by Anna Harlow
In the wee hours of morning, she reluctantly pulled on her clothes and crossed the hall, dismally aware of the loss of her husband’s arms. At least the bed was comfortable, and she was quite exhausted from all their efforts, which made it much easier for her to pass out.
Morning came all too soon, but with it came a curiosity about Mr. Collins’ upcoming sermon. He had been quite a boring reader when he was handed literature for which he had no passion, but surely he might become more animated when delivering the good word to his congregation. And, as it was Easter Sunday, there was also the evening to look forward to, when Lady Catherine held her annual celebration.
Mr. and Mrs. Collins were included among the guests for dinner, and Elizabeth was sure this had been done for her own benefit. Though it was equally certain Lady Catherine’s kindness centered on the notion of keeping Elizabeth busy so she could have Darcy to herself, since it worked to her benefit this time, she didn’t really mind.
Chapter Thirty
Mr. Collins was little more animated in delivering a sermon of his own than he had been while reading to them at Longbourn. His progress was longwinded and dull, and Elizabeth soon found her mind drifting off to other topics.
Foremost of these was the nature of the tenderness in her heart where her husband was concerned. How did one know for certain when esteem and respect made way for love? For she had surely missed him once she’d retired to her room the night before, and the look he’d cast her when they met again this morning made her believe his sentiments were much the same.
She would not be able to ask such a nonsensical question of Charlotte, whose businesslike approach to life left little room for flights of fancy. Her usual confidante in such matters was Jane, but at the moment her sister was somewhat lost to her, as she could hardly turn to her with her thoughts whenever she pleased. And for a certainty, it would do no good to ask Lady Catherine, who was too upset over the death of her daughter to discuss such things with her replacement. No, if she wished to understand the nature of her feelings, she would have to work them out for herself.
Owing for the fact that dinner was to be held directly after the sermon, the meal would take place in the early afternoon, rather than slightly later as usual. Any number of the people currently in the church would soon make their way to Rosings, but Elizabeth told Darcy she would like to walk there with her friend. The distance was little more than half a mile of flat land, and her husband had his cane, so he said that he would wish to attempt the journey with them.
“I must begin using this limb more fully, now that I have left off the brace, else how will it ever manage to regain its strength?” he pointed out.
So it was that the four set out together across the park. The going was a bit slower than Mr. Collins preferred, but though his impatience was evident in the set of his shoulders he did not say a word, instead addressing a monologue to Elizabeth, telling her all about the various furnishings to be found at Rosings. Thankfully, he soon grew bored and forged on ahead of them.
“How do you do it, Mrs. Collins?” Darcy asked her with a smirk. “If I were forced to spend each day with such fare, I think I should go quite mad.”
Elizabeth laughed, and shook his arm. “Be nice, my dear. As Charlotte has told me already, we must allow for differences in feeling. And surely, the man must find other topics to discuss with her.”
Charlotte smiled at this. “Yes, there are a few other topics. In fact, I have just learned that one of those topics shall soon be in what manner we might wish to decorate the nursery. Lizzy, you must get on with producing Pemberley’s heir. I should be quite pleased if we could enjoy our increasing at the same time.”
Her smile sly, Elizabeth said, “Well, we have had plenty of practice in it. I would not be greatly surprised to learn such an event had already occurred.”
Darcy was now blushing, but his laughter at such words proved to Elizabeth that he did not mind. “Ah, we are at last reaching the gates of Rosings—and in good time, too. For, if you two have got that far into your female discussions, who knows what you might say if we were meant to walk any farther.”
During the course of the next weeks, Elizabeth and Charlotte did indeed have plenty of opportunity to discuss those topics more privately together, giggling at the similarities and differences of their situations, and stretching the bounds of propriety most abominably. Chief among these discussions, they determined that while Mr. Collins was an adequate lover, that Elizabeth had surely found a gentleman who was much superior in both frequency and duration.
“Lizzy, you know that I have never been a great romantic,” Charlotte told her one time. “For myself, I don’t mind if such things are fleeting, and soon accomplished. But I am so pleased that your hopes for a greater connection seem to be granted to you. For surely, the smiles I see you cast to Darcy must indicate a fondness that has turned to love.”
“Charlotte, do not tease me,” Elizabeth complained. “When we first decided to marry, Will did say that falling in love with each other was to be hoped for. That we would learn to love each other. But while I may be feeling it, there is little knowing if the gentleman has done the same. How should I discover it, when I am too shy to admit my feelings? If I told him that I loved him, and he did not say the same, I would be completely devastated.”
“Elizabeth, surely you ought to tell him,” Charlotte insisted. “Until you two have an easy enough communication to discuss such things, there shall always be doubts in your way. In every marriage, there must be vexations and quarrels, but they ought to be avoided whenever possible, do you not think?”
