Fitzwilliam must return to his roots and his careful nurturing of Pemberley. Tommy will keep me busy.”

  “Of course, the Bingleys and the Darcys can host each other now and then,” Jane said.

  “Naturally.”

  “So it is settled. Kitty and I will keep Lydia isolated and busy. You will do the same with Caroline. They will only overlap on Christmas Day.”

  “Exactly. That does not mean that Fitzwilliam and I will not be over to your house and Kitty’s. We just won’t bring the Wickhams. Caroline has many friends in London. She can invite them over to our townhouse. We will give the Wickhams free reign of Park Lane – hmm – at least two, maybe three times.”

  “And their friends will hopefully return the invitations.”

  “Good thought!” Elizabeth said, as she pondered. Then she improvised out loud, saying, “I shall give Caroline two specific evening dates, Christmas Eve and December the 27th to call our house hers. Fitzwilliam and I will be at your house or Kitty’s or Mary’s. Maybe a luncheon too for the ladies. Fitzwilliam wants to see George without Caroline.”

  “We will definitely have something interesting going on those two nights,” Jane promised. “I’ll check with Kitty and Mary.”

  “Now what about Lydia?” Elizabeth asked.

  “Do not worry about Lydia. You have Caroline to contend with. Kitty and I will take care of Lydia. And believe me, there will be no plays or concerts.”

  “Or men in red coats.”

  “Heavens, no!”

  They laughed. Jane picked up her nephew and tickled his toes. Elizabeth cuddled her niece and kissed her nose. The children smiled and stretched.

  “So fine!”

  “The finest!”

  *****

  Elizabeth and Jane had such a congenial visit that all the afternoon had almost slipped away. When Elizabeth and Tommy exited Jane’s for their curricle, they only had time for one more stop. Kitty was the closest. Then Elizabeth remembered, “Today the Garvin Masons arrive at Mary’s to meet their granddaughter. I’ll go another day, take some cakes and pies and see Miss Sarah Francine admired by Mrs. Sarah and Mr. Garvin Mason. That will give the family a chance to visit before I bound in . . . and with a competing infant.”

  Turning left from the Bingley drive, Elizabeth said, “So Kitty and baby Eleanor, here I come.” Kitty’s baby was named for her two grandmothers, Countess Ellen Fitzwilliam of Matlock and Francine Bennet and two of her great grandmothers. Her full name was Francine Eleanor Anne Olivia, which honored not just her own grandmothers, but also Richard’s two grandmothers.

  Kitty had explained that she hoped to have another girl someday so she could give her own grandmother’s a namesake. “I just couldn’t countenance six names,” Kitty informed her family.

  Today as Elizabeth and Kitty drank their cup of tea with the babies napping by their side, Elizabeth reminded Kitty of her wish for a daughter to receive their grandmothers’ names. “Do you really want a daughter named Thelma Augusta? Those two names do not flow when paired.”

  “Yes, as long as Jane or Elizabeth or both accompany the other two.”

  “Oh,” said Elizabeth, smiling. “Thank you.”

  “I’d say Augusta Jane Thelma Elizabeth Fitzwilliam might just be unique.”

  “I’d say – hmm – probably so. Although . . . “

  “Although?”

  “Still doesn’t flow.”

  “Hey, that rhymes – although doesn’t flow.”

  “We’re not challenging Byron here.” They giggled like school girls.

  “I’d say use the maiden names, because Augusta is so regal and Thelma has a solid, practical feel to it. They simply do not fit together,” Elizabeth continued, for some reason enjoying the discussion and not wanting to give it up.

  “Let’s see. Mother’s mother’s maiden name was -- uh – what was it? I just knew her as Grandmother Gardiner.”

  “She was Thelma Hart Gardiner,” Elizabeth answered.

  “Oh, my. That’s a lovely name. Hart is actually quite elegant. And Grandmother Bennet?”

  “Augusta Dickinson Bennet.”

  “Hmm. Not sure that will work together either. Jane Hart and Elizabeth Dickinson sound better. Guess I just need to have two more girls. Nell, Janey and Libby or Beth,” Kitty said.

  “Nell?”

