Chapter 10

In the days after Margaret's wedding, the Leedses returned to Vienna, the wedding guests departed, and the house returned to normal. The Ferrars, the Brandons, and the Bingleys returned to their own houses, only for the ladies to all quickly agree by messenger to stay with their husbands at Delaford until Kitty's babe came when she asked them to. Fanny Bertelli came as well, with her husband and baby son. They waited much longer than they expected, for Master Andrew Philip Brandon took his time in coming. Sister Bethany could not account for the young man's lateness, but swore he must be more than two or three weeks overdue.

The night of his arrival was one of the most eventful the family could remember. Elizabeth, Fanny Bertelli, Jane, and Sister Bethany had everything in hand, and all was calm. Kitty knew that she was in good hands, and though the pains were terrible, she knew her sisters would take excellent care of her, and was not afraid. Kitty took Elizabeth's advice and walked the upstairs halls for hours. Sometime after her sister returned to her bed and was preparing to push, Elizabeth withdrew to the sitting room and spoke to Darcy privately for a moment.

"I need a favour from you, darling. And I need you to promise not to create a fuss, because if you do, I will crown you with the closest object," Elizabeth said very seriously, wearing a funny expression.

Will looked at his wife suspiciously, then gasped, "Elizabeth! You cannot be serious!"

"It is not I that is serious, but rather your obstinate, headstrong child. There is no need to create a scene, Will. But please, quietly send the carriage to the school with all haste to collect Sister Augustine. Sister Bethany is lovely, but she has been at this for hours. We cannot make her begin all over again when Kitty has finished." When Darcy made to argue that Elizabeth should at least rest, she sternly shooed him away to do her bidding. She then called Sarah and the housekeeper, and bid them to quietly and discreetly prepare another lying in chamber in the guest wing, so that Kitty would not be disturbed by Elizabeth's noise when she had completed her own labours.

She returned to Kitty's lying in chamber, where her sister was drenched in perspiration, taking comfort from her husband, and encouragement from her sisters. Kitty's pains and pushing continued on. After two hours, Darcy sent Sarah in to inquire after Elizabeth's welfare. "Lizzy?" Kitty looked over at her sister in confusion, "Oh Lizzy, you look positively unwell! Are you alright?" she gasped as Elizabeth clutched her hand tightly as a pain took her.

This was followed by a chorus of "Oh, Lizzys!" from her stepmother and sisters, because no one had looked at anyone but Kitty for hours, and now at a glance they could see Elizabeth's predicament.

Elizabeth was perspiring, though the room was cool from the open window, and rocking back and forth on her heels. "Lady Darcy, you must be joking!" Sister Bethany exclaimed in concern.

"Well, I can hardly help it!" Elizabeth snapped, having been caught by a particularly sharp pain. "Darcy has sent for Sister Augustine, and the housekeeper is preparing a room for me. I am far from taking to my bed. If Kitty were not at it here, I am sure I would be walking the halls for hours yet. Please do not worry about me, I am well."

"Not in that gown, you would not be walking the halls." stated Sister Augustine, as she entered the room followed by Evie. "As you say, you are far from your bed, Lady Darcy, but if you will not leave your sister, at least come into the dressing room for a moment. We must at least get you into a dressing gown and make you comfortable, so that when Mrs Brandon has finished her labours, you will be ready for yours. I thanked the Good Lord for the full moon in the carriage tonight, we made excellent time."

Elizabeth consented to be led to the dressing room, which was fortunate, for her waters broke shortly after. Sarah, who knew Elizabeth well, and had expected her to refuse to leave Kitty, had already prepared what they would need. Elizabeth was changed into a nightgown, hair plaited, and face washed, and was given a pair of comfortable house slippers. Sister Augustine wanted to examine her, but Elizabeth claimed there would be time enough for that later, and insisted on returning to her sister.

When they had finished making Elizabeth more comfortable and she had taken a few sips of well sugared tea, she hurried back into Kitty's room. Her pains were becoming quite severe, but she spent the next two hours clamping down on her lips, refusing to distract poor Kitty from her own labours. Elizabeth knew she ought to have gone to her bed some time ago, but she could not bear to leave before she saw Kitty safely delivered. She only hoped she would make it that long. Sarah and Evie had gone to wait in the other lying-in chamber, for Kitty's was far too crowded. Mary and Lydia waited in the sitting room with everyone's husbands except Kitty's. Elizabeth, Jane, and their mother were with Kitty, as well as her husband, Kitty's maid, and Sister Bethany.

Sister Augustine sat quietly on a chair in the corner, keeping a close eye on Elizabeth and staying out of Sister Bethany's way. In a very sudden moment, Elizabeth sensed that she could bear no more. She unexpectedly felt a familiar intense pressure down below , but it seemed to be happening far, far too quickly. "Forgive me, Kitty! Sister, Sister Augusti-" Elizabeth gasped, reaching out for the midwife, who had been ready to spring into action in an instant. Sister Augustine jumped out of her chair, and very quickly supported Elizabeth out of the room.

