I am excited for future upcoming chapters because a great idea came to me when I woke up in the middle of the night and then another one was waiting for me when I woke up this morning. My sleeping brain is definitely more creative. You can look forward to an upcoming chapter where Darcy and Edwin talk about Edwin's mistress, and another one where Darcy looks into finding Nanny Stewart. I don't think I am going to fix it now, but really she should be Nurse Stewart and I want to make Nanny Hayes into Governess Hayes (there is a great article at austenauthors dot net/regency-servants-caring-for-wee-ones/ that really helped explain all the divisions and what everyone should be called).
Sacredwoman2k, Lily Draco and Maia the Writer, glad you liked Darcy's prayer and how things got worked out for Maria and Elizabeth to go to London with the Darcys. Nancyjeanne, I love it when I get told you just started reading my story and had to read it all the way through! NYT and Colleen S., I agree that Elizabeth was put in a difficult position when faced with what seems like an unsettled future, but I hope you enjoy how I have handled it through Ch 49 and beyond. Valdel, thank you for your continued kind words; I keep writing chapters as fast as my schedule will allow. Lena, I hope my story satisfies your expectations. Laure Saint-Yves, in my experience it is not unusual for younger neurotypical siblings to really act like the older sibling toward their chronologically older autistic sibling. As for courting at Longbourn, you will just have to wait and see; besides the upcoming chapter ideas which I've detailed above, I mostly just let my characters decide what they want to do when the moment arrives.
Katzenpfote, in response to your comment: "To my knowledge autistics avoid close contact with other people yet Darcy longs for it. Can you explain it a bit more?" I think this is a common misunderstanding about autistics and one of the reasons I did not think my son had autism when he was younger because though he had a lot of trouble with proper speech he was obviously very attached to the immediate members of our family and caring towards them. The autistics I know long for close contact with those that they are close to or want to be close to, yet they fear close contact with people that they don't know, or don't know well because they don't know what to expect from them. My son loves to be hugged and give hugs to those he cares about. When he became a teenager we actually had to work with him on not giving full on hugs to women at our church and switch that to side hugs. He can actually sometimes be in closer physical proximity to people he likes than may be entirely comfortable to them, but the idea of talking to someone he doesn't know is highly intimidating. He is a complete chatterbox when it comes to his interests and wanting to share them with us, but may seem not very functional at all when placed in a new situation with new people. However, as he has gotten older and knows more what to expect from interactions with strangers he has gotten better about how he handles interactions with strangers, but they are still stressful to him. It is common for him to try to get me to tell someone something he wants them to know, because the idea of him doing it is stressful, but if I set the stage with a sentence or two, then he commonly feels comfortable enough to jump in. There is a girl with severe autism that I know who gets very anxious when waiting for her mother when leaving a program that my son also attends. As far as I know she is almost completely nonverbal but says Mommy. She will cry while waiting at the door, saying "Mommy, Mommy"; staff members will hold her and stroke her shoulders. She wants her mother to pick her up but sometimes it is her grandmother instead of her mother and this is upsetting to her. When her mother comes she completely embraces her and is very, very happy. There are some autistics for whom it seems that every kind of touch is too strong and overwhelming, they may also have trouble with food texture, clothing texture, sounds being too loud, lights being too bright, smells being too strong, etc. That isn't really my son. I think the idea that autistics avoid close contact with other people has come from psychological testing. If you put a kid like this alone in a room with a stranger, naturally you are going to see a lot of social withdrawal and aversion to touch that may not be what that child is like when in a known environment with people that child trusts and cares about. My son likes people, he just doesn't always know how to interact with them. However, he also needs a lot of down time away from other people (most autistics are at the far end of the introvert scale). I have heard it theorized that rather than not feeling much for other people that in fact they may feel too much, so much so that other people's emotions are overwhelming to them so they need to pull back to feel safe. Wow, I guess that got a bit afar from your original question, but I hope that helps.
Miss Elizabeth and Georgiana seemed much more relaxed when they returned for tea. Anne was with them and seemed happy as well. I reminded Miss Elizabeth of the flowers. Anne seemed to appreciate them, however she almost immediately began plucking the petals off a daisy, flinging each one with great gusto to the floor and repeating: "He loves me, he loves me not." She gestured to Miss Elizabeth and said, "You should do it, too."
Miss Elizabeth blushed and looked at me.
Georgiana said gently, "Anne, you are making a mess. This is an outdoor game." Then before I knew it she had picked up the basket of flowers and led Anne in the direction of the garden, with Anne still repeating her rhyme and flinging petals as they headed for the door.
This left me with Miss Elizabeth under the supervision of Mrs. Annesley. No tea had yet been prepared so Mrs. Annesley settled herself in a corner with her knitting. What had before been a narrow strip of white knit yarn the last time she had supervised us, was now taking shape as a sweater. I felt a momentary desire to grab it, pull out the needles and unravel it.
We sat in the opposite corner together on a settee with a respectful distance between us. "I have no need for childhood games," Miss Elizabeth said with a small smile, "as I already know the answer."
"Yes, I have made no secret of it. My intentions are as clear as I can make them," I responded. "Do I need to play the game myself to find out the answer to what my fair maiden thinks of me?"
"There is no answer to give as of yet." She responded, blushing again. "However, I give you leave to hope," then she said in a whisper so low I had to lean in to understand her words, "I still have your token." She lifted her left gloved hand from her lap, turned it palm side up and with two fingers from her right hand reached under the edge of her glove as if grasping at something and lightly tugged. It took me a moment to understand that the bit of brown I saw was the end of my twine. I barely recognized it before she poked it back out of view.
"And I yours likewise." I reached into my pocket and pulled out the edge of her ribbon before concealing it again.
We smiled at our shared secret. We needed no words.
I finally broke the silence. "I would like them to be bound together."
She answered, "I know. I do not mean to frustrate you. My mind is still adjusting to all I have learned. I still have doubts and concerns. Our time is so short, I do not wish to go."
I wondered if she was talking about today or leaving Hunsford. "I know you need more time to know what will make you happy, but I must ask, may I call with on you with Georgiana after we bring you to your Gardiner relatives in London and when you return home?"
"You may," she smiled again, "I confess I am glad that you do not expect to come to the point upon our arrival in London. However, I am not sure the reception you will receive at Longbourn. I am afraid that my past behavior will make it more difficult for you there. I have written to my mother and father to tell them of my growing friendship with Miss Darcy and yourself. I was very surprised my father wrote me back because he is usually an indifferent correspondent. Besides bemoaning the lack of sense in our house with his most sensible daughters gone, he also seemed curious as to how my opinion of you has undergone such a drastic transformation. I did write him back, though I did not answer that part of his letter. I suspect Mr. Collins may have written him regarding your supposed intentions, which is why he hastened me home."
"I would gladly clarify all my intentions to Mr. Bennet should I have your permission. I am glad you gave me leave to call. I must confess I had great hope that your permission would extend to Longbourn and I have already secured from Mr. Bingley the option to temporarily rent his home. And now I must confirm it."
"How forward of you, Mr. Darcy. I must confess I am glad you have made such plans."
"I have a great many plans," I answered, "and they do not end there."
