Page 129 of Twice Chosen

"Nothing."

"That is never true."

Elizabeth smiled. "I was thinking that we keep expecting grand corrections."

"And?"

"Most of the good things are small."

Darcy looked at Georgiana with the baby, Bingley laughing with Jane, Kitty sketching Lydia when Lydia was not looking, Mr. Bennet speaking to Mary without teasing.

"Yes," he said. "They are."

Chapter Thirty-Five

A Child

Elizabeth became pregnant in the second year of their marriage.

Neither she nor Darcy spoke of which child they hoped for.

That would have been unbearable.

At first Elizabeth experienced joy so complete it frightened her. Then came guilt.

She would stand before the mirror with one hand resting over the small curve beneath her gown and think of Anne.

Their first Anne.

Dark eyes like Elizabeth. Darcy's serious mouth. A temper so mild it had once convinced Mrs. Bennet the child could not possibly belong to Lizzy until Anne learned to speak and began asking questions no adult wished to answer.

Darcy found Elizabeth crying one morning in the dressing room.

He did not ask why.

He knew.

"I feel disloyal," she whispered.

Darcy came behind her and rested both hands over hers. "To whom?"

"Them."

"By loving this child?"

"By wanting this child."

Darcy's face appeared beside hers in the mirror. Young again, but his eyes carried all the years.

"Elizabeth, we wanted them before we knew them."

She closed her eyes.

"That did not make the love smaller after they arrived," he continued. "This does not erase them."

"I know."

"Do you?"