Goodly Creatures: A Pride and Prejudice Deviation (84 page)

Elizabeth was anxious, and Sir Walter knew it. He tried to accommodate her by taking fewer rest stops. He also rose early each morning so he could make absolutely certain he looked impeccable but would not delay their departure.

Elizabeth reminded herself to tell Becky how accommodating her father had been. He had confessed to Lizzy that he was quite enjoying accompanying her on this journey to find true happiness and was pleased he could be part of the effort to save the poor, sick children. Elizabeth had then been treated to a half hour’s worth of diversion as he explained how his true nature was that of a romantic, but societal demands had forced him to be more practical. In the interest of diplomacy and good will, she refrained from laughing.

At every stop, Elizabeth asked about the road conditions on the next leg of the journey. She was afraid it would snow, and they would be delayed. Sir Walter reminded her often that constantly looking at the sky would not protect them from the vagaries of November weather. Elizabeth acknowledged the truth in his statement and spent an inordinate amount of time praying for blue skies. “God, grant me blue skies… blue skies from now on,” was the refrain she repeated under her breath.

Finally they were in Derbyshire, and the terrain started to become more recognizable. The driver told them at their last stop to change horses that they would arrive at Bryn Mawr in three hours. Since they left that stop, Elizabeth had asked Sir Walter the time every ten minutes. He had a beautiful pocket watch that had belonged to his father, and it was a great source of vanity for him. Lizzy knew he liked taking it out and looking at it, so she reasoned she was performing an act of kindness with each request for the time. According to the last time she asked, they had only thirty minutes left until their arrival.

Just as she was thinking of asking for the time again, she looked out the window, at a passing curricle and saw Jamie driving. She believed he was heading in the direction of Pemberley. Luckily Sir Walter had leased the latest and most fashionable in carriages, with windows that opened and closed. Elizabeth opened the window, leaned out as far as she could, knocking her bonnet back in the process, and screamed like a banshee… “Jamieeeeee!” The wind was blowing in the right direction and carried the sound of her wail. Jamie looked around, and saw Elizabeth hanging out the window of the carriage he had just passed. He pulled up the horse and waited for the carriage to catch up to him.

When the carriage stopped, Elizabeth jumped out. She demanded of her friend, “Take me to Pemberley!” She quickly thanked her companion for all his assistance.

Sir Walter looked perplexed at her behaviour and said, “You are leaving your luggage. What will you wear?”

Elizabeth snorted at his concern, but then reverted to politeness as she told him, “Do not worry about my box… someone will come to Bryn Mawr tomorrow to collect it.” She literally jumped into the curricle, and they were off.

The coachman and Sir Walter looked at each other and said in chorus, “Crazy girl.”

Fitzwilliam Darcy was waiting for Dr Wilder and saw the curricle coming up the drive from the window of his study. He saw someone with him and thought it looked like a woman… a rather petite woman… her bonnet knocked from her head and hanging down her back… curls blazing in the sun and flying in all directions. He ran to the door and stood waiting outside for their arrival. She saw him and completely forgot that he might have developed new misgivings. Jumping from the curricle, she ran to him. He took her in his arms, as she whispered into his ear, “I will.”

57 TAKE THESE CHAINS FROM MY HEART

A rush of euphoria seized Fitzwilliam Darcy, as she raced up the steps toward him. These last few weeks with his children sick, he had hardly been able to think coherently—much less put a plan in place to renew his relentless pursuit—and now here she was. Throwing caution to the wind, he crushed her to him. Dr Wilder caught his eyes and gave him a knowing smile. With a tip of his head, the physician continued on up the steps to attend the children. Darcy heard her whisper the words he had been hoping to hear for months. Pulling away to gauge her sincerity, a glimpse of the pink of her tongue caused him to abandon all proper behaviour. He sealed their betrothal with a kiss—filled with both his dread that this moment would never come, and his almost uncontrollable delight that it had.

