Page 88 of A Life Diverted
Plans to leave Pemberley for Snowhaven and Holder Heights were cancelled forthwith. The Prince sent an express to Windsor Castle, where the royals were for the summer months, to notify the King and Queen he would be in Derbyshire for longer than expected.
Between the other four men, Darcy’s duties were covered, which allowed him as much time with his wife as possible. The ladies worked with Mrs. Reynolds to make sure anything that required input by the mistress was done.
Jamie, Andrew, and Richard kept William distracted when he was not with his mother. William found that debates with Elizabeth would take his mind off worries about his mother for a time. It was during this time that the last bricks in the wall between the two were forever destroyed.
Georgiana would spend time with her mother and would often be joined by some of the other girls as an upright pianoforte and a harp had been moved in Lady Anne’s chambers at her husband’s behest. Knowing how much her mother loved music, Georgiana would play if her mother was awake during her visits.
When their Aunt Anne requested it, Elizabeth or Mary would play the pianoforte and Jane would accompany them on the harp.
Every now and again, a group of the girls would sing for the ailing mistress of Pemberley.
The four Darcy’s took their midday meal together in the bedchamber—even if Lady Anne hardly ate anything. Dinner would see the family together, and when Lady Anne felt she was able, one or two of the other adults would join the family for dinner in her chambers.
Mr. Taylor would check in on Lady Anne at least daily. Each day he found evidence of the correctitude of his diagnosis, for the tumour was getting much larger and the whites of her eyes were now a very distinct yellow.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Towards the end of June, Robert Darcy had a meeting with his steward, Mr. Wickham. It was a meeting he felt he needed to have himself rather than leaving it to one of the men who were assisting him, for the subject was Mr. Wickham’s errant son.
“I am afraid the news is not good,” Wickham reported sadly. “After I revealed the truth of his mother, I thought—hoped—he had been reached. For whatever reason, it was not many months before he reverted to his old ways.”
“You know what they say, you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot force him to drink,” the master stated stoically.
“There are some who are, unfortunately, intrinsically bad. It could be your George is not so but will need to fall lower before he wakes up. You did everything you were able to put him on the correct path, but it takes his desire to lead an honest and honourable life. By his theft—the ones which are known—he clearly demonstrated which path he has chosen—for now at least. We can only pray he still has the capacity for change inside of him.”
“He departed York for parts unknown, though if I were to hazard a guess he is for London. It seems he shares the vice of gambling with his mother, and like her, he is not accomplished at the art,” Wickham informed his employer.
“Using the miniature we have of him, I will have his picture made and circulated among my footmen, outriders, and coachmen so if he shows up in the area, even under an assumed name, we will know of it. I will also pass information to the other families with us, as it was noted how your son used to leer at the oldest Bennet daughter,” Darcy stated with purpose.
“That kind of behaviour was one of the reasons I sought a position for him in York. I will not provide him more funds, even though as his father I love and worry for him,” Wickham stated dejectedly.
“It is sad, but as you told me, you warned him well about consequences. He is no longer a young boy and has been forced to strike out on his own. We can only pray that he will be well and safe, but that will depend on his behaviour,” Darcy opined.
“All I can do now is to keep my son in my prayers. Thank you for your time today, Mr. Darcy, for I know you would much rather be at your wife’s side.” Mr. Wickham stood. “Your wife is in my daily prayers, Sir. Please inform her that I asked after her.”
“Your sentiments are appreciated; I will pass them onto my wife.” Darcy gave a nod of dismissal, and the steward gave a bow and departed the master’s study.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
By early July, the situation the doctor had warned about was upon Lady Anne.
She was wracked with pain throughout her emaciated body.
She knew the end was very near, and that there was no choice but to start using healthy doses of laudanum.
Before she could let go, she needed to make sure everything was in place for after her passing.
“Please, Robert, before the dose, I want to see my children. You know as well as I do there is a better than good chance I will never wake again.” Lady Anne saw the look of abject anguish on her husband’s mien through her pain.
