Chapter 18 #2
“Let them enjoy the first days of their marriage alone together. There is nothing she can do now. . .” Elizabeth then groaned.
“Was that a labour pain?” he asked.
She nodded. “It has passed, though.” She added, “Before they leave for Willow Hall, we shall leave word that the babe is here.” She grimaced again, as clearly another strong ache struck her.
Mrs. Reynolds touched his arm. “Sir, it is best you leave now. The midwife and nurse will be here soon—Mrs. Darcy’s pains are close together and she may deliver your child yet today.”
Lady Matlock entered the room followed by two maids who each carried a tall stack of towels and sheets. “Darcy, we shall care for Elizabeth. Go and see your uncle and have something strong to drink.” The older women turned away from the bed and he and Elizabeth had a moment of privacy.
Darcy placed a lingering kiss on her hand.
“I love you more than anything else in this world. Pray be safe,”—he placed his hand on his wife’s heart—“and know I am always with you in here.” His voice was soft so it was only for her.
He kissed her forehead and quit the room.
It was so hard to do since his only desire was to be with her!
All he was left with was constant distress over her situation. The next hours would be agony for him.
* * *
Early the following morning
Darcy paced in front of the windows in the drawing room while Georgiana slept on a chaise. What a bundle of nerves he had turned out to be! He turned at the sound of footsteps, which belonged to Lady Matlock. “You are wanted upstairs,” she said quietly.
“Thank you, aunt!”
He entered Elizabeth’s chambers carrying a vase of flowers, which he set down on the bedside table.
Elizabeth kissed her baby’s forehead. “Sweetheart, your papa is here.” He sat beside his wife and stared at the little bundle in her arms with tears in his eyes.
“Papa, would you like to meet your daughter? May I present Miss Anna Jane Darcy, who is, as you can see, absolutely beautiful.” She suddenly began to cry.
“Fitzwilliam, I am so relieved. Before she was in my arms, I opened the blanket and examined her from head to toe. There are no birthmarks—she truly is flawless.” She spotted the blossoms next to her bed. “Are those from our garden?”
“They were my mother’s favourite roses—they were cut from the bushes you were pruning when I saw you for the first time.”
“I cannot thank you enough. It is like having your mother here with us.”
Elizabeth gently placed Anna in her father’s arms, and as he carefully held his daughter he declared, “She is simply the most gorgeous baby ever born! Do you not agree, Mrs. Reynolds?” His daughter!
He was in love at once. He kissed her hair and said softly, “She is perfect—she is just like her mother.”
“I do agree, sir, although Miss Georgiana was a lovely child. It must be a Darcy family trait.” They smiled as the nurse took the baby from her father’s arms. “Sir, Mrs. Darcy has been up all night and needs to rest.”
He took his wife’s hand and kissed it. He was so proud of her! “Rest well, my heart. I shall be here when you awaken.”
Elizabeth caressed his cheek and closed her eyes.
* * *
September 1813
Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam were reading in the drawing room while the baby slept nearby on a blanket.
Mrs. Reynolds knocked gently and entered.
“Pray excuse me. Mrs. Darcy, there is a woman here who claims to be your mother.” Her whole body stiffened and the little hairs on the back of her neck sprang up.
“My mother? I had no idea she was coming. Have her wait in the small parlour—I shall ring when we are ready to receive her.” She and her husband exchanged puzzled glances.
Why would her mother suddenly appear without letting her know?
Did she expect to be welcomed with open arms?
She had been critical and thoughtless towards Elizabeth her entire life and now her mother had arrived with no notice and. . .
“Fitzwilliam, I do not know what to do. How can I face her remembering all the years of being ridiculed by her and made to feel less than my other sisters? Why? Because she was certain I would never marry and therefore had no worth? Her coming here is a shock—I never expected to see her, well, maybe ever again. I am not the same person I was in Meryton.”
“No, you are not, my love. You are happy and adored by all who know you. You have a husband who worships you and a beautiful baby.”
“Even though I am certain she is still the same uncaring person as she was at Longbourn, perhaps it is time to leave the past behind.”
“Wise words from my clever wife.” Darcy rang to signal Mrs. Reynolds to allow Mrs. Bennet to enter the drawing room.
A moment later her mama hurried in. “Goodness gracious, Lizzy, I cannot believe it! This house is so big! You have done very well for yourself, very well indeed.”
