Goodly Creatures: A Pride and Prejudice Deviation (22 page)

Elizabeth was bothered by the use of the name Bennet, but did not want Jamie to know of her concern. She answered carefully. “My baby is due the middle of December. I am visiting my cousin and my aunt, but will shortly have to return home for the final time of my confinement. I like your brother and sister’s idea for painting the nursery. I remember fondly those stories being read to me as a child.”

The excitement at the birth of her brother’s first child seemed to bubble out of Miss Darcy. “That is the same time my sister’s baby is due. I know since it is the first, I should hope for a boy; but I can think of so many things I would enjoy doing with a little girl. Is this your first child? Do you want a girl or a boy?”

Elizabeth looked at Jamie and he saw her discomfort with the topic. “Yes, this is my first child; and I have not yet decided which I would prefer.”

“Miss Darcy, I am sorry to say we must be going. Mrs Bennet is leaving tomorrow to return home, and she must be packing.”

Georgiana Darcy smiled broadly and said, “Good bye, Mrs Bennet. Have a safe journey home, and I will be thinking about you when my niece or nephew arrives. Perhaps I will remember to ask your cousin whether you had a boy or a girl.”

On the way home, Elizabeth was abnormally quiet, and Jamie realized she had been unsettled by their encounter with Miss Darcy.

Jamie took Elizabeth to Pemberley at three in the morning on November 1st. They entered through the tradesmen’s entrance, and were met by Mrs Reynolds. Elizabeth was taken upstairs to a suite of rooms… a sitting room, a dressing room and a bedchamber. The sitting room also connected to the nursery. Elizabeth smiled when she saw the mural of the Perrault tales and she was reassured she had made a correct decision.

For the remainder of her confinement, Elizabeth would stay in these rooms. She would see no one except Mrs Reynolds and Mr and Mrs Darcy, and occasionally Mrs Hinton and Dr Wilder. She was in the family wing, and only Mr and Mrs Darcy were in residence. Mrs Reynolds told Elizabeth that Miss Darcy and Mrs Watson had gone to stay with her aunt and uncle at Elderton, and would remain there until Elizabeth left.

As the sun rose, Elizabeth had the opportunity to witness the glories of Pemberley. The prospect allowed her to see a ridge of high woody hills rising behind what she thought must be the rear of the house. From this ridge a stream meandered down and swelled into a much larger body of water. Willows hugged its edge, reeds grew in its shallows, and pairs of swans swam within its waters. Elizabeth was delighted with the natural appearance of the pond and surrounding grounds. It was a comfort to know that her prison for the next six weeks afforded her the distraction of such a lovely view, and that her child would live in such a fair environment.

Elizabeth turned to Mrs Reynolds and said, “I have never seen a place for which nature has done more, or where natural beauty has been so little changed by awkward ornamentation.”

“Yes, I consider myself lucky that I have lived here for almost twenty years. To my taste, the grounds are the most beautiful of all estates.”

The two women were instantly drawn to each other. Elizabeth, for her part, felt the older woman accepted her without pity or disapproval. Because of the family connection to Lord Wolfbridge, Lizzy knew she could not know, nor should she be told, the true circumstances of her disgrace.

Mrs Reynolds had known too many young women who had been compromised during her years of service. This young woman had found a way to come through the ordeal with some dignity, and knowing Mr Darcy, she was positive with significant compensation. She did wonder whether Mr Darcy was the father. It seemed unlike him, but everyone who knew him as a child questioned his marriage of convenience. Even his father had thought he was making a mistake. This young woman’s personality was much more what she would have expected her master to favour. Even through the sadness of Miss Elizabeth’s circumstances, it was obvious she was very intelligent and used humour and wit to compensate for life’s hardships. Mrs Reynolds could even see hints of joy when she talked of her sisters. It caused her to wonder where that happy little boy she had known since he was four had gone. Why had he not been as resilient as this young woman?

The first time Mrs Reynolds heard Miss Elizabeth having a nightmare, she became convinced of two things. This young woman had not been charmed into a compromising situation, and Mr Darcy was not the father. She knew her master was incapable of hurting a fifteen-year-old girl who begged him to stop. She also determined that the violator was much above Miss Elizabeth’s station. As she begged, she continually said please.

Elizabeth, who had at first been enchanted by the view out her windows, tried to avoid the sight the longer she remained captive in these rooms. Her desire to explore the lovely grounds enhanced her general melancholy. Mr and Mrs Darcy spent as much time with her as possible without drawing attention by an absence from their regular duties. Mrs Reynolds brought her every meal and sat with her while she ate. They became friends and agreed to correspond. Elizabeth said she did not want to know about the child but would like to be informed about how things fared at Pemberley. She cautioned that all correspondence should go through her uncle.

