Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth

by Greer Boyd

  Now smiling fully, Georgiana looked to her brother, her cousin, her cousin’s companion, and then back to where Elizabeth lay holding her hands protectively against her temples. “My brother will take care of everything. You lie here quietly and do not move about so much, and I will make sure that we are informed of all that is happening with Jane.”

  Elizabeth rested her head on the pillow and, trying not to move it at all, quietly whispered to Georgiana, “You know that your confidence will forever be safe with me, but I must tell you that Amanda had mentioned some of it in a letter written to me long ago.”

  “I know,” stated Georgiana, glancing at her Cousin Anne, who also was aware of her indiscretion in Ramsgate. “She asked my permission before she wrote to you of it. That is one of the reasons I felt comfortable speaking with you. Although, I admit that I thought that you were asleep while I chattered away.”

  Elizabeth smiled as cheerfully as she could and still in her raspy voice whispered, “So I was, Georgiana. So I was.” Then, frustrated with her sluggish mind at not having thought of it earlier, she added pleadingly, “I do not know whether Aunt Lilly has thought yet to notify my mother about Jane. Would you check with her about it? If the note has not been sent, please have her send one immediately asking Mama and my sister Mary to come in the morning, and, if it is agreeable with you, to bring my son. I miss him terribly.”

  “Elizabeth,” offered Anne with great pleasure in her voice, “he is here already.”

  Georgiana grinned broadly at everyone in the room, and looking back to Elizabeth continued, “He came earlier with your Aunt Lilly. He sat with my niece and brother in the chair just over there while you were struggling with a high fever yesterday afternoon.”

  Suddenly struck by what she had heard, Elizabeth’s became so visibly bewildered that Georgiana pulled her chair closer to the bed and began to slowly stroke her upper arm, while Anne and then Charlotte settled into the next closest chairs. Darcy remained in the room, but had edged slightly toward the door as the women clustered near Elizabeth’s bed.

  Georgiana quietly began to explain, “Elizabeth, while you were unconscious, apparently, my niece, Anne Elizabeth, who is about the same age as your son, Thomas, sensed your presence. So Jane allowed her to come into your room. As soon as she entered, she wanted to be lifted onto the bed. When Jane allowed her to come up on the foot of your bed, she was very quick to crawl from there to snuggle with you, and you embraced her. I must tell you that she called you ‘Mama,’ and you replied ‘Mama is here, Darling’ as you turned on your side and held her close to your body.”

  A dawning realization came to Elizabeth as she remembered the string, or was it a thought or simply pure emotion, that had helped pulled her from the blackness of her unconsciousness.

  Georgiana glanced back at Darcy before she continued, “Jane had asked that Thomas be brought to you, and my brother and Mr. Bingley left only long enough to bring him here along with your Aunt Lilly. Unfortunately, you then developed a fever that grew worse throughout the afternoon to early evening.”

  Aware of the astonished look on Elizabeth’s face, she kept her voice even as she explained further, “While my brother took the children to the nursery, you became quite agitated and seemed to be struggling as the fever grew quite hot. You thrashed about and fought as though you were in a great battle. The only time you ceased your struggle was when my brother returned to the room a few minutes later. When he arrived, you became visibly calmer, and because of that Jane and your Aunt Lilly were willing to allow him to sit in a chair in your room with his back to you as you lay in the bed.”

  Elizabeth ever so very slowly turned her head until she could see Darcy, now standing squarely in the doorway and looking directly back at her. As their eyes met, it was as if each could peer into the heart of the other. At once, they both knew that here was the person out of everyone in the entire world who could make life complete. Completely befuddled, Elizabeth wrested her eyes from Darcy and slowly gazed searchingly from one woman to the next.

