Epilogue Chapter 1
Pemberley
Early
Elizabeth Darcy rolled over in bed with some difficulty and squinted toward the window. There was no light shining through the curtains, which meant that it was very early.
She relaxed against her pillow and closed her eyes again, only to be delightfully disturbed as the child in her womb proceeded to kick her thoroughly.
She smiled as she put a hand down to touch her abdomen.
It had been a great joy for both of the Darcys when she had conceived their first child within three months of their marriage.
The little heir of Pemberley would, God willing, arrive at the end of February, and she could hardly wait to meet the little one who had already captured her heart.
There was a shift behind her, and a moment later, the long arm of her husband reached over to pull her close.
“Are you well?” he asked huskily, and Elizabeth wiggled a little closer still to bask in his heat.
“I am,” she murmured. “The baby is kicking.”
“Settle down, Little One,” Darcy ordered in a comical tone. “Let your mother sleep.”
To her surprise, the child did settle down, and within a minute, her husband’s breathing had returned to the slow, steady pace that accompanied slumber.
She was tired, and the next few days would be busy, and she was eager to fall back to sleep, but for a moment, she allowed herself to consider her blessings.
She was wife to the finest man on earth for her, mistress of a grand estate, and soon to be a mother. She was so very blessed.
***
Drawing Room
Pemberley
Noon
It was quite a crowd that stepped into the drawing room.
Lord and Lady Matlock were first, of course, with the Darcys right behind, while Colonel Fitzwilliam, with Miss Caroline Bingley on his arm, brought up the rear.
Charles and Georgiana Bingley were already in the room, leaning comfortably against one another on the couch before the fire, and they looked towards the newcomers with smiles of greeting.
The room itself was warm and inviting, full of light from the fire and smelling pleasantly of herbs.
Rosemary and holly and bay and laurel and evergreen branches with fragrant cones decorated every window lintel and were strewn artfully across the mantel.
The centerpiece of the room was, in fact, taking up an entire corner. A tall fir tree was resplendent with dried apples and marzipan and gingerbread ornaments, with glittering tinsel draped over the branches. Slender white candles placed carefully on open branches awaited lighting that evening.
“How was church?” Georgiana asked, rising to her feet and walking over to greet her relations.
“It was wonderful!” Elizabeth said. “The church was a trifle chilly, though, so I am happy that you have the fire built up so well.”
“Sit down, my dear,” Darcy suggested, guiding his wife to a wingbacked chair near the warming flames.
She obediently did so and gladly accepted a cup of tea from Georgiana, who sat down across from her.
“Where are the Gardiners and the Hursts?” Georgiana asked curiously.
“They all went up to the nursery,” Elizabeth explained. “The Gardiners intend to have a small meal with their children, and Louisa needs to nurse her son.”
“Oh, of course,” Georgiana said. “I hope that I feel well enough later to visit the Gardiner children and give them the gifts that I purchased for them.”
“How are you feeling?” Elizabeth asked, eyeing the younger woman with interest. Georgiana was also with child and had been unwell for weeks.
“I feel rather dreadful this morning,” the young woman said with a grimace. “I am looking forward to the end of feeling sickly, and I am hopeful that by the end of January, I will be full of energy like you were.”
“I hope so too,” Elizabeth said sympathetically and then turned toward Charles Bingley, who was standing a few feet away peering worriedly at his wife.
“Charles,” she said, “have you made any further decisions regarding purchasing an estate here in Derbyshire?”
He looked away from his wife and said with a grimace, “I am strongly drawn to two estates, but I have not been able to decide on which one to purchase. Darcy is being supremely tiresome about it, actually. I have asked him to make a decision for me, and he absolutely refuses! He seems to think that, as a grown man, a husband, and soon to be a father, I ought to make my own decisions about an estate!”
This was said in an overtly comical tone, and Elizabeth chuckled, and Caroline said, “Well, if Darcy will not tell you what to do, I will. You ought to purchase Greymere.”
Georgiana, huddled up with a cup of tea in her hand, said, “I like that one best as well.”
“The estate is not in quite as good heart as Mountlake,” Bingley said with a sigh.
“But Greymere lies adjacent to the Russells’ estate, and I simply adore your sister Jane, Elizabeth. She is such a kindly person!”
“She is,” Elizabeth agreed. “She and her husband would be wonderful neighbors.”
“Yes, and Greymere is only ten miles from Pemberley, and Montlake is thirty miles from here. I would like to live close to Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam,” Georgiana said.
“Greymere it is, then,” Bingley said promptly, and Elizabeth suppressed a smile. Charles Bingley was not a weakling, as evidenced by his firm handling of Lady Bingley the previous year, but he adored his young bride with all of his heart, and Elizabeth knew that her happiness was paramount.
She hoped that the purchase of Greymere was successful, as it would mean that the Bingleys would live within a few miles of the Darcys and the Russells.
She turned her attention on Caroline and asked, “How are you doing? Are you excited?”
Caroline turned a joyful gaze on her betrothed, the former Colonel Fitzwilliam, who was standing some distance away speaking to Darcy and the Matlocks.
“I am very excited,” she declared.
