An Unexpected Legacy

by Don Miller

  Dr. Morgan then took a bottle out of his pocket containing an elixir he gave to his patients to deal with pain. It contained willow bark, arnica, and other natural ingredients in a mixture he had developed and had used for several years. He gave it to her in a cup of chamomile tea, and then gave her a small piece of willow bark to chew until the elixir took effect. Although it did not totally alleviate the pain, it did make it bearable and would allow Lydia to sleep after she had eaten.

  When Mrs. Jackson brought in Lydia’s meal, Dr. and Mr. Morgan rejoined their guests in the dining room. By this time Mr. and Mrs. Bennet had joined them and were anxious to know how Lydia was doing. Dr. Morgan told them she seemed to be doing better, but she was still in some pain. He thought she was progressing as well as could be expected with respect to her physical injuries and should be able to get out of bed and use a wheelchair within the next few days. However, he cautioned it would be at least three weeks before she could travel and perhaps longer. As to her amnesia, there was no change and she still had no memories of her past.

  When Mr. and Mrs. Bennet asked if they could sit with her for a while that evening, the doctor told them he had given her medication that would eventually cause her to sleep, but they could certainly visit her for a short period immediately after dinner before the medication took its full effect on her. Therefore, shortly after dinner was over, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and Elizabeth went to see Lydia. She was feeling a little better and most of the time Mr. and Mrs. Bennet were talking to her about Jane and Mary and Kitty. When Mr. Morgan came to tell them it is probably time to let Lydia sleep, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and Elizabeth stood to leave, but Lydia asked if Elizabeth could stay behind for a while until she went to sleep.

  When Mr. and Mrs. Bennet had gone, Lydia said to Elizabeth, “Daniel and I talked this afternoon. From what Dr. Morgan said, we assume you encouraged him to tell Daniel to talk to me about his feelings for me.” When Elizabeth acknowledged she had, Lydia told her about their discussion and wondered if Elizabeth still harbored doubts about the wisdom of their attachment.

  “It is not possible for me not to have some doubts,” Elizabeth answered with a very serious mien. “It has happened so quickly and in such unusual circumstances, I believe even you should have some doubts, even if in your minds they are miniscule. Certainly, William and I had doubts, as strong as our love was for each other. It took us months to truly understand and appreciate each other as we do now. You hardly know each other and you, Lydia, do not really know yourself, at least your old self, and how recovering memory will affect you.”

  Then Elizabeth paused, changed her serious look to a big smile, and took her sister’s hand. “Of course, that being said, I now must admit I am with Mrs. McMillan; my intuition tells me it is right. Providence has been unusually active in our lives lately and for some reason, I believe it was fated you two meet and be together. But I urge you to take your time, become better acquainted with each other, and give your memory more time to return. That is probably the biggest question mark in this whole episode. But I do wish you well and will give you what support I can when you tell your parents.”

  “We plan to tell them in the morning,” said Mr. Morgan. “I am going to tell them I love her and want to have a chance to court her while she remains here, which will, I believe, be at least four more weeks. In that time I am sure we will have confirmed our love and will be ready to make a commitment to marriage.”

  Mr. Morgan and Elizabeth both looked at Lydia when she gasped. Smiling, with tears in her eyes, she said, “Daniel that is the first time that you have used the word marriage. Of course, I know that is where a love affair must go, but to actually hear you say you want to marry me is ……it almost feels like a proposal.”

  “Fear not, dearest Lydia, you will hear words to that effect many times in the coming weeks.”

  Watching and listening to them, Elizabeth was taken back to not many weeks earlier, when she had first learned that William wanted to marry her and to when, some weeks later, she had so desperately wanted to hear him ask again. She hoped their wishes came true like hers did.

  “I do not think you will have to worry too much about your parents, Lydia. I think Mama, after thinking about it, will realize you will have found a really good man. I am not sure what exactly Papa’s reaction will be, but I doubt he will oppose it. But I am sure he will caution against moving too quickly and will not approve an engagement until he is certain that you are mentally sound.”

