Page 4 of Trusting Miss Austen (Miss Austen #3)

Releasing my hand, Max stood and brushed off his breeches. ‘We should go and tell Seraphina and Lucy the good news. Then we can start making plans.’

I looked at him blankly. ‘Plans?’

‘Yes, we have to choose a room for the nursery, and you’ll need to write to your family and tell them you are “expecting”.’

Realisation that I would need to deceive Papa and Harriet now washed over me.

I looked up at Max. ‘Oh no, I cannot lie to them. They will be shocked enough to learn I am with child.’

‘You must for now. It cannot be helped,’ replied Max, staring down at me. ‘There are already too many people who know. We cannot risk adding even more to the mix.’

‘Papa and Harriet would not betray us,’ I said staunchly.

‘Neither would Evan knowingly,’ said Max. ‘But I am not telling him all the same and will give him and the rest of my family only the good news that I am to be a father. If we do not say anything, then there is no danger of a slip of the tongue.’

‘Very well,’ I told him. ‘But there is someone else who will need to know.’

He arched an eyebrow. ‘Who?’

‘Annie, my dressmaker, as she will need to make me an undergarment I can stuff padding into to give the illusion of an expanding belly.’

Max gave a grunt. ‘I did not think of that. All right, I suppose i t cannot be helped. But no one else!’

Yes, the plan was supposed to be ‘secret’. But at the rate we were involving people in it, the chance of someone finding out was quite high indeed.

And if word was somehow to make it to Dorian’s ears that Lucy was to have a child, well, that was a situation that didn’t bear thinking about.

***

Another meeting was called, with Mr Chadwick in attendance, when Seraphina and Lucinda arrived home in the late afternoon.

‘We have heard from the Austens. It is good news. They have given consent for Lucy and Felicity to stay at Godmersham and are entirely sympathetic to our cause,’ announced Max when everyone was settled.

‘I am so happy to hear that. Oh, they are most kind to help me,’ murmured Lucinda next to me on the sofa. She seemed much perkier overall. Her skin had regained a little colour, and her eyes weren’t as red, suggesting that she hadn’t been crying—today at least. The bout of fresh air and spot of shopping had clearly been restorative, and this news was even more so.

Seraphina allowed the ghost of a smile now that things were slotting nicely into place. She inclined her head to me. Yes, you may like me now after I have made the effort to arrange everything for Lucy and will be raising your grandchild, I thought snarkily. But I kept my opinion to myself. Seraphina being somewhat pleasant to me was an improvement on her biting my head off.

‘That is excellent news indeed. We are making progress,’ Mr Chadwick concurred. ‘I have also been busy drafting a contract. After it has been reviewed, all that remains is for everyone to sign it.’

‘Thank you for your quick work, Mr Chadwick,’ said Max. ‘There are of course some finer details that need to be discussed about what happens next. Felicity will be writing to her family to let them know of her “condition”—her sister, Harriet, who is currently staying at Ashbury Manor in Steventon and her father and aunt, who live nearby. Since her aunt is good friends with the postmistress there, I have no doubt the news will spread quickly around the town. ’

I nodded in agreement. ‘Mrs Sutton is not known for her discretion.’

Lucinda clutched my arm in concern.

‘But it is nothing to be worried about. Indeed, any attention Fliss receives diverts it nicely from you, Lucy. You will not be suspected in the slightest,’ Max said, and her grip relaxed a little.

‘Yes, all you need to worry about is keeping well and taking care of yourself when we are back at home, darling,’ interjected Seraphina from the opposite couch. ‘But I can make sure of that.’

Lucinda’s grip tightened on my arm again, and I felt a bit sorry for her.

‘You should not go out of your way to be concerned about Lucy’s health,’ I warned Seraphina. ‘Otherwise, Tobias will start asking questions.’

‘Speaking of which’, said Max, glancing at his sister-in-law with a frown, ‘how are you going to manage Tobias? I personally think you should tell him.’

I thought she should too. But again, I kept my mouth closed, not wanting to break the fragile goodwill between us.

Seraphina didn’t say anything. But from her drawn brows, firm-set mouth, and heaving bosom, she seemed to be struggling internally.

‘You do not have to decide now, Mrs Fitzroy,’ said Mr Chadwick, his calm voice acting like a soothing balm. Seraphina took a deep breath, and her countenance relaxed slightly. I realised then that she outwardly liked to appear strong, but inside, she was actually quite afraid .

