It was pure good luck or happenstance or whatever big word Lizzy would use to describe it; that I was the one with her when she woke up the second time. Lady Catherine (I just could not make myself call her 'Aunt') had her first encounter with her in the middle of the night, perhaps 3 o'clock. Lizzy went back to sleep after perhaps five or ten minutes, and Lady Catherine let us sleep the rest of the night in peace, before setting the house on end with her news. I had no idea what if anything they may have discussed, but Lady Catherine seemed altered by the experience. I am not saying that I know the great lady well enough to notice subtle distinctions in her countenance; I mean it was obvious even to Betsy. She looked as Sisyphus might if his rock was suddenly taken away from him; greatly relieved of the burden, but at the same time not quite sure what to do without his rock to roll up the hill. I hoped the feeling of relief would take precedence. We, of course, all the assorted ladies that Lizzy had somehow pulled into Rosings, had not the slightest thing to repine about in the first place; but we all noticed and hoped that whatever Aunt Catherine carried (perhaps I can say that after all), would soon be lifted.

It was not dead in the middle of the night the next time she woke up; for there was not the slightest chance I would be allowed to be up that late, even if I could stay awake. With so many people wanting to sit with her, it was rare for one of us to get more than a couple of hours. We kept a small workbasket beside her bed with various projects, and a stack of books from the Rosings library. Everyone loved to read to Lizzy, and we pretended we knew that she was somewhere inside listening and we were helping her; but mostly we were helping ourselves I think. There is nothing in the world less appealing than feeling helpless, so we had a need to feel like we were doing something. I had some real sympathy for Mr. Darcy, who was most certainly not accustomed to the idea of helplessness. We females were quite unfairly instructed from birth to the idea, so perhaps it was easier for us, but it was still abominably difficult. Reading, massaging her limbs, feeding her the little bits of broth we could manage to coax down her throat and water were all time consuming; which was just what we needed. Whether we were helping her or not, we were at least able to convince ourselves we were doing all that could be done. I doubt Mr. Darcy would have been driven out of Rosings under any provocation had he not seen our dedication, and had he not trusted us to do what needed doing.

Our workbasket unsurprisingly was filled with baby clothes under various stages of construction. I happened to be knitting a tiny cap at the time. Everyone took a hand at the work at one time or another, so most of the projects showed an alarming lack of regularity, but we did not mind. You could not look at an embroidered shirt done half by Jane and half by Lydia without going cross‑eyed, but we cared not and I doubted my baby would be overly concerned either.

I first noticed a bit of a stirring, but since we had all seen such signs a few times by then without her waking up, I tamped my hopes down relentlessly. The physicians said she might do such for many days before finally waking up, and she might be only awake for minutes at a time for some little while. Our only instructions were to try to get some food down her when she did wake up, talk if she could, but not to be too hard on her if she could not.

I first noticed her hands twitching on the counterpane at around dusk. First they moved around, and I saw some other movement in her eyes, but nothing more for some long minutes. If I were a better person I would have gone to get her sisters immediately, but like Lady Catherine, I wanted my share of her attention first; and besides there was a very good chance this would be another bit of false bait. We would see.

I then saw her fingers running themselves over the counterpane, and squeezing the fabric between them, as if she could not believe she was in such a fine bed. I expected her to be confused, and the best advice in my opinion we had heard was to allow her to come to her senses by herself. Of course, there were others who advocated everything from that, to dumping cold water on her at the first signs of recovery. Naturally, those holding that opinion were only obliged to give it one time in front of Aunt Catherine before they were chased out of Rosings with footmen searching frantically for some cold water to demonstrate the technique. Lady Catherine is not a woman to be crossed.

I saw Lizzy's eyes open, and thought that might be a good time to talk to her, but I could not in truth bring myself to do it. I have no idea why; whether I was being courteous, generous or cowardly; but I simply waited for her to become aware of where she was. I saw her look at her hands, and then around the room, and finally across the bed towards where I sat. I was in the same chair Lady Catherine had used the night before, so she seemed to be naturally looking in that direction as if expecting someone to be here. I noticed her eyes were looking down as she came to see me. It was close to bedtime so I was wearing a shift with a dressing gown over it. They were very fine, just like everything in Rosings. My stomach was not all that prominent yet. It was obvious I was with child when I was in my normal dresses, but not so obvious now. I saw her eyes gradually work her way up to my face, and was gratified to see a smile appear on her face that looked like the sun coming out.

She tried to say my name, but only coughed weakly a few times; which finally brought me to my senses. I jumped up and went to the side table for some water, and helped her drink it, all the while talking to her as soothingly as I could.

"Lizzy, welcome back! Welcome back, my friend! I am sure Aunt Catherine must have told you how worried we all are for you. Please do not overexert yourself, but you truly need to eat some food. You are half-starved. Do you think you could take a little broth or bread? You have been asleep for some time but you woke up and talked to Aunt Catherine last night. Do not fret. You are warm and dry and protected by an army of sisters. All is well! Just concentrate on resting and coming back to us."

