by Kate Speck
“We have two nights at the inns before we reach Wales and we will thoroughly enjoy our holiday, Lizzy. Thank you for marrying me, wife. You have made me the happiest man in the world.” William smiled. “There is no reason we could not continue what we were doing at home right now.” He smirked to see her eyes brighten up. “Our journey this time will be certainly more entertaining than when we travelled to Darcy House after the wedding ceremony!”
The newlywed couple had no cause to repine their travel from London to Wales in their comfortable landau this time and anxiously awaited what wondrous adventures they would find during their trip.
~*~
September 1810
Lizzy rested her head against her husband’s arm as they stood on the ship to depart Ireland. She studied the compass that William had given her many years ago to see which way pointed home. “I cannot believe it is already time to return home, Will. It has been the most wonderful journey to be here with you and I am ever grateful that you were so considerate to have gingerroot candies and teas prepared for my seasickness.” She wrapped her arms around his waist, “The Old Library at Trinity College was the most amazing place I imagined and I love you with all of my heart for sharing with me many marvellous places.”
William laughed, “Do you suppose Lady Catherine is happily situated here in Ireland after Uncle Henry banished her to his small property here? Perhaps we should have made time to call on her while we were in this country since she will have no chance of ever leaving her small cottage.”
“Oh, Will, I feel sorry for her. She lost the beautiful seaside house because of her greed and she will never set foot in England again. Anne is doing better but still has only a few years to live and she will not see her mother again.” Lizzy replied with tears in her eyes. “But she brought her misery upon herself and she must live with the consequences. But I hope she finds contentment with her new location. It is a fresh start and not many get a second chance.”
William embraced his dear wife and kissed her temple as the ship began to sail for its journey back to England.
As the ship departed the port, Lizzy began to sway. William held her closely and commented, “Do you need another serving of ginger tea or lozenge? You do not look so good.”
“I took the same amount as last time and it had worked perfectly before,” Lizzy answered, “but I have not been feeling well for several days now. It should subside soon. It has been worse in the mornings for some reason but I will be well.”
William suddenly stiffened then rubbed her back before speaking. “Lizzy, I just realised that we have been married three months now and you... well, considering the activity that we are constantly engaged in... I think you might... is it possible that you are with child?”
Lizzy gasped, “Oh, Will! Could it be true?” She rubbed her abdomen, “Could I be carrying our child in here already? I did not think we would conceive so quickly. What kind of mother will I be?” Her eyes were teary.
“I... I am sorry, Lizzy, that I could not control myself,” William was concerned to see her in distress. “I did not think about the consequ...”
“Oh, hush, Will!” Lizzy slapped his arm, “We are married and we will have our child. It is to be celebrated and I am only worried that I will be a terrible mother, but I know you will be the best of fathers and I will rely on you to hire the best nurses and governesses to raise our nine children.” She laughed. “You and I will teach our sons and daughters how to fence and shoot and ride horses. We will be happy together and I am eager to be a mother. It will be yet another adventure to journey together, my love.”
William finally smiled, “Let us get you some more tea, Lizzy. I will need to coddle you more than ever. I suppose the honeymoon is truly over now.” He sighed, “It has been a wonderful three months, though.”
Lizzy giggled, “Aunt Madeline told me of the silly custom of wives denying husbands further pleasures but I do not think I could live without our intimacies, husband. We only... this morning... and it did no harm. Come, Mr. Darcy. I will need you to cosset me in our cabin and after my tea, you must lull me to a nice nap until we reach England.”
“At your service, your highness.” Fitzwilliam Darcy did as told, and they were secluded in their cabin for the next several hours.
Chapter 20/Epilogue
April 1811
“GEORGIANA! GEORGIANA HATSHEPSUT DARCY! Come down here and face me like a woman!” Lizzy shouted. “What have I told you about barging into my rooms?”
Georgiana shyly peeked her head out from behind the tree trunk where she had climbed up quickly on the side of the Netherfield gardens. “I heard noises and I thought it might be time for the babe to arrive. I did not mean to invade your privacy.”
