Beginning, Previous Section, Section VI
Part 75
When Caroline awoke she saw only Julia in the bed, babbling to herself. Caroline immediately pulled away the covers, but James was not under them. "Jamie?" she cried anxiously. "Where did James go, Julia?" she asked, but Julia did not answer. Perhaps she did not even know that her brother was addressed by that name. At home Caroline would never have panicked like this, because there she would have known who had taken James, but Richard was not here now and she could not imagine somebody else coming into her room to take away James. And somebody must have, because James could not move by himself. Or can he?
She looked around the room, but it was still a little dark because the curtains were closed. Caroline got up and pulled them open. Turning around, she saw a baby crawling across the floor. For a split second she thought it was James, but looking at the bed she realised that it was Julia who had taken advantage of the covers having been pulled away from her. Caroline lifted her up so she would not be confused, and Julia immediately started to wail in protest. The room was not big, so Caroline found James soon enough. She was thrilled and forgot all about breakfast.
Caroline's maid had first assisted Anne in getting ready, because she knew Caroline would have to feed the twins first. However, when she arrived at Caroline's room, she found the three of them playing on the bed and none of them dressed. "James can crawl," Caroline announced enthusiastically.
Susan expressed her admiration, but she had also another message to convey. "Miss De Bourgh told me that Lady Catherine told her that the General is very punctual about his meals, my Lady," she hinted. Breakfast was in fifteen minutes, and that usually was enough time to get Caroline ready, but not if the children were not already dressed and fed. "He apparently does not like it when people come late."
"When is breakfast?"
"In fifteen minutes."
"No, I do not think I can manage to be downstairs in fifteen minutes. Well, I could, but then I would not have time to nurse them, and you know how they will howl if they are hungry."
"I do," Susan frowned. She also knew that she and the nurse would be the ones to watch the howling infants while their mother was having breakfast. Perhaps she should just be very egotistical and suggest that her mistress ignore the General's wishes, but that would be very rude.
"I do not care about the General's breakfast," said Caroline. "If he insists that I be there in fifteen minutes -- fourteen, now -- he shall have to watch James and Julia having breakfast as well, or, perhaps worse for him since he may avert his eyes but not plug his ears, he shall have to listen to them howl, for then I shall take them down. Could you say this to Miss De Bourgh, please?"
"But my Lady, by the time the General has given you an answer it will be to late for you to do anything other than stay here."
"Probably," said Caroline, not impressed.
"James does not seem to be very quick," said Richard to his mother, back in London.
"Oh, why not?" said his mother with an amused glance.
"I do not know! Why would he be so slow?" Richard said worriedly.
Lady Matlock had not noticed any particular slowness in her grandson. On the contrary, he always looked as if he knew exactly what was going on. She had no idea why Richard seemed to think there was something wrong with him. "Perhaps he takes after his father," she teased.
"What?" he gasped. "Was I slow?"
"Oh, no. Not slower than James, I hope."
"But just as slow?" Richard looked appalled.
"You never even crawled before you were a year old."
"I did not?" he cried.
Lady Matlock had a great time. "No, you let me carry you."
"And Cathy?" he dreaded the answer. Cathy had probably been much quicker than he.
"Cathy? Oh, a month or four before you, I believe."
"Do not ever tell her that," Richard emphasised. "Why did she do it and I did not?" he frowned.
"Perhaps she was not so attached to her mother as you were. She liked to explore on her own," his mother said, and she observed his face turn a sickly colour. She felt she had tortured him enough. "No, dear. Because you did not think crawling worth your effort. You sat, you stood, you ran."
Part 76
The General did not like it very much that Caroline refused to come to breakfast, but after a few words from Lady Catherine he grudgingly accepted the fact that one had to adapt oneself to the ones who could not adapt themselves to anything yet.
Caroline made sure she went down to breakfast when everybody else had already finished and she had seen the General leave from her window. She found Lady Catherine hovering about downstairs.
"Good morning, Lady Matlock." Lady Catherine eyed the bag Caroline was holding with suspicion.
"Good morning, Lady Catherine. I hope you had a pleasant and quiet breakfast." Caroline beckoned a servant and handed him a folded note and the bag. "Could you give this to the cook?"
"What is that?" Lady Catherine asked.
"A request."
"Do you not like our breakfast?"
"I do. My children do not, however. They do not eat what I eat. They will be coming down once they have been dressed, and hopefully your cook will have prepared their meals."
"Down?" Lady Catherine cried. "The General will return shortly. I am not sure this will please him. He is not used to young children anymore."
Caroline suddenly got a thought that made her chuckle.
"What is so amusing?" Lady Catherine demanded.
