"I just don't understand it Jane. He was so attentive these past months and so very happy when I told him. Oh he promised that it did not matter if the baby would not be an heir." She turned to her sister knowing that this was what Jane had been about to say in a vain attempt to help her sister.

"I am sure that he just needs time to adjust." Jane tried to soothe her sister in the manner that she always had done.

She had however noticed that her sister's husband had been acting in a rather peculiar manner in the past few days. She would not always have noticed as she had never found Mr Darcy to be a particularly warm man but even her husband had commented on it.

"But Anna was born almost a week ago."

"It has only been five days and men do need time to adjust to these changes."

"I did not think that my husband would be one!" Elizabeth was still not content and doubted that there was anything her sister could say to make the situation better.

"It might be that things are not the same as he had thought. Charles was the same."

She did not want to say anything but her husband and her sister's husband were not of the same mould and her husband was acting very differently. She had not noticed anything similar to how he was acting now to how Charles had behaved two years ago.

"He was excited." Elizabeth's attention was no longer focused on her sister but she was musing to herself. "He was so looking forward and we had discussed all the things that we were to do, together as a family. I knew that some men might have been upset that their first child was not an heir but I thought that he would pleased that she was named after his mother. Anna or should I say Anne was the first girl's name we agreed on."

"Maybe that is what it is." Jane pointed out.

"Sorry?"

"Perhaps Mr Darcy does not like his mother's name to be shortened; he may find it disrespectful."

It certainly seemed as though Jane was clutching at straws but perhaps that was the reason. Fitzwilliam had rarely shortened her own name despite the fact that there were few who only called her Elizabeth.

"I suppose that you are right. I shall have to remember to call her Anne," she paused. "I may need some reminding."

"Of course."

Elizabeth did not feel it prudent to add at this moment that, for the first time since their marriage began, her husband had not shared a bed with her. She and Jane were not as close as they had always been the distance and their marriages, as well as the lack of daily communication, separating them slightly.

The two sisters smiled at each other and Jane returned to her husband whilst Lizzie walked along the hallway, lingering at the nursery door. So far she had not been able to stay very long away from her daughter and had spent many hours in the nursery.

Seeing that her daughter was in fact awake and not crying it seemed the perfect opportunity to bring her downstairs to show her to the rest of the family and the house.

Anne Eleanor Darcy had been born five days ago on a warm September morning at nine o'clock in the morning which would not be considered too early had her mother not been in the process of giving birth for almost an entire day prior.

She was a beautiful child it had immediately been announced, possessing an equal share of her mother's own beauty and her father's handsome face. She had Elizabeth Darcy's dark eyes framed in the exact same way that her mother's were but her father's strong nose and jaw, already with a smattering of dark hair on the top of her head.

Everyone had rejoiced at the birth and Pemberley was currently receiving a large amount of guests. It had been a long time into the marriage, almost three years and until recently some had unfairly speculated that perhaps the new Mrs Darcy was incapable of such a task as child bearing.

Elizabeth had been greatly upset by this despite her usual carefree way and had taken great pride in the day when she would be able to prove these people wrong and show their child off to the world. She had hoped to have her husband by her side but it did not seem to be the case.

It was strange given that of the two of them he was the one who had not been concerned at the length of time it had taken them to conceive and yet he was acting so odd now.

Elizabeth felt that it was her fault. Not that there was anything wrong. Or at least that was how it should be. It was merely the fact that she had been so convinced that she was carrying a boy and had let her husband believe the same. It was ridiculous really she'd never been in this situation before and so what would it feel like? She'd never been one to believe in the old wife's tales but it had been different and unlike anything she could have supposed.

However by looking back on it, perhaps it had started earlier, this strange behaviour, the broodiness of her husband that, despite what the people of Meryton thought, wasn't common to him at all.

She wished that she could just talk to him but it was likely given his recent behaviour he would claim that there was nothing wrong and then ask to be left alone.

In truth it appeared that after almost three years of marriage the young Elizabeth Darcy did not know her husband as well as she would think.

He did know what was wrong and for how long but in the same way that their problems at the start of their relationship had rooted from his inability to express himself properly, so they were now.

As always with the troubled young man the cause of the problem was rooted with her family.

The Bennets had arrived in all their wonderful glory and Darcy had felt completely isolated from his wife. It had been a simple process that had not been intentional but had left the young man rather put out all the same.

It had started with the simple monopolizing of her time by her mother, concerned about every twitch, every yawn and every slight headache. This had caused his wife to turn back to her old methods of avoiding her and seeking time with her father.

