Epilogue Chapter 2
Brighton
Lady Matlock, formerly Anne Fitzwilliam nee de Bourgh, leaned out of the carriage window and took in a deep, rapturous breath of sea air. It smelled so fresh and clean, and the addition of a brisk sea breeze added to the glories of the day.
“It is marvelous, is it not?” she remarked, turning a joyful countenance on her husband, Richard.
“It is,” he said, reaching out his hand to take hers. “After the heat and stink of London, I can think of nothing better than a fortnight at Brighton.”
“Yes, and it will be so good for the boys,” Anne said. “They have been cooped up in London for far too long.”
Her husband wrinkled his nose and said apologetically, “I am sorry, my love. I know it has been a difficult few weeks.”
Anne leaned over, kissed her husband on the cheek, and then settled back into her seat. “It was not your fault, obviously, but the king’s. Why must he insist on a coronation in July?!”
Richard cast his eyes heavenward and said waspishly, “If he had agreed to let the Queen take part, the entire affair would have taken place last year, though it was originally scheduled for last August. It is really absurd that all the peers were required to travel to Town at such a loathsome time, not to mention the ridiculous amount of money that the king spent.”
He sighed, and Anne reached out to smooth her husband’s wrinkled brow.
“We can do nothing about the king’s extravagance,” she said, “but we can turn our attention to our family and estates now, and that is a relief.”
“Indeed,” Richard said, just as the carriage swung left onto another street. The earl and countess straightened with anticipation, and two short minutes later, the carriage came to a gentle halt in front of a tall, red brick building.
The door opened a moment later, and Richard stepped down onto the pavement and then assisted his wife out as well.
She turned and was briefly disappointed that she could no longer see the ocean thanks to the presence of intervening buildings, but given the height of the house, she hoped that perhaps the water would be in sight from the upper windows.
The second Matlock carriage pulled up behind the first, and Richard strode forward to open its door before a footman could do so.
Two little boys screamed with joy at the sight of their father, who hastily lifted them down, and Anne crouched down as her two sons, ages seven and four, hurtled over to embrace her.
“Oh, Mamma,” Lewis, the elder, cried out, “did you see the ocean?”
“I did,” she replied, smiling down at her boys. “It is beautiful, is it not?”
“Bootiful,” four-year-old Alexander agreed.
The door to the house opened at this moment, and the family turned as Mr. and Mrs. Darcy stepped onto the pavement.
“Richard, Anne,” Darcy said, striding forward to shake hands with both. He then crouched down a little and said to the boys, “Good morning, good sirs.”
This provoked an awed expression from Lewis and giggles from Alexander, and Anne thought, not for the first time, how much marriage and fatherhood had benefited her cousin Fitzwilliam.
A decade previously, he had been stiff and formal most of the time, but years with Elizabeth at his side had softened him considerably.
“Would you care to come upstairs with me to the nursery?” Elizabeth asked Anne. “I daresay the boys would enjoy a meal.”
“Thank you, yes,” Anne said. She appreciated that the Darcys, like the Matlocks, were devoted parents who spent far more time with their children than was common among the nobility and gentry.
Darcy opened the door and held it for his wife, female cousin, the children, and two nursemaids who had traveled with the boys.
Elizabeth guided the party up a back stairwell to a landing and from there along a corridor, through a door, and into a large room with plenty of windows, which were open at the top to let in the sea air.
“Lewis, Alexander!” Arabella Darcy cried out, rushing over to her cousins. “Oh, how wonderful to see you! Is it not a nice room? Do you see the ocean? I have been to the beach almost every day with my nursemaid or Papa. The water is so wonderful…”
“Oh!” Lewis exclaimed, hurrying to the window. “Look at that. Alex, look at the view of the water!”
Anne relaxed and smiled. The room was fresh and clean and full of children’s toys, and she knew her boys would be happy here.
“Do you wish to join the children for tea, or would you prefer to refresh yourself in your bedchamber?” Elizabeth asked.
“If you do not mind, I would like to have tea with the children,” Anne said. “I have not seen much of them for a fortnight thanks to the coronation.”
“Of course,” Elizabeth said, just as a neat nursemaid entered and said, “Mrs. Darcy, the twins are awake.”
“Thank you, Polly,” she said, and turned a smiling look on Anne. “Pray excuse me, as I need to nurse my boys.”
