"Do you have any additional horses?" Dr. Matthews asked, and again the innkeeper shook his head.
"The horses we have just arrived, not one hour before you. We hoped to have them rested for you to exchange your team, Mr. Darcy, so you could continue home.
Home. The word rang in Darcy's ears as they were but four miles from the post of his drive. Then another mile after that. A measly 5 miles stood between him and his Elizabeth and he was running out of options to reach her.
"Well, it appears we are staying the night in Kympton," Dr. Matthews tried to say enthusiastically, but Darcy held a strange glint in his eye.
"What say you if we walk?" Mr. Darcy asked, feeling his wife’s voice in his head talk to him about how small a distance of a few miles truly was.
Dr. Matthews did not seem convinced.
"How far are we from Pemberley?" Dr. Matthews asked, and Mr. Darcy smiled.
"If we take the road, five miles. But as the crow flies, I believe we can do it in three."
With little choice but to follow his employer, both Dr. Matthews and Simmons accepted the innkeeper’s assistance of pouches of wine and a loaf of bread each. A message was sent back to the carriage that an axle would be brought in a few hours and then the carriage and wagon would stop at Kympton for the night. But for the merry band of three men, they would carry on by foot.
The first mile felt rather invigorating. The three men tramped through the autumn forests as close to the road as possible, only daring to cut across property Mr. Darcy knew to belong to the church. They swapped stories of their boyhood adventures and how when younger, they had never hesitated to take some grand detour off in whichever direction they chose.
"I'm afraid to say, I received such a chastisement for that one, I can assure you. For not only had I left when my mother had given me chores to do, I lost my way and spent the night in some barn before finding my way again in the morning," Dr. Matthews shared, and the men laughed.
By the second mile, they had changed to discussing politics. Mr. Darcy explained to Dr. Matthews some of the challenges facing his family with Wickham’s death, and his old friend allowed Darcy to vent his spleen. Instead of offering possible solutions to the puzzle, Dr. Matthews was merely supportive of Mr. Darcy’s handling thus far, and encouraging that his cousin and uncle in London would likely find more information than if he had stayed.
They were out of stories and pleasant topics to discuss by the third mile. The exercise of walking such a distance after the stress of travel and riding horses drained the energy reserves of each man. Their wine was gone, and the terrain had become uphill in a most extreme angle. Every few steps, one man's boot would lose his footing, and he'd have to scramble with his hands to keep on pace.
When at last they reached the top of the hill, Darcy gave a big sigh of relief as he could clearly see the twisty road winding up the hill to the very point where it crested when he and Elizabeth had arrived at the beginning of the summer. The sun had passed more than three quarters of the sky as the days grew shorter. Dr. Matthews took off first in an easy downhill jog towards the grand house they could see spread before them. Not to be outdone, Simmons and Mr. Darcy similarly joined him, and all was well until they reached the bottom of the hill. That was when Dr. Matthews took a horrific spill.
The man yelled out, and Simmons and Darcy hurried to his side, unclear of what he had injured with the way he had somersaulted.
"Of all stupidity and irrationality!" Dr. Matthews began to shout. Darcy found his choice of expletives rather odd.
Dr. Matthews continued, "Throbbing pain and loss of feeling, I fear I have broken my ankle, but I hope I have merely sprained it."
Darcy and Simmons looked at one another, and then at the long drive to Pemberley. Without a word, Mr. Darcy went around the backside of Dr. Matthews, and hoisted him up so that he could stand upon one foot.
Arm in arm, from Mr. Darcy the tallest to Dr. Matthews of a middling height and poor Simmons scarcely over five feet tall, they hobbled up the drive looking like band of misfits beleaguered by some battle. The boy at the gate house ran for the front door as he recognized his master, and a small cart reached them before they had halfway finished the distance to the front steps.
"Well Mr. Darcy, I suppose I should be grateful that I have your hospitality for so long, for I fear I would be an imposition," Dr. Matthew said, gritting his teeth as he continued to babble on to avoid thinking about the pain.
