Page 37 of Miss Gardiner
“The midwife is the one who suggested the solution,” Madeline said. “She will be well paid for her silence.”
“Will my babe be safe? Will he have a family?”
“And you will know your son,” Elizabeth consoled her sister.
“But what about… My parents know I am with child,” Jane said. “They will question everything.”
“We shall tell everyone that you lost your babe in the winter. Many women lose babes in the first months, especially the first time and before they quicken,” Aunt Madeline explained.
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Left with Elizabeth to prepare for bed, Jane brushed her own hair and then brushed Elizabeth’s until it shone in the candlelight. Both young women were lost in thoughts of the future and the child hopefully saved from a horrible, short existence.
“Life can be very hard,” Elizabeth said quietly.
Jane embraced her sister, the one who rescued her from the hedgerows around Longbourn, and assured her, “Lizzy, yes life is hard and has moments of darkness but the moments of joy, the moments of happiness are so great that their memories must be called upon to banish the dark.”
“Joy and happiness?” Elizabeth asked carefully, allowing her dark moment to pass.
Once again, the smile on her sister’s face broke through Elizabeth’s mood as Jane recounted moments of joy. “Yes, my sister rescuing me. The first time that Charles told me he loved me. Feeling my babe kicking inside my belly. My aunt and uncle saving my child before he is born. These are moments of joy that will give me the strength to face each morning.”
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Mr Darcy returned to Gracechurch Street a week later. He had ridden into Hertfordshire with Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam to investigate the problems created by George Wickham.
“Mr Gardiner, everything reported in Mrs Collins letter appears to be true,” Darcy reported. “Lt. Wickham was paid by Lady Catherine to create problems in Hertfordshire simply because I was in residence at Netherfield. He admitted that his first intention was to seduce a daughter of the Bennet household but after Christmas, none of the remaining three daughters were in society.”
He shook his head and added, “Miss Maria Lucas made a suitable replacement.”
“I cannot imagine such a mind,” Mr Gardiner replied.
“Your aunt?” Elizabeth asked.
Mr Darcy frowned and sat before he explained, “She sought revenge for not returning her properties in Gravesend, or it was another attempt to force me into some obedience to her wishes. Lady Catherine has in recent years attempted to force my agreement to marry my cousin, Anne de Bourgh.”
“Oh,” Elizabeth murmured.
“But I have no intention of marrying Miss de Bourgh,” he assured Elizabeth.
As they shared more details of the trip into Hertfordshire, Darcy revealed that Lt. Wickham had been transferred to the regulars and shipped out to the continent with troops to fight Bonaparte.
“And my sister has returned from Pemberley,” he told Elizabeth. “I hoped that you and Mrs Gardiner would call tomorrow or the next day.”
Mrs Gardiner touched her belly–large with a bundle of cloths–and smiled. “We can visit for a short time tomorrow, but we cannot wander far or long from Gracechurch Street.”
“Of course, Mrs Gardiner,” Darcy replied.
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Whenthe Gardiner carriage arrived at the house in Mayfair, the coachman smiled as the footman–Howard–stepped smartly to the side of the carriage and opened the door, helping first Mrs Gardiner and then Miss Elizabeth Bennet to the street.
“It feels different this morning,” Elizabeth whispered to her aunt.
Nodding, Mrs Gardiner said, “I am sure you are seeing it through new eyes.”
At the door, Banks opened the portal before Elizabeth could knock; he bowed appropriately and waited.
“Mrs Edward Gardiner and Miss Elizabeth Bennet to call on Mr Darcy,” Aunt Gardiner announced as the butler motioned them into the hall and closed the door behind them.