Her loud voice woke the baby, and Fitzwilliam rang for Mrs. Reynolds. “Pray ask Anna’s nurse to take her up to the nursery.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Mama, welcome to Pemberley. You did not tell me of your plans to travel here.”
Mama scowled. “I did not think to ask permission to visit my own child.” Her mother had no idea that it was ill-mannered to arrive at someone’s home without warning yet she behaved as if she had been insulted.
Before the nurse came, Fitzwilliam picked up his child, walked towards his new mother, and spoke quietly. “I am delighted to meet you, Mrs. Bennet. This is your granddaughter, Anna Jane. She has fallen back to sleep, but when she awakens, she will be delighted to have someone new to pamper her.”
“Oh my, she is a beautiful baby. Does she have any of those dreadful birthmarks anywhere?” Elizabeth cringed at the reminder of her childhood. Had she made a mistake allowing her mother to enter her home?
“No, Mama. Remember the doctors said mine was not inherited.”
“Well, that is a relief,” said Mrs. Bennet.
The nurse arrived, took the baby, and was soon on her way to the nursery.
Fitzwilliam rose. “Pray excuse me for a moment.” He gave her a rather quizzical look. Was he asking if she could fend off her mother’s verbal attacks? She smiled to indicate she would be well in his absence. Elizabeth Darcy was a strong, capable woman and her mother could no longer bring her pain.
Once he was gone, she was pleased at the confidence that remained in her. She was the mistress of Pemberley, after all. “Pray have a seat and tell me how you came to be in Derbyshire. Did you know Jane and Richard are but an hour from here?”
“Yes, I know. Now that your three younger sisters have safely given birth, I decided it was time I visited my two older daughters and met their husbands. Mr. Darcy is very tall and would be quite handsome if he was not so badly scarred. It is too bad about his limp—he will never be able to dance with you.”
It was all she could do to not put her face in her hands. Her mama had not changed. Instead, she held her head high. “Fitzwilliam and I look at each other through the eyes of love. We see each other as we see Anna—perfect in every way.”
Before her mother could respond, the housekeeper returned. “Is there anything I can get you, madam?”
“Mama, may I introduce Mrs. Reynolds, our housekeeper? Mrs. Reynolds, this is my mother, Mrs. Bennet of Hertfordshire.”
“How do you do, madam? Welcome to Pemberley.”
“Please prepare the guest suite for my mother, and I am certain she would enjoy a cup of tea before she refreshes herself from her travels.”
“Yes, Mrs. Darcy, I shall see to it at once. Mrs. Bennet, are all five trunks to be brought up to your chambers?”
“Heavens, no. The four heavy ones can stay down here.”
The housekeeper made her way to see to her mistress’s request.
“Mama, why did you bring so many trunks?”
“I brought you your father’s books.” Elizabeth’s hand flew to her chest as tears filled her eyes. “Goodness knows, no one else wanted them, and they have been taking up too much room at your aunt’s house.”
No matter what her mother made of the situation, to Elizabeth, this was a wonderful gift! “Thank you. You could not have given me anything that would make me happier.”
“I see you have adjusted well to having a wealthy husband. I never thought I would see the day when you would be married, much less to such a rich man. He must be in the upper ten thousand just as I told your aunt Phillips. You should have gone to town and found rich husbands for your other sisters, but it is too late now. Well, you never know what life will bring you. Wherever can Mr. Darcy be?”
Her husband must have overheard her mother’s last remarks before he entered the room.
Even though Fitzwilliam was aware that Elizabeth had dealt with her mother saying such things to her since she was a child, Elizabeth still cringed.
Her mother never learnt that cruel words could hurt as badly as cruel deeds and it appeared she never would.
“You are correct about that, Mrs. Bennet. I never dreamt I would be so in love with my beautiful wife—but I am thrilled to say that I am. As to my protracted absence, as much as I wished to re-join you, I could not pull myself away from watching my daughter sleep. I never grow tired of it.”
“Your husband is quite the romantic man, and Mr. Darcy, you may call me Mama; all my other sons do. Except, Richard, of course, since I have yet to meet him. Son of an earl—I am quite delighted with him already. Of course, you are related to nobility as well, I understand.” Fitzwilliam stood before his new mother, bowed, and kissed her hand.
She touched his facial scars and pulled him down to kiss his cheek. “All will be well, my son.”
“Mama, it already is. Pray call me Fitzwilliam."
“Lizzy, it is time to get busy giving your husband an heir.”