The Second Mrs. Darcy: A Pride & Prejudice Variation Novella by Renata McMann & Summer Hanford

Author:Renata McMann & Summer Hanford [McMann, Renata]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-08-04T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

By the following week, Kate was thriving. She would now sleep for nearly three hours at a time and nurse for ten or fifteen minutes. She still was smaller than Fitz was at birth, but she was gaining weight. Nevertheless, Elizabeth hadn’t had three consecutive hours of sleep in a long time. If she wasn’t bringing Kate to Nelly to be nursed, she was watching the nursing, since Nelly’s tendency to fall asleep made Elizabeth afraid Nelly would roll on Kate. Elizabeth hardly noticed whether it was day or night. The sky was so gloomy and the rain was so constant that candles were needed at all times.

It was a rare moment of sound sleep for Elizabeth when someone startled her awake by opening the door to her room. If he knocked, she hadn’t heard him. The darkness was nearly all encompassing, not telling her if it was late at night or very early in the morning, but a candle flame flickered as he strode purposefully toward the cradle. He leaned over Kate, holding the candle above her to illuminate her face. Angry that anyone should barge into her room and, worse, go near the baby, Elizabeth sat up, snapping, “Get out of my bedroom. Stay back from there. You have no right to be here!”

He turned toward her, the light of the candle now illuminating his face. To her shock and surprise, she recognized Mr. Darcy. He was covered in mud. “I’m sorry. I wanted to see my daughter.”

Elizabeth slipped out of bed, mortified that she’d just reproached Mr. Darcy for wanting to see his child. Belatedly realizing she was only wearing a nightgown, she pulled a shawl over it and came to the cradle. “She should wake soon. She never sleeps very long.” She hoped her tone conveyed her contrition for rebuking him.

“I apologize for intruding, and for not being here sooner. I didn’t receive news about Anne until four days ago. Lady Catherine told me I had a daughter, but she wasn’t likely to live long. She expected her to be dead before I arrived. I wasn’t here for Anne. I wanted to be here for my daughter.”

Numerous thoughts came to Elizabeth. How did Mr. Darcy get to Pemberley, since the roads were impassible? Was the mail delayed that long? The roads must be worse than she thought. She wondered if the reassuring letters she wrote to her family ever arrived. But she voiced only one question. “Where did you see Lady Catherine?”

“She’s staying at the Red Lion about ten miles south of here. The roads were too bad for her to continue. I walked from there.” He looked down at himself and said, “I should clean up. I’m sorry for intruding,” he repeated. He looked nearly as tired as she felt. He gave her a look she couldn’t interpret, shook his head, and left.

Elizabeth still had no idea of the time, but she started readying for the day. While she was dressing, Kate woke up.

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