An Autumn Accord: A Pride and Prejudice Novella Variation (Seasons of Serendipity Book 4) (15 page)

♠♠~♠♠~♠♠~♠♠

The evening’s darkness creeping into the sky, Richard Fitzwilliam returned to the Holt House in Newcastle on Tyne, exhausted to the bone in a way he had not been in many months. Hearing movement in the parlor dedicated to his office, he nodded to the family servant and ducked into the room just off the entryway. His man Pratt scurried around the room, tidying up in preparation for the next day’s business.

“
Leave it. But I won’t say no to a bath if the kitchens can bear it.” Richard walked over to the desk and nodded to the man who had cared for his person in three different countries now. Reports piled up of Wellington’s successes in Spain, there was no doubt the Colonel’s regiment would scarcely be given until spring to shape up and reinforce the cavalry units already charging the lines.

Pratt handed a drink to his employer and comrade before quitting the room. He did not hand the letter from Mary Bennet to Richard; he knew better. But the letter sat conspicuously on the very top of the pile of papers he did leave behind before seeing to the Colonel’s bath.

Richard traced the edge of the letter with his coarse finger and exhaled. All afternoon he deliberated over what the letter contained. Swallowing his drink quickly as a last forge of courage, he leaned back into the wooden chair for his comfort and opened the note.

Dearest Richard,

I heard from your mother you arrived safely in Newcastle and I wish to send my own happiness of such news. I prayed fervently for your safe arrival. I am residing with my aunt and uncle until such time I am to go to Pemberley. If you should write me in return, please direct your letter there.

In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. The hardest day of my life was seeing you leave London and my memories of the afternoon haunt my every waking thought. I would include my sleeping thoughts, but that should require that I find sleep and I cannot claim thus. My heart, my mind, my very soul despises you for leaving. Despises you for loving me, for respecting my thoughts when no other had before, and then rejecting my love in return for your pride.

On the day I came closest to meeting our Lord in Heaven, you stepped in and killed another for my safety, with no concern to your own well being. My Richard the lion, my champion.  

I have reflected deeply on what I can do as a poor woman with some means to rectify this chasm between us. You, sir, need a champion. I stand as charged. 

I discussed with my uncle the possibility of my own establishment in London and he promised to assist my aims, while respecting society’s demands. I shall not have proper lodgings until next spring or summer at the earliest. But even beyond that, you sir, have a champion in me. 

I will wait. However long it takes, you have my heart, you have my loyalty, until such time as you find your way back to me. In my deepest soul, I am the wife of a soldier, and I shall find no other. 

With Unwavering Love, 

Mary Bennet.

Tears pricked the edges of Richard’s eyes and a great tension snapped in his shoulders. His chest, heavy with emotion, made his breathing difficult. He blinked as he furtively tried to read the letter once more but the words blurred before him.  Swiping his face with the rough arm of his red coat, he didn’t mind the coarseness of the fabric as he once more could read Mary’s beautiful words. His Mary.

♠♠♠

Chapter 13

A creaky caravan trekked through the woods between London and Derbyshire, eight carriages full of Bennets, Darcys, and Gardiners, plus extended staff slowly heading to the last inn before their final destination. Elizabeth Darcy happily rested her head on her husband’s shoulder, as the landscape outside the carriage looked less and less familiar.

Closing her eyes, her stomach began to twist and turn as she tried once more to picture the large estate her husband owned that was now to be her home as well. “Are there truly over one hundred rooms?”

“
Yes.”

“
And you’ve not provided me a map?” Elizabeth tilted her head to see her husband’s response to her tease. Sadly, the man maintained his stoicism.

“
The mistress of Pemberley does not require the use of a map,” he scoffed. Kissing her temple, he inhaled her scent from a small patch of hair not covered by her bonnet. “But I might keep one in my possession we can negotiate over, so long as it remains our small secret.”

The rare tease from her husband made Elizabeth smile when her stomach made an unmistakably profound somersaulting motion. Gasping for air, Elizabeth’s arm instinctively cradled her midsection at the startling movement.

