A Constant Love: A Pride & Prejudice Continuation, page 24
The second disturbance on the night came well after Sarah had helped Elizabeth change, and Elizabeth found herself lying in her own bed, wishing once again that her husband was here, if just to give her enough comfort that she might sleep, and instead faced with a bed that felt most empty. The sound of people – loud, angry people – on the street outside reached the room, and Elizabeth rushed to the window. There was a small crowd of perhaps thirty or forty people making its way down Curzon Street, accompanied by the occasional crash – they must have been throwing things through the upper windows. There were not enough people for this to be the full crowd of the riot, merely some offshoot that had found their street. Elizabeth watched as they drew closer to their house, and disappeared from view – they were below her, now, right in front of the house.
“Bugger off, ye whoreson swains – this ‘ere ‘ouse is defended!” one of the seamen called out below, and the crowd scattered off away from their house, some of the people walking quite quickly, others outright running. Elizabeth took a deep breath, her heart racing, and watched as the crowd continued on down the street. She returned to her bed, but it was some time before she finally fell into a tense, shallow sleep.
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Out of everyone at the breakfast table, Captain Ramsey appeared the least exhausted, although by all indications he had slept on a blanket in the entrance-hall. He greeted them all cheerfully, expressed appreciation for Mrs. Wright’s seeing to a substantial breakfast for his men, and asked how they had slept. This question was met with middling lies as they all attempted to assure him that they had not been disturbed, and said they had slept well. Kitty made much the same indications as the rest, although her reasoning was different; she had been distracted by his presence in the house, and had even contemplated coming down in her dressing gown when the crowd had come down the street, but the thought of all the other men in the hallway had deterred her.
Captain Stanton was announced while they were still at breakfast, and was invited to join them in the meal, although he had already eaten at the viscountess’s. His reason for calling was simply to ensure they had passed the night safely, and to inform them that his uncle and the viscountess were also safe, although the earl’s house had not been so fortunate – it had suffered several shattered windows. Compared to houses at the centre of the riot, however, which had been entered by the crowds and utterly torn apart, this was not so severe.
He stayed with them until they had all finished eating, drinking a few cups of coffee but not accepting any food, and taking his leave when the meal was over. Most of the family made their way to the drawing room, but Elizabeth would see Captain Stanton out, and Georgiana saw no reason why she might not follow them. He noticed she did so, and slowed his pace so that he might inquire about her wrist.
“It is much better, thank you,” she told him. “I think I might attempt the pianoforte sometime in the next few days and see how it does.”
“I am very glad to hear it, Miss Darcy,” he said, hesitating. “I hope you were not too worried by the events last night.”
“No – we were all a little tense, certainly, but I felt quite safe,” she said, gathering her courage to reach out and touch his arm. “I do not know how to thank you and Captain Ramsey for your care for our family last night.”
“It is nothing, Miss Darcy. Surely you must know that – that we care deeply for your family’s welfare.”
Georgiana could not help but think that he had meant to say something else, but could not, and by now they had reached the area where the seamen were standing, and Captain Stanton stopped in front of one of them.
“John Taylor, how do you do?”
“Very well, sir, very well. Spending a night half-on, half-off in a town house, wi’ good food an’ wine may be the easiest livin’ I earned yet,” the man said. “Sure beats reefin’ topsails on a dirty night.”
“That it does,” said Captain Stanton. “Although I hope you would go to sea again, if the opportunity arose. And I do hope you shall return here this evening.”
“I would surely go to sea again, was you the captain, an’ I surely will return this evenin’ and as many evenin’s as I am needed,” John Taylor said, looking cautiously over in Elizabeth’s direction. “The lady has been very generous-like with the pay an’ I mean to put a little aside. Things has been lean, of late.”
“I am very glad we found you, then,” Captain Stanton said. “And I do hope you will put a little aside. Good day to you, Taylor.”
There were several other men who had served under him, and he spoke to each before he would leave. Georgiana watched him carefully, observing that with these men, his reserve seemed to come across as more of a quiet authority; it was clear each of them respected and esteemed him, and that he cared deeply for their welfare.
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Now that the mob had dissipated in the daylight, the streets were deemed passable enough for Elizabeth to send a servant with a note over to the Hursts’s town house, asking how they had passed the night. He returned an hour later with Jane’s response that they were all fine, although they had been worried, both for themselves, and particularly for the Darcys, with Mr. Darcy away, and so Elizabeth’s note had been most soothing to Jane. Elizabeth received a similar note from the Gardiners, who had worried about their nieces, and sent back a quick response, as well as penning an express for Darcy.
The riots continued on for two more nights, although the crowd never again reached Curzon Street. Indeed, the only eventful thing that happened was Mr. Darcy’s return on the final evening. By now, the seamen had worked out who should be allowed to approach the door and who should not, and a well-dressed, albeit dusty, gentleman who had arrived in a very fine-looking carriage was surely to be allowed passage. Darcy came in the front door, therefore, looking confused and concerned, and rushing toward Elizabeth to embrace her there in the entrance-hall. He held her so tightly she felt all the force of his worry; it must have been great, for him to hold her so in front of an audience.