"How does one doctor themselves?" Mr. Darcy asked, and Dr. Matthews laughed.
"Oh, we are the worst patients. For my mind races to all of the dangers one small accident can bring, when more than likely it is nothing more than a slight sprain and I will be on my feet in a week’s time.
Mr. Darcy licked his lips as the wagon drew closer to the front door, the irony was not lost on him that poor Dr. Matthews was injured, thankfully not so grievously as Elizabeth had been when he had nearly run her over with his horse Alexander, but injured in a similar manner as he arrived at Pemberley. He knew his wife would find the humor in the circumstances, even if she would feel great sympathy for the man.
When the wagon arrived, Mr. Darcy and Simmons helped poor Dr. Matthews down from the wagon, but two footmen came to help him up the stairs.
"Well, Simmons, at least we made it home," Mr. Darcy said with a smile as he spied various inhabitants milling around the door at his arrival. Then Mr. Darcy’s smile fell when it was Lady Matlock who greeted him, and not his wife.
"Where's Elizabeth?"
28
An incredible stench of horse manure and sweat caused Elizabeth Darcy to flinch as she slowly opened one eye from her afternoon rest. Her grogginess caused her to close it once more as her mind processed the picture that she saw to match the smell, which at first did not equate to anything in her recollection. Then when it did, her eyes flew open.
"Fitzwilliam!" Elizabeth threw out her arms and surprised her husband who had been peering over her slumbering form.
Darcy groaned and practically fell atop his wife, then hastily pushed himself up with his hands so as not to injure her.
"You’re home, you’re home!" she kept saying, tightening her grip around him until finally he was forced to cry for mercy.
"Unhand me, Madam. I cannot hold—"
Elizabeth released him and without the countermeasure of her strength pulling him down, Mr. Darcy's muscles sprung him away from the bed. He fumbled to keep his balance before he stood still. For a brief moment, he closed his eyes and shook his head. One day, when people told him that his wife is unwell, he would learn not to believe them that she was incapable of her normal strength and effusion around his person.
Mrs. Darcy swung her legs around to get out of bed, and her husband tried to stop her, but Elizabeth was not agreeable.
"I am fine, I have been in this bed for more than two weeks. I refuse to lay a second longer. Is Dr. Matthews here?" Elizabeth asked as she walked over to pick up her robe, her legs feeling slightly shaky from the lack of activity, but she hid it well.
Darcy stood in disbelief. Upon entering his home it was full of people, and his wife was not as he thought he would find her. His mind struggled to form words when his day had been so long and adventurous.
Elizabeth grew concerned with her husband's lack of speech. "Fitzwilliam?" Elizabeth approached him carefully. "Dr. Matthews?"
At last, Mr. Darcy found his tongue. But he did not use it to speak. Instead he approached his wife and kissed her most passionately to achieve the greeting he had envisioned so long in his mind. Elizabeth deepened their kiss, until her nostrils twitched at his smell, and she gently pulled back.
"You need a bath," she said and her husband chuckled. He grasped her hand and pressed it to his lips.
"In good time, in good time. Dr. Matthews had a slight accident, although that was after our first accident." Mr. Darcy explained and Elizabeth grew worried, but her husband shook his head. "All are fine, but much of the staff and
our vehicles are spending the night in Kympton because an axle broke."
Elizabeth was bewildered. "Then however did you get here?" Elizabeth began imagining some longtime friend of Mr. Darcy happening to pass by and offer the gentlemen a ride. She had missed the odd arrival by wagon. But instead, her husband had a surprise for her.
"We walked!"
Elizabeth gasped in amusement, and tried to laugh so hard so that her sounds came out breathy and nearly silent. Finally, she was able to giggle properly.
"You walked? The great master of Pemberley and Carver House?" she asked.
"The very same." Again he advanced on his wife to bestow kisses upon her, and Elizabeth squealed at both the affection, and the boyish prank of being so unfit for company.
