A Constant Love: A Pride & Prejudice Continuation, page 45
Georgiana felt some embarrassment, for she knew he was referring to Mr. Wickham, but also some degree of comfort, as they rode on quietly, but quite companionably, until she asked if he would tell her more about his elder brother, and that was a topic upon which he was quite happy to converse.
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Much closer to the house, Elizabeth and Darcy were walking, for Elizabeth had finally thought it best to give up horseback riding, but was determined to continue spending time out of doors up until her confinement. Her stomach had swelled just slightly by now, a realisation that had filled them both with delight, although Elizabeth was perhaps more delighted that her sickness in the mornings seemed to be lessening now, as Jane had promised it would.
They were walking along the stream, and Elizabeth, feeling both tired and frustrated that she was so already, suggested they sit at the nearest of the benches that were staggered along its shore.
“Are you well?” he asked, concerned.
“I am fine, just a little tired.”
“We should not have walked so far.”
“This is hardly far – at least I would not have considered it so, previously.”
“You are too determined to do all the things you did before, and at the same pace,” he said, as they came to the bench and were seated.
“There may be some truth to that.”
“I believe there is more truth to it than you are willing to admit.”
“Possibly, but you know I am out of sorts when I am not able to be out of doors.”
“We need not go quite so far out of doors, if we are walking, and there is always the curricle. When you are further along, we can go for drives around the estate.”
“I am ready to slow my pace while walking, Darcy. I am not quite ready to be shuttled around like an invalid.”
“I said when you were further along.”
“Very well, then, when I am ready to be shuttled around, I will tell you,” Elizabeth said.
He put his arm around her and ran his thumb leisurely back and forth across her shoulder, a movement that may have been intentional, or absent-minded. Elizabeth could not tell, but she found it very soothing, and found herself slipping into a day-dream, of the two of them sitting on this same bench some years into the future, watching their children play about them. She sighed, softly.
“You sound very content,” he said.
“I was thinking of us sitting here in the future, watching our children play.”
“It was terribly selfish of you to keep such a happy thought to yourself.”
“I only just thought it – I would have shared it in time.” Elizabeth did not mention that in her day-dream, the children were three little girls, in their summer dresses. She knew if she told him thus, he would remind her again that it did not matter to him, but she was still attempting to convince herself that it did not matter to her.
They sat quietly for some time more, before Elizabeth told him she was quite rested, and ready to return. Upon standing, however, she found herself overcome with a wave of dizziness, and grasping for his arms to steady herself.
“Good God, what is wrong?” he asked, holding her close and looking perhaps even more concerned than he had at the Prince Regent’s ball.
“It is nothing, just a little dizziness – I stood too quickly,” Elizabeth said. “I have had it a few times before; I know it is worse for Jane. Perhaps it will be for me, as well, as I get further along.”
“Let us call for Dr. Alderman,” he said, and made as though he was going to pick her up.
“Fitzwilliam Darcy, you are absolutely not going to carry me back to the house,” Elizabeth said. “Let us walk back to the house – slowly, I will grant you, but still both of us walking. If the dizziness returns, you may call for Dr. Alderman, but if not, I will just go and lie down to rest for a little while.”
He looked at her carefully, then offered his arm. “Very well, but we must go very slowly.”
“And I had better not come down from my rest to find Dr. Alderman in the drawing room.”
“I harboured no such thoughts.”
“Yes, you did.”
“Very well, perhaps I did.”
Chapter 20
David Stanton arrived just after the Gardiners, in a modest little gig pulled by his own horse, for his living was less than fifty miles from Pemberley, easily enough accomplished with an overnight at a coaching inn, so that he and his horse might rest. This he told them only after he had stepped down out of the gig and embraced Captain Stanton, saying, “Brother, it has been far too long. Let me give you joy of your betrothal first – your victory and your baronetcy may follow.”
“That is exactly as I would have it,” Captain Stanton said. “May I introduce my fiancée, Miss Georgiana Darcy? Miss Darcy, Mr. David Stanton.”