“
Elizabeth? Are you ill? The inn is just around this turn.” Darcy began to fret over his wife.

Breathing steadily through her nose, the motion continued under Elizabeth’s hand, and realization dawned on her. But a moving carriage was hardly the proper place to tell her husband she realized the early stirrings of the next Darcy generation in her womb.

“
I am quite well. Just the toil of travels I am sure. When we arrive at the inn, I shall take a brief rest.” She offered him a small smile, leery of showing too much of her joy and risk further inquiries.

“
Hrm.” Darcy frowned, but said nothing more.

The Rowdy Rooster stood at the end of the turnpike as a major coaching inn for all travels in and out of Derbyshire. The fussing and cries of the overtired Gardiner children rankled the air as the stable staff attempted to address the chaos of so many carriages arriving together. Elizabeth took her Aunt Gardiner’s arm as she gave orders to the nanny for the care of her children, accepting little Constance from the nursemaid.

“
She is so beautiful, and her expression makes me think she is viewing and documenting all around her.” Elizabeth laughed as she offered to hold the child and Madeleine Gardiner complied. Constance had little care for who held her, so long as someone performed the task. The infant was most vocal should she be placed in a bassinet unless she was fast asleep, and even then, it was a gamble.

“
I know what you mean! She’s a precocious poppet and not yet three months’ old!” Madeleine Gardiner laughed along with her favorite niece as they entered the inn to refresh themselves in the rooms Mr. Darcy had reserved.

As Mrs. Bennet complained and both Mary and Kitty worked to console her, Elizabeth was thankful she had decided to find some privacy with her aunt. She was surprised when once inside the room, Madeline Gardiner wasted little time taking Constance from Elizabeth and began nursing the babe.

“
You feed your children even with a nurse maid?” Elizabeth asked.

Madeline Gardiner cooed and smiled at her youngest child cradled to her chest. “I understand it’s not as accepted in your set, Lizzie. But the bonding between a mother and child is so special, it’s not a task I happily hand over to a stranger. But I wanted you to see this, so no matter the decision you make for your own offspring you will be fully informed.”

“
Funny that you should mention, I am . . .” Elizabeth blushed, realizing this was the first time she would confirm to another that she was indeed increasing, “I felt the babe move in the carriage, I am sure of it!”

“
Blessings to hear! I told your uncle you were for certain due before your first wedding anniversary if my calculations are correct!”

Elizabeth’s face-splitting smile faltered. “Wait please, you discussed my condition with Uncle? How did you, how did you know?”

Mrs. Gardiner laughed so hard, poor Constance lost her latch for a moment. “My dear, you had all of the signs of increasing when you returned from Scotland, and as much as you and Mr. Darcy love one another, well, babies are not slow to arrive in a happy marriage.”

Elizabeth bit her lip as she considered her aunt’s words. How many others suspected she was with child? What if Fitzwilliam was of that inclination?

A knock on the suite door interrupted Elizabeth’s thoughts and her aunt stood with little effort to move to the bedroom area of the suite, leaving Elizabeth in the sitting room. Shrugging her shoulders, Elizabeth opened the door expecting her maid Becky, but instead her husband entered with a silver tray of tea.

“
Fitzwilliam, you brought me refreshments?” Elizabeth chuckled at the care her husband always offered, even if at times it bordered on stifling.

“
I asked the wife of the innkeeper for this particular one. There is ginger in the blend you see, and it can be of aid to ladies in . . . in your condition.” The man stammered a moment as he placed the tea service on the small table in the sitting room, as Elizabeth closed the door. She startled slightly when her husband referenced her condition.

“
You know?”

Darcy’s eyes pleaded with her own for understanding. He cleared his throat, but when he spoke, his voice was soft. “I have known, or rather suspected for some time. I was not certain if you knew, and I did not wish to speak of it before you did, nor bring memories of your sister.”

A silence descended over the room between the couple as muffled voices from the other members of their party could be heard through the paper-thin walls of the inn. Tears began to fall freely from Elizabeth’s eyes as she smiled at her husband who immediately moved to her side and crushed her in an embrace.

