"UNCLE GARDINER!" Elizabeth laughed with glee, enjoying the surprise visit from one of her favourite people in the world.
"Ah, my Lizzy, I see you have gotten yourself into a spot of bother again."
"AUNT!" she screamed just as happily.
"It is so good to see you, Lizzy, and I have to say I like your young man very much!"
Elizabeth tried her best to blush, but she was far too happy for such squeamishness.
Her aunt and uncle entered the cabin chattering happily, followed closely by Jane, Darcy, and Fitzwilliam. They all stood happily for a half-hour until they heard a discreet knock on the door that was open as usual.
They looked over to see Dr Nott accompanied by another distinguished looking man of perhaps fifty.
Gardiner stood. "Ah, there you are Grove. Have you discussed things?"
"We have and would like to proceed as planned."
Everyone looked curious, so Gardiner said, "This is Dr Grove. He is the best ship's doctor I know of, having spent most of his life aboard big navy ships. I have asked him to look at your leg."
"I already have two eminently qualified men, uncle."
"We all agree, but I have something else in mind. I would ask you to indulge me."
"I have no objection if Dr Nott and Mr Elkins do not take offense. My maidenly modesty has taken a beating this month."
Mrs Gardiner frowned slightly at her niece's cavalier attitude, but remained silent when nobody else had any reaction at all. It was, after all, a simple statement of fact, even if it did seem slightly untoward.
"We welcome any and all help," Dr Nott asserted.
Dr Grove added, "I have extensive experience with some of the symptoms you are experiencing from work in a field hospital that specialized in broken bones. I wish to see if there are treatments I might recommend, and to give an opinion about how soon you might lose those splints. There is a delicate balance. Too soon and you damage a partially healed limb, too long and your muscles and joints atrophy."
"That makes sense," Elizabeth said, and looked to Darcy to assure he agreed.
"We shall leave you to it," Gardiner said, then shepherded everyone else out quickly, even Darcy.
"Do not be vexed, William. All shall be well."
Darcy nodded, gave her a modest kiss on her knuckles, and followed the others out, while Elizabeth wondered if they would have some secret conference outside. She doubted it, since William would be well-aware of how annoyed it would make her.
Dr Grove performed several examinations that were about three-quarters the same as the other medical men and a few new ones. A few of those turned out to be quite painful, but he gave her fair warning and offered up a strap or laudanum, both of which she declined.
When they were finished, Dr Grove signalled the others to retreat outside, but Dr Nott demurred. "It is her leg. Our custom is to speak in front of her. We could go out there, but all that would accomplish is being dragged back in two minutes later."
"All true," Elizabeth said, "but I would appreciate it if you brought my intended in."
They did so, though Elizabeth chose to leave Jane and Fitzwilliam out speaking to the Gardiners.
Grove began. "I concur with your other doctors that you need another fortnight in the braces, and your recovery will almost certainly be slower than you like, but I have recommendations that I believe will promote a better chance of full recovery, though they are relatively painful."
"Worse than what I already endured?"
"Not worse. Mostly not as bad in fact, but it is disheartening to be a month in and feel like you are back at the beginning. Even worse is feeling like you are past the painful part, only to regress."
"What is the cause?"
"I believe there are bone fragments that have not fused yet. It happens often with breaks of this magnitude. Most of the time, they eventually fuse or rearrange themselves, but not always. Time will tell."
"What is your prognosis?" she asked nervously.
"I never promise anything and am reluctant to even be very specific. That said, my most educated guess, which is by no means certain, is that you are unlikely to dance energetically again, though the easier ballroom dances are possibilities. You are unlikely to run but will probably walk well enough. Riding is too soon to tell."
"Dr Nott?" she asked.
"I concur, though I must stress that medicine is not an exact science, so our guesses are just that."
"I thank you, gentlemen. As for the treatments, I have dealt with pain before and can do so again. I would gladly do so for a better chance of full mobility, and let us face it, any woman who wants to have children must be prepared to endure quite a lot."
"I suspected as much," Dr Grove asserted. "As a first step, even though you cannot lose the splints yet, I should like to get you out of this cabin. Your Mr Darcy and your uncle brought me here with a plan. What say you, Miss Elizabeth? Would you like to see the wonders of the world?"
Elizabeth liked the man immediately, particularly when he showed his impertinent side.
"Might I see what is on the upstream side of that rock with the broken log? I cannot imagine anything more magnificent than that!"
The gentlemen laughed, and Happy Darcy spoke up. "I believe this calls for a celebration. Our ladies have been doing some sort of secret preparations for a fortnight, so we shall leave you to their mercy for an hour."
With that, the gentlemen left, to be replaced by Jane and Mrs Buxton.
