by Greer Boyd
CHAPTER 8
Jerome and Elizabeth arrived at Longbourn as scheduled two weeks before the ball to be held at Netherfield. As soon as she walked through the door, she hugged her mother lightly then headed directly to her father’s room. “Oh. Papa. How much I have missed you. You are truly looking well.” His hands were cool when she pulled them to her. The familiar smell of his cologne engulfed her as she gently kissed him on the forehead before hugging him around the neck.
“And so are you, my Lizzy. When is the child due?” he asked quietly before releasing her from their shared hug so that she might sit in the chair placed close to his bed.
Startled, and with a look of amazement flashing quickly across her face, she stammered, “How did you know? How could you possibly . . .”
With a knowing chuckle, her father interrupted before she could finish. “Lizzy, your Mother was with child five times. You look exactly as she did before the baby would begin to grow and the evidence became visible.”
“He is due toward the end of January,” she admitted, then pled with him not to share the news with her mother. “We want to wait until after the ball and tell everyone at the same time.”
“You mean that you do not want to steal Jane’s moment. Correct?” he laughed again.
As she joined him in laughter, she replied, “Well . . . maybe. Speaking of Jane, how do you like her Mr. Bingley?”
“I think that they are a perfect match and so very much in love, if either of them ever gathers the nerve to tell the other,” he answered. But, as he noticed Elizabeth’s laughter wane, he nearly cried with regret so palpable that it could almost be felt, “Lizzy, please forgive me for taking away your dream of marrying for love. When I spoke with you, I truly did not believe that I would live long, and I certainly did not expect to still be here. I did what I thought was right.”
“Papa,” she said pragmatically, then, with a cheeriness that lifted her shoulders, “what is done is done. Besides, I have new dreams now. I will soon be a mama, and that was the most desired of all my dreams as you know well.”
As the days passed, Elizabeth was pleased to see that Mr. Bingley came to visit with her sister almost every morning and every afternoon. On those occasions that he did not come to Longbourn, Jane was invited to Netherfield, and Elizabeth and Jerome almost always accompanied her.
Charles Bingley enjoyed talking with Jerome and was excited to find another outlet for the cloth manufactured at his mill in Scarborough. He was also very pleased with the possibility of a joint shipping venture between Bingley Mills and Mills Ventures. When he learned of the vast array of investment opportunities offered by Elizabeth’s and Jerome’s businesses, he proceeded with several investments. Since he and his old school friend and financial advisor were not as close as they once had been, he had been looking for a source for advice about investing and was very pleased to find that soon a most excellent source would be part of his family.
A day or two before the ball, as Elizabeth and Jerome were returning to Longbourn in time for tea, they were quite surprised to see two officers from the militia walking alone with her youngest sisters, Kitty and Lydia. Since they were so close to home, Jerome and Elizabeth signaled for the carriage to halt and then to drive on to Longbourn after they had stepped down to walk the rest of the way with the two girls.
Lydia was very anxious to introduce them to the two officers: Lieutenants Sanderson and Wickham. However, shortly after the introductions were made, the officers soon found it necessary to head back to camp instead of proceeding to Longbourn for tea as they had originally intended. As the smaller family group walked on to the estate, Lydia gave Elizabeth the pertinent facts about the two officers in her run-on, talk-over-everyone, nearly breathless manner.
“Does not Sanderson have the most beautiful brown eyes and blond hair? He is a second son, you know. His father bought him the rank in the militia so that he would not have to go into the regulars or take some sort of job as a clerk for some tradesman or, Lord forbid, a clergyman,” Lydia uttered, as she curled her lip in disgust. She barely took a breath before beginning again, totally unaware of the insult she had just leveled directly toward Jerome. “But poor, poor Wickham,” she announced gesturing dramatically as she continued, “he was cheated out of his inheritance and his birthright, an estate and a great fortune, by a wealthy gentleman and his overly proud son. You know, he had to join the militia in order to make his own way. Lord, Lizzy
. . .” she exclaimed pressing her hands to her cheeks, “is he not just the most handsome man that there ever was, what with his being so tall and with such curly black hair and those gorgeous blue eyes? He just looks wonderful in his red coat, will you not agree? So much the gentleman, and Mama thinks so, too, you know.”
Lydia had just finished her recitation as they reached the front steps of Longbourn House. There she grabbed Kitty by the hand and the two of them ran off in the direction of their bedchamber.
“I fear that we are going to have to keep a closer eye on those two,” stated Jerome flatly as he helped Elizabeth remove her bonnet, pelisse, and gloves.
“I fear that you are correct,” she acknowledged, smoothing over the waist of her gown, and smiling somewhat distractedly.
The night of the Netherfield ball was more beautiful than anyone could have hoped. It was slightly cool with a light breeze, the moon was full, and the stars shone brightly. Mr. Bingley had sent his carriage to assist with the transportation of the Bennet ladies to his home. Mrs. Bennet, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia rode in Mr. Bingley’s carriage while Jane rode with Elizabeth and Jerome, since Elizabeth had not wanted to take the chance that Jane’s gown would become crushed by the antics of her two youngest sisters.
