The trip back to Derbyshire was merry as the three young ladies enjoyed each other's company. The carriage was quite full, with those three on one seat and Elizabeth and Darcy sitting on the other. Elizabeth found this arrangement convenient as she napped more than normal. She found that leaning into her husband with his arm around her was very conducive to sleep.

They arrived back at Pemberley and settled into their normal routine, except that the three young ladies were always together. Kitty and Lydia were very impressed when Elizabeth had Mrs. Reynolds assign each of them their own lady's maid while they were there. Mrs. Reynolds was pleased to do this as it gave two of the staff good experience.

Elizabeth encouraged them to explore the gardens and woods when the weather permitted. She did not often accompany them because her increasing size made walking more difficult. Darcy toured them around the estate and the area in one of his carriages, and even took them to Lambton to shop several times. While Georgiana had plenty of money for shopping, he quietly told the other two that they could buy whatever they wanted and have the bills sent to him. At first, they were reluctant to take advantage of this, but with Georgiana's encouragement, they found that this was a great idea. Darcy was surprised, but pleased, that they did not take undue advantage of his offer. Again, Elizabeth usually begged off going with them on their shopping excursions as she was finding that her increasing size made her just want to stay at home relaxing. She even asked Georgiana to take on some of the duties of the mistress to help her. Elizabeth was not sure what the girls found to do when they were together, but they were never bored. Knowing how proficient Georgiana was on the piano, Elizabeth noticed that she was soon encouraging each of her new sisters to practice under her guidance.

As November was nearly over, they had to plan for their return to Longbourn. "Elizabeth," Georgiana lamented, "I have enjoyed their visit so much that I hate to see it end. Could they not stay longer?"

"Georgie, I am glad that you have enjoyed your new sisters' company, but our original plans have to be followed. Mother wants them home for Christmas and it would not be good for them to be here when I deliver. I understand that the experience can be difficult for everyone, especially unmarried ladies. You and Amanda will have to stay away from my lying-in; somewhere far enough that you do not hear anything that might upset you.

"What we can do is to plan when you can get together with my sisters again. We will not be able to travel for several months until the baby is a bit older, then we will likely go to town for part of the season. We can talk about having them come to us then."

"The girls also asked me to visit them at Longbourn. What do you think about that idea?"
"I would not mind seeing you go there for a while; perhaps next spring when we are in town. We will talk to your brother about that." Elizabeth was pleased that her sisters seemed to benefit from being with Georgiana, so she thought this was a good idea for all of them. She had been worried that Darcy would not have wanted his sister to associate with her sisters, especially Lydia, as she had been the cause of their compromise. However, Lydia had been a very different person when they made their visit to Longbourn. She assumed that her experience with Mr. Wickham had forced her to mature in a hurry.

The time came for Kitty and Lydia to leave. Darcy gave them his best carriage for the long trip and assigned his most reliable grooms and footmen, as well as the maids who had been assigned to them, to go with them. The farewells were teary and they all promised to write regularly. The house seemed unusually quiet when they were gone.

Their next guests came in early December, when Jane and Bingley arrived. The sisters were happy to see each other, especially when Jane mentioned that she thought that she was also increasing. Just a few days later, Lady Grace and Amanda arrived, saying that the Earl had encountered some business problems that required his attention, so he could not leave town. Viscount Stewart and his wife had decided that they would not be needed, so they stayed in town with the Earl.

Elizabeth's pains started right in the middle of December, as she had expected. They sent for the midwife and told the girls to go to a distant part of the house and stay there. She also told Mr. Bingley to keep her husband company until they were called. With the assistance of Mrs. Reynolds, she had found a reliable local woman to become their baby's nurse. No wet-nurse was to be used as Elizabeth wanted to nurse the baby herself, even if this was not normally done by ladies in their level of society.

Elizabeth was glad to have Jane and Lady Grace with her as her labour seemed to go on forever. In fact, she did not suffer for an unusual number of hours before her baby was safely delivered. The midwife cleaned the baby and handed her to her mother. "Mrs. Darcy, you have a beautiful daughter."

Elizabeth was worried as William had so counted on having a son. However, just looking at her daughter, Elizabeth thought that she was the most beautiful baby in the whole world. Even though her face was scrunched up, she had a fine head of dark hair. After passing the baby to Jane, then Lady Grace, she turned to Jane. "Jane, would you mind asking Mr. Darcy to come to me? Please do not tell him that he has a daughter. I will do that." When Jane left, she added, "Aunt, do you want to stay or leave? William will be disappointed at not having a son."

"I will stay and make sure that he appreciates what a fine daughter he has. No matter how upset he is, it will be better if I am here."

When Darcy came in, his aunt passed the baby to him. He sat down beside his wife. "What a beautiful boy!"

"William, she is beautiful. We have a daughter."

No matter how he tried to hide his disappointment, both his aunt and wife could see that his face fell on hearing the news.

"Darcy," his aunt said, "I know that you wanted a son, but no one can predict what the baby will be. The next one may be a son." Lady Grace had not been told about the after-effects of Darcy's illness. Seeing that his face showed his usual calm demeanor, she assumed that he was not as dismayed as she had feared, she left the parents alone. She did not realize how seriously her words affected him.

Darcy was still holding his daughter. "Elizabeth, what are we going to do? I need a son."

"We are going to love her without hesitation. We have to look on the bright side that we have a beautiful daughter who is healthy. We will figure something out. I have confidence in you. Now, please call the nurse in and give her our daughter. I need to sleep. What shall we call her? I like 'Anne,' after your mother." She hoped to distract him from his concerns.

"Anne is a fine name. Anne Elizabeth Darcy." This name pleased Elizabeth.

"Please go tell the girls and let them hold her. They will be thrilled."

