Sonia arrived to see her mistress breathing heavily as a wave of pain hit her. “Oh, ma’am!” she exclaimed. “I believe your time has come! I shall fetch Mrs. Reynolds at once!”
Elizabeth reached out her hand to prevent her from leaving. The young woman took it and exerted a gentle pressure. “Sonia, I wish to have Mr. Darcy informed that my pains have begun. He is currently seeing to a dispute between Mr. Roberts and Mr. Gordon. Please have someone go to him at once.”
Sonia nodded. “At once, ma’am, but I shall send Mrs. Reynolds to you in the meantime. The master would never forgive me if I were to leave you alone.”
Mrs. Reynolds arrived in very good time and took charge immediately, arranging Elizabeth’s pillows, smoothing the bed linens, and seeing to her every comfort. The housekeeper’s calm demeanor went a long way in soothing some of Elizabeth’s rising panic. “It will help if you walk, Mrs. Darcy,” Mrs. Reynolds advised. “Such activity has been known to hasten delivery.”
Obediently, Elizabeth nodded and allowed the woman to assist her as she stood and slowly began to make her way about the apartment, wincing as her pains escalated. Sonia returned and hurried to support her mistress on her other side. Several hours passed without any news or even so much as a word from Darcy, and Elizabeth became progressively ill at ease as her pains continued to grow.
Though it had not been her intention to draw him from his duties simply to sit idly by her side to attend her, Elizabeth had imagined Darcy would have been eager to join her as soon as he was able or, at least, to send her some small missive if he found himself not yet at liberty to do so. His absence thus far caused her more anxiety than she felt she would have experienced otherwise. She found it difficult to refrain from worrying about his safety. “Mrs. Reynolds,” Elizabeth finally inquired as she panted after a particularly strong contraction, “are you quite certain Mr. Darcy has been informed of my condition?”
The housekeeper squeezed her hand and smoothed back her hair. “I am, ma’am. Several footmen have been sent out to him, but as he is on the far side of the estate and currently embroiled in a very pressing matter of business, I am afraid it will be some time yet before he shall be at liberty to tear himself away.”
Mrs. Reynolds did not reveal to her mistress that she had been told the dispute between the two tenants had since grown quite serious and was rumored to have escalated to such distressing proportions that, within the last half hour, the magistrate had to be sent for, as well. Darcy, per Mrs. Reynolds’s instruction, had been assured Elizabeth was doing well, and therefore, the housekeeper saw no need for him to cast aside his urgent business in order to hurry home for a birth that, while being of monumental import to the entire estate, was not likely to take place for many hours yet, certainly not until well after nightfall.
At noon, Elizabeth was persuaded to partake of a light meal in her room to keep up her strength, and toward teatime, as darkness began to loom over the house, she was much relieved to hear a flurry of activity just outside in the hall. In the next instant, however, Elizabeth’s heart sank as her mother, rather than her husband, entered her room, breathless and extremely vexed. “Lizzy! So it is true, then! Your time has come, I see, and a good deal early, too! Why was I not informed of it immediately? These things can be terribly trying for a young woman, as I am well aware. It is very fortunate for you that I am here to help you through it, child. I shudder to think of you being all alone with no one but the servants to assist you.” Mrs. Bennet suddenly noticed Mrs. Reynolds and Sonia tending to her daughter, and she frowned.
Elizabeth groaned, and though her mother thought it merely the onset of another labor pain, Mrs. Reynolds and Sonia knew enough of their mistress to suspect it stemmed more from Elizabeth’s reaction to her mother’s offensive words and often overbearing presence than anything else. “Mama, I did not wish for you to be disturbed. It is not yet time for the babe to be born. I assure you, I am perfectly fine,” she gasped as another contraction came upon her, and her attention was diverted elsewhere. A pointed look passed between Mrs. Reynolds and Sonia then, and with a comprehensive nod, the younger woman rose to dispatch another footman with a note for the master.
Within a half hour, Elizabeth’s labor progressed rapidly, the midwife was sent for, and Pemberley’s mistress was removed to the birthing room. She was now in much pain. Where on earth is Fitzwilliam? she wondered in panic as her mother, having repeatedly boasted of her own success at having borne her husband five healthy daughters, launched an ill-advised campaign instructing the midwife on how best to do her duty. Surely he should have come to me by now! What could be wrong? I know very well that something must be terribly wrong! Mrs. Bennet, even though Elizabeth knew she meant well, was far from exuding a calming influence over those present—most especially, the mistress of the house. Indeed, it was all Elizabeth could do to restrain herself from ordering her mother from the room.
“Take several deep breaths now, Mrs. Darcy,” the midwife instructed in an authoritative voice. “I believe it is almost time to begin pushing, but not quite yet.”
Oh, God, Fitzwilliam, where are you? Elizabeth wanted to cry, her terror steadily augmenting.
Darcy’s anxiety for his wife had grown throughout the course of the day until it nearly threatened to consume him as he was forced to deal, first, with two unreasonable tenants who had threatened to do each other grievous harm over a fertile parcel of land between their properties and, then, with the magistrate and his men. Had it not been for the gravity of the situation, which his steward had assured him would have undoubtedly escalated to horrendous proportions far sooner if Darcy had failed to remain with his tenants to assert control over the situation, the master of Pemberley would have quit the scene the very moment he had received word of his wife’s condition.
By the time he had been handed a second missive from Sonia, stating that Elizabeth was in need of him, Darcy knew he had already done everything within his power to defuse the hostile situation. His steward had agreed there was little left for him to do, and as the magistrate was now on hand to restore order after Mr. Roberts’s violent attack against Mr. Gordon, Darcy wasted no time taking his leave of the officials. He found he could not ride fast enough or arrive soon enough, and, as he approached the front entrance of Pemberley House, Darcy barely took the trouble of reining in his lathered mount before he leapt from the saddle and took the steps two at a time. He burst through the doors and raced up the main staircase to his wife’s chambers, only to find them empty. In a panic, he ripped open the door that connected her room with his, and his heart nearly stopped beating. The bed had been stripped clean and stood before him, its cold starkness taunting him from the center of the room. Dread flowed through his veins, and he ran a trembling hand across his mouth, his thoughts a wild jumble of desperation. He prayed he had not arrived too late.
Down the hall, Darcy heard his mother-in-law’s abrasive voice screeching orders to someone and then a strangled cry of pain that could only have come from Elizabeth. Such sounds had never been so welcome to his ears, and he suddenly felt his strength return in full force. Darcy raced from the room, his heart pounding in his chest, and all but tore the door to the birthing room off its hinges. He was greeted by the shocked faces of Mrs. Bennet, Mrs. Reynolds, Sonia, and a surly-looking woman he could only assume was the midwife. Mrs. Bennet stepped forward and turned him unceremoniously from the room.