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Part 59
The next day began early as usual, with the babies demanding attention before dawn. Richard always went for a walk before breakfast and lately he had only been taking the twins, because Caroline had been too tired. "I want to come," Caroline informed him and he rang for a servant to dress the twins. They had to wait until Caroline finished so she could dress herself, but finally they could go downstairs with the impatient James and Julia, stopping briefly in the breakfast parlour to have a drink.
Usually they did not venture out very far when they were not alone, because they could keep an eye on the children perfectly on the lawn, and it was much harder in the shrubbery. Richard had brought a little ball to amuse them with and he and Caroline walked around in circles on the lawn, occasionally throwing the ball or picking up a fallen child, while Julia and James hobbled somewhere in between, chasing after the ball, or to pick up leaves that they very enthusiastically presented to Caroline.
When Richard dropped to the ground -- much to Caroline's dismay -- they were delighted, and they immediately threw themselves at him.
"Do that inside," Caroline begged. "The grass is wet and the earth is cold and I do not want you to fall ill again."
Richard got to his feet reluctantly. "Alright. We shall do it later in the ballroom," he promised the twins. "Do you want to see the rabbits?"
"Yes!" James said and they visited all the animals.
When they had returned inside and they had got rid of their coats and gloves and hats and scarves, Richard took the twins to the ballroom. "I suppose you did not have a ballroom at home when you were little, Caroline?"
"No."
"Poor girl. You probably think it is just a room to hold balls in."
"I am beginning to doubt," she replied. Since the twins could walk, Richard had shown her many other things that could be done in there.
"It can serve many purposes. I quite like it. And the floor...do you see the floor?"
"What is so remarkable about the floor?"
"Polished. Shiny. Fast." He lay down on his back on the floor and lifted up the first child within reach and held it in the air. "Want to fly? Do you like it? Yes, you do!" He pushed himself off with his feet and slid across the floor on his back. "Can you do it with the other one, Caroline?" he asked when he saw that the other one was getting jealous.
"No!"
He sighed and put Julia down and let James fly for a while. "And now we are going to have breakfast."
Caroline inspected his back, expecting it to be dirty, but it was presentable enough for the breakfast parlour. "No, we are not going to have breakfast. We are going to wash our hands first."
"Good morning," Richard greeted his mother and Captain Riley who had just come down for breakfast.
The captain looked rather surprised. "Were they in that basket last night?" he asked, referring to the twins. "They look rather too big for it."
"Oh no," Richard waved it off carelessly. "We have more of them." He provided the child assigned to him with something to eat. "This is my eldest daughter, but the one you heard last night was probably my other daughter, or my other son."
"I thought you were outside? But I heard you in the ballroom?" Lady Matlock asked. "Good morning, Georgiana."
"Good morning," Georgiana said shyly, for she feared she was late.
"It is a bit chilly," said Caroline. "And the ground is cold, is it not, Richard?"
"It is. That is why we went into the ballroom. The floor is better there."
"Not the pillow thing again?" Lady Matlock asked warily.
"What do you know about that, Mother?" Richard asked in surprise. "We concealed that from everybody! Did Catherine tell you?"
"What pillow thing?" Caroline wondered.
"When I was little, we used to go there with pillows and then we would run and slide. We would be there really early, when everyone was still asleep and they would not know because we would surely be punished. I always thought we had managed to keep it a secret from everybody, but now it turns out that Mama knows all about it!"
"Of course," Lady Matlock remarked mockingly. "How can you expect it to remain a secret when you ruin a pillow a week?"
"It was not that often!" Richard protested.
"It was not very clever of any of you to maintain that the pillow was ripped in your bedchamber while the down and feathers were all over the ballroom."
"All over the ballroom? We cleaned it up very carefully every time!"
"Most of them, but not all. The maids frequently discovered feathers there, and I am far from being stupid."
"We were so anxious when it had happened again," Richard recalled indignantly. "Because we thought we would be found out, but we need not have fretted so much, because you knew all along! Do you know how long it took us to pick up those feathers one by one? Thank you very much!"
Everybody laughed as they imagined the scene.
After breakfast Riley had to have a little patience, for Richard had said he would accompany him into town, but he had to attend to some business first. He changed into another set of clothes, watched one baby being bathed for a while, and then went off to find his guest and to lay the bathed baby in its downstairs cot while it was the other one's turn.
Captain Riley had found that his horse had been taken care of, and that the problem had not been serious, for the animal would be able to take him to Matlock. He was just saying it to Georgiana, and he watched with interest as Richard entered the room talking to a bundle of undergarments.
"I am almost ready to leave," Richard told him. "After I put him in his bed." He placed the bundle on the sofa, removed one or two of the blankets, and laid the baby in the cot. "Please do not take him out, Georgiana," he reminded her.
"I know."
"Do you need anything from town?" It was Caroline's birthday the day after, so he would have to go shopping anyway.
"I do not think so. Well, perhaps some red string."
"Red string?" Richard said doubtfully. "I shall try."
"Like this," Georgiana gave him a piece.
"Thank you."
They took their leave of her, and the captain expressed the polite wish of meeting her again, and Georgiana hoped he sincerely meant it, for he was quite agreeable.
Richard also found him to be an agreeable companion as they rode to Matlock, and he had seen that Georgiana liked him too, so made up his mind to invite him to dinner some time.
"I understand you stayed with the Matlocks," the Viscountess Waltham remarked. "We were quite surprised when we received the note. Are they not a trifle eccentric?"
"Not at all. Why?" Captain Riley asked.
"They are rumoured to be eccentric and to keep themselves to themselves almost obsessively."
"On the contrary," Riley said with a puzzled expression on his face. "I found them very sociable and very sane."
"Really? Apparently they hardly ever come into Matlock. I wonder why."
"Considering that Lord Matlock accompanied me hither and that he certainly seemed to know his way about the town, I do not think the rumours are correct in that aspect," Riley said with a slight smile.
His brother Lord Waltham nodded sagely. "I could not believe them either. Frankly it baffled me how a man could arrange his business without ever coming into town. I bet the problem was that he does not give enough balls, an issue that is frequently a bone of contention among one's acquaintance." He himself had often been chided for not giving more than five balls a year.
"And it will remain so in my gracious hosts' case," Riley predicted. "I do not see that they are physically able to survive a ball without falling asleep."
"Goodness, Henry," exclaimed his sister-in-law. "How old are they?"
"Oh," Riley screwed up his face. "The old Lady Matlock seems to be in her fifties. Subtract something reasonable from that for her son, and something reasonable from that for his son."
"Henry! That does not tell me anything. They could be sixty, forty, and twenty. Or fifty, twenty-five, and a baby."
"Alright," Riley conceded with a smile. "The eldest son is about this tall." He held his hand a short distance above the floor. "And the youngest son is still nothing but a load of white cloths. And they have a girl of either size, too. I do not know how old those sizes would make them exactly, other than that they are not yet fully articulate, but I know Lord Matlock is thirty-two. His wife will be twenty-eight tomorrow, and their cousin is eighteen."
"And they informed you of all that?" Lady Waltham asked curiously.
"I happened to be speaking to Lord Matlock about ranks, and he told me he was a colonel for two years before he came into the title, and he was twenty-eight when he became a colonel. Considering that he seems to have been married to Lady Matlock for a little over two years, I think he must be thirty-two. He also told me that his wife will have her birthday tomorrow, and he told me what he got her for her twenty-sixth and her last birthdays, and that he was at a loss what to get her now, so therefore I assumed that she must be turning twenty-eight tomorrow."
"And by which cleverness did you deduce their cousin's age?" his brother asked.
"No cleverness. She told us herself."
Part 60
"We are having guests to dinner, do you remember?" Caroline asked Richard when he arrived home rather late. Everybody had already gone up to change.
"I had forgotten," he apologised. We really have to do something about the nursery, he thought, when he knocked against the babies' cot in his dressing room. If James and Julia were not so terribly particular about which room they slept in, we could have removed them to another room, and put the babies in the nursery, instead of clogging up my dressing room with that cot and cluttering my table with piles of nappies.
It had seemed a good idea, but he had not known he would knock against the cot at every turn and he had at least expected them to put the nappies in a drawer. Richard pulled one open that he knew to be empty, but to his amazement it contained things belonging to him that had previously been in another drawer. He pulled their original drawer open and he was not surprised to find it full of baby shirts. With a sigh he closed it again.
"Richard?" Caroline called. "Are you ready?"
"Not nearly," he said to himself. "Almost!"
"Do you remember who are coming to dinner?"
"Not really. Have you seen my comb?"
"The Maxwells, and no, I have not seen your comb. What would I do with your comb?"
"Do your hair?" he suggested. "The people I have not seen yet?"
"Yes, those. Your hair looks fine," said Caroline, who viewed him from the door. "I am more concerned about the rest of your appearance. Really! Should you not put on some breeches or trousers?"
"Caroline....I cannot do everything at the same time. Be glad that I do not have to choose my own clothes, because they have already been laid out for me."
"That would save time," she agreed. "Morgan waited for you, you know, but I dismissed him."
"That is alright. I have no problems dressing or undressing anyone, least of all myself." Richard stuck to his words, for he was ready in under five minutes. "May I escort you down, my Lady?" he asked.
"That will be our guests," said Caroline when they were in the hall. She had heard a carriage approaching. "Let us go into the drawing-room and pretend we were there for the past half hour."