When Will had released her slightly, Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak. Before any words escaped, he kissed her hard. Like her sister Jane before her, she did not know how to respond. Only rarely had she even considered the possibility of ever kissing a man. She stood motionless, lost in her evaluation of the experience.

Her lack of response caused him to pull back and apologize. “I am sorry, Lizzy, I should not have done that.”

She returned his fear ridden gaze with a thoughtful look. “No, please, I do not object, and I promise I will improve if you are patient.”

A dimpled smile replaced his anxiety. “I will be patient, my love. Now that I have your heart, I will never let it go.” He watched as her eyes filled with light at his words.

She marvelled that he remembered her words; but then awareness dawned that she had another mission. Her face became serious. “Take me to them.”

“Bethany is much improved, and Dr Wilder assures me she is out of danger. Darcy looked around to ensure they had privacy before he continued with his thought. “He told me he believes she is doing better than Lewis because you were healthier than Anne, and she has benefited.”

They climbed the stairs, her hand on his arm, both occasionally stealing glances at the other and offering shy smiles. Neither even gave a thought that a servant might see their open affection. The content of their struggle to arrive at this moment took precedence in importance to any rigid forms of propriety.

Dr Wilder was just leaving Bethany when she arrived. She was sitting up in bed, and her face broke into a broad grin at the sight of Lizzy. Elizabeth noticed that both her front teeth were missing. She could not help but grin back at the sight of her toothless daughter who still had a few red spots visible on her face and neck.

Oh, Miss Lizzy, I have missed you so. Of course it came out sounding like ‘Mith Lithy’ and ‘mithed you’ and Elizabeth’s grin widened.

“Dr Wilder brought some of those Madeleine cakes.”

Lizzy realized she was hungry and asked Bethany. “Do you plan to share?”

“Yeth, but only with you.” Dr Jamie told me that you love them too.”

“Have you been discussing me?”

“Yeth, he told me Aunt Georgie had written, and you had come. Are you going to stay?”

“Yes, I am. Does that meet with your approval?”

“Yeth! Are you going to marry Papa?”

Bethany held her arms out and Elizabeth sat down on the edge of the bed, slipped into her embrace, hugging her tight “Once again, yes, I am. Does that meet with your approval?”

“Yeth, but you should already be my mama. I told him to marry you when he came to Rothings… especially after you stopped wearing those ‘thpectacles’ and your hair was not flat.” Bethany looked petulantly at Lizzy. “I do not know what he was waiting for.”

Lizzy could not help smiling, despite the seriousness of the topic. Her daughter’s lisp… combined with a determination to blame her father for his procrastination was entirely too humorous for her to keep a completely straight face. “Bethany, I think the fault was mine. I was confused about things.”

Bethany seemed to think about Lizzy’s revelation, and then perked up. “I am glad you are no longer ‘confuthed.’’’

They made plans to have tea and cakes together in the afternoon. Lizzy excused herself and told Bethany she wanted to see Lewis.

Lewis was sleeping fitfully, and perhaps dreaming. Lizzy heard him mumble incoherently and caught the words ‘must save’ and ‘trying’ as she observed the little boy thrash about. Jamie told her he had not been awake and alert for several days, and seemed to be dreaming quite often. He also told her that the most important thing to be done was bathing his body with cold compresses. Elizabeth decided to take a turn before she returned to Bethany’s room. He was so warm, and Elizabeth prayed for his recovery as she tried to cool him down. His failure to get well would crush her.

Mrs Reynolds learned that Elizabeth had eaten nothing except a very small breakfast. She made certain the tea she served to Bethany and Lizzy included cold meat and cheese as well as broth. “Your trip has been tiring, and you need sustenance to keep up your strength. The last thing Pemberley, Mr Darcy and the children need is for you to become ill.”