"I apologise profusely for having them, and I think it was not such a wise move on the General's part to get married," Caroline hiccuped, "if he does not like young children. All newly wed couples have them. He had better be careful."
Lady Catherine sniffed to hide her consternation. "You are very impertinent, Lady Matlock. I see my nephew has not done anything to tone it down."
"He has not had time to do so yet. I have been too busy working on him for him to be working on me, but I shall inform him of your comment. Where is Anne?"
"She is getting ready to take a walk," Lady Catherine said as if she could hardly believe it.
"Oh!" Caroline exclaimed and jumped up from her chair to run out into the hall. "Anne?" she shouted upstairs. Anne appeared after a few seconds. "Could you wait until we have all eaten? I should like to join you."
"Yes, of course," said Anne. "I am not in a hurry."
"Must you run about like a savage?" Lady Catherine asked with disapproval when Caroline resumed her seat. "And you call yourself a Countess."
"I generally do not speak to myself," Caroline said politely. "But it is an interesting topic. Do you call yourself Lady Catherine?"
Lady Catherine chose not to answer such an impertinent question, but instead she concentrated on Anne's entrance, followed by the twins who were being carried in.
"Thank you," said Caroline as she received one. "I shall take them for a walk if Anne does not object."
"I do not," Anne answered.
"Oh, look!" Caroline said to James. "There is your breakfast!" A servant brought it in and placed it on the table.
They fed the twins and then they went for a walk, because the weather outside was lovely.
Part 77
His mother spent a lot of time visiting people now that she was in London, and Richard did not see why he should stay home alone. He spent most of his time living like a bachelor, rather enjoying the fact that he could go to bed late and sleep long, although it was quite lonely in his bed.
Therefore he was very glad when Caroline had not decided to stay in Bath longer than planned and returned on the appointed day. He was just playing billiards with Mr. Hurst when Caroline came in. Of course he had to interrupt his game to give her a kiss, and Hurst already resigned himself to this interruption signaling the end of their game.
"Have you been good?" Caroline asked.
"Not as good as I would have been if you had been there," he confessed. "But I arrived home before dawn every day. What did you do in Bath?"
"Nothing very outrageous," she reassured him. "Although your Aunt's new husband did not have enough beds for all of us. I had to share my bed with a young gentleman who was really very inconsiderate --"
"Caroline?" Richard cried in shock.
"He was extremely inconsiderate because he gave me a huge fright," Caroline continued with a teasing smile. "He did not even wait until I had woken up to remove himself from the bed."
Richard still looked shocked. "A young gentleman," he brought out with difficulty.
Caroline wondered why he did not seem to understand. "Yes, would it somehow make matters more palatable if he were a Viscount?"
That still did not ring any bells. Hurst felt a need to support a fellow gentleman in distress. "Many words to tell us your son slept in your bed, Caroline."
Richard gasped and Caroline gave Mr. Hurst a look. "Good evening, Mr. Hurst," she said. "What brings you here?"
"Your sister sent me here to amuse your lonely husband," Mr. Hurst replied.
Caroline looked as if she seriously doubted that Richard could be amused by Mr. Hurst, but since he was married to her sister she could not be too uncivil or Louisa would reprimand her later on. She had done so before. Perhaps she should just leave them to their game and start unpacking. "Well," she said at last. "Amuse away, I should say. I have some unpacking to do."
Richard still looked puzzled, repeating her earlier words over and over in his head. "No, wait! Did James sleep in your bed?"
"He and Julia both did," she smiled, expecting him to ask how James had been able to remove himself from the bed without Caroline's assistance.
"And they are still --"
"Alive?" Caroline asked with raised eyebrows.
"You did not lie on them, I hope?" Richard asked in concern. "Where are they?"
She laughed. "I shall show you later that they are in perfect health, but I cannot show you that right now. James is asleep," and since Caroline had had to spend a whole day in the carriage with him she preferred to let him sleep. If she woke him up, he was not very likely to start crawling unless he felt like it anyway. The twins both seemed to be rather stubborn in that aspect. She gave Richard another kiss, although she did not really like being demonstrative in front of other people. "Till later."
"No, wait!" he called.
"Again?"
"Never mind," he shook his head. He was not going to bring up bathing with Hurst present.
Mr. Hurst was pleasantly surprised at his sister-in-law's good sense to leave them to their game. "What happened?" he asked when Caroline had left. "She still dislikes me, but she was not as uncivil as usual. And it looked like you did not miss her at all."
Richard looked embarrassed. "I did miss her," he protested.
Mr. Hurst snorted. Fitzwilliam, or Matlock or Richard or his billiard partner, did not have to convince him of that. It was perfectly clear to the close observer that a Fitzwilliam who was missing Caroline also missed the part of his brain that told him he was being teased. Hurst wondered if he was as stupid as Fitzwilliam. He thought not, but then he had never been apart from Louisa for more than a day.