"I had been wondering who would be here sooner," Lady Matlock said sarcastically. "You, or your guests."
"I was delayed in town, Mama."
"Mr. Maxwell, Mrs. Maxwell," the footman announced. The guests were shown in and they exchanged greetings and introductions. Mr. Maxwell was a serious young man and evidently very fond of his wife. Mrs. Maxwell seemed to bubble with excitement, but whether this was the result of being invited to dine with an Earl or for some other mysterious reason was not very clear.
"I am sorry if we were slightly late," Mrs. Maxwell apologised as the dinner gong was sounded barely a minute later. "But I had gone into town."
"I was there too, but I regret to say that I did not see you, Mrs. Maxwell. But that is probably because I had not seen you before," said Richard.
"I saw you, though, Lord Matlock," Mrs. Maxwell replied gravely. "At first I wondered at your behaviour, but then I realised you were probably doing the Geoffrey thing."
The party proceeded into the dining room and everybody but the Maxwells wondered what Mrs. Maxwell could have meant. Richard revised his behaviour, but he had not done anything strange at all when he was in town.
"Fiona," Mr. Maxwell whispered to his wife. "I think you ought to explain yourself."
"I did not mean anything bad by it," Mrs. Maxwell said. "But I saw you duck into shops rather suspiciously. Geoffrey always does that when he sees his aunts approaching."
"I think all men do that when they see their aunts approaching," Richard said dryly and Mr. Maxwell nodded in agreement. He did not seem to mind that his wife was abusing his aunts.
"My brother does not," Georgiana declared. It would perhaps offend Lady Matlock if she said Darcy did it too.
"Thank you, Georgiana," said Lady Matlock.
"I can just see Darcy run towards Aunt Catherine and greet her warmly," Richard laughed.
"I did not mean Aunt Catherine," Georgiana protested.
"But Mrs. Maxwell...my aunt lives in Kent. Did you discover whom I was running from?"
"No, because I have no interest in your affairs, my Lord," Mrs. Maxwell said frankly. "I merely recognised you and debated whether I should greet you and say I was coming to dine with you, but I thought that would perhaps be very odd if you had not met me yet and it was so busy in the street that I dared not attempt it, for fear of receiving strange looks."
"I can just imagine Mrs. Price-Hoxley overhearing that," Caroline said delightedly. "She would be shocked beyond reason and she would immediately come to warn me of my husband's defective memory."
"The first time that she did that to me -- for she has been keeping a concerned eye on everybody these thirty years at least -- I told her that my husband was slightly eccentric, to phrase it mildly," said Lady Matlock. "And she did not bother me ever again."
Part 61
"I must leave you in the good care of my mother and cousin for a while," said Caroline to Mrs. Maxwell when the ladies retired after dinner. "I have to take care of the babies. Please excuse me." She increased her pace when she could hear them cry from afar. She opened the door and entered. "Hush, I am here." Carefully she lifted one out seated herself on the couch and received the other one from the nurse. "They know what is going to happen," she said proudly to the nurse. "They stopped crying. I am sorry that I was late, but dinner took a little bit longer than I had expected."
"That is alright, my Lady," the nurse answered. "I am used to crying babies. The only thing I mind is the temperature in this room."
A child dribbled into the room. "Jamie! What are you doing out of bed?" Caroline cried.
"Mama kiss," he whined and scratched his arm.
"Jamie, let go of my knees," she said gently. "Where is Julia?"
James inclined his head. "Julie bed."
"What is wrong? Tell Mama."
He waved his arm and moaned.
"What is wrong with your arm, darling? Is it under your sleeve? Pull it up," Caroline said. She could not do it herself, with the baby twins in her arms.
"Let me do it," said the nurse helpfully. She knelt down beside James and rolled up his sleeve. He had a little red bump on his arm. "Poor dear! He has been bitten, Lady Matlock. I'll put something on it. Come with me," she held out her hand to James and took him to the other room while Caroline rang the bell to order an onion.
Downstairs, Lady Matlock, Mrs. Maxwell and Georgiana had an interesting time as well. Lady Matlock had received another letter from her sister-in-law. "Your Aunt Catherine shall be lying in next month," she told Georgiana.
"Lying in?" Georgiana asked in shock. She did not know anything about it. "Aunt Catherine?"
"Yes."
"Aunt Catherine? Lady Catherine De Bourgh?" she asked, in case there was another aunt by the name of Catherine that she did not remember.
"Yes, that one."
Georgiana was still shocked. "Do you mean she will have a child?"
"Do you mean to say that you did not know?"
"No."
"I wonder if she only informed me about it then," Lady Matlock frowned. "I know she is still a little vexed with your brother and perhaps it is not a subject she would wish to inform him about."
"But she is old!" Georgiana protested. "She has Anne and Anne is older than I am. Anne should have a child, not Aunt Catherine."
"My dear, such are the ways of nature."
Georgiana giggled. "I cannot imagine it! Aunt Catherine fussing over a baby and telling everyone what to do with it, yes! But cuddling it, no!"
"Is that as bad as the thought of Lady Tansley around a baby?" Mrs. Maxwell inquired.
"They were childhood friends," Lady Matlock said with a twinkle. "Lady Tansley is quite as bad, I think." Mrs. Maxwell shifted in her chair, but she was so obviously having difficulties in concealing something that Lady Matlock wondered that Mr. Maxwell had not noticed anything.
The gentlemen had been discussing cards, apparently, for Richard immediately proposed a game. Georgiana started out, but when Caroline returned she gave up her place and opened the folding doors to play on the pianoforte.
"What do you know of Mr. Poole and Mr. Peel?" Mr. Maxwell asked of Richard. "I got the impression they visited me to gain my favour for some very dubious reasons."
"Yes, they want to become mayor."
"They did not mention that. Odd that they should come to a newcomer to win his support."
"Some people think first impressions last. Besides, newcomers will still receive them. I am always out when they call. They can get dreadfully tedious. I cannot avoid seeing them in town, however, unless," Richard smiled at Mrs. Maxwell. "I duck into a shop."
"Am I to understand that you support neither?"
"I support the third candidate, but he has not come forward yet."
Part 62
It was still dark when Richard woke up. Something had woken him, but he knew not what. He lay still for a while until he heard some sounds from the baby room. He had better take a look before they would really open their mouths and start screaming. As he stumbled out of bed, he tried to remember when their nursing hour was. Caroline certainly did not look ready for anything. She was fast asleep.
One of his babies was restless, but the other one was sleeping peacefully. Richard wondered if the sleeping one would notice the absence of his or her twin. He thought not, and if he was wrong, the child would no doubt let him know soon enough. He lifted the fussing baby out of the cot and took it back to bed, but it would not go to sleep. It was colder in his room since the fire was not on there, and to keep the little thing warm he put it under his shirt and opened some more buttons so that the small head peeked out.
"Now, let us hope that your Mama does not assault me without knowing you are there," he grinned. His grin faded when the other baby began to protest from the other room. He had not lain for more than a minute. "What is it with you two?" he whispered in exasperation. "Do you have some invisible bond?"
Pressing the baby against his chest with one hand he walked back and experienced some difficulties in lifting up the other one too. When he had finally got them back into bed with him, he faced another problem. His collar was not wide enough for three heads. He took off his shirt and let them lie against his bare chest. "I see this is what you were after," he said dryly when they settled into a comfortable sleep with small sounds of satisfaction. "But my shoulders are getting cold."
He could not fall asleep now, and it was getting lighter anyway, so he lay thinking. He began to be able to see the hands on the clock and they slowly moved towards the time when he knew the twins would wake Caroline. They were usually very punctual, but now they remained quiet and Caroline stayed asleep because she did not hear them. Richard had been feeling them move now and then, but now they were certainly becoming very bold. He could not help laughing at it. "Caroline?" he tried. "Caroline!"
"How dare you wake me before my time?" she grumbled.
"Before your time?" he gasped. "It feels as if they have begun without you."
One of them began to cry when its attempts to suck turned out to be futile. "Are you trying to nurse them?" Caroline cried when she heard the cries coming from nearby.
"I am not, they are!"
Caroline lit a candle and snorted. "What are they doing there?"
"They asked for it."
"How?"
"Well, they did not say no and they fell asleep as soon as I put them there, so it must be what they wanted."
"I do not blame them," said Caroline. "They are my children, you know."
"Oh really? I thought they liked it because I am their father."
Caroline observed the bulge the babies made under the covers on Richard's stomach and laughed. "You look as if you are with child."
"I am with child, you genius. With two children, even," said Richard. He heard a suspicious noise in the nursery. "And I shall be with four children if you do not take these quickly. I must instruct the troops."
"What must you do?" Caroline asked as she carefully transferred one baby from Richard to herself. He helped her with the second one and grinned. "What are you doing?" He kissed her and got out of bed. Caroline looked at his bare upper body. " Your ribs are showing. You have lost weight since before you were ill."
Richard patted his ribs and winked. "Not as much as you." He tiptoed towards the nursery. The door was usually kept open and he peered in. "Still in bed?" he asked in surprise, stepping into the room. "What is happening here?"
Part 63
They were not actually in bed, but dancing on it, rather, and laughing when the other fell. "Eh, eh, eh!" said Richard sternly. "It is a wonder that you have not fallen off yet! No! No jumping. But I have some fun news for you," he said when their faces fell. "We are going to do exactly what Mama wants today."