‘I assume the reason that you wish to keep Miss Fitzroy’s condition from your husband is that he will be very angry?’ the lawyer asked, astutely ascertaining the situation. ‘And that he might take matters into his own hands, to his detriment?’

Seraphina nodded. ‘My husband is like a snorting bull when he becomes angry. There is no telling what he will do. I’m worried that he’ll track down Mr Hart and strangle him with his bare hands. I do not want my last glimpse of him to be swinging from the gallows, Mr Chadwick.’

‘Ah, I understand. So it is not surprising then that you wish to keep his daughter’s condition a secret from him. But as her condition advances, it becomes more risky,’ Mr Chadwick explained .

‘What if Seraphina and Lucy come to us for several weeks before we journey to Godmersham?’ I suggested. ‘That is something not too out of the ordinary.’

‘But what if Tobias wants to come too?’ said Seraphina, looking doubtful .

‘Then you will have to think of something to put him off,’ replied Max. ‘Tell him I am going to visit a friend for a couple of weeks and will not be at home. I doubt he will want to come if it is only women here.’

Seraphina nodded slowly, appeased.

Lucy spoke up. ‘What about Harrington?’

‘What about him?’ asked Seraphina irritably, like he was the last thing we should be concerned about.

‘I should like to be honest with him, Mama, about my condition. To remain quiet is a deception I cannot bear.’

‘Are you mad, girl?’ exclaimed Seraphina before any of us could get a word in. ‘I thought we had settled this. If you tell him, you will lose him. There is no doubt in my mind. And he may notify his scoundrel brother to take responsibility. Do you want to be married to a good-for-nothing rogue? No, it is out of the question! Harrington, like Tobias, can never find out.’

‘B-but what if he proposes?’

‘Then you shall accept. And speak nothing of the past—it is your cross to bear. You will not be the first woman to keep a secret from her husband.’

Seraphina did not direct her attention to me upon saying this, but I shifted uncomfortably on the sofa nonetheless, feeling like she had.

‘And if you “cannot bear” it, as you say, then you should not respond to his letters,’ she continued. ‘He will soon take the hint. Not having him as a husband at all is preferable, especially with his connections to that abominable scoundrel. I will find you someone more suitable in York once this is all over. Perhaps one of the young men I initially passed over will do.’

Lucinda bit her lip and looked away. Oh dear, I thought. Seraphina might have a struggle on her hands if she tries to separate them.

However, the subject turned to when they should come to us.

‘It will certainly have to be after Christmas,’ said Seraphina thoughtfully. ‘Otherwise, Tobias will want to know why Lucy is not there. I am thinking January, though she will be seven months gone by then. Let us hope she is not showing too much. Though these new high-waisted dresses will aid us. One of my younger sisters, Amelia, is a stickler for the latest Paris fashions. And she was well into her sixth month before anyone noticed.’

‘Actually, everyone was being polite, Mama. Great-aunt Meredith told me she thought Aunt Amelia had been overindulging on chocolate and needed more exercise,’ quipped Lucy with a grin at me, and I stifled the urge to giggle.

So it was all decided. The contract was produced by Mr Chadwick at the end of our meeting. And after Max had read it over and pronounced it ‘acceptable’, it was duly signed by each of us—sealing our fate and that of Lucy’s child.

All that remained was for me to write a letter to Elizabeth (and a separate letter to Jane), informing them of our arrival date in Kent. Max and I would write to our loved ones announcing the good news, and he would inform our staff that I was in the family way. Later on, they would be told that I would be travelling to Ashbury Manor for my confinement and taking Lucinda with me as my companion. (They did not need to know we were going to Kent rather than Steventon!)

In the coming weeks, I would book an appointment with my dressmaker to make some adjustable dresses and a corset that padding could be inserted into .

We would also begin to prepare our home for the new arrival—namely choosing a room for a nursery and decorating it. I was quite looking forward to that. Max’s home had undergone a thorough renovation in the summer before I had moved in, but of course, he had not factored a nursery into his plans. However, as he cautioned me in one of our discussions, we did not know if it was a boy or a girl. So the colour scheme would have to be neutral. However, I suggested bunny rabbits for the decoration, and Max agreed with a smile, saying that he remembered having those in his own nursery. I replied, with some measure of disbelief, ‘How on earth can you remember that?’

