Sudden Awakenings (The Other Paths Collection)

Epilogue

One year later

A child’s cry pierced through the night, suddenly waking Darcy from his slumber. He felt the space on the bed beside him, but it was empty. Had Elizabeth sleepwalked? He had not heard her nor noticed the movement as she rose. As the fog in his brain lifted, he recognized the child’s cries as that of his own. Still sleepy, he slid his feet into his slippers and padded down the corridor to the nursery, which Elizabeth insisted be near to their chamber.

He found his wife, sitting in the chair, rocking their infant and trying to calm him.

“I fed him, but he still refuses to settle. Every time I attempt to lay him down, he cries for me to hold him.”

Darcy smiled. “Already taking after his father.” He leaned in to kiss her on the cheek and whisper in her ear, “He cannot get enough of you.”

Elizabeth returned his grin with one of her own. “How demanding you both are, to need me at all hours of the night!”

“You ought to let the nurse take care of him, so you can rest. It is what I hired her for.”

Elizabeth shook her head. “I did not carry this child in my own womb for nine months to hand him off to another once he is born. As much as I am able to, I shall nurse him myself and soothe him back to sleep in my own arms.” She looked down at their son, who had quieted into a half slumber, his tiny fist clutching the ribbons on her nightgown.

“Let me take him then, so you can return to bed,” he offered. “Tomorrow will be a busy day.”

He referred to Kitty’s wedding to Mr. Kirby. After several months under Mrs. Gardiner’s tutelage, Kitty had completed her transformation from an impetuous schoolgirl into a refined young lady. The changes founded at Pemberley were further exemplified under the care of her wise and gracious aunt.

Lydia, too, had matured into a kind and generous person who no longer regarded marriage as her first object in life, although she was presently being courted by a gentleman in trade who was friends with Mr. Gardiner.

Mr. Kirby, who had already begun to develop feelings for Kitty when they met the previous year, found that his love flourished into full bloom when the Bennet family came again to spend Christmas at Pemberley. With his position as rector of Kympton firmly established, he now had an income that could support a wife, supplemented by a role as the convalescent home’s chaplain– a position they could afford to pay thanks to a generous donation from the Darcy family.

Kitty and Mr. Kirby were to be married at the church in Kympton– officiated by the new curate there, and the wedding breakfast at Pemberley would follow. All the Bennet family and their relations had arrived to celebrate the nuptials, except for the Rushworths, who were due in the morning.

“Are you nervous about seeing your sister again?” Darcy asked Elizabeth. After hearing what Jane had said to Elizabeth during their last meeting at Darcy House, he could not forgive so easily. However, Elizabeth had a kind and forbearing heart towards Jane and could not hold a grudge against her for long. When Jane wrote to her some months after their bitter parting, acting as if nothing was wrong, Elizabeth decided she would rather resume her friendship with her sister than wait for an apology which might never come.

“I will take the high road,” Elizabeth said. “I will not bring up our last conversation, but will treat her with love, as I always have. She may not even recall the cruel words she said to me.”

Darcy patted her shoulder. He knew how much it pained her that she and Jane had grown apart, and how altered Jane had become since leaving Longbourn.

“‘It is one’s Christian duty to forgive all manner of faults,’” Darcy said. “Is that not what Cousin Collins said during dinner?”

“Yes, right before Mary quoted from the book of Matthew.”

Given the distance to Pemberley from Hunsford, it would have been perfectly understandable if the Collinses had declined the invitation to come. However, both were eager to come for the wedding. Darcy suspected it was because Mr. Collins wished to meet Mr. Rushworth; his new brother-in-law had a living which had just become vacant.

Mr. Collins had written to Darcy about the Kympton living after Mr. Wickham’s removal, asking to be considered for the position. However, Darcy wrote back and kindly reminded Collins that he owed it to the residents of his present parish not to abandon them to the hands of a curate, and that he could not in good conscience present Mr. Collins with the living while there was a curate and friend of his in need of a rectory. However, Darcy did not think this would prevent Mr. Collins from applying to receive as many livings as he could hope to hold in his lifetime.

Elizabeth said wryly, “It is ironic, is it not, how easily they were able to forgive Jane’s hasty marriage, yet not my own?”

“Let us not give way to bitterness my dear,” Darcy cautioned.

“I am not bitter. I merely find humor in their hypocrisy, pandering to the Rushworths while disdaining us for the very selfsame sins they claim to abhor. ”

“Not all of us can be as rich as Mr. Rushworth.”

“Indeed, some of us merely come close.” She smiled.

The Collinses brought news with them from Rosings. The former colonel and his lovely wife sent their regards, and their regrets that Anne was unable to travel for the time being.

At first, Darcy thought it was due to her ill health, but Mr. Collins explained that the mistress of Rosings was presently in the family way. In fact, it seemed that Anne’s health had altogether improved since her mother’s departure from her life. Darcy wondered if perhaps years of drinking her mother’s special tea blend was responsible for her ill health, for the weakness and cough disappeared gradually in the time since then.

The tea may also have been what addled Lady Catherine’s mind to such a degree that she would resort to murder to achieve her own ends.

Darcy glanced down at the child in Elizabeth’s arms. “He appears to be sleeping deeply now.”

Elizabeth rose and gently placed the baby into his cradle. The child did not stir. They watched him for a few moments before quietly slipping out of the nursery.

“Let us return to bed,” Darcy said. “There are still some hours left before morning.”

“Must we? Only, I do not feel tired anymore.” A grin appeared on Elizabeth’s face.

“Is that so?” Darcy returned with a lilt in his voice. “I believe I can find some occupation to tax your energy, in that case.”

“Is it mending your shirts?” She teased. “I believe I saw a hole in that lovely one I made for you the Christmas before last.”

“No, I have a far better use for your skills than that.” He winked.

“Then by all means, lead the way, Fitzwilliam. ”

With that, he scooped her up into his arms and raced down the corridor towards their chambers, to enjoy all the blissful delight that belongs to happily married couples.