“Thank you, Mama.” Lady Elizabeth relaxed as much as she could. It was not long after that they were joined by the Fitzwilliam ladies, Elly was left slumbering under the care of a nurse as Jane had fed her just prior to leaving. Jane, Elaine, and Marie Fitzwilliam joined the group in the chambers. When Lady Matlock saw that her nephew was present, she lifted an eyebrow and would have made a teasing comment if Lady Longbourn had not placed a hand on her arm and shaken her head in warning.
For the next five hours Darcy felt helpless, other than allowing his wife to squeeze his hand with all of her might as the contractions came in waves. When she felt the need, she yelled out in pain using words one would expect from a sailor. It was after the five-hour mark when the midwife said that her Ladyship was ready. After she instructed Lady Elizabeth to push with the next contraction, she reported that she could see a head crowning. Lady Elizabeth was instructed to push as hard as she could and five minutes later there was a healthy wail of an indignant baby boy who had been expelled from the only home he had known.
Their new-born son was cleaned and a blue ribbon was tied to both his wrist and his ankle before he was swaddled. The heir to Pemberley, Viscount Rivington, had entered the world. His parents were in wonder of the babe with his scrunched-up face as he informed the world of his displeasure when the pains began again. The heir was given over to his grandmama to be admired as he was the first male grandchild for Lady Longbourn.
Soon the room filled with the plaintive wail of the heir’s brother. The heir to Longbourn, Viscount Meryton, made his presence known loudly. After he was cleaned, a green ribbon was tied to his wrist and ankle so that the order of birth would be preserved in case there was a third son. He was swaddled and passed to his great aunt Maddie. Just as they had before the pains recommenced, and within ten minutes a baby girl entered the world with a head full of dark curls. Although a little smaller than her brothers, she was much louder while she flailed her arms and legs and Lady Longbourn smiled.
“I got my wish! There she is, another Lizzy. You have been blessed with a babe just like you,” the mother kissed her daughter’s forehead. The afterbirth was finally delivered and Lady Elizabeth Darcy passed into unconsciousness from exertion and exhaustion.
“Sir Frederick,” Darcy looked at his wife with fear and panic in his eyes, “why has she lost consciousness? Will she recover, will I lose her?”
“Lizzy is as strong as any who has given birth and I am sure that she will recover, William. She informed me of the pledge that you made. Do not forget your promise if, heaven forbid, God calls her back to His side!” Fanny demanded hotly.
“That is not something that you will have to contemplate, my Lord.” Sir Frederick thought it was the right time to intervene. “Your mother-in-law has the right of it; I too do not believe that Lady Elizabeth will succumb.”
“Excuse me, but can you repeat that, Sir Frederick?” Darcy looked at him with hope.
“I said that I believe that she will be well. There has not been any excess of bleeding. I think that your wife’s body just needs time to recuperate. I have seen this with births of two or more before. We do not understand how it happens at this point. However, I believe that the body knows that it needs time to recover so it claims the rest that it craves. The patient normally wakes up within four and twenty hours and is no worse for wear. You retained wet nurses as I suggested?” Sir Frederick asked calmly.
“We did, Sir Frederick. My Lizzy’s waking up will be my hopes and prayers until she comes back to us,” Darcy stated with resolve.
“Her Ladyship has just birthed three babes. Can you imagine how tired she is?” Sir Frederick asked.
“Thank you.” Darcy felt relief flood his body as he turned and scanned the room for his children.
“Here, William,” his mother-in-law pointed out to him.
Darcy gently took his firstborn son from Mother Bennet. He had a tuft of dark hair similar to his parents’ and his own cerulean eyes stared back at him with that renowned Darcy intensity. After passing his first son back to his mother-in-law, he took his second son from Aunt Maddie. He immediately noticed that his second son was identical to his brother, the only difference now was the colour of the ribbons that marked their order of birth, however, like his Aunt Jane, he seemed to be serene. After returning his second son to the new great Aunt, he took his daughter from his sister, Jane. He was instantly lost to her. He prayed that she would be an exact replica of her mother with the same colour hair and the same hazel eyes with gold and green flecks that he so loved to gaze into when he looked at his Countess. Her eyes were blue now, like all newborn babes, but he hoped they would change as she got older.