All of this came out in a rush, and to be truthful I probably left out at least half of the babbling I was doing at the time. She drank her water, and finally managed to speak a few words.

"Charlotte! What are you doing here? And, where exactly is here?"

The more sensible physicians had said she might be confused, and we might have to explain the same things several times; but not to be overly alarmed. The fact that she recognized me was quite enough for me for one day, because the selfsame physicians warned that if and when she returned, she might be altered or reduced. I truly hated the way physicians talked.

I finally came to my senses and replied, "You are at Rosings under Lady Catherine's protection. This was Anne's room, but it is now yours. Anne and you both had very near brushes with death, but Anne is recovering nicely… a bit testily, but nicely. You have been in this bed these almost three months. We are all here; all your sisters, myself and another friend of mine, Betsy. Your Mr. Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam had to go to Pemberley, but will be back instantly once the messenger gets there."

I was telling her this and much more besides as I ran to the fire to get some broth to feed her. We had been coaxing broth down her for weeks, but it was always a messy business and not particularly effective.

Elizabeth allowed me to feed her some broth until she had taken perhaps half a bowel, which was all I expected her to take and a bit more water without very much comment.

In between bites, she said somewhat impertinently, "He is not my Mr. Darcy."

This seemed like it could be an endless discussion, so I simply said, "We shall see."

She again seemed ready to argue, but did not have the strength for it.

Finally, when she was sated, I started to feel guilty about not running for her sisters. Not guilty enough to actually share her company mind you, but guilty nonetheless. Elizabeth had been watching me quite carefully, and she said, "There is something different about you Charlotte. You move differently. You look different, but I cannot put my finger on it."

Considering she had barely managed to move her finger half a foot since waking up, that was not surprising, but I thought I should just get the surprise over with.

I stood up, and grasping the edges of the dressing gown, I drew it tight enough for her to see the bump. She gasped, and started to speak, but I waylaid her by saying, "Do not ask about the father Lizzy. We shall not be discussing him any time soon, if ever. You shall have a new godchild in around five months."

At that point, for some reason I was very near to tears. I had mostly tried to manage my own fears and worries myself, whilst remaining strong for Betsy. I had always been closest to Elizabeth. I had a certain type of closeness to Jane, but like everyone else, I had never really pierced her reserve enough for true camaraderie back in Meryton. The only person I had ever truly felt connect to was Elizabeth, and I was truly coming to realize just how big of a hole her absence had left in my life this past year. I felt there might be things I could share with Lizzy that I could not share with Jane or anyone else; and I sensed that we all knew part of her story, but not all of it. The part we knew was bad enough, but I hoped I could perhaps hear the rest and in some way be of some service to her when the time came.

She just said, "Come here, and patted the counterpane beside herself, so I started to sit down, on the bed, but she said, "No, not that."

I felt an intense feeling of relief that she seemed to be back, in fact, she seemed to be all back, cleverness and perceptiveness included; which we had not been at all certain would happen. I removed my dressing gown, lifted the blankets and climbed into the bed with her and we just held each other and went to sleep.

It was perhaps the middle of the night, when I woke up with a gasp of alarm. I had fallen asleep without telling anyone that Elizabeth had awakened, and felt terribly guilty about it. I started to get up to rectify it, but heard an unexpected voice.

"Where are you going child? Go back to sleep at once. All is well."

I just smiled, as it made me feel warm and safe for perhaps the first time in quite some time, and just said, "Yes, Aunt" before succumbing to sleep once again.

It was just after dawn when I woke up and saw Jane sitting where I had been the night before, unraveling the little cap that I had mangled beyond all recognition the evening before, with a soft smile. She heard me stir and said, "Stay where you are, Charlotte. I have been keeping some tea and breakfast warm for you on the fireplace."

She then took one last look at the poor little cap and set it down for the moment. I knew she would fix it, even if there was nothing left but a long piece of yarn by the time she was satisfied she was back at a good starting place. She went to the fireplace, where true to form all the things she had suggested were in place. I had heard that these were Mr. Darcy's idea, since he knew people would be here at all hours of day and night, and did not want us having to wake up servants and wait for them to see to our own comfort. I never really knew if he did that for our comfort or the servants, but it did not really matter in the end. The man we all thought we knew in Hertfordshire was so long gone; nobody in Meryton would even recognize him.

Jane continued, "I should really chastise you for not telling us Lizzy woke up Charlotte, but I do not have the heart for it. Perhaps I can go fetch Anne."

We both had a bit of a laugh at that. Anne was quite formidable when she wanted to be, but fortunately, she seldom wanted to be… except when we were forcing her to do her exercise.

Jane continued, "Lizzy woke up again in the middle of the night and talked to Aunt Catherine, but this time she called for me and I got to talk to her for a few minutes. We were all worried she might come out of this ordeal addled, but she appears to be perfect, except she cannot talk for more than five minutes running."

