Thanks for all your love and support. I just woke up from a nightmare in which my son left his new car running while he went inside to get a friend and his car was stolen. Since this chapter was half finished before then, I was then able to polish it off with that extra time.

63. Her Health and Happiness

We were back in our London home only a few minutes after leaving the Earl's home. This was of course not enough time for Elizabeth to be any better, yet neither was it time for her to be any worse. I carried her up the stairs to my own chamber and lay her in my bed. However, it had been enough for some sensible thought on my part and even before I allowed the waiting doctor to come and examine my love, I sent a footman to fetch an apothecary. For though I did not doubt that the doctor that Lady Henrietta had sent would be the best that money could buy, if Elizabeth had been poisoned, I had more trust that an apothecary would have more knowledge.

In the end, the doctor proved useless other than telling me the fairly obvious, "It appears that Mrs. Darcy is in no immediate danger." He then looped the curled edge of his dark mustache around one finger, which was perhaps a nervous action, before losing all of my respect with his next words, "Now tell me, how long has Mrs. Darcy been a drunkard?"

The anger I bore for Hatchington now had a new target and it was through half-gritted teeth that I replied, "She is not and never was. She was dosed with something, I know not what. Now if I hear that you have told anyone such a scurrilous accusation, I will ruin you."

The doctor raised his hands in defeat. "All I knew before coming here is that your wife had fallen ill after consuming punch at a ball. What else was I to think?"

"How about using your head, man? Or asking questions? Can you not see that she is in health other than how she is right now?"

The doctor shrugged and I lost no time in sending him away after providing his payment.

The apothecary, Mr. James, was a squat man of advancing years with yellowing teeth and scant hair. He had supplied us with some brews before. He was of more assistance. I had of course explained to him the suspicion that Elizabeth had been dosed with something added to her punch.

He looked Elizabeth over carefully, with my permission lifted her eyelids and peered at her eyes, opened her lips and sniffed at her breath, felt her pulse, poked at her hand to see if she would rouse with a bit of pain (she did, although her words were rather incoherent). He also asked me when she had last eaten, and how long it had been since she imbibed the tampered drink.

He scratched at his chin, pondering, and then nodded to himself.

"Do you know what ails her?" I asked.

"I suspect," replied he, "that some laudanum was added to the wine, along with some honey and spices to try to obscure the taste. It was a rather large dose, but unlikely to be life-threatening. Someone wanted her insensate, but not to die."

"What is to be done now?" I asked.

"Only the tincture of time shall make it go away. I am hopeful that she will not get any worse before she starts to improve, but you should be listening to make sure her breath remains steady. If it lessens, rouse her by any means necessary and hopefully that shall help. If she does not rouse, there is really nothing you can do but wait it out and pray, but as I said, I do not expect that to happen.

"Now when you can rouse her more easily than I did just now and she speaks clearly, that will mean she can swallow easily (a person who cannot speak as easily as normal is more prone to choke). At that time, perhaps three of four hours from now, I would advise trying her on a bit of broth, just a swallow or two. Then if she can keep that upon her stomach for two hours, as much broth as she should like to drink, and with it some soft bread. Food and drink are quite restorative and will aid her recovery. It is liable to take some long hours for the effects to go away, but by late morning tomorrow I think she shall be nearly herself although likely still quite tired. She must rest and may still be a bit disordered, so keep her away from all stairs tomorrow. I advise against giving her any wine or anything of that nature for the next week, for it would not be well to strain her body so. Tea, broth and milk are all acceptable."

"We were to leave for the north country soon . . . " I omitted my question, but Mr. James was an intelligent enough man to hear it anyway.

"While the country air would certainly do Mrs. Darcy some good, the jostling of the carriage might tend to make her ill if it is attempted too soon and a journey so long would certainly strain her. For such travel is never easy, even for those of good health. Wait perhaps half a week, or even a week complete, and then take such a trip in easy steps."

I thanked Mr. James, paid him well, and accepted his offer to come the next morning to check on her again.

Although I was brave when Mr. James was there, once he left, I felt the whole weight of the worry that I must ensure she kept breathing. Believing that her corset could do her no good, I summoned her maid to strip off her dress and had her left in just her shift. I stripped down myself to just my lawn shirt and then lay beside her in my bed, listening, listening, listening. You can be sure that I called upon God again and again for her to be well.

Late into the night, I finally fell asleep beside my love and half-awoke sometime later to the sensation of my wife embracing me from the side.

In my mussy state, I turned toward her and stroked my hand along her, feeling somewhat confused by the fabric between my hand and her, but seeking the edge of it so I could draw it up. I was just sliding my hand up her leg when I recalled the events of the past night and stilled my hand.

