Chapter 12
June 1803
If there one thing George Wickham was sure of, it was that after more than three years, he did not want to be a carpenter. Regardless of the truth about his mother, having recently turned eighteen, George was certain he was meant for greater things.
For the first few months of his apprenticeship George had applied himself as he had decided he needed to strive to be a better man, more like his father and to forget the lies his mother had told him.
His new attitude had not survived six months. He had tried to charm his father into taking him back into his home so at least he would not have to work so hard. However, his father had in retrospect pointed to the unwise agreement he had made before he departed Pemberley for York.
Still reeling from all of the information he was trying to absorb, his father had proposed, and George had agreed to give it until his eighteenth birthday at the very least. His wish was that his father would forget about his acquiescence and welcome him home, in that he had been disappointed.
It was so unfair to him that his father intended to hold him to what he had said, just because George promised to abide by his word. Were promises not made to be broken? His resentment against his father for holding him to his agreement had grown exponentially.
Completely ignoring what his father said about him being responsible for his own actions, George also blamed Robert Darcy, and by extension his family, for his lot in life. He started gambling with the little money he earned, and not being very good at the craft, lost more than her earned.
This meant that he had no money for anything else, other than the pittance of an allowance his father sent him each quarter. Unfortunately for him, he was known in the area and none of the merchants, shopkeepers, or brothel owners would extend credit to anyone below his majority and unable to pay his debts.
In the back of his mind, George remembered his father pontificating on good and bad consequences, but he ignored the warning voice in his head. After being beaten badly for not being able to pay a relatively small gambling debt, none of the hells would allow him to play unless he had ready funds to cover his losses.
To supplement his meagre income, George had taken to biting the hand that fed him—stealing small amounts from the carpenter's cashbox from time to time. Unbeknownst to him, his employer and supposed-to-be teacher, was aware of the thefts and had written to Mr. Wickham before he called the magistrate.
The day after his eighteenth birthday, George was dressing with glee as it was the day he intended to leave the hell he had been living since he arrived in York. The door to his small chamber opened and to his horror, standing in the portal was his father looking none too pleased with his son.
"D-did you c-come to wish me on my birthday?" George managed unsteadily.
"Have you forgotten what I told you about consequences before you departed my house George?" Lucas Wickham asked with asperity. "Do you imagine me ignorant of your behaviour, the gambling, drinking, and theft! How could you?"
"I know not what you mean, I am not a common thief," George tried to bluster.
It was then George noticed his employer standing just behind his father. His pallor lost its colour as he realised he had not been as stealthy as he believed when lifting the money from the cashbox.
"Ya 'ave stolen from me three times! It is just over ten pounds now!" the carpenter stated angrily.
"Do you know that for an amount such as that, if Mr. Jones called the magistrate, you would hang George? What were you thinking?" Mr. Wickham turned to the carpenter. "Mr. Jones, I will pay you fifteen pounds, will that suffice?"
"Aye, it will. But 'ave that thief out'a me 'ouse today!" Jones demanded.
"Thank you Father," George started to say.
"Do not thank me yet George. The money will come out of the legacy I was saving to give you on my death. In the three years since your departure I managed to save one hundred and fifty pounds for your future. I will give that to you now, minus the fifteen pounds to Mr. Jones, and you will shift for yourself." Mr. Wickham held up his hand as his son started to complain. "I spoke to Mr. Darcy before I came here, he will not allow you on any of his properties, and I understand that."
"How can you stand by and allow me to be treated thusly?" George spat out.
"You are the one who determined your course. I know it all George. I do not know why, but even after you found out the truth of your mother's character, rather than try to amend yours, you have adopted the worst elements of hers," Mr. Wickham stated resignedly. "If you are able to change your ways and I do not mean for days but for a good length of time, then we may revisit things, but until then, I will not assist you again."
"How am I to live?" George demanded fearfully.
"You will need to find honest work. Hopefully when you understand how hard the world is and that no one will hand you what you want just because you desire it, you will learn to behave in a more honourable fashion." Mr. Wickham handed his son the funds and with a heavy heart, departed York after his son had vacated the Jones's premises.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
At sixteen—in about three months hence—Jane Bennet would be allowed to be out, in a limited way, locally only. Jane had grown into what—according to the Ton—was a classical beauty. She was tall, willowy, blond, and had the deepest cerulean coloured eyes.