"She is back," Richard's voice broke through his rêverie.
"Yes, I know. She was in here a minute ago."
"We forgot to tell her Louisa is here," Richard suddenly realised. "I forgot, because I have not seen her myself, I suppose." Hurst had joined him directly, and only later revealed that Louisa had come with him and that she was doing something vague in the drawing room.
"Oh, they will find each other soon enough," said Hurst dismissively.
A small figure wobbled into the billiard room and startled Richard. "That is not one of mine, is it?" he asked hesitantly. He did not think his children would suddenly be able to walk after four days, and they certainly would not attach themselves to Hurst's legs with such eagerness, but since it hid behind him it was hard to tell who it was.
Part 78
"It is Alice," said Mr. Hurst.
"How many more people did you bring that you did not tell me about?" Richard asked.
"This was all." Hurst raised his billiard cue and tried to move towards the table with Alice holding onto his leg. "I would not bring any strangers into your house."
"Hello Alice," said Richard. "I think you are in the way." Alice peered out from between Hurst's knees. "Go to your Mama."
"Before she comes here," Hurst added. He had no objections to Louisa, but she might bring Caroline, and then their game would really be over.
"Shall I...er...take her off you?" Richard offered.
"Please, no. She will scream. Alice? Go to Mama."
"Papa," said Alice decidedly.
"Oh," Hurst groaned and he dragged his leg along to the table so he could play.
Richard observed it all and reflected that he would cure his children of it very quickly if they ever showed signs of clutching his legs. Hurst could still move with only Alice, but he would have one on each leg, or perhaps two on one leg, which would be just as bad.
Alice suddenly saw a glass on a table and, thinking that all glasses were there for her, decided she was thirsty. She ran towards it and lifted the glass to her lips. "Alice!" Hurst shouted, and Alice dropped the glass onto the floor where it shattered into small pieces. She started to cry. Mr. Hurst walked over and picked her up while Richard rang for somebody to clean up the broken glass. "I shall be right back," said Hurst.
Richard assumed he left the room to take the crying Alice to Louisa. He was rather surprised when they both returned after a few minutes. "Could you not find Mrs. Hurst?" he asked.
"I did not look." He placed Alice on a chair and they continued their game.
Meanwhile, the ladies had been in the drawing room. Lady Matlock wanted to hear all about Bath and the General, whereas Anne was more interested in what Colonel Marsden had been up to, but her aunt was not able to satisfy her curiosity.
One of the servant girls had been keeping an eye on naughty Alice who was supposed to be in the nursery, but who was running around the house instead. When Alice had suddenly darted in to the billiard room, she had not had the courage to follow. She had waited a while, but the men did not come out screaming and shouting, so she thought it was alright and she went on with her usual chores. They would call her when they needed her again.
"We really have to go home," said Louisa eventually. "It is getting very late for Alice. She has probably fallen asleep upstairs." She rose. "I hope Richard does not mind my breaking off his game."
"Mr. Hurst would be more upset about that," said Caroline.
"Not if I break it off," Louisa smiled. "I shall go and collect Alice." She went upstairs and the other ladies joined her, not having anything else to do.
"Miss Alice is with Mr. Hurst, Madam," Louisa was told. "In the billiard room. She insisted on going there."
Caroline made some ominous sounds and Louisa glared at her. "Thomas would not mind!"
"She is interrupting his game, Louisa!"
"She is his daughter!"
"Does he know the concept?"
"Why are my grandchildren not awake?" asked Lady Matlock, bent over the sleeping twins. "They are always awake when they ought to be sleeping and vice versa." Of course the presence of seven women, two of whom were bickering, was enough to wake them. "Go downstairs, you girls," she ordered Caroline and Louisa. "They must not hear you."
Part 79
Caroline and Louisa continued their sisterly argument all the way down the stairs until they came to the billiard room. Louisa entered with Caroline directly behind her, but they did not find what Caroline had expected to find. The men were pleasantly engaged in a game, while Alice was hanging onto Hurst's legs again.
"I am even more outnumbered by Hursts now," said Richard when he saw Louisa come in. "Oh! Caroline! Support me. I am losing, even though I ordered Alice to prevent Hurst from walking."
"I hope you do not want me to do that," said Caroline with disapproval.
"No dear, do not be silly."
"Mama!" Alice cried and hobbled towards Louisa.
"We must go home," said Louisa, lifting Alice up.
"Come back here, Alice," said Hurst who missed a shot. "I have almost won."
"No Alice, stay there," Richard grinned. "I had much rather play against only one Hurst. Two are a little too much for me."
