Chapter 10. Jane’s Happy Days
Jane Bennet stared out the window on Gracechurch Street.
It was a lovely spring morning and there were families walking toward a nearby park; in her imagination she saw Charles Bingley standing beside her, holding her hand, as their son ran ahead of them, turned back and grinned at his parents with a toothy smile.
Wistfully, she stepped back and sat heavily in a chair. Soon she would deliver her babe and then she would have to begin again. Her uncle and aunt had provided her with sanctuary for many months; safe, warm and well-fed, Jane’s confinement would allow her child to be born in a safe place.
She had worried for many days about the future beyond the day that ‘Charles’ was born.
Growing up in Meryton, Jane knew fallen women were never mentioned more than in whispers about them dying in the hedgerows after short and miserable lives spent as wanton women, preyed upon by men.
And the children born to fallen women–the ‘bastards’–were sent to foundling homes where most died of neglect.
Hugging her belly, Jane swore her babe would not suffer and she would make any sacrifice to save him. The previous evening, her child’s salvation came as Jane sewed swaddling clothes. At the usual time, Elizabeth returned to their parlour with Uncle and Aunt Gardiner following close behind.
“Jane, we need to talk with you about your future…and the future of your child,” Uncle Edward said as gently as possible. Nodding without saying anything, Jane took Elizabeth’s hand and held on tightly.
“When we hired Miss Spencer as our nanny, I checked her references closely,” Uncle Edward said. “Her origins are similar to yours; her father disowned her when she was discovered to be with child and her suitor disappeared.”
“I did not know…” Jane whispered.
“She is very private about the matter,” Aunt Gardiner replied.
“Once she was made aware of your condition, she came to me and urged me to find some family that wanted the babe, not to allow anyone to take your child to a foundling home. Her babe…the midwife took the babe to the foundling home the same night it was born, and she never saw it or knew…”
Now tears fell freely from the eyes of both sisters as well as Mrs Gardiner.
“Nanny worked as a chambermaid in houses like the home where she had been raised before having the chance to step into the nursery as Nanny,” Uncle Edward continued the story.
“My baby will have to go?” Jane asked before she hid her face in Elizabeth’s arms.
Aunt Gardiner stepped forward and said, “Jane, my dearest girl, let me see your face.”
Lifting her head, Jane met her aunt’s eyes and heard Madeline Gardiner say, “Your uncle and I will be mother and father to your child. When he is born, we shall put our names on the registry as his parents. For all the world know, Edward Charles Gardiner will be born of my body.”
“How can this be accomplished?” asked Jane.
“When your aunt first told me of the idea to make the babe ours, we immediately planned to conceal her figure this spring. We have not gone to any assemblies or dinners,” Uncle Gardiner explained.
“Our acquaintances assume that my wife is remaining private this season with anticipation of the birth of our fifth child.”
“The midwife is the one who suggested the solution,” Madeline said. “She will be well paid for her silence.”
“Will my babe be safe? Will he have a family?”
“And you will know your son,” Elizabeth consoled her sister.
“But what about… My parents know I am with child,” Jane said. “They will question everything.”
“We shall tell everyone that you lost your babe in the winter. Many women lose babes in the first months, especially the first time and before they quicken,” Aunt Madeline explained.
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Left with Elizabeth to prepare for bed, Jane brushed her own hair and then brushed Elizabeth’s until it shone in the candlelight. Both young women were lost in thoughts of the future and the child hopefully saved from a horrible, short existence.
“Life can be very hard,” Elizabeth said quietly.
Jane embraced her sister, the one who rescued her from the hedgerows around Longbourn, and assured her, “Lizzy, yes life is hard and has moments of darkness but the moments of joy, the moments of happiness are so great that their memories must be called upon to banish the dark.”
“Joy and happiness?” Elizabeth asked carefully, allowing her dark moment to pass.
Once again, the smile on her sister’s face broke through Elizabeth’s mood as Jane recounted moments of joy.
“Yes, my sister rescuing me. The first time that Charles told me he loved me. Feeling my babe kicking inside my belly. My aunt and uncle saving my child before he is born. These are moments of joy that will give me the strength to face each morning.”
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Mr Darcy returned to Gracechurch Street a week later. He had ridden into Hertfordshire with Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam to investigate the problems created by George Wickham.
“Mr Gardiner, everything reported in Mrs Collins letter appears to be true,” Darcy reported.
