Chapter 21: Anne's Little Secret
Saturday, 23 May 1812
On the Road to Kent
The trip back to Kent was dreary and chilly. Mr. Darcy sat beside Elizabeth while Peeke snoozed across from them.
Mr. Darcy tucked a blanket around Elizabeth to assure she stayed warm while he encouraged her to rest on the journey. As the carriage swayed, she looked out the window. First having been entertained by watching the people bustling around the busy London streets, they soon moved into the endless rural landscape. Elizabeth found herself lulled into a light slumber as she watched the endless bucolic landscape pass them by.
She was still exhausted from her lack of sleep in Hertfordshire and the nighttime distractions of the London townhouse. Surprisingly, she looked forward to returning to Kent. She relished the thought of staying in her own bed until late into the morning for a few days.
When the carriage jolted her awake, she looked around. Peeke was still sleeping. Curious how the maid could sleep through such jostling, Elizabeth began to wonder how real her sleep was.
Looking toward Mr. Darcy, she found him leaning against the side of the carriage watching her with a grin. "Were you able to get much rest?" he asked.
Elizabeth stretched a bit. "Some." She looked out the window, but she did not know the area well enough to know where they were. "Have we gone far?"
"Maybe fifteen miles. We still have far to go." Mr. Darcy spoke more about her time with her family. She told him about asking her sisters to help with Longbourn, as well as her work with her father. Mr. Darcy told her more of his time helping Mr. Bingley and a bit more about the time spent in company with the drunken Miss Bingley.
"I heard what you told Colonel Fitzwilliam." She was not brave enough to point out that everything Caroline Bingley had accused or insinuated was true, especially since she was not sure Peeke was really asleep. Instead, she asked about Miss Bingley's betrothed. "Will Lord Huron still offer for her?"
"Yes. They had already come to an arrangement agreeable to both. He will just address her behavior while she was in her cups and add to the marriage contract reassurances she will not repeat her disgrace in a more public forum."
It was not something gentlewomen were supposed to speak of, but curiosity overwhelmed her better judgment. "What of his mistress? Will he keep her while married to Miss Bingley? Has Miss Bingley agreed to it?"
Darcy looked down at his lap and then looked sideways at her. "Elizabeth, I apologize for the conversation Richard and I had in the library. I had forgotten you were still there as you were hidden in the chair."
She nodded, but still wished to receive an answer.
Sighing in defeat, he told her, "It is the way of most gentlemen. Their lives change little upon marriage. The women move to their husband's estates and produce an heir. Once their duty is done, the women often maintain their own affairs, although more discreetly." (1) He looked at Elizabeth with a sympathetic smile. "They are both obtaining what they desire from this match. I have known the Bingleys some years now. Miss Bingley has never loved anything more than status. With this marriage she will be elevated to the peerage, there is nothing she desires more. I believe she will prefer him having a mistress to relieve herself of those duties."
Mr. Darcy's description of Caroline Bingley's thoughts on marital relations and producing an heir seemed similar to Lady Catherine's. Elizabeth could not help but laugh thinking of their earlier conversation.
Now looking at her in confusion, Mr. Darcy wondered aloud, "I am surprised you find humor in such an arrangement."
Elizabeth laughed a bit more before recounting his aunt's story and comparing it to the sister of his friend.
Twisting his face in disgust several times during the tale, he pointed his finger at her in reprimand, indignantly letting her know, "I could have gone all my days and never felt bereft not knowing such information."
Elizabeth could barely control her laughter, even with the horrified and indignant looks on Mr. Darcy's face. Mr. Darcy watched her, finally breaking into a grin, before eventually laughing himself.
"You must admit. It is repulsive," Mr. Darcy solicited. "But now I know why the stairs are there."
"Yes," she agreed then went back to their previous topic. "While I feel some sorrow for Miss Bingley, I hope she finds solace in the ton and in hosting fine social events."
"I'm sure she will. Richard is much relieved by it. He was concerned Lord Huron may not accept her after her outburst at Netherfield."
"Why would Colonel Fitzwilliam be concerned?" Elizabeth asked.
Mr. Darcy looked at her smirking, "You did not know? His being the second son of an earl, and but one serious bout of flu from the title, he was among her targets. He was none too happy when he first experienced her attentions."
Elizabeth laughed. "I can imagine!"