"Louisa, bring Alice here," ordered Hurst, and Louisa brought her over.
"See?" said Louisa in a self-satisfied voice to Caroline. "See? I told you."
"Hmph!" Caroline sniffed and left the room.
"This is a conspiracy of Hursts," Richard declared. "You have just got rid of my only supporter. Or did she leave because I was losing? Caroline does not much like losing."
"And she does not like being wrong," Louisa added.
"Of course not," said Hurst uncharacteristically. "She has this image of a person and then he refuses to prove her right. It is all very upsetting."
"How dare he," Richard agreed solemnly. "A person can have quite a bit of fun with that."
"Indeed," Hurst answered calmly and played a ball. "You are dead. The game is over."
Richard shook his hand. "It was a nice game. Do come again, even if I shall have to bribe Alice a little more next time."
"Alice does not take bribes," said Hurst proudly. "As was proven today. Right, Alice?"
Alice said nothing and Richard laughed. While he was accompanying his guests to the door, Caroline joined them. They said goodbye and went into the room where they were to have supper. Lady Matlock and Anne were still upstairs, so Richard hugged her first. "Tease," he said.
"Where was your brain?"
"Not functioning, I think." Richard thought of what she had said earlier. "Did James fall from the bed? You would not make fun of that, would you?"
"No, we slept on the floor," Caroline laughed mischievously.
"How then?"
"I do not know. I was asleep, but when I woke up he was crawling through the room." She laughed at his delighted expression. "Do not laugh so. He cannot crawl when he is dressed."
"Why is that? Perhaps that was the case with me as well. I shall have to ask my mother about that. I should hate to think that I was backward in my development," Richard said seriously.
"Richard, do you mean you still cannot crawl at your age?" Caroline asked innocently. "That is certainly very backward."
They began a struggle that landed them on the couch and that was only interrupted by Lady Matlock's voice saying, "Heavens! What is happening here?"
Part 80
Two faces looked at her in embarrassment. "Caroline, dear, do not be so rough with my boy," Lady Matlock admonished. Anne watched on open-mouthed.
"I am in control," Richard protested from under the sheepish-looking Caroline. While he was demonstrating this they both fell off the couch.
"You two are like cannibals hunting for their supper, but that is totally unnecessary. It is on the table," said Lady Matlock. "Had you not noticed?"
"No," said Richard.
"Yes," said Caroline, wincing when she became aware of the state of her hair and she made frantic attempts to get it back in order.
Lady Matlock and Anne sat down and the other two soon joined them. Over the months Richard had become quite proficient at helping Caroline re-do her hair, because she had told him he could mess with her hair only if he made it presentable again, or not mess with her hair at all. Of course he had insisted that she do the same for him, which was not half as difficult.
"The children are looking very well," said their grandmother. "They look more and more like Richard every day."
"Perhaps it would be better if they resembled Caroline," said Richard, with their development in mind. He seemed to have been a rather slow baby.
His mother laughed heartily. "Such confidence in himself."
"What is the matter?" asked the curious Caroline.
"Nothing," said Richard.
Caroline looked sceptic. "You are a very bad liar. Why is it better that they resemble me? Did you have spots?"
"No!"
Lady Matlock laughed. "It has nothing to do with his looks."
"No!" Richard urged. "Do not tell her."
"I want to know what to expect," said Caroline. "If it has nothing to do with his looks, what is it?"
"Richard," said his mother. "There is no point in wishing them to take after Caroline. You do not know anything about Caroline as an infant."
"Neither do I," said Caroline. "Except that I seemed to be very quick."
Richard winced. "With what?"
"With everything, compared to Louisa and Charles."
Richard relaxed a little. He had never suspected Louisa of having been extremely bright. "So you might have been quite normal?" he inquired.
"It is possible. I do not know how I would have compared to you, however."
"You were probably quicker."
"As long as the final result is satisfactory," said Caroline with a little smile that seemed to indicate that she was indeed very satisfied with the final result.
Part 81
Richard was woken up by his own children much too early in his opinion. He groaned and pulled the covers over his head to block out the sound, barely conscious of Caroline getting out of bed. When he woke up next, Caroline was back in bed, sleeping. He sat up and yawned. This was an excellent time to have somebody prepare a bath. As he swung his legs out of the bed, he noticed that the twins were sitting on the floor, looking at him curiously. "Good morning," he said softly. "Mama must have fallen asleep watching you." Richard slipped into some decent clothing before he fell down on his knees to give them a small kiss. He was as always very gratified when they smiled and babbled at him, although James crawled out of reach immediately. He was much too afraid that he would not be able to move about by himself anymore. Richard was thrilled and he grinned like an idiot. It was a pity that there was not anyone he could tell about it, if anyone would be at all interested. "Good boy," he praised his son, and grabbed him by his clothing before he was too far off. "I must arrange something very important," he whispered to the twins. "A bath." They looked at him attentively. "Do not do anything stupid while I am gone. I shall not be long."
