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Part 30
Bingley did not like the idea that somebody was upset with him and he decided to ask his sister about it. He assumed she had gone up to the nursery. "Good day," he said, sticking his head around the door. "May I come in?"
"Of course you may come in," Caroline replied. She and a maid were pinning Julia down on top of a chest of drawers while they changed her nappy. Julia protested loudly.
"Are you torturing her?" Bingley asked cautiously. "Where is James?"
"He was here the last time I looked. He is probably under something."
Bingley looked under the table and pulled James out by his foot. James squealed.
"Charles, are you torturing him?"
"Oh, he likes that. Fitzwilliam told me his family like to he held upside down and so on. Speaking of Fitzwilliam, is he upset with me?"
"No, but he did want you to leave his study. Could you prepare James for me, please? It would save time and perhaps he is more co-operative when you do it."
Bingley frowned and pulled James towards him. "Where do I start?" he asked helplessly.
"Oh," Caroline sighed. "Bring him here then and watch me."
Darcy was eager to study his cousin's little notebook, but he was stuck with Robert now that Louisa and Alice had disappeared. The boy was so wild that he suggested they go for a walk.
"Caroline?" Louisa said plaintively.
"Yes, Louisa?" Caroline laid the last hand on James's clothing and placed him on his feet again. He ran away immediately to pinch Alice, but Alice slapped him and he started to cry. "No, do not come running back to me," Caroline said sternly. "It was your own fault."
"Caroline?" Louisa asked. "May I talk to you? Can the children stay here?"
"Yes, they can. Betty will look after them and if they become too much for you, Betty, you know what to do. He is in his study."
Betty nodded. She knew what to do. The children looked to be very tired anyway. She could work while they took a nap.
"Come Louisa."
"I am free to go?" Bingley inquired.
"Yes," Caroline said, taking Louisa into her bedchamber. "This is probably the only place where we shall not be disturbed. What is bothering you? Are you still upset?"
Louisa sniffed. "It is Thomas. He can be sooooo... -- and it is sooooo... -- really. I do not know what to do."
Caroline could not make anything of her sister's unfinished sentences. "Are you angry with him?" she tried.
"Yes. No. Perhaps."
"Loulou, I am not the best person to consult when it comes to domestic quarrels. The few that I have I tend to handle very badly."
"I did not know you had any. That is why I came to you. I thought you knew how to --"
"But it only works on mine," Caroline admitted. "I could not begin to guess how to handle Mr. Hurst, or anybody else for that matter. But goodness! How does one upset Mr. Hurst? He is the most placid person I have ever known. Does he ever become excited?"
"Caro! I do not like it when you speak slightingly of my husband," Louisa exclaimed.
Richard entered and overheard her, because she spoke rather loudly. "I would have it no other way," he declared. "Your Hurst is an excellent fellow and he plays a decent game of billiards, but I had much rather not have my wife speak appreciatively of him."
"Oh, go away," Louisa told him. "I knew you would be backing Caroline up. I find you to be the two most annoying people in all of England!"
"Do we share that title or is one of us more annoying than the other?" Richard asked with interest.
Caroline got to her feet and placed herself menacingly before him. "Out!" she commanded. "Everyone over thirty, out!" She saw he liked it very well indeed, because his eyes sparkled when she drove him out.
"Join me for a walk when you are ready, Caroline," he said.
Part 31
Darcy had had the foresight to take two dogs with him and Robert was throwing sticks for them, while he opened his cousin's notebook.
The Author wishes to emphasise that he had the very honourable intention of adhering to all the good principles of impartiality while composing this work and that he pretends not to favour one Bingley over another. Indeed, the Author feels it necessary to point out that each is dear to the Author in his or her special way.A Little History
Bells tolled and clocks chimed on the happy occasion of my birth. My arrival into the family circle was greeted with the utmost joy. I was quite unaware of this at the time, but this is the way I think it must have happened. However, none of this transpired when I first laid eyes on a Bingley when they entered my family circle.They are like some birds, where the male of the species looks completely different from the female. It intrigued me greatly to observe that the ladies' hair was much darker than the gentleman's. I myself am very partial to fair-haired men, because I think we are severely underrated on account of ladies always preferring the mysterious dark-haired hero, like my cousin Darcy. (And he is no more mysterious than I, although my mysteriousness is open to debate.) Therefore, had I been a woman, I would have been quite prepared to consider Mr. Bingley a good-looking sort of man, also because I would have found it very odd if he had not been more than tolerable, considering that he sprang from the same parents as his sisters. (But this too is open to debate, as we shall see later on.)
That was Mr. Bingley, now onto his sisters. A person should have gathered from the above that they were good-looking. A deaf person would have adored and admired, and a hearing person would have listened and laughed at the silly notions coming out of Bingley's sisters' mouths with great regularity. Both of them were of the type that favours the mysterious man: one was married to someone even I would consider mysterious, and the other was clearly going to be interested in Darcy, for which I was only glad, because she now let slip some clever comments in her sparse moments of inattention that I would otherwise not have heard, and which made her the most mysterious of all as far as I was concerned.
So there they were: all three favoured with good looks and brown eyes and nothing else in common -- not even their last name, for one was called Mrs. Hurst. Every imaginable quality existed in one of the three in abundance, and in the other two it was negligible, or thus it seemed to me at the time. (The Author -- forever fearful of reprisals -- wishes to point out that his opinions might have undergone so marked a change, due to overexposure, that these observations might no longer be valid when it comes to understanding the essence of a Bingley.)
The Research
It was not until I returned from the war that my research could fully begin. A brief look around taught me that Mr. Bingley and Mrs. Hurst were constant factors and therefore I concentrated all my efforts on Miss Bingley, who continually waged war on me, standing as I did for the Army and Red Coats. It appeared that Miss Bingley's relationship with soldiers -- whether toys or living men -- was disturbed forever after little Charles's toy soldiers killed little Caroline's favourite doll. This very scientific explanation was offered me by Mrs. Hurst, who further on mentioned that her sister also had a strong dislike of red apples. I was tempted to wave a red cloth in front of Miss Bingley, and I did go as far as stripping myself of my red coat, but she merely stared, instead of running towards me in a mad frenzy. (Her wildest conjectures about my less than honourable motives were probably correct, in retrospect.) But I digress. I am impartial, though I could not help Miss Bingley engaging the chief of my attentions. Attentions I bestowed most unwillingly I must say, struggling as I did with my impartiality.I subjected the family to numerous experiments. From a fellow marital attachment with whom I exchanged comparisons of our respective Bingleys I have heard that Louisa conducts herself in much the same way as Caroline, though generally on a lesser scale. Neither of us has dared to put any questions to Mrs. Bingley -- who is not part of this research -- but since we had already established Charles as being different from his sisters, it does not signify that we would have discovered that he is not the same. (The reasons why are best left undiscovered.)
Bingleys in the Light
They do not get freckles when exposed to sunlight.Bingleys in the Dark
Classified.Bingleys in the Morning
Stay away from them if you are not a morning person. (But there is nothing like a good Bingley on a Sunday morning.)Bingleys as Tease Objects
They bite! Excellent material.Bingley Products
Again Charles is an anomaly, but need we still mention that? Again Louisa does it on a lesser scale than Caroline.
"Uncle Darcy, what are you reading?" Robert asked.
Darcy shut the notebook. "Nothing."
Part 32
"Now Louisa, what is wrong? Is he not treating you well?" Caroline asked. "Because if you want me to tell him so, you need only ask."
"No, Caroline. There is not much you can do, except perhaps keep your children in your own bed in the morning instead of sending them over to us. Thomas removed them as soon as he became aware of their presence."