Jane herself was exceedingly careful to preserve what she considered to be as lovely a garment as any young woman could have. Indeed, Gabby and her sisters had outdone themselves. The gown was strapless and perfectly accentuated all of Jane’s assets . . . her height, her trim form, and her womanly curves. The long flowing skirt made Jane feel like a nymph caressed all about by a flowing water fall. Her shoulder covering was a shawl made of an almost transparent gauze- like silk in the same colour as the gown and as delicate looking as a spider-spun web. Her pelisse was an elegant but simple silk cloak with a very abundant hood.
Elizabeth had given Jane a lovely blue topaz necklace and matching earrings for her birthday. The colour of the gemstones went exceedingly well with the dress, and now the largest gem of the necklace rested quite bewitchingly just above the swell of Jane’s breast.
When they arrived at Netherfield, and Mr. Bingley had helped Jane remove her outerwear, his face reflected what Elizabeth already knew. Jane truly looked like a goddess, and Charles Bingley became demonstratively possessive, much to Jane’s pleasure.
He was not the only man unable to take his eyes off of her. Almost every man at the ball was dumbstruck by Jane’s elegance and beauty. For her own part, Elizabeth was blissfully unaware of how much attention she was garnering as well. Apparently this pregnancy did wonderful things for her already abundant figure and the radiance shining from her face made her look simply alluring.
It appeared that beauty was with all of the Bennet women the night of the ball, and even Mary, who had always considered herself the ugly and unattractive one of the family, was asked to dance for almost every set.
Elizabeth herself had danced to almost every set as well, and her partners included several of the officers of the militia who had been invited to the ball by a general invitation issued to the commander, Colonel Foster. But, she quickly rued having accepted an offer to dance from Lieutenant Wickham. Of those that she had danced with that night, he was the only one who seemed to leer at her and seize every opportunity to try look down her dress, even though she was dressed quite demurely.
He had started to tell her of his tale of woe at being cheated out of his inheritance and a living, when to her great relief the set came to an end. Blatantly attempting to direct
her to the balcony instead of returning her to the side of her husband, as she had requested, she politely but determinedly removed her hand from his arm, curtsied slightly toward him, and walked to Jerome’s side unescorted. Trying to save his dignity, Wickham had bowed to her receding back, and soon left the dance floor for the balcony by himself.
Elizabeth did not like or particularly care for Lieutenant George Wickham at all, but she was not going to let that spoil the ball for anyone else. Following her unsavory dance with him, when anyone else had asked her to dance, she simply told them that she preferred to stay close to her husband for the rest of the night.
Fortunately, sometime during the ball, Mr. Bingley found the time, and the nerve, to ask Jane for a courtship, and she readily agreed. Elizabeth and Jerome waited until the next day to tell everyone about the baby due in late January. To say that everyone at Longbourn and Netherfield was happy the day after the ball would have been an understatement. The only unpleasantness was when Elizabeth mentioned her feeling of unease about Wickham to both Jane and to Mr. Bingley. Being the good man that Elizabeth had already felt that he was, Mr. Bingley informed them that he and Jane would work together as much as possible to limit Lieutenant Wickham’s access to Kitty and Lydia.
After a month of courtship, Bingley asked Jane to marry him, and she was more than pleased to accept. The wedding was scheduled for November, so that it would be the last trip that Elizabeth would be able to make before her confinement began in anticipation of the birth of the baby.
Gabby and her sisters had had more than four months to prepare the dress for Jane’s wedding and it was simply stunning. While it had been on display in Madame Claudine’s window, her business had quadrupled, creating an urgent need for more skilled women to help with the sewing. Previously, several months before, with Elizabeth and Jerome’s help, she had been able to bring over her remaining family from France: three cousins, two of whom were excellent seamstresses and had worked beside her in her father’s shop, and an elderly aunt, their father’s last remaining sister. Now, with this tremendous increase in business, she needed to hire even more seamstresses.
After both the modiste and confections businesses had increased so much the previous year, Elizabeth had been instrumental in helping Gabby to find a house that was fairly close to the shop and also big enough for her and her sisters, as well as their extended family.
The sisters were now able to take more of a ‘management role’ with their businesses. While they did less and less of the actual sewing or baking, they were ever diligent in regard to those whom they hired and to the oversight of the quality of the product that was produced for them. As Elizabeth had taught them, they paid a more than fair wage, and those who worked for them were well worth every penny.
Bella had traveled with Jerome and Elizabeth to Longbourn five days before the wedding to make any adjustments to the wedding dress that might be necessary. She fit right in with the almost exclusively female household, since Elizabeth’s sisters had taken an immediate liking to her. With the arrival of their mutual friend, Charlotte Lucas, a couple of days before Jane’s wedding, Elizabeth, Jane, and Charlotte began to feel like girls again.
Along with their unofficial sisters, Bella and Charlotte, the five Bennet girls stayed up later than usual, joking and laughing until they cried. All of the sisters considered Bella almost a part of the family, especially the youngest, Kitty and Lydia, who made some startling disclosures to her they would never have made to their older sisters.