"It was highly amusing for me. Richard loves to plague me—he has since we were boys. Harmless pranks, but irritating," Mr. Darcy chuckled. "Miss Bingley has given me a means to plague him for years to come. She was quite eloquent in her drunkenness about her intentions toward him and some of her attempts over the past month before she made arrangements with Lord Huron."
Elizabeth said nothing. She closed her eyes and turned toward the window.
The colonel was using her to play tricks on his cousin. It explained why he asked her to consider him before he returned to London. Did he hope she would mention it to Mr. Darcy? Why would the prideful Mr. Darcy care? Maybe it was for him to be disgusted by the alliance.
The colonel had not only tried to use her as a pawn in his childish games, but he also thought her unable to maintain a confidence? Having been embarrassed by her mother's indiscretions for so long, Elizabeth felt the cut most keenly.
Now she was grateful her skepticism of Colonel Fitzwilliam persuaded her to dismiss his earlier offer. She wondered what he would have done if she had accepted. Would he have jilted her, leaving them both in disgrace? Would he have married her then used her home to maintain his licentious lifestyle, including, she supposed, supporting a mistress? The thought made her shudder with outrage.
These were examples of the most sought-after men in England? They disgusted her with their selfish ways and loose morals. After leaving Rosings Park, she would never again need to tolerate any man's company and would spend her days dedicated to helping her nieces and nephews. She looked forward to happily retiring to Longbourn for the rest of her days. She would have her memories of the bedroom Mr. Darcy and the teachings of Aunt Margaret to sustain her.
While thinking of her life after Rosings Park, Georgiana's sweet countenance came to mind. She enjoyed the time she spent with the young gentlewoman, and now knowing what wicked Wickham did, felt quite protective of her. Elizabeth did not have the heart to cut her if Georgiana wished to maintain a correspondence. Deciding she would write only so long as her friend desired to keep the correspondence, Elizabeth could only wonder if Georgiana would become jaded like the others as she aged. Maybe it was a part of being in the haute ton?
Her head starting to throb, Elizabeth leaned her forehead against the cool glass pane as she watched the passing scenery. Her muscles and joints were beginning to ache from being so long in one attitude.
"Are you feeling well?" She felt the hand rest upon her shoulder. She had not noticed him move closer to her.
Turning slowly toward him to allow her time to consider her reply, she answered, "Yes, sir. I still feel greatly fatigued and a bit sore." The insufferable man donned too broad a grin at the last bit.
Raising a brow and lowering his voice, he penitently asked, "Too much this morning?"
Astounded he would say such a thing with Peeke in the carriage, albeit apparently asleep, Elizabeth frowned and whispered, "You should not say such things where they could be overheard." Not being in the bedroom, he had no business behaving in this manner. Their other carriage rides he had taken in silence while scowling at her. Why would he decide to change their arrangement now?
He nodded in agreement and slid back to his window.
Elizabeth decided to change the topic to something that would help him regain his disgust with her family. "Did Mr. Bingley tell you my mother will be accompanying Lady Lucas when she comes to bring Maria back to Hertfordshire? I believe Charlotte will join them upon their return so she can have a short sojourn home." Sighing, she lamented, "I will miss her. The parsonage is an easy destination for my morning walks."
Mr. Darcy startled. While not expressing disgust, he did look concerned. "Your mother is coming to Kent?"
"That is what I expect to happen when she accompanies Lady Lucas. I doubt her good friend will expel her from the carriage along the way," she smirked with a tilt to her head and a rise of an eyebrow.
Darcy looked at her with annoyance. "That is not what I meant. Do you not feel it is unwise for her to attend you at Rosings?"
Recognizing this Mr. Darcy, she turned to him. "My mother is a simple lady with simple desires. She wishes only to see her daughters well settled and has always believed that could only be done through an advantageous marriage. She now sees I have another path, one that secures her and my sisters. She does not question her good fortune nor will she see anything beyond the veneer she is shown."
"She will not demand to stay in the wing with her daughter?"
"No," she replied in irritation. "She is to be a guest at Hunsford. She may be bold at times, but she would never be so improper as to slight the invitation of Lady Lucas nor invite herself to Rosings." Not since Jane and I set her to rights, anyway.
"How long will she stay?"
"A week complete."
"She will wish to spend time with you. How you will arrange it?" He looked at her curiously.
