Pride And Prejudice, The Sequel

Chapter 11

The following three months were the most difficult on Elizabeth's health. She had to spend a lot of her time resting, and when she was not at rest, she had to be consulting with the Steward and overseeing all of the Pemberly businesses. Jane was always at hand to take care of her, and Marianne supervised Ella and Anne's education with a maturity which surprised even Elizabeth. Georgiana was a constant guest at Pemberly, she came to assure Elizabeth of Wickham taking their bait, he was bound to give them an address soon, and then they will go to find Mr Darcy.

Elizabeth missed him a great deal, especially now that she knew for sure that he had not betrayed their love. The thought of never seeing him again kept her awake most nights, and the hope of presenting him with a child when she next saw him kept her mind preoccupied during the day. Sometimes, Elizabeth would let Ella and Anne come to bed with her, it made the children very happy, and it made Mrs Tompkins very angry.

"Children should sleep on their own Mrs Darcy. These ones are already dependent on each other, what happens if they become dependent on you? " Mrs Tompkins asked sternly.

"Then I will try and teach them some independence," Elizabeth replied with a smile as the young girls giggled besides her. She had to tell them of their expected sibling as things became too big to hide, and they were very much delighted with the prospect.

At last, on a cold winter morning, after a night of gruelling labour, Elizabeth delivered a son. Mr Richardson only let her hold him after he had been washed and clothed, despite her protests. She felt a love like no other when she first held the boy in her arms and nursed him at her breast.

For the next seven days, guests bearing gifts arrived at Pemberly in extraordinary numbers and offered their congratulations and wished the child well. Even those who had shunned her when Darcy supposedly ran away came too. Elizabeth knew the reason for their coming, they wanted to see the child's features and compare them to her husband's to try and gauge if she too had committed adultery in the absence of her husband. Elizabeth was really glad that the child was a boy, for he got all of his father's features, except his eyes, which were dark, with lashes so fine and shone as brightly as his mother's.

Colonel Filtzwilliam, being the closest male relation to the child was invited to stand in the place of his father at baptism, and Elizabeth asked Bingley to be his godfather, for Mr Darcy himself would have wanted him to be. The place of godmother no doubt went to Georgiana, after Jane had politely declined it since she was already godmother to ten or so small children.

So on the seventh day after he was born, with only a small party consisting of Jane, Kitty, Marianne,Grorgiana, Ella and Anne, Bingley and Colonel Filtzwilliam, the boy was christened Filtzwilliam Charles Darcy at the Pemberly church.

Her father wrote to congratulate her, and promised to come and visit her as soon as he was sure the child could be taken away during the time of his stay at Pemberly. Her mother expressed her joy, and urged Elizabeth to try and get her husband back using the child.

One mornings, when the child, whom everyone was now calling Fil was about a month and some days old, Georgina arrived at Pemberly, on horseback and looking very excited. Elizabeth admonished her on the dangers of riding on horseback all the way from London for a lady married in the Baronet's family but Georgiana listened very little, she always preferred horseback to the carriage.

"He has finally send Edward an address he is in a small village called Fishland, near the border at Scotland. We were able to locate the place on the map, Edward has offered to go and help bring Wickham back," Georgiana said.

Elizabeth shook her head," No, he cannot go alone, I must go with him. "

"You must not, Fil is only a month old, and he is still nursing, besides, you are a lady, ladies have not the strength to travel far,"Georgiana protested.