They went to London in September as planned. After several weeks there, they left Georgiana with the Matlocks and took the children to Rosings. Once again, Elizabeth had to restrain her excitement when she saw Richard again. The three children, when they were brought together, were soon running as fast as their little legs could propel them, at least this was true for the oldest two.
While Elizabeth enjoyed the thought of seeing Charlotte and her own baby, her main anticipation was just thinking of the nights that she would spend with Richard. On their first night there, her maid led her to Richard's room as soon as she was ready. As with every reconnection with him, they spent their first night in a frenzy, showing their passion as often as he could manage. After their first night together, they were not quite so energetic, but they wasted not a moment for the few hours they had. Early every morning, Jones had to check to make sure she made it back to her own bed before house was stirring.
During the day, Darcy and Richard spent much of their time on estate matters when they were not with Elizabeth and the children. Richard was glad that Darcy never mentioned Bennet's parentage, not even once. They all maintained the pretence that he was Darcy's with no question, even though they all knew the truth.
Lady Catherine was still a problem as she had not forgiven them for not following her wishes that Darcy was the nephew who should have married her daughter. She was still living in the dower house as Richard was adamant in refusing her repeated requests that she be allowed to move back to the manor house. He explained to his cousins that he felt duty-bound to take Edward to see his grandmother once a week, but that was all the contact she had with her grandson. He did invite her to come to dine with them once a week while the Darcys were there, but these dinners were not pleasant for any of them. Darcy also went to the manor house once a week, but only from a sense of family duty. These visits were not enjoyable as she continued to criticize him, his wife, and their children.
The Darcys spent a month at Rosings, and then Darcy was ready to go back to town. "Elizabeth, I have to ask you a delicate question. Has our visit here been successful?"
She knew what he meant. "I believe so, but we cannot be sure for another few weeks."
"Good, as I want to get back to town to see how Georgie is faring with this season. It worries me that our uncle may not be paying close enough attention to the 'gentlemen' who will be pursuing her. I know that there are a lot of rakes looking to take advantage of innocent ladies. Her beauty and her dowry make her an attractive target for the wrong type of suitor. I want her to be happy in her life." This last statement made Elizabeth wonder if he was finally realizing that happiness in marriage was important.
When Richard heard about their plans to return to town, he very carefully tried not to appear to be too disconsolate. "I have been planning to go to town as well as my mother has been after me to spend Christmas with them. They complain that they do not see enough of Edward. They have also been hinting that it is time that I found another wife and gave them some more grandchildren."
"I thought this might be the case. We will not be in town for very long as I want to spend Christmas at Pemberley with Georgiana, as we always do. I feel that this might be the last one we have with her as there are so many suitors after her. We will be back in town about the middle of January. Would you like to stay at Darcy House then?"
"I am not sure. If I settle in with my parents, they would be very upset if I took Edward away from them. We will see. Let me know if you need me and we will figure something out." They both knew what he meant—if Elizabeth was not with child, he would be willing to provide his services to them again. What was not obvious was that Richard was aware that his time with Elizabeth would soon come to an end as he knew he had to begin to search for a wife in earnest.
The Darcys all went up to Pemberley in December for their usual Christmas celebrations with their staff and tenants. By now, as this was her third Christmas at Pemberley, Elizabeth knew what needed to be done to organize the various events. Of course, Georgiana and Mrs. Reynolds also knew what was needed to be done and provided their assistance quite willingly. Darcy was pleased to see his sister's interest in helping with all the events as she would know what to do when she was mistress of her own estate.
By Christmas, Elizabeth was quite sure that she was with child and that she would likely be due in late July or early August. As her pregnancy was still in its early stages, this would not affect their plans to return to town for the 1815 season. They knew that she would have to return to Pemberley in early May, at the latest, before her size meant that she should not be seen in public.
They returned to Darcy House in mid-January and were quickly involved in the many entertainments that were being offered. Elizabeth noted that Darcy again resumed his habit of stalking the edges of ballroom floors and scowling whenever Georgiana was dancing. However, his presence scared off only the least brave of the suitors who, in general, were interested in Georgiana only for her substantial dowry. However, both Elizabeth and Georgiana worried that he may also prevent more suitable gentlemen from showing their interest in her.
In March, they were invited to a dinner at the Matlocks' and were looking forward to this gathering as they all enjoyed their Matlock relatives' company. Elizabeth was just beginning to show her condition, so she was not yet embarrassed by her shape. Her anticipation of enjoying this dinner was destroyed when she noticed that Richard paid a lot of attention to one particular guest, a Mrs. Margaret Darlingford. They learned that she was a widow in her late twenties who had two young children, a son and a daughter. As this was the first lady to whom Richard had paid any attention, they wanted to know as much about her as they could. They heard that her husband had died in an accident and had left her quite well off, leaving an estate in Kent not far from Rosings. They assumed that he had met her in Kent, and wondered if he had begun to court her even before they had last been at Rosings. They were not sure about this as they had not heard anything about her when they were there.