“I came as soon as the news of the riots reached me,” he said, releasing her. “Are you all well?”
Elizabeth calculated when that would have been, and realised he must have travelled without stopping; he certainly looked exhausted. She had been so shocked by his appearance and then so comforted by his embrace that it was only now that she realised the risk he had taken in arriving at this hour – the papers had been filled with storeys of the damage, and among them mentions of the few carriages foolish enough to be out on the streets having been attacked by the crowds, and surely his would have been identified as belonging to a man of fortune, and thusly accosted. The image came to Elizabeth, quite unbidden, of the carriage doors being pulled open, or the whole thing being tipped over, and her husband pulled out into the mob and beaten, and she shuddered a little at the thought of what might happen next.
“Captain Ramsey, do you think a few of your men could see the carriage safely around to the mews?” Elizabeth asked. Captain Ramsey nodded, and instructed one of the men inside to make it so. Elizabeth then turned to her husband: “We are fine – you must have just missed my express. Captain Stanton came and told us of the riots on Monday, and Captain Ramsey has been staying here every night. He brought the men you see outside and in the hall here. There was a little crowd that came down the street Monday night, but the men chased them off, and there has been nothing since.”
“I cannot thank you heartily enough, then, for seeing to my family’s safety,” Darcy said, turning to Captain Ramsey and shaking his hand. “Would you be so good as to introduce me to your men?”
The introductions were made, and then they all retired to the drawing room, where he ate and drank as greedily as a gentleman could do in company from the tray Mrs. Wright brought in, and listened to them all recount the events of the last few days in further detail. After a little while, though, he began visibly drooping, as though the anxiety that had fuelled him in his journey here had left him, but not been replaced by anything else, and Elizabeth suggested they retire.
Elizabeth was all impatience as Sarah helped her out of her dress, and Sarah sensed this, working quickly, with none of her usual small talk. Elizabeth knocked on Darcy’s dressing room door before entering – Sarah had worked so quickly there was a possibility she had outpaced Mr. Mason. He called out to her to come through, though, and upon entering the bedroom she found herself enveloped in another embrace, even tighter than he had held her in the hall. She found herself torn between the comfort of finally having him here with them, and anger at the risk he had taken to do so, and at first she let comfort win.
“My God, Elizabeth, I have never felt so helpless in my life as I did in that carriage,” he said. “To know that something might have happened to you, to Georgiana, nearly two days ago and there was nothing I might do. And for you to have to face such an event on your own, even if you were safe.”
“We were not on our own. Captain Stanton was here before we even knew anything was happening, and then Captain Ramsey after him. Edward came to check on us as well. I daresay even poor Mr. Miller and the servants would have put up a defence if needed,” she said. “But you very nearly got yourself torn apart by the mob. What could you have been thinking, coming into town at such an hour, with a riot on? Did you not find out through the papers? Did you not see they were attacking carriages?”
He was quite taken aback by her outburst, and it took him some time to speak. “I did not find out through the papers – our neighbour, Mr. Sinclair, has a son who is an attorney in town. He happened to be near Bedford Square when the rioting broke out, and got an express off to his father late Monday. I had called on Sinclair; he knew me to be the only one at Pemberley while the rest of the family stayed in town, so he sent a servant over with the news as soon as he had it.”
“Do you have any notion at all of the risk you took? You were in far more danger than any of the rest of us.”
“I do travel with a brace of pistols, Elizabeth, and I should rather take such a risk than tarry a night outside town, with no idea of whether you and our sisters were harmed or not.”
“What is a brace of pistols against a mob?” she cried. “I cannot stop thinking of you being pulled from that carriage and being beaten – possibly killed. Every time I have a moment to think, that is what I see.”
“Elizabeth – ” he reached out his hand to clasp her own “ – I understand fully what you mean; it is what I faced the entire drive here, thinking of this house being attacked, and you here with no defence. All that I care about most in this world is in this house, and I had no notion of your safety.”
“It is not the same! You willingly put yourself in harm’s way!” Here Elizabeth gave in to the tears that had been long coming. “What happens to all of us, if something happens to you? And not just Georgiana and I – what of all of the servants, the tenants?”
Elizabeth thought, but could not bring herself to say, that everything was currently without an heir – just the thought of it made her cry far more strongly.
Darcy gave her a deeply sympathetic look before enveloping her in another embrace. “I promise you will be well provided for, should anything happen to me. I know you grew up worrying about what should happen to you and your mother and sisters on the death of your father, but you need never worry about it again. Whenever you like, we may sit in my study and go over the plans for what should happen, on my death. You will always live well, from now on.”
“I never had any doubt of that,” she said, looking up at him, with a face wet with tears. “But we should grow old together. I am two-and-twenty years old – would you see me widowed and without your love for the remainder of my life?”
“I would not,” he said, pulling her even closer. “I am sorry, Elizabeth. I cannot say I would not do it again, but I promise you I will think more carefully the next time anything like this happens, although I pray there will never be anything like this again.”