  Georgiana laughed as she gently squeezed Elizabeth’s hand against her cheek. “Elizabeth,” she continued, “you calmed immediately, and even though your fever grew worse, you ceased to struggle. Later on, when the children were allowed back into your room, they stayed with William and sat on his lap until your fever finally broke. We hurried them out of the room until after we were able to bathe you and change the bed linen. Later Anne Elizabeth settled in on one side of you and Thomas on the other, each contentedly grasping a hand.”

  “And,” Anne added as she sat back in her chair and giggled much as Georgiana had a few moments before, “Thomas has been calling Georgiana’s brother ‘Papa.’”

  Having Georgia and a maid lift her upper body on the pillows behind her, as if to clear her mind and find a way to understand all she had been told, Elizabeth whispered, “I do not know if you will believe this or not, but parts of what you are telling me were in my nightmare. George Wickham was there in the blackness, as though he were the devil himself. But every time he came too close or grasped for me, I felt something that my mind could only describe as ‘a thread.’ I was seeking that thread to pull me from his grasp when I heard a tiny voice calling ‘Mama.’ Wickham came for me a second time when I was floating in clouds that were red and angry looking. At that point, there were three strings that I tried to catch them but they were beyond my reach. Then, as I was still struggling helplessly and Wickham was about to catch me in his grasp and drag me back into the blackness, the threads twined themselves about my fingertips and pulled me back into white billowy clouds. And again, I was floating. That is where I have been . . . where I was . . . until I heard your voice speaking to me. As I listened to your voice, the clouds dissipated and I woke up.”

  Now it was Georgiana’s turn to be astonished. “Were her brother and Elizabeth destined to be together?” she wondered. “Was this the face of destiny . . . that ultimate predetermination . . . inevitability? Were they somehow being literally drawn to one another?” To Elizabeth, she laughed as she squeezed her hand gently, “I am certainly glad that you have a propensity for embroidery.”

  ∞∞∞

  Darcy had quietly slipped from Elizabeth’s bedchamber, gone to his rooms, and changed from his nightclothes before going to his study to await the doctor’s arrival.

  Three hours later, he showed Dr. Crawford into the room where Jane lay. Mrs. Wyatt had efficiently transformed the room from a normal bedchamber to a birthing room, apparently none too soon. The doctor’s swift examination revealed the birth could occur at any moment.

  When Georgiana told Anne, Charlotte, and Elizabeth what the doctor had said and added that Jane did not seem to be in any severe distress, Elizabeth nervously clenched and unclenched her fists as they lay on the duvet beside her body, “Thomas came within six hours. Maybe Jane will be like me and not have a long delivery time.”

  And, in truth, Jane proved to be very like Elizabeth when she delivered the Bingley heir, Jonathan Andrew Edward Bingley on March 23, 1819, a little more than six hours after the process began and just minutes before her mother and sister, Mary, arrived at Darcy House. Secretly Elizabeth was glad for their late arrival, because even though her mother was much subdued from what had been her previous exuberant and highly vocal behavior, she could still become quite unreasonable, excitable and nervous, and create much frustration for those around her.

  By the time Jane delivered, Elizabeth was able to very slowly move her head from side to side without the room spinning and her being overcome by nausea, which proved to be a good thing. Still, the severe pain in her head persisted and did not diminish in the slightest. After being bathed by the maid and with the help of Georgiana, Charlotte, and the same maid, Elizabeth had been able to don one of Georgiana’s clean nightgowns and dress robe. She had settled into a sitting position, propped up on pillows, before her Uncle Gardiner and Mr. Fleming came to knock on the door of Darcy House seeking to speak with both Eli
zabeth and Charles Bingley.

  When Darcy saw the men congratulating Charles Bingley in the foyer, he walked directly to them and Charles introduced him to Elizabeth and Jane’s uncle, Edward Gardiner, with whom Darcy was already acquainted, and to Elizabeth’s business associate, Mr. Stanley Fleming. After the introductions were complete, Darcy asked the trio to join him in his study. As they entered and were seated, he called for both coffee and tea, which were brought promptly. Dismissing the maid, he gestured for everyone to help themselves.