“Very pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Darcy,” he said, taking her hand.
“And I yours,” Georgiana said, considering him. She knew from Captain Stanton that he was two-and-thirty, and he looked his age. He had lost his wife to illness three years ago, and it was clear the loss had worn on him, although he had the sort of kind, quiet, and indeed attractive countenance that made his resemblance to his brother clear.
Elizabeth and Mrs. Reynolds were still in the house, seeing the Gardiners and their children settled, so Georgiana invited him to follow her and Mr. Parker in, so that he might change out of his travelling clothes and join them in the smaller blue drawing room; she expected the two brothers might prefer some time in private before Mr. Stanton’s being introduced to the rest of the household.
Georgiana found Elizabeth seated with Jane and the Gardiners, including young Susan Gardiner, perched rigidly on her chair in deference to the honour of having been allowed to sit with the adults in such a room. Georgiana gave a particular greeting to Susan, who responded with a very proper curtsey before telling her she liked her dress very much.
“I have a number of dresses that would be in your size now, somewhere in trunks in one of the attics,” Georgiana said. “Would you like to go exploring while you are here, and see if you like any of those so well? They will need some alterations, to fit with the current styles, but I do not think them anything out of Miss Hughes’s capabilities.”
The girl looked to her parents, who nodded permission, before eagerly accepting Georgiana’s invitation. Georgiana informed Elizabeth of David Stanton’s arrival, then, and made her apologies for not being able to spend more time with the Gardiners, but promised that they should all be introduced before dinner.
Both brothers were already in the blue drawing room when she arrived, and as Georgiana approached, she could hear David Stanton saying, “You know, you quite wiped father’s eye with your betrothal to Miss Darcy. Ever since you had enough fortune to marry, he has been saying you will take up with a Portsmouth bar maid, because that is what sailors do.”
They both laughed, as did Georgiana, and she entered the room quickly, now that she had announced her presence.
“I beg your pardon, Miss Darcy,” David Stanton said. “I did not mean – ”
“It is nothing,” Georgiana told him, taking the seat beside Captain Stanton. “I have met your father, and I can quite imagine it being said.”
“Well, then I am glad you marry into our family with full knowledge of who your father-in-law will be,” he said. “I at least do not bear the brunt of his self-righteousness – that is left to my brother here, who wisely has not been around to hear it.”
“Yes,” Captain Stanton said. “You at least followed in his chosen profession.”
“That I did, although I would not have done so if it had not been my own preference. And I find father’s and my beliefs do not align very much these days,” David Stanton said, sighing. “You and our uncle will say he has made his bed and now he must lie in it, but I have fears of his being defrocked by the Church of England. He has taken up with a group which call themselves Evangelicals, but in truth they are far more radical, and his sermons are no longer what the common English man will countenance. He keeps his position thus far at our uncle’s convenience, but the wrong word to the bishop and it will no longer be in our uncle’s hands.”
“Is it that bad indeed?” Captain Stanton asked. “I will admit he seemed very much as he ever was when he was in town, although perhaps even more severe. I did not broach any doctrinal discussions with him, however.”
“I have heard that more of his pews are empty than occupied, most Sundays,” David Stanton said. “It would be better for him to resign the living and leave the Church of England, and form a church where such things are appreciated, but of course he will not do that – he requires the income. I have been attempting to get him to take on a more moderate curate, who might handle some of the sermons, but thus far he will not listen to reason.”
“And has Jacob followed him in his beliefs?”
“Yes, I am afraid to say, although he has at least been less radical in his public face thus far.”
“I am sorry to have left you to deal with all of this. It should have been my place to help steer him back to the proper path.”
“Matthew, you and I both know he would never be persuaded by you. I cannot begrudge you for having left home before the rest of us, although I will admit there were times when I was quite jealous. If he does lose his position in the Church, however, I expect we will need your help to support him. You know Jacob and I have nothing approaching your fortune.”