Lizzy let out a deep breath, “I know, Georgie. Come down and I promise not to harm you.” She rubbed her very large abdomen and took several deep breaths. “I believe it is time soon for the babe to come out. Your brother is mortified that you caught us in the middle of... Oh, dear Georgie,” she waited until her thirteen-year-old sister reached the ground, “your brother and I love each other very much and I should have locked the doors but it was rather... unplanned.” Lizzy wrapped her arm around Georgiana’s shoulder, “Your nephew or niece is arriving soon but I have no intention of ceasing what we enjoy as a married couple and Will helps me with my spasm pains. I promise to tell you the sordid details of married life when you are older but remember that Will and I love each other very much.” Lizzy groaned as she wrapped her arms around her unborn baby. “I believe this child is to arrive today.” She fell to her knees as she took several deep breaths. “Go and fetch your brother, Georgie. I ran here too fast and the babe disagrees with my exercise. I will need the midwife, too.”
Georgiana’s eyes broadened with fear but she relaxed as soon as she saw William running outside. “I will tell Mrs. Nicholls to call for the midwife, William. I am sorry that I made Lizzy run out to the gardens and I will not intrude on your privacy again. I am very sorry, brother.”
William lifted up Lizzy from the ground to carry her up to their rooms. He leaned and kissed Georgiana’s temple, “It is all well, Georgie. I will take Lizzy to her bed so she can rest. Be happy, sister.” He smiled tenderly at the woman in his arms. “Our child is arriving today.”
Georgiana nodded and ran to the housekeeper while William kissed Lizzy’s forehead and carried her inside as she moaned in pain. “It is time, my love. I should not have allowed you to chase after my sister but I was a coward to hide in our rooms instead. I am sorry.”
Lizzy smiled after her contraction passed. “Allow me? Fitzwilliam Darcy, when have you allowed me to do one thing or another?” They laughed. “It is fine. Your sister might have seen us joined but we were fully dressed and I had begged you to relieve my suffering. It is all well. I could not go a day without your love and after our babe is born, we will have to suffer without it until the baptism but I hope we will continue to sleep together. I would miss you if I did not have you by my side.”
“You will always have me. Do you wish for me to stay with you through the birthing process? Father said he nearly fainted with me and dared not enter the rooms with Georgiana’s birth, but I will stay with you if you wish.” William kissed her forehead.
“Oh, your mama and mine will both be with me and I will be fine, Will. I wish Aunt Madeline were here but she will join us next month.” Lizzy heard the knock at the door. “That will be your mother. Go, Will. I will be fine. Sit with Papa Darcy and try to relax.” She smiled.
Lady Anne ran inside and dabbed Lizzy’s forehead with a wet cloth, “I will take good care of her, William. Your father is pacing and you must help him, son. He will wear out the rug!” She laughed as Lizzy smiled.
William kissed his wife’s lips and left their rooms. He joined his father in the study and paced along together, praying for the health of his beloved wife and wishing for a dear daughter in her mother’s image.
After several hours of lab
our, a baby’s cries could be heard throughout Netherfield. Jane arrived a quarter hour later to inform William of the birth of his firstborn and after the excited father ran to his wife’s side, Jane announced to Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bennet of their grandchild’s gender. The gentlemen toasted each other and grinned broadly, already busily making plans for the babe’s future and happily chattering until their wives joined them.
~*~
William and Lizzy were fruitful and very blessed in their married state. They did not have nine children but spent their merry days with their three daughters and two sons. Their first-born daughter was as much a hoyden as they had hoped and although William did grow a whole patch of grey hairs on each temple, Lizzy thought it most distinguished and adored her husband, apparent for everyone to see during their long marriage.
Their adventures did not cease but rather increased after the Napoleonic War ended and they were able to travel to the continent several years later. Although travelling with a caravan of servants and nurses for their children, Lizzy was incredibly excited with every place they saw and every museum and gallery they visited. She eagerly taught her children to ask ‘why’ and to dig deeper for answers and to never take learning for granted.
