Pemberley, Derbyshire, 14th September 1824
Eight years later
The weak light entering the bedroom through the gap between the curtains reached Georgiana’s eyes. The morning was still cold, but the clear sky was promising a bright day ahead.
She looked beside her, where her husband, Edward, was still fast asleep, and carefully left the warmth of her bed to draw the curtains together. By the small gap, she saw the familiar shape of her brother outside walking towards the old chapel.
“Oh, William,” she whispered.
She rang the bell for her maid and, a few minutes later, she went after her brother, finding him in the small family graveyard, down on one knee, a small posy of fresh white roses over their mothers resting place.
He stood up and touched the cold tombstone. “I will never forget you,” he whispered.
Georgiana entwined her arm in his and rested her head on his shoulder. For some minutes, they shared the solemn moment in silence.
“Today is the anniversary of her death,” Darcy said.
Sophie looked up at him and squeezed his arm, taking hold of his hand. “I would love to have met her.”
Darcy nodded, still looking at the tombstone.
The moment was broken by the sound of a boy calling from faraway. “Papa, Papa. I found you at last. ”
Darcy smiled at the boy and crouched down; his arms opened to receive his son.
“Mama told me to look for you here, but I did not listen. I went to the stables instead, but you were not there.”
Georgiana smiled at the boy’s enthusiasm. Little Richard, as her nephew was called by the family, was the image of his father; brown eyes and dark curly hair, and quite tall for his six years of age. But his temperament was much more like his mother’s. “Where is your mama, Richard?” she asked.
“She is coming this way, but I was much faster than her and Benjamin,” he answered with a proud voice.
“William, there you are,” Elizabeth said breathless, running with Benjamin, approaching Darcy and kissing his lips. “Good morning, darling. Good morning, Georgiana. Say good morning to your father and aunt, Benjamin.”
The little boy, flushed by the exercise and still holding his mother’s hand, said the words in the best way his tender age permitted him.
Georgiana smiled back at her sister-in-law, taking Benjamin into her arms, kissing his round cheeks. “Good morning, Benjamin.”
“I am sorry for leaving the house without talking to you, but I needed some time alone, here…” Darcy explained, looking back to the grave beside them.
“I knew you would be here,” she said wrapping her arms around him. “Are you well?
Sensible to the moment, Georgiana turned to the little boys. “What do you think of having a lovely picnic today? You two could help me and Uncle Edward to arrange it. Uncle Richard and Aunt Jane are also coming with your cousins.”
The expression of happiness on both little faces was contagious. “Yes. Let us go!” they both said, clapping their hands and jumping.
Richard turned to his mother. “Mama, would you tell your story again today? I cannot wait to hear it.”
“Of course, my dear. Go now and prepare the picnic. Then, when we are all sitting, I will tell you the story. I promise.”
With this assurance, the two boys and Georgiana left, leaving the couple locked in their embrace.
“Would you care for a walk, or would you like to return to the house?” Darcy asked his wife.
“I would love to go for a walk. I am in great need of exercise,” she said, rubbing her swollen midsection.
“You look as beautiful as ever, my love. Just knowing you are carrying the fruit of our love is enough to make me feel the most privileged of men,” said Darcy, bringing her hand to his lips and resuming their walk.
After some minutes of silence, Darcy said thoughtfully, “I realised something this morning. I have not given it too much attention in these last years. I remember I used to have horrible nightmares, waking up in the middle of the night in a sweat. I always blamed myself for not being with my mother when she died a few months after Georgiana was born. My father told me he sent me back to school hoping she would improve; but she never did. Later he begged my forgiveness, but despite forgiving him, I always felt guilty. After we were married… No, actually, it was a bit before that… those nightmares… that guilt, they have… gone.”
The memory of that night, many years ago, when he was delirious with fever after being shot, came back to Elizabeth, and she told him how she had appeased his mind. “I am sorry if this—”
Darcy put his finger on her lips. He took her hands, rose them to his face, and kissed her open palms. “Do not be sorry. It worked. I never dreamt of her in that painful way again.” He looked at her, perusing every detail of her freckled face. “I do not deserve you, Elizabeth. You are the best thing that happened to me.”
She carefully pulled his face towards her and kissed his moist eyes. “I beg to disagree. After all you have done for me, I am the one who does not deserve you,” she said, gently kissing the small scar over his nose, still visible even after so many years .
Slowly, she let go of his face, lowering her gaze. It was always an emotional moment to recall what he had done for her, all the suffering and the pain, especially now in her present condition. “You saved my life, William. You came to rescue me.”
He put his finger under her chin and gently pulled her face up again. “And how could I not? I could not live without you. Remember?” He frowned. “I will never forget the sight of you fighting against that Captain Macedo.”