"The villain!" Caroline exclaimed, but then she remembered that Richard had done almost the same when the children had come into the study. "Do you think it is a men-thing? Perhaps he does not like to be disturbed when he is alone with you."
"But he was sleeping!" Louisa protested.
"Perhaps it is not so much being disturbed when doing something, as being prevented from doing something," Caroline said shrewdly. "Richard did not like our being disturbed in our study either, and we were merely reading. I am not saying we would have done something," she blushed. "But it is very comforting to know that you can do something even if you do not want to."
"Yes," Louisa said doubtfully.
"Yes!" Caroline warmed to her own theory. "And now he asked me to come for a walk. Would that not signify anything?"
"I have never gone for a walk with him. I do not know what his motivations are. If he goes to enjoy nature, I do not see why he should be needing you," Louisa said tersely.
"Sometimes one likes to make comments about this or that and it would be pleasant to have a companion who answers. Why do you not take Mr. Hurst for a walk?" Caroline suggested.
"Caroline, I am not a country girl!"
"Then stay in the park! I had the garden done up in a new way, you know. Well, you cannot see anything of it now but the general outlines."
"You do not know anything about landscaping."
"Even the biggest fool can order a fence to be put around a small pond."
"Is that what you do all day?"
"No, I play with the children and when they are sleeping, I study a little."
"Music?" Louisa asked. After all, what else could one study?"
"Oh no, I do not have time for that. I meant books. I read a book about landscaping, so you see I am not completely ignorant. I found one of Richard's schoolbooks hidden away in a thick, boring book and I am teaching myself Latin now."
"Why?"
"To see if it was difficult, but its difficulty is grossly overrated."
"You must be bored to death to do such things," Louisa commented.
"I am not as bored as you are. Well, are you going to ask Mr. Hurst?" Caroline asked.
"No. I am sure he will not come."
"Then I shall ask him."
"He does not want to go for a walk with you!" Louisa protested.
"Not with me, dear sister! I shall ask him in your name."
"Oh no. If you order him, he will most certainly not go."
Caroline stood up. "If you do not take him out for a walk, I shall wake up Alice and forbid Betty from looking after her."
"You are mean, Caroline!" Louisa cried.
"Excuse me, may I have a private word with Mr. Hurst?" Louisa announced at the entrance of the billiard room.
Mr. Hurst made his way over to where she was standing. "Yes?" he asked.
"Will you -- will you --"
Mr. Hurst frowned. "Will I what?"
"Come for a walk with me?"
"A walk?" he looked incredulous.
Louisa looked at him pleadingly. "Please, Thomas? We never do anything together."
"I thought you were upset."
"I am! But I promise you that if you go for a walk with me, I shall be upset no longer," she said earnestly.
Mr. Hurst sighed, but in reality he was quite pleased that his wife had singled him out. She must value his company then, despite her frequently becoming upset with him. "Five minutes."
"Richard," said Caroline when they entered the path behind the greenhouse. "I was thinking that we should do something to amuse our guests. Is it not boring to have Louisa or Georgiana play for us every night? Perhaps somebody could volunteer to read out loud."
"Yes, perhaps," said Richard, who chose not to take the hint. "Georgiana would read well, I am sure."
"Georgiana is too shy."
"Hurst?"
Caroline shuddered. "He does not have the right amount of passion needed to make it sound well. Can you not hear him read all lines in the same monotone?"
"Well! Then I do not know who could do it," he sighed. "Unless we stage a play and we all read a few lines. If we do a nativity play, we could even hold auditions for the part of Jesus."
"No nativity play," said Caroline decidedly. She was much too afraid that he would tell her to play the donkey. "But another play would do."
Part 33
"Another play?" Richard mused. "How about 'The Taming of the Shrew?'" he suggested with a chuckle.
Caroline looked indignant. "Dear Richard, I hope you are aware that it would involve a reversal of all the male and female roles."
"What do you mean?"
"You would have to be the shrew."
"Dear Caroline, a shrew is a woman."
"I hope you are not suggesting that I play the shrew," she said indignantly, her eyes flashing.
"That was exactly what I was suggesting."
"And I suggest that you play it, because there is absolutely no way I am going to recite Katharina's final speech. The part would fit you remarkably well if you were a woman, but you are not, so we have to use a little artifice to make you one."
"I am not dressing up as Katharina," Richard said emphatically. "And what is her final speech about?"
"You will see, and you do not have to dress up as Katharina, because you will be playing Richard. I shall just have to turn Katharina into a man, and Petruchio into a woman."
"Who will he be?" Richard asked suspiciously. "You?"
"Yes."
"Are there any other people in the play or will I be the only one making a fool of myself, because I suppose you changed the sexes to avoid having to play a foolish part?"
"Neither of us have foolish parts. We end up a married couple."
"I do not need to act married in a play," Richard protested. "That is for people who have a secret admiration for each other."
"You do not have a secret admiration for me?" Caroline said in a disappointed tone.
"No."
"Richard!"
He grinned at the look on her face. "Come now, Caroline. You know me better than that. Are you teasing me? We are married. I may admire you openly."
"Which is exactly why you have to play Katharina. Petruchio has to admire her openly, and my dear, you are the only one I would consider kissing on the mouth openly."
"And in secret?"
"I would even consider kissing you in secret," Caroline said gravely. "But I thought you knew that? Even though it has not happened in the last five hours."
"Five hours?" Richard sounded appalled. "What a disgrace! Have I thus been neglecting my wife? Come here and I shall rectify the situation immediately."
"Look there," said Robert enthusiastically when they turned a corner in the path. "It is Uncle Fitzwilliam."
"Let us go back," Darcy suggested hastily, but it was too late.
"Uncle Fitzwilliam!" Robert shouted and ran towards him, followed by the barking dogs.
Richard and Caroline separated and Richard picked his hat up from the ground where it had fallen, just in time to prevent it from being trampled on by the dogs. "Good day, Robert. Is Uncle Darcy taking a walk with you?"
Caroline looked rather nervously at the jumping dogs, hoping they would not jump up against her, and straightening her bonnet. She clasped her hands demurely.
"We went to look at the fish in the river!" Robert cried.
"Did you?" Caroline asked. "Were they big? Oh my!" she said when Robert showed her how big they had been.
"I am sorry," Darcy apologised.
"Oh, do not be," said Richard indifferently. "It was time for Caroline's daily medication."
"Fitzwilliam, do you like acting?" Caroline asked Darcy sweetly. If she did not ignore Richard's remarks now and then, she would have to punch him continually.
Richard gave his cousin a foreboding grimace.
"We were thinking of doing a play to amuse us all."
"For 'we' and 'us' read Caroline," said Richard.
"See that you are a shrew?" Caroline shot back. "You were the first to mention the word 'play.'"
"Do you want me to act in a play?" Darcy asked. He had his reservations about such things.
"Yes!"
"As what?" It was almost Christmas, so the proper thing to do would be a Christmas play, but not on his life was he going to play a sheep or a donkey.
"I have not figured it out yet. I have to look at the characters to see who you can be. If you want to be in, that is."
"Which play?"
"The Taming of the Shrew."
"With yourself as the shrew, I assume?"
"Of course not!" Caroline said indignantly. "Really! Richard, of course."
Darcy suppressed a smirk. "I should dearly like to see what he looks like in a gown."
"You have some strange fantasies, Darcy," Richard said mockingly. "Come Caroline, leave him to them. Let us resume our walk."
"But he has not said if he would participate!" Caroline protested.
"Let him think about it," he dragged her off. "We have at least two more miles to go before dinner."
Darcy and Robert walked on, Darcy wondering why they wanted to do a play and if he would feel up to taking part in it. He did not really enjoy making a spectacle of himself, but perhaps if nobody was watching and everybody else was acting too, it would not matter.