Other than her occasional visitors, reading and embroidery became her life. Mr Darcy had given her three of Shakespeare’s plays, and she started on them shortly after her arrival. The first was
King Lear.
It caused her to think of her father and going home, and the death of Cordelia and Lear from Edmund’s duplicity made it difficult to read. She had never read the original text with their deaths, instead she had read Samuel Johnson’s edition with the happier ending for Cordelia. She set the play aside in reluctance to tackle this stark tragedy; especially with a character named Edmund at the heart of the treachery.

She turned for her second selection to the well-worn volume of
A Midsummer Nights Dream.
The first page inside the book was not the original, but something added to commemorate the occasion of it being given to Mr Darcy. It was from his mother, and the page had been decorated with cherub-like fairies around the edge. In the middle had been written…
To my dearest Fitzwilliam, even when my life is full of care, I always know I have my joy of you.

She signed the dedication with the date, 8 September, 1792. Elizabeth wondered what age he had been, whether the 8th of September was his birthday and what sadness had just occurred in his mother’s life. Was this his copy to be used during their Midsummer picnics?

Every titbit of information she gleaned about this man made her more and more certain of her decision. She hoped this child would be his joy.

One night before retiring, Mr Darcy and Elizabeth were alone in the sitting room reading. The two of them along with Mrs Darcy often spent the evening together, but tonight Anne had been feeling poorly. Miss Elizabeth’s reading of Mary Wollstonecraft’s book on the French Revolution had inspired him to read Edmund Burke’s
Reflections on the Revolution in France.
He had been intrigued by Dr Wilder’s description of her reaction and wondered what his would be.

Mr Darcy was having difficulty concentrating and kept stealing glances at his companion. Tonight, the sight of her thick unruly locks—barely tamed into a mature looking bun—was a poignant reminder of her struggle to appear appropriate to her circumstances. The candlelight in the room caused her curls to blaze with a myriad of reds and golds. Her gown enhanced this radiant vision. It was a deep golden yellow. He knew not the fashionable word for the colour, but it reminded him of mustard.

He turned his attention back to his book, but soon his surreptitious glances resumed. Maybe the colour of her frock was called amber like the cross she always wore around her neck. Miss Elizabeth had told Anne her father and mother had given her the necklace. A school friend had brought back several large pieces of amber from Russia for her father. Her parents had hired a craftsman to polish the beautiful glowing hardened resin to make matching crosses for their daughters. The piece her father had chosen for Miss Elizabeth’s necklace had an ant that had been trapped in the sticky substance before it hardened. Anne had thought the idea of wearing an entombed insect around one’s neck a bit ghastly, and Miss Elizabeth had admitted her mother and sisters agreed, but that she had always secretly felt special because her father had chosen her to wear the most unique of the crosses.

This evening, she seemed totally absorbed by her book. He thought back to his first vision of her. Her concentration had been similarly intense… but overflowing with pleasure. Even after being in close company with her, he still knew not how to define her. All he knew for certain was she did nothing carelessly or in half-measures. Her belly was ripe with this child she was giving to him. Suddenly, he felt sadness when he realized she was no longer the joyful being he had met that evening months ago.

“Miss Elizabeth, how do you find your book?”

She looked up at him with a barely suppressed smirk and decided to reply with complete candour. At this stage, she had no fear he would nullify their bargain. “It is much more to my liking than the book you are reading. I find the Burke book to be nothing more than a justification for conditions staying the same. He even uses the term
‘relying on prejudices’
as the way we should live. As a woman, that is unacceptable to me. It is wrong that women are not accorded the same rights as men. Now, I will admit that was not important to me a year ago, but due to the recent catastrophe in my life, I have been profoundly frustrated by my restrictions.”

Elizabeth noticed that Mr Darcy looked perplexed once again. The denseness of his consciousness caused her to want to challenge him. “The French Revolution attempted to storm the heavens. As we know, it was not altogether successful, but I admire their effort. I feel we could learn from their attempt. They raised all manner of questions about the future of society. All sorts of subjects were debated—the rights of women and the ending of slavery were two that the American Revolution did not even discuss.”

Mr Darcy looked at her in wonder. Her eyes were glowing—not exactly the way he remembered from that night at the theatre but with a passion that was enthralling.

He was staring at her intently with nary a hint of a smile. Still, Elizabeth was in no mood to try to make him laugh tonight. “Women played a role at all levels during the French Revolution and they were often the most insistent on doing away with the old ways. They organized a march to Versailles and forced Louis back to Paris. It was unacceptable to them that he live in luxury while the mothers of Paris could not afford bread to feed their children.”

He had not expected to unleash such passion in her. He was not certain what to make of her reaction; but he was not altogether displeased. He asked, “Miss Elizabeth, I believe I agree with your assessment of the intentions of the revolution; but how do you justify the brutal reprisals against so many? Even the radical William Blake, who was originally a proponent, pulled back in view of the terror.”