Elizabeth at thirteen was a striking beauty as well, but being petite, with mahogany curly tresses, and green ideas she would not have been classed in the same level of beauty as Jane. Mary at eleven was taller than Elizabeth, but not as tall as Jane. Mary was extremely pretty, but like Elizabeth she would have been discounted by the denizens of the Ton who self-anointed themselves as the deciders of fashion because she had a fuller figure and was not blond and blue eyed.
Kitty, who would be ten in a fortnight, looked just like Jane did at the same age, was as tall as Elizabeth, despite the four-year age difference. Lydia, like Tommy had dirty blond hair with green-brown eyes. The former would be nine in October while the latter was the ripe old age of seven.
Seventeen-year-old Anne de Bourg and Jane were as close as sisters. Anne was close with all of the Bennet siblings, but the bond she shared with Jane was special.
Anne was no longer uneducated as he mother had desired she be. She had learnt to play the pianoforte well, so no one would be able to say if she had learned, she would have been a proficient—her mother's favourite refrain about herself to explain her lack of accomplishments. Anne also had an aptitude for drawing, one she shared with both Kitty and Gigi.
She had not missed her mother in the eight years since her uncle had rescued her from her mother's lack of care. Where her mother had used intimidation and kept her sickly, she was surrounded by love and was as healthy of any of the children in her extended family—blood or adopted.
The Bennets were at Pemberley for the month of June, then they would move to Snowhaven for July, and finally spend part of August at Holder Heights. Uncle Freddy would be with them while they were at Pemberley, and for a fortnight with the Fitzwilliams before his duties would force his departure.
William Darcy would be starting his final year at Cambridge when he returned to the university at the end of August. At almost twenty, he was two to three inches taller than his father, and with all of the physical labour he chose to do at Pemberley he had grown into a fine specimen of a man. He had always been a handsome young man; however he had a fit body to go with his handsome face and rider's legs.
At ten, Gigi was as tall as Kitty, a younger copy of her beloved mother with the blue eyes common to the Fitzwilliams. It was hoped she had a stronger constitution than Lady Anne who had been suffering from a malady, which had weakened her considerably the last year.
If Fanny, Ladies Edith, and Elaine were worried about their friend Anne, her husband who loved her to distraction was at his wit's end. Robert Darcy had brought in some of the most prominent doctors in the land to no avail, after much prodding and poking no one could tell him what ailed his wife.
When the Bennets and the Prince arrived from the south with Doctor Taylor in tow, Darcy had asked if the physician would examine his wife. Dr. Taylor had taken his time asking questions of Lady Anne, and unlike the men who had done so before him, he actually listened to the answers she proffered.
A little more than an hour later, Mr. Taylor met with Robert Darcy in his study. "As much as I would like to be able to give you better news Mr. Darcy, I believe your wife has a cancer. One of my colleagues who examined her opined she may be with child as he felt a firmness in her belly. I do not like to disparage one who is not here to defend himself, but I would question the man's medical knowledge based on were the mass is. It is above and to the right of her belly. In my opinion it is where part of her reproductive system sits," the doctor explained.
"Is my Anne going to die?" Darcy asked the question he must, but also the one he most dreaded hearing an answer to.
"Yes, I am afraid so Sir," Mr. Taylor replied directly. "Not much is known about cancers, what causes them, how they grown, and even less—in fact almost nothing—about any treatments of them. I wish I had better news for you Sir but based on the yellow I see in her eyes, I would say she does not have too long as in my experience when the whites of the eyes go yellow the infection has reached other organs, I believe the liver."
"Does my precious Anne suffer in pain," a defeated Darcy asked as he sat back in his chair, his shoulders slumped.
"From what I could glean from her answers, not much at this point. I would recommend you have a supply of laudanum on hand. Under normal circumstances I do not like to have patients take it too much due to the addictive property of the drug, but that is not a concern in this case." Mr. Taylor waited to see if Mr. Darcy had any further questions. "If that will be all, I will leave you."