  Seeing Lydia was beginning to tire, Mr. Morgan, in his best doctor’s voice, told Elizabeth and Lydia he thought it was time that Lydia rested. Then Elizabeth departed quickly, giving Mr. Morgan and Lydia time to say goodbye in whatever manner they wanted.

  The next morning, shortly after breakfast was over, Darcy and Col. Fitzwilliam chose to go riding and Elizabeth and the Bennets retired to the sitting room. They had only been there a short while, when Dr. Morgan entered and told them Lydia needed to see them. When they entered Lydia’s room, they found her with Mr. Morgan and Mrs. Jackson. As soon as they entered the room, Mrs. Jackson excused herself and left the room.

  “Is something wrong?” asked a concerned Mrs. Bennet. “Or have you started to get your memory back?”

  “No, it is nothing like that Mama. It is just something that Daniel and I have to tell you.”

  “Mr. and Mrs. Bennet,” Mr. Morgan said, “I am twenty-four years old, well on my way to becoming an accredited doctor, and reasonably well off financially. For years my father and godmother have been trying to find a wife for me, but I have never really had any interest in anything but learning to become a doctor. Romance was not important to me. And then suddenly your daughter appeared in this hospital, and for some unknown reason, she has touched my heart and I find my affection for her growing daily. Then yesterday, I learned she felt the same way. We cannot explain it, and it may not seem reasonable under the circumstances, but we feel it is very real and want to give it a chance. I am therefore asking your permission to court your daughter in the coming weeks, with, I can assure you, the very strict oversight of my father.”

  To say that Mr. and Mrs. Bennet were surprised would be a grave understatement. They had a hard time fathoming how a bright young man like Mr. Morgan could develop an attachment to their daughter who, to them, was an invalid with no memory who they thought would be of no interest to any man. “I do not understand,” said Mr. Bennet. “How could this happen? Have you, young man, been taking advantage of my daughter’s condition?”

  “Papa,” cried Lydia, “he has always been a perfect gentleman and has never been improper to me in any manner. Except for a few minutes last night, he has never been alone with me. And then Dr. Morgan was right outside the door. Otherwise, Dr. Morgan or Mrs. Jackson is always in here if he is in here. Until last night, when he told me about how he felt, I could only hope he cared for me, because I had come to care for him a great deal. When he admitted to himself how he felt about me, he told his father he should not take care of me anymore, and Dr. Morgan no longer let him treat me. I told Lizzie how I felt and she suggested to Dr. Morgan he give us a chance to talk. We did and we discovered that we loved each other.”

  “How can you know what love is?” asked her father. “You do not even know who you are. Normally I would rejoice at your good fortune for having such an eligible young man court you, but these are not normal times. This seems totally inappropriate. “Turning to his wife, he asked, “What do you think, Frances?”

  Mrs. Bennet seemed surprisingly calm. She turned to Elizabeth and said, “You knew about this, Lizzie. You seem to approve of it. Why?”

  “I have been speaking with Lydia for days, trying to know her better. Without memories of what she was like before, she is a totally different person than I knew. I could not believe it at first, but she has suddenly become a young woman of whom anyone would be proud.” She turned to Mr. Bennet. “Even you, Papa. She is thoughtful, intelligent, and introspective. She has born being alone for l
ong periods of time in a manner the old Lydia could never have done. She has used that time to her advantage; she has meditated on her condition and read books. I believe she is a changed person and that the change she has experienced will remain with her the rest of her life, regardless of whether she recovers her memory or not. Based on that, I believe she is perceptive enough to know her feelings and to test them before she does anything foolish.”

  Mrs. Bennet looked at Elizabeth for a moment and then turned to Mr. Morgan. “Why do you think you love her, Mr. Morgan?”

  “I cannot give you the reason. Over the weeks I have been treating her, we have talked and I have watched her struggle with her memory loss and seen her determination to accept her situation, and then, when I learned she was not married, I suddenly realized I admired her more than I had ever admired any other woman. I cannot pinpoint the time or the reason I came to feel that way, but I have seen all those things Mrs. Darcy has seen and also seen she is a beautiful young woman, both externally and internally. I have been smitten and am happy to be so, even though I may not truly understand why.”