He walked back to put his shirt back on, because in only his trousers he could not call Betty to dress the twins. Of course they followed him, having quickly slid off the bed. He lifted them up briefly so they could kiss Caroline without disturbing their brother and sister and then he put them back down.
Richard pulled on his shirt and walked into his dressing room where he started rummaging through a drawer. James was always fond of that and eagerly helped him by throwing everything out. "No," Richard said patiently. "Only these." He showed James a small wrapped-up parcel. "Bring to Mama," he said when he had found four of them.
Downstairs, the nursery bell rang and shortly afterwards Caroline's bell rang twice. "Are the children playing with the bell chord again?" asked Betty, who had once been called up by an unknowing James.
"I rather think it is his Lordship," the nurse commented. It seemed she had been right when Richard's bell rang too. "Her Ladyship would not run from room to room so quickly."
A few other servants snickered. It was a public secret that such a thing occasionally happened, especially when her Ladyship was chased by his Lordship. Several footmen -- who were not present -- could attest to that, and so could Susan. "Oh, Mrs. Cox! You do not know Lady Matlock other than recovering from childbirth. I had better finish my tea and see what she wants. I think you might be needed too, since the bell was rung twice."
All four children needed to be washed and clothed and such things took very long. Richard was the first to be ready, but he had other things to see to and besides, the nurse needed his dressing room for the babies.
He had not checked if James had actually delivered the gifts to his mother, and when Caroline looked in the mirror she saw four small packages on the floor of her bedchamber and James making an untidy pile of them. "What are those?" she asked Susan, who had a better view of it.
"I have no idea, my Lady. They look like presents."
"What have you got there, James?" Caroline called.
He was already dressed and he was playing while Julia was being attended to, and he suddenly remembered what he had been told to do with the parcels. "Bring Mama," and he dropped them one by one in Caroline's lap.
"Thank you, dear." She looked a little puzzled, but then realised what day it was. James took off with her hairbrush and lost interest as she began to tear off the paper. She uncovered four identical jewellery boxes and placed them in a row. "Hmm." Caroline looked into them in turn and smiled. "Come here, James."
James did not come.
"Jamie?"
James looked up from his adventures with the hairbrush and ran towards her when she repeated her question. Caroline cuddled him. "Thank you, although I cannot imagine that you picked it out yourself, illiterate as you are. Pass my cuddle on, will you?"
She gazed at the four rings. Each of them had a tiny gilded letter on the band. The two with the J's were bigger than the ones with the A and the L. It was no surprise to find that they all fit her -- two on her middle fingers and two on her little fingers. "I miss the R," she remarked teasingly to Susan, but she really liked the gift.
"But you have your wedding ring," Susan pointed out.
That was true. Caroline waved her hands and studied how they looked with so many rings. "I wonder -- does he want me to walk around like this?"
"I think he does, but you always used to wear so many rings until you got married."
Caroline had almost forgotten. She had not worn them often anymore to give her wedding ring prominence.
When Julia was ready too, she took her and James downstairs. The babies had already disappeared. Either the nurse or Richard had taken them somewhere, but they were no longer in their room. She went to the breakfast room, feeling rather hungry and expecting everyone to be there, but it was empty. To have received presents but not being able to show them to anyone but the ones who had supposedly given them but who were not at all interested, was a trifle disappointing. Her mother-in-law and Georgiana had probably gone to church, she realised and frowned. Surely Richard has not gone with them? She stood staring at the empty chairs with a child by each hand when an arm slid around her waist and she was kissed softly in her neck.
Richard turned her head so he could kiss her properly.
"Where was the R?" Caroline managed to say in a voice that was as unsteady as her knees.
He had to catch her when she burst out laughing at his look. He looked down at the child holding her hand. "Let go of Mama's hand, Julia. I need it." Slowly he slid another ring onto an empty finger. "You amaze me. Am I so transparent?"
"No, I think I am, if you knew I would want one for you too."
"Well, I thought that with the babies all giving you a ring, a simple kiss from me would not suffice."
"Oh, I do not know about that," she said, still spinning a little. "Where is everyone? It is a good thing they are not here."
"A good thing indeed, for they would have chided me for getting you such a small gift, especially Georgiana, who receives pianofortes all year round."
Part 64
When Lady Matlock and Georgiana returned from church, the other members of the family were nowhere to be found. "Have they gone out, Aunt?" Georgiana asked.
"I do not know where they are. If they need us, they will show themselves," said Lady Matlock calmly.
"But Aunt, if they have gone out and they encounter the vicar, he will think you lied about Richard being indisposed," Georgiana said worriedly.
"He was mentally indisposed, dear."
"That sounds very odd. Does the vicar know it was mental and not physical?"
"I believe he does. He has had profound discussions with Richard and he has given him up entirely. But he has not yet determined Caroline's views on the matter, so he is still trying to figure them out without offending his patron's wife. Do not worry, dear. The vicar does not blame me for making up excuses. What will you do today, Georgiana? I have a few letters to write."
"I shall write some too then and perhaps I shall read a little."
"Do you want to go to London for the season?" Lady Matlock asked.
"I should like to, but --" Georgiana paused. "Nobody is going. I suppose I shall have to wait until next year."
"Everybody seems to be too busy with their children. If Anne had gone herself I daresay she would have taken you, but Anne is not the sort of person who enjoys assemblies. I shall either stay here or go to Lady Catherine -- because I am immensely curious -- and so I shall not be available this year. Would you mind my asking one of my friends to accompany you?"
Georgiana looked alarmed. "I do not want to go with someone I do not know."
"All my friends are extremely nice."
"But still...I should feel very uncomfortable," Georgiana said nervously. "I should not know what to say and I should come across as very awkward."
"You know some of them. Do you know Mrs. Marriott?"
"Yes," Georgiana admitted.
"Well? Do you like her?"
Georgiana said nothing. She did not want to say that liking Mrs. Marriott was an entirely different matter from coming out under Mrs. Marriott's supervision, for fear of offending her aunt. Perhaps her aunt would think that she criticised her friends.
"Lady Tully?"
Lady Tully would be better. "I like her."
"I shall write to her right away, if you want."
"If she would not mind?" Georgiana said anxiously.
"We shall never know if we do not ask. But dear, why do you wish to go if it so obviously scares you?"
Georgiana looked at her hands. "Well, I do not have many friends of near my age and I hardly see them. I should like to meet more of them, and so many girls of my age will attend the season that I thought I could become friends with some of them."
Lady Matlock smiled. "That relieves me. I was worried that you wished to get a husband."
"Oh, no," Georgiana blushed. "Not yet."
"It would never hurt to see some young men and the mischief they can be up to, if only to establish what you do not want."
Georgiana was taken aback. "That is exactly why William would rather not have me go."
"But he is both a man and your older brother. He sees things differently."
"I suppose so. I shall go up to my room to fetch my book."
Lady Matlock seated herself at a writing desk. "Very well, dear." She thought for a while and then wrote a short letter to Lady Catherine, saying that she would come down to Kent. Caroline seemed to be doing fine and she could be spared for a few weeks. She then laboured on a letter to her friend Lady Tully, to ask her the favour for Georgiana.
Georgiana had not returned, and Lady Matlock assumed that she was reading her book elsewhere, but Georgiana had happened on Betty in the nursery when she was searching for a warmer room to read in than her bedchamber. She stopped to look at the clothes Betty was making. "I am surprised to see you working today. Must you work every day? Can you never go shopping?"
"I am not really working. I'm only here to compare my work with their clothes. I like doing this. And I can go to town when I want, if I have someone to replace me. Her Ladyship is very lenient. Besides, she has the children with her very often, like today."
"Do you know where they are?" Georgiana asked. "My aunt and I wondered."
"Did nobody downstairs know? Ahh...well..." Betty shifted. "Then I suppose it is some sort of secret."
"Oh," said Georgiana. "Then I shall not inquire any further."
"Oh, I do not know it either," Betty hastened to say. "Susan might know, but she has gone for tea with Ronald's parents."
"Who is he?"
"You must know him. He's is the master's valet. He is engaged to my sister."
"I did not know they were engaged."
"Since this morning," Betty smiled. "But Susan does not know what her Ladyship will say about it."
"Congratulations?" Georgiana suggested.
Her Ladyship was at that moment lying on a blanket, enjoying something that would have been called a picnic, had it been outside.
Part 65
"Where were you?" Georgiana asked curiously.
"I am not at liberty to say," said Richard. "For if I disclose the location, all you ladies will want to hold your picnics there because there are no crawling little things."
"I do not think there is any danger of that," Lady Matlock commented. "All us ladies take more pride in our appearance than you seem to do. We would not venture to that place for the world if it will make us look as dishevelled as you look."
"Oh," said Richard, wondering how he looked, but not doing anything about it.
"I do not care about my looks, but I do care about crawling little things. Where can we hold picnics in peace?" Georgiana asked.
"It all depends on whom you take for company," Richard said seriously. "I did not say that I had a peaceful picnic."
"Yes, you did," said his mother. She did not need words. "And I daresay that though perhaps there were no crawling little things, there were some crawling bigger things."
"Oh saints," said Georgiana. "Like mice?"
"Slightly bigger."