“Please be strong for me and our children, Robert.” Darcy nodded and told the maid to summon his children.
Once William and Georgiana entered her chambers, their mother indicated they should sit as close to her as possible.
“A mother could not have wished for better children than the two of you. I have been as brave as I can, but the pain is now to the point I must take the medicine to help me, which means I will no longer be awake for more than a few minutes at a time,” Lady Anne told her stricken children as gently as she could.
“Noooooo, Mama,” Georgiana wailed. “I do not want you to leave us.”
“Gigi, my darling girl, I do not want to leave you, William, or your father either, but it is my time. Remember what I told you, Gigi, I will always be with you,” Lady Anne stated as she tried to hide a wince from the pain that was wracking her body.
“Y-you w-will a-always b-b-be h-here,” Georgiana managed between sobs as she put her hand over her heart, and Lady Anne nodded.
Lady Anne turned to her son, who was quietly crying in a demonstration of his deepening grief which was only evident in his eyes.
“William, I will need you to help your father. Having a love like we share is a double-edged sword, my son. Do not mistake me, there is far more good than bad. You have seen the good in our love for one another each day of your life,” Lady Anne paused as a wave of pain almost made her cry out.
“The bad is that your father is going to be very sad, and that is why he will need your strength, my darling son.”
“If love can cause that kind of pain, then I never want to be in love,” William countered angrily. His internal fury was not directed at his mother, but at the fact he knew it was hours or days at best before she would be taken away from them forever.
“No, William, that is not the lesson I want you to take from what I said. A life without love is an empty one. When you are in London society, look around the Ton at all the marriages of convenience and you will see the true misery of many,” Lady Anne paused again, slowly breathing through a particularly sharp pain which stole her senses.
“That is not what I want for either of you. You have both seen the joy that loving one another and our extended family has brought to us. Promise me, both of you, that you will not harden your hearts to love. Do not allow status, wealth, or connections to influence you. I charge you both to listen to your hearts, and when you find your one and only true love, as I found in your father, never let them go. True love is worth fighting for. One minute with your father is of more value to me than having multiple lifetimes with a man I did not love.”
“You have my word, Mother,” William vowed as his anger released him.
“M-me too, Mama,” Georgiana promised.
“Kiss your mother and say your goodbyes; she needs her medicine,” Robert Darcy said gently, barely holding back the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes.
“Mama, I will listen for you in my head every day,” Georgiana swore as she hugged her mother gently and then kissed her.
“Mother, I will miss you for the rest of my life,” William stated as the tears still ran freely.
“William, do not close yourself off or retreat behind that mask you wear at times. Do not dishonour my life by using my death as an excuse to withdraw from all who love you,” Lady Anne charged her son.
“It will be as you desire, Mother.” William leaned forward and kissed his mother’s cheeks. He was alarmed at how clammy she felt, but he held his peace. He stood and held his sister to him as he led her out of his mother’s chambers.
Once the door was closed, Lady Anne allowed herself to let out a cry of pain. “You need to take the laudanum, my love,” her husband pleaded as the dam broke and his tears started to spill.
“Soon Robert, my dear husband, soon,” Lady Anne managed. “You have been my life, Robert; promise me again after you have mourned me you will live again. Do not let me go to meet God worrying about you.”
“My promises to you will be kept, Anne, I swear on my life and on our children’s lives that no matter how hard it will be for me to follow your directives, it will be done.
I will live for both of us,” Robert Darcy told his wife as he kissed her lips which had captivated him from the first day he had met her during her first season.
“Just as my beloved Cilla did, there are letters in my dresser for my sisters, our children, you, and for the inevitable visit my sister Catherine will make. Please make sure they receive them after I am gone. The children’s letters have notes telling you when to give them theirs.
Never forget, Robert, it is not just you and the children; we have gained a large extended family who need you as you need them.
” As Lady Anne said the last, a peace settled over her as if now that she had received the assurances she needed from her husband and children, she could leave the mortal world and the pain she had been experiencing behind.