“Madam, I beg you to not imagine that I have not considered the matter. But this is how my family has always raised our children. No mischief will be done. I have a fond relationship with my own nurse from childhood. Georgiana as well, and—”
“See! See!” Lady Catherine then looked at her other guests, and said, “I shall not speak of our family’s shame before my friends, but you have proven the matter.”
Darcy said stiffly, but with a clear voice, “I do thank you for your kindly meant advice, but I shall follow my own wisdom in this matter.”
“And ignore the preponderance of wisdom from all authorities upon the subject? If one must use a wet nurse, it is best to separate the child from the nursebeforethe child is so old that they shall develop a permanent affection.”
“That is not the advice of every authority,” Darcy replied. “Rousseau, in one of those rare cases in which I agreed with his advice, said that by detaching the child from their nurse you are chiefly teaching them ingratitude.”
“Rousseau’s advice,” Lady Catherine replied immediately, “was for the mother to nurse her child herself. My daughterought to have lived to do such. If only you had encouraged her to walk more frequently whilst she was in her delicate condition, all would have been well.”
Darcy did not reply to that, which Elizabeth thought showed remarkable forbearance.
Lady Catherine said, “There is no limit to the harm that the practice of giving out children to foster has done to our noble stock here in England. It is a principal cause of the decayed nature of our present day, in which women flit about, talking, attending opera and theatre, and dancing and listening to dissolute music at all hours of the night, with no concern in their minds for their most important duty. Mrs. Collins, promise me once more that you shall never allow your child to be given to a wet nurse, provided you survive the ordeal whose veil you shall soon pass through.”
Cheery thought.
Elizabeth felt more than a little resentment towards Lady Catherine. There was no point in reminding Jane that childbirth was dangerous. Every woman in the country knew that.
When Jane agreed that she intended to nurse the child herself, Lady Catherine added, “And you must follow the dictates of nature in all things. Do not allow the child to be tightly wrapped, no matter how much the midwife might insist. Do everything yourself, and never trust a hired servant.”
“I promise to act with judgement,” Jane replied.
“Further, do not allow the child to gain fixed habits, for then they will be weaker and more inflexible as an adult. The only habit the young ought to have is the habit of having no habit. Wake your son at irregular hours, take away any object to which he has become excessively fond. Do not allow him to become attached to persons who are not worthy of his concern. Always change everything.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam had an aghast expression. “I know excellent soldiers who are creatures of habit. I may even be one of them.”
“She is repeating a piece of Rousseau’s advice. But however popular he was amongst your set when you were young,” Darcy said to his aunt, “he did not raise his own children, but rather abandoned them. He loudly claimed in the introduction to hisgreatbook that he was qualified to be neither a tutor nor a father — I am not inclined to disagree with him upon the point — and he thought he could put his theories to a robust practical test by creating a wholly imaginary child to suffer through them.”
Elizabeth smiled at Darcy. “You are no enthusiast of Rousseau.”
“There is much in his attitude which offends me. I had believed it a work of genius when I readEmileas a student, but when I reread it after Emily’s birth, I found much to dislike.”
When they went to dinner Elizabeth was seated next to Colonel Fitzwilliam, who proved to be an excellent conversationalist, keeping her smiling and laughing. She did get a sense however that his questions were oriented towards understanding her character in greater detail.
The whole time Darcy’s eyes were upon her, and he barely spoke to Mary, who he sat next to. He occasionally replied to Lady Catherine. Darcy had a dissatisfied air as he watched her.
At one point Colonel Fitzwilliam said, “Mr. Darcy has determined to never marry again. He thinks there is no need for Emily to have a mother, as there is nothing that a man can do that a woman cannot.”
The easy manner with which Elizabeth heard Colonel Fitzwilliam say this proved that she had spent the months of recovery from her heartbreak well. “I heard him say as much myself, many times.” Elizabeth smiled at Mr. Darcy. She was light and fey; she cared for nothing. He would see that she caredfor nothing and cease to look at her in such a way. “I expect him to do nothing else.”
Mr. Collins said, “Hear, hear. Mr. Darcy ought to make his entire future life a shrine to the memory of his wife.”
Lady Catherine said, “No person, it would be impossible, a sacrilege, if anyone made the effort to follow my daughter, Anne. Any woman, no matter who they were, would prove themselves inferior in every way, and thus impart to Darcy an additional memory of his grief, rather than give him any comfort.”
“What of Princess Charlotte? Would she also be inferior in every way?” Elizabeth spoke without quite thinking. Likely it was the rush of having been able to say to Darcy that she expected nothing from him without having the slightest tendency towards tears.
If she had been in only her ordinary high spirits, she would not have spoken so jokingly of the Prince Regent’s fifteen-year-old daughter.
Not only Lady Catherine stared at her, but both Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam. Mr. Collins rubbed his chin thoughtfully, as though seriously considering the question.
“Mybirth is not so high as to aspire to her hand,” Darcy said with a dry smirk. “And I believe you have taken my aunt’s words as having a different meaning than the one she meant to convey. I believe we once agreed that you have a tendency to wilfully misunderstand everyone, if it might be the basis for a joke.”
Elizabeth flushed, but she also laughed.
Darcy grinned at her again, taking away her sense of embarrassment. She grinned widely back at him, and he looked away from her, with a bit of colour in his own face.
Be angry with him, dear Lizzy. You are not supposed to let him make you laugh.
