Just after midnight Darcy was awoken as he felt Lizzy’s small hand weakly squeeze his larger one. He did not realise that he had been holding his wife’s hand while he slept fitfully. He felt a second light squeeze of his hand and looked up to see his beloved’s eyes fluttering. His Countess opened her eyes! He leapt out of bed and lit some candles. He stuck his head out of the door to ask Biggs, who was on duty standing vigil outside his mistress’s chambers, to wake the accoucheur.
As he closed the door, he heard a faint croak of “water”, after not drinking for almost a full day she was extremely thirsty. Darcy poured some water into a glass for his beloved wife and helped her raise her head so she could drink a few drops. He made sure that she did not drink too fast and make herself sick so after three or four sips he helped her settle back onto her pillows.
Biggs knocked on the door and reported that Sir Frederick and his night nurse would be with them in minutes. It was the first time that Darcy had ever seen the huge man smile. Biggs, seeing with his own eyes that his mistress was starting to recover, allowed a rare smile to crack his otherwise stoic face.
“The babes?” asked Elizabeth as she looked at her husband to gauge his mood, and for once it was easy to read the joy in his expression.
“They are all well. As soon as Sir Frederick examines you, my love, I will answer all of your questions,” he said, his smile of the kind that revealed his dimples and he gave his Lizzy’s hand a gentle squeeze.
“I am very happy to see that you have decided you have had enough rest for now, Lady Elizabeth,” Sir Frederick quipped as he walked into the room dressed in his robe and slippers. “I apologise for my casual style of dress, but I felt that examining you took precedence over making myself presentable,” the accoucheur teased lightly.
“You have nothing to be sorry for, Sir Frederick. I care not what clothes you wear as long as you examine my Elizabeth,” the Earl stated with understandable relief now that his wife was conscious.
After a short examination assisted by his night nurse, Sir Frederick looked at the nervous parents, his expression telling them he was pleased with what he saw.
“For a woman who delivered three babes less than a day ago, you are doing far better than I expected, Lady Elizabeth. My nurse informs me that there has been no more fever other than the brief very low one some hours ago and negligible bleeding, in fact, less than would be expected. The longer we go without any adverse signs, the less the chance of any negative consequences. It is very serendipitous that you are such a fit woman. I have no doubt that your overall health made you a much better candidate than most to have survived three births with so little consequence, which is as I predicted. Once you are able, I would recommend that you commence your exercise regimen again as it will stand you in good stead for any future times you become with child. Do either of you have any questions for me?”
“I know that I birthed three babes, are they all well? Are they boys or girls? Why have I not seen them yet?” the Countess was babbling, something out of character for one as intelligent as her, but given the ordeal she had experienced it was understandable, even expected.
“It was a long and hard birth. You lapsed into unconsciousness about eighteen to twenty hours ago,” Sir Frederick continued before either could interject, “As I informed your husband, that is not out of the ordinary for what you endured. The body needs to take some time to recuperate and rest. I will defer to his Lordship to give you the news about your babes. My nurse will wait in the hall until you have finished your discussion. Just call out if you have need of her. Do not worry, your Ladyship, it is entirely normal to feel tired over the next number of weeks. Your body will demand rest and the more you comply with it, the faster you will heal. If there is nothing else you need specifically from me, I will retire for the night. Goodnight Lord Pemberley, Lady Pemberley.” He bowed slightly to each as he said their names, then he and the nurse exited Lady Elizabeth’s bedchamber, closing the door behind them.
“William, tell me everything, I want to know about our children,” Elizabeth looked at him in anticipation. Darcy took his wife’s hand and looked at her lovingly, grateful that there was only good news to impart. “As Sir Frederick told you, you delivered three healthy babes, my love.” He informed her happily.
“All three healthy! I thought I misheard,” exclaimed a very happy, if tired, Lady Elizabeth Darcy.