He was so thankful that God had given them these three blessings in His infinite wisdom. Lord Pemberley allowed himself this moment to feel joy for his three babes that had all been born living, and who by all accounts so far, were strong and healthy. He would worry about his wife until she woke; it was his way to worry about those that he loved. He was heartened after Sir Frederick had told him to expect his Elizabeth to wake soon enough.
Darcy followed his children as they were carried into the suite next to theirs that had been co-opted as the nursery. It was much closer than the actual nursery one level above them. Present were two nursemaids and two wet nurses. He kissed each of his babes gently on the forehead and withdrew from the nursery so that his children could get the sustenance that they required.
In the hall he met Sir Frederick, and was grateful for the chance to thank the man for all of his assistance. The accoucheur gave an incline of his head and then went to his bedchamber to claim some much needed sleep. It was past seven in the morning already and the first tendrils of the rising sun were creeping over the horizon in the East.
Chapter 42
When Darcy awoke, he found himself in the chambers that were being used as the nursery. He had fallen asleep watching his new-borns slumber a scant three hours ago. A nervous wetnurse informed him that it would soon be time to feed his children. He left the nursery to allow the nurses to do what they needed and walked into the Lavender suite, kissing his still unconscious wife on the forehead. He washed and had Carstens shave his more than day old stubble and help him dress. He then, after receiving confirmation that the feeding and changing of his sons and daughter was complete, returned to the nursery.
As he walked in, Lydia asked how her sister was doing. Darcy explained that she was still having her much needed rest which aided her recovery, and that thankfully she thus far had not developed more than a very low fever.
Once he paid attention to the rest of the people in the chambers, the sight that met him was one that warmed his heart. The new grandfather was sitting in a chair with a grandson in one arm and his granddaughter in the other. The Duke of Bedford was sitting in another chair holding his grand-nephew, and the aunts were looking on with pleasure. Georgie, Lydia, Helen, Tiffany, and Kitty were bouncing from foot to foot with excitement waiting for their turn to hold a niece or nephew.
Once Helen, Lydia, and Georgie were seated in a chair, to their delight they were passed a baby each. They knew that once the proud grandmother, great aunts or the rest of the family entered, they would be hard pressed to get a chance to hold one of the babes.
Luckily in Mary’s state she slept much later than was her norm, so she and Hugh would not be competing for time with the triplets this early in the morning. They would have to away to Bennet Fields to get some time with Elly while the others were occupied with the Darcy three.
“Did you and Lizzy decide on names before the birth William, and when will you notify people of their birth?” Darcy’s father-in-law asked his son as he watched the girls hold his grandchildren. He was amused how gently Darcy transferred his sons from Helen and Lydia to Kitty and Tiffany. Georgie was very satisfied to sit holding her niece without having to relinquish her, that is until Lily arrived.
“We decided on the name Bennet for our first son, but other than that,” he nodded at Bennet, “no, we did not. We felt that we would be tempting the fates to pick names before our children were with us. As soon as my Elizabeth wakes, we will choose names for Ben’s brother and sister. Once we have decided andbothparents have made the decisions, then we will send the notifications out. However, I am sending a note to the Ashbys as they will be most anxious and we do not want to cause Anne any unnecessary anxiety. In addition, I will send a notification to Tim at Janet’s Well as he is our brother.”
Andrew Fitzwilliam had entered the temporary nursery while Darcy was speaking, indicating that the Bennet Park party had arrived. “I will write the missives to Anne and Tim, William. You focus on Elizabeth for now,” he offered.
“I thank you, Andrew, it is appreciated that you are willing to send those on our behalf. You have had experience in writing these, after all,” Darcy smiled at his older cousin.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The rest of the day, when the babes were not asleep or being fed, there was no shortage of visitors to the makeshift nursery. Besides the sisters and the grandparents, the Darcy three, as they had been dubbed, had a constant stream of family that joined the rotation to hold them or watch them sleep. Everyone asked after Elizabeth and were cheered by the prognosis that Sir Frederick had given her husband.