Georgiana gasped and shivered. "Ugh."
"You are too nice, Georgiana," Richard chuckled. "They only attack people who deserve it."
"Richard..." Lady Matlock began. "Would you mind if I went to Aunt Catherine's?"
"When?"
"Before she has a child, preferably."
"Oh. Do not force me to come," he joked. "Seriously, though. You should ask Caroline if she can manage without you."
"Yes, but what do you think? I do not want any reproaches afterwards. I do not want this house in chaos when I am gone."
"I do not think that will happen. I am there, am I not?" Richard asked.
"Dear, that is exactly why I am concerned. Who knows what things you might come up with in a sudden burst of creativity. I can imagine coming back and finding you are all sleeping in the drawing room for the sake of convenience."
"Not all of us, certainly! Mama, when did you last sleep next to a full nursery?"
"Your twins are by no means naughtier than you and Catherine and Edward." Lady Matlock sighed as she spoke her dead son's name.
A silence fell as they all thought of him. Richard could think of him with tolerable composure, but he knew his mother was still grieving. He gave her a hug. "I must go now. My bath awaits me."
His manservant informed him rather hesitantly that he was now engaged, not knowing whether his master would now dismiss him, but he need not have worried. "I saw it coming," said Richard with satisfaction. "I do not see many of those things coming, but I did see this one." He handed James to him. "Here, you need to practise holding things like this now, Ronald. Before you know it, you will have four of them and their mothers always try to get you to keep one busy."
Part 66
"Who is that, Jamie?" Richard asked James when they sat in front of the mirror to wait for Caroline and Julia. James pointed at their reflections and looked if his father was looking at what he was pointing at. "Yes. I see what you see. Who is that?"
"Dada."
"Yes, and?"
"Dada."
"Who is the little one? The one waving about?"
James wriggled a little and Richard felt something warm on his leg. He quickly lifted James up, but he was too late. "James!" he exclaimed. "Ugh!"
James looked very innocent and laughed because he was lifted up into the air. He seemed unaware of what he had just done.
"Ugh!" Richard repeated. "Ugh, ugh, ugh! Why does this always happen to me? Why not to Caroline? Do we have any dry bathrobes, Ronald?"
"You do, my Lord, but Master James does not."
"Well, he shall be wrapped in a towel. Serves him right." Richard changed bathrobes and carried James under his arm to Caroline's room.
"Oh, there you are," she said, trying to tie Julia's hair back with a ribbon. "I am afraid Julia does not like her hair done nicely. She keeps pulling it out." She put away Julia's ribbon and sighed. "It is just my luck that when my little girl's hair is finally long enough for me to play with, she refuses to like it."
"Why would you want to play with her hair? She is not a doll."
"Oh, you would not understand. You are a man."
Richard shrugged and supposed this was one of those fundamental differences that he sometimes sensed. It was best not to go into the matter, or else they would be discussing it for the next hour. Caroline seemed to be a little touchy as it was. "I know when to hold my tongue."
"Why are you holding James in such an odd way?"
"He wet my bathrobe."
"I am glad he did it to you for a change," she said with satisfaction.
"Am I not his only victim?" Richard asked curiously. Caroline's lip quivered. He did not know whether she was going to laugh or cry.
"Oh, Richard!" she exclaimed pitifully. "Why do you think I sent him to you?"
It was to be crying, he saw, and he put down James to embrace her. "What is wrong, Caroline?"
Caroline sighed. "This is my fifth bathrobe! I did not even know I had so many of them!"
"Your fifth?"
She pointed to a pile in a corner. "All of them! One after the other!" she sniffled. "And on my birthday, too!"
Richard squeezed her tighter and took care to keep his face out of her sight. He had an enormous desire to laugh.
Caroline nudged him crossly. "You are laughing. I feel it. You are shaking all over."
"It is funny," he choked.
"No, it is not."
"Tomorrow you will think so."
"I doubt that."
"What? Even sooner than tomorrow?" he teased.
"I was hoping for a little sympathy," Caroline pouted. "You may think it is funny, but I assure you that after number three you no longer think it funny at all."
"You have my sympathy. Am I not holding you at this very moment? Despite --" he choked again. "And I will not tell anyone, although all the servants will undoubtedly know of it, especially the laundry maids. You will be universally pitied. Think of one very useful consequence, however. You would never have known that you had so many bathrobes."
"To be sure, that is a very useful thing to know," she said sarcastically.
"Although," Richard pushed her away and eyed her critically. "I do believe this used to be one of mine in a distant past."
"Yes, it is. I appropriated it when my grew out of my other ones, and I forgot to give it back when the twins were born."
"I think you must be talking about the first twins," said Richard. "Who, by the way, are now doing something they should not be doing. I think it is time we took that bath." He lifted up Julia.
Caroline took James who had his arm stuck in a stocking, but who was not wearing else. "What was he wearing?"
"A towel."
"I do not see it anywhere. Well, no matter." She grabbed another one and wrapped him in it.
Part 67
"Mother, will may aunt come to assist you when you will have your child?" asked Mrs. Marsden with a boldness that surprised her mother. "You will need --"
"What do you know of such things, Anne? How can you advise me?"
"Remember that I spent some time with my cousin when he was in London."
"I find it very strange that his wife should speak to you about it," said Lady Catherine.
"I asked for it." Anne decided not to shock her mother by saying that it had been her cousin himself and not his wife who had spoken to her about such things.
"It is a mother's duty," said Lady Catherine, who could not very well bear the thought of Anne being instructed in anything by people other than herself.
"Yes, Mother," said Anne. "But will Aunt Matlock come or will Caroline need her?"
"Lady Matlock is a capable woman," Lady Catherine hoped. "And if we are to believe the reports, my nephew is an exemplary husband."
"But --" said Anne, wanting to bring up the four little Fitzwilliams.
"I know, Anne. You are going to say that no husband is more exemplary than yours, but --"
General Tilney, who had been engrossed in reading the news, but who now felt a keen interest in the conversation, lowered his newspaper expectantly. He waited for his wife to put him forward as the only exemplary husband and he was a little put out when she did no such thing.
"-- no husbands are," was Lady Catherine's definite opinion.
"Well, Catherine --" General Tilney felt compelled to say.
"You, sir, have too high an opinion of yourself," his wife informed him.
The General folded up his newspaper in an ominous manner and Anne excused herself. Her mother's temper was bad, but she feared the General's even more. She left the room quickly.
General Tilney had folded his newspaper meticulously and now carefully placed it beside him. "Do I?"
"Indeed you do. Did you not expect me to say something in your favour? Did you not --"
"Indeed I did. It was your wifely duty to do so," was the General's opinion.
"I disagree with you, Tilney. I --"
"Yes," he interrupted. "And may I know why you refuse to grant me what is rightfully mine?"
"It is not a question of right, but a question of merit!" Lady Catherine breezed.
"And I do not merit it?"
"Tilney, there are times when you are exceedingly --"
"I have heard enough," the General bellowed.
"Will you never let me finish my sentences?" asked a very vexed Lady Catherine.
"Defeat the enemy before he becomes dangerous," General Tilney lectured.
"Are you afraid of me?" Lady Catherine's eyes gleamed.
"A woman with child is a formidable opponent. I never know what mood you will be in."
"You should have thought of that before you allowed it to be so," his wife pointed out.
General Tilney could not think of any sensible argument to defend himself with, but he would not surrender. "You should not have concealed from me that it was possible."
Lady Catherine looked very self-satisfied. "Weak argument, Tilney."
He picked up his newspaper again and was determined not to be drawn in any further.
Lady Catherine wanted to read the newspaper, but knew it could be a while before her husband would give it up, especially now. She left the room to speak with her housekeeper instead. In the hall she came upon her stepson Major Tilney -- recently promoted -- who was treating his step-brother-in-law Colonel Marsden to the latest Army gossip, one seated on the stairs and the other leaning over the banister. "Could you gentlemen not find chairs?" she asked disapprovingly.
"We dared not occupy any in case your Ladyship should want to sit down," said Tilney rakishly.
Lady Catherine ignored him and wondered when the Major's leave expired. She had a word with the housekeeper, and afterwards found the General had disappeared and left the newspaper behind. When she had read it, she sat for a while to think about the situation. It had been so long since she had had Anne that she did not know if she remembered what she had to do with a baby. If her sister-in-law could not come, she would not know what to do. And who could blame Maria if she preferred to stay with Lady Matlock? She had just had even more twins. Lady Catherine shuddered to think about it.
Part 68
Lady Matlock had agreed with Caroline that she would come to Northanger Abbey for a few weeks. Lady Catherine had always preferred the country to town, but her sister-in-law had always assumed that it was because she was quite influential in the vicinity of Rosings. She could not have much influence around the Abbey.
Caroline felt a small pang of panic when she saw the carriage bear her mother-in-law away, but the following days proved that she could manage very well on her own, with Georgiana helping out by keeping the children busy, and with Richard occasionally taking one into town with him.
Mrs. Maxwell came a few times to visit her and the two ladies had sorted out all the gifts the babies had received. Some things Caroline did not need she gave to her new friend, who was to have her baby in almost seven months.
"Georgiana, you seem a little withdrawn," Mrs. Maxwell remarked when she saw Georgiana frown again.
"Yes, she is a little vexed with me because she may not hold the babies yet," Caroline replied. They were safely in her arms.