He left, trying not to show his despair. He gave the baby to the nurse and went to find the girls. Their excitement almost made him smile; and then he went to Bingley to drown his sorrows. The girls ran in to see Elizabeth and took turns holding the baby while babbling their excitement. Only Jane and the nurse were with the baby when they arrived. Her hopes to be able to sleep were dashed aside with their presence.

"So, Aunt Georgie," Amanda teased, "are you ever lucky to have such a beautiful niece. Now I want one of my own; I will have to tell Stewart and Helen to hurry up."

When baby Anne began to fuss, the nurse brought her to her mother. "Mrs. Darcy, the baby needs to nurse. Do you want the ladies here?"

"I do not mind if they do not. They will be doing this at some time in the future. Georgie, Amanda, do you want to stay?" She did not ask Jane as she had no secrets from her.

When the girls said they wanted to stay, the nurse helped Elizabeth put Anne to her breast and saw that she began to suckle. They all automatically felt their maternal instincts rise as they watched such a lovely scene. The girls thought that some day they would do this for their own babies.

Meanwhile, Bingley was surprised to see Darcy down several large brandies in quick succession. "Darcy, I hope those drinks are a sign of your happiness." He had no idea of Darcy's medical problem and resulting bitter disappointment at having a daughter.

Darcy had no intention of telling him, so he said, "Happiness. She is a lovely baby."

"I know that you wanted a son, but he could be next."

Darcy did not know what to say. He desperately needed a son.

As the delivery happened early enough, and Elizabeth and the baby were doing well, the Countess and Lady Amanda stayed only for a few more days, then left to spend Christmas with the Earl. Jane and Bingley stayed over Christmas, and then went back to their own estate.

Life at Pemberley changed because of the baby. She disrupted their normal routine and needed to be fed a number of times a day. Georgiana spent a lot of time with her, thus relieving the nurse from her constant attention. Darcy spent little time with Anne.

As Elizabeth recovered from her ordeal fairly quickly and Anne was thriving, they soon discussed when they should return to town for part of the season. Elizabeth knew that they should go as soon as possible so her husband would have other distractions from his worries. She noticed that he seemed to spend a lot of time brooding. She knew what concerned him, but there was nothing she could do about it.

"I think that Anne will be able to travel when she is about four months old, so we should be able to go to town in the middle of April. By then, it will be all right to leave Anne for a few hours at a time so we can enjoy going out without her. I believe that Richard's Anne is due about that time or a bit sooner."

She turned to Darcy, "Would you like to go to Rosings to be with Richard then?" She could see that he was not enthusiastic about this plan. In fact he did not have much enthusiasm for anything.

"We might, but we can decide on that later."

The next several months seemed to go by quickly for Elizabeth as she was busier than she had been because of the attention she paid to her daughter. She had no intention of leaving the main part of her upbringing to the nurse.

Near the end of March, Darcy received an express when they were breaking their fast. He opened it. "It is from the Earl. They are at Rosings as Anne went into labour several weeks early. He says that Anne was delivered of a son, but she is not doing well. The son is fine. Poor Richard, but we knew that Anne might have problems bearing a child because of her health."

Elizabeth sympathized with Richard. "If Anne does not survive, how will Richard be able to look after a baby? I doubt that he will ask Lady Catherine for much help. I hope they found a good nurse and wet-nurse. At least his mother is there now.

"William, when we go to town, we will have to go to see him no matter what happens. He will need your company." She looked at her husband and could see that he was not happy. She hoped that the cause was not because Richard had a son, but he had only a daughter.

A week later, they received another express stating the Anne did not survive for long after the delivery. They decided that they should go to town and Rosings sooner than they had anticipated.

They arrived at Darcy House and settled in. Darcy found that a letter from his Aunt Grace was waiting for him from Rosings saying that Richard was very troubled and could use his company. She said that she and his father did not seem to be of much help. Darcy stayed for only another day to make sure that Elizabeth, Anne, and Georgiana were comfortable, and then he left for Kent. They promised they would follow him in just a few more days. Elizabeth said that she did not want to subject Anne to too much travel all at once.

When Darcy reached Rosings, Richard's father told him how worried he was about his son. He said that he thought that Richard needed a friend to help him get over the guilt he was feeling about Anne's death.

"Darcy, I believe that he is feeling that he caused Anne's death because he made her with child. Catherine has blamed him in no uncertain terms, so I had to ban her from the house. Even though she is my sister and I know how unreasonable she can be, I cannot believe that she could be so hard on him. He needs consoling from you as you two have always been very close. No matter what his mother and I say, we do not seem to be able to help him."

Darcy went to find Richard. He was sitting in his office, brooding with a drink in his hand. "Richard, do you know how lucky you are? You married Anne knowing that her health was not very good and that she would not likely have a long life. I believe that you made her happy; happier than she had been in her whole life. You know that she could have died from anything, even a trifling cold. She gave you a son who needs you. The estate needs you. I need you. You are young and have a long life ahead of you. Think of your son. You have to live for him."

Richard looked up at him. "Darcy, I know you are right, but I still cannot stop feeling that I killed her. I should not have agreed to have relations with her, but she wanted it so badly. I admit that it made her happy, but was it worth it? Is my son worth her death?"

"Richard, you did what she wanted, so I could never say that it was your fault. I am sure that you made her happy. Now you have to think of your son. What are you calling him?" Darcy desperately wanted to distract him from thoughts of his wife.

"I thought Edward. Edward Richard Fitzwilliam."

"Well, I would like to meet Master Edward. Will you take me to him?" As little as Darcy wanted to see Richard's son, he wanted to see his cousin get back to normal. No matter how hard he tried, he was envious that Richard had a son but he only had a daughter. He wanted a son so he could train him to be a good steward of Pemberley.