After a few more minutes they came upon Mr. and Mrs. Hurst who looked a little lost. "Will we encounter any strange animals if we continue, Mr. Darcy?" Mrs. Hurst inquired. "I have never been out in the wilderness before."
"No, only a few strange human beings," Darcy replied. This path was just about as wild as a well-tended London park.
"But no animals?" she pressed with an anxious look.
"Just a shrew," Darcy chuckled. "Or perhaps two."
"I shall protect you, Louisa," Mr. Hurst said gallantly.
"It must be the path," said Darcy to himself.
When Louisa had overcome the shock of being protected, she frowned. "What is a shrew?"
"An animal your sister was named after," said Mr. Hurst. "Good day to you, Darcy," he tipped his hat and continued his walk.
"Thomas, what is a shrew?" Darcy could hear Louisa ask him as they were moving away.
Part 34
While Caroline was doing her hair she looked into the nursery where the children were being fed their dinner. They seemed to be enjoying themselves and she took care not to come too close in case one of them decided to throw food at her. "I shall come after dinner," she said to the maids. It would then be bedtime for the twins. There was so little time to see to everyone: her children, her husband, her guests, herself. She waited until Richard was ready and then they went downstairs.
"What are you thinking of?" he asked.
"I was thinking that I cannot give everyone the attention they deserve. I cannot be a very good hostess."
"Why not?"
"Because I cannot even stay with my guests after dinner. Will they not think me terribly negligent?" Caroline asked.
"They know what you will be doing, and if it bothers you, you can always take the children downstairs so you can give everyone the same amount of attention."
"Richard! I do not want to give Julia and James the same amount of attention as other people. I want to give them all of my attention. What would you say if you came to me because you wanted me to listen to something you had to say, and I took you downstairs to a room full of people that kept distracting me?"
"I say that it would not be agreeable to either of us. But you need not explain it to me -- I understand. Am I not even more negligent? I do not spend as much time with our guests as I should wish, and when they come to me I throw them out of my study. I should very much like to join you when you go upstairs after dinner, but how would it look if we both did that and left all our guests to themselves? Now, I am not saying I do not enjoy having guests, but sometimes it means I must give my family a little less attention than I should like, and if you are already going, the children will at least have you to kiss them goodnight, and perhaps they will not miss me."
"It is your turn again tomorrow," Caroline smiled. "Be brave. One more day."
When everybody had finished eating and the women were about to retire, Caroline asked a question. "Would you like to act in a play?"
The whole table turned their attention towards her. "A play?" Lady Matlock asked.
"I thought we could do a play to amuse us all. If anyone is interested that is. If not --"
"If not," Richard interrupted. "She will make you all interested by saying that I shall play a woman."
"Which play?" Lady Matlock inquired.
"The Taming of Me," said Richard. "But I shall not be wearing a gown. Dear Mama, you shall have to play my mother, I heard from Caroline."
"All the men will be women and all the women will be men. Richard will be Katharina, I shall be Petruchio, well, and then -- all in all, there are just enough roles for everyone," said Caroline.
The men inevitably began discussing the scheme as soon as the door had closed behind the last woman. "Why this role reversal?" Darcy asked. "Why does she want men to play the women roles?"
"I do not know," Richard confessed. "I do not know what the play is about, but I think Caroline objects to some of Katharin>
"There is a bit of a subservient speech at the end," Hurst volunteered.
"No wonder that would not appeal to my sister Lady Matlock," Philip Stacey looked at his brother-in-law with pity.
"If she reverses all the roles, the men will have nothing to say," Hurst remarked. "But the worst off will be your Katharina. I do not think any of us will envy you that role, Fitzwilliam. There were only three women in the original play, so she must keep the servants' sex intact if she wants all of us to be in it. I think I shall prefer to play a servant. At least they do not get publicly humiliated by their wives."
"Who must I play, Hurst?" Bingley asked.
"I think you would make a perfect Bianca."
"Do you know the play, Hurst?" Richard asked curiously while Bingley pondered playing someone called Bianca.
"Yes. Louisa and I saw it in town. I do not know why your wife chose to reverse the roles unless she wanted to punish you for something. It is a wonder that you let her put you through all that."
Richard shrugged. "It is only a play." He would have to read it, though, because he wanted to know what that public humiliation was all about. But if it humiliates me in the reversed version, would it not follow that it humiliates Caroline in the original version? I wonder why the original is not a bad thing then. "I shall fetch it from the library instantly so we can divide the parts, or decide against the whole thing if it should not appeal to us."
Part 35
"I do not think it all that bad," Richard concluded after leafing through the play. He passed the book on. "I see I get some very nice speeches."
"You would play a ninny?" Darcy asked incredulously when he had read a few scenes. "The women are in charge throughout the play and the men have very bad roles if you go through with Caroline's idea."
"Darcy, listen. It is exactly the ninnies who would say such things. If you have the correct opinion of yourself -- neither too high nor too low -- and of your wife, then you are not afraid of assisting her in sticking out her tongue at a playwright."
"She is sticking out her tongue at you, Fitzwilliam," said Hurst.
"I do not think so, but even if she is, let her have that fun for once, since it means that I am sticking out my tongue at her all the time, although I do not suppose you would understand what I mean," Richard said in irritation. "You are always welcome to play a stupid shepherd in a Christmas play if you are such a ninny that you cannot bear to hear a woman act a little impertinently."
Some of the other men exchanged mocking glances at his use of the word act. They obviously thought Caroline would not have to act very much.
"And Hurst," Richard continued. "You might like to play Caroline's servant --"
Hurst looked disgusted.
"-- and make grumbling and disrespectful comments about her."
Hurst brightened. "Perhaps," he said. "At least he was a man in the first place."
"What is the smallest male role?" Darcy asked.
"The widow or a servant."
"I do not think I am cut out to be a servant," Darcy said to Stacey. "Would you mind if I was the widow?"
"Not at all. I am already used to being Robert's servant anyway."
"I knew it," Richard smiled. "I knew you were all men of good sense."
"We are only complying because you are our host --"
"And because we do not want to play the donkey," said Darcy.
They left the dining room to join the ladies, but to their great surprise they only found Lady Matlock, Jane and Georgiana there. "Where is everyone?" Bingley asked.
"It is children's bedtime and nursing time," said Lady Matlock.
Well, Richard thought to himself. If there is no one here to entertain, why should I play the good host? He was the last to enter anyway, so he retraced his steps and ran upstairs.
He only saw Louisa and Alice when he entered the nursery. "Where is Caroline?" he asked.
"She took the children to her own apartments," Louisa answered, a little piqued that Caroline had not wanted to stay in the nursery.
Richard finally discovered them in their bedchamber. They were playing with wooden blocks. Caroline looked up when he came in and she looked a little surprised to see him. "What happened to your guests?"
"They are all looking after their children," he replied.
"Not the men, surely."
"No, only the women, but I was rather severe on the men, so I wanted to give them the opportunity to express their grievances about me."
Richard sat down and watched James. He repeatedly built a tower of three blocks and then hit against it with a big grin so all the blocks fell. "He seems a bit destructive," Richard commented.
"How severe were you?" Caroline asked.
"I said they were ninnies if they could not bear the role reversal."
"That is very severe indeed. They do not all have your understanding," Caroline said gently, but she smiled.
"They think you want to reverse the roles to stick out your tongue at me in public."
Caroline leant back to retrieve a block that James had hit away too hard. "He is not destructive, he is a future cricket player." She looked thoughtful. "The roles we would be playing are quite similar, so I do not see how I could be mocking you by changing them, except for the final speech. The only reason I wanted the change was because everybody would think the part of the shrew would suit me perfectly. And by changing, am I not rather mocking myself by playing this mercenary, husband-hunting, unfeeling, uncivil woman? Besides, if I had really wanted to mock you --" she smiled.
