A Constant Love: A Pride & Prejudice Continuation, page 36
His voice was quite weary as he spoke, and it was clear to Georgiana that his strength was flagging; he had been animated enough, in recounting memories of the battle, but he was still very much the man who had not been awake for much of the trip between Lorient and Plymouth.
“Sir, you look tired,” she said. “Is there any refreshment we might get you? Some coffee or tea?”
“Clerkwell has encouraged me to drink as much porter as I might, if indeed you would have any of that. He believes it rebuilds the blood, and it seems I have lost quite a lot of it.”
Georgiana rose, to see if she could speak to Mr. Miller, but Elizabeth waved her off, and soon enough, one of the servants came in with a glass of porter, and one of Madeira, Captain Campbell’s preference. The rest of them took a little tea, and the men of the navy did not stay long after they had finished their drinks, for Captain Stanton still looked very tired after drinking down his glass of porter.
Georgiana watched through the window as he left, helped carefully into the Earl of Anglesey’s carriage by Captain Campbell. She felt herself restored to as much happiness as she had a right to presently: he had called, he had stayed far longer than any man in his state should have been expected to, and he had said she looked very well. This was still a very long way from any understanding between the two of them, and yet she felt at least she had a chance, now. He was alive, and they were both here in London, and she would attempt to capture his heart, now that she had been given this chance.
Chapter 10
Elizabeth had her appointment with Dr. Whittling the next morning, and after an examination far more close than she would have preferred anyone but her husband to be, he agreed thoroughly with her assessment that she was with child.
Elizabeth heard his pronouncement of such with a tremendous feeling of relief. She had been increasingly certain that she was – everything Sarah said, and the changes she could feel in her own body seemed to confirm it. Yet to hear it said by an expert in the field was quite another thing, and cause for the greatest happiness.
“Thank you, sir, I am so pleased to hear you confirm it. May I ask why it was so long in coming, after we were married?” she said. “My maid thought the climate of London might not be conducive to conceiving a child, and when I mentioned this theory to my family, they noted that I had been thinner than perhaps was healthy, while we were here. I must admit I did not notice it at the time.”
“Your family may have been correct,” he said, “although I would encourage you not to make your lady’s maid also your midwife, unless she is somehow qualified in such things. There is also a chance that you did conceive, but could not carry the child. We are accustomed to thinking of miscarriage as a dramatic event, but there is increasing thought that it may happen very early in a pregnancy, if circumstances for carrying the child to term are not proper. In such a case, the miscarriage would appear to you as little more than your courses being a little irregular.”
“I believe I had a few instances of that,” Elizabeth said, her voice thick. “I did not realise it could be something of that sort.”
“Do not worry yourself, Mrs. Darcy. If your womb was not capable of carrying a pregnancy to term, it did the best thing possible. However, I must ask why you are here in town now, if you believe this atmosphere so improper.”
“There are a few things that have called us back here. Among them, of course, my husband and I wished I might see an accoucheur,” she said, nodding to him. “We shall return to Pemberley soon enough.”
“Very well,” he said. “That is all I could ask of you, for in such a case what you believe to be healthy for the child is quite important. No one of your station stays during the summer, of course, but I would encourage you to leave in a fortnight or so, if not before. I shall write up notes, if you wish, for your country physician, on my recommendations for your care.”
“Yes, if you please, I would very much appreciate that.”
Dr. Whittling’s practise had a little private sitting room, outside the room where he examined his patients, and waiting here was Darcy.
“All is well,” Elizabeth told him. “Dr. Whittling confirms I am with child, and thus far it seems a healthy pregnancy.”
“Thank God,” he said, taking her up in an embrace, and then kissing her. They did not speak, for quite some time; Elizabeth could see how very happy he was, and knew her own happiness must have been equally clear to him.
“He is writing up some notes, for Dr. Alderman, on my care.”
“Good – I would do anything in my power to keep you both healthy. Would it help to go to Bath, or the seaside?”
“My mother had five children in Hertfordshire, and Sarah’s mother had eleven in Ireland,” Elizabeth said, laughing. “I do not believe such measures are necessary. Although he did recommend we not linger in town much longer than a fortnight.”
“I only hope things for Georgiana shall be resolved by then,” he said, placing a little silk bag clinking with guineas on the waiting room’s table – Dr. Whittling was a gentleman, and as such would never ask for payment.
“I cannot say they will be fully resolved, but unless he rejects her before then, they should be in such a place where Mrs. Annesley might attend her; he certainly does not seem at risk of dying, now. And Georgiana does seem more determined to act.”
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The objects of Elizabeth’s and Darcy’s conversation were, at the same time, conversing themselves, for Captain Stanton had called again at Curzon Street. Captain Campbell was not with him today, and Mrs. Annesley had that rare talent in a companion, of making herself central to a conversation when this was necessary, and fading well into the background when this was instead important. She sat, utterly focused on her embroidery, in a corner of the room, so that Georgiana and Captain Stanton were able to converse entirely by themselves.
