Plans
Chapter 19
Elizabeth and Darcy were visiting the building complex that Mr. Gardiner recommended for the hospital and school. It was a handsome ‘L’ shaped building in Battersea, on Kite Yard. It had a pretty garden in the back where Elizabeth already could see its inmates lounging and enjoying the air and sun on the nice days.
“Oh William, I think it would be perfect” she enthused. “The school would take up the rooms in the front wing while the hospital will be in the left wing. It is larger and probably quieter, although the whole street being a court, it seems pretty quiet.”
“I am surprised at how reasonable the lease is” Darcy commented, nodding his approval of the building.
“It is owned by Uncle Edward’s business partner” Elizabeth giggled. “However, we will have to see with him what are his long term plans for the building.”
“Maybe he will be disposed to sell it?” Darcy mused.
All in all, they were both very happy with the building which was in good repair and all it needed was some minor changes to make it more adequate for their purposes.
Back at Darcy House, Elizabeth started happily planning the number of nurses and patients the building could hold. The house was very large, exactly what they needed. She was very happy with the rooms on the third story of the front wing which could house the apprentice nurses. There could be twenty, if they paired up. The larger apartments on the second story could house the ‘teachers’ who could double up as hospital staff. The rooms in what she now called the hospital wing, were of a medium size and could easily hold two or even three patients, thus allowing for forty to fifty inmates. The public rooms could be transformed into school rooms and lounges where the inmates could get together and socialize if they were so inclined.
“I think we shall be able to comfortably house the cleaning and cooking staff in the gambrels. In addition to the apprentice nurses and the patients, we should be able to easily house three nurse matrons and two doctors and their families” she beamed happily at Darcy as they were taking their afternoon tea, who could not help smile at her excitement. “I am sure this will be quite adequate, as I and other nurses who happen to be in London at any given time can help out as well, without requiring accommodations.”
Darcy looked at her in shock. “What do you mean help out? Surely you don’t mean to actively work there?”
Elizabeth looked at him just as shocked. “Of course I do” she answered. “That is the whole point, is it not? To share one’s experiences and what one learned through real life experience of wounded care.”
“But you are Mrs. Darcy now” Darcy said rather haughtily. “Mrs. Darcy does not work.”
“I shall not get wages, I assure you” she retorted. “In what would this be different from any other charity work that many ladies of the ton do? I would rather do this than sew blankets or knit booties for babes. Not that those are not important too, but I could be much more useful trying to teach others what I have learned.”
“So you do not mean to take active care of the wounded?” Darcy sighed with relief, somewhat appeased.
“I will not take shifts, if this is what you mean” Elizabeth said heatedly, “but if someone needs help while I am there and I am able to provide it, I shall certainly not withhold it.”
“It is just not done in our circles Elizabeth. I seriously advise you to reconsider Madam” Darcy rose and without another word he left the room, closing the door behind him more forcefully than necessary.
Elizabeth looked after him with widened eyes and her mouth dropped open in disbelief. This was not the reaction she had expected of him, not after his vocally expressed low opinion of the ton.
She left the parlour too and retired to her room, locking her door behind her. She was not willing to see her unreasonable husband just yet.
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In his study, Darcy poured himself a good helping of brandy and slammed the glass on his desk, almost spilling its contents. He sat in his chair and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. God knew he loved his wife, but sometimes… The very notion of it! Mrs. Darcy of Pemberley catering to the needs of invalids! Yes, she had done it before, but then she had been Miss Elizabeth Bennet, not Mrs. Darcy. He could only imagine the talk and the sneering of the ton.
Unexpectedly he chuckled. He just caught another glimpse of the little fireball who tried to march him out of the hospital tent in La Bisbal when he first met her. He realized that she will not give up easily on her determination to actively participate in the operations of the hospital and the nursing school. He honestly did not have a problem with her talking to the aspiring nurses and impart her knowledge. It was the nursing care she intended to provide which bothered him, and mostly because of Georgiana’s sake. Georgiana was still very shy and insecure in society at large. She would become even more so if she will hear any censure of Elizabeth or will have to endure the barbed remarks which the ladies of the ton were so expert in wielding.
He did not want to upset Elizabeth or to make her feel tethered in her new life and, God forbid, come to regret that she married him. He could understand her need to help others, but she too had to be reasonable and make some amends for her new status in society. Although she will probably always remain a nurse at heart, she will just have to learn to reconcile that role with that of the Mistress of Pemberley.
They will need to talk about it and if at all possible, reach a compromise that will satisfy everyone.
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Elizabeth was pacing her room in a high temper. She was disappointed and angry. This had been her dream for almost two years now, and William had been so receptive of it initially! Did he think that she will just sit on the side and do nothing to help her idea take flight? To visit the establishment once in a while as its ‘Lady patroness’ and condescendingly smile at all those doing the hard work there, expecting to be adulated by them without contributing? That was not the purpose, not her purpose at least. Why could he not see it?