  “Probably, unless I decide on the more formal Eleanor. Countess Matlock already has the diminutive Ellen. So I think my little, sweet love will be Nell.”

  “Now as to a more serious subject: Lydia,” Kitty began. “At my house she well be welcomed and then put to work.”

  “Excellent, but what can she do?”

  “Help me address Christmas cards, wrap presents, decorate pastries and practice Christmas carols. Lydia can sing.”

  “Excellent choices.”

  “Then she shall take Eleanor for strolls in Hyde Park, if it is warm enough,” Kitty continued. Noting Elizabeth’s chagrin, Kitty added, “With me as chaperone. No frightening any wealthy, potential suitors’ horses.” They both burst into gales of laughter, as this was exactly how Jane and Elizabeth had met Charles and Fitzwilliam, a meeting which had eventually led to four love affairs, since Kitty and Mary soon met Richard and Henry, through Jane’s and Elizabeth’s romances with their good friends, Bingley and Darcy.

  “Then there is china and crystal to organize and silver to polish.”

  “Don’t you have a maid for those latter employments?”

  “Lydia doesn’t know that.”

  “Oh, of course. Linens too, I imagine.”

  “Indubitably. I shall never cater to Lydia again. Such actions harm her future. She must learn that being a wife is hard work and being a mother even more so. She will often be sitting with Eleanor, rocking the cradle.”

  “Be careful! You know Lydia. She might just drift off and shirk the duty.”

  “Oh, I’ll be close by.”

  “Her time is running short.”

  “Yes, a year and a half maximum.”

  “We will soon find out if she has improved. We haven’t seen her since last Christmas.”

  “I am not confident.”

  “Nor am I.”

  Elizabeth picked up Eleanor Fitzwilliam. “So beautiful,” she said. “just like her mother.”

  “And her namesakes,” Kitty said, pointing to portraits on the parlor wall of three beautiful ladies.

  “And we all know that it was Mother’s lovely countenance that entranced Father,” Elizabeth said.

  “Yes, the Lydia effect personified,” Kitty answered.

  “Lydia should be so fortunate.”


  “I doubt she will be. Mother was flighty, but she was also cognizant of her own future best interests and then later the best interests of her daughters. Lydia lives in the moment -- her moment – no one else’s,” Kitty assessed.

  “And yet, she must marry or we will be forced to support her,” Elizabeth said. “It is beyond believable that she could retain a job.”

  “Thank you, my lovely little Tommy, for saving Longbourn,” Kitty said, picking up her nephew and caressing him. “I’d have preferred Collins to Lydia. At least he has Charlotte.”

  Recently Henry Mason, Thomas Bennet’s son-in-law and London solicitor, had researched the entailment on Longbourn. Henry had simply found it difficult to believe that a cousin would inherit over a closer relative, like a grandson. Henry had found that the entailment did insure that the property, as was traditional, would be inherited by the closest male heir. Hence when Tommy Darcy, a grandson, was born, he moved ahead of cousin, William Collins, in the line of succession.

  Kitty’s reference to Lydia simply meant to magnify her relief that Lydia had not produced the first male heir to Longbourn, as it was likely that with Lydia in charge until the son reached majority, there might be nothing left for him to inherit.

  “Amazingly, I feel the same. The estate might not have survived a year,” Elizabeth agreed. “Ironically, if she had actually eloped with Wickham, all might have been well. George grew up at Pemberley. His father ran the estate. George graduated from Cambridge. He had a background of value. He just lost his way. Fitzwilliam truly believes George will be himself again now. Wickham was truly ashamed after Denny’s attempt on Bruce’s life.”

  George Wickham and Fitzwilliam Darcy, boyhood friends at Pemberley, who became serious enemies in adulthood, were once again the companions of their youth. Their new unity was the result of a frightening happenstance, wherein Captain Denny, whom Wickham paid to harass Darcy on a minor, but irritating scale, became so disturbed that, instead of following Wickham’s instruction to find some insignificant way to disrupt Darcy’s peace of mind at the Christmas in July party at Pemberley, he attacked Georgiana’s husband a gun point. After this debacle, Wickham almost immediately had a change of heart, realizing in the depths of his being that he truly felt a bond with Fitzwilliam Darcy, a bond that only a lifelong friend can feel.