"Are you not certain it is not you that is addled?"

We both laughed in surprise, and looked over at Elizabeth, who lay there wide eyed and said, "What does a woman have to do to get a cup of tea in this estate?"

Nobody had the heart to try to drag poor Lizzy out of bed for even the tiniest bit of exercise, but the rest of the day was a madhouse; well at least it was if you consider six girls sitting demurely at some type of work while staring at Lizzy, and walking quietly or not so quietly in and out of the room a madhouse. I felt the most rested I had in months, and was eventually prevailed upon to go do my penance for failing to wake up the sisters by helping Anne into the room and back once she was worn out. She could nearly walk on her own now, but nobody was comfortable with her making such an arduous journey on her own, since it was all of a dozen yards.

Lady Catherine came in and visited from time to time, but for the most part she was content to allow us the daylight hours while she haunted the nights. It had been working well for her thus far.

Lizzy would wake up every couple of hours, talk to those present for a few minutes, and then generally go back to sleep. We all liked to think her sleep was more restful than it had been before, but we would not know for some time, if ever. Anne told us it was best to not ask, and we took her advice.

I was sitting alone with Elizabeth again just before I retired when Aunt Catherine came and asked, "Elizabeth, we have been writing to my nephews daily."

She pointedly ignored my grimace at the mention of the plural form of the word 'nephew', and carried on.

"We did not write of your awakening yesterday, but have done so today. He will almost certainly be on his horse the moment he receives the letters. Would you like to…"

Whatever she was about to say had to go unsaid, as Elizabeth interrupted her most vehemently.

"He most certainly will not!"

Aunt Catherine looked interested, but unperturbed at the interruption, and asked casually, "Why, may I ask?"

Elizabeth said, "If Rosings was halfway destroyed and a dozen of your tenant cottages destroyed, would you be taking a leisurely stroll to Derbyshire? He has his duty, and he must see to it!"

She showed more animation in this conversation than she had in any of the previous ones, and seemed overly concerned about Pemberley, if you were to ask me. It was not as if Mr. Darcy had not been taking care of an estate for some time, or as if he needed advice from the likes of us.

Aunt Catherine said, "Most assuredly not, but I am not my nephew."

Elizabeth seemed much more agitated than the situation called for. All of her sisters had assured me that any bad blood between her and Mr. Darcy seemed to have been healed, and they even had a peculiar sort of friendship, although with only one day to see there interaction, most of my sisters were not very much better informed than I was. All we knew was that since her fall, he had acted either the guiltiest protector or the most besotted fool in the country. It was difficult to tell which, but the latter explanation seemed much more reasonable.

Elizabeth said, "Georgiana told me a bit of the damage this morning, and he most certainly cannot leave it in that state."

To me, this seemed like a continuation of a conversation that neither Aunt Catherine nor I were privy to, nor were we likely to. I could see the lady considering carefully, before she said, "I would agree with you Elizabeth, he should be seeing to his duty, but my history of bending him to my will is not auspicious. He goes where he will."

Somewhat petulantly I thought, Elizabeth said, "He can go where he wills, so long as he does not will to go through that door."

Aunt Catherine just laughed at that, and said, "If you plan to stop him at that door, you may want to start your efforts now, because absent some encouragement stronger than I am capable of, he will be here in less than ten days."

Elizabeth thought carefully for a moment, and for a time we thought she had gone to sleep. Finally, she said the oddest thing, "He has an excellent memory, at least for hurtful things I have said."

Aunt Catherine leaned over, took one of her hands gently, and whispered, "Have there been many of those?" I suspect she had forgotten I was there, or perhaps she just trusted me.

Elizabeth said, "More than you can ever know."

Aunt Catherine said, "How do you propose I dissuade him… and why precisely do you not want him here. Is it that you do not want him to see you like this, skinny, unattractive and still married?"

Aunt was nothing if not blunt, which to tell the truth was my favorite thing about her.

Elizabeth said, quite curiously, "That is of no importance. There will never be the type of… relationship… between the two of us where that matters. It is just…"

Aunt just held onto her hand, and said nothing, waiting patiently.

Finally, Elizabeth said, "I cannot let him see me this weak. He is the only one who knows all of my secrets, and I have not the strength to argue with him if he tries to dissuade me from what I must do."

That sounded genuinely alarming, and I could see the look spreading to Aunt's features the same as to mine, but she had enough sense to let it go… for the moment.

Aunt said, "Tell me what to tell him, Elizabeth."

She said, "Write this exactly, if you will, Aunt. These exact words! No more and no less!"

"Do I truly have to explain it to you, Mr. Darcy? It all seems so obvious to me that it should not even need to be spoken of."

She seemed exhausted by the ordeal, understandably, but before she fell asleep, she said, "He will understand. He will do his duty. Tell him Easter! I shall welcome my friend on Easter Sunday, and not a day before."