"I know. You would have done so in a manner that left very little room for misinterpretation."
"But," Caroline held up her hand. "We judge you in different ways. I judge you from a wife's point of view, and what I think wonderful might appear very strange to them. They would probably not even recognise it if I was mocking you."
"They obviously do not have such excellent wives if they would not recognise it. But I thought you wanted the change because you thought the final speech was an admission of weakness?" Richard asked.
"True. I did not want to play so inconsistent a character."
"But it does not matter if I do?"
Caroline smiled at him. "I know you very well. You can handle it perfectly well," she said mysteriously. She knew he would probably not be able to stick to his lines with his powers of improvisation. "Why do you think I am here and not in the nursery?"
"I think I am missing a step there."
"Sorry. I should have said and why do you think I am here and not in the nursery?"
"I have no idea."
"Oh! Because I know you! I knew there was a chance of you coming upstairs, and you would not have liked it as much with Louisa there, now would you?"
Richard smiled. "Thank you. I shall make the most of it. May we come back to the other subject another time?" he asked, intriguing Julia by making a hand puppet appear from behind his knee.
Part 36
The next day Lord Matlock had to see to the distribution of the Christmas extras, and both Lady Matlocks took care of the distribution of baskets with food, and because there had not been any reports of illnesses or diseases in the village, they took the twins with them, much to the delight of the villagers. They did not often get to see the twins, and when the party stopped at the local inn to satisfy Caroline's sudden hunger, it was busier there than usual. Immediately some chairs near the fireplace were vacated for their convenience and the ladies ordered some tea for themselves and some hot milk for the twins, who were treated to half a scone a piece.
"Aww," said Mrs. Perkins, the proprietress, with a smile when she observed James eat with his fingers. "He looks just like his father. How he has grown since he was last in here!"
"Who, his father?" Caroline asked.
"No, my Lady. Little Master James. He was here when he was having his picture painted last year. But then he was still small enough to fit into a basket."
James sensed they were admiring him and he immediately soaked his scone in his drink. Caroline slapped his fingers. "Uh!" she said admonishingly. "No."
"When is your next one coming, my Lady?" asked Mrs. Perkins. There had been much speculation about that in the village, because Matlock's servants had not been able to enlighten them on that point.
"In a few months," said Caroline with a blush. She did not know exactly and she felt rather stupid that she did not.
"Probably in April," said Lady Matlock, who had a better eye for such things.
This news was eagerly distributed among the drinking population assembled in the inn and they looked on with great interest.
"Lord Matlock is keeping yer busy," said an impertinent old man who had been occupying the same corner near the fireplace for the past sixty years at least. "Bu' 'oo can blame 'im for wanting to keep yer 'ere? Yer can't go to London when yer got babies. All young ladies want to go to London and 'e's a country lad 'oo don' much like i' there."
Caroline blushed at the indelicacy of the subject, but she was amused at hearing Richard being called a country lad.
"How would you know, Joseph?" somebody shouted.
"I 'ave known the family since 'is grea'-grandfather," Joseph said solemnly. "And I known Lord Matlock since 'e was a cheeky li'l lad stealing my apples." He peered at the twins closely and wagged a dirty finger. "So this is the new yield of apple stealers, wha'? Oi, oi, oi, wha'?"
Caroline looked puzzled at his last words.
Joseph turned his attention to her. "I never seen the young ladyship up close." He never stirred far from the inn these days. "I 'eard from my nephew tha' 'er family lives no' thirty miles away. I always said Lord Matlock 'e'd bring 'ome a northern lass," he said, not very truthfully.
Caroline looked rather taken aback at possibly being a northern lass, but she supposed she qualified as one, since her family was from the north.
"You never said anything of the sort, Joseph," said Mr. Perkins. "What you always say is you'll pay for your drinks tomorrow." A roar of laughter went up through the inn.
"I did," Joseph protested. "I did." He leant back in his chair and started snoring.
"He is nearly eighty," Mrs. Perkins apologised when she came to deliver the tea. This was the first time she had ever had the young Lady Matlock in her establishment, and though she had heard reports of other villagers that she was proud and conceited, she was not prejudiced, because those qualities were usually ascribed to all townspeople, and Mrs. Perkins had discovered that some townspeople were pretty nice. She watched in amazement as the younger Lady Matlock not only finished her own plate, but also her mother-in-law's plate, and then eyed Julia's half eaten scone hungrily. "Would you like another helping, my Lady?" she asked.
Caroline blushed again, and felt very annoyed at herself for blushing so much. "I am hungry," she said apologetically. "Two salads, please."
If Mrs. Perkins was surprised at this, she did not show it, but calmly went away to get two more salads.
Julia hit her mug with her spoon and began to crow with pleasure when she noticed her father come in. He was dripping wet from the rain and he had come in for shelter. James soon joined her screams when he noticed the reason why, and together they almost drowned out all other sounds. A few old men in a corner looked disturbed over their glasses of ale, but they dared not say anything to Lord Matlock about keeping his children quiet.
"Wha'? Wha'?" Joseph sat up with a start. "Is there a fire? Ah, is just 'is Lordship. Why are they so 'appy to see an old apple thief?" He closed his eyes again, not waiting for a reply.
Richard kissed the twins, who were delighted to see him, and he kissed Caroline, who was more delighted to see her two salads appear. "I shall never understand women," he sighed as he seated himself next to Julia. "Only you, Julie. Only you give me the decent welcome I deserve. I am wet through and through --" Julia laughed and he tickled her. "Why are you all here?" he asked.
"Caroline had a sudden desire to eat something," said Lady Matlock.
"Dwing," said James plaintively, pushing his mug away. He did not like a scone floating in his milk, even if he had put it there himself.
"Ugh," said Richard, looking into James's mug. "What is that dead thing in there?"
"It is half a scone," said Lady Matlock.
"Trying to keep it from being snatched by Mama, no doubt." This remark earned Richard a dirty look from Caroline, and he laughed. He found it rather amusing to find Caroline eating in a public place. "Mrs. Perkins? Another drink for us men, please."
At home, the others had been practising their lines for the play, although they had agreed that since they would have no audience, they would be allowed to hold the paper with their lines in their hands, because it would be a bit much to memorise it all in such a short time. Catherine would return to London in three days already, and the Darcys would return to Pemberley too.
Part 37
Joseph felt it necessary to make another comment. "The big 'ouse still don't feed the family properly. In the old days it were 'is Lordship 'imself 'oo was driven to my apple yard by 'unger and now it's 'is Lady."
"I am not in your apple yard," Caroline snubbed.
"That's because there's no apples this time o'year."
James slid off his chair when he was bored. "Where is Jamie going?" Caroline asked anxiously, and followed him with her eyes.
Richard turned around and watched James tug at Mrs. Perkins's gown. He laughed. "He is ordering himself a drink." James had seen very well where the drinks came from.
Mrs. Perkins was never thrilled to be thus accosted by a customer, but now she was delighted. "Clever boy!" she praised him. She had just been working on his drink and it was not ready yet, but James insisted on having one now. She poured him some water and he dribbled back contentedly, seeing a dog along the way. He uttered a few sounds and pointed at the dog, and then proceeded to pat it. Caroline looked on in horror, but Richard knew Belle would not hurt a fly. They watched James's progress around the room as he touched everything in sight.
Richard uttered something under his breath as he saw James steal two pieces off a chess board, much to the annoyance of the players, who dared not do anything. He could not get up, because Julia had fallen asleep in his arms, and he looked at Caroline, who was equally embarrassed. She got up and took away the chess pieces, and dragged the crying James back to their table, where he soon recovered from the reprimand, because he loved sitting in his mother's lap.