Georgiana’s back stiffened at the thought of some of Captain Stanton’s hard-won fortune – the fortune he had earned in a career his father so thoroughly disapproved of – being used to support the man. It seemed her fiancé felt differently about the matter, however, when he spoke, for he first said:
“I will admit a certain delight in the thought of his living off of money from a source he so despises. However, I doubt that he would do so. He would not take a penny from me – his pride would not allow it. As you said before, he has made his bed, and he will have to lie in it. I will promise you, though, that you and Jacob will not suffer for it, if he comes to you for financial support.”
There, that was more like it. Such a man who would insult his son – and her – so openly, who had caused his house to be so miserable as to prompt his son to make his own way in the world at eight and a half years of age, such a man should be required to deal with the consequences of his actions.
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Further conversations with David Stanton were far more light-hearted, and Georgiana found that, like his brother, she valued his company and was very glad he had risked his father’s disapproval by choosing to come to the wedding. He was introduced to the Gardiners that evening, and the Bennets the next day, whose carriage arrived with three rather sedate passengers, and Mrs. Bennet, who stepped out and immediately exclaimed, “Oh, Lizzy, it is the grandest house that ever was! How very rich you are! And Jane, how large you are grown – it will not be long now!”
Mrs. Gardiner very kindly undertook to give Mrs. Bennet a thorough tour of the house, with the patient assistance of Mrs. Reynolds, so that Mrs. Bennet was deep into one of the wings when Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s carriage arrived, carrying Lady Catherine, her daughter Anne, and Anne’s companion Mrs. Jenkinson. Mrs. Jenkinson murmured to Mrs. Reynolds that the journey had not been a good one for Anne, and requested they be shown to Anne’s chambers immediately. Lady Catherine, however, accepted the greetings of Darcy, Elizabeth, and Georgiana, and said, “Well, where is Sir Matthew? I must be introduced.”
“Captain Stanton is in the yellow drawing room, with some of our other guests,” Georgiana said, which earned her a sly look of approval from Elizabeth as they followed Lady Catherine into the house.
When Lady Catherine had changed out of her travelling clothes and joined them all in the yellow drawing room, the introduction was requested in the singular way of that lady’s, and given. Lady Catherine already knew of his particulars, but looked him up and down in very much the same way Georgiana expected her brother and Charles Bingley did the horses at Tattersalls.
They were all seated, and Lady Catherine, noticing the Gardiners, said, “Oh, your aunt and uncle from Cheapside, Mrs. Darcy – I see they are here. I do not know why they merited an invitation and Mr. and Mrs. Collins did not, when Mrs. Collins is such a particular friend of yours, and Mr. Collins has my living, and is your own cousin.”
“I asked that the Gardiners be invited, Lady Catherine,” Georgiana said. “We have become very well-acquainted in town, and I favour their company.”
“Favour their company?” Lady Catherine sniffed, and Georgiana caught Kitty trying very hard not to laugh from the corner of the room.
“Lady Catherine, perhaps you have forgotten that Georgiana is not at all acquainted with the Collinses,” Elizabeth said. “I wrote to Mrs. Collins and explained that the current house party is only for those attending the wedding, but that she is very welcome to visit at some other time during the summer.”
“Well, I suppose that is acceptable,” Lady Catherine said. “Perhaps I shall return for another visit and escort them, so they do not need to travel post.”
Georgiana had for some time been watching the empty seat beside Kitty Bennet with a great desire to speak more closely with her friend again. When refreshments came, she took the opportunity to move there with her glass of lemonade, and was greeted with a look of open delight.
“Oh, Georgiana! I shall overlook my jealousy at your being married first to tell you how very happy I am for you. I had so hoped it would come about, and now it has.”
Kitty had already expressed as much to Georgiana in her letters, but it was heartening to see her open enthusiasm; Georgiana certainly would have allowed her any amount of jealousy, to have been engaged earlier and yet married later, but if Kitty was as jealous as she said she was, it did not appear on her countenance.