Georgiana noted that he looked a little better; he seemed to be walking more freely, although the colour still had not returned to his face. He told her he was indeed feeling better, and that he had come in part to deliver an invitation – his uncle was holding a dinner in his honour in three days’ time, and he hoped the Darcys would be able to attend.
“Yes, we should be able to,” Georgiana said. “I can answer for our having no fixed engagements. We have been making very few since we are only to be in town for a limited time.”
“Yes, your brother shared your reason for being in town with my uncle, when he called,” Captain Stanton said. “Please give your sister my congratulations – I did not mention it yesterday, for I was not certain how widely known she wished it to be.”
“Thank you, I will tell her. We are trying to be discreet with the news, for now – only family and close friends know. Tell me, will Lady Tonbridge be there? We have only called on her once, and I have missed her company very much.”
“My uncle is likely to be delivering her invitation right now,” he said. “And we hope to have some other friends from the musical club there, as well – Lady Julia and the gentlemen in the quartet will be invited. It will be as large an affair as my uncle has hosted in some time. Even my father is coming down – it was on his account that we have been unable to fix a date until now. We were not sure until his letter this morning when he would arrive.”
“Your father – I do not believe I have ever heard you mention him.”
“We are not close,” he sighed. “His current living is in Cheshire, so he is but rarely in town. He never did approve of my joining the navy – although he would not speak against it publicly because my uncle supported it. As far as my father is concerned, the church was the only proper profession for any of his sons.”
“Even now, when you have been so successful?”
“Fortune certainly did not change his opinion,” he said. “It is possible the baronetcy has – indeed, I did not expect him to come to town for this – but I doubt his true sentiments shall ever change.”
“I am so sorry to hear that.”
“It is something I think of but little,” he said. “I am more fortunate than many, to have at least one strong family connection. My uncle has always done all he could to further my career – it was he who saw me placed on the Iris as a captain’s servant, and purchased all the items to fill my first sea chest.”
“May I ask how old you were, when you went to sea?”
“I was near eight and a half.”
“So young! I cannot imagine leaving your home and all you know at so young an age.”
“My mother died when I was six, of fever from childbirth – the child was stillborn, a girl. Our home was never really happy again after that.”
Georgiana nodded, sympathetically. “I was four, when my mother died. I remember only little glimpses of her.”
“I remember perhaps a little more, but not much.”
“Would it be too much to ask you why you chose to join the navy?”
“Not at all, Miss Darcy,” he said. “My uncle’s estate is outside of Chester, and we would always spend our summers there, all of the boys in the family. The year after my mother died, for an excursion, we went to Anglesey, for my uncle liked the notion of visiting the earldom’s namesake. We went out on South Stack – it is this amazing little high rock of an island, and just after we climbed to the top, a Royal Navy frigate came round the point with nearly a full press of canvas. I do not know who she was, or what she was chasing, but it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I found myself filled with longing to be on that ship, to be part of that world. I believe my uncle made a few comments in praise of the navy, and that was it, I had it in my head I wished to join the navy.”
“I hope I might see such a sight, someday – it sounds so beautiful,” Georgiana said. “We have only been to the more traditional watering places, so I must admit to never seeing a ship of that size under sail.”
“I very much hope you shall have a chance to see it, as well. I will admit myself to be biassed, but I find there is nothing like the sight.”
He left only when Mrs. Annesley began glancing up with little looks of concern; he had stayed for more than an hour, and any longer was beyond the bounds of what was proper for a morning call with most of the family out. Georgiana was startled to realise he had been there for so long.
They had conversed so easily, and on topics so intimate, that she felt more secure in thinking he could have a real affection for her, and she resolved that she must confess her affections to him soon. She would not choose the day on which to do so; she would not prepare a speech. Yet she would look for an opening, and when it came she would be bold, although the thought of it made her heart quicken painfully, and a wave of nervousness washed over her. She must be bold – she would not see him leave again without knowing her heart.
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Elizabeth and Darcy returned not long after Captain Stanton left; they had stopped to call on the Fitzwilliams after leaving Dr. Whittling’s practise. They both expressed happiness at the earl’s dinner invitation – for that was an event surely worth an evening out – and regret they did not truly feel that they had missed him, for they felt his focus must surely have been Georgiana, a point Mrs. Annesley confirmed privately to Elizabeth later.
Now knowing that there would be no fear of missing his call, Elizabeth suggested to Georgiana that they go shopping, to see what might have changed in the fashions, and make any purchases that could not be done in Lambton. Georgiana agreed readily to the scheme; she had been practising the pianoforte so much over the last few weeks that she wished to purchase new music, and she would not mind visiting a modiste or two.
It was in the second shop, as they were looking at fabric, that they found themselves approached at a rapid pace by Lady Caroline Harrison, née Bingley.
“Eliza Darcy, dear Miss Darcy! I did not expect to see the two of you here in town. I had thought your whole family removed to Pemberley, along with my brother and Jane,” she said. “Sir Sedgewick and I are only here for a little while ourselves before we make the journey to Hilcote. Brighton was dreadfully dull without the Regent there.”
“Caroline, good morning, it is good to see you,” Elizabeth managed. “We are only here for a little while ourselves as well. You may have heard from Charles or Jane that I am in the family way, so I wished to see a town physician, and I am also going to have a few sittings for my portrait.”