"Arrange what?" Elizabeth asked him. "I suppose she will attend with Charlotte for tea. Maybe Anne will invite her to dinner. I usually end my morning walks at Hunsford, so I will visit with her then. Anne may wish to join me. Really, the days will be little different than usual."
Darcy thought a moment then smiled. "I am sure you are correct. It will be nice for you to have your mother visit."
Elizabeth was not expecting him to agree and was irritated he did not react the way she expected him to. She swallowed her annoyance as she graced him with a smile, nodding in agreement before she turned back to the cool window. Her headache was becoming worse from dealing with the confounding man. She watched the endless scenery go by as she finally drifted to sleep again.
~~~oo0oo~~~
Kent
He had reached over to awaken her so she could straighten herself before they reached Rosings Park when he realized she did not look well. The manor was drawing nearer.
"Are you feeling well? You look flushed," Darcy asked as he reached to feel her face in concern. Her skin was burning up, yet she shivered under the blanket. Darcy frowned as he cursed himself for not allowing her more sleep in London. He had selfishly insisted she pay him her attentions.
Elizabeth turned to look at him, her lids heavy and eyes glazed.
He removed the blanket that surrounded her. She protested as she started to shiver, but she needed to cool off. As soon as the carriage stopped, Darcy helped Elizabeth out, instructing a footman to help Peeke. Darcy took Elizabeth's arm and led her into the house.
Anne was waiting at the entrance to greet him. Seeing Elizabeth's distress, she directed a servant to immediately help Elizabeth to her room, preempting any efforts Darcy could make. Anne dismissed him from caring for her friend and freed him to freshen up in his rooms before tea would be served.
Angered at Anne's high-handedness, Darcy stormed to his rooms before rethinking his reaction and realizing Anne had been correct to having a servant help Elizabeth. He would be too forward in his attentions.
He stopped to shed the most restrictive layers and rinse off before hastily heading up the stairs. He could hear the servant in her room as he fought the urge to enter. When the noises ceased, he quietly cracked the door. The room was was empty, Elizabeth on the bed.
He sat beside her and started stroking her hair. She was sleeping soundly, but her face was still flushed and hot. He needed to do something to help her, but he was not sure what. Remembering when his father was ill, Darcy found a cloth to dip in the pitcher of water and began cooling her face.
He did not hear the noises outside the door but looked up when he heard the knob turn. As Anne entered the room, he saw servants behind her. As soon as she met his eye, she turned to ask the servants to wait in the hall a moment while she straightened Elizabeth's clothing.
"What are you doing? You can not be seen in here," she whispered to him. "We shall care for her. Dr. Pryce has been sent for."
Darcy looked at her in challenge, "I shall not leave her lying here ill and alone."
Frustrated, Anne took a quick glance around the room. "Her husband could stay, but right now you are not. Hide yourself while we take care of her. Go back to the stairs. When the servants have removed, I shall knock."
Again frustrated at Anne ordering him about, he sullenly returned to the hidden stairs. Pacing as he waited behind the door, he thought on what Anne said. If he were Elizabeth's husband, he would have every right to stay, but no matter Anne's earlier declaration of Elizabeth as a stand-in, he had no right to be in the room with her. While servants were working to cool her, he could only hide behind a door waiting for them to leave.
As soon as he heard the tap on the door, he rushed into the room, nearly causing his cousin to tumble to the floor.
A large basin of tepid water and cloths lay beside her bed, as well as some tea and lotions. As he returned to Elizabeth's side, Anne joined him. "To help bring down the fever, you need to moisten the rags," Anne dipped a cloth in the basin and squeezed most of the water out.
Frustrated both by his inability to command this situation and the patronizing tone Anne used with him, Darcy bit out, "I know how to wet a rag."
Ignoring his rudeness, Anne pressed on. "Then wipe her face, arms, and chest to help cool her. When she awakens, have her drink the tea. Make her drink all of it. It tastes bitter but will help lower the fever." She handed him the cloth so he could start cooling Elizabeth. "I'll leave it to you, but do not treat her like you treat me. I would wager I know more about medicine than you and I do not make bets if there is even a chance I could lose."
Darcy looked at his cousin, realizing his earlier terseness. "My apologies, cousin. I am concerned for her."
Nodding, Anne left her friend to his care
When Dr. Pryce came, Darcy refused to leave the room. The man had little of use to say. It was simply a fever, possibly influenza. He could only recommend what they were doing unless they wanted to try a bloodletting. (2) Leaving them with more willow bark for tea, he promised to visit again the next day.