“Thank you, Kitty – I am certain your time will come soon enough. The war will not last long, now, after Waterloo, and then it will be my turn to attend your wedding.”
“Indeed, we shall both be naval wives!” Catherine laughed. “How wonderful that will be!”
Georgiana had not really thought of herself as such – a naval wife – although she had given much thought to what it would be like to marry Captain Stanton. Still, the man who would make Catherine a naval wife was still at sea, while Georgiana’s fiancé did not know if he would have another command. Given the number of people who had promised to press for him to have another ship, though, she could not help but think that it was inevitable.
“Have you heard from Captain Ramsey recently?” Georgiana asked.
“I have – I had a letter from him two days past. He is terribly bored, although he says he would be more bored, were he captain of one of the ships of the line; the blockade feels rather pointless now, after Waterloo,” Catherine said. “He gives you and Captain Stanton joy, of course – he wishes he could have returned for the wedding, but he could not get leave.”
“I wish he could have been here as well,” Georgiana said. She had considered reviving the Fandango with Mary, so that they could play it for Captain Stanton at least, but it felt wrong to do so with Captain Ramsey absent, given how fond he was of Spanish music. Thinking of Captain Ramsey’s being absent led her thoughts to darken, as she thought of who else was absent from the house party. There had been no word from her aunt and uncle since Lady Ellen’s first letter, and much as Georgiana tried to remain positive – surely no news was better than bad news – she also would not have put it past her aunt to delay the bad news until after the wedding.
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The next day saw them all plagued with a strong round of thunderstorms, so that any out-of-doors activities that had been planned among the guests must be put off. Many of them chose to gather in the yellow drawing room, where conversation flowed around interjections from Lady Catherine and Mrs. Bennet as best it could. Georgiana occupied herself even more pleasantly, by pressing Kitty into her expedition up to one of the attics with young Susan Gardiner and poor Hughes, who knew where all of the dresses were stored, and suffered their stirring up a great deal of dust in their excitement.
Elizabeth saw that all of the guests in the drawing room were settled with what they needed, but then, feeling the exhaustion which had been growing every bit as much as her belly, decided not to join them immediately. She sought refuge in the library, assuming her father would be there, but finding her husband instead.
“Darcy! Where is my father?”
“He went out to Clareborne early this morning with Charles. I am glad they set out early – they should at least be sheltering in that miserable house by now,” Darcy said. “I am sorry to deprive you of more favourable company.”
“That is not what I meant,” she leaned over, kissing his temple, and then took the seat beside him. “He has just become so much of a fixture here that is it as strange to walk in and find him missing, as it would be if one of the bookshelves were to disappear.”
Darcy smiled, and looked carefully at her. “How are you holding up with so many guests, Elizabeth? You do seem a little tired.”
“I expect I would look tired even if it was just us and Georgiana,” Elizabeth said. “Mrs. Reynolds has everything in hand. We were expecting Lady Tonbridge and Lord Anglesey and his son and daughter-in-law today, but it is possible the weather will delay them.”
“Well, I am glad you stepped away for some rest,” he said.
“As am I. I will let my mother wear everyone else down for a little while, and then return,” she said.
“Do not forget Lady Catherine’s share in the wearing-down,” he said. “I suppose I shall have to come with you.”
“Yes, you shall, or we will be known throughout the county as abominable hosts,” Elizabeth said, crossing the room to take up a book, and then returning to her seat.
They read, quietly, for half-an-hour, with the rain coming down in great waves outside, and frequent rumbles of thunder. Elizabeth knew that the time was coming when this would be a more frequent occasion for them; the house would empty of guests, Charles and Jane would leave for the new house at Clareborne Manor, and Georgiana would go to wherever she and Captain Stanton settled. Someday, it would just be Elizabeth and Darcy and then – God-willing – the child, here at Pemberley. Still, on this day, she found the time to be precious.