  “Why would you object to them being in a courtship, Thomas?”

  Mr. Bennet knew his wife was in a fighting mood, when she called him by his given name. She only used it occasionally and it was always when she was adamant about whatever cause she was espousing. He thought about it, and now that the shock had worn off, recognized Lydia was indeed a very attractive young lady and she did not seem to be exhibiting any of her old behavior. On top of that, Elizabeth, his favorite daughter, whose judgment he respected above all others in his family, was convinced it was worth a try. “I cease all resistance,” he said. “I reacted without adequately thinking it through, and given Elizabeth’s experience with and confidence in Lydia, I will agree.” Then turning to Mr. Morgan, he said, “That said, young man, I will require proof of mental stability and true felicity before I will agree to a marriage at this young an age for Lydia.”

  “Sir, I would expect nothing else. I am well aware of the chance we are taking, and I also must have proof in my own mind that both Miss Lydia and I fully understand our feelings.”

  A beaming Mrs. Bennet said, “This is so wonderful, I can hardly believe it. We thought we had lost our Lydia forever and miracle of miracles, not only has she been restored to us, but she is to be courted by a kind and intelligent man who is to be a doctor. God indeed works in mysterious ways. Come Mr. Bennet; let us leave the young folks to talk while we go tell the others the news.”

  After they had kissed Lydia and exited the room, Mr. Morgan said, “That was easier than I had expected. When your father first reacted, I thought I was in trouble with him.” Taking Lydia’s hand, he continued, “But your defense of me was very forceful and wonderful. I have not seen you that animated since you came out of your coma.”

  “That is because I was defending my territory, which I am sure is one of the basic instincts within us. And Elizabeth assures me that females defending their own are very fierce.”

  A short time later when Elizabeth and Mr. Morgan were preparing to leave, Lydia asked Mr. Morgan, “When is your father going to let me get up and use a wheelchair? The leg is feeling much better, I hardly ever have the severe headaches anymore, and I seem to be able to move without my ribs hurting as much. I would like to be in company more of the time, now that I am feeling better. I want to go outdoors and sit in the sun and hear birds sing.”

  “I will ask, but I think he might let you get out of bed as soon as tomorrow, if you are not in very much pain tonight or in the morning when you awaken.”

  When Elizabeth entered the sitting room, Mrs. Bennet was questioning Dr. Morgan about his son, wanting to know everything about him. Dr. Morgan, who was very proud of his son, was glad to do it. Seeing that Mr. Morgan was not with her, Mrs. Bennet asked where he was and Elizabeth told her that he was doing rounds of the other patients with Mrs. Jackson before he came to join them.

  When there was a slight break in the conversation, Darcy asked Dr. Morgan, “Doctor, you told us you corresponded with Dr. McMillan relatively frequently. Has he said anything about Wickham? “

  “Yes he did. I received a note from him in the mail this morning. He seems to be doing rather poorly, but Dr. McMillan can find no physical reason why. His leg seems to be healing rather well and there is no more sign of gangrene. He thinks that psychologically he is devastated and may have lost the will to live, as you implied he might do. He is not in a coma or feverish anymore, but he just lies in bed, starring at the ceiling and seems to be getting weaker. He wondered if there was anything you could do?”

  Col. Fitzwilliam looked at Darcy. “What do you think, Darcy, do we want to try to convince him to live or would the world just be better off without him?”

  “I cannot imagine that seeing and talking to us would help him at all. He has always disliked us since we became adults and will now be upset that we are walking around hale and hearty while he must face life with a wooden leg. I think it would just make him more despondent. This is, I believe, something he must work through on his own. If he does not have the personal courage to deal with it, there is nothing we can do about it.”

