Chapter 15
Jane began to cry as she put Ellie down in her cradle.
She was still fussing and complaining of hunger and Jane felt like a failure.
She could not even provide such a basic female competence that any woman could do.
It was no wonder that Bingley had abandoned her without looking back or even a second thought.
It had been a sen’night since the birth and the babe was constantly fussy.
As Ellie began to cry in earnest, Jane’s sobs became uncontrollable and she buried her head under the pillows to muffle the sound.
Jardine watched her mistress with worry and left to fetch Mrs. Darcy.
It was obvious that something was very wrong.
Elizabeth marched into the room with a cadre of maids and set them to opening every curtain and window to allow fresh air and sunshine to enter the room. She swooped Ellie into her arms, and the babe immediately began to root about.
“Jane!” Elizabeth called, pulling the blankets from her sister. “Enough of this moping. You must pull yourself together! Ellie is hungry and you are buried under pillows!”
“Oh Lizzy!” Jane sobbed, tears continuing unabated. “I tried! I have fed her all night it feels like and this morning as well, but she is never satisfied! I am useless! I can do nothing right; Charles was right to stay away!”
Elizabeth caught her shoulder and gave her a shake.
“No more, Jane. Charles is not worth this despair. I have been holding back until you were stronger, but it is obvious that his absence is making things worse. He is not coming back any time soon. He has taken up with some woman and is gallivanting about London with a shocking lack of discretion.”
“No!” Jane cried, becoming angry. “He would not do that! We love one another, he would never hurt me that way!”
Elizabeth sent one of the maids to retrieve the London papers on her escritoire in her rooms. “It is true, Jane. He is not the man we thought. Enough of this, mourn him if you must, but you must take care of yourself, for Ellie.”
She sat down in the rocking chair beside the bed and opened the front of her dress, latching Ellie on with the ease of much practice.
She hungrily suckled, obviously ravenous.
“I think your worry and nerves are affecting your milk, Jane. We will need to see if there is a wetnurse available nearby. No, do not despair further. You will continue to try. Eventually, maybe your milk will return.”
Jane continued to cry, turning away from the sight of her sister and daughter.
Elizabeth instructed Jardine to ring for a bath with lavender to calm Jane’s nerves and gave her a list of foods to give the chef which were supposed to strengthen the milk supply, according to Mrs. Thornhill, her own midwife.
Soon Jane, still tearful, was bullied into a bath and lay back, allowing Jardine to massage the soap into her sweat-streaked hair, returning it to her usual shining locks once more.
Being clean, and at Elizabeth’s insistence dressed in a lovely morning gown, Jane traded Elizabeth seats, accepting Ellie to burp her before handing her off to the nurse for a new napkin.
When she was returned, Jane could not help but smile at the large grey-blue eyes which seemed to so seriously study her own.
“I am sorry that you were so hungry, sweeting,” Jane cooed, still fighting the urge to cry. “Mama will ensure that you are fed well and often, do not worry. Aunt Lizzy will help until we find you a wet nurse and you shall become the chubbiest, happiest baby in the land.”
Ellie burbled her little noises, making Jane chuckle at the fanciful thought that she understood and was attempting to agree. She looked at the papers laid out on the bed and took a breath. “I cannot do it, Lizzy. Will you read them to me?”
Elizabeth reached out to squeeze her hand and picked up the first, reading of Lady Arabella and Bingley at the masquerade. The next was worse:
Lady A, Baroness R and her lover, CB had apparently become lost to all sense of propriety as they feverishly embraced in an open carriage in full view of Hyde Park before shamelessly returning to the promenade.
It was reported that she spent much of the ride on his lap, ignoring the looks and whispers of the shocked haut ton.
then:
Lady A and CB are at it again, this time at the theatre where they spent the first act in the box CB had taken for the season with the curtains drawn, though it did little to muffle the noise, and complaints were made to management.
Before they could approach, however, things must have become too energetic as the curtain was ripped from its moorings revealing their seductions to the entire theatre.