Jane and Charles Bingley married as soon as he was of age and Mrs. Bennet planned the grandest celebration that Hertfordshire had ever seen. She had certainly outdone herself and only fretted that Mary was so disinterested in marriage that she did not know when she would be able to repeat the service for her third daughter. Only after Lizzy reminded her mother that there were at least two more years until Mary’s coming out and two additional younger daughters to look after, that Mrs. Bennet came to her senses once again and excitedly spoke of potential suitors for her fourteen and almost twelve-year-old daughters, wondering if the militia would visit again and if handsome officers like Captain Wickham would marry her daughters.
George Wickham married Mary King and he adored his wife, who was demure but kind and was happy to travel anywhere with the man who fell in love with her freckles. She knew that he had loved her before she received her inheritance and Wickham had stayed true to his word that he would love her for the rest of his life. Wickham quickly rose in ranks to become a Major and eventually a Colonel, after proving his valour during a Luddite rebellion that turned deadly in Lancashire. He continued to write to Mr. Darcy often and even named his first son Darcy Wickham, in honour of the gentleman who had been like a father-figure to him for many years.
Charlotte Collins sent frequent word of the parish’s success and although keeping Mr. Collins’ estate for their son, William Collins formally denounced his rights to Longbourn and offered it to Mr. Bennet to give to his heir as he wished. As father and son both declined the estate, the entailment legally ended and Mr. Bennet was free to choose an heir.
Since Lizzy had been the first to marry, Mr. Bennet had wondered who should have his beloved estate. William would not only have Pemberley and Netherfield, but he also had Darcy House in London and Victory Cottage in Ramsgate, which had been part of Lizzy’s settlement. The Darcy family was extremely wealthy and it did not seem fair for Lizzy’s son to have Longbourn as well.
After Lizzy gave birth to two daughters in a row and Mrs. Bennet fussed that she would be doomed to have five daughters like herself, Mr. Bennet breathed a sigh of relief when Jane and Charles had a son a year after their marriage. Mr. Bennet willed Longbourn to Thomas Bingley, his first grandson from his daughters, and Mrs. Bennet rejoiced that Jane would become mistress of Longbourn and that she would not be tossed into the hedgerows.
Mary Bennet did eventually marry after she came out into society at the age of eighteen. Against all expectations, she married a first cousin of a duke with £8,000 a year and became a leading lady of the ton. Although Lizzy had never cared for the opinions of the haute monde and attended science lectures and debated with politicians with William’s full support, the ladies of the first class had no choice but to accept Elizabeth Darcy and her eccentricities due to her connections to Lady Anne, Lady Matlock, and Mary Cavendish, who endorsed her to everyone of any standing.
Kitty and Lydia Bennet were thrown into the paths of many rich gentlemen but they both declined numerous suitors and looked for worthy men who would love them regardless to fortune or connections. The girls each had £10,000 dowries after Mr. and Mrs. Bennet worked hard to increase them and Lizzy generously gifted her sisters from her trust. They did eventually find their partners in life at the ages of two and twenty and twenty years old, Kitty marrying an older but handsome officer by the name of Captain Pratt, and Lydia choosing the youngest Lucas son, who had just turned one and twenty and had been in love with Lydia since the age of eight.
~*~
Several Years Later
“Do you recall when Richard pushed you down over there and I attacked him in rage?” William asked at Rosings Park’s lawns under their favourite tree. “I burned in anger that someone dared to touch you and I loved you dearly then. I loved you like I did Georgiana but I did love you as a part of my family.”
Lizzy smiled, “You were always so protective over me and I appreciated that I had an older brother who would play with me and teach me. You were then and still are my best friend, and I love you with all of my heart.”
William smirked, “And what would you have done if I married Caroline Bingley? If you did not stop me the first time, I might have fallen for her traps and been miserable for the rest of my life.”