When he returned, Julia and James were examining a pair of shoes. "Ugh!" Richard exclaimed and bent down to take the shoes away from them. They did not like that, of course, and he saw they would start crying very soon if he did not give them anything else to play with. With a mischievous smile he remembered that Caroline had once ordered them to wake him up, and he lifted them both onto the bed so they could do the same to her. He seated them between him and Caroline, who was lying on her side facing away from him, and handed them Caroline's braid. This was a very interesting toy, especially with the ribbon at the end.
A servant brought in a breakfast tray, because Richard was too hungry to wait until after he had bathed. He placed it before him on the bed, and put the shiny cutlery away on the table beside the bed so the children could not pick them up.
Caroline rolled onto her back, but she was still asleep. Apparently they had not pulled her hair hard enough. Richard grabbed Julia by her nappy by way of precaution when she showed signs of wanting to climb onto her mother, but he had to let her go when he had to defend his breakfast plate and his food from James.
"Richard," Caroline groaned sleepily as she felt something assaulting her. "Are you not tired?"
"Never!" he laughed.
Caroline opened her eyes when the assault did not end and saw Julia. "Oh." She looked at Richard. "Why are you having breakfast? May I have some?"
"If you sit up, you may," Richard offered, and they shared his breakfast. "It is awfully inconvenient to have them in bed," he remarked as he had to prevent yet another twin from crawling to the edge of it. "One, they keep going everywhere. Two, they want to eat my food. Three, they make you suspect me of having designs on you."
"And it is not inconvenient to have breakfast in bed?" Caroline asked doubtfully. "I had to eat with my fingers."
"You survived it," Richard said carelessly. Julia began to cry because Caroline would not allow her to fall off the bed. "Hush, Julia. We shall take you swimming in an instant."
"Swimming?" Caroline asked. "What do you mean?"
"You shall see," he smiled enigmatically. "I am going to bathe."
"Are you taking Julia?" she asked.
Richard's eyes sparkled. "Yes." Among others.
Caroline had James ready and took him to the bath. To her great surprise there was a different and much larger bath instead of the old one. Since she had once complained about not being able to lie in it completely and thus getting cold, she assumed that Richard had had something to do with it. And he had done well, because a person would certainly be able to lie in this one. Caroline got in and reclined, with James's head on her shoulder. She closed her eyes. "That was nice of your father to get me this bath, James," she said lazily.
"I beg your pardon?" Richard's voice made her open her eyes.
Caroline wondered why he was not in his own bath. He probably wanted to see how she liked it. She was surprised when he threw some objects in the water.
"I am not as altruistic as that, my dear. Do not take up so much space," he said, throwing his bathrobe on a chair. Richard then stepped into the bath carefully and sat down with Julia on his knee.
"Richard?"
"Yes, that is me," he said lightly, but he looked at her cautiously.
"I suppose it is no use asking you what you are doing, because you have already done it, and I know you too well to ever think you are going to undo it."
"And therefore...?"
"Therefore - what are these things you threw in?" she asked when she saw Julia grab something.
"Oh, wooden duckies. And Julia's ball."
Caroline grabbed a wooden duck herself and examined it. "I suppose you bought this?"
"Yes, I did."
"How many?" She could not see how many there were in the water exactly, but she counted at least three.
"Oh, about four."
"Four? One for each and two for you?"
Richard grinned. "Two for each. What would I do with a wooden duck?"
Caroline tried to get James interested in a duck, but he was still clinging to her. He no longer cried when he was in the water, but he was not exactly cheerful either.
"Swap?" Richard suggested.
"My duck for your duck?"
"No, your J for my J."
They exchanged babies, and Caroline watched Richard play with James. "You do that very well," she had to admit. "You have much more patience than I." She could not imagine any other man doing it well as he did.
Richard gave a little half-smile, which meant that he was pleased. He knew Caroline's patience was usually less than his own, although he did not really think he was so very patient. He was much more impressed by how Caroline dipped Julia under and how she still came up laughing. He wondered which of the two ladies was enjoying herself more. He could not imagine any other woman doing it as well as she did.
Part 82
Anne and her mother had agreed that Anne would live at Rosings after her marriage, because she herself was going away to live with the General anyway. It was a tough decision for Lady Catherine to leave somebody else in control of Rosings after so many years of having been the sole manager of the estate. However, this solution was by far the most agreeable to everybody, including Colonel Marsden. Now he would not have to search for a home of his own, even if it meant that he would have to resign his commission to help his wife run the estate. He knew Anne would not be too eager to take control of everything. She would rather have him do it.