  “May I insert my woman’s intuition in here?” asked Elizabeth. When they answered yes, she continued, “First, I think we should go see him to get him to confess he did not marry Lydia. That question needs to be answered with absolute certainly, in case he does live and disappears. Second, I think that we should offer to buy him passage on a ship to America and give him, say £500 as seed money to get him started there. He may, because of this incident, become a changed man for the better. It is just a feeling I have and I never like to think I let someone die if I could have prevented it. I think I would like to see Bridgewater tomorrow.”

  “There is no need for you to go,” protested Col. Fitzwilliam. “I agree with you we should find out about the marriage. I had forgotten about that. I disagree about helping him out, but if Darcy wants to do it, I will certainly not object.”

  Darcy was quiet for a minute, mulling things over in his mind. Finally he said, “I believe I have to admit I spoke too soon. With more thought, I find myself agreeing with her. I always try to keep her from having to do unpleasant things, but I have learned there are situations where she deals with people better than either you or I could, Richard. It is hard for me to be benevolent to him in any way, but if that is what Elizabeth wants and she is willing to make the effort, I think I should help her.” Turning away from Col. Fitzwilliam to look at her, he smiled. “She has told me this has to be a partnership where her opinion is equally considered, and this is one of those instances when I see no reason to disagree with her.” He turned back to face Richard. “Therefore, tomorrow she and I will take the carriage to Bridgewater and I would like you to join us, Richard. We could see some of Bridgewater and we could use your influence with Mrs. McMillan to offer us lodging for the night.”

  “I think that is an excellent suggestion,” said Dr. Morgan. “Bridgewater is quite a nice town and I know Mrs. McMillan would enjoy meeting and speaking with Elizabeth and hearing all about Miss Lydia from her. She will be overjoyed to hear that Daniel has finally found someone to court.”

  Chapter 26: An Unexpected Wickham

  The Darcy carriage arrived in the compound at the McMillan Estate shortly after one o’clock in the afternoon. As the coach entered the compound, Dr. McMillan was exiting his house, heading for his office. Guessing the magnificent coach he saw could belong to no one but Col. Fitzwilliam’s cousin, Mr. Darcy, he stood waiting for the carriage to arrive in front of the house.

  Col. Fitzwilliam was the first to step down from the carriage, and Dr. McMillan greeted him warmly. Then Darcy and Elizabeth alit and Col. Fitzwilliam introduced them.

  “We have come to visit with Mr. Wickham,” said the Colonel. “Is he any better?”

  “Yes, he is. This morning he accepted his breakfast and finished it all. I spoke with him a little, and I think
he has finally come to accept his condition and has decided it may not be quite as disastrous a condition as he had first thought. Whereas before, I believe he thought he might be better off dead, I think he has now decided perhaps life would be better than death. Also, his leg is healing faster than I thought it would. I was going to turn him over to the militia in a week.”

  “Good. Can we see him now?”

  “He is resting now. I would like to give him an hour for the medications I have given him to take effect, and for him to get a little rest. Could I now offer you some lunch? I am sure, unless you started at the break of dawn, you have not had lunch.”

  Not giving the men a chance to answer, Elizabeth said, “That is very kind of you, doctor, and I for one would relish a little lunch and a chance to rest before we face Mr. Wickham.” Turning to her husband and Col. Fitzwilliam, she said, “I assume that meets with your approval, gentlemen.”

  Realizing they had no choice but to acquiesce, they agreed and Dr. McMillan led them into the house. They were met by Mrs. Barnes, who had seen them speaking with Dr. McMillan and guessed she would be serving them lunch, so she had already set the kitchen staff to preparing lunch of them. After introductions were concluded, she said, “We will have lunch for you in about half an hour, but if you are staying the night, I would be happy to show you to your rooms.”

  “I see you have anticipated our request, Mrs. Barnes,” said Elizabeth. “We were going to ask Dr. McMillan if you could accommodate us, but I think you have answered the question. I would love to go to our room and freshen up some.”

  When the three of then entered the dining room 30 minutes later, Mrs. McMillan arose from her chair to greet them. When Col. Fitzwilliam introduced her to Darcy and Elizabeth, after introductions, she said, “So you are the famous Mr. and Mrs. Darcy. I said to my son some weeks ago I would love to meet you and here you are.”