"Elizabeth allowed me to hold Vicky right from the start," Georgiana protested. "Do you not trust me?"
"Would I leave the bigger ones in your care if I did not trust you? Besides, I am not Elizabeth and my babies are not like Victoria. They are very delicate still, whereas Victoria entered the world as a plump little --"
"Caroline!" Georgiana cried. "She is my niece! I thought she was very adorable."
"I did not say she was not adorable. In fact, one can be plump and adorable," said Caroline.
Richard had a gift for appearing in the middle of conversations and for never waiting until he knew what was being discussed before he joined in, especially not when Caroline was speaking; in society he generally had better manners. "I disagree," he called when he entered the room, seating himself at Caroline's feet to better observe his baby twins.
Georgiana was displeased. "But that means you do not find Vicky adorable."
"I most certainly do not."
"Richard!" Georgiana cried. "But I am speaking of Vicky! "
"Exactly! Who is Vicky?" he asked meaningfully. "I cannot adore someone I do not know, and an other woman at that! Caroline would kill me."
This was too much for Georgiana and with a glare at her cousin she put down James and left the room.
"Victoria," Caroline clarified and added, "Darcy," in case this was not enough.
"Oh. Have they taken to calling her Vicky?" he asked. "I honestly cannot remember whether she was adorable or not. She probably looked like any other baby."
"Any other baby!" Caroline remarked and nodded at her own. "Like these?"
"Men generally do not apply such adjectives so lavishly, except to our own family, because we are expected to, so, I do think my own ones adorable," he grinned at her, knowing that if he had not been sitting too close for her to kick him well, he would have received a much harder kick.
"I am touched," said Caroline with a solemn expression. "Fiona, do you think I pressured him too much to come up with such a declaration, or do you think it was entirely spontaneous?"
"Oh! I think it -- I can never tell," Mrs. Maxwell confessed. "I find you and Lord Matlock very confusing at times, if I may say so. But since you do not seem to find each other confusing, I shall just let you enjoy it."
"We have a very wise neighbour," Richard remarked. "Shall we invite her to dinner this evening?" He did not say that he had already arranged that with Mr. Maxwell earlier that day. "Mr. Maxwell is also coming. Perhaps it would be nicer for Mrs. Maxwell to come along."
"It is not at all considerate of you, Lord Matlock," Mrs. Maxwell chided. "To tell me on such short notice. I shall have to hurry home and upset all my closets for something good enough to wear."
Richard rolled his eyes. "Ladies are always so -- well! Captain Riley is coming too. I do not know if that would matter for your choice of gown."
"To Georgiana it would," said Caroline mischievously.
"Oh, is that it?" he asked mysteriously, looking enlightened.
Part 69
Lord Matlock was already dressed and ready for dinner two hours before it was necessary to be so, due to an agreement he had made with his wife, which involved taking turns in entertaining the children. "Perhaps," he said to his daughter. "Perhaps I should hire another nursery maid..." he sighed as he placed his daughter in front of him on his desk, while he sat down in his chair.
When he had been younger, he had never thought that he would be plagued by such problems. But back then, he could not have foreseen that fate would so cruelly take his father and brother from him. He had never assumed that he would have his own estate. Or that if he had an estate of his own, it would be a small one, when he was much older and he had had enough time to earn money to purchase one. Perhaps he would not even have purchased an estate. Whenever he had thought of the future -- which was not all that often, Richard admitted to himself -- he had more or less decided to let it depend on what kind of family he would have. He knew now that if he had had a family of this size to support on his officers' pay, he most certainly would not have bought an estate. He would have put his money aside for the children.
Right now, he could do both that and hire nursery maids for them, but was it wise? Richard knew he would still continue to have his children with him, despite the fact that there would no longer be any reason for it, and then his nursery maid would have nothing to do. Which would be a dangerous thing, considering that his young footmen, as his housekeeper had told him only the day before, had not yet reached an age of steadiness and were all too apt to make fools of themselves in order to impress Betty and the wine merchant's daughter, or any other pretty girls who happened to be in or near the house.
Mrs. Neal had given Betty a lecture on how to deal with this, and she had also spoken to the footmen, for which Richard was glad, because he did not feel himself capable of lecturing anyone on the subject of foolish behaviour. His own behaviour was too frequently on the wrong edge of seriousness. His face broke into a silly grin. "I do not like lecturing people. I fear they would not take me seriously at all. What do you say, Julia?"
Julia kicked her feet. "Down!" she commanded and tried to climb off the desk.
"Say please," Richard instructed her.
"Down."
"Down, please."
"Down."
"You ought to say please. It is only polite." Julia began to wail and he held his hands to his ears. "I do not think it is very fair of you to cry as if I have just been extremely mean and inconsiderate to you. I have been extremely kind, considering that you ordered me to help you down."
Julia did not give up and with her mouth wide open and her eyes shut, she continued to produce a horrifying wail, accompanied by big tears rolling down her cheeks.
Richard quickly put her down on the ground to prevent the rest of the household from coming to investigate, and because he was not unmoved by this wonderful display of theatrical skills. He knew it was almost certainly fake -- they had a little tear fountain they could turn on and off at will -- but there was always a remote chance that she was genuinely upset and not just trying to get her way.
The moment Julia's feet hit the ground, the sound stopped.
"What --" Richard muttered as he looked at her dribbling across this study with a large smile on her face. "Young lady," he began sternly, but felt unable to continue, torn as he was between admiration and indignation. "You are very clever."
"Come play," said Julia, having found something to play with.
It was a ball on a cord. How that came to be in his study was a mystery, but ever since the twins had begun to walk, he had found the strangest objects in the strangest places. "One minute and I shall be with you." He placed the blank sheet of paper that he had planned to write on back in a drawer.
"Where Jamie?"
"He is with..." Richard did not actually know who was looking after James. Georgiana, probably. "He is upstairs."
Julia brought the ball over and tried to climb onto him again.
"Really, you girls do not know what you want," he remarked, but lifted her up anyway.
Although dinner was still two hours away, Georgiana was already preparing herself. Caroline had indeed forced James on her and it was very taxing to pick out a nice gown with the little boy constantly demanding attention. She had to pull him out from between the gowns in her closet constantly. Apparently he was very fond of hiding himself.
"I wonder what your Mama is doing," she said in vexation after James had caused not one, but two gowns to slide from their hangers onto the floor. "Why do I have to look after you now that I need to get ready for dinner?" The truth was that Caroline had no idea that Georgiana was already busy with such things. She assumed that she would not start for another hour or so.
Georgiana rang the bell and a maid appeared. "Could you please take away Master James and then ask Susan to do my hair?" she asked.
When the maid left with James, she sat down and sighed. Deciding on which gown to wear was so difficult, and she had not even brought many with her from Pemberley. But at least at Pemberley there was always Elizabeth to help her out whereas here there was Caroline who did not seem to have time for such things anymore. She was always busy and although Georgiana dared not impose on her, she did feel a little neglected.
Part 70
Georgiana was rather nervous about dinner. She realised very well that there would only be two couples, Captain Riley and herself, as if the captain had been invited for her sake. At any rate, the task of amusing him would fall to her, probably, knowing that Richard could not do as other men did at parties and ignore his wife.
When she had finally decided on a gown and her hair had been done, she felt more at ease. Perhaps she could go downstairs to inquire what was for dinner. It would be very strange if the captain should ask her questions about it and she would not know what to say.
"Yana," cried Julia when Georgiana passed Richard and her on the stairs and she stuck out her arms.
Georgiana pressed a kiss onto the little girl's face. "There! Now have a good dinner."
"Aunt Georgiana must have important things to do," Richard explained. "To be ready so long before dinner."
Georgiana pulled a face at him and quickly descended the stairs.
"Oh, Georgiana?" he called after her. "If any guests should arrive early -- I cannot remember if I gave the captain the correct time or perhaps half an hour early -- could I count on you to entertain them?"
"Uhh..." said Georgiana and swiftly disappeared out of sight so he could not call her back.
Richard delivered Julia to the nursery, where James and her dinner were waiting for her, and then he went on to see if Caroline was ready yet. "Are you ready to make a grand descent yet?" he inquired.
"Not quite," she said, still in search of some jewellery. "For whom, by the way? For that dreadful boar's head that James is always frightened of? I really think it should be taken down. I find it unnerving to see that dead animal grinning at me maliciously every time I go up the stairs. It makes me screech every time," and she imitated her reactions.
"Yes, Caroline."
"If you do not order somebody to remove it, I shall."
"Yes, Caroline."
"I am serious," she warned.
"Yes, Caroline."
"Will you stop saying that?"
"I do not know what else I could possibly say, except that my grandfather shot that boar and it was the first boar he shot after he had the new wing built. It has great sentimental value and I do not think we should offend the boar by depriving it of the place of honour it has been occupying for the past --" Richard paused to think. "-- thirteen years."
"The place of horror it has been occupying," Caroline corrected.
"Yes, Caroline."
"Now stop it," she begged.
"I shall have it removed if it upsets you and James so much when you go up the stairs. I suppose you do not want it to be hung over our bed?"
"You may hang that thing over your bed but not over mine."
"Point taken," said Richard. "It shall not be hung over our bed, although it is too good an idea to be thrown away just because you are afraid of pigs."
"Whose bed will you hang it over?" Caroline asked.
