Later, when Lady Catherine exited the house, not long after her brother and sister-in-law arrived, she entered the oldest and smallest of the de Bourgh conveyances with her nose in the air.
Chapter 27
By the time Elizabeth rejoined her aunt in the sitting room, her eyes were no longer puffy and, at the very least—for the moment, her equanimity had been restored.
“While you were asleep a note came from your uncle, he will be home within the hour, and he apologised again for not being here to greet you when you arrived,” Madeline informed her niece.
“Uncle Edward has nothing for which to seek my forgiveness. I am very much in your debt that you were willing to employ some subterfuge so I could get away from Longbourn at this time.” Elizabeth named the estate, but she knew, as did her aunt, she meant her father. “Aunt, I know you would never dissemble about being with child, but if memory serves, you have not in the past suffered from sickness in the morning with the previous times you wereenceinte. May I assume you are not suffering this time either?”
“You have the right of it, Lizzy. So far, Praise be, I have not had any sickness. We were, as Edward wrote in his letter, genuinely surprised when I felt the quickening. I always had irregular courses, so I thought that is why I had missed three of them. I am beyond pleased.”
“As you have two of each sex, do you have a preference regarding what this child will be?”
“No, none at all. All we want is a healthy babe; the sex will be what it will be.”
“And, of course that you will be healthy as well, AuntMaddie.” Elizabeth cogitated for a few moments. “Have my cousins been made aware you are to gift them another brother or sister?”
“Yes. We shared the glad tidings with them last week. Lilly and May want a sister, while naturally, Eddy and Peter are requesting a brother. I am sure now that Lilly is beginning the journey of transition between girlhood and womanhood, she will be a great help with this one, regardless of the sex.” Madeline patted the unseen slight swell in her belly.
Just then the cacophony which announced the four Gardiner children approaching the sitting room was heard. Eddy was first through the door. “Lizzy, Nurse and Mrs Jamison are taking us to the park, will you come with us?”
“Please Lizzy?” the two youngest Gardiners chorused.
Lilly nodded her head in agreement. “We can walk around the pond while thechildrenplay,” Lilly suggested.
“You do not need me here, do you Aunt Maddie?” Elizabeth verified.
“I do not,” Madeline confirmed. “Go Lizzy, some fresh air will be good for you. We will speak later.”
Elizabeth nodded. “In that case, I need to retrieve my half boots. I will be but a few minutes. In the meanwhile, your nurse and governess can assist you into your outerwear. It is a nice day, but a cold one.”
Soon enough, Elizabeth met her cousins and their minders, who had been joined by a burly footman, in the entrance hall and off they went.
Observing the unbridled joy of the three youngest Gardiners while she and Lilly followed the path around the frozen pond, Elizabeth felt invigorated being in her cousins’ company for some time together at the park. There was much to speak of with her aunt and uncle, and even more to discover for herself, but this was a good start.
She wondered what it meant as she felt a sense of relief being separated from her father. When she thought about that, Mama’s words about the difference between parent and child, and Aunt Maddie’s regarding the way her father had influenced her character as it had been, came back to her. She hoped she would not end up resenting her father, but she was aware it was a possibility it could end up being so.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“How is our Lizzy?” Gardiner asked after he had greeted his wife as a man who loved his wife deeply was wont to do.
Madeline related what had occurred during their brief time together not long after Lizzy’s arrival. She also told how they had not addressed anything else as their niece desired to do so with both Gardiners present. “I am afraid there will be pain along the way as Lizzy decides which parts of her character should be discarded and which to retain, but she will be much better for it when she emerges on the other side.”
“I always knew you were very wise, Maddie,” Gardiner stated as he took his wife’s hand in his own. “Where is our niece now?”
“With the children, Nurse, Mrs Jamison, and Sam in the park opposite. You know Lizzy. Fresh air always revives her spirits,” Madeline averred. “Do you think we should take Lizzy to Drury Lane to seeThe Tempest. You know how much she enjoys the bard’s comedies.”
“That is a capital idea, as long as Lizzy is in the mood for some light-hearted entertainment,” Gardiner agreed.
“We should ask her opinion later,” Madeline suggested. “How was your meeting?”
Gardiner shared the pertinent details with his wife. Unlike the vast majority of married couples, they had a true partnership and enjoyed a love match. “You remember I have mentioned I have been working with the de Bourgh fortune for some years now, do you not?”
“I do,” Madeline confirmed.
“Lord Matlock sent a note telling me that his niece, Miss de Bourgh, who has just inherited all, will come with him to meet me in about a sennight. He also opined she would want to employ me to sell off some rather, in his words, ‘gaudy and ostentatious’ items. I came to know Sir Lewis de Bourgh about two years before he passed away. He was a good man.”
“Did not his widow send you letters demanding you release all or part of the funds to her?”
