“He’s blushing!” Elizabeth was delighted. “Oh my goodness, Richard, please enlighten us!”
Knowing what had happened, Darcy was in heaven. “Oh yes, Richard,” he mimicked Elizabeth’s high-voiced excitement. “Please enlighten us.”
“This is not now, nor ever could be, dinner conversation!” He began to bluster with his embarrassment. “You are making me out to be some sort of deviant, and that could not be further from the truth! We lived in ungodly conditions and suffered horrible deprivations…”
“That must have been those times when the Duchess of Hanover was not renting a nearby villa in some quaint Spanish town. I heard you saw quite a bit of her…” Catherine’s eyes were like slits. “…and still do.”
Georgiana wrinkled her nose. “Ugh. She’s such a peahen.”
Darcy was laughing, his eyes dancing with delight. “Lord save me, I had not heard of this. And where was the duke during these encounters?”
Elizabeth nearly felt sorry for her cousin-in-law, but not nearly enough. She turned to Georgiana instead for the gossip. “Is she the one with the really large”—she hesitated, raising her hands briefly before her chest—“inheritance?”
Mr. Bennet stared in wonder. They may have been the bluest of the blue bloods, among the most aristocratic of aristocratic families, but a true family they were, with all the fights, teasing, suspicion, and retribution inherent in the word. It was definitely a family that was insane, but whose family was not?!
Georgiana, joining in the raucous laughter surrounding her, suddenly became uneasy when she realized her aunt was intently watching her. Catherine’s concerns often shifted quickly and without warning.
“Georgiana!”
“Yes, Aunt Catherine.” Georgiana jumped to attention, turning toward her imposing aunt.
“Should you not have made your presentation by now?”
“Yes, Aunt Catherine, however…”
“You must be nearly thirty-seven, I should think. Never tell me you have not been brought out yet.”
Darcy came to her rescue. “Aunt Catherine, Georgiana is but nineteen. We decided to wait an extra year because of Elizabeth’s mother’s passing and the baby being due .”
“Also, I am a bit shy and truly didn’t feel really ready before this year.” She gulped and stared nervously at her aunt. “I am not overly fond of crowds, you see.” Huge understatement, that.
Darcy and Georgiana’s eyes met. They had discussed this moment, but her knees still wobbled. He smiled his encouragement and nodded. The time had finally come, and there was no avoiding the unavoidable. “Aunt Catherine.” Her voice crackled a little, and she began to blush. She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes before proceeding in her sweetest voice. “Dearest Aunt Catherine, would you be so kind as to sponsor me?” Georgiana, having finally blurted out her request, glanced momentarily to Darcy for reassurance. The barn door had officially been thrown open.
Catherine looked up, stunned that it was even a question. “Why, yes, yes. Of course.” She blustered and rocked back and forth in her chair. “Who else in this room could possibly qualify as your sponsor?” Although she tried to look nonchalant, a small tear ran down her cheek.
Catherine had only two unfulfilled dreams in her life. One was to plan the grandest society wedding ever for her daughter and nephew at St. George’s Cathedral. The likelihood that her daughter, Anne, would marry, now that Darcy was taken, was remote at best. She had swallowed that bitter pill and learned to live with it.
Her other dream was to present her daughter at court and preside over her coming-out. Anne had been too sickly all her life for either. Over the years, Catherine watched as her friends, one by one, had presented their daughters and then their granddaughters.
Finally, one of her dreams would be coming true.
Georgiana jumped up and ran to her, threw her arms around Catherine’s neck and hugged her. “This will be a most wonderful year. I just have a feeling about it,” she declared to everyone at the table as tears moistened her aunt’s eyes. “There will be a new baby in the family, my presentation at court, finally, and…” Georgiana looked devilishly at Fitzwilliam. “Perhaps if we are very lucky, a bride for my cousin!”
Everyone toasted this proclamation—everyone except Fitzwilliam, who very dramatically turned over his glass to the cheers of the men and the indignant squeals of the women.
After dinner, when the ladies left the men to their cigars and port, Lady Catherine turned her attention to answering any questions concerning pregnancy and childbirth she believed Elizabeth must be anxious to ask her. As she was opening her mouth to speak, they heard a raucous burst of laughter coming from the male threesome remaining in the dining room.
She stood for a moment and stared curiously at the door. “It is so very odd. That always happens when Fitzwilliam and Richard entertain the men after dinner. I hope I have enough port set aside; it is something that they certainly seem to enjoy so.” She sat back down and removed several pages of script from her ample bosom. “Now, Elizabeth, I have written down my beliefs concerning this time of your pregnancy, all of which I will give you to take home. I have knocked about this world much longer than you have, and since, thankfully, your mama is no longer around, I want you to feel free to inquire of me anything that may be concerning you at the present time.”
Lizzy stared blankly at the woman, her mind a tumble of terror.
“Go ahead. Ask away. Speak freely. Never be shy.” Catherine’s smile quickly began to go grim. They stared at each other for several moments. “Elizabeth, are you deaf or merely dumb?”
“Thank you, Aunt Catherine, for your concern. You are very kind, but I assure you I have no questions.” She bent her head over her ever-present book, praying that the inevitable discussion to come would be brief and somehow not humiliating. Or that a comet would fall from the sky and come through the roof.
Lady Catherine scowled. Lizzy was nearly five months pregnant, already quite large, and without a mother’s guidance, even a mother as odious as the late Mrs. Bennet. “No need for such courteous regard for my sensibilities, dear. I give you my wisdom freely.” Taking Elizabeth’s hand, she proceeded to launch into a long list of mother-to-be dos and don’ts, making especially clear all her thoughts and opinions on fresh air and exercise while with child (she was totally against them both, the reason being that the child’s limbs and lungs were much too small and thereby would too easily tire), on eating large amounts of fresh fruit and vegetables while with child (again, another problem in that they produced poisonous gas within the system, infecting the unsuspecting unborn), and on getting plenty of sleep while with child (positively the worst thing one could do, as that it placed the child in awkward positions for long periods of time that could cause facial disfigurement).
Also strictly forbidden were excessive laughter and spicy foods and any sort of physical expression of emotions, especially marital obligations.
“I suspect that it must frighten the baby, you know, all that bouncing and moaning and such. And then there is the problem of that protuberance repeatedly going in and coming out, going in and coming out, going in and coming out…” She rolled her eyes, all the while ensuring that Georgiana and Anne were not listening. After one or two seconds, she motioned Lizzy forward again, whispering very gravely into her ear, “At least that’s what the earl and I decided when I carried Anne. In retrospect, however, it may very well have frightened the earl more than the babe.”
Lizzy stared at her for several seconds, her lips twitching. “Thank you, ma’am,” was all she could finally squeak out.
Chapter 12