"Did anyone ever tell you you were brilliant?"
"Yes, but you are the first one who means it," she said modestly and led him towards the door. "I am ready."
"I have not yet decided whose bed I shall hang it over. It is a pity we do not have a house full of guests. Can you imagine Aunt Catherine? Fitzwilliam, remove that boar from my bedchamber this instant!" he imitated her authoritative voice. "And everyone will be wondering if I am going to fight the poor General. My sister will climb up, take it down and put it in my bed, I am sure, so that is no fun either."
"Now Richard," said Caroline in a voice that one would normally use to speak to a child. "You will not wake me up in the middle of the night to tell me what a wonderful victim you suddenly thought of?"
"No dearest. I know your likes and dislikes."
"But look," Caroline halted him in the middle of the stairs and pointed at the boar. "Do you not think it sinister?"
"It looks particularly evil," Richard admitted. "I can see why women and children should feel frightened by it, although it is not nearly as evil-looking as the boar that hung in the game room and that Darcy and I catapulted down."
"Because you were deadly afraid of it. Yes. Yes. There is a guest," said Caroline said as the doorbell was rung. "Let us go down." Impulsively she kissed his cheek.
"Oooooh..." he teased.
"I changed my mind. Do wake me up in the middle of the night if you can make me laugh, but not more than five minutes before Anthony will, please."
"That means I only have five minutes," he protested. "Is Anthony open to bribery?"
"If he is, I want you to bribe him into synchronising his hunger with Lucinda's."
"I shall speak to him about it."
Part 71
Georgiana had been determined to talk without reserve, but when Captain Riley was shown in, she found herself tongue-tied. To his inquiry after her health she could only reply that she was fine, and she could not even inquire after his own health to her great mortification. She was glad that Caroline engaged him in conversation. Richard was talking to the Maxwells and she felt a little forlorn, not knowing which conversation to join or even to follow, and listening partly to both, which meant she could not contribute to either.
When the subject turned to riding, the captain professed to being an enthusiastic horseman. "I love riding. Do you ride, Lady Matlock?"
"Not often."
"Do you not like it?"
"I do not dislike it, but I last rode several months ago." Caroline did not want to mention to a stranger that she had preferred not to ride while she was with child, because she did not see that it was any young man's business to know how long and how often that happened to be the case.
"But you have such beautiful grounds!" Riley exclaimed.
"Which can also be enjoyed on foot. Miss Darcy likes riding, though."
"Do you, Miss Darcy?" the captain asked eagerly.
"I enjoy it very much," she answered shyly. Georgiana had now abandoned the Maxwells' conversation in favour of the captain's.
"May I ask if you ever gallop?"
"Oh, yes. I gallop."
"Excellent! There are not many ladies who do."
Georgiana blushed.
"Perhaps you would like to go riding with me tomorrow or the day after? I do not have may days left before I leave. I should like to ride with someone who knows the neighbourhood."
She did not know what to say, wanting to accept very much, but not knowing if Richard would approve. She looked at him, but he had not heard what they were talking about. "If my cousin does not mind..." she said hesitantly.
"If you take a servant we will have no objection," said Caroline. She saw that this option was not what Captain Riley liked best, although he disguised it well. It only served to convince her that she had said the right thing. As long as Georgiana was staying with them, they were responsible for her and they had to take care that she did not land in any unsavoury situations. Caroline had heard about Ramsgate and was not at all certain that such a thing would not happen to Georgiana again. Fortunately Georgiana did not seem to mind that she would have to be accompanied and Caroline thought about who was best suited for the task. She would send Oliver with Georgiana. He was a serious and prudent man.
The following hours unravelled that the captain's tastes coincided exactly with Georgiana's apparently, something that pleased her, but about which Caroline had serious doubts. Not even Richard's tastes coincided perfectly with her own. She did not mind that Riley was returning home in three days. If he were indeed faultless, they would see him again next year or so, which would be quite perfect for someone Georgiana's age.
Caroline was excessively glad that the Maxwells had invited Captain Riley to come riding with them the day after. That left only one day he could go with Georgiana. After dinner she excused herself to the ladies and went upstairs to feed the baby twins. Georgiana sat with Mrs. Maxwell and when the men joined them, they sat and talked for a while, but Caroline did not return. Only a note was delivered for Richard, by a footman carrying a silver tray. They refuse to let me go. Keep the guests busy.
Richard shook his head. Caroline was so soft-hearted that she could not bear to be strict. Tell them I will be up if they do not go to sleep NOW! He asked Georgiana to play something for them on the harp in the meantime.
I did something very stupid: I did what you ordered me. was in the note the footman returned with.
He smiled to himself. Let me guess? They were not afraid but overjoyed.
You will get what you deserve for that last note. I only regret that our guests will get it too. We are coming down.
He wondered which one or ones she was bringing with her, but it soon became clear when he could no longer hear the harp because his offspring had evidently reached the bottom of the stairs. What are you doing to me, Caroline? he groaned inwardly, but he could only acknowledge that she had taken the best decision when it turned out that the baby twins were only howling because they wanted to be held, and that the bigger twins were only screaming along because they wanted the same. All four of them mysteriously turned into sweet and quiet children as soon as he was holding two and Caroline was holding two. He knew the children were not always as easy as this, but it was nice that it happened now and then. His guests probably found it a little strange, but since he was the Earl, he had the right to be eccentric.
Part 72
The next day the weather was absolutely dreadful. It was dark, wet and windy. Georgiana was glad that this was not the day she was going riding with the Captain, but she feared it would be the same tomorrow. With weather such as this, it just could not possibly be bright and sunny a mere twenty-four hours later. Rather despairingly, she stared at the raindrops beating against the windows and the world outside that looked a mixture of only dark green, dark grey and dark brown. All the trees were moving and she saw more than one branch breaking off. No, if it was still like this tomorrow, there would definitely not be any riding. Glumly she tried to amuse herself, but she could not find any enjoyment in anything. The Captain would probably not even venture this way tomorrow. He would probably not even come to say that it was impossible to ride, especially for a lady. It looked near impossible for a gentleman as well. Who knows, he might be hit by a falling branch on his way. That would be awful.
Georgiana got up from her seat by the window. All this staring out was not going to make the weather change, she noticed. There was absolutely nothing to do. She walked into the breakfast parlour to see if the post had come, but not thinking that it had. The weather was too bad for that, unless it had been delivered very early. The foul weather had quite robbed her of her appetite and she had not thought of going there yet, but when she entered it, she observed that there was indeed a letter on her plate. That would give her something to occupy her time for a while, not that she could send out an immediate reply.
"Good morning, Georgiana," said Richard, looking at her searchingly.
"Morning," she replied listlessly, using her knife to open the letter.
"Are you not well this morning?"
"Who could be well with this weather?"
"Had you wished to go out? Why? Is it not more fun to stay indoors and celebrate the newest addition to our family with a bottle of champagne?"
"At this hour?" Georgiana asked doubtfully. "Besides, why are you still celebrating them? We know by now that you had two more children. I do not see any reason to keep celebrating. You seem a little too proud of the fact, as if you are the only man with children. It should occur to you that other people are getting sick of hearing about them after a while and that most married men have children, so that you are by no means special!"
Richard looked a little taken aback. "You are really in a bad mood, cousin."
"Yes, I am!" she retorted. "It keeps raining, no matter how hard I pray for it to stop."
"I don't think praying works, Georgiana," he said quietly. "But I shall leave you to your breakfast and your letter." He collected the letters for himself and for Caroline and stood up. "Perhaps I shall see you later when you are in a better mood."
"What is wrong with Georgiana?" he asked Caroline.
Caroline was nursing their youngest two at the same time and looked with interest at the letters Richard was carrying. If there were any for her, she hoped he would read them to her. At the moment she had her hands full. "Georgiana?"
"She is in a dreadful state about the weather for some mysterious reason, when she is more of an indoors person, I had thought," Richard shrugged. "I tried to cheer her up with the good news, but she misunderstood me and told me I should stop talking about my children, because she was getting sick of hearing about them. And I was not even talking about them, but I was talking about --"
"You were talking about something else, darling?" Caroline asked in mock incredulity.
"Do you think I am too full of them?"
"It does not bother me."
"I merely continue to be amazed that we --" he looked down at the babies and adjusted the scarf around Caroline's shoulders where it threatened to slide off and possibly make her cold. "-- that we made this and how quickly they grow from this to that," he nodded at the two eldest who were sitting on a chair together with their mugs of juice.
"What was the good news?" Caroline asked. She had been sitting here for a while already and she had already gone through the same thought process, so she was more interested in the letters he carried.
"Aunt Catherine had a child."
"Oh! Did everything go well? Did your mother write to you?"
"Yes, she did. And to you as well. Shall I read it?"
"Please. What was it? A boy or a girl?"
"Patience! All will be revealed." Richard folded open the letter. "This one is from my mother and it is very short, undoubtedly because she wrote a lot of letters."
I am happy to tell you that your aunt gave birth to a little girl a few hours ago. You must forgive me for keeping this short, but I was up with her all night and I am going to bed soon once I finish my letters. She and the General have not yet decided on a name. Or perhaps they have, but they are not telling me. The little girl seems in excellent health. She weighs ___ and she is ___ tall. It is too early to say whether she looks like her father or her mother. They are both very pleased with her (I think), although the General called her an ugly little thing. Now Richard, perhaps you are better at interpreting that remark than I am, if I tell you he made it after a lengthy observation (meaning he was by no means repulsed?). I am wrecked, for having spent hours confined with your aunt with her temper, conveying messages between her and the General with his temper is very exhausting and I shall write more later.