As the ladies entered, Elizabeth wondered what in the world the surprise could be, but Jane answered her curiosity immediately.
"Ah, Lizzy, Mrs Buxton is a genius… an absolute genius."
"And you are just learning this NOW?" Elizabeth teased in return, feeling quite happy. She understood there was pain in her future, but also walking again and nothing could burst the bubble of her enjoyment of the day.
Mrs Buxton smiled happily, though her face usually had one, so it was not particularly shocking. She opened a small valise and pulled out what appeared to be a very pretty gown.
Elizabeth's face fell a bit, but Jane chided her. "Oh, ye of little faith. LOOK!"
Mrs Buxton showed her that the gown was cleverly split down both sides, with cleverly hidden buttons to put it back together. Elizabeth had been living in simple bed clothing that was closer to winter nightrails than anything else for a month. The idea of dressing pretty for her first view of the streamside had much to recommend it. With the split, it was obvious she could be dressed with no more jostling than she endured to change the bedsheets.
A knock on the door brought an even more exuberant Cecil than usual (a difficult concept to wrap her mind around), carrying a bucket of steaming hot water, some soap, and rags.
"Clean AND pretty!" Elizabeth sighed, which made Mrs Buxton and Jane smile even wider, while Cecil gave a huzzah on the way out the door.
With activities that seemed as critical as preparations to take a curtsey before the queen (something Elizabeth dreaded), the three ladies chattered happily away for the better part of an hour. Elizabeth was washed, dried, scented with lavender water, and pampered within an inch of her life, dressed in a gorgeous gown (if she did say so herself). Jane put her hair into a nice style that was somewhere between the braid she had worn all day every day for six weeks, and the fancy arrangement she might have for a ball.
They all understood that it might seem a lot for just a visit to a rocky streamside, but they all knew better. It was a rite of passage and required the appropriate armour.
Jane had already taken a proper bath early that morning in the tent, but she changed a gown to match Elizabeth's festive wear, then sat at the edge of the bed so her sister could brush and style her hair for the first time in ages.
It was only common sense.
Jane opened the door for their gentlemen, who just stared in stupefaction. Even the voluble colonel was at a loss for words, but both men eventually said, "You both look even lovelier than usual."
While an impartial observer might have considered that compliment very weak sauce indeed, the four of them knew better. It was naught but the truth, and they had all come to rely on truth above flattery. The ladies were gorgeous, of course, but they were every day, not just when in fancy dress, and the way the compliment was phrased showed the love and understanding of two good men.
All four had come to realize that love without a deep understanding of character was merely infatuation, and they had all progressed so far beyond that phase that it was nigh on impossible to remember their past selves.
Naturally though, the men were not made of stone, so there may or may not have been some more or less discrete kissing occurring in the next few minutes, but none were the wiser.
Darcy ran his knuckles down his love's cheek. "Are you ready?"
"I am, my love," she said, no longer quite so astonished that the simple endearment rolled so easily off her tongue.
"I fear we must defer to more qualified men," Fitzwilliam said rather enigmatically, then stepped to the door and said, "Captain Daw—all is ready."
Elizabeth and Jane both wondered what in the world the men were being so mysterious about, but then the obvious hit her. They probably had a surprise prepared. She had her uncle and aunt, so maybe even Charlotte and Mr Collins may have come to visit. Her mind briefly conjured up the vision of Lady Catherine in chains on the streambank, but she could not decide whether to be chagrined or amused.
Why the colonel had brought an army captain was a mystery for about a minute, until she could see he was something entirely different. The man they saw was perhaps their uncle's age, wore a blue coat, wide-legged trousers, and sturdy boots.
"Captain Daw, may I present my nieces Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth," Uncle Gardiner said with a smile, with Aunt Gardiner looking on from the porch. "Lizzy, Jane, Captain Daw owns the most profitable ship I do business with, and kindly gave liberty to some of his men to assist us while the ship is being repaired."
"A pleasure," the ladies replied happily, though only one curtsied.
The captain seemed to be a man of few words because he simply nodded, said, "Pleasure," quietly, then turned to the door and snapped, "Bosun!"
Another man came in, flanked by what were obviously two sailors, dressed similarly to the captain, though without the jacket, so the ladies could see their chests bulging with muscled.
The two sailors said nothing, and the ladies watched curiously as they brought in some sort of device made of two long poles with canvass stitched around each one and drooping loosely between.
"We call this a stretcher, ladies," Captain Daw explained. "We mostly use them for moving the sick and wounded around the ship or battlefield. It will do to get you outside without further injury."
Elizabeth saw the benefit of the device straightaway and wondered that nobody had thought of it after the incident with Lady Catherine appearing in a sedan chair, since this was nearly the same idea. Of course, she immediately worked out that they did not just think of it that morning and suddenly appear, so she suspected her intended and her uncle might have been working on the plan for weeks.