"Lizzy, are you well?" It was full dark then, not even a fire in the grate for it had been a warm night. So, I was dependent upon my other senses besides sight.

"I . . . feel rather odd. Did I become ill? Where am I? This is not my bed."

"No, it is mine. I am to give you some broth." I got up and by feel located the cup with the meat broth upon a side table, urged her to sit up and then put it in her hands. She swallowed it down and I removed the cup from her before I spoke to her again.

"How is your stomach? You are not ill exactly, but . . . what do you recall?"

"Oh, we were at the ball and Hatchington . . . he made me dance with him and then made us leave the dance. We had some punch and then . . . I am not sure what happened next."

By now we had both lain down again, and I had my arms about her. I did not want to discuss the matter further until she was nestled firmly against me.

"He gave you some punch that was likely laced with laudanum. He was attempting to abscond with you into the bowels of the Earl's house, but Miss Stock and her brother intervened and stopped him."

She gasped then and shivered in my arms. "His words were sensible, but I did not believe him when he talked of wanting to heal the breach between you. I feel so foolish that I drank that punch, but I really did not think that much could happen to me in a ballroom. Do you think he meant to . . ."

"Yes, I do." I did not speak the exact words, nor did I need to for she understood very well herself.

"Horrible, horrible man."

"Yes, quite. I am ashamed to share blood with him. If he had been able to . . . well then this could have been something he held over both of us. I long thought he was very bad, but this, this is beyond the pale. Yet as long as his father protects him, and he has his own title and wealth, I doubt much can be done, short of hiring someone to kill him."

"He is very bad, but I . . . I do not think I wish that."

"He is like a rabid dog, and I wish he could just be put down, but of course there would be consequences that could land at my feet."

"It is not worth risking you to have him gone."

I kissed her cheek. "I am glad I am now of value to you. It was not always so."

Feeling relieved that she was much better, soon we both slept again and did not rouse until morning.

When we did, she stretched and looked about the room. "You have a fine room and a larger bed than mine. Why have we never slept here before?"

The answer came when unbidden my valet opened the servant's door and strode in. Seeing that the two of us were there, he averted his eyes and asked, "Should I return later?"

"Go to the kitchen and fetch broth and bread for Mrs. Darcy, and coffee for me." When he had left, I explained, "I did not think you should want my valet to come in should you sleep here with me. Also, sometimes I must get up early and I did not want you disturbed. It was easier to retreat to my own room to dress and make ready for the day."

"Perhaps that is a good reason to not have me stay here with regularity," replied she, "yet not a good excuse for us to have never been together here." She leaned forward and kissed me on the corner of my mouth.

"If you wish it, Mrs. Darcy, we could love each other in every room of the house." I said it in a teasing voice, but it was a genuine offer, too.

She smiled, "I can see that you like that idea, Fitz, but it is not really practical to do so with Georgiana and the servants about."

"Perhaps not, but Pemberley is very large, and we can lose ourselves there well enough, especially when Georgiana is practicing the pianoforte. Better yet, the grounds are vast, and it would be a delight to see all of you under a blue sky."

At this she blushed and averted her eyes for a moment. "I am not sure I could be so brave. What if we were caught?"

"Would it really be so shocking, that a husband is with his wife? Well, then, the dower house is quite empty. Perhaps we ought to go and inspect it once a month." In such a way, we teased each other and kept our thoughts away from Hatchington until the food arrived.

Once she had drank the broth and eaten the bread, Elizabeth was determined to return to her own room to dress and be ready for the day, although she accepted that I did not wish her to leave our house on this day. I explained, "First the apothecary shall come to see that you are well, and also, for my own sake I could not feel easy if you were out of the house even should I be escorting you. I am not sure what has happened to Hatchington, and although it is unlikely I suppose, I have this fear that he might lie in wait for you."

She shuddered at that. "Very well, but I should like to thank the Stocks. Perhaps we can call on them tomorrow morning?"

I had to admit, then, that I had no idea where they were staying, but then it occurred to me that Richard would know, and he should know what had occurred with his brother after we had left. I determined that I should send him a note and invite him to visit on this very day. Not so long ago I would not have liked the thought of Richard being around my wife, but that was before I had been confident of her affection. Now, now he was someone I trusted to help keep her safe.

The visit with the apothecary was short as he was well reassured that Mrs. Darcy had returned to almost full health, and he shortened his stricture against removing from London to the day after tomorrow. After that, we both went down and found Georgiana waiting for us.

As we had not discussed what we would share with her, and Georgiana was in total ignorance having been abed long before we returned from the ball, I was caught flatfooted by her first words, "Fitz, Lizzy, how was the ball?"

