Chapter Fourteen

E lizabeth anxiously awaited Darcy's return as she attempted to attend to all that Mrs Roosevelt was saying to her. As interesting as she found the young lady, it was difficult to keep her mind focused on the conversation that was expected of her when every fibre of her heart was drawn towards the boatyard where Darcy was at that moment. In her mind, Elizabeth could paint the image of the New Orleans from the sketches of the vessel that she had studied intently during their voyage.

Is he on the boat? Observing it from afar? Does he have a question that only I am able to answer? I wonder where he is at this exact moment? Perhaps my absence is causing him distress. Perhaps he is grateful to be rid of me.

Her imagination persistently teased her with tableaus of Darcy directing the crates of their precious cargo. His imperious eye would be watching every shift of the boxes. Any delay or confusion would bring that one-sided scowl to his mouth that he mistakenly believed none were able to perceive. He would rest one hand on his hip and tap the ground with one heel, resembling an anxious stallion restraining his power.

Unwittingly, a smile dawned on her lips. Standing with him was where she felt most at ease. Would he remember to be more accommodating to those around him and less formal in speech? Elizabeth was certain that his quiet, authoritative manner was more understood when he was on his estate of Pemberley, but she had witnessed several instances when it had been mistaken for high-handedness here in America. Elizabeth had always been on hand with a quip that made people smile, or a rapid change of subject to smooth over any offence accidentally given by Darcy.

"I see you and your husband are just as my Nicholas and me," Mrs Roosevelt said after several moments of quiet had passed without Elizabeth even realising.

"Goodness. I—I do apologise," Elizabeth stammered. "How terribly rude of me. I must be feeling the fatigue of such a long journey. It is as though this is the first time we have paused long enough for me to catch my breath since the ship cast off in England."

Elizabeth hoped her words sounded sincere, for her thoughts were almost the complete reverse. The journey had been invigorating in a manner that she had not fully anticipated. To be fully on her own without the judgement of a small society such as Meryton and Longbourn had to offer had been an unexpected pleasure. Many ladies might have found the hardships and deprivations wearisome, but she had loved every moment of it—every moment once she had overcome the initial trials of seasickness, that is.

Mrs Roosevelt watched her keenly from the corners of her eyes. "You need not beg my pardon. I am of exactly the same mind as you. Where my Nicholas goes, I must follow. The same can be said of him towards me."

Momentarily confused at being caught so precisely in the nature of her musings, Elizabeth dropped her gaze down to her lap. "And I am to understand that you took your first voyage down the Mississippi when you were also due to be confined?"

"Absolutely. Many said I was mad to insist on accompanying Nicholas. It all turned out for the best, though. The voyage on the flatboat took six months, and we made it to New Orleans and back up to New York by sea just before my Rosetta arrived. Such a sweet girl, just two years old now. It will be the adventure of a lifetime for her."

"And you shall take Rosetta with you on this trip?" Even Elizabeth—with all of her determined, bold spirit—shrank from the thought of undertaking such a voyage whilst expecting a baby and caring for a young child. "It is amazing to think we are the same age, yet you have seen and done much. And you plan on even more adventures!"

"I will not be alone, mind you. Two maids will accompany me. It will be a far more luxurious voyage this time, what with the pleasantly furnished cabins that the New Orleans boasts of. The first trip was on a large flatboat to plot the hazardous sandbars and to stow away some coal caches for this voyage. It was glorious—you really cannot begin to imagine how exciting it is to see the sights. Flocks of Carolina Parakeets that blacken the sky, canoes of natives that race alongside the flatboats, and the other travellers! Boats that are floating gristmills, tobacco boats, large families of so many children that you can hardly imagine them staying comfortably on a single flatboat, fishermen, preachers fishing for souls, cobblers, whiskey tradesmen, and even pirates! All of the good and evil of humankind travels along on the river like a floating city."

"Really, you make me envious. It sounds too fantastical to be real."

"But you could witness it for yourself, if Mr Darcy could be persuaded to defer your voyage home."