“How should we argue over that topic?” asked Elizabeth stubbornly. “I cannot think how it should vex or upset either one of us if we simply exist, and let whatever feelings we have show openly. How is it they would need discussing?”
“Lizzy, think,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You have just voiced to me a worry that your feelings and Darcy’s are not the same. Surely, you must have spent time wondering, or the opinion would not have come so easily.”
Elizabeth laughed. “But it does not follow that I am obligated to say anything. I am allowed to keep my own counsel. Besides, we are guests in the home of his former mother-in-law. I think it would be wise to save such a sentimental conversation until we have departed Rosings. I would much rather have it when we get to Pemberley.”
In the beginning of August, after almost a month of walking the grounds and picnicking, Mr. Darcy’s leg was much improved other than an occasional aching. He and Elizabeth spent much of their time outdoors, and favored a large lake situated about a mile from Rosings’ gates. A few times, they had slipped away to go there alone, and twice managed a bit of lovemaking without being discovered.
It was on the return from the second successful undertaking when Elizabeth realized with a start of surprise that in the whole time they’d been there she had no occasion to place any extra padding into her underwear. She had been so busy attempting to produce Darcy’s heir, that she had failed to notice she must already have done so.
For a few days, she kept this thought to herself, but on a closer examination realized there were other signs. Her appetite had undergone a change. Some days, she felt ravenous with hunger, but on other occasions the very thought of food made her ill. And though her body had not yet begun to swell openly, her gowns had begun to feel tighter around the breasts and belly, if only just a little.
When Darcy’s doctor came to have one last look at his ankle, Elizabeth told him, “Sir? I believe I ought to speak with the doctor as well. There may be cause to retain him for another set of months after this.”
“Are you certain?” he asked, smiling excitedly.
“If I was certain, what need would there be to ask him?” Elizabeth pointed out, though his smile was contagious despite her attempts at levity.
An examination of Elizabeth’s person not only confirmed the presence of a child, but suggested that he or she must have been conceived before th
ey had ever come to Rosings. Elizabeth chuckled at this, and cast her husband an amused glance.
“I will leave the two of you to discuss your happy news,” said the doctor, bowing quickly out of the room.
“All your insistence on doing a thorough job for naught, sir?” she teased him. “It was not necessary at all.”
Darcy smirked. “Not necessary, perhaps. But absolutely vital. Do not believe for a moment, my dearest, loveliest Elizabeth, that I shall cease my attentions simply because of this baby. My time with you had become just as vital as eating, or breathing. And, I am glad to know you may accomplish your increasing while we are at Pemberley. I had already sent word that they should prepare the house for our arrival within another week.”
“But sir, will we not first spend some time at Longbourn?” asked Elizabeth hopefully. “With news such as this, we cannot possibly forego a visit to my former home. How should I tell my mother about her first grandchild in a letter?”
“Yes, of course we must go,” Darcy agreed. “Bingley and Jane shall also wish to know.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Darcy decided to allow his wife an entire week at Longbourn, and found on the first day that he did not regret his decision nearly as much as he had expected. Mrs. Bennet proved to be a much better hostess to a son-in-law than she was to a gentleman she did not particularly like, it seemed.
“We shall all head to Netherfield this evening,” she announced happily as the family lounged in the parlor. Only Mr. Bennet, who preferred to keep to his library, was missing from the assembly. She added, “He has been planning the engagement party over two weeks, and it is a wonderful good fortune that his best friend shall now be able to share in the occasion.”
“Yes, I am well pleased with fate these days,” Darcy agreed, smiling as he briefly set his hand on his wife’s belly.
By now, her mother knew the reason, of course. Elizabeth had not wasted ten minutes on proper greetings before delivering their good news. Now, she smiled up at him, laying her hand over his and giving it a squeeze.
“Who would have thought you two would become such a lovely couple, considering the manner of your marrying?” said Mrs. Bennet with a delighted smile on her face. “Though it is too bad I did not manage to secure Longbourn through Mary. Such a dreadful disappointment.”
“Mama, you mustn’t say so,” Elizabeth protested. “Charlotte and Mr. Collins are quite happy, I assure you.”
“Do not be so worried for Longbourn, Mrs. Bennet,” said Darcy. “I shall certainly not allow you to suffer any difficulty, if such an event takes place.”
“Sir, that is very kind of you,” she answered, blushing. “Well then, no more of this morbidity. It sounds as if the post has come. Perhaps there will be a letter for me to read.”
Hill stepped in with the salver, and delivered one letter. It was not addressed to Mrs. Bennet, but to her daughter Lydia. The girl opened it and soon lit up with joy.
“Oh, Mama! You shall never believe it!” she exclaimed. “Mrs. Forster, my dear friend, has said that her husband is quite willing to take me along with them to Brighton next week, when the regiment leaves!”