"May I carry you to the chamber?" Darcy begged, springing out of his chair the instant Elizabeth entered the sitting room clinging to the midwife.

Elizabeth shook her head and said, "Sister, it's coming, I can feel it! It's happening too quickly!"

"EVERYONE OUT!" Sister Augustine boomed forcefully. Lydia and Mary managed to remain, but this time the nun managed to eject even Darcy from the room. Lydia spread a quilt onto the floor, and Elizabeth was assisted to lie down, and a cushion was procured for her head. "The head is crowning, Lady Darcy! On your next pain, one great push just might do it!" Sister Augustine cried when she had examined her, and even as she spoke, Elizabeth was bearing down as she rode out the worst pain she had experienced in her entire life. It was impossible to believe it had happened so quickly, but before the pain passed, the babe had come forth, and was wailing in Sister's arms.

Darcy had forced his way back into the room at his daughter's cry. They heard cheers from the next room as the others in the lying-in chamber and the hall called out their delight at the joyful noise of the infant. Suddenly they heard a great cry from Kitty, then a few seconds later, a shout from Colonel Brandon and a few seconds after that, the sharp wail of another infant. The family in the hall cheered again as Darcy shouted, "It's a girl!" Followed by Brandon from the bedroom, "It's a boy!"

Elizabeth laid her head back and caught her breath as she watched her husband cradle their new daughter. Then she caught sight of Lydia and Mary. "You are not supposed to be here!" She said to them playfully.

"Why is that, I have always wondered?" asked Mary.

It is because no one wishes to frighten you before it comes to be your own time," the midwife advised as she went about her work. Darcy kissed his wife and thanked her, and left the women to their business to go celebrate with the men. Elizabeth waved him away; he had no need to see her being cleaned up.

"It happened so quickly, I had no time to be frightened," Mary claimed as she bathed Elizabeth's brow with a cool cloth.

"That is because your sister makes it look far too easy," grumbled Sister Augustine with a smile. "You gave us a bit of a turn, your ladyship, but I am delighted that the business went so well," Elizabeth thanked her as Sarah and Evie entered with clean towels and basins. The two chastised her quite severely, and Sarah promised that if there was a next time, that her ladyship would be watched like a hawk to ensure she did not engage in such shenanigans again.

An hour later, both new mothers had been delivered of their afterbirth, bathed, and changed. Kitty had been carried to her soft bed in the mistress's apartments by her husband. Darcy carried Elizabeth to Kitty's very crowded bedroom and placed her on the bed beside her sister so that the ladies might compare babes.

"How did you beat me, Lizzy? I had a head start!" exclaimed Kitty when Sister Augustine had laid the babe in Elizabeth's arms.

Her sister laughed and answered, "It was not any intention of mine, Sister. It was Lady Rose Augustine Darcy. She wanted to show her cousin that just because he is a boy, does not mean he will beat her at games! I predict she will run as fast, and climb quite as high as any boy!"

The room gasped as Sister Augustine bowed her head, "Your ladyship, I am honoured."

Elizabeth reached out and clasped the older woman's hand. "Sister, I could not imagine going through this without you. My courage is borne from my faith in your capable care. Thank you so much, from all of us."

Darcy echoed her sentiments, and pledged an enormous donation to the nursing school in gratitude for Sister Augustine's care. Brandon vowed to do so as well, and finally, the crowd in Kitty's bedroom dispersed as their sisters and mother returned to their husbands and went to their beds.

Kitty sighed as she and her sister gazed at their newborns as their husbands looked on devotedly. "Is it not it splendid, Lizzy? Our lovely little ones growing up here, so close to one another, with Jane so close by? And our perfect husbands to care for and love us? Did you ever imagine such happiness?"

Elizabeth agreed that after all of their hardships, that life was perfection here in Derbyshire, with all their family close about them. After a little while, Kitty was yawning, and Little Rose was nuzzling about looking for her first meal. Sister Augustine took the baby as Darcy carried Elizabeth to her rooms to feed their daughter and rest.

*****

After a few days, Richard and Mary returned to Pemberley with Lydia, and the Bingleys returned to Tatton Hall. The Darcys remained at Delaford for three weeks with Rose Augustine before returning to Pemberley.

Lady Rose was enchanted with her namesake, and was found many times struggling on the stairs attempting to visit the nursery. She detested the chair her grandson had procured to make it easier and more dignified to be carried on the stairs.

Elizabeth decided it was time to update Pemberley for the times, and called in an architect, and a company that installed lifts. She was planning an impressive expansion of the library as a gift to her husband. Darcy and Mr Mason were often complaining that the enormous library was indeed too small. Crates of books were being stored in the large, empty rooms at the back of the house, which then must always be kept warm with fires, to keep the damp away. The enormous library started at the ground floor and went up through the first floor. Elizabeth planned to have the spare guest rooms decimated on the second and third floors, opening the ceiling to raise the library another two floors up.

