by Greer Boyd
She did not have to wait long. Within a matter of minutes, Nurse Lauren and the children were seen walking toward the stable. Annabel and Nathan ran over to meet them, scooped them up, and carried them to the stable, telling them about the new horses. When the children saw the golden horses glistening in the mid-afternoon sun, they clapped their hands with delight. When Darcy looked at them and said, “Well, would you like to go riding for a short while?” all four responded at once “Yes - - peez,” and burst into laughter.
They rode for over an hour, followed by the phaeton containing Nurse Lauren and also by the armed outriders. When they returned to Pemberley House, Elizabeth noticed that Annabel and Nathan were more subdued than usual and suggested Annabel join her in her study. As soon as the door was closed behind them, she quietly asked, “Is everything all right? Did you and Nathan have a disagreement?”
Peering disconsolately out the window, Annabel murmured, “No.”
“Then, why are you so sad?” Elizabeth queried further.
“Oh Elizabeth,” cried Annabel as she rung her hands before her, “Nate is going away.”
“What?” replied Elizabeth somewhat startled?
“When we go back to London, he has to return to his parents and then continue with school,” cried Annabel softly. “He will be gone, and I will almost never see him again.”
“Are you not going to go to school soon also?” asked Elizabeth calmly in an effort to soothe the young woman.
“Yes . . . but we will see each other so infrequently that he will forget about me,” sobbed Annabel. Elizabeth wanted to chuckle, but knew that love could hurt at any age.
“Annabel, Aunt Eleanor and Aunt Lilly are the best of friends, and I know that they will see each other frequently. Plus, I am sure that Nathan will accompany them as often as possible,” she offered.
“Elizabeth,” countered Annabel, “I know you must think me silly. I know that Nate is a young man, and I am still a little girl, but . . . OH . . . how can I possibly describe how I feel when he is not around?”
“Let me see if I can try,” suggested Elizabeth walking to the window where Annabel stood. “You feel like a part of you is missing and that you are no longer a complete individual. You find yourself looking at things and thinking to yourself ‘Nate would like this,’ or ‘I wonder what Nate would think of that.’ Someone will say something that reminds you of something he once said, and you start to smile. When you walk into a room, his face is the one you immediately search for.”
Seeing the look of utter amazement on Annabel’s face, she asked, “Shall I go on?”
“Is this the way you feel about William?” asked Annabel with a display of tenderness well beyond her years.
“Yes,” Elizabeth answered honestly as she squeezed the young girls hands softly, “and so much more.”
At once disconsolate, Annabel looked into Elizabeth’s face. “What will I do if he forgets me or finds someone else?”
“You will remember the pleasant times that you two shared, wish him well, and begin your life afresh,” replied Elizabeth sincerely. Then she pulled the young girl to her side and hugged her tightly.
“I do not know if I could do that,” Annabel muttered turning to the window again.
“You, my dearest Annabel, are much stronger than you realize,” stated Elizabeth simply, “much stronger indeed.”
A few rooms away, Nathan knocked on the door to Darcy’s study, and hurried in when Darcy called “Enter.”
“Your Grace, Mr. Darcy,” stammered Nathan, “may I speak with you for a few minutes?”
Noticing the solemn look on the young man’s face, Darcy tried to be reassuring, “Of course, Nate.”
“Mr. Darcy,” he began, running his hand through his hair, as he walked back and forth behind the chairs in front of Darcy’s desk, “in little more than a week, we will be returning to London and I must return to my family and then to school.”
“Yes, but if you like, and your parents allow, you may come to visit next summer. You know that you are always welcome here,” smiled Darcy warmly, as he watched the young man suddenly come to a halt.
“I know and appreciate that very much Sir, but . . .” Nathan looked fully into Darcy’s face and plowed on almost desperately, “what about Annabel? I do not want to leave her. I want to stand beside her and protect her. As fearless as she is, I know that she will need me to look out for her.”
“Nathan,” asked Darcy completely without any pretense, “how old are you now?”
“I am just about to turn six and ten years, Mr. Darcy,” replied Nathan as he stepped forward to sit in one of the chairs situated in front of Darcy’s desk.
“And Annabel is just two and ten years. You have six more years before you could possibly be with Annabel in any manner other than as her friend,” explained Darcy, laying this fact before the young man without preamble as he crossed his legs and placed his hands in his lap.
“You make it sound so hopeless,” Nathan complained, then slumped in his chair.
“Oh no, not hopeless . . . hopeful,” insisted Darcy as he explained. “I have wished for someone like Mrs. Mills since I was little more than two and ten years old. Finding someone that you truly love and care for more than . . . more than life itself is the hard part, Nathan. Waiting until the time comes when you can be together with that person forever is the easy part. Have you told Annabel how you feel?”
“When are we ever alone so that I could tell her how I feel, let alone ask for her feelings?” the boy pleaded allowing his arms to fall limply at his side.
Darcy had not intended to, but he found himself chuckling, “Well Nathan, I suggest you pay close attention, and should you ever find yourself nearly alone together for more than a minute, that you ask her if she will wait for you. If she will not, then you must accept her answer and move forward from there. But, should she say yes, then the path is open to you, and I would urge you to talk with your parents as well as hers, so that there will not be any possibility for misunderstandings.”