Darcy managed to speak to Richard about this lady. "Richard, do you have serious intentions toward Mrs. Darlingford? It is obvious that you are paying a lot of attention to her. I heard that she is a neighbour of yours in Kent."
"Darcy, my parents have been after me to remarry and give them more grandchildren and I have come to agree with them. I met her in Kent and she seems to be willing to spend time with me. If you really must know, I have recently asked her if I might formally court her and she agreed. I expect that we will be betrothed soon and will marry this summer. I have to tell you that I will not betray our marriage vows, so I will not be able to help you any longer after we marry." Again, he did not have to elaborate what services he would no longer be offering. Richard did not seem to realize that his saying that he would not betray his marriage vows was completely hypocritical as he had enthusiastically participated in Elizabeth's betraying hers. Darcy noticed, but did not say anything.
Darcy watched his wife closely when they learned about this lady. He wondered if Elizabeth noticed that the lady was short, had dark curly hair, and was vivacious; in fact, she was a lot like her. This gave Darcy pause; did Richard have deep feelings for Elizabeth that made him attracted to the widow? In a way he was glad that Richard would likely soon be unable to reconnect with his wife, even if it meant that their family would not be as large as they had wanted. She still refused to consider finding someone else to be with her if Richard's services were no longer available, so his hopes for a large family were destroyed. He suddenly found that he was no longer as comfortable with his wife being with Richard if they had developed strong feelings for each other. He had always assumed that the act of love was strictly physical and not emotional; at least it was for him. He was finally beginning to appreciate his wife's good qualities and realized that he did not want to have his marriage destroyed. He wanted them to be together to raise their children.
Among the other guests at that dinner were a Viscount Allenby and his parents, the Earl and Countess of Westmorland. The Westmorlands were friends of the Matlocks and Allenby was their oldest son and heir. Darcy noticed that he was paying a lot of attention to Georgiana, albeit in a manner that was tentative and almost shy. As Richard knew the family, Darcy asked him about them. Richard's reports were favourable as nothing improper was known about any of them. Allenby was reputed to be quiet and honourable with no scandals or unseemly habits. The reason that Darcy enquired about him was that he noticed that Georgiana appeared to accept his attentions just as shyly as they were offered. Her attentions to him were different from how she had treated her other suitors. With the others, she had been playful; with him, she was gentle and smiled at him.
That night, after Darcy and Elizabeth had gone into their own rooms, she was surprised to hear a tap on the door that connected her room to his. Darcy came in, wearing a robe. "Elizabeth, I thought that you may need some comfort tonight after seeing Richard's attention to Mrs. Darlingford. Would you like me to stay with you for a while?" He could bring himself to ask if she was hurt on seeing Richard's attractions to another lady; he did not want to know if she had developed deep feelings for Richard.
Elizabeth did not want her husband to know how upset she was on seeing Richard pay attention to this other woman. "William, I am quite all right, but, of course, you may join me if you wish." She began to realize that his presence would be comforting to her at this moment.
He took off his robe and climbed under the covers with her. "Elizabeth, I hate to think that you might be upset. May I just hold you?" He did not wait for her response, but put his arms around her and pulled her against him. She thought that this was the first time that they had just lain together, even though they had been married for more than three years. She fit together with him very well, almost as well as she had fit with Richard. He rubbed her slight bulge. "Do you want a boy or a girl?"
"I do not care what it is, as long as it is healthy. I suppose this will be our last child?" She did not need to add that Richard would no longer be available.
"It likely will be, unless you would me like to find someone else?"
"No! Definitely not! Please do not ask this of me. It has been difficult enough for me." While she hoped that he would think that she did not want to have to be with a stranger, in fact, she could not think of being with anyone other than Richard. She could not imagine herself cheating on Richard. What they had done she felt was not really cheating on her husband as he was the one who had insisted on their being together. She certainly did not tell him that the biggest difficulty she had about Richard was their not being able to be together for longer periods of time. She would miss him.
Darcy did not mention this possibility again. They fell asleep together. When Elizabeth woke and felt arms around her, she almost murmured 'Richard, I have to get back to my room,' but she managed not to when she realized that it was her husband with her. She then thought about her husband's gentle attempts to console her after seeing Richard's attention to that woman. Instead of saying anything, she just lay there enjoying the feel of his body against her. It was comforting.
When Darcy woke, he was also confused about where he was as this was the first time he had ever spent the whole night with a woman since that naked harridan who had traumatized him so severely many years ago. Before he went back to his own room, he asked, "Elizabeth, will you be all right now?"
"Yes, I am fine, but thank you for asking. May I say that it was very nice to have you with me all night? Might we do this again?" In fact, she knew that it would take her a while before she would actually be all right whenever she thought about Richard being with another woman. She gave him a kiss on his cheek as he went out.