“So you are all in town while your house guests remain at Pemberley? How very odd.”
“We have given Charles and Jane leave to stay at Pemberley for as long as they need to purchase Clareborne Manor and build the new house there,” Elizabeth said. “They take no issue with our needing to be away from home, and they are family anyway, not guests with hardly a connection to our family.”
“Well I am glad I happened to run across you, for I had the most interesting news about an acquaintance of yours this morning. It seems your friend Sir Matthew Stanton – and my isn’t he the talk of the town! – is engaged to Lady Julia Barton.”
Elizabeth looked over at Georgiana, who was motionless in shock, all the colour gone from her face, as Caroline continued on, oblivious to her supposed friend’s reaction: “I think all the luck in the match is on his side. I know he was elevated to a baronetcy and all, but he is after all still a naval captain. And she has fifty thousand pounds, and is the daughter of a baron. I wonder if she shall change her mind before it is all over.”
“That must be merely a rumour,” Elizabeth said. “He called on us this morning and said nothing of the sort.”
“Perhaps he does not wish to make it known yet,” Caroline said. “Which is a silly notion, given how much he is in the papers. Anyway, I had it from Mrs. Polley, and she is well-acquainted with Lady Julia.”
Elizabeth took another glance over at Georgiana and knew she must get them both out of the shop immediately, rather than try to argue the point any further; Georgiana was only just holding her composure.
“Caroline, that is quite interesting news, but I do believe we must say our farewells. I promised Mr. Darcy we would be back nearly a half-hour ago,” Elizabeth said. “I hope you have a pleasant journey to Hilcote.”
“Well, then, farewell to you both,” Caroline said, grasping Elizabeth’s hands in her own and leaning closer. “By-the-bye, I think I might prefer it if you both called me Lady Harrison when we are out in society. Of course in a private gathering, Caroline would suit, but I would not want anyone to overhear anything improper in public.”
“Certainly,” Elizabeth said. “I know you take great care in proper address. I am sure you are most aggrieved over your slip in referring to me as Eliza Darcy. Farewell, Lady Harrison.”
With the tiniest of curtseys, Elizabeth ushered Georgiana out of the shop and into the carriage.
“How can it be?” Georgiana asked, finally allowing her tears to come. “How can he – be engaged – to Lady Julia?”
“It cannot be, that is the simplest explanation. You know there are a great many rumoured engagements in town that never come to be.”
“Lord Alfred’s certainly came to be!”
“I will grant you that, Georgiana. But he called today, to speak with you, for more than an hour. Why should he do that if he had just become engaged to Lady Julia?”
“We have no notion of how long he calls on her, or whether he did before he called on us. He mentioned she was to attend his uncle’s party,” Georgiana said. “Perhaps they are planning to announce it there. She is very pretty – they would make a handsome couple. She was always very forward in his company – and I was not. And she has fifty thousand pounds!”
“Just because she was forward and has fifty thousand pounds does not mean he loves her, or wishes to marry her. Georgiana, I beg you would not allow yourself to believe this, or let it upset you, until you hear it confirmed by him.”
Despite Elizabeth’s continued attempts, however, Georgiana would not be consoled. She arrived at Curzon Street and retired immediately to her chamber. A tray was sent up for her dinner, and the tray returned untouched.
Chapter 11
When Georgiana’s breakfast tray also returned untouched, Elizabeth made her way upstairs, nodding to Mrs. Annesley, who had remained in her room across the hall, with her door open, should her charge need anything. Elizabeth knocked on Georgiana’s door, received no answer, and entered slowly.
Georgiana was there, awake and curled up on the bed. She looked flat, as though all the spirit had been drained from her, although not nearly so wretched as she had in the days when Captain Stanton’s life had been in doubt. At some point, Mrs. Annesley or Hughes must at least have convinced her to change, for she was wearing her nightgown, but she looked to have slept poorly, or not at all. Elizabeth sat down on the bed beside her, and rubbed her back.
“Georgiana, you will make yourself ill if you continue on like this,” she said. “It is but a rumour, and with Caroline Bingley as your source!”
“I know, but I let myself believe the news about Lord Alfred was but a rumour, and it was not, and I will not be so unprepared this time,” Georgiana said. “My consolation is that he lives, for I can still remember how I felt when that was in doubt. But I must face that he may live and love another.”
“Or he may very well love you, and I think that much more likely.”
“I cannot help but think that perhaps he did, but when I made no show of my affections, he transferred his to another.”
“I do not see when he would have had time to do that, Georgiana. You have hardly been reacquainted with each other,” Elizabeth said. “I expect he will call today, as he has for the last two. Will you not dress and come down to the drawing room so you might hear him refute it yourself?”
“Oh no, Elizabeth, I cannot go. I know there is a chance he will refute it, but I could not bear to hear him confirm it. I know I would break down, and I could not bear such a mortification.”
“I do not think that is what you would hear, but if you will not come down, please try to get some sleep, and at least eat a little. I could not bear to see this affect your health.”