“Lt. Wickham was paid by Lady Catherine to create problems in Hertfordshire simply because I was in residence at Netherfield. He admitted that his first intention was to seduce a daughter of the Bennet household but after Christmas, none of the remaining three daughters were in society.”
He shook his head and added, “Miss Maria Lucas made a suitable replacement.”
“I cannot imagine such a mind,” Mr Gardiner replied.
“Your aunt?” Elizabeth asked.
Mr Darcy frowned and sat before he explained, “She sought revenge for not returning her properties in Gravesend, or it was another attempt to force me into some obedience to her wishes. Lady Catherine has in recent years attempted to force my agreement to marry my cousin, Anne de Bourgh.”
“Oh,” Elizabeth murmured.
“But I have no intention of marrying Miss de Bourgh,” he assured Elizabeth.
As they shared more details of the trip into Hertfordshire, Darcy revealed that Lt. Wickham had been transferred to the regulars and shipped out to the continent with troops to fight Bonaparte.
“And my sister has returned from Pemberley,” he told Elizabeth. “I hoped that you and Mrs Gardiner would call tomorrow or the next day.”
Mrs Gardiner touched her belly–large with a bundle of cloths–and smiled. “We can visit for a short time tomorrow, but we cannot wander far or long from Gracechurch Street.”
“Of course, Mrs Gardiner,” Darcy replied.
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When the Gardiner carriage arrived at the house in Mayfair, the coachman smiled as the footman–Howard–stepped smartly to the side of the carriage and opened the door, helping first Mrs Gardiner and then Miss Elizabeth Bennet to the street.
“It feels different this morning,” Elizabeth whispered to her aunt.
Nodding, Mrs Gardiner said, “I am sure you are seeing it through new eyes.”
At the door, Banks opened the portal before Elizabeth could knock; he bowed appropriately and waited.
“Mrs Edward Gardiner and Miss Elizabeth Bennet to call on Mr Darcy,” Aunt Gardiner announced as the butler motioned them into the hall and closed the door behind them.
Banks led the two women down the hallway, passed the door to Mr Darcy’s office, and into the parlour where Mr Darcy waited with his sister for their guests to arrive.
When the door opened, Georgiana rose and hurried across the room to embrace Elizabeth and exclaim, “You once told me my life sounded like an adventure in a novel, but you have been on an adventure as well. Pretending to be ‘Miss Gardiner’ for many weeks last year! You must tell me all!”
“Georgiana, remember you are hostess,” Mr Darcy prompted, and Georgiana blushed but turned immediately to Mrs Gardiner.
She paused again seeing the woman’s dress; while obviously with child, the woman’s gown was ill-fitted and the hem in front rose three inches off the floor revealing the toes of Mrs Gardiner’s shoes; something never seen in polite society.
But Miss Darcy recovered, smiled and said, “Madam, forgive my poor manners. I can only excuse my lapse to the excitement of finally seeing my friend again.”
“I certainly understand, Miss Darcy,”
Now Georgiana curtsied and said, “Mrs Gardiner, welcome to our home. I hope to see more of you and your family.”
“Thank you, Miss Darcy,” Aunt Gardiner replied. “We have enjoyed your brother’s visits to our home and hope to see more of you.”
When Mr Darcy and Miss Elizabeth were distracted at the pianoforte, Georgiana asked, “Mrs Gardiner, may I ask when your babe will be born?”
“We expect the babe will be born in June.”
“Next month?” Georgiana asked excitedly.
Mrs Gardiner smiled and said, “Yes, Miss Darcy.”
“I have only ever seen babies when they are one or two years,” Georgiana said.
“Then when the babe arrives, your brother must bring you to Gracechurch Street to see how small a newborn is. Once a babe is born, the only things they do are sleep and eat. Thus, they grow very quickly into large babies.”
“Thank you, Mrs Gardiner.”
Mr Darcy and Elizabeth walked back to the sofas where he asked, “What have you been discussing with Mrs Gardiner, Georgiana?”
“Miss Darcy wanted to come and see the babe after he is born. She has no reference for how small a new-born babe is,” explained Mrs Gardiner.
“I remember the day you were born,” Darcy told his sister with a smile as he recalled her birth. He held his two hands together and said, “You did not fill my hands, and I was only thirteen years at the time.”
“I remember my youngest cousins when they were born and they were very small indeed,” Elizabeth shared. “Much like the baby dolls they sell in the mercantile.”
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