"He is dangerous," said Richard. "You look after him, Caroline. I have our good girl here," he said, looking at Julia's sleeping face. "But they are both pretty. How beautiful our babies turn out."
"I had that illusion too, for a while," said Lady Matlock dryly. "But having your second child usually cures you of such notions pretty soon."
Caroline looked serious. "Really? Did you not think Richard pretty? I think he must have been very pretty as a baby."
Richard wished James was making a nuisance of himself at the other end of the room so he could walk away, but James was being nice and sweet across the table for a change.
Lady Matlock stared at her daughter-in-law. "Caroline --" she said, trying very hard not to laugh at Caroline's earnestness and Richard's embarrassment.
"Do you think our next one will be less pretty then?" asked Caroline, who could not conceive of bringing forth anything less than pretty, because they either had to resemble her, or Richard, and they were both good-looking.
"Our next one?" Richard could not resist asking. "You have just been eating four salads!"
Caroline gasped. "That is merely superstition."
"I hope so. But you did say that the twins were a punishment because you bought every thing double. So with four salads..."
"Oh, Richard! Do not tease me like that." But she placed a hand on her stomach anyway. "It is a bad omen."
"Alright. Have you almost finished your round?" he asked.
"Yes, we have come as far as Mrs. Wilkinson, but then I was hungry. I have a suggestion with regard to her house, but I shall tell you when we are home."
"And we must study our parts for the play too," said Richard and he rose. "I see it is dry so I can continue." He wondered what to do with Julia. Caroline would be carrying James, who had dozed off too, but he could not let his mother carry Julia, and the servant had to carry the baskets. The whole scheme had depended on the twins walking themselves and they had upset this scheme like they usually upset schemes. He would have to take Julia and he reached for her coat and bonnet. "Will you pay for my drink too, Caroline?" he asked when he had packed Julia up warmly without waking her.
"Just this once, Lord Matlock. Who did you give your money to now?"
"Only some people with a leaking roof," he mumbled, surprised that Caroline seemed to know that he occasionally did such a thing and wondering what she thought of it.
Caroline stood up and gave Julia a kiss, and fumbled a bit with Richard's clothing out of sight of everyone else while she did so. "Your right-hand pocket, dear, in case you encounter more leaking roofs," she whispered, smiling at his baffled expression.
Part 38
Caroline was exhausted when she returned home, but she managed to look tolerably well at dinner in spite of it. After dinner she remained with the ladies, to the great surprise of the ladies who had children upstairs.
"Must you not see the twins to bed?" Elizabeth asked.
"Not tonight," Caroline answered. "They are in capable hands," she said, and picked up the play. "Is anyone staying here to rehearse with me? Lucentio?"
"Yes," said Jane.
Caroline peered into the book again. "Tranio?"
"No," Catherine rose. "It does not matter. I am not important."
"Baptista?" Caroline called off the names like a schoolmistress.
"Yes," Lady Matlock raised her hand.
"Katharina? Putting the twins to bed. Bianca? Still in the dining room. Gremio?"
Elizabeth rose too. "I am sorry. Can you do without me?"
"Well, Hortensio then or does she have children as well?"
"Not yet," Georgiana answered.
"Georgiana! Did you volunteer for a big role?" Caroline smiled. "How nice."
Georgiana blushed. "They made me, because Hortensio is the music master. Music mistress. I do not know if I can do it."
"Why not? There is no audience."
"I think we ought to change all the names," said Lady Matlock. "I should feel very ridiculous talking about my sons Katharina and Bianca. Ladies, importune me no further, for how I am firmly resolved you know; that is, not to bestow my youngest son before I have a wife for the elder. If either of you both love Richard, because I know you well and love you well, leave shall you have to court him at your pleasure. This is very outdated. Modern sons do not wait for their mother's approval. I never gave Caroline leave to court my son at her pleasure."
"Oh!" said Caroline. "Well, this is your second chance."
"Elizabeth says something, Richard says something," Georgiana read. "Maids, mate! How mean you that? No maids for you, unless you were of gentler, milder mould." She waved her hand to signify somebody else was speaking and after a short pause she continued. "From all such devils, good Lord deliver us!"
They continued in this manner for a while, with more and more characters appearing on the scene.
"Caroline, since we are stepped thus far in," Georgiana read. "I will continue that I broached in jest. I can, Caroline, help thee to a husband." She burst out in giggles, recalling that she had indeed helped Caroline to a husband. "With wealth enough, and young, and beauteous, brought up as best becomes a gentleman: his only fault, and that is faults enough, is that he is intolerable curst and shrewd and forward, so beyond all measure, that, were my state far worser than it is, I would not wed her for a mine of gold."
"Wed him," somebody whispered, and Georgiana turned crimson.
"Georgiana, peace! Thou knowst not gold's effect," Caroline exclaimed. "Tell me his mother's name, and 't is enough; for I will board him, though he chide as loud as thunder when the clouds in autumn crack."
"His mother is -- Aunt Matlock?" Georgiana inquired.
"Maria Fitzwilliam."
"His mother is Maria Fitzwilliam, an affable and courteous lady; his name is Richard Fitzwilliam, renowned in Matlock for his scolding tongue."
"I know his mother, though I know not him," said Caroline. "And she knew my deceased mother well. I will not sleep, Georgiana, till I see him." Here it was Caroline's turn to giggle. "And therefore let me be thus bold with you, to give you over at this first encounter, unless you will accompany me thither."
Mr. Hurst stood up to deliver his lines. "I pray you, Madam, let her go while the humour lasts. On my word, if he knew her as well as I do, he would think scolding would do little good upon her. He may perhaps call her half a score knaves or so; why, that's nothing: if she begin once, she'll rail in her rope-tricks. I'll tell you what, Madam, if he stand her but a little, she will throw a figure in his face, and so disfigure him with it, that he shall have no more eyes to see withal than a cat. You know her not, Madam," he warned Georgiana with feeling.
Caroline was beginning to yawn, but they had not quite finished with the first act yet. Richard had returned, and he was watching them all speak about his character with an amused expression on his face. He would not have to reappear until the second act, which they would take on the day after, but he chose to listen rather than play cards with the other characters who were not needed now.
Georgiana was doing very well. "Elizabeth, 'is now no time to vent our love: listen to me, and if you speak me fair, I'll tell you news indifferent good for either. Here is a lady whom by chance I met, upon agreement from us to her liking, will undertake to woo curst Richard; yea, and to marry him, if his dowry please."
"So said, so done, is well. Georgiana, have you told her all his faults?" Elizabeth asked.
"I know he is an irksome, brawling scold," Caroline said, looking straight at the subject of their conversation. "If that be all, ladies, I hear no harm."
Part 39
"Little did she know," said Richard and grinned.
Elizabeth continued her part stoically. "Oh! Madam, such a life, with such a husband, were strange; but if you have a stomach --"
"Do you not see she has one?" Richard interrupted.
"Richard!" Caroline hissed.
"-- to it in God's name: you shall have me assisting you in all. But will you woo this wild-cat?" Elizabeth asked.
"Will I live?" Caroline asked rhetorically.
"Will she woo him? Ay, or I'll hang him," Mr. Hurst said with a big grin.
"Oh, you love saying that, do you not?" Richard asked him when Caroline had a lengthy speech
When the first act was over, they had supper and continued on with the second act, for it went faster than everybody had thought.
"Now by the world, it is a lusty boy! I love him ten times more than ever I did. O! How I long to have some chat with him," said Caroline at some point.
Richard snorted. "Are you making that up?"
"No, it is officially there."