Elizabeth wished she had the powers of persuasion that a wife might employ over her husband. She gazed at the woman, slightly younger than herself, and wondered at her brave spirit, willing to encounter any adversity for the sake of staying at the side of her husband.

What love and single-minded devotion! It is an odd pairing, she being so young, beautiful, and from a prosperous family. Her husband is older, from less prosperous origins I think, and has more of the showman than the gentleman in his air. But the devotedness between them… It is what any marriage should strive for. How fortunate they are.

"I wish it could be so," Elizabeth replied with an honest strain of wistfulness in her tone. "However, once Mr Darcy has made up his mind on a subject, he can be unyielding."

"Do what you can, for even the greatest mountain can tumble into the sea under the right circumstances. I will feel a bit silly in that grand boat practically by myself. It is fitted up to accommodate seventy people! And it will just be fifteen of us. My maid could see to you as well as to me. It would be so pleasant to have another independent-minded young woman there with me."

Elizabeth smiled and hoped she could bring Darcy around to her way of thinking within the next week. The more she considered it, the more convinced she was that it would be unfortunate to refuse an opportunity to be a part of such a momentous experiment.

"But you must see that it will be so unfortunate to miss out on this venture? Lydia informed me that the New Orleans is fitted with the most modern conveniences."

Darcy snorted and shook his head. "Elizabeth, it is unheard of for a lady of your standing—"

"My standing? Where was this consideration of my birth when you told Mr Bingley that it would be a punishment to stand up with me or any other woman in the room whilst his sisters were engaged? Your regard for my standing at the Meryton assembly was slight indeed. But now I find that my position in society is so high in your estimation that I could not sustain a trip down a river! What am I to believe when it comes to your opinion, sir? In regards to me, it seems to have changed so precipitously that I can hardly declare with any certainty how you perceive me."

Darcy turned his gaze from the carriage window back to Elizabeth and frowned. They were almost at the boatyard. The banks of the Monongahela River were just beyond the window; the morning sun climbed in the east ahead of them. Elizabeth tore her heated stare from the equally inflamed countenance of Darcy to catch her first glimpse of the waterway that the New Orleans would be sailing on in a few short days.

Suddenly, she wanted nothing more in the world than to take that voyage with Darcy by her side. Impetuous, wilful, and unreasonable as it made her seem, she knew she risked Darcy's poor opinion in order to make her own fully understood.

"Did I really say it would be a punishment to stand up with you?" he asked.

"You did," Elizabeth replied with subdued firmness.

He sighed quietly as he rubbed his forehead. "Again, let me assure you, you must not take anything I may have said during that time as a true representation of my current opinion of you. I apologise. My mind was burdened, as you now know, by many other considerations. I was not at my best."

Elizabeth's steamed determination began to cool at the look of contrition on his face. She was now fully aware of the heavy cloud that had hung over him when he arrived in Hertfordshire, and it did soften the hurtful memory of those words.

With a quick smile, she said, "But were you not the one to state so plainly that your good opinion, once lost, is lost forever? You would have me believe that you are not to be trusted, for if the power of a first impression is so easily overcome, how am I to know what your true opinion of me is? And you would seem to imply that your opinion is not so set in stone as you would wish others to believe, if you now think me too grand a lady for a trip down the Mississippi. Perhaps you are not as immune to persuasion as you think yourself to be."

She had meant this to be a teasing remark to change the tide of the current tense mood. To her dismay, it had the opposite effect. Darcy became more brooding and turned his focus from her.

What have I said to anger him? He knows me well enough to be aware of my jesting moments.

Biting her lip to hide her confusion, Elizabeth recalled that one of his present considerations was concern for her well-being. Summoning a pleasant demeanour to hide her own anxieties, Elizabeth let out a very small laugh and leaned in closer to Darcy.

"It is astonishing that Mrs Roosevelt is so very persistent on being present for the first voyage of the New Orleans . Can you imagine what would be said by some of your acquaintances in London upon learning that such a fine, young lady is determined to accompany her husband on such an impressive adventure? And in such a state? Though my own opinion is that if she thinks she can be of aid and has the abilities to make the trip a success, then she should be with her husband every step of the way."

