Thank you to Ardina Falconhurst for bringing the error in the previous upload of this chapter to my attention!
And thank you to everyone else, too, I'm so flattered you like my story.
Love,
LaBelleABoisDormant
The next morning, Darcy returned to the inn he'd been at the previous evening, verified that Mr. and Mrs. Wickham had, indeed, left, and then mounted his horse and headed for home.
While her husband was making his way home, Lizzy was having a meeting with her sister and housekeeper.
"Oh, Lizzy, truly, you are with child?" Asked Georgiana for the fifth time.
"Yes, Georgi, and do get your excitement out now," laughed Lizzy. "Do we all understand the plan?"
"Yes, Mrs. Darcy, if you insist" and, "Oh, yes, what fun we shall have until Will figures it out!" came at Lizzy from both sides, in drastically different tones.
A footman entered the room. "Mrs. Darcy, Miss Darcy, the carriage has just arrived," he announced.
"Thank you, Jeffrey." Lizzy's words were calm, but she followed them by bolting out of the room and towards where she knew the carriage would be. She was halfway down the front steps when Mrs. Reynolds left the grand house, leaning on the doorframe and too out of breath to admonish her mistress's risky behavior.
Lizzy, forgetting herself, jumped into Darcy's arms, where she found a welcome reception. After kissing his much-missed wife thoroughly, he swept her off her feet and carried her toward the house, both of them laughing, and Lizzy pressing kisses into the side of his neck. When they finally reached the door, Mrs. Reynolds had finally caught her breath.
"Mrs. Darcy, you have to remember what the doctor told you about exercise! We can't have you fainting again!"
"Doctor? Fainting? Elizabeth, what happened? Are you unwell?" Concern burned in Darcy's eyes, and Lizzy almost regretted her plan.
Almost.
"I'm quite well, darling, especially now that you are back," she was trying to distact him with flattery, but it was not to succeed.
"Why was the doctor called, Lizzy?" he demanded, tightening his grip on her.
"Oh, I merely fainted a little bit." She tried to dismiss it with a wave of her hand.
"What? Why was I not informed?" He glared between her and Mrs. Reynolds, wanting to be angry with both, but love for one and a mild fear of the other reigned him in.
"As you can see, Mr. Darcy, I am quite well, but I thank you for your concern," Lizzy said, then she whispered, "I would be even better if you would carry me to our chambers."
"Very well, but this discussion is not over."
He nodded to Georgiana as they passed her in the hall on the way to the bedchamber. Lizzy winked, reminding her of their secret, and causing her sister to burst into a fit of giggles. Unfortunately for her, Darcy saw the wink, and knew enough of his sister's remaining innocence to know she wasn't giggling from knowledge of what they planned on doing in their bedroom.
He kicked the door shut before placing his wife on their large bed, kissed her forcefully, and returned to lock the door. On his return trip, he stripped himself of his outer garments. He settled on the bed between his wife's legs, still covered by her dress, and collapsed against her, wanting but still tired from his journey.
"Careful, William, don't put quite so much weight on me, please." He pushed himself up on his elbows so his weight was no longer resting on his wife.
"What happened, Lizzy?" he asked, kissing her neck. "Are you ill?"
"Yes, William, very ill."
He pulled back suddenly, about to force her to rest and fetch the doctor for his own confirmation of her health, when he noticed the teasing sparkle in her beautiful eyes.
"I'm burning up with fever for want of you, William." He growled and kissed her again.
"You're lucky I've been gone for three days and don't have the capacity to resist your charms, Elizabeth, or I would refuse you until you tell me what is going on."
They came downstairs several hours later, eager for dinner, having thoroughly exercised them selves the entire afternoon. Darcy had even gotten so distracted as to forget that his entire household appeared to be keeping a secret from him.
He did find it odd that Mrs. Reynolds kept asking his wife if there was anything else she wished for dinner, of if she would like an extra helping of anything. Then, when the baby potatoes were being served, Georgiana burst into giggles and the memory of the morning came flooding back to him.
"Georgie, dear, would you care to enlighten me about what is so amusing about the potatoes?"
"Do you not like baby potatoes, brother? I find them quite delightful. In fact, I one day hope this house shall be full of them." Georgiana responded with a wink to Lizzy.
"Perhaps only a few potatoes, Georgie, especially if they continue to upset my stomach the way this one does," replied Lizzy.
"Your stomach is upset, Elizabeth? Should I fetch the doctor? Perhaps if I do, at least one person might tell me what's going on."
"I am quite al—"
"Mrs. Darcy, did I hear your stomach is bothering you? Is something not to your liking? Can I fetch you anything?" Mrs. Reynolds demanded, returning to the room as soon as she heard the words 'upset stomach.'
"Thank you, Mrs. Reynolds, no. We were merely discussing the charms and defects of baby potatoes. We were trying to determine how Mr. Darcy felt about having quite a few about the house in the future. What do you think, Mrs. Reynolds?"
The older woman narrowed her eyes and replied, "That would be a choice made by you and Mr. Darcy, of course, but I must admit to a certain longing for the sound of little erm…potatoes about the house again." She rolled her eyes a bit as she walked away. Darcy looked around the table like he was starting to believe he had accidentally gone to a particularly fine asylum instead of his home full of practical women.
"And you, Mr. Darcy, your opinion of the potatoes?" smiled Lizzy.
"Madam, I find the potatoes quite to my taste, and would not be opposed to having them more frequently, if that is your wish. However, I believe it worth noting that should the conversation focus much longer on the potatoes, you are in serious danger of loosing that which differentiates you from your cousin, Mr. Collins."
The rest of the meal passed in unflattering but accurate portrayals of the victimized parson, most notably by Georgiana, who said, in a slightly lowered voice, "These potatoes are nearly as fine as those served at Rosings Park by my patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, but one cannot expect to exceed such a noble and refined Lady in terms of potatoes!" causing both Darcy to shoot water from his nose and Lizzy to produce tears in her eyes.
Meanwhile, in the forest behind Pemberly, Mr. Wickham pulled his oblivious wife down a well-known path to a little cottage, where he wrongfully expected to be able to plot alone against the Darcys.