Eliza Doolittle: The Life and Times of a Good Girl
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Oh, Penelope!
Author's Note: This is the last update for a while. My associate Teckla, and I, did some quick mathematics and have concluded that Eliza is roughly halfway through her eighth month at this point. Just in case you were wondering, but didn't have the time to research rail travel and postal delivery of the early twentieth century.
Henry awoke with a jolt, roused by the violent stirrings from his wife. After cursing himself for falling asleep, he wrestled with the urge to comfort her, to pull Eliza from the unsettling nightmare she was experiencing. Henry was certainly not the authority on comforting upset females, and he had a feeling that if she awoke from her sleep to see his face, it would ultimately do more harm than good.
"Henry…" came Eliza's soft whimper. She turned in her sleep in such a manner that Henry could see the tears escaping from beneath her closed eyelids.
"Damn it all," Henry swore. Shrugging off thoughts of consequences, Henry pressed a kiss to Eliza's forehead, and pulled her against him. "There, there, sweetheart." He winced at the endearment, which sounded false coming from his own lips. "See here, Eliza. I want you to stop that banshee-like wailing at once." There.
To Henry's astonishment, Eliza did not awake at the soft scolding, but smiled softly. The unexpressed love he felt towards his wife came to him in a heady rush, and he decided it would be unwise to linger. He would alert Eliza of his presence in the morning.
Henry escaped to his study completely unnoticed. What he saw there made his jaw fairly drop to the floor. Someone had stolen half of his study!
His eyes scanned the newly truncated space, disbelievingly. His study had always been the pride and joy of his home. Henry had meticulously built up the book collection over the years, and fairly scoured London for the proper furnishings. He remembered laboring over a drafting table, designing the layout of his study when first Henry moved in to 27A. Every singly corner of the room had been redesigned to his precise specifications. Now he could barely recognize it. The shelves had been pushed back together in a disorganized clutter, and some of his books lay in wooden crates, as there was no more room to contain them.
Henry looked across the room to an unfamiliar door. Whatever was behind it lay the reason for this cruel remodel of his private domain. Henry cleared his throat, squared his shoulders, and marched into the offending room.
"Oh." The sweet pastel walls depicted a mural of the seaside. Pressed against said walls were bright yellow shelves packed tightly with various toys and children's' books. "I'll be damned, it's a nursery!" The added reminder of his impending fatherhood dazed Henry so much so that his legs would no longer support him. He backed into a rocking chair and sat for quite some time, lost in the fog of unexpected changes.
Mrs. Pearce found him some time later, and let out a strangled cry, thus yanking Henry from his reverie.
"Confound it!" Henry cried, clutching his chest as though to keep it from bursting.
"Professor Higgins, what on earth are you doing in the nursery? What on earth are you doing home?"
Henry frowned. "This nursery used to be a perfectly good study. What the devil happened to it?"
Mrs. Pearce lifted her chin imperiously. "Mrs. Higgins saw fit to change it to her liking."
"Why the bloody hell did you let my mother remodel my home?"
"I was referring to your wife. She was in poor spirits, and the project lifted her mood considerably." Mrs. Pearce sighed. "I suppose you know that unnecessary stress could be quite dangerous to her at this point?"
"I was informed that Eliza's health is poorly, yes. What of it?"
"Well, only that I suppose your appearance may initially upset her, sir. Before you go and reacquaint yourself with Mrs. Higgins, perhaps it would be wise for me to gently break the news to her."
Henry nodded in agreement, although the news that his appearance would upset Eliza stung a bit. "I shall remain here until I am summoned, Mrs. Pearce."
Eliza awoke, feeling surprisingly serene. Ordinarily, she would awake in tears, with a gut-wrenching feeling of emptiness. Although her day-to-day mood had improved in the past few months, her nights were still plagued with dreams of Henry leaving her. Not the night before, though. Indeed, it had begun with the familiar nightmare of herself chasing after Henry's retreating figure, never quite being able to catch up with him. This time, Henry turned to her, and swept her into his arms, holding her tenderly, and wordlessly. It had turned into a very pleasant dream indeed.
Mrs. Pearce came into her room with a breakfast tray. "Good morning, my dear. I know the fare is rather bland, but I won't be leaving the room until you eat every bite. "
"You act as though I would turn down good food, Mrs. Pearce," Eliza replied before blowing on her porridge to cool it down.
"You seem rather chipper this morning."
"I had a decent night of sleep for once, Mrs. Pearce. It did wonders for me."
Mrs. Pearce seemed to be on the verge of saying something, but the woman held back. Eliza shrugged it off as unimportant, and allowed herself to be groomed, and carried down to her sitting room. Once Eliza was happily situated, Mrs. Pearce gave her a weak smile.
"Mrs. Higgins-… Eliza, I must tell you something."
"What is it, Mrs. Pearce?"
At that very moment, the door to the sitting room was flung open, and Freddy Eynsford-Hill came rushing in, with the butler closely on his heels.
"Mrs. Higgins, I tried to stop him-"
"Eliza, I beg you to hear me out!"
Needless to say, Eliza was quite bewildered by the turn of events, but, out of guilt for the last time she and Freddy met, decided to wave the servants away and give the young man the floor.
To Eliza's mortification, Freddy chose to renew his affections for her. In broad, flowery language, Freddy expressed his sympathy for Eliza's abandoned state of matrimony, decried all manner of tradition, renounced society, and begged her to take him as a lover.
"Freddy, are you aware that I am going to have another man's child?" Eliza asked, removing the afghan that obscured her midriff.
Freddy winced as if in pain, but then smiled, his beautiful eyes sparkling. "My love, it does not matter. I will care for your child as if it were my own. We can move away from here and set up a home with the allowance your blackguard husband sends you, and if he divorces you, I will marry you!"
Before Eliza could reply, she received the second major shock of the day when her long-lost husband burst through the door, face red with rage.
"Like hell you will!" Henry thundered, beyond all reasoning. He had been listening in since the moment he heard Freddy's asinine voice echo through the halls. The boy paled considerably at Henry's sudden appearance.
"Here now, I thought you had bolted, old man!"
"Well, you thought wrong, you impudent pup! Get the hell away from my wife and never grace these halls again, I say!"
The onslaught of raised voices caused Mrs. Pearce, Colonel Pickering, and several concerned servants to flood into the sitting room. In a very uncharacteristic turn, Colonel Pickering swore a bloody oath at the sight of his old friend.
Freddy had the appearance of a cornered rabbit, and with one more backward glance at Eliza, he turned tail and fled.
The entire room turned deadly silent, and all attention turned to Eliza. The shock had struck her quite dumb, and she stared silently at her husband.
"You've returned," Eliza finally spoke. Her voice came out faraway, disconnected from her surroundings. She rose to her feet, unsteadily, and walked towards Henry, who almost appeared frightened at what was to happen next. No one made a move to stop her progress.
When Eliza reached Henry, she raised a hand to touch his cheek, as if to ascertain that he was not a specter. His eyes closed at her gentle touch, and then he cheeks promptly stung at her vicious slap.
"How dare you show your face around here!" Eliza cried. She opened her mouth to launch into a tirade, but closed it suddenly, a spasm of pain crossed her features.
"Eliza?" Henry asked feebly.
"You bloody bastard, 'Enry 'Iggins, you've brought on the baby, you 'ave!"