Lucy Elizabeth Wickham had taken to following her Uncle Darcy around everywhere she could. She had been extremely confused when her family left the only home she had ever known. These days she barely saw her older brother and sister. They were always working on lessons or talking to adults or some such other boring things. Not like her Uncle Darcy, he was only still at his desk and even then his foot tapped as if ready to jump up at a moment's notice.
She liked to follow him in the mornings when he picked fresh flowers for her Aunt Lizzy. She liked to sit under his desk when he did his paper work, he often let her seal his letters, or scribble on botched drafts. But best of all, was when he worked with the horses. Pemberley had the most beautiful horse Lucy had ever seen, and she always followed her uncle when he was headed for the stables. One such day, Uncle Darcy was in the tack room talking to the blacksmith, when two of the grooms struggled to bring in a new mount.
"Do you think he can do it?" a footman asked.
"If anyone is up to the task, it would be him," replied a groom.
"Without leaving the Mistress a widow?" the footman returned.
"He would never let that happen, Joe. I swear he would take on the devil himself for that lady," the groom shook his head at the luck of his master, marrying such a remarkable woman.
"I believe that, but that horse might be the devil on earth. He nearly took John's arm off the last time we tried to get him into that stall."
Lucy watched the animal move past her in a trance. He was so beautiful, his eyes were deep and dark, but at their core she felt a gentle spirit lingered. When the men finally worked him into the stall and walked away, she could not help but move closer.
Her first trip to the stables, Uncle Darcy had introduced her to his favorite horse, Apollo, and she had enjoyed stroking his soft nose. Apollo loved apples, just like her, and she had remembered to sneak one from breakfast to bring for her favorite pet, but now watching the big black horse kick and whinny in his stall, she thought that an apple might help him settle into his new home.
Once in the stall, Lucy simply sat down right in the path of his powerful legs, her face tilted up to look the mighty beast directly in the eye. At first, he thrashed at her, though never moving close enough to injury her. Then, he snorted and shook his head, trying to frighten her into leaving, but eventually the horse slowly began to calm, snuffing and shaking his head with lessened force until he was as still as she. Then and only then did she rise and move closer.
"Night," she said, patting the horse's nose and smiling.
The great Night nickered gently and brushed his nose against her apron pocket, reminding Lucy of the treat she had stowed there. She happily feed it to him just as her Uncle had shown her in the past. Her business finished, Lucy then turned and walked out of the stall, surprised to find her uncle Darcy looking at her almost like her father had when she accidentally spilled his ale.
Out of the corner of his eye, Darcy had seen a flash of pink checkered fabric disappearing into the stall and rushed over. At the gate, he called her, imploring her retreat, but his efforts were futile. The girl would not be moved by commands and he did not want to agitate the horse while Lucy was so close to it. He watched with fascination as the she stood and snuggled the great beast before giving it a snack and skipping out the door to him.
Darcy began to scold her for her carelessness. He went on and on until, he looked into her eyes and saw no comprehension, but sadly a bit of fear. He knew that Lucy did not often speak, but she had always seemed like such a good listener. He could not fathom why she would put herself in such a dangerous situation, but seeing that she was clearly frightened, he decided it was best to return to the house, and have a conversation her to her mother. Upon entering the house Maria had taken Lucy to the nursery, leaving Mr. Darcy to have a private talk with his least favorite house guest. Lydia was in the last place he would have expected. In fact, were he not an observant man, he doubted he would have noticed her tucked into a small alcove in the library.
"Mrs. Wickham, I must insist that you attend your child! She was very nearly killed today," he demanded, anger now boiling from the fear of what might have happened to the sweet girl.
Lydia looked up face completely placid, "I am sorry, Sir, which of my daughters seems to be the problem?"
Darcy recounted the tale and in the end Lydia looked indecisive.
"Come Mrs. Wickham, I cannot have a child in my home that does not follow my orders, especially where their safety is at risk."
"I am quite certain that she would have obeyed, but I very much doubt…" She looked around trying to find the words.
"Yes?" Darcy pressed impatiently.
"She cannot hear!" she exclaimed, before quickly covered her mouth.
"Pardon me, Mrs. Wickham, but do you mean to tell me that she could not hear me today or that she has some defect and has not heard a thing in her life?"
"My daughter is not defective!" she roared, fire in her eyes for only the second time since her arrival.
