“He departed York for parts unknown, though if I were to hazard a guess he is for London. It seems he shares the vice of gambling with his mother, and like her, he is not accomplished at the art,” Wickham informed his employer.
“Using the miniature we have of him, I will have his picture made and circulated among my footmen, outriders, and coachmen so if he shows up in the area, even under an assumed name, we will know of it. I will also pass information to the other families with us, as it was noted how your son used to leer at the oldest Bennet daughter,” Darcy stated with purpose.
“That kind of behaviour was one of the reasons I sought a position for him in York. I will not provide him more funds, even though as his father I love and worry for him,” Wickham stated dejectedly.
“It is sad, but as you told me, you warned him well about consequences. He is no longer a young boy and has been forced to strike out on his own. We can only pray that he will be well and safe, but that will depend on his behaviour,” Darcy opined.
“All I can do now is to keep my son in my prayers. Thank you for your time today, Mr. Darcy, for I know you would much rather be at your wife’s side.” Mr. Wickham stood. “Your wife is in my daily prayers, Sir. Please inform her that I asked after her.”
“Your sentiments are appreciated; I will pass them onto my wife.” Darcy gave a nod of dismissal, and the steward gave a bow and departed the master’s study.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
By early July, the situation the doctor had warned about was upon Lady Anne. She was wracked with pain throughout her emaciated body. She knew the end was very near, and that there was no choice but to start using healthy doses of laudanum. Before she could let go, she needed to make sure everything was in place for after her passing.
“Please, Robert, before the dose, I want to see my children. You know as well as I do there is a better than good chance I will never wake again.” Lady Anne saw the look of abject anguish on her husband’s mien through her pain. “Please be strong for me and our children, Robert.” Darcy nodded and told the maid to summon his children.
Once William and Georgiana entered her chambers, their mother indicated they should sit as close to her as possible. “A mother could not have wished for better children than the two of you. I have been as brave as I can, but the pain is now to the point I must take the medicine to help me, which means I will no longer be awake for more than a few minutes at a time,” Lady Anne told her stricken children as gently as she could.
“Noooooo, Mama,” Georgiana wailed. “I do not want you to leave us.”
“Gigi, my darling girl, I do notwantto leave you, William, or your father either, but it is my time. Remember what I told you, Gigi, I willalwaysbe with you,” Lady Anne stated as she tried to hide a wince from the pain that was wracking her body.
“Y-you w-will a-always b-b-be h-here,” Georgiana managed between sobs as she put her hand over her heart, and Lady Anne nodded.
Lady Anne turned to her son, who was quietly crying in a demonstration of his deepening grief which was only evident in his eyes. “William, I will need you to help your father. Having a love like we share is a double-edged sword, my son. Do not mistake me, there is far more good than bad. You have seen the good in our love for one another each day of your life,” Lady Anne paused as a wave of pain almost made her cry out. “The bad is that your father is going to be very sad, and that is why he will need your strength, my darling son.”
“If love can cause that kind of pain, then I never want to be in love,” William countered angrily. His internal fury was not directed at his mother, but at the fact he knew it was hours or days at best before she would be taken away from them forever.
“No, William, that isnotthe lesson I want you to take from what I said. A life without love is an empty one. When you are in London society, look around theTonat all the marriages of convenience and you will see the true misery of many,” Lady Anne paused again, slowly breathing through a particularly sharp pain which stole her senses. “That is not what I want for either of you. You have both seen the joy that loving one another and our extended family has brought to us. Promise me, both of you, that you will not harden your hearts to love. Do not allow status, wealth, or connections to influence you. I charge you both to listen to your hearts, and when you find your one and only true love, as I found in your father, never let them go. True love is worth fighting for. One minute with your father is of more value to me than having multiple lifetimes with a man I did not love.”
“You have my word, Mother,” William vowed as his anger released him.
“M-me too, Mama,” Georgiana promised.
“Kiss your mother and say your goodbyes; she needs her medicine,” Robert Darcy said gently, barely holding back the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes.
“Mama, I will listen for you in my head every day,” Georgiana swore as she hugged her mother gently and then kissed her.
“Mother, I will miss you for the rest of my life,” William stated as the tears still ran freely.
“William, do not close yourself off or retreat behind that mask you wear at times. Do not dishonour my life by using my death as an excuse to withdraw from all who love you,” Lady Anne charged her son.
“It will be as you desire, Mother.” William leaned forward and kissed his mother’s cheeks. He was alarmed at how clammy she felt, but he held his peace. He stood and held his sister to him as he led her out of his mother’s chambers.
Once the door was closed, Lady Anne allowed herself to let out a cry of pain. “You need to take the laudanum, my love,” her husband pleaded as the dam broke and his tears started to spill.
“Soon Robert, my dear husband, soon,” Lady Anne managed. “You have been my life, Robert; promise me again after you have mourned me you will live again. Do not let me go to meet God worrying about you.”
“My promises to you will be kept, Anne, I swear on my life and on our children’s lives that no matter how hard it will be for me to follow your directives, it will be done. I will live for both of us,” Robert Darcy told his wife as he kissed her lips which had captivated him from the first day he had met her during her first season.
“Just as my beloved Cilla did, there are letters in my dresser for my sisters, our children, you, and for the inevitable visit my sister Catherine will make. Please make sure they receive them after I am gone. The children’s letters have notes telling you when to give them theirs. Never forget, Robert, it is not just you and the children; we have gained a large extended family who need you as you need them.” As Lady Anne said the last, a peace settled over her as if now that she had received the assurances she needed from her husband and children, she could leave the mortal world and the pain she had been experiencing behind.
Robert was holding his wife’s hands as she seemed to smile and then her chest rose a final time, there was a long exhale as her life’s breath escaped her body and then there was no more movement.
Those waiting in the suite’s sitting room knew the end had come for Anne Darcy when they heard the terrible wailing of her husband. Luckily, William had led his sister out of the master suite and had joined the rest of the younger group so neither was present to hear their father’s lamentations as his wife left the mortal world.
The doctor slipped into the bedchamber, and he knew before he tried to find a pulse that she was gone. Without disturbing her grieving husband, Mr. Taylor joined the three couples and the Prince waiting in the sitting room. All he needed to do was nod to confirm what they already knew; Anne was gone.