"Well, go with me and be not so discomfited," said Lady Matlock. "Proceed in practice with my younger son; he's apt to learn and thankful for good turns. Lady Caroline, will you go with us, or shall I send my son Richard to you? Just pretend that he is not sitting next to you."
"I pray you do; I will attend him here, and woo him with some spirit when he comes. Say that he rail; why then I'll tell him plain he sings as sweetly as a nightingale --"
"Ha! And you think I will fall for that?" said Richard, who knew he could not sing.
"Say that he frown; I'll say he looks as clear as morning roses newly washed with dew. Say he be mute and will not speak a word; then I'll commend his volubility, and say he utters piercing eloquence. If he do bid me pack; I'll give him thanks, as though he bid me stay by him a week. If he deny to wed; I'll crave the day when I shall ask the banns, and when we be married. But here he comes," said Caroline. "And now, Caroline, speak. Good morrow, Richie; for that's your name I hear."
Richard gasped while everybody else laughed. He truly had not known that she would call him Richie. "Well have you heard, but something hard of hearing. They call me Richard that do talk of me," he said with some difficulty.
"The next part is very tricky," said Caroline. "I shall need to give that part some thought, but it is only Richard and I and we can practise this alone. I am tired, but do go on with what comes after that, if anyone wishes."
The party soon afterwards broke up when most people decided to retire and the next day they rehearsed all the following acts. That evening they were supposed to do it for real, without Richard or Lady Matlock interrupting, and they behaved themselves very well. To make the same comments twice was not their style, so they said nothing out of order.
"Richard, I charge you," said Caroline near the end. "Tell these headstrong men what duty they owe to their ladies and wives."
"Come, come. You're mocking," said Darcy. "We will have no telling." He knew this was the infamous final speech coming on.
"Come on, I say. And first begin with him."
"He shall not," Darcy replied stubbornly.
"I say he shall. And first begin with him."
"Fie, fie!" said Richard. "Unknit that threatening unkind brow, and dart not scornful glances from those eyes, to wound thy lady, thy queen, they governess. It blots thy beauty as frosts do bite the meads, confounds thy fame as whirlwinds shake fair buds, and in no sense is meet or amiable. A man moved is like a fountain troubled, muddy, ill-seeming, thick, bereft of beauty; and while it is so, none so dry or thirsty will deign to sip one touch or drop of it. You, husband, are her lord, her life, her keeper, her head, her sovereign --"
Caroline turned her pages in amazement and Mr. Hurst nearly choked. The rest of them had either not noticed Richard's subtle changes or they showed no reaction.
"-- one that cares for her, and for her maintenance commits his body to painful labour both by sea and land, to watch the night in storms, the day in cold -- whilst she lays warm at home, secure and safe -- and crave no other tribute at thy hands but love, fair looks, and true obedience -- too great payment for so little a debt. Such duty as the subject owes the prince, even such a woman owes to her husband; and when she's froward, peevish, sullen, sour, and not obedient to his honest will, what is she but a foul, contending rebel, and graceless traitor to her loving lord? I am ashamed that men are so simple --"
Here Caroline's frown changed to a smile and the men showed the opposite reaction.
"-- to offer war where they could kneel for peace, or seek rule, supremacy and sway, when they are able to serve, love and obey. Why are their bodies hard, and strong, and rough, and apt to toil and trouble in the world, but that our soft conditions and our hearts do not agree with our external parts? Come, come, you froward and unable worms! My mind has been as big as one of yours, my heart as great, my reason haply more, to bandy word for word and frown for frown; in token of which duty, if she please, her hand be ready, may it do me ease," Richard finished. The last part had been very difficult to adapt, and he did not know if it made sense that he had left part of it out.
"Why, there's a lad! Come on, and kiss me, Richie!" Caroline cried. They had not done it during the rehearsal, but after he had just disapproved of not obeying when he was able to, he had no choice but to obey her, because he was very able.
"Well, go your ways, old wench, for you shall have it," said Jane.
"'T is a good hearing when children are toward," Louisa added.
"But a harsh hearing when men are froward," Jane answered.
"Come Richie, we'll to bed." Caroline patted her slightly bulging stomach with one hand, and took Richard by the other. "We three are married, but you two are sped." She turned to Jane. "'T was I won the wager, though you hit the white; and being a winner, I give you good night!" She sat down.
"Now go your ways," said Georgiana. "You have tamed a cursed shrew."
Jane giggled. "'T is a wonder, by your leave, he will be tamed so."
"Actually, he will not," Richard stood up again and grinned. "But he is very good at pretending."
Caroline pulled him down again. "Quiet, you! I just heard you say you would obey me."
"I just heard you say we were going to bed? Why are you pulling me back into my seat? I was being very obedient by going to bed."
"You have a sly way of getting her to do what you want, Fitzwilliam," said Hurst, shaking his head.
Part 40
Half of the guests were leaving in their carriages and only Caroline's relatives would remain. She was trying to interest the twins in the departure of their cousins, but it did not interest them in the least. Because she had to keep hold of their hands, she could not take a very big part in the farewells.
"Do you want to come with me, James?" Elizabeth asked when she saw he was trying to wriggle loose to run to the horses. But this lady who stretched out her arms at him was not his Mama, and he quickly showed her who was, by hiding under Caroline's skirts. Julia thought this was an excellent hideout and wherever James went, she could not stay behind. She also lifted up Caroline's cloak and stepped under it. Elizabeth still found it a little remarkable to see how attached they were to Caroline.
"Fitzwilliam," Darcy said warningly. "There is something very strange going on under Caroline's gown." Caroline shot him an inquiring look when she saw his open mouth. He pointed down and she shrugged uncomprehendingly.
Richard looked on in consternation, but laughed when James peered out and lifted Caroline's gown and cloak up to her knees. Caroline had enough of them and pulled them out from under her skirts. Richard could see they were beginning to be bored and he took one over.
When his sister and the Darcys had left, they all sat down to some warm drinks to warm up after standing out in the cold.
"When is Aunt Bingley coming?" Louisa asked. "I have not seen her for ages."
"She should be here tomorrow or the day after," Caroline replied. "Richard handled all that."
Richard said nothing. Of course he had handled that. Somehow Caroline was never very enthusiastic about having other relatives than Louisa and Bingley over. He suspected that she feared that he would look down on them, but he did not. True, Aunt Bingley was a very nosy old biddy who made everyone's business her own and who was constantly on the lookout for suitable matches for her nieces or nephews, but some of the other family members who had come to look at the twins when they were born had been rather nice.
They had of course been from Caroline's mother's side of the family, and they were not called Bingley, but Weston. Anyone called Bingley -- except Charles Bingley -- was definitely suspect. The Westons visited a cousin, and the Bingleys visited a countess. Still, he did not think Caroline should slight her family, but he avoided the subject as much as possible. It could most definitely lead to an argument.
He had invited a few who had more or less invited themselves, and a few others who would not dare impose themselves. Apart from it being merely polite, he had thought it would be an excellent opportunity, since Louisa and Bingley were here now too. Thank goodness they all lived relatively nearby so they would not come to stay for ages.
Aunt Bingley was Caroline's father's sister who had never married. The reasons why were not exactly clear to everyone, but there were two different versions going round in the family. One was that she had been on the verge of an engagement to an officer in the navy, but that he had not returned from sea one time. Another version was that she had been so ugly in her youth that nobody had wanted her. Her unmarried state did not bother her in the least, for she had her share of domestic conflicts because she was always interfering in other people's lives.
She had now brought with her two children of her brother Peter she lived with. Peter was in trade. He had taken over his older brother Lucius's business when Lucius had made his fortune, but since he had less business sense, his success had not been as great, and he had more children who ate up his resources. Aunt Bingley had brought three of the thirteen. Maurice, who was twenty, Celia, who was eighteen, and Elizabeth of seventeen.
