Consequences by C.P. Odom

Author:C.P. Odom [Odom, C.P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Meryton Press
Published: 2013-12-16T18:30:00+00:00

—George Gordon, Lord Byron,

British poet

Sunday, August 20, 1854

Elizabeth surged up from her bed in total darkness, clutching the left side of her chest against the terrible, clamping pain and pressure that seized it and extended down her left arm. The pain was so terrible it stilled the cry in her throat, and she collapsed back onto the bed, trying desperately to draw a breath. The pain was not her only affliction—her lungs were paralysed, unable to work as the heart pumping blood to them was stilled. Elizabeth felt her consciousness going, but it was welcome, for the pain was going with it. She knew she was dying, and she wondered absently why she felt no terror or despair. The darkness was welcoming, even though it did not bring the forgetfulness she had expected. Instead, she felt loving arms reaching for her, loving arms to embrace and comfort her, and her face, which had been twisted with pain, smoothed as peace swept through her.

***

Tuesday, August 23, 1854

Georgiana Hartecourt thanked the maid who delivered the morning post. Going through several letters, she saw one from Judith Fleming and instantly put the rest of the letters aside. Opening it, she read:

Sunday, August 20, 1854

My dear Georgiana,

My heart is heavy as I write you, for Miss Elizabeth Bennet has gone to live with our Lord this morning. She must have died quietly during the night, for she was lying very peacefully in her bed, with her eyes closed and the most beautiful smile on her face. I could not help remembering your husband’s description of how your dear brother appeared on his deathbed, and I am certain Elizabeth wore the same smile. I do believe she has found that same peace that your brother found and she is living with him and all her friends and relatives in Heaven.

Elizabeth was very happy to have spent Christmas again with you and your family at Pemberley. She described it so very well and enthused on the remarkable beauty of the grounds to such an extent that I had already determined to accept your kind offer to join your family there next Christmas. I am only sorry Elizabeth will not be accompanying us, but I am still encouraged by her manner of passing. She had great tragedies in her life and precious little of the happiness that should have been her due, but, as she so often said, she was not disposed to melancholy. She took as much happiness in my children as my husband and I, and I do wish she might have had a family of her own. But we have to accept the will of God in this, as in so many other things.

One other item bears mentioning. My memory may be playing me false, but it seems as though your brother passed on very close to this same day, ten years ago. Please do write and confirm or deny my faulty memory. The coincidence is too much to believe.

Sincerely, your eternal friend,

Judith Fleming.

Georgiana put down the letter.

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