The library was already very impressive, with all of its stairs and shelves up the walls, wood railings, ladders, and fireplaces everywhere to keep the damp away. Now there would also be a lift that went all the way to the second and third floor as well, enabling residents of the house, readers in the library, and most importantly, Lady Rose, to be able to reach the upper floors without climbing so many stairs. All levels of the library would open into the rest of the house, so the convenience would be wonderful for everyone.

Only certain people would be allowed to operate the lift. Elizabeth and Darcy must know how, because Pemberley was their house, and they must know everything. The senior servants would be taught, and all of the footmen. A footman would be assigned to it at all times, or it would be locked when it was not attended. No one would be permitted to use the lift without being carefully trained.

There was a rare disagreement between Elizabeth and Darcy over the cost. Darcy argued that because it was an improvement to the house, that the estate must pay for the renovations. Elizabeth declared that was the most ridiculous thing she ever heard, because how could it be a gift if he paid for it? Will claimed that Elizabeth's arrangement of the project was enough of a gift, and Elizabeth called him a great blockhead!

Will, in a fit of pique, selected a Queens ransom in gems from their collection and sent them all up to London to be set as an extravagant gift for his wife. The jeweller was astonished at the sheer number of pieces Lord Darcy ordered, but got to work quickly before he changed his mind, and Richard laughed at him and called him a blithering idiot.

*****

One day an express arrived at Pemberley, posted from from Sanditon. Mr Farinacci was beside himself. The hotel was supposed to open in June, but an Englishman Elizabeth had hired from Paris to open and manage the hotel, a man renowned for his expertise and good taste, had disappeared with quite a bit of money. He was supposed to have spent the money on decor and items for the hotel, such as linens and bedding, dishes, art, draperies. Now nothing had been ordered, and a great deal of money, about five thousand pounds, was missing.

It took quite a bit longer than usual to receive such large orders of goods, and now it was uncertain if everything that was necessary could be procured in time for the opening, and indeed how to find another experienced hotelier? One would need to be procured from abroad. In a hotel of the quality of The Sanditon Grande, everything must be perfect. Elizabeth was concerned. The interior of the building was not finished yet, but Mr Ainsworth had supposedly been taking many reservations for the following summer, when everything was meant to be ready. Elizabeth was chagrined. Darcy offered to go to Sanditon himself, but while he would excel at determining what the man had done and where he had fled to, the problem was the hotel, and how to decorate, stock, and open it. Elizabeth did not have time to chase the man, considering the trouble he had caused. It was easier to set Montague to that task.

The family was discussing the matter that evening after dinner. After every manner of solution was discussed, Elizabeth looked at her youngest sister and said, "Would you consider the job, Lydia?" As everyone, particularly Fanny Bertelli, who was still visiting Delaford, objected, questioning how Lydia could do it, and asking Elizabeth if she was out of her senses to suggest Lydia take a job . "Why?" asked Elizabeth. "Why should she not take a job? I have a profession. Something that I am good at, that is worthwhile, and has assisted my family admirably. There is also something Lydia is skilled at as well. Why should she not use her talents?" She looked at Lydia speculatively, "Would you do it?"

Lydia protested, "Lizzy, I would never know where to start-"

Elizabeth interrupted her. "You can do it, Lydia. I am sure you are the only one I could count on to manage it."

The others protested as Elizabeth continued, "If we cannot find someone trustworthy and capable, then not only a great deal of money will be lost, but a great number of tradesmen will be ruined, for they are counting on the customers from the hotel to support their businesses. Mr Parker will be in great danger of bankruptcy if those tradesmen are ruined, because they will not be able to pay their rents. The entire economy of the town is counting on the momentum of the hotel to drive them to success this year at Sanditon. I am not even churched yet, and I could not travel with Rose so far just now. She has yet to even be christened. I am in no position to go, and Will would be in over his head in regard to getting the hotel organised."

The rest of the family had stopped objecting as Lydia looked at her sister with uncertainty and Elizabeth encouraged her, "You can do this, Lydia. You can leave first thing tomorrow. I will send Wilson to be at your disposal for the duration. Any funds you require will be provided, as much as necessary to make it all happen. Mr and Mrs Parker will be glad to have you stay with them until Mama and Donato return to Shannon View. Whatever you need will be yours. Any losses or excesses of investment can be recovered eventually, but only if the hotel opens on time. Will you do it?"

Lydia raised her chin and met her sister's eye. "I will." she answered. The family all began talking again, Georgiana requesting to accompany Lydia. "Vivian will be visiting his brother soon," she declared. "And until he arrives in Sanditon, I can help Lydia!"

"I am certain that Mrs Parker will be happy to have both of you." Elizabeth answered. "Mrs Annesley will accompany you, if she agrees. I will send an express to my uncle, in the hopes he might offer you any resources at his disposal." She said firmly to her sister, "You will do well Lydia, I know it." Lydia promised to do her very best, as she fervently prayed that she did not disappoint her sister and the good town of Sanditon.

Miss Annesley was applied to, and she agreed to accompany the young ladies. Since the older girls had all married or reached their majority, she had settled down as governess to Diane, but she was very willing to leave the girl's education in the hands of Mr Mason for a time to do some travelling and assist the family.