“
I’ve upset you, and that was far from my intentions. You will be well, you will have the best care and doctors, and I shall not let any harm come to you or our child. I swear.” Darcy’s voice huskily enveloped Elizabeth’s senses, and she sobbed freely in her husband’s chest, in between laughs. The odd cacophony pushed Darcy to release his wife and look down at her. “Elizabeth?”

“
Oh, do not mind me, sir, I have not had my own emotions under good regulation for many months. I cry because I was so frightened of telling you so soon after Lydia and carried this knowledge to myself, and I laugh because my aunt just told me she knew of my condition as well. Apparently, it is well-observed that the Darcy heir is on his way.”

“
Your aunt?”

Elizabeth pointed towards the bedroom. “She’s resting with the baby.”

“
Ah. Well.” Darcy cupped his wife’s face with his hands and bestowed a kiss on her delicate lips, a kiss carrying the pride and joy of a father-to-be to the mother of his children. “You do wear your condition very admirably, Mrs. Darcy, if I may say so.”

Elizabeth moaned softly, beginning to wish she had retired to this room alone. “You may say so, sir, and repeat such sentiments at your leisure. Preferably most often when I’ve swelled to the size of a whale.”

Darcy laughed and released his wife as Madeleine Gardiner appeared in the sitting room, properly clothed, with a fussy Constance.

“
Forgive me for interrupting, but I believe she needs a new nappy. I’ll just pop out and find the nurse.” Mrs. Gardiner ducked out of the room and no sooner had the door closed than the Darcys took full advantage of their brief privacy for more affections.

Feeling a need to breath from the crushing passion of her husband’s kisses, Elizabeth pulled back slightly and gave him such a solemn countenance he paused instead of pressing for more attentions.

“
Despite you and Aunt Gardiner knowing the truth, we must not tell Mama! She will go distracted and irksome, and I am not sure my nerves will tolerate her fussing.”

Darcy frowned in horror. Elizabeth nodded as she thought he was in agreement and nudged her back into his arms. “I’m afraid she too already knows, my dear. You really do carry your condition well.”

♠♠~♠♠~♠♠~♠♠

Just as dusk began to claim the horizon, the carriages were ordered to stop at the crest of Harper’s Hill. The passengers of each carriage huddled together and Darcy held the hand of his Elizabeth most fiercely. Down below, the sun’s intense rays crowned the white estate house below with a glory of golden light so that the effect was truly breathtaking.

“
Is that? Is that our home?” Elizabeth forced out, utterly captivated by the heavenly glow. Even her mother standing next to her was rendered speechless, a shock of epic proportion for the entire party.

Taking his wife’s hands to his lips, Fitzwilliam Darcy kissed them audibly, before flashing her one of his rare smiles.

“
Welcome to Pemberley, Mrs. Darcy.”

♠♠♠

Here is a special sample of Elizabeth's novel series,
The Moralities of Marriage
. Book One,
By Consequence of Marriage
, is now available on all major retailers! And Book Two,
A Virtue of Marriage
arrives March 2015.

Chapter One

A map of London lay spread upon the cherry stained table in Fitzwilliam Darcy's study. Considerable fatigue presented along the heavy crease lines dividing the city into roughly six quadrants. Scribbled notations in the meager margins blurred with street names and two men continued to argue over their next step in a search for the missing Georgiana Darcy.

"Here. Right here." Colonel Fitzwilliam, a distinguished member of His Majesty's finest, pointed with his thick, coarse fingers clenched together to underline the place name. "Were I Wickham, I'd hightail it to within a block or two of the docks. The men and wares coming and going make for easy marks. They'd find lodgings without considerable questions asked."

"The docks? George likes high society. I say we inspect the alleys and boarding houses off Bond. How would he explain a dirty, dingy inn down by the wharves to Georgiana?"

"It's been three weeks, man! They've not the funds for much more than quarters near the docks." The Colonel glared at his cousin. Both were responsible for Georgiana's safety, appointed as co-guardians of the girl since the death of Darcy's father. The current situation would prove their mettle as protectors, if all ended well.