The engaged couple could now devote all their time to the preparations for the wedding. Lady Catherine and the General had already announced that they would come to Town for the occasion, an event that inspired some fear in the Fitzwilliam household.
"They are not coming to stay with us, are they?" Richard asked Caroline. Old habits die hard, and so do old fears. Generals had always filled him with a certain awe. He knew very well that generals always wanted to have their way, and certainly generals who were staying with somebody who had merely been a colonel. The general would try to enforce his military ways.
"Are you afraid of the General?" Caroline laughed.
"No, it is just that I have no particular wish to be ordered around in my own house," Richard defended himself.
"Would he?"
"It is the military ranks thing," Richard said vaguely.
"Oh! So if you were to go to the house of a - tell me again what ranks are lower than yours, dear -"
"Lieutenant, Captain --" Richard supplied.
"Lieutenant will do. Thank you. If you were to go to the house of a lieutenant, you would take over everything?" Caroline giggled. "Oh! I cannot imagine it without laughing."
"Neither can I, so rest assured."
"Well," said Caroline reflectively. "If it does not work one way, it should not work the other way either. You should be immune to such nonsense in both directions."
"Yes, I know that."
"Perhaps they will not even want to stay here. I think the General is not too fond of me after I did not come to breakfast at the specified hour."
"Why not?"
"Oh, just to annoy him, really. I was busy with the twins. Perhaps he does not like staying with so many people. I should think he would want some time alone with his new wife," Caroline said mischievously.
"Please do not conjure up such disturbing images. Poor man," Richard shuddered.
Part 83
The General and Lady Catherine came to town and stayed in her Ladyship's own house. However, this did not mean that Lady Catherine did not come over to interfere with all the preparations for the wedding, and of course to meet her daughter's fiancé. She was announced shortly after breakfast while Richard was working in his study.
"Aunt Catherine," he greeted her, looking curiously at the gentleman who had come with his aunt.
"Fitzwilliam," Lady Catherine said. "This is my husband, General Tilney."
"General," Richard saluted automatically.
"Colonel Fitzwilliam," the General replied.
"Lord Matlock," Lady Catherine corrected. "He is no longer a colonel."
"Catherine," the General protested. "Once a colonel -"
"Do not give me that speech about the everlasting military ranks again. You are no longer a general either. You are a retired general."
"General, Aunt Catherine," Richard began.
"You saw that right, young man," said General Tilney. "It is as you say: General Catherine."
Lady Catherine glared at her husband and Richard stifled a laugh. "Would you like some tea?" he asked politely.
"Tea? No tea. I should like to see my daughter. Where is she? And where is her fiancé. I have not even seen him yet. I must see him before he becomes my son-in-law and I must see Anne. She will have things to ask me."
I think not, Richard thought. "Anne is out, I think."
"Out?" Lady Catherine cried. "Where to?"
"Shopping, probably," Richard shrugged.
"With Lady Matlock?"
"Yes."
"For the wedding?"
"I hope so. I do not need more bills from Caroline." Caroline and he both had taken advantage of being in Town where there was much more to be bought than at home, especially clothing and fabrics. What with the new bath he really did not look forward to more bills. Perhaps it was time to return to Matlock.
"What does Lady Matlock know about wedding preparations?" Lady Catherine demanded. "She cannot know very much about it."
Richard always associated 'Lady Matlock' with his mother, but his aunt was talking about his wife. "Enough, I think. She was married herself and she has a son and daughter."
"Whose marriages are not relevant at this particular moment."
"Oh," said Richard.
Part 84
Something struck Richard as very odd. "Aunt Catherine, unless you confess you were secretly engaged for three years, you are not allowed to imply that you know more about wedding preparations than Caroline."
"Fitzwilliam, do not tell me you were secretly engaged for three years!"
"I was only engaged for a week."
"And therefore your wife cannot know anything about preparations for a wedding. It takes at least two weeks to get a good gown."
"I suppose that means you got married in a bad gown then, Aunt Catherine," Richard said innocently. "Unless you were secretly engaged and had time to prepare yourself."
The General laughed heartily. "Talk yourself out of that one, Catherine." He did not give his opinion on Lady Catherine's wedding gown, but he preferred to listen to the argument.
"I have connections." Lady Catherine said haughtily. "When I said two weeks I meant two weeks for ordinary people. I can get matters done much quicker.""
"So can my mother," Richard replied.
"Is she here?"
"Of course. We need a baby minder."
Lady Catherine sniffed. "Yes, you and Lady Matlock certainly do. There should be somebody older and wiser with you to guide you at all times. I hope you were not a bad influence on Anne, and I certainly hope you did not press her to get married within a week."
