When the Bennets and the Prince arrived from the south with Doctor Taylor in tow, Darcy asked if the physician would examine his wife. Dr. Taylor had taken his time, asking many questions of Lady Anne while he conducted his comprehensive examination. Unlike the men who had done so before him, he actually listened to the answers she proffered.
A little more than an hour later, Mr. Taylor met with Robert Darcy in his study. “As much as I would like to be able to give you better news, Mr. Darcy, I believe your wife has a cancer. You told me one of my colleagues who examined her opined she may be with child as he felt a firmness in her belly. I do not like to disparage one who is not here to defend himself, but I would question the man’s medical knowledge based on where the mass is. It is above and to the right of her belly. In my opinion it is where part of her reproductive system sits,” the doctor explained.
“Is my Anne going to die?” Darcy asked the question he must, but also the one he most dreaded hearing an answer to.
“Yes, I am afraid so, Sir,” Mr. Taylor replied directly. “Not much is known about cancers; what causes them, how they grow, and even less—in fact almost nothing—about the treatment of them. I wish I had better news for you, Sir, but based on the yellow I see in her eyes, I would say she does not have too long. In my experience, when the whites of the eyes go yellow, the infection has reached other organs, I believe the liver in particular.”
“Does my precious Anne suffer in pain,” a defeated Darcy asked as he sat back in his chair, his shoulders slumped.
“From what I could glean from her answers, not much at this point. I would recommend you have a supply of laudanum on hand. Under normal circumstances, I do not like to have patients take too much of it due to the addictive property of the drug, but that is not a concern in this case.” Mr. Taylor waited to see if Mr. Darcy had any further questions. “If that will be all, I will leave you.”
“Thank you, Mr. Taylor. I appreciate having someone give me actual information rather than nonsense about bleeding her and taking waters,” Darcy stated in dismissal.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Did Mr. Taylor tell you, my loving husband?” Lady Anne asked gently, unable to miss the look of distress on the man she had been married to for close to a quarter of a century.
“He did, Anne. How will I carry on without you?” Robert Darcy asked with tears in his eyes.
“Robert Darcy, you look at me.” Lady Anne demanded as she summoned all her reserves of strength. “Like Priscilla demanded of Fanny when she knew the end was near, I need you to make a vow to me.”
“Anything, my darling Anne, for you know I can never deny you that which you deign to ask of me,” Darcy stated as he took his wife’s hands and kissed each one in turn.
“You are not allowed to give up or wallow in your mourning after I am gone. William will be twenty soon, but our Gigi is just eight and she will need you. You, my Robert, not a shell of yourself. Do not forget that in the Bennets and Carringtons, who have become our extended family, and in my brother and Elaine you will have support and the help you need, all you need do is request it.
“Mourn me for a year as is the custom, but then move on with your life, even if that means marrying again,” Lady Anne said as firmly as she could under the circumstances.
“Anne, I could never replace you in my heart; that would be too much to ask of me, even from you, my love,” Darcy averred.
“It is not to replace me in your heart, Robert. I believe that particular organ has unlimited capacity to love. Besides which, if you ever loved another as much or more than me, I would haunt you for the rest of your days,” Lady Anne teased. “In all seriousness, Robert, as long as you do not wallow in your grief for the rest of your days, I will not make remarrying part of the vow I am requiring that you make, but I ask you not to be blind to the possibility, even open to it. Gigi is still so very young, and she will suffer without a mother, but with Elaine, Fanny, and Edith, not nearly as much as she would without them.”
“That is nothing but the truth, my love. I swear to you, on our love, I will honour your wishes. I will not allow myself to withdraw from our children, and I will accept the help of our extended family when I need it,” Darcy vowed.
“Your promise lifts a great weight from my shoulders, Robert. Make sure that she knows you are not sending her away, but you may want to have Gigi stay with the Bennets after the three months of deep mourning is complete for our children. She loves Jane, Elizabeth, and Mary but the bond between her and the two youngest Bennet daughters is a special one, a bond of sisterhood,” Lady Anne told her husband.
“Do you want us to inform William and Gigi together, or would you like to talk to them alone, Anne?” Darcy asked.
“Together, it must be together. This is another thing; knowledge is power. Please do not keep pertinent information from our children, including Gigi, as without it they may be open to manipulation. Without knowledge, they would not be armed to protect themselves,” Lady Anne insisted.
“It will be so, Anne.” Robert Darcy leaned toward his wife and captured her lips. “Let me have William and Gigi summoned.”
“After our children, I want to speak to my three sisters while you speak to their husbands and Frederick. One more thing, Robert. I am sure you will not, but do not allow my sister Catherine to revive her lies of an accord between us to try and claim some promises I never made. In fact, ask my maid to bring me my escritoire. I will write a letter to be read to her if she attempts to cause havoc after my death, as I suspect she will,” Lady Anne requested. “I will leave it with the other letters I will be writing.”
Darcy passed his wife’s instruction to her maid and told her he would return in an hour with their children.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Mama, Papa said you both wanted to talk to us,” Georgiana stated as she sat on her mother’s bed where lady Anne patted. “Will you be well soon? Did Doctor Taylor find a cure for your malady?”
“Slow down, Gigi, we will answer all questions soon enough,” Darcy told his daughter.
William did not miss how sad his father looked, and he suspected the news they were about to hear was the opposite of his sister’s youthful, hopeful exuberance. He sat on the bed where his mother indicated, then his father sat next to his mother and took her hands.
“I wish the news we had for you was what Gigi hoped…” Lady Anne told them what she and their father knew. It was not long before both children were in tears. Georgiana was weeping openly, while William’s tears were rolling down his cheeks in silence. “This is the hardest thing I have ever had to tell you, my dear children. I could not love either of you more if I tried, and other than the love I have for your father, none has ever come close to that which I feel for you. Do you have any questions?”
“Whyyyyy, Mama,” Georgiana wailed plaintively. “Why would God allow you to get sick like this? It is not fair! I thought He is the God of love.”
“Gigi, we mere mortals have no idea what His plan is. Do not be angry with Him. In time, your anger will dissipate, and you will see. You will still have Papa, William, and a large extended family, any one of whom will do anything they are able to in order to help and support you, William, and your father. Remember, my dearest daughter, while you will not see me, I will always be here,” Lady Anne reached forward and placed her hand gently over her daughter’s heart. “It will not be the same, and we will miss one another, but when you close your eyes you will see me, and if you listen really carefully you will hear me in your head. One day, we will be together in heaven, though my hope for all three of you is that will be many decades from now.”