"Thank you Mr. Taylor. I appreciate having someone give me actual information and not nonsense about bleeding her and taking waters," Darcy stated in dismissal.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
"Did Mr. Taylor tell you my loving husband?" Lady Anne asked. She did not miss the look of distress on the man she had been married to for close to a quarter of a century.
"He did Anne. How will I carry on without you?" Robert Darcy asked with tears in his eyes.
"Robert Darcy you look at me." Lady Anne demanded as she summoned all her reserves of strength. "Like Priscilla demanded of Fanny when she knew the end was near, I need you to make a vow to me."
"Anything my darling Anne, you know I can never deny you that which you deign to ask of me," Darcy stated as he took his wife's hands and kissed each one in turn.
"You are not allowed to give up and wallow in your mourning after I am gone. William will be twenty soon, but our Gigi is but ten, she will need you. You my Robert, not a shell of yourself. Do not forget that in the Bennets and Carringtons, who have become our extended family, as well as with my brother and Elaine, you will have support and the help you need, all you need do is request it.
"Mourn me for a year as is custom, but then you need to move on with your life. Even if that means marrying again," Lady Anne said as firmly as she could under the circumstances.
"Anne I could never replace you in my heart, that would be too much to ask of me, even from you my love," Darcy averred.
"It is not to replace me in your heart Robert. I believe that particular organ has unlimited capacity to love. Besides which, if you ever loved another as much or more than me, I would haunt you for the rest of your days," Lady Anne teased. "In all seriousness Robert, as long as you do not wallow in your grief for the rest of your days, I will not make remarrying part of the vow I need you to make, but I ask you not to be blind to the possibility and to be open to it. Gigi is still so very young, and she will suffer without a mother, but with Elaine, Fanny, and Edith, not nearly as much as she would without them."
"That is nothing but the truth my love. I swear to you, on our love, I will honour your wishes. I will not allow myself to withdraw from our children and I will accept the help of our extended family when I need it," Darcy vowed.
"Your promise lifts a great weight from my shoulders Robert. Making sure that she knows you are not sending her away, you may want to have Gigi stay with the Bennets. She is close to all of their children, but especially to Kitty and Lydia who are like sisters to her. She loves Jane, Elizabeth, and Mary but the bond between her and the two youngest Bennet daughters is a special one," Lady Anne told her husband.
"Do you want us to inform William and Gigi together or would you like to talk to them alone Anne?" Darcy asked.
"Together, it must be together. That is another thing, knowledge is power. Please do not keep pertinent information from our children, including Gigi, as without it they may be open to manipulation. Without knowledge, they would not be armed to protect themselves," Lady Anne insisted.
"It will be so Anne." Robert Darcy leaned toward his wife and captured her lips. "Let me have William and Gigi summoned."
"After our children, I want to speak to my three sisters, while you speak to their husbands and Frederick. One more thing Robert, I am sure you will not, but do not allow my sister to revive her lies of an accord between us to try and claim some promises I never made. In fact, ask my maid to bring me my escritoire, I will write a letter to be read to her if, as I suspect she will, she attempts to cause havoc after my death," Lady Anne requested.
Darcy passed his wife's instruction to her maid and told her he would return in an hour with their children.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
"Mama, Papa said you both wanted to talk to us," Georgiana stated as she sat on her mother's bed where lady Anne patted. "Will you be well soon? Did Doctor Taylor find a cure for your malady?"
"Slow down Gigi, we will answer all questions soon enough," Darcy told his expectant daughter.
William did not miss how sad his father looked and he suspected the news they were about to hear was the opposite of his sister's youthful, hopeful exuberance. He too sat on the bed where his mother indicated, then his father sat next to his mother and took her hands.
"I wish the news we had for you was what Gigi hoped…" Lady Anne told them what she and their father knew. It was not long before both children were in tears. Georgiana was weeping openly while William's tears were rolling down his cheeks in silence. "This is the hardest thing I have ever had to tell you my dear children. I could not love either of you more if I tried and other than the love I have for your father, none has ever come close to that which I feel for you. Do you have any questions?"
"Whyyyyy, Mama," Georgiana wailed plaintively. "Why would God allow you to get sick like this, it is not fair! I thought He is the God of love."