  As they casually filled their cups, they again began to congratulate Bingley on the birth of his son. Darcy placed his hand on Charles’ shoulder, but spoke to all those present, “Who would have thought that through the death of such a loathsome scoundrel as George Wickham, we would now have the pleasure of welcoming a new life into a world that will be the better for the loss of him?”

  Although the conversation stilled with Darcy’s statement, Charles stepped into the breach. “You know, Darcy,” he pointed out, “I would not be surprised if you start to receive visits from your neighbors anxious to find out what all the excitement has been about at Darcy House over the last several days.”

  He smiled at Charles as he again grasped his shoulder firmly, “Well, it appears that most of my family and most of yours have taken up residence at Darcy House. Why, this place has not been this busy in many years.”

  “And, it looks like most of my family will be in residence for several weeks,” Charles replied, turning toward his host almost apologetically. “Darcy, I am so sorry to inconvenience . . .”

  Before he could complete his statement, Darcy quickly interjected, “Charles, none of this is an inconvenience to me. Quite the contrary, I welcome the opportunity to renew my friendship with you and get to know your new family better.” And, he thought to himself, “Especially your sister Elizabeth.”

  Mr. Gardiner and Mr. Fleming exchanged glances as the former inquired, “Charles, I really do hate to disturb you at such a time, but I need to know how Elizabeth is doing.”

  “Oh, Uncle, I am so sorry. I have not even had the opportunity to tell you yet. She is doing much better. She was unconscious for quite a while and battled a fever that became alarmingly high before it broke last evening. She did not awaken, however, until very early this morning.” A wide smile stretching almost from ear to ear, he looked knowingly at Darcy before he added, “As a matter of fact, I believe that her awakening is what induced Jane into labor. She had been so worried for Lizzy that I became worried for them both.”

  “Knowing that both of my nieces are doing well is exceedingly good news indeed,” Mr. Gardiner hastened to reply, his face betraying a look that told the depth of his relief. “I hate to make this visit about business, but I must speak with you and Lizzy about an investment for Mills Ventures that needs an urgent reply. Plus, Mr. Fleming and I must speak with both of you about another equally important investment for Affinité Enterprise.”

  Darcy was stunned, and with incredulity added a certain sharpness to his voice when he remarked, “Charles, I thought that Eliza—Mrs. Mills’ husband directed all of the business investments and that you, along with her uncle and business associate, now administered those investments in his absence.”

  Charles Bingley and Uncle Gardiner started to laugh, and Mr. Fleming actually looked at Darcy in quite an indignant manner. “Mr. Darcy,” started Uncle Gardiner.

  “No, no. Please call me Darcy.”

  Glancing quickly from Charles to Mr. Fleming, he started again, “Darcy, my niece has been investing since she was a child. From the small allowance given her by her father, she was able to accumulate over £500 by the time of her marriage. I know that may not sound like a lot to you, but you have no idea how small her allowance really was. Her financial accumulation could have been substantially more, but she often used part or sometimes all of her return to provide for the needs of her sisters . . . frequently without their knowing or even caring, the youngest especially.”

  Charles then began to explain, looking to his uncle for confirmation: “Elizabeth’s father managed his estate so poorly that each daughter’s dowry was but £100 and only another £1,000 was due them from their mother’s settlement upon her death.”

  Mr. Fleming looked a bit nonplussed, since this was the first time that he had ever heard any of the details of Elizabeth’s former financial position.

  Charles continued to crow about his sister’s financial accomplishments, “Elizabeth’s husband gave her a small ship as a wedding gift, one of several owned by Mills Ventures, to operate in any way she saw fit. Any and all profit was to belong to Elizabeth alone. If she wanted to use the profit to assist her family, it was hers to do with as she pleased.” Noticing that Mr. Fleming was now smiling, he went on, “Elizabeth’s company, Affinité Enterprise, basically her ‘family’ enterprise, has grown to seven ships in a little over two years. With the profit from her shipping company and her other investments, she was able to offer Jane a dowry of £20,000 when we became engaged.