And he assured me, quite solemnly, that he had an excellent memory.

***

Dearest Harriet,

Please excuse my lack of pleasantries, but I have some strange but exciting news to tell you. The other week, I was feeling a little under the weather, so Max insisted on calling for the doctor. After an examination, he pronounced me with child! I can hardly believe it, especially after all my declarations that I never wanted to be a mother. It looks like I shall indeed be one this coming February.

Max is quite beside himself with joy, and his happiness is infectious. Indeed, he is running around like a rooster, crowing his head off about it. He is making me laugh, but at the same time, I have shed some quiet tears as my emotions are quite unstable at present. As to how this happy circumstance occurred, I have no idea as we have been very careful in that department. Max used a French letter every time we ...

No, no, that was too much information! She did not need to know the ins and outs of how I became with child. No doubt she was well aware of them, having had one herself. I took another sheet of paper and wrote the letter out again, minus the last two sentences .

I know you will be naturally concerned about my health, dearest, but let me reassure you that I am quite well. I will also have no need of your assistance, either now or for my confinement. Max will see to it that I have the best care. So please do not start making alternative arrangements as I know you are planning to have Christmas in London with Evan’s family.

The last thing I wanted was Harriet racing up here to look after me at Christmas or offering to help out with my confinement in the months afterwards, so I thought I would head her off at the pass.

It was easier than trying to explain that I would be in Kent staying with Elizabeth and Edward Austen. She would be utterly confused as to why I would go all the way down there when I had a perfectly good home to give birth in. I ended the letter with :

I will write again with further updates and eagerly await your wise counsel on the best types of food to eat or avoid!

Love and hugs,

Fliss x

A congratulatory reply from Harriet was imminent. That was par for the course. And I had to involve her in some aspect, hence asking for her advice on nourishment (and expectant women were always concerned about things like that, were they not?).

However, despite my insistence that she not concern herself, Harriet was a worrier. I knew she would start firing letters off to me on a regular basis to reassure me on every detail. She had spent twenty years living with me and knew intimately my thoughts and fears upon the subject of childbirth.

Oh, how I wished I could tell her what was happening, but I had given my word to everyone that I would not. I would have to manage the situation somehow, as Seraphina was doing with Tobias.

Yet it felt very wrong that my dressmaker would know the truth of the matter, but not my own sister!

***

With the plan locked in place and the contract signed, there was markedly less tension, and Mr Chadwick’s placating presence had managed to alleviate the situation further. Seraphina, it seemed, was finished with accusing me and deemed our arrangement a suitable ‘fix’.

A few days later, we saw her and Lucinda off back to York. Seraphina even gave me a peck on the cheek before climbing into the carriage, which was unheard of under any circumstances.

Lucinda too was considerably more composed than when she had arrived. We had taken some long walks in the garden, where she confessed her gratitude to me and Max. There was some self-condemnation over her naivety and stupidity, which I swiftly dismissed, saying there should be none of that, that it was pointless blaming herself and she needed to focus on keeping well for the coming months. She did not mention Harrington, and I did not ask. Any relationship between them now was surely hopeless.

‘So that is that,’ I said to Max as we stood, waving to the carriage. After the upheaval and delirium of the last week, I felt strangely lacklustre. ‘I suppose all we can do now is wait and wonder.’

‘Wait, wonder, and prepare ,’ said Max, putting his arm around my waist and holding me close. ‘There is much to do, dearest. You will not have time to brood. And we will enjoy our time together all the more as everything will change when ...’

He did not need to finish his sentence as I knew very well that come February, our lives would never be the same again.

***

The next day, I received a letter from Harriet, which was fast, even with the excellent mail coach service. I imagined her gasping out loud at breakfast, her hand to her mouth, and Evan asking, ‘Is it bad news, my love?’ She would probably have exclaimed, ‘Fliss is going to have a baby!’ causing Evan’s mouth to drop open. She would then have scurried off to the parlour, leaving her breakfast half eaten to write back to me in a flurry of excitement. As expected, she was shocked, but effusive in her congratulations. One bit in particular made me shed a guilty tear .

I feel somewhat responsible, dearest, as I have secretly prayed for you to know the joy of motherhood, and despite all the odds, my prayers have been answered! I hope you do not hate me too much ...

Everyone, it seemed, was taking responsibility for the creation of this child, but Mr Hart!