"An ugly little thing?" Caroline exclaimed. "How insensitive!"
"Oh, he adores her already. I wish I could be there," Richard said wistfully. "It would be hilarious to see him mellow, now would it not?"
"He adores her?"
"Of course he does."
"Just because you would does not mean that he would," Caroline pointed out.
"Well, you know how he always rages against Lady Catherine too and he seems to like her. I do not think we should take the General's words at face value. I think he generally says the opposite of what he means. Do you want me to read Anne's letter too?"
You have a new cousin, whose name shall start with an I, as has been decided by the General. He appears to have a weak imagination when it comes to names (E, F, H) and since he left off with Henry, it did not seem more than logical to him to continue with I (Yes, I know he does not have A, B, C, D and G and he is too stiff to ever reveal if there ever were any -- Eleanor says there might have been a G, but she was too small to remember.) I spent all night with my mother and Aunt Maria, as I could not leave your poor mother alone with mine. I must say my mother deserved to have the General with her and vice versa, because they were both insufferable, but the General thinks it is a woman's business and women's businesses are not for men and my mother thinks that men would be too incapable.PS. I think Isabella will be out of the question. Major Tilney seems to be opposed to the name of Isabella Tilney and his opinion carries a lot of weight, being the eldest son.
"Why is he opposed to the name of Isabella?" Caroline wondered. "What is that other letter you have there?"
"It is from your brother."
"What does he write?"
"It is in a foreign language. You spent more time in Hertfordshire than I did, Caroline. Do they speak differently there?"
"Not that I noticed," Caroline frowned. "And Charles has got enough problems with his own language as it is. He certainly would not attempt to write anything in another. Read it out."
Fitzwoldman agolopies for bothering you again. Might have already written to you but forgotten. I need some advice and you are just the man to ask must be really good at that sort of thing.
"Fitzwoldman. Agolopies," Richard repeated. "Does he mean what I think he means?"
Caroline nodded.
"He cannot even produce a decent letter and he wants little Bingleys? The nerve! Poor little Bingleys."
"He would love them. Do you know for certain that it is little Bingleys he is after? Perhaps he merely wishes to know how to run an estate."
"He has Darcy for that," Richard pointed out. "After all, compared to him I am a novice. Darcy has had Pemberley for ages and he is Bingley's friend. I am only his brother-in-law. And it is not as if he has not asked my advice on this particular subject before."
"Producing little Fitzwilliams is not your only expertise."
"I think someone should tell Bingley that and someone should also tell him that he has his father-in-law nearby who can tell him all about it. Does he not have five daughters? He is still ahead of me."
Part 73
"Am I being hard on your brother?" Richard asked.
"Yes," Caroline answered. "Keep your mug straight, Jamie. Drink it. No, Mama does not want to drink from your mug. It is very sweet of you, but I have no hands left. Jamie! No! Richard!" she screeched when James threatened to pour his drink into the mouth of Anthony, who began to cry when he came to be without milk.
Richard pulled James away and James began to cry as well. After all, he was only trying to be helpful, but when Papa did not seem angry with him, he soon quieted down.
"Good girls," said Caroline to the girls, who ignored the racket their brothers made. "Are girls not infinitely more easy?"
"Why do you not write a book on the subject, Caroline?" Richard suggested. "I'm still waiting for that article on Fitzwilliams. You have some new material to study now. You could compare the Fitzwilliam male to the Fitzwilliam female."
"Just as you compared the Bingleys? Richard, the first problem I would encounter is that they are both Bingleys and Fitzwilliams, who have to be called Fitzwilliam because of some arbitrary law. They might just as well fit into your research."
"Some arbitrary law?"
"Yes. The law says that children take their father's name, but if you think about it --"
"You are not suggesting that you want them to change their name to Bingley?" Richard asked in horror.
"No, I am only saying that if some woman had made the laws --"
"Some woman!"
"Yes, if some woman had made the laws, she would have done it differently, because she would have known that you can only ever be certain who the mother is, because she gives birth, and you have got to wait for several years before you can ascertain that the children look like the father."
"While I see your point, I have to point out that we have to assume certain things, such as that they are wholly Fitzwilliam, for simplicity's sake. For example, I had a special category for Bingley products, but that would immediately create a problem if I were to include these four among the Bingleys, because they are both a Bingley product and a producing Bingley."
"You have not yet said what you think of my point," Caroline wiped some Bingley product off the mouth of a Bingley product, recognising that Richard had a very valid point indeed.
"Your point is excellent, beyond a doubt."
"You do not think that the whole Bingley component is obliterated by the fact that they happen to be called Fitzwilliam?"
"Not unless they have all inherited the specific Fitzwilliam personality and good looks," Richard replied. He knew he was setting himself up as a target, but he enjoyed it. "Eh, Jamie?"
"You are unbearable," said Caroline after a moment's deliberation.
"However, I am fair enough to allow the possibility that they might inherit the specific Bingley personality and good looks," he said, wondering why the attack stayed away, and James laughed suddenly as if this were a ridiculous idea.
"Jamie?" Caroline asked in concern. "You are not conspiring against me, are you? But Richard, you were saying that we should -- for simplicity's sake -- assume that they are Fitzwilliams."
"Yes."
"I should have the same problem when it comes to Fitzwilliam products."
Richard raised his eyebrows. "I believe you are correct."
"I believe that we can either only consider one generation at a time or remove this silly category from the study altogether."
"For entertainment's sake, I believe we should remove the category altogether. No!" he exclaimed. "Because our products are not comparable. They have no children and I do not spit out my milk."
"I could make you spit out your milk," Caroline replied.
"Yes, but you are too wise to do so."
"I am?"
"I had better watch my back next time at breakfast," Richard remarked.
"Or your stomach."
"I think you are absorbing the Fitzwilliam spirit quite nicely, Caroline. I honestly cannot imagine Louisa talking to Hurst in such a manner."
"I do not think he would invite her to do so."
"I think he would like it, though," Richard reflected.
"Oh, no! Is that what you discuss during your games of billiards? May I hope you are not telling Mr. Hurst everything you wish me to do?" She was a little alarmed.
"No, because he has declared the billiards room -- all billiards rooms -- to be a Caroline-free zone. I am forbidden to talk about you. In here, we are unmarried, Hurst always says. No wives. I always point out to him that he only has one wife, but he always says that she claims him enough for several. Then I say that it is alright to talk about the children then, and he will say no children either, but then he only applies this to mine and not to Alice, because he never sends her away when she comes. Well, hardly ever."
Part 74
The weather cleared up a little in the late afternoon and Georgiana's mood cleared up likewise. Richard was glad for both, but the day after it was pretty bad again and Georgiana was even more chagrined than the day before. There was no way Captain Riley was going to come to take her out riding; not in this weather.
She was sulking in her own room and consequently she missed the Captain when he arrived late in the afternoon.
Richard was out with James and Julia when the Captain came riding towards them. They had had to visit all the animals, most of which were kept especially for the young Viscount's pleasure. The Captain looked dreadfully muddy and windblown, but James was more interested in the horse he rode. "Horse!" he cried.
"Very good!" Richard complimented James. They were so clever already! Julia hid behind her father. The horse was far too big and there was a strange man sitting on it.
Captain Riley jumped onto the ground and greeted Richard. He was not sure if he had to greet the twins as well, but decided he could never err by doing so. One, with the same haircut as his father's, only looked at his horse and the other, obviously a girl because of her longer hair, did not reply to his greeting, but looked at him with all the disdain Lady Matlock's daughter would have for muddy clothes. "I was going riding with Miss Darcy, but I doubt that the lady would want to go out in this weather," he continued, glancing at what he could see of himself. He could not imagine that a young lady would want to come home looking like this and it would certainly be unavoidable if they went out.
Richard was not so sure that Georgiana did not want to go out. She was silly enough. He said nothing.
"But I felt I ought to keep my appointment," said Riley. "And so here I am, but frankly I do not know what to do. A visit is such a poor substitute for riding."
Again Richard was not so sure that Georgiana would think that. "In this weather a visit is to be preferred -- no James." He pulled James back. "Do come in with us, Riley, and we shall find out what Miss Darcy has to say about it, but I predict it will be very little. Young ladies are generally not very forward in these matters." He wondered if there was any significance in the fact that Julia did not seem to like the man and that James only seemed to like the man's horse.
"In which matters, my Lord?" Riley asked nervously.
"Matters concerning gentlemen -- at least I assume you asked her to go riding because you like my cousin?"
"I do, my Lord." Riley wondered if he was being cross-examined.
"So do I. She is a very nice girl," Richard agreed. "Shall we leave your horse at the stables, Captain?"
Georgiana had to be summoned downstairs, because she still was not aware of the Captain's arrival. She came into the room with a heightened colour, looking extremely shy. Caroline wondered if it was due to her presence. Perhaps Georgiana would have looked more at ease without chaperones, but chaperones were absolutely necessary.