Elizabeth was gratified to see him turn towards her with a hint of merry inquisitiveness peeking through his cloudy disguise. "I believe it to be a matter that must be decided solely between a husband and wife with little regard to the praise or censure of the outside world. Though I would point out that her delicate state should preclude an undertaking such as the one she proposes."

"You are saying—if her condition were not of concern—that you would allow a wife of yours to cleave to your side through the most arduous, wild ventures?"

"If she was so devoted to me—so dogged in her regard for me as to be insensitive to the condemnation of society—I would yield to her desire to be by my side. However, such a wife is not likely to ever be mine, is she?"

What started as a calm response from Darcy had ended with such a twist in his tone that Elizabeth drew back, startled by the wave of emotion that cascaded from him. She opened her mouth to speak something that would soothe his obviously aching heart, but he had already turned from her with his eyes fiery from the remembrance of some past hurt that had yet to mend. Elizabeth slumped back as the carriage halted in the boatyard. Her concern for Darcy was quickly overcome by the exciting activity swirling around just outside.

She would not wait to be handed down by him. Eager to begin this exciting chapter that she had been preparing for over the course of several weeks, Elizabeth reached her hand out to open the door herself and stepped lightly down. Momentarily embarrassed, she glanced around to see if anyone was watching her with disapproving eyes. She saw none. Everyone was too concerned with their own affairs to shoot looks of shock over her impropriety.

Elizabeth smiled at the recollection that no one knew her or had any reason to report back her misdeeds to Mrs Bennet or the local tattle-mongers of Meryton. Glancing at Darcy, she observed that whatever storm he had been battling had subsided under the force of his iron will. After a brief flash of rage at the silly goose of a girl who had tossed his regard away so casually, Elizabeth brought her focus back to the activity at hand.

The smells of the refuse that was piled up on the shore and the black dash of a large river rat almost overcame her anticipation. However, the shouts of the workers, busy hands that were uncrating parts of the engine, the movement of their being carried below deck soon absorbed her completely. The boat itself was so odd, so unlike anything else she had ever seen that she stood gazing in astonishment for a full minute, her hand pressed down on her bonnet as her eyes travelled up to the top of the smokestack. The sun shone brightly with the reddish warmth so unusual this time of year. The smokestack, thick and round and standing proud straight up from the middle of the boat, defied the warm weather to tame it. The air was still and heavy, and the massive paddle wheels on each side of the boat stood waiting for their marching orders from steam and coal. The long bowsprit, defiantly jutting forward from the bow, was a cheery sky-blue colour, giving the vessel a pert, bold air. The wheel at the helm was in the middle of the boat, just above where the engine for the paddle wheels would be.

Though she had seen plans and imagined the vessel so many times with her own mind, standing before it for the first time was startling. A touch at her elbow brought her back to her senses. Darcy smiled down at her, fully recovered from his low spirits.

"It is a sight to behold," he said.

"How foolish I must appear! Why, I have been standing open-mouthed for goodness knows how long."

"Do not be harsh on yourself. I was very much in the same attitude last evening. Come, all of the crates are aboard and ready to be unpacked. It would be unseemly for me to begin without the aid of my assistant."

"And wife," Elizabeth reminded him with a playful nudge of her elbow whilst she looped her arm through his.

"That is always upmost in my thoughts, I assure you," he said in a low tone meant for her ears alone. "It is unlikely that I will ever forget."

Elizabeth marvelled at another conversation with Darcy that turned from humorous to serious in the blink of an eye, unable to account for it. They approached the gangplank and began a long morning of supervising the unpacking of the last of the crates, crying out to gruff-looking fellows to have a care with the more delicate parts, and sneaking off together to have a brief conference on how all was progressing. The heavier components, such as the firebox, ceramic plates, shafts, pistons, and copper boiler, were wrestled into place with tight nerves and worried whispers between herself and Darcy.

By the afternoon, there had been much progress in the placement of the various components within the hold of the boat. Elizabeth's excitement was sensibly tempered by Darcy's insistence at their progressing in a more deliberate manner. Before the first crate had been unpacked, a precise inventory was begun of each and every component and compared to the packing list from England so that they would not be at the very end of the assembly only to discover that an essential small rod or wheel was missing.