  Instead of taking the money, I asked Elizabeth to invest it solely for Jane. It is money that she will have beyond the settlement I provided for her and any future . . .” Charles paused a moment as though only now realizing that he had a son “for her and my son. I know that Lizzy intended to provide for all her sisters, but, well, there are only Jane and Mary now.”

  “Darcy,” Uncle Gardiner followed as he, too, warmed to the subject of his niece’s abilities, “Elizabeth has always adhered to the old saying ‘Do not put all your eggs in one basket’, so, she has many various and sundry investments, including assisting a worthy young seamstress in establishing her own modiste shop, purchasing three more ships during the next year, digging canals for movement of freight, developing the steam engine for use in mining and shipping, the development of larger steam engines for use in industry and railroads, and finally banking.”

  Darcy stood almost speechless as he realized that the woman who lay so ill in his guest room and tugged at his heart strings had abilities that far outstripped his own. Finally, he managed to say, “I had no idea at all. Most young women have little care for finance and business.”

  “I, for one, know that you are already an investor in Mills Ventures and have received a most adequate return,” Uncle Gardiner responded succinctly. “That investment opportunity came available and took place after the death of Jerome Mills. He saw something in Elizabeth that made him believe that she would be a willing helpmate to him in his personal life and also be understanding in his business life. When they married, he was wise enough to give her free reign with her ideas and creativity and became quite a wealthy man because of it. Barring any catastrophic event, such as an act of God, young Thomas should have quite a fortune when he comes of age, whether he chooses to work within the company his father started and his mother expanded, or simply live quite handsomely and carefree on the returns and interest.”

  “Mr. Gardiner,” acknowledged Darcy with a slight bow in the man’s direction, “you forget that a large portion of my daughter’s inheritance is invested with both Gardiner Shipping and Mills Ventures. Charles, I leave it to you and Eliza . . . Mrs. Mills to determine whether she is feeling well enough to transact business.”

  Then, directing his attention to both Uncle Gardiner and Mr. Fleming, he stated quite firmly “Gentlemen, feel free to come and go here at Darcy House as needed. My home is open to you at any hour, night or day.”

  As Charles Bingley left to go ask Elizabeth whether or not she was able and, even more important, inclined to transact business, Darcy looked to both of the men that remained in his study and asked, “Gentlemen, are you aware of any new investments that I may be interested in reviewing?”

  They laughed at him and shook his hand. Mr. Fleming had been prepared for Darcy to snub him or look down on him because of his involvement in trade and his lower social standing. Now, perceiving no such inclination from Darcy, he found himself predisposed to like the man.r />
  CHAPTER 10

  The meeting with her uncle, Charles, and Mr. Fleming had taken a little over an hour, and Georgiana had remained with her the entire time. Growing quite exhausted, Elizabeth placed the back of her hand over her forehead as she pled, “Uncle Edward, it appears that I am far from being my normal self. If any of this could possibly wait until tomorrow, I would appreciate a reprieve.”

  He spoke as he began to place notes and legal papers in the leather folder that rested on his lap. “Of course, I understand perfectly and believe that any remaining items can be worked out amongst Charles, Stan, and me. Should anything else arise, I will keep you abreast of it through Charles unless your direct input is needed.”

  “Thank you so much, Uncle,” Elizabeth responded, wearily.

  “Elizabeth,” inquired Mr. Fleming as he moved slightly to be directly in her line of sight so she would not have to turn to look at him, “Gabby and her sisters are very worried about you, and I know that they would appreciate the opportunity to look in on you personally.”

  “Oh, Stan,” she smiled, “that would make me most happy. Charles, would you inquire if Mr. Darcy would allow Gabby and her sisters to visit with me for tea around three? If so, please ask them to bring some of their confections for the Darcy household to enjoy.”