"Answer the question," Darcy persisted.
Lydia glared at the imposing man, but he gave no indication that his resolve would waver.
"Lucy was a very happy child. She was progressing just like her brother and sister until about six months ago. It was a cold winter and she caught a sight chill, but then the fever took her." She seemed trapped in a terrible memory for a moment but then continued. "When she finally regained herself, she was different. Often distracted by too much movement, she stopped saying the few words she had previously been able to, and could not follow simple directions she once had."
"What did the physician say?" Darcy asked.
Lydia could not stop the bitter snort that escaped her.
"Physician? My 'husband' would not even let me call the apothecary. He said that she would either recover or die, either way there was no money 'worthless' expenditures."
Darcy was lost in thought for several minutes. Lydia considered leaving the room, but did not want to discuss the topic again and so she waited for him to process this new discovery.
"I will send for our physician tomorrow," he finally said, almost to himself. "Mrs. Wickham, is there anything else you are not telling me about your past?"
"Many things…"
"Anything that involves your children's ability to live safely in my home?" he sighed.
"Not that I can think of," she rolled his eyes at her brother in law's need to know everything.
"I must return to my work," Darcy huffed at apathetic attitude. "And I would suggest you spend some time with your children."
Later that afternoon, when Elizabeth heard about the incident, she summoned her sister. She was tired of the children asking about their mother and tired of Lydia's lack luster parenting style. Knowing that this was not a talk they wanted overheard, Elizabeth asked Lydia to join her in her private parlor.
"Sister, I will never understand how you could have let this happen," Elizabeth scolded like a school mistress.
"Elizabeth, you are my sister and I love you, but there are some things that you cannot understand about real life," Lydia said sadly.
"Real life, you think that I live in a fantasy, but you are the one who chooses to continually ignore reality, sister! There you sat reading a book while my staff cares for your children. While my husband works on procuring you yet another expensive settlement on which you will live. And…" Elizabeth exploded.
"I would suggest you lower your voice, before we have a repeat of the incident the other day. My son has been dealt an unfair hand, but he has accepted his lot admirably. He feels it is his duty to protect his sisters and I in any way he can," Lydia interrupted.
"And what of the fact that he is but a child himself?" Elizabeth demanded.
"This is exactly what I am talking about, Lizzy. In London, boys half his age work for scraps, live in squalor, and steal to feed their families."
"That does not make it right for my nephew, Lydia."
"Of course it is not right, but what was I to do? Anytime the children needed something, I would have to ask my husband for money that we did not have. He would go on and on about what useless creatures I continued to produce and claim that if they needed something they should fend for themselves! When he found out that we were expecting again, I thought he might actually kill me just to have a few less mouths to feed, but George stepped in and promised that he would take responsibility for feeding the baby from his own rations or find a way to earn its keep."
Elizabeth was gob smacked. Not even the Pemberley servants or tenants had to worry about whether or not they would be able to feed their children.
"Do not act so high and mighty, Elizabeth Darcy. If you had your way, we would be half way across the country by now. You were pushing us out the door the day after we arrived. If not for the fact that I stupidly came to you for help, you would have been perfectly happy to live in the bubble of perfection that is Pemberley, only knowing of your nieces and nephew from the rare letters I have occasion to send."
Elizabeth was shamed into silence. It was true that she had not maintained a sisterly relationship with Lydia after her marriage. She liked to blame it on Lydia's husband, but arrangements could have been made. She could have at the very least written more.
"I am sorry, Lyddie. I should have kept in touch. Perhaps if I had, you would have felt more comfortable sharing your burdens with me sooner."
Lydia wanted to revel in her success of having Elizabeth admit she was wrong, but she couldn't find happiness in others failings anymore.
"Do not trouble yourself with things that are in past, Lizzy. I have spent so much of my life thinking about how things could have been different, but they are not. I am a widow, with four children, no prospects and nothing to live on. That said, I am alive, I have four beautiful healthy children, and my situation is vastly improved from what it was just a fortnight ago," Lydia smiled thinking of her children.
"I am sorry to have caused you such trouble, but I am sure that we will be on our way by month's end and your life can go back to normal."
Lizzy took her sisters hand and gave it a squeeze. Both women were beginning to dread the eventual parting. One because she would never be able to see her children as happy as they were here and the other sad that she would miss the opportunity to see cousins become friends in a house full of happiness and laughter.