Darcy leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes as those memories brought back so many contradictory feelings. “I love you, Elizabeth Rose Darcy. I never regretted one jot of what I have done for you, and I would do it all again without a second thought. I would search for you until the end of the world, until my last breath.” His expression lit up. “And thank you for being honest with me and teaching me how to be a better man. With the grace of God, now I can teach our sons how to be good men — and never to disdain a wallflower in an assembly.”
They burst into laughter.
He pulled her for another embrace and kissed the top of her head. Her lovely smell of lavender and rose reached his senses, and he thanked God, once again, for the wonderful woman He had allowed in his life.
Cupping her face, Darcy kissed her lips — slowly, tantalising, lovingly. Even after so many years, the taste of her kisses was as delicious as that first one.
He slowly pulled away and his browns came together.
Yes. That first one when they did not know what the future had reserved for them.
He kissed her again, this time as a hungered man, with urgency, purging away all his fears once more. She was his now.
Elizabeth returned the kiss with the same urge.
When Darcy pulled away, he had a grin on his face. “But I have a complaint. You will be the death of me if you keep kissing me like that.”
“I see this is a serious complaint, indeed. I remember you saying the same thing the day you proposed to me for the second time, and I accepted it.”
The scene of that precious day came back alive.
Darcy had asked Jane and Richard to take Elizabeth for a ride, claiming they needed a chaperone. On her return, she entered her bedroom just to find a sea of flowers, and Darcy among them with her engagement ring.
He had approached her, taking her hands and kneeled. “It was among the daffodils, violets and primroses that I realised I loved you. And it is among them that I ask you to accept me as your husband. My life is empty and colourless without you. I need you, Elizabeth, as I need my next breath. Please, marry me.”
It had been the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. That was the best marriage proposal she could have ever expected. And the kiss which followed had been the best they shared — before marrying.
And Darcy had said exactly the same thing; that he would die if she did not stop kissing him like that.
Her reverie was interrupted by his mouth in her ear. “Yes… But let us return before I take you to our bedroom and show you the reason you almost kill me every time you kissed me like that…”
Her melodic laughter filled the air.
~ ? ~
“… and once Lord Darcy and Sir Richard saved the young lady from the claws of those terrible pirates, Darcy and Elizabeth married and lived happily ever after. The end.”
As soon as Elizabeth finished her sons’ favourite story, Little Richard and Benjamin stood up and ran, renewed in strength and full of enthusiasm, holding their wooden swords, fighting and chasing each other.
“I am going to be Sir Richard — because I am already called Richard — and you, Benjamin, can be Papa!” .
It was not a coincidence that their favourite story was a mild version of what had, in reality, happened to their parents and uncle many years before.
In fact, a month after Darcy and Elizabeth married, Richard and Jane joined them in that blissful state. About a month after that, Lord Matlock personally delivered a letter from King George IV to Darcy and Richard, inviting both of them to Windsor Castle where Richard was to be honoured with a knighthood for his services to the Crown. At that celebrated occasion, all the officers involved in the arrest and execution of the pirates and smugglers were decorated for bravery and compliance of duty. Mr Lynch received a formal apology from the navy and was invited to join the Naval Academy as an instructor.
With the knighthood also came a monetary reward, which, to the complete happiness of the Fitzwilliams, allowed Richard to sell his commission and his grandmother’s small estate, and buy a larger one about twenty miles from Pemberley, settling himself as a respectable gentleman and landlord. Their family, so far, had been blessed with two children, Alfred and Elizabeth, now five and three years old.
Little Richard raised his sword and shouted “ en garde !” with all his lungs, charging against his Uncle Richard.
“Darcy! What have you done to this boy? He is relentless!” Richard shouted, falling on the floor with his giggling nephews atop of him, his own children joining their cousins.
“He is just following your example!” Darcy shouted back, embracing his wife and placing a lingering kiss on her mouth.
“What was that for? Are you still thinking about… complaints?” Elizabeth asked chuckling.
“No… I mean… I am always inclined to help you understand my complaints. But no. This one was for making me so happy and for giving me this beautiful family.”
Elizabeth looked at him with adoring eyes. “Who would ever guess that a freckled young lady, not handsome enough to tempt anyone, and from an inconvenient family, would inspire such love?” She could not help teasing him every time she had the opportunity. “I love you too. And you are very welcome. It has been my… pleasure, always.”
Could he ever have enough of this woman?
Sometime later, Darcy commissioned a renowned artist to paint the family portrait. The Blessed Darcys , as the painting was later called, could be appreciated by the new generations at the gallery in Pemberley. Beside it, many watercolours picturing happy moments of their life — including one of their favourites, The Muddy Encounter . Curiously enough, this watercolour had only a spring flowery meadow on it.
Like the portrait, the story of their deadly adventure passed from one generation to another.
It is unnecessary to add that all the children in the Darcy and Fitzwilliam families were well versed in shooting, fencing, swimming and riding.
One never knows when such skills might prove useful.
The End