Bella may have been young, but she was no naive child, and soon had taken both Kitty and Lydia’s measure. With Elizabeth already gone from the area and Jane soon to be gone, albeit only for a short time before returning to Netherfield, Bella felt it necessary to notify Elizabeth of her concerns. Certain officers of the militia were having a detrimental effect on the younger girls, and Elizabeth was not surprised in the slightest to learn their names were Sanderson and Wickham.
Elizabeth, Jerome, and Bella spoke with Jane and Charles Bingley about their concern for Kitty and Lydia. Jane had not wanted an extended honeymoon, mainly because of the obviously failing health of Mr. Bennet. Now, with his concern for both Elizabeth’s soon confinement and the younger Bennet sisters’ indecorous behavior, Charles had decided to stay in close proximity to both London and Netherfield. He and Jane limited their honeymoon to a month’s duration. Meanwhile, Jerome and Elizabeth decided that they would bring the younger sisters to London until after Charles and Jane returned to the neighborhood.
With their many decisions made, they all looked forward to the wedding, and it was wondrous. Jane looked even more enchanting than she had at the Netherfield ball, and Charles was the happiest man in all of England and probably most of the Continent as well. After the wedding breakfast at Longbourn, the Bingleys left for parts unknown. Although privately, Elizabeth and Jerome had been given a detailed itinerary of where they could be reached at all times.
They were to spend the wedding night in a secluded villa approximately the size of Longbourn about ten miles from Meryton. Elizabeth had answered Jane’s questions about the wedding night in exactly the manner in which Aunt Lilly had answered her own questions. She had provided Jane with a similar container of ointment and instructions for its use after her bath the morning after the wedding night. Elizabeth knew that Jane’s wedding night would be vastly different from her own and could not help thinking how wonderful it would be to make love to someone you truly loved and who loved you just as much in return.
“At least Jane will have that privilege,” she smiled as she thought knowingly to herself.
For the next month, Elizabeth’s younger sisters split their time between Jerome and Elizabeth’s home and that of their Aunt and Uncle Gardiner. Late one morning, Aunt Lilly had come to collect the girls to take them to Serendipity Confections. Elizabeth had come down the stairs to say farewell to them in the foyer when she began to feel slightly faint. As she suddenly reached for Mary’s arm to steady herself, she felt liquid running down her leg.
Realizing what was happening, Aunt Lilly quickly took Elizabeth’s free arm, and with Mary’s help began to assist her niece back up the stairs, as she called out for Mrs. Upton. When the housekeeper saw Elizabeth being assisted up the stairs and the puddle on the floor, she sent a runner to Jerome’s office to call him home, and another to the doctor to ask him to come as soon as possible.
Elizabeth was entering labor nearly a month early. Mrs. Upton had been concerned for her mistress for months, having noticed that while she had gained weight as was to be expected, the bulk of her increased girth was in her abdomen alone. Her breasts had increased in size somewhat and her hips had widened a bit, but it appeared most of the weight was baby, and Elizabeth was so very, very small. Too many women much physically bigger than Elizabeth had died in childbirth.
Jerome arrived at virtually the same time as the doctor and midwife, and all three rushed to Elizabeth’s bedchamber which had been made ready for the birth: a bucket of hot water resting at the edge of the fire in the fireplace, and clean cloths and blankets to wrap the baby already in place. She had now been in labor for over an hour.
Lydia and Kitty had been complaining venomously since the morning’s aborted trip that they did not have anything to do, and now they whined unceasingly that they were not even allowed on their outing. When Mrs. Upton overheard their mewling, she had given them a look that could have frozen water. They promptly and very wisely went to their rooms without further complaint.
As Elizabeth’s labor extended to more than five hours with the pain continually increasing, she secretly had wanted Jerome to be with her to help sooth her nerves. He had chosen instead to stay in his study with her Uncle Edward. Finally, when the pain became almost unbearable, the midwife reported she could see the head and the birth was imminent. With one final push, the Mills’ heir was born.
He was a big baby by any standard. Clearly, Mrs. Upton’s analysis was correct. Almost all of the
weight Elizabeth had gained had been the baby’s. The doctor, the midwife, and her family were all too aware that had she gone another month in all likelihood neither she nor the baby would have survived. As it was, she had a remarkably uneventful delivery.
At first, all Elizabeth could see of the baby was a head full of dark curls almost exactly like her own. When she had been bathed and finally held their son, Jerome had come to her side. Both parents remarked when the babe finally opened his eyes, they were pale gray just like his father’s. Thomas Jerome Gardiner Mills had been born on December 24, 1817, and was a wondrous combination of both his mother and father. His hair colour, complexion, and the shape of his lips were those of his mother. His long, lanky body, and the colour of his eyes mirrored his father. Jerome was so happy that he caressed both his wife and son, and kissed Elizabeth full on the lips as everyone present smiled broadly and then laughed out loud.
Elizabeth remembered the only other time that Jerome had acted as such. It was in Lille when she had shown him the gown Gabby and her sisters had made for her.
