Epilogue
Robert Darcy stood up from his canary feeding station. Servants kept it clean, but he often ran surprise inspections to see if everything in the aviary was up to the Darcy standards.
Amelia Darcy, passing into the storage area, asked him to help bring out the grains for the turtledoves and the other more particular eaters.
He said, “I have one more water trough to check, and then you and I can do your tasks together.”
“Thank you. I will get things started.”
The two worked in the aviary for almost an hour. When they finally entered the house again, ready to get cleaned up for dinner, they heard an altercation in a nearby corridor.
“What is going on?” Robert asked his two younger brothers.
Matthew claimed, “I have been working on my orchid plant for almost a year, and then this jolter head knocked it down somehow, and the pot broke!”
Robert got quite a strict look on his face. “Matthew, did Jonnie deliberately break the orchid pot?”
“No…but….”
“And did he say he was sorry?”
“Yes…”
“What more would you wish for him to do?”
“I suppose he could pay for the new pot.”
Jonnie took offence at that suggestion: “I already offered to pay, and you just yelled at me.”
Matthew blanched. “I apologise for getting so upset. I should try to be more like Father.”
All four stood still for several moments. They were silent, almost reverent as they thought of their father.
“Good afternoon, all you nurturers-of-life,” Darcy said as he strode through the door.
“Papa! You harvested another pineapple. Two in one week!” Jonnie was all smiles again, as was Matthew.
“Well,” Darcy said, “it is summer. Now that we have so many more plants, we shall be able to harvest multiple per week all summer long.”
All the young people grinned. Pineapple was one of their favourite foods.
“Where are your sisters?” Darcy asked Amelia.
“They are in the conservatory working with the violets.”
“And your mother?”
Nobody seemed to know. Darcy and Elizabeth had raised three sons and three daughters, and they had hired governesses to teach music and languages, history and mathematics.
The children had not been forbidden access to the greenhouse, the conservatory, the hothouse, the aviary, the orangery, or the pinery—but none of those places were part of their lessons or assigned chores.
Still, all of those places held as much allure for the children as they did for their parents. As a matter of fact, Elizabeth used working in them as a sort of reward for already having completed their academic and artistic tasks.
Damned if every one of them did not prefer hard work with their hands at horticulture and/or bird breeding.
As Darcy carefully placed the pineapple on the dining table, he laughed at the fact that both he and Elizabeth had sworn to themselves and one another that they would not attempt to steer their children’s interests—and somehow, without any steering, all six had converged on their parents’ interests.
Now, where in this enormous pile—or, really, anywhere on the estate—might I find Elizabeth?
Darcy knew where he would like to find her….
Their children, ages eleven to nineteen, were old enough to catch some of the teasing, some of the expressions, the implications of times when they were unavailable.
Darcy could see their knowledge on their faces, especially the eldest two: Robert’s smirky grins and Amelia’s blushing inability to meet their eyes.
But Elizabeth was strongly of the opinion that it was good for children to understand that the process that brought children into the world was wonderful.
She had somehow managed to convince him not to hide every hint of attraction or affection.
As Darcy trotted up the stairs and strode down the corridor to the correct door, he considered the words “she had somehow managed to convince him.” That was misstating the situation.
Darcy did have strong opinions, and when he disagreed with Elizabeth, he argued, was stubborn, and sometimes won her concession rather than the reverse.
But when it came to dealing with people…
he was almost always persuaded to her position with very little trouble on her part.
She just seemed to understand people in a way he still did not.
Knocking at the door of Elizabeth’s bed chamber, he was pleased to hear the sound of water being poured. Elizabeth’s maid opened the door to him promptly and then disappeared. He locked the door and called, “Do you mind having company, dearest?”
“I would adore having company. I was just wishing for someone to happen by….”
“So…just any someone?….”
He was removing his clothes as he moved into the dressing room where the enormous copper tub had pride of place near some large windows.
There was his Elizabeth, her skin glowing in the heated water, her eyes sparkling and dancing.
She said, “Actually, I am most particular. My bath can only be shared with someone who knows how to foster life. Who helps ladies with escaping poultry. Who explains the happy side of a nesting tragedy to a young child.”
She stood, and water dribbled down her body, making a path his fingers wished to follow. “I could go on,” she said, “but I would rather you get in so we can both get comfortable.”
He did get in, and they did get comfortable, but then they worked hard to ensure that comfortable was not quite the right word for how they felt.
Darcy reflected for the millionth time that he was very, very lucky to have fallen in love with a beautiful lady who shared his interests and challenged his assertions—only to later discover that she was incredibly responsive and passionate, as well.
A diamond of the first water. That label might not fit his Elizabeth in the eyes of the ladies who kept guard over those allowed to congregate at Almack’s, but he knew that if anyone deserved the label, it was the lovely, witty lady in his arms.
Destiny had spoken, and he had listened, and he had been rewarded for heeding Fate’s call, a million times over.
THE END