"Marsden would not hear of it," Richard said regretfully. "He is an excellent man, although he prefers longer engagements."
"Perhaps he is still young. They are always in a hurry," said the General, with a sideways glance at his wife. "Or perhaps it is the women who are always in a hurry? What do you say, Colonel?"
"I say it is the women." Richard would not classify Lady Catherine as being young, although upon reflection he was probably closer to her in age than he was to Georgiana and he groaned. I am getting old. "Yes, it must be the women. It was Caroline who said she preferred to marry me as soon as possible," he said reflectively. "And I quite agreed."
"She could not wait to attach herself to our family," snubbed Lady Catherine, who was still a little prejudiced.
"Neither could the General, apparently!" Richard retorted.
This answer was not to her Ladyship's liking, and she left the room, hearing some sounds in the hall that indicated that the ladies had returned.
"Shall I tell you something?" asked the General, who would not like it at all if anyone ever made such revelations about himself as he was about to make. "Your aunt must like her. She was constantly making excuses for Lady Matlock's behaviour while she was in Bath."
"Was her behaviour so very bad?"
"She sent word that she would only be downstairs for breakfast in time if those children could have breakfast downstairs too."
Richard's mouth fell open. "In the breakfast room?" Caroline must have been threatening only. She would not really do it, he was sure of that.
"Where else? I preferred to eat without them. They probably do not even use knife and fork."
Richard's mouth fell open again at the General's ignorance. "They use their mouth."
"Even worse - slurping off their plates," shuddered the General.
"Do you have children?"
"Yes, I have three, but they ate in the nursery until they were fifteen."
"Ahh, I see - what brings you here, Robert?" Richard said to the little boy who burst into the room. The commotion had not been the ladies of the house returning, but his sister who had come for a visit.
Robert stared at General Tilney with interest. "Who is that?"
Part 85
Before Richard could answer, Robert had drawn his own conclusions. General Tilney was old - in his eyes anyway - and therefore he must be a grandfather. "Whose grandpa is he?"
"I am not that old!" bellowed the offended General, whose children had not made him a grandfather yet. His hair was only slightly beginning to grey and he certainly did not look as old as that yet, he thought.
"You look just as old as my grandpa," Robert informed him, and set himself down to play with a paperweight, while the General was trying to swallow his anger. "Is James now old enough to play with me?" Robert asked Richard. He asked this every time he saw him. Robert found babies rather boring. What was the point of having a boy cousin if he could only smile?
"Not yet. At least not old enough for the kind of games you like playing, but he can do some other things. He is upstairs, if you wish to play with him anyway."
Robert sighed. "I wish he would grow up!" His mother often said this and he liked the phrase. "Very well, I shall see if he wants to play." He slid off his chair and skipped away.
"Who is that? Is he yours?" asked the General.
"He is my nephew. Shall we join the ladies?" Richard suggested to avoid hearing the General's grievances about being taken for a grandfather. Lady Catherine and Catherine were already having tea.
"When will Mother return?" Catherine asked after she had observed her aunt's husband with interest.
"I do not know," Richard answered. "They stayed away all day yesterday."
"Aww," said his sister pityingly. "And they left you here all alone?"
"You know I dislike shopping and would you have me accompany them when they visit a dressmaker?"
"Fitzwilliam, do not suggest such ridiculous things," Lady Catherine chided. "How are the Viscount and Lady Julia?"
"I wish you would not use those titles, Aunt Catherine. It is quite normal to address grown-up people in that manner, but it makes babies sound ridiculous."
"They have a right to them and therefore they must be used."
"And why do they have a right to them? Because two people died!" and Richard and Lady Catherine began a discussion on the usage of titles which bored Catherine so much that she went upstairs to look at the twins. The General listened with a half ear, still upset about having been taken for a grandfather. He had no title himself and he found it extremely distinguished to have one, so he could not help but agree with Lady Catherine now and then when she turned to him for support.
The other ladies returned at last and after all the introductions had been made and Colonel Marsden had arrived as well to add to the confusion, Lady Catherine demanded that Caroline and Anne go with her for a walk. The three ladies walked out, and Lady Catherine advised Anne about her wedding and marriage in general, while Caroline looked around herself. When Lady Catherine was finished with Anne she began to warn Caroline.
"Fitzwilliam seems to care very little about his position in society."
"Does he?" Caroline answered.
"I am sure you understand what I mean, since I believe you do care, despite your occasional lack of manners. Can you not get into his mind that he ought to be a little more aware of who he is?"
I did not know he had forgotten that! This morning he still knew he was my husband, Caroline thought, but she did not say so.
