Chapter 26 #5
Darcy hesitated; the child was as weak as his mother was, and his life was in God’s hands.
Could he allow Elizabeth to become attached to that poor infant?
He knew he was selfish, but he could think of little else but his wife and his own child.
For Caroline’s child, he already arranged to hire a servant and a wet nurse—and the latter was found and fetched in only a few hours time.
He would do anything in his power to offer the best care to both mother and child—anything except exposing Elizabeth to more worry and pain.
“Please, William—only a moment. My love, I understand your concern. I imagine the child cannot be strong and healthy when he was born early and his mother is so ill, but I will pray for him, and I will accept God’s will—whatever that might be. May I see him, please? ”
He smiled and, though his heart was still heavy, kissed her hand in acceptance. “You are the mistress of the house, Mrs Darcy. You may do whatever you wish.”
∞∞∞
It was daylight, but the room was obscured, and Elizabeth asked the maid to open the window. She touched Caroline’s forehead briefly and then turned to Cassandra and Georgiana.
“I believe we have reason to hope. Her fever has not increased since this morning. Dr. Morrison said that is a good sign.
“Thank the Lord. She is so changed; I still cannot believe she is Caroline,” whispered Cassandra.
Elizabeth never would have believed it possible, but she did greatly worry for Caroline and had spent many hours praying for her life and health. That was quite ironic—considering her past “friendship” with the former Miss Bingley. Fate has a strange sense of humour, Elizabeth mused.
“Elizabeth, I think she is awake,” Cassandra said loudly.
Elizabeth sat at the edge of the bed as she touched Caroline’s hand. The patient moaned and moved, trying to lift her head but it fell back on the pillow.
“Caroline, how are you?” No coherent answer came, only moans and the violent movements of a body half conscious. Elizabeth called for the servants, and two maids entered instantly, holding Caroline’s hands as she struggled.
Finally, after more than a quarter of an hour, Caroline fell asleep again, but her head kept moving violently, and her hands grabbed the sheets in despair as if she were in a dark nightmare.
After another long hour, she eventually calmed, her breathing became steady again, and she remained so until later that day.
An hour before dinner, Elizabeth came once again to check on Caroline.
The nurse’s report was satisfactory, and she had almost exited the room when she heard Caroline’s weak voice calling for someone.
Elizabeth hurried to the bed and called her name until Caroline finally opened her eyes and they faced each other.
Elizabeth attempted to calm her obvious distress when suddenly Caroline grabbed her arms painfully.
“Where is my son? What happened to him? Where is my child?” Caroline kept crying while she tried to rise from the bed, pulling at Elizabeth’s hand.
Elizabeth struggled to calm her with no success. Caroline’s agitation became greater and her cries louder and louder until the servants interfered and freed Elizabeth’s arm from Caroline’s hands. Elizabeth moved away from the bed to the other side of the room.
“Caroline, he is here…do not cry, he is here…” Elizabeth repeated, almost yelling to cover Caroline’s voice while she took the infant from his bed and moved closer to Caroline.
The patient needed a couple of minutes to hear and take in the meaning of Elizabeth’s words. The child’s soft cries seemed to bring Caroline back to reality, and she started sobbing with despair as she stretched her arms to take the child from Elizabeth.
“Careful, let me put him near you,” Elizabeth said, smiling reassuringly while she put the small burden on the pillow so Caroline could see him. “You are too weak to sit, and we do not want to harm him, do we? He is such a beautiful boy. Here he is, close to his mother.”
Caroline stared at Elizabeth in disbelief, and then her eyes rested upon her son and she cried again, covering her mouth with her palm while tears rolled down her cheeks.
“He looks so changed. He has grown so much, and he looks so healthy,” she cried in wonder.
“He does look healthy and sweet.” Elizabeth smiled with no little emotion. “And yes, he did grow a lot, though you have been in our home for only a fortnight—
“A fortnight? We have been here a fortnight? But how —? Oh dear God, what happened with —? I had a horrible dream. Was it a dream? Is he dead? Or —?”
“Caroline, calm yourself. I will tell you everything if you promise to stop crying. Your son is asleep. We must stay quiet not to distress him.”