She had certainly not been avoiding her husband but it was the habit of people of similar characters to spend time with one another after such a long time apart.

They had always had a special bond and it had not always been one that others had understood especially her husband. This had been particularly apparent at dinner the first night they arrived.

Elizabeth was, unusually, at the opposite end of the table next to her father whilst Darcy was sat next to Charlie and Jane.

There was a great deal of laughter at the other end of the table and it was not merely because Mrs Bennet was sat there. Mr Bennet and his daughter were sharing some great joke about a local neighbour, little observations that the man had picked up and which Elizabeth was enjoying immensely.

Mr Darcy had been too far away to hear these observations but as he was accompanying his wife upstairs to their chambers he had asked what he had said.

Perhaps his wife did not have the comic timing of her father or her husband did not remember the neighbour from their meetings during their engagement but he did not find it as amusing. She did try to explain but they both found it unsuccessful and rather frustrating. He wondered if after all this time he would ever grow the sense of humour and light heartedness that seemed to contain her and found it frustrating that he still had not and she, given her condition found rather a lot of daily activities frustrating.

That condition wasn't to last long as barely had the Bennets had time to unpack their trunks when Elizabeth had felt the pangs of labour. It was early, much earlier than expected and had taken longer much longer than expected.

At the very least much longer than her husband had expected.

The news was to come when he was almost certain that the only outcome would be tragic. It had however arrived well as had the guests.

Many of their friends and family had flocked immediately towards the couple; they were known for the generosity and this was a much anticipated event. The birth of their first child was great news and many wanted to celebrate with them.

Colonel Fitzwilliam had been one of the first to arrive as September was normally the month of year that he stopped in Derbyshire and he had been planning this visit since he had first heard the news. Fortunately Colonel Fitzwilliam was of such an amiable character that he was one of the few of their acquaintances that she felt it would be fine to leave with her family, particularly her mother.

Sitting in the blue drawing room Mrs Bennet was prattling on about Mr Darcy's wealth for many minutes before she mentioned the birth of her granddaughter.

"It seems that Mr Darcy is being a typical aristocratic man does it not Colonel Fitzwilliam? He clearly wants nothing to do with his daughter. In my opinion I do not find it shocking, as you men will be men but I am sure my Lizzie is upset. I did tell her that hopefully her next child will be a boy and quickly so."

The Colonel frowned at her comments; he was used to her mannerisms having met her on several previous occasions before but today her comments seemed particularly harsh or it might have been that he had been sat with her for almost an hour.

He made his excuses and decided that perhaps it was not wise to be left alone with Mrs Bennet for such a long time.

He decided that he would soon go and see the child, his cousin and his wife as it would not be long before he had to leave and return back to his regiment.

Elizabeth was in the opposite side of the house holding her daughter up to the window and showing her the grounds. It was one of the first times that the child had been taken around the house and Colonel Fitzwilliam could hear her whispering to the baby.

"And that is where I first ran into your father when I came to visit. Right there."

Colonel Fitzwilliam could imagine that she was pointing out towards the grounds when he heard a slight coughing from a male voice, presumably his cousin, as he knew Bingley and his wife were out walking the grounds. There was no point in pausing outside the door and so he entered clearly at the same time as Darcy from an opposing door.

"There is another letter from Lady Dashworth for you, Elizabeth. I imagine it contains more of her raptures at the prospect of being a godmother." His voice was dry and clipped.

"Put it on the table please Fitzwilliam. As you can see my hands are a little busy at the moment," she smiled but this was not met by her husband but rather by her cousin.

"I will hold her for you," Colonel Fitzwilliam offered aware that he had not yet had the chance to hold the child.

"Thank you," she smiled and somewhat awkwardly he took the pink bundle gazing at the face of the newest member of the family.

"She is incredibly beautiful, Elizabeth," Colonel Fitzwilliam caught the eye of his cousin and wondered what he had said wrong for it was obvious by the glare that he had received from the man.

It might have been that slip of the tongue that allowed her Christian name to be uttered; his cousin had never been too fond of their closeness but he could not remember this issue occurring before in their three years of marriage.

"Thank you." Elizabeth too had noticed that her husband was, once again, not listening and was so very determined to get his attention. "Eleanor writes to know when the christening is. I was wondering about that myself, Georgiana was unsure where her christening gown was but she was certain that you would know."