"Gigi, we mere mortals have no idea what His plan is. Do not be angry with Him. In time your anger will dissipate, and you will see. You will still have Papa, William, and a large extended family, any one of whom will do anything they are able to in order to help and support you, William, and your father. Remember my dearest daughter, you will not see me, but I will always be here," Lady Anne reached forward and placed her hand gently over her daughter's heart. "It will not be the same, and we will miss one another, but when you close your eyes you will see me and if you listen really carefully you will hear me in your head. One day, we will be together in heaven, my hope for all three of you, is that it is many years from now."
"Mother I will miss you terribly," William owned after his tears had ceased.
"I know you will William. My charge to you my son is to be open to others, do not prejudge them, and remember, sometimes you will be convinced of a certain thing only to be proved wholly wrong, as you discovered when you were eleven in this very house," Lady Anne took her son's hand. "Allow your heart to direct you and it will not lead you astray. Please never allow my sister to manipulate you again. She is my sister and as such I will always love Catherine, but I am not blind to the fact she is only interested in that which she feels benefits her own selfish aims. It has been some years since she tried to influence you. Remember her behaviour as an example of how not to behave, not to be emulated." Lady Anne turned to her husband sitting next to her on the bed. "I am in need of rest. Please inform my friends I would like to see them when I awake."
"Come William and Gigi, we need to allow your mother a respite. As hard as it will be, please do not discuss your mother's illness with anyone until she and I have talked to those who need to know," Robert Darcy told his children as he shepherded them out of their mother's chambers.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
"Anne, Robert told us you wished to see us," Lady Elaine confirmed as she led the other two ladies into her sister's chambers.
"Yes, I need to talk to you three together," Lady Anne averred as she indicated the three ladies should sit. "Elaine you are my sister, and Fanny and Edith you have become so. As you know Mr. Taylor gave me a lengthy examination today…" As the three ladies became more and more distressed, Lady Anne told them all. "Mr. Taylor informed Robert and me that when I get close to the end the pain will be acute and I will need to be dosed with laudanum which is why I needed to talk to you three now before that point is reached."
Oh, Anne, your poor children, to have to be told such news by their mother," Elaine stated through her tears. "William is older, but Gigi is only ten."
"She is young, but she got to know me Elaine, we had ten good years together. Imagine if I had passed just after her birth. All she would have are the stories that others tell her about me. This way, thank goodness, she will have her own, real memories." Lady Anne turned to Fanny. "Fanny I told Robert and I want to ask you to consider this. With the bond between your two youngest daughters and Gigi and after my children have mourned for three months, will you take her into your home for a while? She loves all of your children dearly and it will be a balm for her. Rather than sitting around and allowing her grief to overpower her, she will be with girls who she counts as sisters and with the masters, especially Signore da Funti and Mr. Mercury to help her with her music and singing."
"Anne you know we will do anything for you," Fanny stated emphatically, "and to have Gigi with us, for as long as your husband desires will be our absolute pleasure. Robert knows he and William would be welcome at any time as well. I would suggest to him that he come and see her as often as he is able while she stays with us. That way she will not feel as if she is being sent away."
"That is true for us as well Anne, we will do anything we are able to in order to assist when requested," Lady Edith stated as she dried her eyes.
"It goes without saying for us Anne," Lady Elaine added.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
"Darcy, I am so very sorry to hear about Anne," the Prince stated.
"Your wife, my baby sister," Lord Matlock managed his voice gruff with emotion.
"Darcy you know that Gigi will be welcome for as long as you desire, and as I am sure Fanny is informing your wife, you should feel free to stop at Netherfield Park any time you desire," Bennet stated sympathetically.
"Anything you need," Lord Holder told his friend.
"Do we have any idea how much longer Anne will be with us?" Lord Matlock asked as he regained his composure.
"Mr. Taylor told me there is no way to know. However he opined based on the length of time Anne had been feeling poorly and the size of the thing growing inside of my Anne, that it will not be very much longer, mayhap a few months at the most. Once she starts to suffer with too much pain, we will use the laudanum. Until then, we will spend as much time together as we are able," Darcy averred.
"We are all family here Darcy," the Prince spoke for the group, "and we will be with you and help in any way you decide you need. You are not alone in this so do not try and carry the burden alone, let us share the load with you." The Prince's words were seconded by the other three men. Darcy thanked them sincerely for their statements of support.