The late evening’s sun found Lady Anne Amestrey, wife of Viscount Amestrey of Ayr, alone with her new husband in the garden where their wedding had been held earlier in the day at Pemberley. The bright yellow flowers that bloomed riotously around them seemed to her a gift from her beloved cousin.
Anne breathed deeply and her mind imagined she could detect the delicate scent Georgiana Darcy wore and that still lingered in her rooms. Anne had sat there alone the evening before, speaking with the departed young woman as though she could hear and reply.
“Henry is the most wonderful man, Georgie. And his parents, they were so pleased to have the Darcy family visit before the wedding. If you were still with us, I think Henry’s brother James would have been your perfect match. In my heart, you shall be with me tomorrow as I become a married woman.”
Here Anne had paused, wiping at the tears she could not hold back. Memories of her cousin flooded her mind as she walked about the room. If only.
Lady Anne entered the room, unaware that Anne was there before her. When she turned, the young woman hurried across the room and sheltered in her aunt’s arms as she had many times as a child when visiting Pemberley.
Anne had always been a shy and terribly quiet child whose heart was eager for the affection shared between the Darcy women.
“There now, dear. Do not be sad. Georgie would never have wanted us to mourn on such a happy occasion. She would be twirling about the room in dress after dress, hoping to choose just the right one for a wedding. She loved you as a sister, she always said you were sisters and not cousins, you know.”
Anne dried her eyes and offered her aunt a tremulous smile. “Shall I leave you, aunt?”
Lady Anne led her to the sofa of the sitting room Georgiana loved more than any other room at Pemberley. “No, I would rather sit with you and reminisce here where I feel closest to my daughter.”
Henry embraced Anne and brought her back to the present. Her quiet contemplation had worried him. “Come, my dearest Anne, let us join your family in the ballroom. I would not have you sad on our wedding day.”
“I am happy, Henry, truly. I was only recalling Georgiana’s memory. She would have loved this day.”
The couple walked slowly through the garden to rejoin the merry revelers in the grand ballroom of Pemberley. Henry had purchased an estate not many miles away where he would take Anne after their wedding trip. He meant to take her there in the morning first before they left on a trip that would last for several months.
After he had made the purchase, he set the gardeners to work on a section of the garden his wife might one day fill with flowers for her own daughters. But now they would find their place on the ballroom floor and receive the happy wishes from their guests.
Elizabeth Darcy smiled when they entered the ballroom and whispered to her husband. “When shall we give them our gift?”
Mr. Darcy drew his wife into his arms reveling in the feel of their babe between them. “We shall take them to the library after this dance, mother is waiting for us there.”
Elizabeth sighed and leaned heavily on her husband’s arm. “As you wish my dear.”
The music swelled and they turned to watch Henry and Anne dancing happily, lost in one another’s eyes. Elizabeth leaned her head against Mr. Darcy’s chest and sighed. He made the lightest steps and led her in their own small celebratory dance in the shadows away from the ballroom floor.
Her laughter increased his joy and he stopped their progress to kiss his beloved passionately. Their life at Pemberley was perfect and soon their first child would add to the bliss.
Mr. Darcy released Elizabeth as Henry and Anne approached. The foursome escaped the ballroom and Mr. Darcy led them to the library. Lady Anne received them before sending for her maid.
“William and Elizabeth will soon welcome my first grandchild and have received several family heirlooms to celebrate the event. I had put aside a special heirloom for my Georgiana for the day she would become a mother,” here the great lady paused and took the box her maid had brought down.
She caressed the lid of the box and allowed herself a moment to think of her daughter. “This box holds precious trinkets and a gown that I wore, and Georgiana wore, when we were newly born.”
She lifted the box and presented it to Anne and Henry. “You are the son and daughter of my heart. I would see these things given to your first child and kept for the day they welcome their first child.”
Elizabeth wiped a happy tear and smiled up at Mr. Darcy. They quietly left the room so that Lady Anne might share her memories and show them each piece in the box.
Once in the hallway, Elizabeth rose on her tiptoes in her husband’s arms and kissed him gently. “Thank you for loving me, Mr. Darcy.”
He laughed before growing serious, his hand smoothing away a loose curl from his wife’s face. “Mrs. Darcy, your gratitude is duly noted. Now, allow me to return my thanks in the privacy of your rooms.”
Elizabeth Darcy sighed and led her husband away from the noise of the ballroom, eager to allow the romantic day to continue into the night.
The End