“Thank you, Mr. Dar . . . Your Grace,” replied Nathan. He stood to leave, and added with renewed confidence, “I will bide my time and be vigilant.”
Darcy waited only minutes before he sought Aunt Eleanor. Finding her in the solarium sitting among the fronds of the various plants and chatting with Elizabeth, he asked, “If I am not interrupting anything, may I join you?”
“Please do,” replied Aunt Eleanor cheerfully. “I may need your input regarding my daughter and a certain young man.”
“Nathan?” asked Darcy. As his aunt nodded her head, he continued, “He has just left my study not a quarter hour ago. He is greatly concerned about Annabel.”
When Elizabeth started to giggle, both Darcy and Aunt Eleanor looked at her questioningly. “I am so sorry,” she explained, “but Annabel left me not more than a quarter hour ago concerned about Nathan.”
As Elizabeth told them about her conversation with Annabel and Darcy shared his conversation with Nathan, Aunt Eleanor was once more made aware that her daughter was rapidly becoming a young woman. She knew that Annabel had feelings for Nathan, but had no idea that they ran so deep. Then, to find out that Nathan felt very much the same, if not more, was a bit surprising.
“William, Elizabeth,” stated Aunt Eleanor succinctly, “I think that they need a few private moments to discuss their feelings, do you not agree? To my mind, five but certainly not more than ten minutes should be sufficient. Thank you both. Neither Annabel nor Nathan will ever know that we talked.”
After dinner that evening, everyone had gathered in the sitting room to talk and play games, listen to the piano, or read to one another, as they did almost every evening. Soon Darcy noticed that the family members were slowly leaving the sitting room to retire to their bedchambers a bit earlier than usual. Finally it was only Darcy, Elizabeth and her companion, Nathan, Annabel and her companion, and Aunt Eleanor.
When Elizabeth mentioned that she was ready to ret
ire, Darcy asked if he might walk her to her door, since he, too, had to arise early the next morning to attend to estate business at a tenant farm on the far side of Pemberley. Nathan looked at Annabel, and they both glanced toward Aunt Eleanor, who said to Annabel’s companion, “Carolyn, might I ask you to assist me for a few minutes?”
Annabel’s eyes widened as she watched her mother and her companion exit the room, leaving her quite alone with Nathan, who was quick to take the opportunity presented. “Annabel,” he began quickly, “when we return to London, I must return to my parents and then to school.”
“Yes, I know,” replied Annabel, looking at her hands.
“Annabel Fitzwilliam, please look at me,” Nathan almost pleaded. As she raised her eyes, he saw that they sparkled with unshed tears. “Will you wait for me?”
Seeing the surprised almost stunned look on her face, he continued, “I know that we will see each other occasionally, but we will not soon again be together as we have been for most of this year. Will you wait until I become a man? For six or seven years until I am able to ask for your hand properly?”
“Oh, yes, Nate,” declared Annabel softly. “I was so afraid that you would forget me when you went away.” Taking a deep breath, she spoke calmly and quite formally, “Nathan Gardiner, I will wait for you.”
Aunt Eleanor entered the sitting room only a minute or two later to find that the two had resumed their game and were again smiling and talking merrily with one another. When she had taken her seat and Annabel’s young companion had taken hers, she announced, “Nathan, your parents are coming to Matlock House for an early Christmas dinner before we depart London to return to Matlock, and I hope that you will be able to attend as well.”
“I would like that very much, Lady Eleanor,” he replied cheerfully.
“Will you be returning to Eaton after the Christmas Holidays?” she continued, lacing her fingers together in her lap.
“Yes, I have another year before heading off to Cambridge,” he explained, then he turned politely toward her and away from the game he and Annabel were playing.
“As much as I know that I will miss her, Annabel will most likely start to attend Mrs. Bonds’ School for Young Women after the first of the year,” announced Aunt Eleanor, with a glance in her daughter’s direction. “I have already asked your Mother to look after her when we are not in London and have given her papers to legally act in our stead in case of any emergency. Perhaps you might have an opportunity to look in after her on occasion as well.”
“Lady Eleanor, I would consider it an honor,” responded Nathan quite solemnly. Then, he hesitated a moment before he asked, “Lady Eleanor, may I write to Lady Annabel?”
Seeing the surprised look on Annabel’s face, she questioned, “Nathan that is highly unusual. You do know that your mother and I will read any letter that you might write, do you not? And the same thing would apply to any letter Annabel writes in response?”
“Of course, I would expect nothing less,” stated Nathan matter-of-factly.
“Well then,” continued Aunt Eleanor, “I will speak with Lilly, and we shall arrange something that meets the bounds of propriety.”
“Thank you, Lady Eleanor,” replied Nathan, nodding his head in a minimal bow.