Once alone, Darcy removed her chemise and covered her with a light sheet of cotton as he cooled her body. When she woke, he sat her up and had her drink the tea. He continued his ministrations throughout the night, laying beside her when he needed rest.
~~~oo0oo~~~
Sunday, 24 May 1812
When Anne awoke the next morning, she immediately went to see Elizabeth. Darcy was accustomed to people doing what he ordered, but illnesses would not be swayed by his great mien.
When she entered Elizabeth's room, Darcy was lying alongside her friend with his arm draped across her waist. Good, she thought. I was right to leave him to care for her.
She felt Elizabeth's skin. Still hot. Anne checked the teapot. Empty. Also good, she thought. He was doing all the necessary things to make Elizabeth better. Replacing the empty pot with the full one she had brought, she poured a fresh cup for when Elizabeth next woke.
Stepping back to look at the couple in the bed, Anne smiled at her handiwork. She would soon have her heir. She looked again at Darcy's arm across Elizabeth's belly. Once there was a baby in there, Anne would want to feel it too. She would want to feel her child's life as it moved around inside her friend. Her arms ached to hold her future baby.
Darcy was a difficult man to like. Until one broke through his façade, then he was kindness itself. He had the additional benefits of being a tall and handsome man of good health and a superior understanding.
Elizabeth had none of Darcy's reserves. She gave freely of herself to those around her. A handsome lady, though not fashionably blonde, she grew more beautiful the more one knew of her. She, like Darcy, also had a superior understanding and sturdy disposition that she would pass on to her progeny.
The two would create the perfect child to inherit Rosings Park—one who would be clever and wise, as well as having every advantage when the time came to make an alliance. Her child would have everything she had been denied.
She watched Darcy shift in his sleep, but remain close to Elizabeth. Anne hoped both would find happiness at the end. Her close relationship with Elizabeth made her even more determined to assure her friend's ease after Anne departed this earth.
Quietly leaving, Anne returned to her room to speak with Peeke. Handing her the empty teapot to bring downstairs, she was instructed to tell the servants Darcy also felt ill, but not as poorly as Miss Elizabeth. The story should say he retired to the room across from the mistress', as he did not feel up to the stairs. He remained asleep, and Anne would be sealed in her room taking trays until they both recovered to keep her safe from the invalids.
As Peeke was dismissed to spread her story, Lady Catherine entered Anne's room. "How is she?"
"Not well. She still has a fever and sleeps fitfully," Anne answered. That her friend might have influenza worried her.
"This will not do!" Lady Catherine asserted. "Darcy must couple with her every day. He will have to work around her illness," she stated flatly.
"He will do no such thing," Anne informed her mother, appalled at her being so selfish and demanding. "He will allow her to recover."
"What if she does not take by next month? She would likely be heavy with child when her service ends, and we could not send her home. People would start to question why she stays."
Thinking quickly, Anne assured her mother that Elizabeth would stay as her friend as long as Anne lived. "She should stay until I die. To do otherwise would invite questions."
"What if you do not stay alive long enough for the baby to be born? It's already taken longer than I expected. Darcy does not have to take so long to do his business, your father did not."
Again hearing more about her parent's relationship than she needed to know, Anne thanked her mother, promised her it would be attended to, and guided her out of the wing.
~~~oo0oo~~~
Darcy continued to care for Elizabeth.
Around mid-day, Anne arrived to bring fresh tea and inform Darcy of the story his valet had been told. That man was downstairs, anxiously awaiting Darcy's call. "You need to at least go downstairs and bathe to sate the man. Once you freshen up, you can retire to your chambers and come up the stairs. Make sure that you lie in your bed first, leaving your bedclothes in disarray."
Darcy left to do as Anne instructed while Peeke bathed Elizabeth. Anne, while willing to peer into her friend's room briefly to assure all was well, would not subject herself to an illness that could prematurely take her life. (3)
He was gone only an hour before returning, relieving Peeke.
Dr. Pryce called again. They would have to watch her, but there was nothing to be done but wait for the fever to break. Just waiting, unable to do anything to control the outcome, did not sit well with Darcy. He had been in such a position when both his mother and father died. But it was something he could not stop himself from dwelling upon. So he did the only thing he could do that might have any effect: made her drink the tea and cooled her skin.
