Two days later, a company of cavalry from Fort Richardson under the command of Captain Buford arrived in response to Sheriff Lucas’s telegram. Buford immediately held a court of inquiry, and after a couple of hours of testimony, took Sally Younge, Billy Collins, and the surviving members of Denny’s gang into federal custody. As there was no longer a magistrate in Long Branch County, the prisoners were transferred to Fort Richardson to await trial by a traveling circuit judge. The evidence being irrefutable and the victims notable, the verdicts were never in doubt. All were convicted on conspiracy to commit fraud. Collins and the other men were also found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder. The only thing that saved the malefactors from the noose was that it could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that any had participated in the deaths of Mrs. Burroughs, Judge Phillips, or the Washingtons. Twenty years in prison for all was the sentence handed down.
As it turned out, neither Collins nor Younge would serve a full year in jail. Collins had managed to offend so many of his fellow inmates with his disdainful and aggravating ways that it was impossible to know which one had the strongest motivation to stick a handmade knife into his ribs one evening after dinner. He was buried in the prison cemetery next to so many others who had sought the easy way to riches by stealing from their fellow man.
Sally Younge was like a cat, always landing on her feet. Using her best talents—seduction and manipulation—she was able to corrupt an official of the women’s prison into allowing her escape. She fled into the expanses of the west and all trace of her was lost. A legend arose that she made her way to the mining towns of the Rocky Mountains, and under an assumed name captured the attentions of a newly rich mine owner. It was said that the couple moved to Denver where she became one of the matrons of society. It was a nice story, fit for penny novels, but no one knew if it was true.
In the tragic circumstances that Catherine Burroughs had helped create, the B&R was finally reunited with Pemberley, but not in the way she had imagined. Anne wanted nothing to do with the legacy left to her and signed away her rights to the vast ranch to Darcy as soon as she could. Texas held too many painful memories for the girl, and in the spring of 1872 at the train station in Fort Worth, her family and friends waved goodbye as Anne Burroughs began her journey to a new life with her Matlock relations in New York City, her elderly faithful servant Bartholomew right behind, carrying her satchel. He would care for the heiress for years until he grew too old to serve her, when they changed positions and Anne would see to his comfort for the rest of his life.
Anne’s was not the only departure from Rosings. Lily was welcomed back into the Bennet family, but there was no way she could remain with them. Everyone in town knew what had happened to her, so it was an intolerable situation. Tearfully, her parents sent her to live with the Gardiners in St. Louis, where no one would ever know her history. Letters from Missouri would report that she had been established as a salesgirl in the family store, a task for which she proved very well suited. In the years to come, she would catch the eye of a young bank clerk, and it was hoped by her family in Texas that Lily would find her happiness someday.
Mary Bennet would find her happiness in the aftermath of the assault. Three days after the attack on the Bennet farm, Tom Bennet found a nervous Henry Tilney in his study, stuttering his request for Mary’s hand in marriage. The request was not unexpected, and it was in Bennet’s character to use such a moment as an excuse to tease, but given all the horror they had experienced, his heart was not in it. Instead, he surprised the young preacher by embracing him, welcoming Henry into the family. As the courtship had been of some duration, a wedding date two weeks hence was settled on. Mrs. Bennet could not be happy with it, for there was no time for a new dress to be ordered or made, but she bowed to her daughter’s desire. Mary gave not a fig for finery—she only wanted to be Mrs. Henry Tilney and to be so as soon as practical.
Darcy would manage the B&R Ranch for the benefit of the victims of Whitehead and Cate Burroughs, using the profits to pay back the landowners and holders of claims against the now-defunct Rosings Bank. To run the place, renamed Rosings Ranch, Darcy appointed Richard Fitzwilliam as executive manager. José Estrada was promoted to take Fitz’s place as Pemberley foreman.
Fitz may have been in charge of the ranch, but no one was going to be living in the house. One night soon after the battle, someone—a disgruntled Rosings Bank customer, it was thought—set the abandoned mansion ablaze. It would be over an hour before the people from town would arrive, and there was nothing they could do once they got there, the firefighting equipment being inadequate, except watch the place burn to the ground.
This chain of events would have an interesting effect on the lives of Fitz and his beloved Charlotte. A few nights after the appointment, the couple, hand in hand, confronted Sheriff Lucas, announcing their intention to marry. Instead of the expected explosion, a grim Lucas asked a simple question.
“Fitzwilliam, will my girl ever go hungry?”
Stunned by the question, it took a moment before Fitz could answer.
“No, never. I stake my life on it.”
Lucas’s bleak expression gave way to one of resignation and grief. “Then you have my permission. Take care of my baby girl.”
The couple shared an incredulous look. Charlotte said gently, “Paw, I think you ought to know we were thinking of living here, in the house, with you, if that’s all right.”
The tears that had formed in the older man’s eyes flowed freely as he responded, “That… that would be fine. I’d be glad for the company. Mighty glad indeed…” He broke down as the couple rushed to embrace him.
As improvements needed to be made on the house, the wedding would not take place until mid-January. The event would not be as bittersweet as many feared, as it seemed that Fitz and Lucas had settled most of their differences. But if anyone thought that there would be smooth sailing in the Fitzwilliam/ Lucas household, they would be wrong. Two stubborn men were bound to butt heads from time to time, and if Lucas and Fitz were good at anything, it was arguing with each other.
Still, they were united in their love for Charlotte and fear of her displeasure. In the crisis, Charlotte had found her own strength, and she was no longer afraid to express it. It was surprising indeed for the town to learn that Sheriff Lucas could be henpecked, but there was soon no question that Mrs. Fitzwilliam was the person who ruled that household. Fitz would have no complaints—he knew best how to please his wife—and within a few years the yard about the house was filled with their children.
With one wedding in November and another in January, it was easy for Beth and William to settle on mid-December. Mrs. Bennet was happy that at least one of her daughters would not be married in her Sunday best, but she was confused by Beth’s intention of becoming Catholic. Wasn’t her brother-in-law’s church good enough, she had asked.
Beth smiled and kindly, yet firmly, said, “Mother, when I marry Will, I will have to promise to God that I will raise my children in the Catholic faith. I will not be a different religion from my children. I hope you can see that.”
So on a bright December Sunday morning, Elizabeth Bennet, dressed in a new white dress, received First Communion and was confirmed into the Roman Catholic Church. Five days later, wearing the same dress, she again walked down the aisle of the Santa Maria Catholic Mission chapel, this time to become Mrs. William Darcy. Her intended stood tall and still, his white shirt gleaming against his black suit. His face was impassive, as was his wont when he was emotional, his fiancée now knew. She had only to gaze into his intense blue eyes to see the fireworks of happiness that his demeanor masked. To help set aside the terrors of the months past, the various families had decided to make the three weddings a town event, so it was standing room only as Father Joseph proclaimed the couple man and wife, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and prayed that God’s peace would descend upon the people of Rosings.