“I would not have allowed it!” Lizzy retorted, “Jane told me that Colonel Forster had been interested in Harriet Goulding after meeting her at Haye Park after the Gardiners quit it, but after seeing Caroline Bingley at Purvis Lodge, he fell madly in love with her and she is quite occupied with her second child in two years. He is much older than she but has enough energy to keep his wife from causing trouble while they move from one place to another with the militia.” Lizzy giggled, “Perhaps if you had gone as far as to the altar with Caroline, I would have ridden inside the chapel on Snowflake to rescue you; perhaps to kidnap you to Gretna Green to make you marry me.”
William laughed merrily, “I would have come most willingly, Lizzy. You on a horse, coming to rescue me inside a church, it sounds like the basis for another novel, Elizabeth Bennet Darcy.”
Lizzy smiled, “Well, I have begun another book, husband, and this one is titled, The Adventures of Hattie and Alex and it is loosely based on our sister’s courtship with Alexander. Do you think they will mind? I changed many of the details and used Georgie’s middle name instead.”
“They will not mind, Lizzy, and will be honoured that their love story will be immortalised in a novel. Your first book was received widely and I heard it is a favourite of Lord Byron. He was seen laughing several times at Whites when he was reading through it.” William responded. “It is only ironic that our awful middle names were meant for us, and Georgie’s terrible name is that of the female Egyptian pharaoh Hatshepsut and that her husband was named after Alexander the Great, who was later considered a liberator of the Egyptian people. They were meant to be, I am sure.”
“I am only thankful that you agreed to give our children traditional middle names, Will. No Greek gods or Egyptian queens for the Darcy-Bennet children!” Lizzy commented. “Madeline Francis and Isabella Anne are beautiful names and our daughters will be proud to announce their names. I know we did argue about Bennet’s middle name, but I could not agree to ‘Aristotle’ because of the awful initials! I am glad you were able to choose another.”
William chuckled, “I liked Bennet Aristotle Darcy but I suppose you had a point about the initials, Lizzy. B.A.D. is not something I would wish for our son to be known as and Socrates was the father of philosophy so it is better. I won my bet and I am glad you honoured it, even if it was to a second choice.”
“It is certainly better than Richard’s choice in his son’s name!” Lizzy laughed, “That poor child, Zechariah Wellington Fitzwilliam... He will not know how to sp
ell his name until he is well over thirty years old!”
“Richard is extremely proud of his wife and son and I have never seen my uncle happier. The earl’s middle name is Zechariah and he is absolutely in love with his grandson. Uncle Henry will be happy with their next child, whether girl or boy, and Richard is hoping for a daughter next. Uncle Henry adores Laura now and accuses Richard of not acting sooner to capture Laura as his wife.” William smiled. “I am glad I was able to capture you at seventeen, my love, but I would have waited for you, even if you were a spinster at the age of five and twenty.”
Lizzy giggled, “You do realise you are positively ancient, do you not? If I am a spinster, then you are an old, decrepit man!” She stood and ran away from him after her joke.
William easily ran after her and swung her around in circles as they both laughed. “Minx! I might be old in comparison but you will certainly keep me young. We are here for another week for Easter then off to London for the season. What do you say we work on our next child, Lizzy, or have you had enough of me?”
“Never! I will never get enough of you, my love.” Lizzy smiled. “Perhaps our next sons will be named ‘Plato’ and ‘Aristotle’. When we return home to Netherfield, could we plant trees at Oakham Mount for each of our children, Will?” She embraced him around the waist. “One tree for each child so they will have their own adventures? Although I love the tree here, I love our tree at Oakham Mount best and I am eager to see how much our saplings have grown at Pemberley. We have three so far and I hope for at least a few more.”
“Are you willing to try for nine, Lizzy?” William wiggled his brows in tease. “I am certainly willing to put in the effort as long as you can bear me.”
Lizzy smiled, “One at a time, Will. Once precious child at a time.”
The loving couple walked back into Rosings for a short respite before joining the rest of the family for their annual Easter dinner. The Darcys, the Bennets, and the Fitzwilliams had begun many family customs and gathered frequently together to celebrate the many blessings in their long lives. The traditions continued on for decades and Mr. Darcy and Lady Anne thanked the heavens daily that the young girl, who had literally fallen into their son’s arms so long ago, had brought many joys to their family throughout the years.