“I would back you in any other situation, Brother, except this one. You will now, however, see my Marchioness as her true self and why she is exactly the woman who will make the most perfect wife of a Marquess who must handle situations you Earls and Baronets never are forced to reckon with,” he drawled as he looked at his brother with sympathy.
“Jane, might we request your company?” Mary asked without looking at her sisters and stepped into the hall, leaving Darcy to offer his arm to Jane as he looked at her with apprehension.
“If it was not her, it would be me asking for a word with you. As this is the first time she has been driven to such an action, I will ring for bandages if needed but I suspect you will survive.” Jane nodded once and Darcy’s stomach sank to his ankles.
He had again angered a Bennet sister, and not just one this time, but two! He could barely manage to inhale when Jane closed the door firmly to vent some of her own displeasure with him.
He walked Jane in and helped her to sit close to her sister, who was standing by the settee closest to the fire for Jane’s comfort.
“Did you, or did you not, promise to take care of my sister?” Mary turned from making sure her sister was comfortable to face him.
“I…of course,” he stammered.
“Yes or no will do for the present. Did you or did you not promise to take exceptional care of my sister?” she demanded again, her eyes narrowing to demonstrate her displeasure.
“Yes,” he responded quietly.
“Have you or have you not been around above twenty women with child before my sister?” Mary demanded, shaking her head when he hesitated.
“Yes,” he choked out, seeing now exactly where this was headed.
“Tell me just where that vaunted intellect of yours went when my sister was only sick in the mornings then devoured at least a plate or more around nine or half past. You have been in her bed above a month now and did not once get interrupted by her monthly situation. I amcertainyou read a hundred books on pregnancy when your mother was with child. Like you have any chance of usurping God’s intentions!”
She held up a hand when he went to answer. “What I want to know right now, Fitzwilliam Darcy, is whether or not you will use that abundant intellect you possess so that if my sister is in actual danger you will see it and not just react with panic?” Mary demanded, the fire in her eyes making him feel about an inch tall.
“I was just so worried I did not think…” he swallowed dryly. That waspreciselyher point. He had not thought, he had only panicked and presumed the worst. “When she told me, I thought I would regulate my worries, but the more I thought and imagined scenarios, the more I descended into worry.”
“If you insult Richard or Hugh by saying they love Mary or I less than you love Lizzy, I will never forgive you,” Jane warned quietly. “They love us as much as you love her, but will Richard be found screaming for a doctor or panicking and running down the hall? No, he counted days, he did the math, and he chuckled, asking if I wanted it to be a boy or a girl? Is he going to spend the next six months being maudlin and thinking of all the things that could go wrong? Do you think that Richard will abdicate his protection of me to his selfish worries?” Jane glared at him and he painfully swallowed the words he would have said, seeing he would have been very wrong to say that he just loved her too much to let anything happen to her. This was not something anyone but God let happen.
“I will have an answer, William,” Mary continued relentlessly, “Can you handle loving her and actually see clearly the situations around you. I knew in two minutes after joining all of you in the drawing room. If there was something to be worried about, would Jane have sat there so contentedly? You, who watch her for any slight movement, did not notice her sitting so happily with her hand over her stomach and rubbing it with a smile rather than wincing in pain?” she demanded. “Lizzy does not just centre you, William. She is the very nexus we all revolve around because she has the ability to shoulder our burdens with us to lighten the load, not take it all on her shoulders so that all of us may have no burdens.
“She walks with us no matter the trial, and we often come out of it laughing rather than beaten. That is what drew you to her so innately, and why Jane saw before any of us that you were falling in love with her. Will you be able to love her and be able to think clearly as you swore to all of us before the wedding that you would because your life and our hearts depend on it?” Mary concluded.
Mary and Jane waited patiently as the critical issue had been discussed. Now they would really see how much William loved their Lizzy. “I should have put it together. You are, of course, right. Both of you. I did promise to take care of her, and losing my head over her being sick was neither proactive nor logical. I will work to curb my fears for her and help her through this and all trials to come,” he promised his sisters. They could not miss the determination in his eyes.
“We understand that you have had a bad experience with pregnancy because of Lady Anne, William.” Mary now channelled their Jane, concluding the conversation with understanding and compassion to prove she both understood and empathised.
“It was a direct question asking you if you would be able to keep your head in the event that something serious actually occurs. Look at how cool your head was when she was almost attacked. You walked her in, you took care of her, and then you worked with Papa to resolve the issue. In that you assured us of the depth of your love for our sister,” Jane stated.
“I can, I will be the man that she deserves, to love her without descending into panic at the first sign that she is in trouble,” their brother affirmed and then led them to the double-doors and the ladies threw them open as they swept into the hall.
“I think I have to hate him for taking my wife’s time away from me,” Hugh drawled from the hallway and Richard stuck his head out, scowling at Darcy.
“Get in line,” Richard huffed.
“I think, gentlemen, that I will go hide behind my own very sweet and only mildly terrifying wife.” Darcy passed Mary to Hugh and walked Jane to Richard then went to his Lizzy and dropped to a knee in front of her, nodding when their brothers and sisters laughed behind him. “I owe you an apology.” When Lizzy frowned and inhaled to contradict him, he held his hand up requesting the chance to speak. “For being afraid for you, I will not apologise. For not catching on or using simple math and observation, I have been reminded to use my intellect in the future but I will not apologise. For wanting to keep you safe, I will not apologise. But for intending to hide you away until after your confinement and for losing my head and panicking, I will apologise. Mary and Jane correctly reminded me that I must be able to give you the support you deserve and need. I may be scared, but so is every husband, and it is unwise to believe they love their wives less than I do you, even though you are my very reason to live. I may need you to remind me not to smother you, but in turn you have to promise me to ask for help when you need it, or to rest when you are tired.” He kissed her hand.
“Thank you, Mary and Jane,” she said and smiled. Her eyes not leaving his as she captured his face in her hands and kissed him. “You truly are the best of men.”
“Come, let me take you into dinner where I will share the story about the time the Marchioness of Birchington and Lady Jane took me to task for not being supportive in a way that you need.” He winked at her, her laugh which burst forth was soon joined by the melodious tones of Jane’s and Mary’s.
“This is a story I do not want to miss!” Elizabeth looked at him with such merriment and teasing impertinence he wanted to kiss her again, and did as he stood and helped her to do so.
“Before your story, and to make sure we have enough time to hear about your setdown from the Marchioness of Birchington and the ‘serene’ Lady Jane. I had intended to tell Hugh and Mary our news before dinner but they could tell within a couple of minutes here this morning as we waited for the doctor. There will, however, be no fish on the menu, and we would appreciate keeping it between the six of us until the quickening.”
“Good luck with trying to keep that secret,” Hugh chuckled. “My mother can see a lady with child at fifty paces. Your mother, Richard and Andrew’s mother, Marie, and you can bet, all their husbands know the signs at a glance,” he frowned when Darcy groaned, which made Mary and Jane burst into laughter, Jane’s higher laugh mingling with Mary’s sultry one a perfect blend of music to one’s ear.
“It was alittleobvious, husband.” Elizabeth laughed softly as he walked her in. Jane offered the date the doctor suspected their hoped-for heir to Brookfield would arrive, and both husbands stated that they would be seeking a consultation with the famous accoucheur, Sir Frederick Gillingham, once in Town.
