Aftermath...
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Chapter twenty-nine: The Power of Love


Tuesday the thirty-first, August. Dordogne. Pemberley. Zhongdian.
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"Hello, dear..."

His smile was even more handsome than usual. She couldn't resist and flew into his arms. He caught her and soon they kissed, and kissed, and kissed.

"You've come," said d'Arcy. "I was lonely and a little stressed. What if I never..."

"Stop, I'm here and I'm so happy to hold you in my arms. I would never have thought that happiness could be so..." she hesitated, "so complete..."

He nodded.

"You're right, dear. Never before have I felt so complete."

She bent backwards and looked at their surroundings.

"Where are we?"

"Beynac Castle," answered d'Arcy. "The most enchanted castle in all of France and the only place where I have ever been happy before encountering you..."

She looked around her and saw that they were at the top of a square tower and far, far away, more than a hundred yards below, a mighty river was flowing. He followed her look and smiled.

"The Dordogne, dear... The most beautiful river in France. Here you'll find friendly people and a blessed land where everything grows to twice the size of everywhere else..."

She smiled at his enthusiasm. She could feel his happiness and could do nothing but share it with him.

"Let me show you every place in the castle and the village. Let me show the people and the land."

And he did what he promised. They visited every room of the castle, even its foulest dungeons where they met the only people who acknowledged them. And even they visibly could not approach. She wondered a little about them, but soon her husband's enthusiasm washed every worry away.

They visited the castle's garden and the huge kitchen, and he boasted that he was, through his grandmother, who was the last owner of the castle, the heir to Richard Lionheart, who was renowned to have frolicked with the daughter of the house. She laughed at him.

"So that's why you invaded England, to get back the throne of your great-great-great-grandfather?"

He denied nothing and just smiled at her with the most loving smile she had ever seen.

"Let's visit my two other favorite castles, mon amour. They are just on the other side of the Dordogne."

She agreed, and soon they were visiting Milandes Castle and Castelnaud Castle, both built in the fifteenth century and marvelously situated in the middle of orchards and vineyards. And Geoffrey was so proud of them. He loved them in the same way Fitzwilliam loved Pemberley and the Peaks. He was just like the boy who came to these places with his grandfather –the admiral who was sunk by the Navy– and here he could live without the fear and stress his father awoke in him. Here he had known only love and admiration and respect. And it showed.


He was, like that long-gone happy child, full of liveliness and spirit. He quoted poems and showed her pictures and paintings and monuments. He was like a whirlwind, and at his side, time was no longer of importance. It was as if they were just living each moment as if there would never be another one behind. Soon she had the impression that she knew this land as well as Longbourn and Hertfordshire.

Here was where his heart was buried, and he was so unwaveringly happy that she had difficulty recognizing the mature man she had learned to love while dancing and flying with this youthful Adonis.

"I'll show you every place where I've been happy," he said after what seemed like seconds but must have been days considering how much he had shown her.

He looked her in the eyes, and soon she felt herself fall into his marvelous green-blue eyes.
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"That's the monastery."

"What do you mean, the monastery?"

He looked at her with a little surprise sparkling in his eyes.

"There's only one monastery in my life, mon amour. It's here that I learned everything I needed to know, to find the strength in me to overcome my self-loathing."

"But it's in China, dear! How can we?"

He smiled at her with more love that she had ever witnessed.

"Because distance and time are no longer important for us, mon amour. We are dead!"
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"Mrs. Darcy, Mrs. Darcy, she just moved her head... She moaned and uttered a few words. I'm sure she said, 'no, no...' But I didn't understand the rest of her words."

Lizzy was immediately at her sister's side. For twenty long hours, she had neither moved nor spoken. She had just lain there without ever acknowledging her ministrations or those of the nurse. And now she had moved and spoken. Just when she was not there...
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Mr. Bennet and his son-in-law were awake in the master's study. They had spent quite a long time here. The return from the Peaks had been difficult with Fitzwilliam more than angry and Jane totally unaware of her surroundings. They had brought her back, put her to bed, and called the doctor. And the doctor's diagnosis was less than satisfying.

"She just lost consciousness," he had said. "Her skull is broken but not staved-in, which is a good sign. It could be that there is only superficial damage and nothing more than a heavy contusion. As for now, I'm unable to say more. Try to give her beverages and soup or she will slowly dwindle into oblivion."

And with these words, he went away promising to come again in the evening and at noon the next day.

They had discovered how it had happened, and Fitzwilliam's pride was more than a little squelched by what had happened to his sister. He was just pouring himself and his father a third glass of port when Lizzy came in.

"She moved and spoke," she said, quite excited. "The nurse says she said 'no' twice and some other words she didn't understand. It could be a good sign. It must be a good sign..."

Soon she was in her husband's arms.

"We'll soon see, dear," he whispered in her ear. "The doctor was quite adamant that even the slightest sign of consciousness was a portent of further healing. Has she eaten?"

Lizzy nodded.

"She swallows. This morning, she just refused, but I spoke to her of the child she's carrying. It was enough to make her swallow. She knows what matters. She won't dwindle into oblivion. Not my Jane. That's not a Bennet way, and neither is it a d'Arcy way... We will have her back. It's just a question of time."
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"No, no, I'm not..."

"Indeed you are, mon amour. We both are. And it's of no importance! We are together for all eternity..."

No, thought Jane. No, I'm not dead. I don't know what happened, but I'm not dead. I'm not dead!

She looked him in the eyes and took him in her arms. He was real; she could touch him and smell his fragrance. She could feel his tongue when he kissed her...

I cannot be dead, that's not death!