However, so Georgiana would not feel completely monitored, Caroline bent over that day's post. It had been delayed and so it had arrived only a few moments ago. There were a few interesting letters about Lady Catherine's child and she laid them side by side to compare them.
Anne wrote:
...they have named my sister Tabitha Isabella Catherine...
Lady Matlock wrote:
...the child has been named Isabella...
Colonel Marsden wrote:
...it is called Tabbi. Tabbi Tilney. I think we ought to be glad that they did not name her Matilda...Tilly Tilney...
Caroline shrugged as she tried to fathom which of the three she could put the most faith in. She would go for her mother-in-law, but that was exactly the one person who said something completely different. It was very strange. Perhaps they would have to await Lady Catherine's own message. She put the letters aside and concentrated on the conversation.
Captain Riley was telling what captains did and Georgiana listened eagerly. Caroline, with her eight months of experience in being a colonel's wife, recognised that it was a fairly romanticised version of reality and she looked at Richard to see what he thought of it.
Richard looked back with an imperceptible shrug. Riley knew he had been a colonel, so he had to be embellishing his life only for Georgiana's sake. Perhaps he counted on the fact that Lord Matlock would not interfere or that he was not even listening, just because he had a child on his lap, which was a gross misconception. Richard was perfectly capable of doing two things at once.
He wondered if he had never been guilty of neglecting to mention the bad points of the army when he had been trying to impress a girl. It was likely that he had done so too. The question was whether someone should tell Georgiana that there was more to being a captain than what Riley was telling her. It would not do to interrupt Riley and say he was leaving things out. After all, he might only be trying to amuse her, although, Richard thought, one could also amuse a girl by talking about the negative things.
He was sure Caroline could instruct Georgiana perfectly about those things if he asked her to. Somehow Caroline could do it in such a way that Georgiana would never take officers seriously again. Did he want that? Richard thought about it. No, he did not want that. He knew far too many of them. And besides, Caroline would not be speaking the truth either if she did so. She had survived eight months with a colonel and she had done so admirably.
Caroline wondered why Richard was giving her that kind of look. Was he trying to charm her out of thinking that the Captain was a rake? Or was he trying to say that rakes could be loveable people?
"I always advised my wife to prefer colonels before we were married," Richard cut in before Caroline could make a sharp remark. He did not know if she was going to, but it was better not to take any chances. "Colonels do not have so much work anymore and they have much more time to woo ladies."
Both Georgiana and Riley looked taken aback. "But they are old," Georgiana protested with wide eyes. Colonels were far too old and if she had to wait until the Captain became a colonel, he might have got married in the meantime.
"Is His Lordship speaking the truth, Lady Matlock?" Riley asked.
"Are men ever speaking the absolute truth?" Caroline asked him with a sweet smile, referring to his not quite truthful account of things.
Lady Matlock was not as gullible as Georgiana, Captain Riley noted. Her tongue was much sharper than her husband's, who seemed to be a complaisant fellow, albeit somewhat dominated by his wife -- look at how she was openly doubting her husband's words. He should not antagonise Lady Matlock -- if she did not even have any qualms about criticising her husband, she would not hesitate to chide him in company either and what would Miss Darcy think of that? "I would not go as far as to say that men always speak the absolute truth," Riley said to her. "We sometimes have to make concessions to the truth in order to be entertaining."
Richard compared him mentally to a fish that had just been caught. Caroline was probably going to let Riley swim again after having given him a good scare -- if he realised at all that Caroline's comment had been directed at him and not at her husband. Perhaps not everybody was capable of interpreting Caroline's remarks correctly. He was and he gave her another look.
Georgiana knew that a sweet-looking Caroline should not be taken literally -- she was moving in for the kill. Why? Had the Captain said something strange? Or had Richard done something?
"That is exactly what I was thinking," Caroline replied, still with the same smile. "You must credit me with a little insight, you know. I have a husband who is very entertaining."
Captain Riley would not deny that Lord Matlock was an agreeable fellow, but Her Ladyship was now implying that her husband did not always speak the truth and he was a little confused, especially since Lord Matlock was grinning. Perhaps Her Ladyship was not always speaking the truth either.
"Caroline," said Georgiana, who had enough of these coded messages. "Nobody can follow you. Would you please speak intelligibly?"
Caroline gave her a half smile and wiped Julia's nose. She was sure that her comments had been understood by the right people. It did not matter that Georgiana had not caught her meaning. There was no fun in having everybody understand what she said to Richard.
"I am against that," Richard declared.
Georgiana looked surprised. "Why?"
"She is my wife. If she were comprehensible to you, I should feel very jealous."
"Well, I think that if either of you were comprehensible to me, I should feel very insane!" Georgiana cried. She did not like it much that James laughed at her. How could he laugh? He was not even two years old.
James merely liked the face she pulled. It was funny and Mama laughed at it and when his Mama laughed, he had to laugh too, because she was his Mama.
Part 75
Georgiana had gone home again, with the solemn promise from Captain Riley that he would visit her if he was ever in the vicinity of Pemberley and if she had no objections to that, which she did not. Richard wondered how Darcy would react to this and to Georgiana's request that he pave the way for the Captain by writing a letter of recommendation to Darcy, he merely replied that Caroline wrote letters and not he.
Caroline, for her part, wondered what Georgiana liked about the Captain. She of course compared him to her husband, whose few imperfections were essentially perfect and who must needs win out in every comparison with other men. But that was something she would never tell Richard, in case it went to his head and he became conceited.
The older Lady Matlock returned soon afterwards. She was glad to be back with her four grandchildren and indeed the first few days of her return were solely spent expressing her surprise upon seeing them all so much grown and so much more capable of doing things.
James and Julia had acquired some new words to amuse their grandmother which they promptly failed to reproduce upon sensing her eagerness to hear them. Richard said they resembled Caroline and Caroline said the opposite.
Lady Matlock, from whom all but Caroline had inherited this kind of behaviour, was naturally delighted by it all and proved that she was the source of all evil by stirring things up even more, ascribing the twins' reactions to Richard one moment and to Caroline the next.
After having contradicted her fervently for a while, Caroline came to realise that there was very little that was logical in her mother-in-law's words. "What is your opinion? You do not seem to have one. What is your purpose? You are not talking sensibly at all."
"Nobody ever talks sensibly in this household and that is my opinion," said Lady Matlock.
"Having just left Aunt Catherine's household, that is a perfectly natural thing to say," said Richard. "I am sure Lady Catherine believes herself to be the epitome of sense."
"You may not ridicule your aunt," his mother chided him. "She has a great many valuable notions."
"Indeed, if your idea of a valuable notion is that it is a notion that makes one laugh, then she has a great many of them indeed. She hardly ever fails to make me laugh when she is expressing her views."
"You are completely incapable of appreciating good sense."
Caroline was at a loss as to whom to support and she wisely chose to stay silent, looking a little confused by all that went on around her. James was pulling at her skirts, Julia was lying under the table and one of the baby twins was crying. Richard was nearest and he did not seem to hear it, engaged as he was in this battle with his mother.
"Baby cry," said James and Caroline was glad not all men were deaf.
"Baby play," Julia assumed and she scrambled out from under the table to investigate, but as she was about to stick her hands into the crib, an arm scooped her up and set her on the sofa.
"Me baby," said Richard. "Play with me, Julia."
Julia looked as if she did not believe him at all. She was not stupid. He was not a baby. He was her father and he had a really nice handkerchief in his pocket that he would never miss if she pulled it out really unobtrusively.
"Tell us about Tabitha," said Caroline. They had heard very little about her yet.
"She is the spitting image of Catherine," said Lady Matlock, just to see what kind of reaction this would cause. Little Tabbi of course looked like most babies did -- completely unlike anyone.
"Already?" Richard wondered. He had some work to do, but he knew what would happen if he got up and so he stayed seated for a while longer, at least until he was divested of his handkerchief completely. "No wonder you could not wait to come back to us if you had to coo at a miniature Aunt Catherine all the time."
"Well, I rather think you came back to us because they were all too sensible," Caroline commented. Her mother-in-law was overdoing her nonsense slightly, but she suspected that it could be blamed on her joy to be home again.
"We have tried our hardest, but we have not succeeded in corrupting you," she said regretfully. "Or have we? Have your sensible standards slipped? Why do you allow Richard to have a bright yellow handkerchief that does not fit with the rest of his clothing?"
"Oh, really?" Caroline studied Richard. "I do not always check what he is wearing. I should, I know. Men cannot be trusted to wear the right things."
"Julia likes yellow," Richard explained.
His mother beamed. She had missed all these small things that seemed ridiculous, but that all had some completely natural purpose here in this house. Lady Catherine and the General had been far too serious and organised, which had at first been interesting to experience, but she had soon begun to long for the friendly chaos that usually characterised her home. She took Julia when Richard got up and felt some silly pride upon checking the handkerchief for signs of having been used. Of course her son would not let his children play with used handkerchiefs. The feeling of pride was in danger of fading when her son had no qualms about kissing his wife right in front of the children.
"Do not say it, Mama," he said quickly and left the room with a naughty grin.
"Well, I shall say it to you, Caroline," Lady Matlock began as sternly as she could. It was an unnatural tone for her and she knew she would not be able to keep it up.
"But I was a helpless victim," Caroline protested innocently. "Where could I have gone? What could I have done?"
"Oh, hang it all," Lady Matlock sighed. It was no use.