Anne nodded and smiled. On the one hand, the thought of twins was overwhelming to her, and she was impressed that her cousin by marriage was nursing the boys herself.
But she knew very well that the twin sons had been a great gift to the Darcy family, especially as there were eight years between Arabella, the firstborn Darcy child, and the twins.
Now the succession of Pemberley was secure for another generation.
“I will see you soon,” she said.
Elizabeth departed through a side door just as the corridor door opened to reveal Mrs. Georgiana Rutherford with her eighteen-month-old son in her arms.
“Anne!” Georgiana cried out, lowering her child onto the floor to allow him to make his wobbly way over to a nearby rocking horse. “It is so good to see you!”
Anne stepped forward to embrace her younger cousin and then stepped back to regard her with fond curiosity.
Three years previously, Georgiana had wed Adam Rutherford, a wealthy landowner whose estate was only fifteen miles from Pemberley.
Anne had only met Mr. Rutherford twice, but she knew that he was, along with being a sensible man, a great musical enthusiast.
“You look well,” Anne said.
“As do you,” Georgiana responded warmly. “How was the coronation?”
Anne wrinkled her nose and said, “It was mostly dreadful, but we did our duty and are here now. It is wonderful that we will be able to spend time with you all.”
“Indeed,” Georgiana said, her eyes glowing. “It has been too long since we have all been together.”
***
Drawing Room
Rented House in Brighton
“Thank you,” Richard said, accepting the glass of brandy from Darcy.
He wandered over to the largest window, which looked out over a tidy, fenced yard.
“So, how was the coronation?” Darcy asked, stepping up beside him, also with a brandy glass in hand.
Richard groaned, poured the alcohol down his throat, and said, “Elaborate, expensive, and tedious, which is to say it was exactly what you would expect from Prinny.”
Darcy sighed. “There are many reasons to mourn your father and brother’s deaths, but definitely one of them is that you were forced to attend this extravagant monstrosity of a coronation.”
Richard, Earl of Matlock, had experienced many a tragedy during his time as a colonel in the military, including the loss of friends on the field of battle and to Peninsular illnesses.
Nothing, however, had been quite as devastating as the carriage accident three years previously, which had killed both Richard’s father and elder brother James.
His older brother had not managed to sire a son, which meant that in one short day, Richard and Anne had become Earl and Countess of Matlock, and their son Lewis had become Viscount Langton.
“Absolutely,” Richard agreed mournfully. “However, the horrors of the coronation are over, and Anne and I and the children are looking forward to our time here in Brighton.”
“And we are pleased to have you here,” Darcy said.
“Elizabeth’s sisters and their families are scattered throughout Brighton in various rental houses, you know, and they will be visiting here on occasion, along with Mrs. Bennet who is currently living with the Bingleys, but this house is large enough that you can hide away whenever you need some peace and quiet. ”
Richard chuckled. “That is an amusing thing to say, Darcy, as I am not the one who dislikes company, though you have improved significantly in that area. I like all of Elizabeth’s sisters and their husbands, so I daresay I will have a most enjoyable time. But what of Georgiana? Where is she?”
“She is upstairs with her son, and her husband is out arranging to rent a riding mare for her time here.”
“I look forward to seeing Georgiana,” Richard remarked and shook his head. “It is hard to believe that it has already been two years since we have crossed paths.”
“She had a difficult time with the birth of her son,” Darcy said. “Indeed, we were quite concerned … but all is well now.”
Richard nodded gravely. Birthing children was not easy, and many a woman had lost her life in the process. Richard was enormously thankful that his wife and cousins had successfully borne healthy children.
***
Field
Outside Brighton
Two Days Later
Mrs. Lydia Redgrave straightened into a fully erect posture, exulting in her ability to do so without triggering the nausea that had so beset her of late.
Three months of illness and malaise had been extremely tiresome, but she was now into her fourth month of pregnancy and feeling much improved.
The ennui had trickled away, and she had even begun to recover some of her old energy.
Her dear Josiah had been a rock throughout her trying first trimester. They had been married only a year, but already Lydia had found the wedded state to suit her eminently. She was as devoted to her husband as he was to her.
She nocked her arrow, drew it back and sighted down it with the speed and ease of long practice. For the space of a breath she held it, the string taut, then released it upon her own exhale. It hissed away through the air, and the tip buried itself in the target two inches from the center.