CHAPTER 17
The journey to London for the beginning weeks of the Little Season was accomplished with ease. For the entirety of the trip, the weather was excellent, and once again Darcy House was filled with family. Darcy had insisted that Gabby and her sisters stay with him. Over the next four to five days, the party was joined by the Fitzwilliams, the Dennys, the Flemings, and the D’Arcys. Nathan returned to his family and Uncle James and Aunt Eleanor returned to Matlock House with Annabel, although both families were at Darcy House almost every day. Aunt Eleanor asked the Bingleys to remain at Darcy House, to serve as additional chaperones for the unmarried ladies in residence.
At the first opportunity, all of the newly married ladies, along with Jane, arranged to meet with Elizabeth in her bedchamber. When they had all taken a seat, Elizabeth looked from one to another. Startled, she exclaimed, “Not . . . not all of you?” Then, seeing Jane smile as broadly as the others, she asked, “Jane? You as well?”
Lowering her voice to almost a whisper, she questioned them, “Have any of you told Aunt Eleanor?”
“No,” Charlotte promptly replied, and looked to her new sister-in-law with a conspiratorial wink. “Mary and I suspect that she has already guessed about us and possibly Georgiana. Rebecca and Maryann were away, so she has not even seen them as yet.”
Elizabeth was ecstatic, “I am so happy for you all. Mary, Charlotte, you received my letters, did you not?”
“Yes, Elizabeth, we did,” Charlotte hastened to reply. Then, her demeanor suddenly turned quite serious, as did the tone of her voice, “That is one reason we all wanted to talk with you. We believe that starting mid-April none of us will be able to travel, and with the possibility of twins we need to speak with you about logistics.”
“What is this concern about the possibility of twins?” asked Maryann as the smile fled her face.
Looking seriously at each of the women present, Elizabeth straightened in her chair. “I need to speak to each of you. Twins may be born at any time, although their frequency is not nearly comparable to having only one child. There are certain . . .”
A knock on the door interrupted Elizabeth and, soon Aunt Eleanor walked into the room. “I wondered where you had all gotten off to,” she cooed, “but I should have known you would come to Elizabeth first.” Then, she, too, realized what might be afoot. “ALL OF YOU? Jane? You too?”
“Mother Fitzwilliam,” Mary started to speak, but Aunt Eleanor interrupted her before she could finish.
“Mary, please call me Mama like my boys and Annabel do.”
“Mother Fitzwilliam,” Mary offered instead, “since my mama is still alive, may I call you ‘Maman’ instead?”
“Of course, how thoughtless of me,” replied Aunt Eleanor. “Maman, you are truly a force to be reckoned with, but you are not now nor will you ever be thoughtless,” stated Mary as she stood to kiss Aunt Eleanor on the cheek.
One by one, the ladies each followed suit, asking either to call her ‘Maman,’ or in the case of Rebecca and Maryann, whose mother was dead, ‘Mama’. As tears gathered in her eyes, she answered with what had now become the family mantra, “Yes - - peez.”
Amid shared laughter, Elizabeth brought them back to the questions at hand. “Aunt Eleanor, I wanted to speak to each of the ladies regarding the possibility of twins. I know that they are not nearly so frequent, but since there are so very many in our families, the probability is much greater than normal.”
Aunt Eleanor leaned forward, brushed an invisible mite from her skirt and responded, “Elizabeth, whether or not Annabel meant to alert me I do not know; but, after the conversation in the stable at Pemberley, I have been in contact with Dr. Crawford. Twins seem to occur one per hundred births if the mother has twin births on her side of the family. That makes all of you, except possibly for Georgiana, more at risk.”
“At risk?” queried Georgiana seemingly stricken with the direction that the conversation had suddenly taken. “Should not twins be a double blessing?”
Elizabeth took Georgiana’s hand tightly into her own, “Georgiana, any child is a blessing. But, there are many things that can go wrong. You know more of this than anyone in this room, since both your mother and Anne Elizabeth’s died in childbirth. I truly do not wish to frighten any of you, but you must be made aware of what you might face.”
Looking to Aunt Eleanor for confirmation, she continued, “I lost two babies before their quickening, and it was after more than a year of marriage that I became pregnant with Thomas. It was more than six months before Jane became pregnant with Jonathan. Granted, Jane and I both delivered our babies in amazingly short order, after about six hours of labor, but that is not always the case.”
Georgiana’s v
oice shook as she recounted, “Amanda labored for six and thirty hours before giving birth to Anne Elizabeth.”
Looking at the suddenly stricken faces of the women gathered in the room, Aunt Eleanor picked up where Elizabeth had left off, “Anne Elizabeth, Thomas, and Jonathan were single babies. When two babies try to grow and develop in a place meant for one, the possibility for difficulties increases substantially. But, please do not worry. We intend to take very good care of each and every one of you.”
Immediately Elizabeth saw Aunt Eleanor as a mother fully prepared to gather her children close and to protect them from harm, just as a mother hen, when threatened, will gather her chicks protectively under her wings. “I suggest that we prepare a plan of action,” announced Aunt Eleanor.
Charlotte laughed as she reached over to place her hand on her mother-in-law’s arm: “Maman, Richard has always said that you would have made an amazing general.”
