Lydia awoke the next morning and Elizabeth could hear the rasp in her voice. Her head was hotter than the fire in the hearth. Fiona entered with a tray of hot soup and another maid followed behind with a tea tray for Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth.
He stood and excused himself promising to return when Lydia was better. “I will have Mordina come and tend to her while you rest, Elizabeth. I will see to your father before I retire.”
Elizabeth followed him from the room, her heart thankful for his patience and company during the long night. They had spoken of many things and shared their hopes and dreams. She felt as though they had only come to know one another better with each hour that passed in their vigil over Lydia.
“Mr. Darcy,” she called after him before he might go into her room where Mr. Bennet recovered, “I wish to thank you again. You have been most kind to my family.”
He stepped toward her and lowered his head for a moment. Elizabeth could not tell but she thought he looked as a man in prayer might on a Sunday morning in church.
When he raised his head again, he came to her side and took her hands in his own. “This is not the way I hoped to make my wishes known to you Elizabeth, but I do admire and love you most ardently. If you will have me as your husband, I would be the happiest man in all of Scotland.”
Elizabeth caught her breath and squeezed his hands. “I would be most honored to be your wife, my love. I wish to marry here and now, right where we are so that we might always remember this moment and come to Scotland every anniversary.”
Mr. Darcy lifted her and spun her around the hallway. Elizabeth’s laughter rang in the halls and Mr. Bennet stepped out to see what had happened.
“Oh, another wedding will it be?” he said and Mr. Darcy placed his daughter back on her feet and held her until she regained her balance.
He looked to Mr. Bennet sheepishly. “I would have sought your permission, sir, but we thought you might still be feeling poorly.”
Mr. Bennet laughed and held out his arms as Elizabeth rushed to him. “You have no need to stand on ceremony where I am concerned, Mr. Darcy. You have proven beyond any doubt that you care deeply for my daughter and my family. I am honored to give my blessing.”
Fiona stuck her head out into the hallway. “Would you care to make this breakfast cart an engagement breakfast?”
Elizabeth, Mr. Darcy, and Mr. Bennet laughed as the maid rolled the cart toward Mr. Bennet’s room. Fiona smiled at them as she positioned the cart and turned to leave the room. Elizabeth caught her and took her hand. “Thank you dearest Fiona! You have been so kind to me and my family.”
The maid smiled. “I have taken a shine to ye, lass. You are so easy to admire.”
Her heart full, Elizabeth watched the young maid go and wondered if she might wish to travel to Derbyshire with them and become a lady’s maid.
Later, that evening, Elizabeth wore one of the rings Lady Anne Darcy had worn in her time as part of her jewels had remained in Scotland for her use whenever old Mr. Darcy brought his family to his wife’s ancestral home.
It was a lovely, dark ruby with tiny diamonds along the band. It sparkled as Elizabeth turned it before the fire. Lydia stirred and Elizabeth rose and went to her. Before, her sister had only tossed and turned in the bed but never spoke to them nor opened her eyes. But now, she looked up at Elizabeth and burst into tears. Her voice was a whisper as she said her beloved’s name again and again.
Elizabeth sat beside her as Lydia scooted up in bed. The girl shook with her tears and Elizabeth held her tight, rocking her back and forth. “Oh, Lyddie, I am so sorry. You should not have found your husband dead beside the road.”
Lydia cried for several long moments and Elizabeth rubbed her back. Fiona cleared her throat as she entered the room but Elizabeth waved her away. She would bear the burden of Lydia’s grief alone with her. It was too fresh to share in the company of others.
At last, Lydia’s tears seemed spent and Elizabeth allowed her to ease back against the pillows. She arranged them behind Lydia and rose to retrieve a brush she had brought from her own room from the dressing table by the window.
She sat on the bed beside her sister and began to brush her hair using light, even strokes to loosen the tangles. “Your hair is the most beautiful color, even prettier than Jane’s you know.”
Elizabeth chose not to speak of Wickham but allow Lydia to broach the subject when she was ready. She did not have long to wait.
“George used to run his hands through it and liken it to spun gold. He said I was his princess, Lizzy. He treated me as such wherever we went. When we would stop each night to rest, he would carefully remove my boots and rub my feet. He loved me. I know he did.”
Elizabeth hoped it was true but Mr. Darcy had revealed in their late night vigil with Lydia that the lieutenant had accepted money from him to set up house in Carlisle with Lydia in a cottage the Fitzwilliam family owned. He promised he would honor his vows with Lydia and keep her in Scotland for a time before returning to Hertfordshire to visit her family.
Mr. Darcy had even promised to speak with Colonel Forster to see whether Wickham might serve no prison time for abandoning his post. But Wickham had escaped Fitzwilliam Manor and taken a horse from the stables in spite of the storm to escape his duty to Lydia. Elizabeth wondered if he had meant to return for her sister, but she doubted it. Now, he never would.
She continued brushing as Lydia reminisced over her ill-fated groom. When Lydia had run out of words at last, Elizabeth braided her hair and helped her to lie down again. “I am sorry you have lost him Lydia. True love is often a once-in-a-lifetime blessing, but you are young yet and there is much life left for you to live. Mama, and Kitty and Mary, will be so pleased to have you home again.”
Lydia yawned and Elizabeth drew the coverlet around her, tucking her in as she had done when Lydia was a child. “Sleep well, my dearest little one. Tomorrow, we shall take you downstairs for meals and go to the kirk for Lieutenant Wickham’s service.”
Fiona entered when Elizabeth went to the door. “Stay with her for a few hours until I have returned. I do not know what she may do in her grief.”