"That way, if a replacement must be found, or—in the worst case, must be manufactured from scratch—we can begin now and not wait until a few hours before we hope to see the New Orleans off on its maiden voyage."

"You are correct, of course," Elizabeth responded as she continued checking off each part and inspecting it for damage. She was startled by how well they now worked together. This gentleman whom she had loathed so passionately just a short time ago was now one whom Elizabeth could not imagine not consulting for his opinion, listening carefully to his insights, and weighing his declarations with equanimity. Her more impulsive drive would have insisted that they begin a rapid build of the engine at once. His more regular and ordered mind brought her more fiery nature under moderation. And, she thought with a light flutter in her chest, she believed her restless drive to move forward gave Darcy more spirit.

The one fly in the ointment was the disapproving glances from the engineer of the boat, Mr Nicholas Baker. The tall, ginger-haired man with grease under his nails was young and, by his stance and swagger, apparently quite possessive of any activity that occurred on the boat. More than once, Elizabeth heard him mutter a spiteful word about how improper it was for a lady to be below decks and interfering with the workings of an engine.

Ignoring these passing utterances, Elizabeth continued her duty till everything was catalogued and accounted for. There was but one moment of anxiety when the leather straps that opened and closed the valves of the upper and lower compartment of the piston could not be found. Elizabeth caught the shoulder of a passing scamp of a boy and insisted he be lifted into one of the crates for a more thorough hunt for the missing straps. A cheer rose up as the pleased young man emerged with his hair covered in straw from the bottom of the large crate, holding the leather belts aloft like a pair of snakes that he had tamed.

Elizabeth smiled at the boy and gave him a coin for his hard work. When she straightened up with the belts in her hand, she turned and observed Darcy watching her with his eyes dancing with repressed mirth at the scene. Her own heart warmed, happy to see him approving of her little scheme to smooth over the obstacle and give the project a moment of humour and light-heartedness.

After pausing for a brief bite to eat and then working further, Elizabeth was truly weary as she had never been in her life as the reddish sun began to dip lower on the horizon. A carriage with both Mr and Mrs Roosevelt, their daughter Rosetta, and their bounding, enormous Newfoundland dog, Tiger, pulled up.

Mr Roosevelt blew past everyone and went straight up to Darcy with anxious inquiries as to the day's progress. "Letters of business, securing supplies, notifying cities downriver as to our imminent arrival— All the blasted nonsense that kept me from being on hand here today," he bellowed in his booming voice.

Elizabeth turned to Mrs Roosevelt who was holding her young child's hand as the girl bounced from the tips of one foot to the other in her excitement. She could not be certain, but Elizabeth believed the colour in Mrs Roosevelt's countenance was a shade paler than the day before.

She reached out her hand and pressed the forearm of the young mother. "Are you well, Lydia?"

A false smile emerged on Mrs Roosevelt's face as she nodded. "A little discomfort. It is nothing to give alarm."

Elizabeth frowned, suddenly concerned for this young woman, the same age as herself and sharing the same name as her youngest sister. A surge of protective worry cooled the weary excitement of the day.

"Is Mr Roosevelt aware of your present distress?" Elizabeth pressed.

"No. And I do not wish him to be alarmed with what very well may be a little trifle that is to be expected when a child is soon due. This unnatural heat is not helping to soothe my discomfort."

Elizabeth nodded. "I understand. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to be of assistance. Though my knowledge of such matters is limited to occasionally being present for the appearance of a calf or foal on my family estate, please know that you can rely on me for any comfort that I am able to offer."

The young woman merely nodded, and Elizabeth believed it to be wise to refrain from approaching the topic again. They soon lost all sunlight for the day. It was a quiet ride back to their inn as both Elizabeth and Darcy were feeling the full results of a day of toil, discussion, and directing. The only topic they canvassed was their satisfaction at witnessing the large, heavy copper boiler set in its proper location with no incident to the structure of their now beloved boat.