It had been a deliberate choice to take these three. Their uncle and aunt would be able to do something for them, Aunt Bingley thought. Perhaps dear Caroline could throw the girls in the way of suitable husbands, because Aunt Bingley did not doubt that Lord Matlock knew dozens of young aristocrats, and he would also know how to get Maurice a good commission.
"Dear Caroline!" Aunt Bingley exclaimed. "And dear Louisa and dear Charles too!" She hugged them all in turn and then turned to their children after she had greeted the rest of the party. "Oh! How they have grown, the little ones!" However, the little ones crawled under Caroline's gown as soon as they perceived the older lady bring her face closer to theirs.
Part 41
Aunt Bingley was puzzled by the twins' antics and she much preferred the quiet Alice, who kept standing next to Louisa. "What a sweet little girl!" she said, pinching Alice's cheek.
Caroline could not do more than give them a strained smile, for the twins were pulling at her stockings and to own up to that would be very improper. She wished that being pregnant would not oblige you to wear such tents with room for two toddlers underneath. Another month and they would invite Alice to join their little party too. She placed her hand on Richard's arm and leant towards his ear, as much as that was possible without moving her feet. She did not want to step on a small foot inadvertently. "My stockings!" she whispered.
"Julia?" he said sternly. "James?"
Of course they tried to walk out of their tent without lifting up the hem and discovered that this was impossible. Richard had to give them a hand and they looked very disappointed that their game was over.
Caroline and Louisa engaged Celia and Elizabeth in conversation, and discovered that they very much wanted to go to London. "I should love to see London," said Celia.
"But we are educated at home," Elizabeth sighed. "While Maurice goes to university and he says it is vastly amusing in the south. Is it really, Cousin Louisa? Or was Maurice merely teasing us because we cannot go?"
"I find it more amusing than the country," said Louisa. "But why can you not go once?"
"We have so many younger brothers and sisters," Celia explained. "Mama keeps having one every year, almost. I wish she would stop so we could go to London."
Caroline looked slightly alarmed. She looked at Julia next to her and wondered if Julia would ever complain about the same thing.
"How many children does she have again?" Louisa asked.
Celia looked at Elizabeth and they frowned. "Uhhh...thirteen? Papa is very glad that we are the only girls so far."
"The girls would love to go to London," said Aunt Bingley, and the two girls looked ashamed at this all too direct hint.
"I should love to go to London too," Caroline smiled politely. "But in the coming year I shall not go any further than Matlock, probably. That is why everyone from London must come to me."
"Well?" Caroline asked Richard that evening. Their guests were safely in their own rooms.
"I have not spoken much to the girls," he said, not wanting to say that they seemed rather silly. "But Maurice seems a decent young man and he wants to go into the army when he has finished his studies."
"Is that why he is decent?" Caroline ducked when a pillow was flung at her head. "Aunt Bingley is trying her hardest to get me or Louisa to take the girls to London."
"But you are not going to London."
"Richard, am I under some sort of family obligation do you think?"
"You could invite them to a ball," he suggested.
"Do not be so cheeky. I know very well when our next -- our first, you mean -- ball will be, and it will not be in the next eighteen years at least."
He laughed. "If you wish to have one sooner, you have only to ask."
"I do not know if I do," she mused. "At the moment I do not feel capable of organising anything on such a scale. Where shall we go for the summer?"
"We could stay here and amuse the local society, if we feel like it. Perhaps a trip to the coast would be too cumbersome."
"Next year," Caroline smiled. "They should all be able to walk then." She was silent for a while until she remembered something else. "By the way, had you noticed that Susan is very enamoured of your valet?"
"Very enamoured?" Richard repeated. "That news should please him."
"Does it please you?" she asked carefully.
"I do not see why not," he said cheerfully. "He has been enamoured of Susan for quite some time now and his work has not suffered from it."
"But what do we do?" asked Caroline, who feared that her trusted Susan would soon no longer be available.
"We? I am not interfering in anybody's courtship again," said Richard.
"I do not mean that. I mean that she might go."
"Then tell her to stay."
Part 42
The three Bingley cousins and their aunt left, and they were replaced by a few other cousins who also stayed for a few days. After these family visits the Hursts and the Netherfield Bingleys also returned back home.
The twins grew prosperously, and every week they seemed to add something to their vocabulary. Caroline was also growing prosperously and she felt the new baby would soon be born, for it was impossible to grow for another two months at this rate. She would have to stay in the hallways in that case, because she would not fit through doors anymore.
Lady Catherine was doing well too. She had written to Lady Matlock to inform her that she had finally told the General, and that he was not at all displeased with the news. Anne had also written, but she seemed a little shocked by idea of getting a baby sister or brother, because in her eyes, Lady Catherine was far too old, although she did write that she would love it at the same time.
Bingley had written a letter without beginning or end, making Caroline think that he had actually posted a draft, saying that he had a most wonderful little dog who already answered to his name, and that this was truly better than a child, because he thought he did not have the patience to wait so long for a child to learn that.
Towards the end of February Richard fell ill. At first it was nothing but a cold, but it grew gradually worse. He was feverish and he coughed all day and all night. Because he coughed so much, he could not sleep, and his condition weakened. Caroline had sent for a physician as soon as it progressed beyond a normal cold, and she had sat by his bedside until the physician forbade her to have any contact with the patient, after his first warnings had been ignored.
"Lady Matlock, you are not to see his Lordship anymore until he recovers," the physician said. "You shall need to stay in another house. You must not endanger your condition by catching his illness."
"Another house?" she exclaimed in dismay. She had not known it was so serious, though she had seen he looked really bad and it tore her heart in two to hear him cough. "No, I shall not go to another house."
"Lady Matlock, it is in your own interest."
"Not to another house!" she cried. "What am I to do without him?"
"You must."
Caroline shook her head and the tears rolled down her face. "I cannot! I cannot be separated from him. Please? He will get better if I am there. I know he will. He will die if I am gone." Her insides were heavy and cold and she was afraid. "Another wing? Please? I shall accept another wing of the house."
The physician, seeing that she was unrelenting, finally accepted the compromise of moving Richard to another wing.
Caroline looked at him being carried away from a distance, for she was not allowed to come near him anymore and she was crushed. She had not even been allowed to say goodbye and she wondered if they had explained to him what they were doing. He did not look her way and she closed her eyes for a second, squeezing out the tears. She felt so empty when he was out of sight. The illness had seemed less serious when she had been able to sit next to him, and she had not felt so hopeless as she felt now. She was so close to giving birth, but how could she do that when he was not there? When he might die. She sobbed.
Lady Matlock tried to comfort her as much as could. She could not split herself in two when there were two people who needed her attention, but since Caroline was not in any grave danger, she chose to attend to her son.
"How is he?" Caroline asked the housekeeper every day, but the answer was always the same. There was no change in his condition, while hers was getting worse. The servants pressed her to eat more, but she had no appetite.
"How is he?" she asked in the beginning of March when she had just got out of bed. She had been asking this question for over a week now, and she felt she could not take it much longer.
"The physician wants to speak to you, my Lady," said Susan.
"What for?" Caroline cried, fear gripping her heart. She sunk down on the bed. "Is it -- is it bad news?" she whispered, pressing a hand against her stomach.
"I do not know."
Without bothering to change, Caroline left the room.
"Madam," Susan hurried after her. "Allow me to assist you." She did not want her mistress to fall down the stairs in her hurry.
"What is it?" Caroline cried out to the man as soon as she saw him.
"Lady Matlock," he bowed.