Elizabeth froze, and Mr. Darcy continued his affections until he realized that his wife was not playing along. Gently, he released her, and fixed on her face most quizzically.
"Elizabeth?"
Mrs. Darcy had closed her eyes and willed herself to feel it again. And as the room stilled around her, there it was. An unmistakable flutter in her womb: the miracle of marriage.
Her eyes flew open and she practically jumped into her husband's arms, stench and all.
"He's here! He's really here!" she said and Mr. Darcy was confused. Dr. Matthews was most certainly not here, he was down on the first floor having his boot removed so he could examine his own ankle.
As Darcy tried to look around, his wife placed her palms on both sides of his face to stop him.
She directed his gaze down and then placed her right hand just over her abdomen.
“I felt him, Fitzwilliam. He's here."
29
The peace at Pemberley became a tenuous issue the first week all who were invited or resided had finally arrived. Dr. Matthews’ ankle was not in fact sprained, but broken. Instead of hobbling to Elizabeth Darcy, she came to him, in the west wing, for her examination.
When she detailed how long she had rested, over two weeks, and that there had been no additional pangs in her abdomen, nor blood, and that she had felt the child quicken, confidence was strong that a Darcy heir was on his way come spring.
Unfortunately, for the reunited couple, Dr. Matthews also prescribed a week of Mrs. Darcy partaking in her regular activities before resuming marital relations, out of caution. The Darcys took this advice in stride as it provided them another visit to their odd courtship where they slumbered next to each other without physical congress. That, however, only lasted a few hours before husband and wife discovered there were so many other avenues of pleasure available that would not place the child in harm’s way.
Mrs. Bennet protested the lame doctor was unable to see to her husband, but Lady Matlock pointed out Mr. Bennet had survived the journey, and he could wait a few more weeks for Dr. Mathews’ care. The Bennet girls alternated between helping with the inventory, pursuing their individual hobbies and interests, and visiting with their father. The Bingleys managed to visit one property twelve miles to the north, but it was in such disrepair, they could not seek to purchase it.
Finally the merry party, aside from Mr. Bennet, met in the dining room for Mrs. Darcy’s first dinner with all her guests. Dr. Matthews rested most of the day, but unlike his patients, granted himself the reprieve after a week of company at dinner with the aid of two footmen and a bedroom on the first floor.
The spread was not only perfectly planned for three courses, but Mrs. Darcy blushed at the head of the table across from her husband. She felt proud to know it was also the first meal properly noted in the ledger as her predecessor had done.
“To Mrs. Darcy, my family and friends, and especially to our family yet to come!” Mr. Darcy raised his glass in a toast to acknowledge the presence of Dr. Matthews at his table and the large party of ten in his dining room. As Fitzwilliam drank his wine, he tried to remember the last time Pemberley’s table had been so full, and his memory failed him.
“Mr. Darcy, how did your business in London get on?” Mrs. Bennet asked, as she had been seated in a place of honor to his right.
“Well, as you saw Mother Bennet, the wagon was full when I arrived,” he said, and he winked at his wife.
True to his word, Mr. Darcy had purchased gifts for everyone in the family. Each Bennet daughter received a set of pearls with matching earrings from the Darcys. Lydia had assumed such a gift meant there would be a ball, and the Darcys reluctantly agreed to host a Yuletide festivity. Mrs. Bennet received a large crate of the latest hand creams and perfumes from Bond Street. To everyone’s misfortune, she had taken to wearing the scents a little too strongly in her toilette. Mrs. Darcy discussed the problem with Nancy, Mrs. Bennet’s maid.
For the Bingleys, their gifts had taken up the most space. The Darcys had purchased matching cradles for the twins to be taken with them when they found a home. Mr. Darcy lamented not purchasing a new one for their child, but Elizabeth had said surely a craftsman on the estate could build one from their commission, or fix any found in the attics.