Mrs. Bennet gasped excitedly. “Oh yes, my darling girl. You simply must go. I will speak to your father directly.”
“But it’s not fair!” Kitty protested, lying back on the couch and kicking her feet angrily. “Why has she only invited you? Am I not her friend also?”
“Obviously she and I are much closer.”
“I want to go to Brighton!” Kitty continued.
“I wouldn’t mind a bit of sea bathing myself,” Mrs. Bennet added with a shrug. “But you know your father. He certainly will not take all of us there.”
“But why has she not invited me?” Kitty persisted.
“She probably can’t afford it, love,” Mrs. Bennet explained. “The salary of a colonel is never going to be the same as the earnings of a gentleman or a man in trade. Rest easy, my dear, and I will certainly speak to Mr. Bennet before we head to Netherfield.”
“If it is a matter of money, I could certainly gift the girls with enough for both of them to go,” Darcy offered. “If I am to be a member of this family, I ought to participate in it fully.”
“Do not be so hasty, sir,” Elizabeth cautioned him. “You have witnessed the wild behavior of these two young ladies when they are close to home. Can you not imagine how wild they might become if they were not quite so close, and had only another girl their own age as their overseer? For certainly Colonel Forster would be gone the greater part of the day.”
“Oh, Lizzy, do not speak so poorly of your sisters,” her mother scolded. “Certainly, they will know how to behave. Besides, it is a matter between the Forsters and Mr. Darcy. They shall be at dinner this evening, sir. You may determine for yourself how safe the girls would be. And inquire about the notion of including Kitty in the party with them directly.”
“And secure promises from the two young ladies that they shall behave with discretion and propriety,” added Elizabeth meaningfully.
“If they do not, madam, they shall never receive my assistance again,” Darcy said, looking at the two girls sternly.
“Our word on it, sir,” said Lydia, smiling.
“Yes, yes,” Kitty agreed. “And what a grand adventure it shall be!”
Bingley was quite eager to greet Jane and her family when at last they were received, and excited to discover Elizabeth and Darcy among the party. Mrs. Bennet had thought it would be a good joke not to tell him they had come, and in a spate of impishness that was unusual for him, Darcy had agreed.
“Did you receive the letter I sent to town, sir, about my engagement and plans for the wedding?” Bingley asked him. “The event is set to happen in another five days, and I had hoped you would be there.”
“I received no letter, sir, since I was not there,” Darcy explained. “We have long been visiting at Rosings, and no letter was forwarded either.”
“You will stay here for it, will you not?” Bingley asked hopefully.
“Your timing in the matter could never be better,” Darcy replied. “We are staying a week at Longbourn, and then heading to Pemberley afterwards.”
“Excellent, sir,” Bingley said happily. “My mother is unable to make the journey down, so Jane and I intended to travel to Derbyshire shortly after our marriage so the pair of them can meet each other. It sounds like we may be able to travel north together.”
Now secure in his belief that fate could do him no ill, Darcy soon discovered the whereabouts of the colonel, and that pair soon found Mr. Bennet. Together the three men agreed upon a plan which would allow both Lydia and Kitty access to Brighton and all of its enjoyments for one month before they would have to return home.
“One month should be more than sufficient for any young woman to meet a few beaux and shop for some clothes,” said Darcy with a smile. “I hope they will thoroughly enjoy themselves.”
“With the pin money you wish to supply?” Mr. Bennet scoffed. “How could they not, sir? It is well more than I could afford. But there must be some manner in which I might repay you.”
Darcy smiled at him. “Sir, you have provided me with a smart, witty, and beautiful wife, who will provide me with years of happiness and felicity. From where I am standing, I have the best of the bargain.”
Colonel Forster grinned at this as well. “I must agree, sir. When one finds a wife they are happy to spend time with, the only real trouble crops up when the two of you must be apart.”
Mr. Bennet snorted. “I see I am outnumbered in this party. Being apart from my wife daily is, perhaps, the only way we have managed so long.”
“Your library is filled with excellent books, sir,” said Darcy with a wink. “How should a scholarly man like you be blamed, if you should take delight in them?”
“If only she could have provided me a son, he and I could make sport with hunting or fishing, or shop for clothes together. But, I am not the sort of man to find faul
t with my lot in life. I take each day as it comes, and do my best to endure. Thankfully, just a bit of pin money now and then seems to satisfy my ladies, for they much prefer to make their own clothing, work endless hours in the herb gardens, and generally leave me with little to complain about.”
“There is something to be said of marrying a country girl,” Colonel Forster agreed.
Darcy chuckled. “Yes, even when you must foist clothes upon them that they did not ask for.”
Though the colonel did not understand his meaning, Mr. Bennet understood him quite clearly. “Do not be overly troubled by it, sir. Once Lizzy has become used to being wealthy, I am sure she will willingly accept some jewelry.”