The storyline, new character development, new events, and new characters are my intellectual property. Glorioux
Tea and more
Tainted Tea
"Darling, did you drink this tea?" William asked again, sitting by Lizzie.
Elizabeth heard the anguish in William's voice; it scared her.
"A couple of sips. I already had too much tea," Lizzie was afraid.
"Who brought you the tea?" Richard asked.
"It was here when I woke up. Why?" Elizabeth was panicking. Her hand went to her baby, realizing the baby was not moving or not much.
"Someone meant to hurt you and the babe. We need to ask the kitchen who ordered the tea." William held her hand, "It will not happen again; when I find out who did it, that person better fear because their days are numbered. If something happens to either my wife or our baby…"
Richard, who was beyond angry, suspecting Miss Bingley, completed the sentence, "I will administer the due punishment," he stared at Caroline, her eyes hard and merciless, "I have killed too many to care. Indeed, I will dispense swift justice," he declared. Richard's grandmother on his mother's side was related to Darcy; they had ways to punish. He stared at Miss Bingley, who was not one bit afraid. She was a fool, if she only knew.
Louisa was shaking, "I was about to drink it; I would have hurt my precious baby."
Jane held her hand, "Louisa, you are well, thanks to William. Congratulations, you are so lucky." Louisa leaned against Jane, trembling. Jane could feel Louisa's hand was very cold, so she squeezed Louisa's hand, reassuringly.
Hurst heard the tale end and went to Louisa, pushing Caroline aside, "Don't touch my wife; my bet is on you!" He pushed Caroline harder, "Don't touch my wife; my bet is on you. Your time is up if you tried to kill a Hurst heir. I will find the truth, nasty woman." He took his trembling wife in his arms. Louisa would not look at Caroline.
"I don't want to be in the same house with her. I think you are right." Louisa avoided looking at her sister; she was sure it had been Caroline who, tried to kill her baby.
Caroline called them liars and left running. William sat Lizzie on his lap, not caring if others were looking. Lizzie was angrier than afraid, "But what if I drank enough? What would happen? It is too soon. I think a month or more. You are right; whoever did it must be punished."
Jane asked everyone to leave. She could not wait to cut ties with the younger Bingley. At once, she remembered the nights when Charles didn't come home, all the tears and the pain. Caroline's snide remarks, calling her provincial, said she was not enough for her brother. When Jane saw Albert and his relatives waiting at the door, she went to them.
Georgie stayed in the room. Her young face was a little changed, but William hadn't noticed. "It was her, Miss Bingley. I saw her eyes. If the little one is hurt, I will take care of her. I know how to fight." Georgie's voice was hard.
William looked up, "Dearest, ahem," he touched his face. Georgie nodded and left to look for Richard.
"Do you love me?" Lizzie asked.
William nuzzled her neck. "More than life itself; I would be lost without you. I am sorry you need to ask." He would tell her about their secret nature, it was time.
"You choose to have a separate room. Tony said her parents share a bed. It is a good idea; it is too lonely without you. You seldom kiss me, making me wonder if you like me. Miss Bingley told Tony I am a country cow. Thus, Tony no longer talks to her; I heard them that day. She added that many said so at my presentation," Lizzie sounded and looked tired and sad.
"Miss Bingley is jealous and lies; many called you beautiful and said they wished they had seen you first. She must leave our home, regardless. I will tell Charles when he is back to send her wherever. My love, liking doesn't describe how I feel about you; I would say I am crazy for you. You are all I ever wished for." He pulled her chin and caught her lips with his. The soft kiss turned into a hungry kiss, but not for long because Elizabeth cried in pain. She felt her bottom was wet.
William asked, alarmed, "What is wrong?"
"It hurts," she looked at her hand after touching her lap; it was red. She realized she was bleeding.
William remembered reading about it; a baby couldn't be born like other babies. He panicked.
"I don't know why; I just had two sips with one biscuit," Elizabeth told William.
"A biscuit, which biscuits?" He was sick with apprehension.
"Yes, I told you before, a biscuit, like the one on the plate." Lizzie suspected the biscuit was also tainted.
William laid her on the bed over a blanket. He picked up the biscuit; it had cream in the middle. The cream smelled of the same plant used for the tea.