After her temper cooled off a bit, she thought back on how readily he embraced her idea and how supportive he had been, even allocating funds which for her were unbelievably generous, to help put in motion all that was needed to bring it to life as soon as it may be. Of course they still needed to raise more money to make it work, but without his generous help St. Raphael’s House of Healing, what she decided to call the hospital and the school, would be opening months, maybe even a year in the future, instead of as soon as a few weeks away.
Was what he was saying so unreasonable? Yes it was, she decided immediately. She would never be able to just sit back and give the occasional ball to raise funds for St. Raphael’s, currying the favour of the rich. She needed to see how its pupils and inmates were doing, to make sure that its purpose was fulfilled to the best of their abilities. She needed to be part of it. Surely William will understand that!
He expressed his concern about the opinion of the ton, but surely he was not overly concerned by them. He had said as much repeatedly. But then, his words from the morning of his proposal came back to her.
‘I wish that I could thumb my nose to the ton and show my real opinion of them, fully retreating to Pemberley and never set sight on any of them ever again but alas, I cannot do that as it would greatly harm my sister’s acceptance in it, and there is where she will have to eventually find her husband.’
Of course, it was Georgiana he was worried about! Now it made more sense, and in all honesty, she could now see that there was some validity to his concerns. But surely there was a way it could all work out well. He seemed to be agreeable to her only teaching. Maybe they could agree on a middle way.
She knew that she will have to talk with him but she was not equal to facing him at dinner with Georgiana present, and especially she did not want to expose the shy young girl to the tension that will be inevitable at the dinner table, at least until she and William worked through this issue. She called for a supper tray in her sitting room, sending word to William and Georgiana that she had a bad headache and will take dinner in her rooms.
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Darcy knew exactly what Elizabeth’s ailment was, or at least what had caused it, but he was decided not to let the sun go down without them reaching peace of some kind. He knew himself well enough to know that he would ponder over their disagreement all night, and he suspected that Elizabeth would do the same. Experience also taught him that such night broodings were not conductive of positive conclusions and their discontent will only grow from there.
Thus, it was with some surprise that Elizabeth heard a soft knock on her door as soon as the maid cleared away the dinner tray.
“Come” she answered softly.
Darcy put his head through the door. “May we speak, Bella?” He used her ‘nurse’ nickname on purpose.
“I think we should” she lifted one corner of her mouth.
“First of all, I wish to apologise for the abrupt way I left you this afternoon” Darcy entered the room, closing the door behind him and went to sit next to her in front of the fire, hesitantly taking her hand, relieved that she did not pull it away. “I am sure that by now you know that I have quite a temper, which sometimes gets the better of me” he smiled self deprecatingly.
“As do I” she blushed and she looked down at their joined hands.
“What I did not say then, was the reason why I do not think it a good idea for you to work at the hospital, which is…”
“Georgie” she finished his sentence. “I worked that out myself. Eventually” she smiled.
“Yes, Georgie is the main reason. And then there is Pemberley. You see, although many land owners do so, I am not in the habit of leaving the management of the estate solely in the care of my steward. Georgie and I used to go to Pemberley for Christmas and stay until mid-February, sometimes even the beginning of March. Then we would return to Pemberley in June and stay until the end of the harvest which is usually at the end of September or the beginning of October. So you see, that would mean that about half of our time would be spent at Pemberley. I am not sure how this would work if you were to commit yourself to the hospital.”
“Oh William! My time there would be only when we are in London, as it would be for all the other nurses who happen to be in London at the time and are willing to help out. We would still have our resident matrons and doctors who anyway will do the bulk of the work.”
Darcy smiled at her, happy that at least he won this. “Now about the concern for Georgie…”
“I was thinking about that too” Elizabeth admitted. “And I agree that I should not be doing any nursing per se. I was about to suggest two kinds of activities I would be active with. One is the teaching, or rather the imparting of my experiences and learnings.”
“Yes, I think that would be acceptable” Darcy nodded. “After all, we can always argue it is like teaching children to read” he grinned.
Elizabeth grinned back. “The other, is that I should like to try to talk with those soldiers who are depressed or have a hard time accepting their physical disabilities. I did notice, when we were on the Peninsula, that it helped many of them, albeit unfortunately not all of them” she said with a sad look in her eyes as she recalled all those she could not reach, no matter how hard she tried.
“Yes, I noticed that about you then” Darcy smiled. “You could bring a smile on the face of most anyone.”
“So do you think that acceptable?” she looked at him hopefully.
“Yes, I believe it is. It would be mostly the physical care which I believe would shock the sensibilities of the ladies of the ton.”
“Thank you darling” Elizabeth leaned in to deposit a kiss on his cheek.
“I too would like to ask for something” Darcy said, chuckling when he saw her raised eyebrow. “Let us promise never to go to bed angry with each other. No matter what our disagreements will be, and I am pretty sure we will have some” he gave her a lopsided smile, “it will be better to talk through them than to let them fester.”
“I believe I can wholeheartedly agree to this” Elizabeth laughed.