Lady A was heard laughing gaily as she adjusted her bodice.
Too little, too late, according to those closest to their box as the lurid scene was laid entirely bare to the Theatre Royal.
Lastly:
CB has become notorious in town and there are several speculations that he has completely lost his mind.
There are several bets running at the gentlemen’s clubs over where he and Lady A will be found next or if the Baron will arrive and put a stop to his wife’s wild, wanton ways.
The Ton is losing patience with them both, but it appears that their romp through London will continue unabated for the time being as they were seen canoodling in an open booth at Gunters where they were asked to leave by the proprietor and told not to return.
Jane was white and nearly faint by the time Elizabeth had finished.
“Lizzy, what will I do? I shall never be able to show my face again. Does he think he is some royal prince? That the Ton will forgive him his peccadilloes due to his new status as a landed gentleman? Does he not see that he has made us a laughingstock? My poor Ellie, she will never wash away the stain of her father’s notoriety. Will she ever marry?”
“It is just like you to concentrate on the damage to others,” Elizabeth laughed bitterly. “He has stained more than the Bingley name. It is well known that it was only through William’s patronage that he was admitted to those circles. William has sent a letter cutting ties with him.”
“Oh, Lizzy!” Jane burst into tears. “You must leave! You must! If they should learn in town that you are still associating with me—”
“Nonsense!” Elizabeth cried. “You are my sister and I will always stand beside you, no matter what! What I do not understand is why the papers are so interested in their improprieties. Charles is hardly a leading member of the Ton. I can only assume that their carrying on has been so objectionable that it is unignorable.”
“We are ruined, entirely ruined. It is no wonder that none of our neighbors have paid a visit; not even the gossips are willing to associate with the Bingleys.”
“We can hope that they will come around, so long as Charles stays away.” Elizabeth winced, knowing that it was unlikely if something drastic did not take place. “Will has some things to explain to you, about your future security. I will call for him if you are ready?”
“I cannot continue to live off your largess, Lizzy. It would be one thing if we left to stay with you at Pemberley and abandoned the estate, but William cannot keep supporting Ivy Well when it is obvious that Charles cannot be trusted to act the gentleman. He has not paid at all toward William’s outlay, has he? ”
“No,” Elizabeth admitted, rising to her feet. “No, he has not.”
When she returned with Darcy, he looked Jane over with such compassion that she could not hold back her tears.
“I cannot stop crying!” she sobbed out a laugh. “Everything sets me off.”
“It is understandable, sister,” Darcy moved two chairs closer to her seat. “I invited Yates to join us, if you do not mind? Some of what I say will relieve his concerns.”
“I feel so badly for his frustrations. He has worked so hard to return the estate to good heart and is hobbled by Charles.” Jane nodded in agreement when there was a knock at the door and the steward was admitted. He looked about uncomfortably but took the offered seat.
“What do you know of your settlements, Jane?” Darcy asked, leaning forward to rest his arms on his knees.
“Nothing really,” Jane admitted. “Papa and Charles wrote them out with my uncles and I receive ￡200 a quarter in pin money.”
Elizabeth snorted derisively, drawing a questioning look. “I demanded to be included in mine,” she explained. “With William’s support, as Papa was his usual lackadaisical self and did not want my questions drawing out the proceedings.”
Darcy gave her a fond look and continued, “There were two additions to your sister’s settlements which were a bit unusual: You, Jane, are entitled to renumeration should Bingley prove faithless and publicly embarrass you in any way,” he explained delicately.
“You mean you expected him to stray from our marriage vows?” Jane gasped, aghast. “You supported our connection!”
“This was added by your Uncle Gardiner,” Darcy hurried to explain. “I never expected Bingley to lose all sense of decency the way he has. I do not recognize the man he has become, though in all truthfulness, I had been seeing disquieting hints over the last year.”
Jane sighed heavily, she too had noticed a worrying lack of character since their marriage. “And the second?”