"Oh, my love, my Lizzie, let me call my cousins. Wait here. You need to know I love you more than life itself. Don't you dare leave me; I would be forever lost." William's eyes were filling up with tears; dread was taking hold of him. He knew the baby was coming, so he ran and opened the door, calling his cousins at the top of his lungs.
Meanwhile, Richard found out nobody had ordered the tea. It was served from the tea samovar, which used short candles under the container, to keep the water warm. That way, anyone could ask for tea to be served at a moment's notice. He knew how to uncover the criminal, and Georgie was helping; they would be able to find the truth.
The secret nature: Christmas around 150 years before, years after the 30-year war that ravaged countries.
A forest, north-east of Germany (Saxony)
Two young princes, cousins, sat looking at the falling snow. Smallpox killed their siblings and parents. They'd died while they were visiting relatives in England and they stayed, completing their University studies; this was a sad Christmas.
"There, can you see it? Something is going on, I saw two birds falling, and then horses appeared. I think those are not horses. Do you see there is a fight going on? Let's go," one said. They picked up their swords and ran. When they arrived at the scene, the friends saw two females, not human, fighting like men, wielding their swords. Not swords they had seen before since the blades seemed to be pure fire. They fought against several nasty-looking monsters, or were they demons? It was hard to tell; no matter, without hesitating, the princes pulled out their swords and joined the fight. They rammed several of the attackers, who turned into dust. A couple of the attackers escaped, but not before saying they would be back.
When the fight was over, the princes walked with the two beautiful females. They were not birds; it must have been an illusion. They now looked human. The princes fell in love; it was mutual, so they married the ladies a few months later the following year. They married the ladies who did not look like other ladies, wheneve they wished. On time, the husbands's natures changed to look more like their wives.
A few years later, one of the ladies had a baby; she would have died in childbirth if not for her sister. She knew what to do; their babies could not be born as others did, or the mother would bleed to death. Later, the other sister had a baby assisted by her sister. As the years passethey instructed others on what should be done. Their children married locally and foreigners, and so on. Strangely, the parents would always disappear, but why? Because deaths were faked, and their cemeteries had many empty caskets; locals said it was a curse. It wasn't a curse, it was their secret nature.
The Bingley - Caroline and Charles
Georgie and Louisa were with Jane in her receiving room, and when the message arrived, Jane didn't cry. She pursed her lips, took a deep breath, and read the message out loud. Charles had been called on an emergency errand. He wanted to buy a couple of horses, and he was told of a breeder who needed to sell some of his prized horses immediately. He was sorry but would try to come back by the 26th.
Louisa shook her head, "Darling, Charles is not worth your anger. Reggie told me what Albert said; it will be the best for you."
Caroline had just said, "I will tell Charles that you are ill, advising his wife. The Hurst are vile foreigners; Louisa, you are a disgrace. If you want to be my sister, please come with me."
Louisa stood up, straight as an arrow, pointing her finger at Caroline, "Leave this room, never talk to me again. I know what you have done; if we can prove it, I'll let Reggie do whatever he deems necessary. You are no sister of mine, trying to kill my baby. Go away."
Before Caroline could answer, Georgie grabbed Caroline's arm, picking her up as if she were a feather. She put Miss Bingley out of the room and closed the door. Miss Bingley knocked for a while without any luck.
Afterward, neither Jane nor Louisa remembered what Georgie had done, just that she had pushed Caroline out of the room.
When Caroline went to her room, she found her lady's maid packing her clothes. The maid ran out of the room, closing the door when Caroline entered. Caroline heard someone locking it from outside; indeed, Caroline was a prisoner. She started screaming, but no one listened.
No one listened or cared because everyone was running to Darcy's room.
Charles
They were in the middle of a wild coupling when they heard rushed steps up the long stairway. Someone was calling Irene, Charles' lover, to come out of her bedroom. "My husband, jump out the window, use the tree."
Young children called, "Papa, you are home." The steps stopped, probably not for long.
"My stepchildren, you have a few more seconds." The woman told Charles. She looked afraid, fearing for her safety. She should because her time was up.
Charles half-dressed and picked up the rest of his clothes, trying to remember where he had tied his horse.
A/n Tsk, tsk, Children in the house, naughty woman.