The truth of why Mr. Darcy had gone to London had been kept mostly from the Bennets, and Elizabeth still saw no reason to change that policy.
“What about the ball, Mr. Darcy? Will it be before Christmas or after Christmas?” Lydia asked.
“Oh, after Christmas, I believe,” he answered, to his wife clearing her throat at the other end. “Before Christmas?” he tried again and Elizabeth nodded.
“I should like to dance again with you before I am too large and plump!” Elizabeth said, teasingly, as all at the table knew there was no denying Mrs. Darcy was with child.
“So long as you mind the punch bowl, Mrs. Darcy,” Mr. Darcy teased his wife right back as she scowled, then grinned, and no one present had any idea what he meant.
“Well, of course she will mind the punch bowl. Lizzie knows a wonderful recipe, that’s been handed down from her grandmother,” Mrs. Bennet defended her daughter and her skill to throw a ball.
Elizabeth Darcy choked on her wine, but recovered well. She looked incredulously at her mother, wondering if her ears had deceived her. Had her mother paid her a compliment?
Feeling bold, Elizabeth addressed her mother.
“Mama? Would you like to help me plan the ball?” she asked, uncharacteristically in a timid voice.
Mrs. Bennet looked at her second daughter as though she had lost her senses. For a moment, Elizabeth panicked, thinking she has misstepped and now she was to be humiliated in front of everyone.
“Of course I shall help you plan the ball! How else will you accomplish it in only a few weeks?”
Mr. Darcy watched with a touch of sadness as his wife was still slightly embarrassed, but relieved that her mother had shown she cared. As Lydia began to talk about the ball to her sisters, and Kitty shyly asked Dr. Matthews if he thought he would be able to dance in a few week’s time, an express messenger arrived and took the message straight to Mr. Darcy, lined in black edging.
With a lump in his throat, he saw no choice but to open the letter at the full table. Apart from Dr. Matthews, any and all at the table might be affected.
As he tore open the letter, the news was difficult to share and keep a somber expression befitting the black edging.
* * *
I am sorry to impart the news, but our aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, joined her Creator in her sleep, October 20th, in the year of our Lord, 1812.
* * *
Your Obedient Sister,
GEORGIANA WICKHAM
* * *
******
Thank you for reading The Miracles of Marriage. The saga shall continue in, Book 6, The Heart of Marriage.
Books By Elizabeth Ann West
The Trouble With Horses
Very Merry Mischief
To Capture Mr. Darcy
The Whisky Wedding
If Mr. Darcy Dared (mature)
Much to Conceal (exclusively in the boxed set 3 Dates with Mr. Darcy)
* * *
T
he Moralities of Marriage Series
By Consequence of Marriage
A Virtue of Marriage
The Blessing of Marriage
The Trappings of Marriage
The Miracle of Marriage
The Heart of Marriage (TBA)
* * *
The Seasons of Serendipity Series
A Winter Wrong
A Spring Sentiment
A Summer Shame
An Autumn Accord
A Winter Wonder
A January for Jane (bonus novella)
From Longbourn to Pemberley (Boxed Set, Year One)
A Spring Society
A May for Mary (bonus novella)
A Summer Spouse (TBA)
An Autumn Argument (TBA)
* * *
Shop all of Elizabeth’s books on all major retailers by visiting her catalog:
http://www.elizabethannwest.com/roseroom/catalog.html
About the Author
A Jane-of-all-trades, mistress to none! Elizabeth Ann West is the author of 9 novels and 11 novellas, 19 of which are story variations of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. Her books have won reader conference awards and hit the overall top 50 on Amazon, Kobo, Nook and the iBooks store. A lover of all things geeky, Elizabeth codes websites, dabbles in graphic design, and is always looking for new technology to learn and master. A mother of two, her family has lived all over the United States, currently residing in upstate New York. Originally from Virginia Beach, Virginia, you can keep up with Elizabeth on her website, elizabethannwest.com, where chapters are posted as they are written.
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