Elizabeth and I exchanged a glance (her eyes said What shall we tell her? and my eyes said I don't know).

"Let us go into the family parlor and discuss the whole thing," Elizabeth responded, likely giving herself more time to decide what to tell my sister. Once we were all settled, with the doors closed, Elizabeth and I on a sofa and Georgiana angled toward us in a fine upholstered armchair, Elizabeth began her account. "It was very lovely at first."

Lizzy then regaled Georgiana with meeting the Stocks, having her dance card filled and seeing Lady Catherine dancing with Mr. Selkirk. It was enjoyable to hear my sister's speculations about whether Richard was fond of Miss Stock and what sort of relationship Mr. Selkirk had with our aunt.

There was also much discussion of the gowns and their trimmings. It was enough to make me consider retreating, which I would have if I did not think I would need to be present for whatever Elizabeth eventually told Georgiana about what Hatchington had done.

Georgiana then asked, "Did you not chance to see the new Lady Lancaster? After our aunt explained that Lord Lancaster insisted on an invitation for his then to be wife, I felt certain that she would make the most of such an occasion. I am quite curious as to whether her new position tempered her wardrobe choices and behavior, or if she would only be altered enough to have a grander gown made with her new-found wealth."

I replied, "I did not see her at all. But you are mistaken if you think Lord Lancaster is wealthy. I suspect that he only married Miss Bingley because she has a rather handsome dowry. Titles and wealth do not necessarily go together."

"Oh," Georgiana replied. "I knew that of course, but not anything about Lord Lancaster's own situation. Do you think Miss Bingley knew?"

"Yes," I replied, "or at least Bingley would know, for Lord Lancaster's financial situation was surely discussed when the marital settlement was negotiated. And Lord Lancaster has enough honor that he would not conceal such a thing. Do you know that in addition to giving mushrooms as gifts that he has also begun to sell them? He does it through an intermediary of course, but the secret is not well kept for the mushrooms are of more value as they come from him."

Finally, there was nothing left to talk about the ball save the most important thing. It was Elizabeth who began relating the edited and gentled version to my sister. "The part of the ball I did not enjoy was when Lord Hatchington had the audacity to claim a dance from me, which he had apparently arranged with my partner. I really had no choice but to dance with him, but then he tripped me and ushered me from the dance floor on the excuse that I was not well, and then tricked me into drinking a tampered drink."

"A tampered drink?" Georgiana looked from me to Elizabeth. "What did he give you and for what purpose?"

I answered. "Our apothecary thinks he dosed her with laudanum."

"Why would he do that?"

We exchanged glances again.

"I am not sure," Elizabeth replied.

"Whatever he had in mind, it was not gentlemanly."

"What did you do?" Georgiana's eyes were wide and she leaned forward on the edge of her seat.

Elizabeth laughed harshly, in a forced matter. "Nothing, for I was in no right state to do so."

Georgiana gasped.

"And then a most unlikely hero, or I should say heroine, appeared." I took up the recitation. "Miss Stock recognized that our cousin was up to nothing good and insisted that Hatchington leave Elizabeth alone."

"And did he?" Georgiana gripped the arms of her chair tightly, as if this would restrain her from leaping up.

"Well," I responded, thinking quickly, "she had to get some help from her brother to persuade him. But of course her brother, as all good brothers would be, was only happy enough to be of service to his sister and yours."

"Did he have to beat him up as you did before? Will our stupid cousin never learn that he should not opportune a woman?"

Elizabeth and I glanced at each other in astonishment. She defended "I never told her . . ." even as I said over her "I said nothing to her . . ."

"Of course not," Georgiana replied. "You are both too concerned with protecting me to tell me what is common knowledge in our household. If you must know, I heard the whole account about how Hatchington asked Elizabeth for her favors and how she slapped him, and then you had to get involved and threatened to duel him, but instead merely beat him up, and how he has been vowing revenge ever since. My maid told me. Of course, before that I had overheard a slightly less salacious account from a conversation between Mrs. Anneley and Mrs. Smith, and of course the footmen have been whispering about it as well. There were marks exchanged about whether Hatchington would make a fool of himself again at the ball and if you might have to call him out for real this time."

Having learned that Georgiana knew an exaggerated account, we were then obliged to tell her what had really occurred before, and then given some more questioning from her about what happened at the ball, were forced to admit that Mr. Stock's persuasion had been with his fists.