“As I just said, we were blessed with three veryhealthyand hearty babes. Two sons and a daughter, and oh, my love, your Mama says that the baby girl is an exact copy of you when you were born, my Lizzy. Even coming out screaming louder than her brothers with her arms and legs flying in all directions.” He grinned. They had a lot to celebrate and much thanks to be offered up to God Almighty for the gifts that He had bestowed upon them.
“We have two sonsanda daughter?” she gasped, then looked at him and locked their eyes. “Other than Bennet, what should we name them?”
“Let us decide on names my love, how about Caroline for our daughter,” he teased and she laughed softly.
“Do not even suggest that name in jest, William.” She looked at him in feigned disgust. “What a good father you will be. Let us name them together, what are your thoughts, my love?” Lizzy asked, her heart so happy he could say anything other than the name he joked about and she would agree.
“We need to name the three of them soon, my love, to stop our sisters, brothers, and the rest of the family calling them whatever comes to their minds. I informed them that our oldest son’s name is Ben like we decided. Also, Andrew sent announcements to the Ashbys and Tim. I have not sent any other notifications out yet. I wanted to wait for you so we could name our second son and daughter first.”
“Thank you for caring so for my wellbeing with so much going on here,” she caressed his cheek. “Now, what names should we choose William, my most beloved husband?”
“We already decided to use Bennet, Ben, for our first son, so for our oldest son and heir I suggest his full name as Lord Bennet Alexander Darcy, who is Viscount Rivington,” he offered the name he had contemplated while he waited for his wife to wake up.
“I agree with one amendment; I think that the name Fitzwilliam should be in the names of each of our sons,” she suggested as she smiled up into his eyes. “His middle names would be Alexander Fitzwilliam if that is agreeable to you.”
“Well then, we now agree on the name for Pemberley’s heir, who is less than ten minutes older than his identical brother, who is Viscount Meryton and thanks to your generosity will have Bennet Park as his seat,” Darcy chuckled.
“Identical? The mischief that they will be able to get up to while blaming one another, oh my! What will we do? Scold them both for the actions of one? I would hate for us to discipline the wrong one!” She looked at him in alarm and he laughed at the perceived predicament.
“I am sure that they will. However, I am equally sure that as they grow, we will see subtle differences in them. For the time being, Ben has blue ribbons on his wrist and ankle and his brother has green.” Darcy thought and then added, “There is already a difference in disposition, Ben seems to be of a livelier disposition like his Mama and his brother has his Aunt Jane’s serenity.”
“How about Lord George Thomas Fitzwilliam Bennet-Darcy for our second son who is Papa’s heir? As Ben honours my family with his name, our next oldest will honour your father. His last name will keep the Bennet name alive at Longbourn joined for eternity with the Darcy name,” Elizabeth suggested.
“That is perfect, my love. I agree, so little Lord George Thomas Fitzwilliam Bennet-Darcy it shall be. When the children are older, we will need to explain why our second son’s last name is not plain Darcy like the rest of his siblings. Now what do you think for our daughter? I thought perhaps Lady Frances Anne Elizabeth Darcy. If all the boys are to have Fitzwilliam in their names, then it is only fair that the girls have Elizabeth.” He looked off into the distance as he thought of his mother at this happiest of times. “Her name will honour both of our mothers and hers.”
“I love that name for our daughter, and I have no objection to Elizabeth being part of the girl’s names, if we have more. I think we should call her Franny as Mama is called Fanny,” Elizabeth suggested as she smiled brightly. Her husband kissed her hand and just then they heard a chorus of cries coming from the adjacent suite as their children woke up demanding sustenance and changing.
“I want to see our children. Please, my love, and I want to feed one of them at least,” Elizabeth pleaded.
“Hold on while I go collect them to introduce them to their Mama, though as I am deficient and do not have a third arm it will not be all at once. It is suggested that you feed Franny as she is the smallest of the three and Sir Frederick said that no matter the societal norms, he believes that it would be beneficial for her to be fed by her Mama,” William smiled when he saw hers.
The Earl stepped into the next-door suite, and once the babes were changed, he returned carrying two fussing boys, one with a green ribbon and one with a blue.