“I am happy for you,” Elizabeth said. “I am convinced you and Richard are perfectly designed for one another.”
“We are,” Caroline agreed, just as the door to the drawing room opened to reveal the butler and a host of Bennet relations.
“Mamma, Papa, Sisters,” Elizabeth cried out, rising to her feet and hurrying over to embrace her parents and siblings. “I did not expect to see you here so early!”
“The parson at our church is fond of rather early services,” Mrs. Jane Russell, formerly Jane Bennet, said with a chuckle. “We were all eager to see you, so we left for Pemberley from the church doors. I hope we are not too early.”
“You could never be too early,” Elizabeth told her favorite sister, and Darcy chimed in, “Happy Christmas to you all. Please do sit down, and we will call for more tea and refreshments.”
“Oh, Happy Christmas to you,” Mrs. Bennet cried out and then turned toward her second daughter. “Oh, Lizzy, you look absolutely marvelous. I can only hope and pray that the child is a son!”
Elizabeth could not help but glance at the Earl and Countess of Matlock standing nearby, and she was relieved to observe that neither looked indignant nor repulsed by this remark.
“I am confident we all wish for an heir to Pemberley at some point,” Lady Matlock said kindly, “but at least Pemberley is not entailed away from the female line, so all will be well, regardless.”
“That is a relief,” Mrs. Bennet fluttered, and her eldest daughter said, “Mamma, will you not sit by the fire and warm yourself?”
Mrs. Bennet allowed herself to be led away, and Elizabeth turned to Mr. Russell, master of an estate some ten miles from Pemberley, who had married Jane only two months ago.
The pair had met six months previously, when Jane had spent a few months at Pemberley and Darcy had invited a few of the local estate owners to dine.
Mr. Russell, some five years older than Jane, was a wise, intelligent man, with an income of some three thousand pounds a year.
Their courtship had been swift but sensible, as both had been careful to determine compatibility before their engagement.
The rest of the Bennets had traveled north for the wedding in October and then returned home, and then once again had journeyed north to enjoy Christmas with the wealthy Darcys and Russells, along with the Gardiners and Hursts and Bingleys.
“Thank you for hosting my family these last few days and for bringing my parents and sisters here for Christmas dinner,” Elizabeth said to Mr. Russell, and he said, “It is, of course, my very great pleasure. I am honored to have the opportunity to spend more time with your parents and sisters. You have a charming family.”
Elizabeth looked around the room, her heart swelling with pleasure. Over by the fire, Lydia and Kitty were speaking eagerly with Georgiana, while Mary and Mr. Bennet had chosen to sit down at a chessboard by the window and were prepared to play a game of chess.
It was marvelous indeed, to be surrounded by friends and family as they celebrated the birth of the newborn Christ Child.
***
Chapel at Pemberley
Monday, 28th December, 1812
Elizabeth had been entirely charmed from the moment she first set foot inside the chapel at Pemberley, and her affinity had only grown on every occasion where she had sat in the family box.
Windows looked out to west and east, glowing with a veritable rainbow of colors, angels and shepherds and patriarchs of the Old Testament and Jesus Christ and His disciples.
The boxes themselves were made of oak, fluted and carved along the sides in beautiful patterns.
Red velvet cushions padded the seats, and foot warmers on the bottom ensured comfort for the worshippers.
They were welcome additions to a woman raised on the stone floor and hard wooden pews of the church at Meryton.
The boxes, however luxurious, were only occasionally used, for it was common for the Darcys to attend Sunday services in Lambton.
Today, however, the little chapel was seeing considerably more congregants than it usually did, as extended family and friends gathered to celebrate a happy union.
The Earl and Countess of Matlock were present at their son’s wedding, of course, in the very first box, and the Bennet family, as honored guests, were placed in the box behind the Matlocks.
On the other side of the aisle, Elizabeth was seated with her husband, Charles and Georgiana Bingley, and the Hursts.
There had been some uncertainty as to whether Georgiana would be well enough to attend, but with the combined knowledge of old Mrs. Reynolds and Mrs. Bennet, a tea had been provided that granted Georgiana enough equilibrium that she was able to attend the wedding.
The rear pews were filled by the housekeeper, the butler, and the other upper servants.
For some three months they had been serving the generous and kindly Richard Fitzwilliam, who had come to dwell at Pemberley with his cousin after selling out of the Army.
It had not taken him long at all to make himself popular with the servants, and they were happy to attend his wedding to a lovely lady.
The organ began to play, and the door opened to admit the bride. Caroline walked slowly down the aisle on Charles’s arm, looking radiant, to where Richard and the rector, Mr. Stone, waited for her. Blue and white lace set her off to perfection, like a very vision from Heaven.
Elizabeth swallowed past a sudden lump in her throat.
She counted Caroline as a dear and true friend and had intimate knowledge of the other woman’s courage and integrity.
It took a strong will, bolstered by conviction, to refuse to enter an incredibly eligible, but loveless marriage.
Yet Caroline possessed this very strength and the faith to wait for a man she truly loved.
In so doing, she had ensured happiness for not only herself and her new husband, but also for Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy, and for that, they would forever be grateful.