“Yes, yes, I do not want to distress him. My little angel—you are so beautiful,” she whispered as her fingers brushed against the baby’s little hands.
“Oh dear God, is my son really healthy? Will he live to grow up? He always said my child was unworthy of his name and was too weak to live. But now he looks so healthy—does he not look healthy?”
“Your child is as healthy as he is beautiful; the doctor confirmed that.
He was indeed quite weak as he had been born before his time; he was hungry too as you were not strong enough to feed him adequately.
But all is well now; we hired a wet nurse and a maid to take care of him, and he improved wonderfully.
You should be proud of him! Dr. Morrison will come to visit you soon and will confirm it for himself.
We should take good care of you now, Lady Markham—
“Do not call me that,” Caroline interrupted her brutally, and Elizabeth looked at her in surprise. “Do not call me Lady Markham, please. Call me anything you want except that,” she insisted in a more subdued voice while her eyes pleaded to reinforce her request.
Elizabeth nodded silently, and an awkward silence fell upon the room.
As though he could sense it, the child started to sob in his sleep.
Caroline caressed him gently, but he continued to wail.
A couple of minutes later, uncertain whether her gesture would upset Caroline, Elizabeth hesitantly lifted the child in her arms and pulled him to her chest, whispering in his ear.
Almost instantly, the baby’s cries vanished, and he resumed his peaceful sleep; she sat on the bed near Caroline, gently cradling the child.
“He is comfortable in your arms. He appears to know you very well,” Caroline noted with both sadness and disbelief. “Did you hold him before—by yourself?”
“Oh, of course I held him; in fact, we have become quite good friends lately. He is a very handsome, nice young gentleman, though a little spoiled,” Elizabeth attempted to joke. “But now that you are well, I am sure he will be much more comfortable with his beloved mother.”
Caroline’s face was pale; she stretched her hand to touch the baby’s small head and then looked at Elizabeth in surprise. “You are expecting too; you will have your own baby soon.”
“Yes, I will, and Charles and Jane have a little boy. Did he mention that to you? Charles is so happy he will have two boys around,” Elizabeth continued, smiling gently.
Caroline seemed to disregard that second bit of information, her eyes fixed upon Elizabeth.
“You are expecting, and still you took the trouble of taking care of me and my child. After everything I have done to you, after my unforgivable behaviour toward you and your family, after all my offences and meanness—my child found safety, comfort, and peace in your arms. You brought us to your home and put your own feelings aside for us when you easily could have chosen to stay far away from this horrid affair.”
“Lady—pardon me, umm—Miss Bingley, I will speak openly since you brought up the matter. I will not even attempt to say you are not correct; your past behaviour to my family and me has been always unkind and ungenerous. However, my own behaviour has not been correct at all times, so we are rather even. We could talk about this matter again sometime, if you like, but for now we should put the past aside and talk instead about the present and the future,” Elizabeth said, placing a soft kiss on the child’s small hand.
“I have been wrong in so many ways . I have been at fault so many times with you, and you are so kind, so generous. I never thought that would be possible. No other woman in your place would—
“Come, Miss Bingley, we are family now. Let us not argue about the past! Any fault you may have had, any offences and arguments were instantly forgotten and forgiven the moment I saw this beautiful little face. Anyone in my position would have done the same. How could one not take care of such an angel?” Elizabeth concluded with a warm, affectionate smile.
She put the baby on the pillow again and intended to retire in order to allow Caroline to enjoy his presence.
She knew mother and son needed time to rebuild their bond, and the two maids sitting discreetly in the corner of the room were sufficient to offer any help or support needed without imposing on Caroline while she was relishing the private company of her child.
A moment later, she felt her hand imprisoned by Caroline, and before she could understand what was happening, Caroline placed a grateful, humble kiss upon it. Elizabeth startled and fought to pull her hand away while Caroline whispered, tearfully, “Thank you, Mrs Darcy. Thank you.”
A moment of curious silence passed—a brief hesitation—and then Elizabeth smiled, brushing Caroline’s forehead with gentle fingers.
“You are quite welcome, Caroline—quite welcome indeed.”