Finally, as the sun set on Sunday evening, Elizabeth's fever broke. As she lay sweating, Darcy now used the damp clothes to clean her brow. He briefly went back to his room for his valet, then returned through the front of the wing to 'visit his wife', staying the rest of the night.
~~~oo0oo~~~
Monday, 25 May 1812
After a full night's sleep, Elizabeth felt much better Monday morning, but was still fatigued and lacked an appetite.
"If you must be ill, Sunday at Rosings Park is the best day for it," Anne told Elizabeth. When Elizabeth looked questioningly at her, Anne responded with a devious smile. "It means foregoing Mr. Collins' sermon."
Elizabeth chuckled. That was a benefit to being sick on Sunday.
Taking Elizabeth's hand, Anne looked at her in earnest. "I am relieved you are better. I was so concerned for you. When Mr. Pryce said you might have influenza, I…" Anne did not finish.
Frowning in concern at Anne's look of anxiety and hesitancy, Elizabeth gently prodded her friend to share what her concerns were.
Looking to the ground, then back up to Elizabeth, she opened up. "You see, I once had a lover, but he died of influenza. It would be unbearable if you had succumbed also."
Taking in the shocking revelations, Elizabeth decided to learn more. "You never mentioned you had a lover," Elizabeth gently said. "Tell me about him."
Anne blushed as she smiled in remembrance. "His name was James Bloome. Doctor James Bloome. About six years ago, he came with Mr. Pryce to learn more about my condition. The lumps were already there, and Mr. Pryce thought James might be able to help. Mother welcomed James into our home, with him staying in the wing Darcy is in now. I was living in the room you are in now."
Anne sighed with her little grin blooming on her face. "He stayed for a month. He did examine me and even removed one of the larger lumps, which helped for a time but was painful to have done. He was the most caring man. He was the only person, before you, to treat me as an equal. We came to an understanding after only two weeks. He would use the stairs to come to my room where we would stay all night long. When he left, we maintained a correspondence through his sister. He was to come back when I reached my majority, and we were going to wed."
Here her countenance changed to sorrow. "A year after he left, he went to the soldiers hospital to help treat those injured in the war. It was there he became infected and died shortly afterwards. While I lay reading his last letter to me, it was a letter filled with love and plans for our future, he lay dead. I wrote him a return note, swearing my love and anticipating his planned return the next month, only to receive a letter from his sister telling me what had happened. He had been gone for over a fortnight before I knew." Anne looked to the floor as a tear dripped down her cheek. "He was my only chance for joy." Looking up with a weak smile, she said, "But I shall be with him again soon."
Even in her enervated state, Elizabeth's heart broke. Such a sad life, she thought as she embraced her friend. Anne rested her head on Elizabeth's shoulder.
Lifting her head, Anne looked up at Elizabeth in anticipation. "Maybe James sent you to me. Only he could know how happy you would make me."
A sad life, but an odd girl, Elizabeth reflected. Smiling at her friend, she simply agreed. "Maybe. We are both fortunate for so kind a man to be watching over us."
~~~oo0oo~~~
(1) This comes almost verbatim from the book "To Marry an English Lord" by Gail MacColl. Although the book is about the wealthy American heiresses marrying into English aristocracy during the late nineteenth-century 1800s (party boy Prince Albert Edward, later King Edward VII, really liked Americans), it describes the shock for the American brides at what being married into the English aristocracy was really like. The men would deposit their new wives at their estates and go back to their lives in town with little changed, including their mistresses, except they now had the dowry money to add to their coffers. Interesting book, easy and quick read. I understand it was what inspired Julian Fellowes to write Downton Abbey.
(2) The real treatment most physicians in 1812 used for fevers was bloodletting. [Shudder] I'm making Dr. Pryce a man ahead of his time, using willow bark tea, which has components of aspirin in it, and cooling water. The French actor and playwright Moliere, a great master of comedy, said in the seventeenth-century "Nearly all men die of their medicines, not of their diseases." (He also said, "Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for love, and then for a few close friends, and then for money.")
(3) Germ Theory was originally proposed in 1546, but didn't take hold until Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch provided convincing evidence in the 1850s. So while they knew being around sick people could make them sick, they didn't know exactly how it worked.
2021 Note: all of this was written in 2016. The only edits have been cosmetic.