Page 84

“I consulted two more doctors in Dublin and some in England since my return home, and each one agreed with the first Irish doctor’s conclusions.”

The tears were rolling down Elizabeth’s cheeks as the enormity of what her husband was telling her took hold. “Y-you a-are g-going t-to d-d-die,” Elizabeth stammered between sobs. “You cannot leave me and the children, we need you too much,” she wailed.

“My dearest love, you must know that the very last thing I desire is to leave you and the children in the mortal world without me. If forbidding me to die would work, I would ask you to say it every day. All I can do is to try and comply, but I am afraid this is one order, no matter how hard I try, I will not be able to obey. I am only nine and forty and hoped God would grant me at least another two decades to be with you and watch our children grow to be adults. I know it is not my place to question God’s plan, but I find I have done so many times since this all began.

When I owned that there can be but one end to my illness, I railed at the Father many times. ”

“Archy, what will I do without you?” Elizabeth sobbed as she held onto her husband for dear life.

“As much as I do not want to leave you, one thing I know is you are the strongest woman I have ever met. That strength will carry you forward. There is one promise I need from you.”

“What is it?” Elizabeth sniffled as the tears lessened somewhat.

“When I pass, I do not want you to mourn me beyond the year acceptable to society.” He held up his hand as she was about to protest. “No, Lizzy. I am firm on this. You are but one and twenty, and I will not have you hide your light away under a bushel of mourning. You need to live a full life, not only for yourself, but for our children as well. They will need you to see them through the anguish they will feel—no matter how young they are—when I pass.”

The tears returned in volume when Archy mentioned his passing.

“I truly believe that the heart has an infinite capacity to love. Therefore, if, as I hope you will, you decide to accept a proposal of marriage, you will love again. It will not mean you will forget me or push my memory from your heart. In my opinion, one will not negate the other.

“Our children will need your guidance in all things, especially Matty who will have my title.

The way the patents are written, Matty will not inherit fully until he reaches his majority, so until then, you, my wife, will make all of the decisions.

The only thing you will not be able to do is take my seat in the Lords.

I know it is no comfort to you now, but do not forget that you will be the wealthiest non-royal woman in the realm.

There will be many who will be willing to assist you as and when you need it.

Chief among them is Anthony who trained to be the next duke if we had not had children, but Cousin John, Matlock, Colbath, Darcy, Jersey, and many others will be willing and able to give you help when it is required.

“No, I know that this is not fair. I am aware from speaking to doctors that my discomfort and pain will increase as I get closer to the end. As much as I hate the idea of imbibing laudanum, there will come a point when I will have no choice. My aim is to have everything prepared long before we get to that point. I want to make sure you have any questions you may need answered and dealt with.”

“Is there any way of knowing how much longer I will have you with me, with our children?” Her tears had ceased, but Elizabeth felt a crushing sadness.

“No, my love, there is no way. All I can tell you is based on the severity of my symptoms, the consensus is I have weeks or months, not years. We will live life to the fullest until I can no longer do so. That way we will make memories not only for you but for Matty, Gracie, and Winston as well.”

“What will we tell them? Even Matty is too young to comprehend what is about to occur.”

“Gracie and Winston know what it means to be sick, so that is what we will tell them. Matty can understand the seriousness, and although he has never heard of cancer, if we gently explain it is a very bad illness from which there is no recovery, he will understand at a certain level. Do not forget he has experienced loss with a hunting dog which died.”

Elizabeth had never considered herself a watering pot, but that is how she felt at that moment. “May we defer any more discussion for a day or so, in order for me to assimilate this life-changing information?” she requested.

“Of course, my dearest Lizzy.” Hertfordshire hugged his wife to himself, ignoring the pain in his belly.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

The next morning, after Richard arrived as they knew Mary would need his support, Elizabeth and Archy broke the news to their sisters, Richard, Bingley, and the Phillipses.

The wisdom of having Richard present was proved when in her grief, Mary—who other than Lizzy had been closest to Archy—cried in his arms. It was requested that Richard not share the news until the rest of the family and close friends would be present and informed together.

Richard vowed to keep the confidence. Jane was as affected as any of her sisters as she had come to like and respect Archy since she had been living in his household.

After breaking the news to those in residence at Castlemere, couriers were dispatched to Rivington, as well as the estates belonging to Gilbert and Loretta Hampton, and Lawrence and Marjorie Portnoy.

The letters did not specify what it was, but said it was urgent for them to come to Derbyshire as soon as may be.

Colbath was in London with his family, so a letter was sent to him at Colbath House. The same courier carried a missive to the Regent and Queen explaining that the Duke of Hertfordshire was extremely ill and what his prognosis was.

Leticia and Hubert arrived at Castlemere two days after the courier delivered their letter.

They travelled for almost double the number of hours each day than they normally would.

They conveyed Charlotte and Anthony’s apologies.

The former was close to her lying in and was too uncomfortable to travel, and Anthony would not leave his wife.

She was not alone because Lady Lucas was with Charlotte.

Over the next two days Loretta and Marjorie, with their families arrived. Colbath and Morag Macintyre arrived a day later. Once they were all present, an invitation was sent to Snowhaven and Pemberley for the next morning.

The Fitzwilliams, with Andrew, Marie, and their daughters, arrived at the same time as the Darcys.

When William asked where Richard was, his aunt told him Richard had come earlier.

As they walked into the entrance of the castle, William could not but believe this meeting was connected to the strange conversation he had had with Hertfordshire the day of Lady Elizabeth’s birthday.

He was fully cognisant of the conclusion he reached based on the discussion they had.

Regardless of his feelings for Her Grace, he had prayed each night for His Grace’s continued good health.

He was happy Anna was to spend time with Cathy and Lydia, because if the subject was what he suspected, it would be very hard on his young sister.

An hour later, much to his chagrin, William’s supposition was proved right.

While the ladies, especially Hertfordshire’s sister and nieces cried quietly, the men launched a barrage of questions.

The whole time Lady Elizabeth sat next to her husband, a picture of strength.

His guess was she had been told the day of her birthday which had given her time to hear the news.

Just as they finished the sad meeting, the butler announced the arrival of four royal physicians. They had been sent by the Regent and his mother in the hope they would discover something new which would produce a different prognosis.

While the men examined Hertfordshire, his wife by his side, those who had heard the devastating news kept themselves occupied, hoping against hope.

Two hours later the Duke and Duchess returned to their friends and family. They both shook their heads telling those waiting, holding onto a sliver of hope, that the royal physicians had come to the same conclusion as all of the prior doctors.