This was something that typically Elizabeth would have organised but in the final period of her confinement Fitzwilliam had spoken with her several times of the large events to celebrate the birth of their child. There were long running traditions that had to be adhered to.

He did not answer her. Elizabeth felt herself flush slightly aware of the presence of Colonel Fitzwilliam and wanting to say something to her husband but knowing that she could not or rather should not.

Colonel Fitzwilliam was aware that there was something that he should do but for all his years in the military he could not think how to deal with this situation.

"I am sure that it is warm enough for you to take Anne outside to show her the spot where the two of you met," He was hoping that by spending time together the unusual atmosphere that the couple were currently experiencing would soon go away.

"I think not." Darcy turned and seeing a selection of books piled up on a small side table picked one up and looked at it, "Mrs Darcy, I will have Mrs Reynolds sort out the arrangements and then you can let everyone who needs to know."

Colonel Fitzwilliam frowned; Mrs Reynolds had been an invaluable housekeeper for many years now but she was just that, a housekeeper and these were not the sort of arrangements that a woman of her position would make.

"No that is fine. I will sort everything out. Mrs Hadwell wrote to me just yesterday I am sure that her husband would be more than happy to perform the ceremony." It was perhaps a sign of all that had changed that Elizabeth was unable to storm out of the room.

Colonel Fitzwilliam had spent limited time around children despite the fact he had many nieces and nephews from his brothers but he did believe that children were able to notice the tension between their parents. It was at this moment that Anne, who everyone had previously commented on being a very quiet and well behaved baby, began to fuss causing her mother to take her back into her arms and out of the room.

Anne did not take long to settle but Elizabeth felt that a nap would be best. In a perfect world she would like the opportunity to escape from company for awhile but knew that was not was a good hostess should do and that unfortunately, some of her guests would not accept the fact that she was a new mother as an excuse.

She entered the nursery and although it had only been recently furnished and she was so tired it was still easy to discern when something was out of place.

"Abbie?" she turned to the young maid who had been given the new responsibility of looking after the latest addition, "Why is this chair in here? Does it not belong in Mr Darcy's room?" She had very nearly said their bedroom but knew it was not the norm to be sharing a room and did not want gossiping to spread. It was actually far more common for Fitzwilliam to come to her chambers as her bed was softer and with less severe furnishings but that chair was definitely from his bedroom.

"Yes. I believe that he bought it in here the other night ma'am."

"The other night?" Elizabeth knew that could have been any night since the birth and hoped the maid would clarify.

"Oh yes ma'am he was here the whole night."

If Abbie had been with the staff for longer she would have thought it odd that Mr Darcy was away from his wife for such a long period of time but the girl was new and did not know a great deal about her employers.

"Thank you."

Elizabeth had been falling asleep much faster than she had during the hot months of the final stages of her pregnancy and given that her husband was spending his evenings with the other men she had not always been aware of whether or not he had entered her bed chamber. It was only with each morning she realised he hadn't.

Elizabeth did know that her husband had not come to bed last night and at that time she was glad; she had been trying to keep her temper with him under control but she had found that as the day had gone on her anger had increased and she did want to avoid an argument, at least while her family remained.

Now though she could not resist and decided that given the bulk of her family were to leave in the morning she would instead wait in his bed chamber that night for an answer.

Fitzwilliam Darcy sat up in his study much later than he would normally. Despite having slept in the same way for most of his adult life, he found suddenly that having an empty bed was a most difficult way of actually sleeping. He did not hear Elizabeth breathing, or in the past few months waking up to get fresh air. They had been apart before, when she had gone to visit her family or his business trips, but never before had it been of his own doing.

He was not sure if he could continue like this for much longer. Or maybe it was just because he was so tired.

However reaching his bed chamber and seeing the figure of his wife there, he realised he would not be sleeping anytime soon.

I was very nervous about posting this, as I am with pretty much everything I write. The regency language may be a little off but I tried.

It started off as a one shot and then went on and on so it may feel a little rushed or slow.

I tried to do some research to make this more realistic. Traditionally and still continued to day (or at least it was by my family) a girl would have two godmothers and one godfather with the reverse being used for a boy. They were also likely to be named after this person who typically would be of a higher social class. I felt that the Darcys would name her after his mother.

I made Dashwood Eleanor's married name because it would have been of a slightly better social standing than Ferrars, well according to the internet so who knows?

I'd like to thank Bonbonnet who reviews everything I write so this is dedicated to her.

The second part which is essentially written will be put up in a day or so. I'd love to know your thoughts.