Captain Daw said, "There are a few ways to do that, so let us use the easy one. Ladies, pray clear the way. Gentlemen, remain."
Elizabeth enjoyed the way the man casually gave orders to the men while being entirely polite to the ladies.
A minute later, with three men on each side of the bed, they grabbed the edges of the sheet, and on the captain's command, simply lifted her a foot in the air. The sailors pushed the stretcher under, then took up the weight on each end, and half a minute later, they were on the way out the door.
"PAPA! MAMA!" Elizabeth laughed joyfully as soon as she cleared the door, and saw not only her parents, but her sisters, Georgiana, the Gardiner children, and the Collinses waiting for them.
She was a little bit surprised to feel tears falling down her cheeks at the sight of such a warm welcome. She had put some thought into how she would react to her eventual reunion with her family, but never came to any conclusion. Their most recent separation had been rather fraught, but nobody seemed to hold any resentment.
The sailors walked her as carefully as they could about twenty feet to the stove Simpson had constructed, then put one end of the stretcher on the ground and the other on the stove, so she could recline at an angle. It did not hurt terribly, but it seemed obvious she would not be able to ascend stairs or take the three-mile trek out; especially when she saw Simpson's stairs in the distance and noted that much of it was indeed more ladder-like than stair-like. Pity!
Cecil just could not help himself and yelled, "HUZZAH!" which was happily echoed by the assemblage at a deafening roar.
Darcy came to stand beside the stretcher with his hand hanging down where it was available for her comfort but not insistent.
Mr Bennet said, "Ah, Lizzy, it does my heart good to see you looking so well."
"Lizzy, Lizzy, Lizzy… let me look at you girl. My you look fine, and nobody could say a word against your gentleman!" Mrs Bennet said, but even though her mother's decorousness had not improved dramatically, Elizabeth was happy to know that some things never changed. She refrained from mentioning that Mrs Bennet herself had said plenty of words against Darcy, and when she heard him chuckling, she got a warm feeling in her stomach to find him in accord (or at least amused rather than affronted).
Her three sisters took their turns, with Mary and Kitty giving quite decorous curtsies and soft words of their pleasure in being rejoined.
Lydia, still being Lydia, even dressed in the simpler hair and dress of a girl not yet out said, "La, Lizzy, that gown is gorgeous, and your gentleman looks like a pirate. What a good joke!"
Mr Bennet seemed about ready to chastise her, so Elizabeth laughed heartily to dissuade him. "It is good to see you, sisters. ALL of you. This is just the most wonderful day. How did this come about?"
"Need you ask?" Uncle Gardiner replied laconically.
She laughed, and reached up to squeeze Darcy's hand, then gave him a look indicating there might be some tokens of affection in the near future, once more privacy was organized.
Darcy laughed and took a knee, so he was looking directly at her face with all his love shining through his eyes.
Elizabeth just looked at him in wonder.
Darcy had taken her word a few weeks earlier when she asserted, '"Pirate Darcy is my favourite, possibly followed by Impertinent Darcy.' Since then, neither his face nor his hair had touched a razor, and though it was neat and clean, he had a light beard and his hair curled around his ears in a fashion she quite enjoyed, so in effect, Lydia was right.
He pulled her knuckles to his lips for a gentle kiss. "You have seen the rock now. I hope it did not exhaust your store of amazement."
"THERE'S MORE?" she squeaked like a child asking about presents on their birthday.
"Much more," he said, then stood up and yelled, "Cecil!"
The lad hopped to instantly, and with even more enthusiasm he yelled for Max and lit out across the rocky shore without a care in the world. Elizabeth briefly wondered if the boy might take her place in the cabin, but then smiled.
Cecil stopped about thirty yards away and climbed up on a log, to be joined by Max seconds later, barking like mad.
The colonel leaned down on a knee beside the stretcher and spoke loud enough for everyone to hear.
"That is where Max found you. He is not much of a hunter, but he got the job done this time. I confess, I was not looking forward to dragging your body up that hill and was pleasantly surprised to learn you yet lived. Note the route."
He waved, and Cecil pointed up the hill to trace the route Elizabeth had taken on that fateful day. Max lit out up the slope at a run, barking like mad. She gasped in surprise at how far she had fallen, how steep was the slope, how many rocky outcroppings it had, and even wondered how she managed to go over the log and if that was what broke her leg.
"That is quite something," Mr Bennet said in awe, while Mrs Bennet and at least one of her daughters burst into tears.
"NONE OF THAT! I would happily do it again if that was what it took to recognize the love of my life."
The assemblage just stared in wonder, and Darcy found himself crying himself, though he was far from alone.