"Dispense with the formalities!" she cried anxiously. "Just tell me!" The commotion and the worries had been too much for her, because she felt something that could only mean one thing and she doubled up. "Oh no! It has started! Please, not now?" she begged of the unborn baby.
"Are you having contractions, my Lady?" the physician asked in concern.
"Yes!" she gasped. "No! I told it to wait. Tell me the news! I must know."
"We must get you to a bed, Lady Matlock."
"No! Not before you tell me! I do not feel a thing."
"There has been a change in his condition, but we do not know if it is for the better."
"Argh! You are a physician! You ought to know!" Caroline cried. "What have you given him?"
The man named a few substances that did not sound as if they could possibly work.
"I forbid you to give him any more things! They obviously do not work!"
"But Lady Matlock --"
Caroline shook her head imperiously. "I shall not pay you for anything else you prescribe, so there! Will he be able to be with me?"
"Be with you?" the physician asked with a puzzled look.
"To help me!"
"Oh, most certainly not!" he replied in a shocked tone.
"Then I shall wait," she said with clenched teeth. "Susan, help me back upstairs." She burst into tears when she had reached her bed and she felt another stab of pain. "What do I do? I cannot have a baby without Richard, Susan, and that incompetent fool is only giving him fancy draughts that do not help a thing!"
Susan made her comfortable on the bed. "Shall I send for my grandmother, my Lady?"
Caroline wiped her eyes. "What does she do?"
"She knows a lot about illnesses."
"Oh, please, yes! And Susan, if my children become orphans," Caroline sniffed. "You must take them. You and Betty. I shall write it down."
Susan averted her face. "Please, you must not say such things. You will not die."
"I might if they do not give me Richard," Caroline said sadly.
Part 43
Richard had felt he was being taken away, but he had been a little too weak to protest against it. However, lying here alone in a strange room was not at all to his liking. He waited until Caroline came, but she did not. Only his mother came to his bedside.
"Caroline is not allowed to come," she told him gently. "It would be too dangerous for her and the baby."
Her absence was not good for him, because he worried about his own health and about Caroline's. What if she fell ill? What if she gave birth today? Or tomorrow, or another day when he was not sufficiently recovered to be present?
The doctor, who had never seen the symptoms of this illness combined with worries and a separation from loved ones, seemed to think he was seriously ill and it influenced Richard. Every fit of coughing was feared to be his last, and Richard was getting a little desperate when all the draughts he was given did nothing to improve his condition. He feared he was not going to recover in time. Even the local clergyman had come to attend to him in case of a deterioration, something that he could really do without.
Most of the time he saved his energies and he did not speak, trusting that his mother would tell him if Caroline was lying in, but he had to ask about James and Julia. "Are the children alright?" he asked with difficulty. He hoped they had not been sent away.
"They are being looked after very well," Lady Matlock reassured him.
"Where?"
"In the nursery. Caroline looks in on them as often as possible, so I have heard. You must not worry about them."
Richard was slowly recovering. The coughing became less and less, though he was still extremely tired and he slept for most of the day. The physician noted the change, but failed to interpret it correctly, because the patient was still troubled by his worries and still generally miserable because he had not seen Caroline and the twins for a while. "I shall go to the younger Lady Matlock to inform her of the changes, my Lady," he said to Lady Matlock.
He returned a while later with a serious expression. "I believe her Ladyship has gone into labour, and she has forbidden me to prescribe any more draughts to his Lordship."
"Go to her," Richard croaked and coughed violently. He really needed to recover now.
The physician spent most of his time walking from one to the other, and again he became seriously worried when Caroline did not show any progress. She was in pain, now and then, but nothing happened. It could not be right. He called in an expert midwife who agreed with him. It was taking extremely long and the lady was becoming exhausted from a lack of sleep. Whatever they did, they could not prompt the delivery.
Meanwhile, Richard had been seen to by Susan's grandmother, who had a good reputation for being knowledgeable about herbs and medicines, but no doctor would ever acknowledge her expertise. Richard's determination and her potions soon cured him of all the coughing and his fever went down too. He had been told, naturally, of Caroline's problems, and it gave him extra strength to get well, thought he dared not go to sleep in case something would happen then. He wondered why it had been two days since Caroline was first reported to be in pain and nothing had happened so far. Is she waiting for me? If so, I must not let her down. I must be there.
Richard was still feeling a little dizzy when he felt well enough to get up and go to Caroline, but he could handle dizziness. It was not so bad. Please, a few more minutes, a few more minutes, he said to himself as he went to the other part of the house. He met the doctor in the hall and became afraid when he saw his grave expression. "How is Caroline?" he asked anxiously. "What happened?"
"There is a complication. I doubt if both mother and child will survive. You are going to have to make a choice, my Lord," said the physician, who repressed the urge to ask him about his own health. If Lord Matlock was dressed and walking, he was obviously recovered enough.
Richard's mind was in a state of shock. He could barely comprehend what the physician told him. He did not want to comprehend it. Caroline could not die. It was impossible. "You must be wrong," he shook his head. He did not want to make a choice. He did not want to lose Caroline. Caroline was a healthy young woman. She could not die.
"No, my Lord."
"Yes!" Richard shouted. "She will survive! You are wrong!" Why had they forbidden him to attend the birth from the start? Just because he was ill! If he had been with Caroline, none of this would have happened. "I must see her."
The physician sighed. Lady Matlock was very weak. She had been awake for three days without sleeping. He really did not know if she would live. She would have to be exceptionally strong to survive this birth. As yet he had not seen many women do it.
The sight of his wife shocked Richard. She was paler than he had ever seen her. Her eyes were closed and she looked as if she was dead already, or at least as if any little push could push her over the edge. He was so afraid and he moved nearer carefully. "Caroline?" he asked fearfully.
She breathed heavily and opened her eyes. "I am so glad you are here," she said with a grimace of pain. "I have been waiting for you."
"The doctor says --" he broke off when she moaned.
It happened quickly. Two babies were born in rapid succession, but Richard did not look at them, because Caroline had sighed after the second one was born, and she had fainted.
"Caroline?" he cried. He saw she was not dead, because she was still breathing, but she was in a bad condition all the same. "Please, wake up."
"Your children are alive, my Lord," the physician said somewhere behind him. "You have a little boy and girl."
His words went right past Richard. He did not care about whatever Caroline had given birth to at this moment. Other matters were of more importance. He just sat there beside the bed holding her hand and talking to her, wishing he could do more.
Caroline's eyes opened. "Richard, I will not die," she mumbled, lifting one trembling hand to his tear-stained face. "Take good...care of the...children. I am so...tired. Must...go..." And her eyes closed again.
"Caroline?" Richard cried in agony. "Caro? Do not leave me," he sobbed, burying his head in her chest. "Wake up. Wake up again. Show me you are not dead. Come back. Speak to me. Caro?"
"It only helps to pray to the Lord, my Lord," said Mr. Withers, the clergyman in attendance who had come as soon as he had heard of Lord Matlock's condition, but who had departed for Lady Matlock's bedside as soon as Richard was improving. "Life is in his hands."
"I could kill you right here and disprove that," Richard retorted.
His mother had come closer when he cried out and laid her hand on his shoulder. "Richard..."
"Mother, tell me she is not dead," he asked desperately.
"She is still breathing, darling," she said gently. "Come with me and let the doctor take care of her. Come and take a look at your children." Lady Matlock was close to tears herself, but as a widow she knew life went on. "They are alive. Do you not want to see them? They have been in this world for a while now and yet you have not even done so much as look at them." He has to come with me. They are so weak. He will never forgive himself if he did not look at them before they...before they....
Richard let himself be pushed out of the room. He hardly saw where he was going. There was a wet mist before his eyes that hindered his vision.