Elizabeth cried against his shoulder, still upset, but all of her anger spent. After some time, she felt him wiping the tears from her face, caressing her cheek, and finally kissing her with such an intensity she trembled.
“You see, you cannot deprive me of that,” she said, attempting to tease, although a little sob gave her away, and she returned his kiss, hoping that he would feel all of her worry, and soothe it away.
Things moved quickly after that, as they should between a gentleman and a lady who have been deprived of each other’s company in most difficult circumstances. She felt his attention torn between kissing her, removing her dressing gown, and pushing her back towards the bed, and found her own similarly divided until she felt the bed beneath her and felt his very familiar and very pleasant weight on top of her. It had been far too long for this.
Some time later, she laid beside him, bereft of even her nightgown and breathing heavily, but feeling sated and much easier in her mind than she had been since he arrived home. She drew closer to him; she loved the feel of his bare skin against her own, warmer somehow than wearing her nightgown, particularly after so many nights of her own empty bed. He seemed terribly exhausted, now, but no nearer sleep than she was.
“I must think of a way to thank Captain Ramsey,” he said, absently.
“My hope is that he wishes you to thank him by giving your blessing for him to marry Kitty.”
“Mine as well, but still, something must be done beyond that,” he said. “He loves a good port; I shall see what Miller has set aside down in the cellar and send him a case. The men – I assume they are being paid?”
“One guinea each per night – Captain Ramsey thought it perhaps overly generous, but I wished them to know our gratitude, and some of them looked quite down at the heels.”
“If they made you feel safe, they would have been a bargain at twice that,” he murmured.
“Well, then I suppose we have set the standard for riot protection wages,” she said. When he did not respond, she looked closely and saw that he was already asleep, and she could not help but kiss his cheek gently, before rising to blow out the candles that remained burning in his bedchamber.
Chapter 33
Thursday’s newspapers indicated there had been more rioting over Wednesday night, and so it was decided over breakfast – a bit more delicately than in previous mornings, with Mr. Darcy returned to the house – that Captain Ramsey and his men should return again that evening. They were there already when Colonel Fitzwilliam arrived, on horseback, but still causing concern among all in the household.
He was questioned heavily after entering the drawing room and expressing his relief at having received Elizabeth’s note earlier in the day, indicating that Darcy had returned safely to the house. He informed them that the Fitzwilliams and Lady Catherine were all still well, and that he had heard no sounds of rioting, so perhaps it had finally run its course.
“Do not tell us you have come for a social call,” Darcy said.
“No, I have come with entirely different news,” the colonel said. “This news is not so far spread, although I expect it will move rapidly. Napoleon Bonaparte has escaped from exile. He is understood to be moving towards Paris, and all expectations are that he will raise an army. I wished to let Mr. Darcy know in case you had any investments that you should back out of before the news becomes more widely known, and I thought your friends in the navy would wish to know as soon as possible.”
The news was so shocking to Georgiana that she could not at first comprehend what it should mean, and she sat, silent and stunned, as the others reacted with every expression of surprise.
“You are quite certain of this news?” Darcy asked. “I do have a little invested that I should like to move if the peace will end. I will do so first thing tomorrow.”
“Yes, I am,” Colonel Fitzwilliam said. “I was asked to begin recalling my men immediately. We shall have to raise an army to match his, and transport them all back to the continent. A man like Napoleon does not escape in order to negotiate. There will be another war.”
Another war, Georgiana realised, meant that Captain Stanton and the Caroline would go to sea, that they should have another chance at the distinction he so longed for. Such thoughts were vindicating to her, until she realised that in going to sea again, Captain Stanton would be very nearly lost to her. After all, he had been gone from England for five years in the course of his previous command.
“Might I let the men know of the news?” Captain Ramsey said, and when Colonel Fitzwilliam nodded in the affirmative, he excused himself to go out to the entrance-hall.
Georgiana looked over at Kitty as he left, and saw her friend looked every bit as stunned as Georgiana felt. The sounds of muffled conversation reached them from the hallway, and someone cried out, “we’ll thump ‘em again, those frogs, we will!” Then Captain Ramsey re-entered, and, quite purposefully took a seat beside Kitty, which did seem to mollify her a little.
They had little of substance to say about a theoretical war, but it was all they could speak of until Elizabeth, sensing Catherine and Georgiana to be agitated, suggested the ladies retire for the night. Colonel Fitzwilliam refused Elizabeth’s offer of having a room made up for him, but said he might drink another glass of port with the gentlemen before leaving, if they were so inclined, which they were.
Georgiana went up silently with the other ladies, and it was only after Hughes had undressed her and she had climbed into bed that she fully allowed herself to think about what another war might mean for her and Captain Stanton. If he would be gone for another five years, or anything like, could she wait for him? There was nothing decided between them, no love confessed, and Georgiana would have to do her best to make things progress to that point in whatever time they had left before he went to sea. In five years, would she be like Caroline Bingley, desperate for an offer from any suitable man who came along? Such thoughts occupied her late into the night, until she finally drifted off to sleep.