"I like Aunt Henrietta very well," said Georgiana at the end, "and Cousin Lavinia when she will speak, and Richard of course, and even the Earl is not too bad, at least to me, but I cannot abide John at all anymore. Do you know that before I came to live with you after your marriage, that he had started to make crude jokes to me? Thank goodness he never found out about what Mr. Wickham did to me, for then I would never hear the end of it from him."

I did not think much of Georgiana's last statement, for I thought it was just a reference to Wickham's attempted elopement with my sister, but Elizabeth was wiser than me for she gently asked, "Geogiana, just what did Wickham do to you? Do not fear I would ever think less of you. What Hatchington did to me, well it was not my fault. I will own that I could have been more discerning, cleverer in trying to avoid him, should not have ever left the dance with him, nor drank any punch he offered me, but that is how I can perhaps protect myself better in the future and does not mean I did anything wrong or bear any blame for his actions toward me. Please, sister, will you tell us?"

Seeing in Georgiana's expression that perhaps there was something there that was more than I knew, I added, "I know the man is a snake, after what he did to poor Miss Lydia Bennet, nothing he might have done would surprise me, although of course I would be very grieved to learn that he did more to hurt you than what you have told me thus far."

This mention of Miss Lydia then required further explanation, for we had never told her who had been responsible for Lydia's child, and I did not even omit where I had found her in the end. However, at the end of all of this Georgiana replied, "I am quite fortunate that Wickham did not act as badly with me as he did with her, but he did try to convince me that I had to marry him, based on me being stupid enough to play a game with him while blindfolded. She then told me about the guessing game and just what he had made her handle.

Oh, I was so angry! Not perhaps quite as angry as I had been when I learned what Hatchington had tried to do with my wife, both times, just because time had passed and I had not been present for any of it, or perhaps because I knew that I had to control myself and not scare her, so I was not free to feel my full emotions, but I was still angry indeed.

As I was working to master myself, Elizabeth replied to Georgiana, "None of that is your fault. He is an evil man, to do something to one so young and trusting, who saw him as a childhood friend. Mr. Wickham's poor character is no reflection on yours. Now I hope that this is not still troubling you, that you may mourn your loss of innocence and how you had to gain such wisdom but shall not let any of this define you. You were brave and smart; you did not let him succeed in his nefarious schemes."

"Only because Fitz arrived in time."

"Yes, the timing of his arrival was fortuitous there, perhaps a result of God's guiding hand, but I am sure you would have figured out another solution if he had not come. For you are an intelligent girl. While it would be nice to think that all men are as honorable as your brother, you have learned that they are not and can be wiser and better prepared."

I thought Lizzy was far more kind in this description of me then she could have been.

Georgiana then asked something that tore at my heart. "What if I do not wish to marry?"

I wanted to cry out against such an idea, for I knew that true happiness was to be found in marriage with the right spouse, and that Georgiana would be a fine wife and mother. But fortunately, Elizabeth responded before I could and make a mess of all of the progress made in Georgiana confiding in us now.

"Then you can live with us for always and we shall be the lucky ones to have you with us. But you are yet still young and know not much of the world. If you can find a man who loves you as much as Fitz loves me, and love him as much in return, I think you will gladly marry him. There is no need for you to settle for less."

Georgiana was smiling softly then, apparently reassured with Elizabeth's answer.

I added, "Georgiana, the choice of whether to marry or not, and to whom shall always be yours. I shall do my best to ensure your safety so none can force you into a marriage not of your choosing, and furthermore, even if all else should fail, I would never have you marry someone who you do not love. I should take any stain to my reputation, our reputation, to have you safe with me."

With a glad cry, Georgiana lept from her seat and flew at us, embracing us both even as we rose to meet her. "What a good brother and sister I have," she told us. "I did not want to disappoint you, Fitz with the truth."

"You never could," I said. "For although we all fail to be perfect, you try and succeed more than most in all the ways that matter. You have been a better sister than I have been a good brother. If I had but warned you more about Wickham, perhaps none of this would have occurred."

"It is not your fault," said she. "I was a silly girl then, and with Mrs. Younge's encouragement, I may not have taken any warning seriously." By then we had separated again and sat down once more.

"No more self-castigation," Elizabeth announced. "We all must learn from our pasts and then move on. We shall leave for Pemberley in two days. I am most eager to see it, yet while we wait shall you not tell me what I can expect?"

We spent a lively further half hour in discussing Pemberley and the surrounding area so thoroughly that by the end Lizzy said, "I have formed quite a complete picture in my mind but whether it is accurate or not, I suppose there is no substitute but for seeing it for myself. Oh, how I long to go and see my new home with the people that I love."

A/N: Georgiana stole the second half of this chapter away. I had no intention of getting into all of that, but I am glad about it, too.