But he was so young, younger than she was... Or was he? She looked at herself in his eyes and saw that she was, like him, little more than a young girl.

Yes, we are younger, but we are not dead. Not while I'm carrying our child. I won't let him die. I won't! I want to come back. It's marvelous here, but it's not right to be here. It's not right to be between worlds...

She sighed, overwhelmed with the odors of the Chinese town they were "flying" over. A minute before, she had been in Southern France, walking along paths winding their way between vineyards and orchards, and now she was over a teeming city full of people whose tongue she didn't understand. And who couldn't see her... That was why only the ghosts in the castle's dungeons had reacted to their presence. Normal people couldn't see ghosts... Ghosts could see ghosts...

I'm not a ghost; I'm not dead!

"Let me show you where I was, for the first time, satisfied with myself," said the youth who was her love and at whose side she wished to stay forever.
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He had shown her everything, the streets where he had roamed, the buildings where he had lived alone and with his concubines. He had sought them out, and she was proud that he was so happy to see them content and in good health.

And then he had taken her to the monastery. He had guided her through the corridors of the greatest library she had ever seen, miles and miles of tunnels excavated out of the most powerful granite mass she had ever seen.

And then, to end their tour, he had brought her to the reception chamber where Master Whu had so often summoned him. And when they entered, his eyes opened and followed them.

"Who's she, little Monkey?"

His lips never moved, but still she heard what he was saying. More, she understood him. Geoffrey said a few words she didn't understand.

"No need to speak, little Monkey; haven't you discovered that in your state, thoughts can be heard?"

She looked at the old man and spoke with her mind.

"I'm Jane, his wife, and I'm not dead!"

A smile came on Master Whu's face.

"Indeed, you are and you are not... Not yet, little Flower, not yet. But it could happen very soon if you don't show a real will to live."

"I want to live. I'm with child. I won't let him die..."

"That's of no importance, little Flower." He pointed behind her. "There are many pregnant women who die each day the gods give us. Coming and going, that's the way of things. Being with child will change nothing if you don't have the will to live. Please turn and think of your child..."

She turned and did what he told her. And soon she saw two light shapes which hovered just a few yards from her.

"Normally, they wait in proximity of your body. But you can summon them. You can even speak to them if you want."

Without letting them out of her sight, she went on asking.

"Who are they?"

"They are the souls who await to wear the bodies you are conceiving, little Flower."

"Bodies?"

"You will bear twins, little Flower. The land that nurtured you was in urgent need of a male and a female firstborn. It chose to make you conceive both at the same time. And those are the souls who won the toss to become your children."

"Won the toss?"

"It's not always easy, little Flower, to find a family who will give you everything you need to fulfill your destiny. Often, there are more than one who want to wear the body you're creating."

He looked at the light shadows.

"In your case, they were quite a few candidates. They have all waited a long time to be able to come back to the country they are linked with. They were all quite impatient and in a hurry to come back in our little schoolroom. Those two were those who had the most affinity with you and your husband. You have known each other for quite a long time. They are quite satisfied that you won't let yourself die."

"Of course I won't, I'm not dead!"

"That's the spirit, little Flower. That's the spirit."

He looked at d'Arcy.

"Now there's only the task of convincing him not to let himself die. He's so happy between worlds. He has no real will to go back."

Geoffrey took her in his arms.

"We can have everything we want here. We can be together forever. Don't go back..."

"I won't let my children die," she whispered. "And if, once dead, we can find ourselves in the same place with youthful bodies and passions in our hearts, would it not be better to wait? We have long years before us. We could come back later, much later..."

"It's said that it is only possible when real love is shared," said Master Whu. "And it has happened that over the years, love has dwindled and disappeared..."

She turned her head and could not help laughing when she saw his stubborn mien.

"Don't fret about it, dear. Our love will not dwindle over the years. And even if I am the only person you love, it's not so for me. I have parents I have learned to cherish even if they are not perfect. I have sisters who can be the silliest creatures in the world, but I love them more for it, not less. And then there are your children I already love dearly. So you see, I have plenty of reasons to come back and love those others. And I'm sure you too will soon have many people to love around you..."

She turned and thanked the souls who had answered her call.

"Two of them I already know, and one of them is the son you are so afraid of having. Come back with me, and let's share a normal life before sharing an eternity of youthful mischief..."

He hugged her fiercely and whispered in her hair.

"If we die now, we'll really have all eternity to share our love..."

"I don't doubt it, dear. But I do believe that you need more practice in the variety of love and tenderness. I'm sure that two howling babes will soon show you the real price of love..."

He sighed.

"I don't want to lose you..."

"You won't! Refuse to die and come back with me. We'll have many years to love each other, and we have so much more to learn."

He shook his head.

"You'll abandon me?"

"Never, but now I'll just go on living. And if I understand correctly, you could decide to be at my side till the end of my life..."

"I could, but what if you fall in love with some other man?"

"There's only one way to be sure that that will never happen."

He smiled at her.

"That the man you love is at your side?"

"That's my true opinion, dear. I know that with you at my side, there will be no other man. Ever!"

"You drive a hard bargain, dear..."

She sighed, relieved that he would come with her.

"Wouldn't you, dear, if the price of your bargain is your happiness?"
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A hand grabbed hers, and she was immediately awake.

"I'll live Lizzy, stop worrying... I'll live." She took a long breath. "And before I forget everything, please note that I'll be the mother of twins and that Geoffrey just survived an assassination attempt. The news is coming that he's not regaining consciousness. He will, so please be firm, and don't let me panic when the news arrives..."

And with these last words, Jane slipped into a dream full of twins, a smiling and loving husband, and foreign Chinese cities...