After tea, Lizzy returned to Lewis’ room. She relieved Millie and told her she would stay with the little boy until dinner. He was sleeping more comfortably, but still occasionally mumbled what sounded like, “I am trying” before drifting back into slumber. Lew had thrown off the coverlet. Rather than pulling the covers back over him, Lizzy removed her shoes and stockings and got into bed nestling him into the curve of her body. The warmth of his body combined with fatigue caused by days of travelling and a full stomach lulled her into a deep sleep.

Fitzwilliam Darcy entered his son’s room to inform Elizabeth it was time to prepare for dinner. What he saw made him realize how much he had gained today. His son lay with his head at her breast. A momentary twinge of envy was replaced by silent laughter at his immature emotion. It was then that he noticed her bare feet, and he concluded he was being rewarded for reproving himself. Dinner could wait. He took a chair by the bed and indulged in watching them sleep. It was not long before she stirred and opened her eyes. He was greeted by a startled expression.

Lizzy awoke to see a pair of dark eyes staring at her. Her disorientation as to time and place was soon edged aside by the awareness that Lewis was sleeping with his nose pressed against her bosom. A touch to the little boy’s brow told her he seemed significantly cooler. She smiled and nodded at Will, and he released the full glory of his smile in response.

Just as Darcy was about to speak to her, Lew opened his eyes. Seconds later, the little boy lifted his head to look directly into Lizzy’s eyes. He greeted her with a similar display of dimples, and proclaimed, “I saved you.”

“What did you save me from, Lew dearest?”

“A bad man.”

“Who was the bad man?”

“He looked like Papa, but he had teeth like the big bad wolf. Papa does not have teeth like that, and Papa is nice. I got on Little John and tried to save you.”

Lizzy was momentarily confused. She knew John Reynolds had visited Pemberley, and she wondered whether the gentle giant had given Lewis a ride on his shoulders. Suddenly she remembered his drawing, and realized Little John was his pony. He had dreamed of being a knight and saving her from someone who sounded a great deal like Lord Wolfbridge. This time she kissed his head and again was struck by how much cooler he felt.

“Will, is Dr Wilder still here? I think his fever might have broken.”

Dr Wilder was summoned, and he concurred that Lewis’ temperature was down.

Bethany was allowed out of bed the following day, and a week later, Lewis joined his sister in the nursery for a daily story from Miss Lizzy.

As soon as his son was out of danger, Will left for Hertfordshire and London. His journey’s mission was to acquire Mr Bennet’s official approval and arrange for the settlement documents. They had argued over her request to make her other financial assets part of the contract. Elizabeth still had funds invested with Mr Gardiner from the compensation she had negotiated years ago. Even after all the disbursements to her sisters and the monies set aside for her mother, there was still a significant amount. Darcy refused to have it included, because he felt it to be totally outside the normal sources that made up marriage agreements. Lizzy felt the amount should become her dowry, but Will steadfastly disagreed. He remembered the negotiations, and knew that was her money… money she had paid a heavy price for. He thought it wrong to be part of their new life.

Darcy and Elizabeth hoped to wed as soon as possible after he returned. The banns had been read the day following her arrival on Sunday, 22 November. That meant they could wed any day after 6 December. Before he left, they discussed possible dates with Mrs Reynolds, and all agreed the best was Thursday, the 10th of December. The significance of the commemoration was not lost on any of the three. Elizabeth agreed to be the one to ask Bethany whether she objected to sharing her birthday with the wedding festivities.

Before he left, there had been several conferences in his study between the couple. Elizabeth was able to observe the painting he had mentioned in his letter. One look and she was flooded with memories of the time when she had been as young as the girl in the portrait. Will had written that he had seen her as this young woman—concentrating on her reading and the youthful glow Fragonard had captured in his subject. She supposed there had been moments like that, moments when she had been calm and contemplative. But the eyes looked wrong. Every time she had observed herself in the mirror during her imprisonment at Pemberley, she had seen growing anguish reflected there—more each day as the moment of her leaving her daughter had approached.