“That is a fine shot,” Josiah said from her left.
Lydia turned and bent a cheerful look on her beloved husband, who enjoyed archery as much as she did.
Mrs. Bennet had been extremely thankful when her youngest daughter finally entered the wedded state, even if she was a trifle unhappy with Mr. Redgrave’s income from his estate of Woodhill in Sussex.
“My dear Lydia,” Mrs. Bennet had exclaimed, “a mere fifteen hundred pounds a year is nothing compared to the Darcys and Bingleys, and I am certain you could do far better! He is a mere younger son, after all!”
Lydia knew that she could do better financially, but the last years had endowed her with at least a modicum of sense.
Thanks to the support of the Darcys, she had been blessed with two Seasons in Town and had met many a young man whose sole interest was for a wealthy, well-connected heiress.
Lydia was not wealthy, though her brothers by marriage had arranged for her to have a dowry of five thousand pounds.
She was well-connected, though, with sisters married into the Darcy, Bingley, and Ferndell families.
But she wanted a husband who genuinely loved her and whom she admired and respected, and she had been quite calm when she reached the ancient age of three and twenty and was still unmarried.
Then she had met her Josiah at Lady Caroline Stanton’s home.
“A penny for your thoughts?” Josiah asked.
She turned toward him and smiled. “I was thinking how happy I am that I met you at your brother and Caroline’s house.”
Josiah grinned at her. “I thought I was there to attend a Christmas party, and instead I met the most wonderful woman in all the world.”
Lydia laughed. She was aware that she could be exhausting and was far less soothing a lady than her eldest sister, Jane. But Josiah, who was of a calm disposition, was her perfect match.
“And you are the best man in the world for me,” she said. “Now, shall we move the targets a little farther apart? I want a greater challenge.”
***
A Few Hours Later
Brighton Beach
The ocean was a peaceful sight, the low waves rolling onto shore and back out again with the hiss of water over stones and the gulls crying mournfully overhead.
Elizabeth stood side by side with her husband, the water just lapping at their toes as they gazed out over the sea.
It was an ever-shifting panorama of blues and greens, studded here and there with the pearly white of cresting waves.
A brisk breeze tugged at the frothy ribbons tying her hat securely to her head and flinging out the hem of her soft green dress like a banner.
Above them, piles of cotton clouds shone a vivid white compared to the deep blue of the sky.
The heat of the city did not oppress them down here beside the sea, and for that Elizabeth was grateful.
A slight movement at her side drew Elizabeth's attention to her husband, standing tall and handsome and silent beside her.
He had removed his coat and his cravat was loosened, his concessions to their more relaxed locale.
Her arm was twined around his, still strong and firm.
His eyes were on the waves, taking in the peaceful beauty of the scene.
Peaceful, but not quiet. All up and down the beach to either side of the couple, a host of people walked and ran and played.
Though many were strangers, likewise seeking escape from the summer heat at the seaside resort, a good number were the nearest and dearest of Elizabeth Darcy, and a significant percentage of those were children.
By habit, Elizabeth's eyes sought out her own daughter, eight-year-old Arabella.
Her infant brothers were asleep in their matching cribs under the watchful eye of their nurse back at the hired house, and Arabella was pleased that she was old enough to come down to the beach.
Now she was gleefully splashing in the waves and stooping to collect appealing pebbles from the beach in the midst of a throng of her many cousins engaged in similar activities.
All of Elizabeth's sisters, including the one she had gained through marriage, were present along with their husbands.
All of them, save Lydia, had already gotten a good start on raising hopeful families.
Lydia herself was trailing only slightly behind, and Elizabeth knew that by next year there would be another baby cousin napping in the nursery.
In addition to the many parents, nurses ranged the beach, ready to leap into the waves and rescue a hapless youngster, or curb over-exuberant spirits, or intervene in any disagreement that threatened to get out of hand.
For now, the children were playing amicably, excited to see cousins whom they only rarely visited, delighted by waves and shells and pebbles. Young Miss Darcy looked perfectly happy to her mother’s experienced eye, and Elizabeth gazed contentedly back out over the ocean.
“It is so beautiful,” she murmured.
“It is,” he agreed, and then added, “and so are you, my darling.”