"Being an Earl involves certain intangible responsibilities towards other people," Lady Catherine continued.
"Richard does not believe in intangible things," Caroline protested.
"Nonsense. He is merely irresponsible. Are your children well-provided for?" It sounded as if Lady Catherine doubted this very much. "Or, when they come of age, will they have to sell their toys first in order to have some money? By doing which they would end up with more money than most other people, I daresay." Lady Catherine had found the Fitzwilliam household rather untidy and containing far too many play things for children who could not even walk or talk yet. She had had to remove three items from the sofa before she had been able to sit down.
Caroline laughed. "I assure you, as strange as it may sound, that our children are extremely well-provided for."
"That was all your doing, I am sure." Lady Catherine disliked being wrong.
Caroline figured that she would not believe her anyway, so they walked on in silence. Suddenly they heard a woman scream.
Part 86
"What was that?" Anne asked.
"A woman in distress?" Caroline suggested. "Listen, she does not stop. Let us walk on and see what it is."
Lady Catherine was always ready to interfere in other people's affairs. They quickened their pace and soon the small lake in the park came into sight. A woman was standing on the wooden bridge across the lake desperately crying and looking into the water. As soon as she saw the three ladies she ran towards them and began to call out in an incoherent manner.
"My boy! My dear little boy! He fell off the bridge! Please get help!"
They could see the child splashing. He would be under by the time they would have returned with help. Caroline struggled with the choice between propriety and compassion, while Lady Catherine sent Anne away to fetch a gentleman. Since there were no gentlemen in sight, and neither had they passed any on their way, Caroline thought it might take a long time before Anne would find one.
"I must be mad," Caroline declared as she took off her shoes and her cloak.
"Caroline?" Lady Catherine cried. "What are you doing?"
Caroline started wading through the water while the two other women followed on the bridge. "It is freezing! My gown will be ruined," she cried. But if it had been one of my babies, I would have killed the person who chose to stand by while she was in a position to do so. "Oh! It is cold!"
"Wait till Anne returns with someone who can swim! You cannot swim!" Lady Catherine cried. She saw the water was getting deeper.
"Well," Caroline began, unsure of the propriety of disclosing her sea bathing adventures. "Oh lord! That awful muck. My stockings!" she cursed as her feet got stuck in the muck repeatedly, and she began swimming instead, crying out "argh!" when the water enveloped her body.
The boy had gone under when she reached the place where she had seen him last. His mother began to wail hysterically. Caroline felt around. She felt nothing. Perhaps she would have to go under. I have never done that before. But my appearance is already ruined anyway. I do not want to go out empty-handed. I must find him. The boy drifted to the surface once more and took a breath of air. Caroline immediately grabbed him and the additional weight made her go under. She surfaced to catch her breath. She went under again, and pulled him up. The hysterical boy clung to her so closely that she could hardly move. It was very difficult to keep her head above the water and she struggled to swim back. "Stop it! You're drowning me! Let go!" Caroline felt she was losing the struggle. She was too exhausted to keep it up. Either she would have to let the boy go, or they would both go down, and since he was gripping her so tightly, it seemed very probable that that would happen. "Help me," she shouted with her mouth half in the water. She kept sinking under, so she saw only vaguely that a crowd had gathered on the bridge.
The General had not seen any reason for staying while his wife was out walking, and he had left. Lady Matlock, Richard and Catherine gossiped about him at length when he was gone. None of them, not even her sister-in-law, who knew her best, had ever thought that Lady Catherine would marry again, and it was a very interesting thing to discuss.
Robert tried to play with the twins, but he did not find them very good playing companions. "Uncle Fitzwilliam, I give them the ball and then they should give it back to me," he complained. "But they do not and when I take it away, they cry."
"They do not understand your game yet."
"Tell them how it goes! They are so boring!" He walked over to his mother. "Can we go home?"
Part 87
When Darcy first noticed there was something happening near the pond, he automatically assumed that his cousin had thrown Caroline in and he did not want to be associated with that. His curiosity got the better of him, however, and when he came closer he realised that something serious was going on. A woman seemed to be struggling with a child in the water. She was having a hard time while everybody else seemed to be looking on. Darcy hesitated. Perhaps he ought to jump in and help before they drowned.
"Darcy!" Lady Catherine exclaimed. "Get in!"
Darcy looked surprised to see his aunt and Anne. Why is she so concerned? He looked back at the pond and made a decision. After taking off his shoes and coat, he jumped in. "Caroline?" he asked incredulously when he was close enough to tear the hysterical boy away from her. Caroline spluttered something about her gown. Darcy figured that she was not in grave danger if she was still preoccupied with her gown, and he dragged the boy out of the water first. He placed the boy on the ground, where he was immediately surrounded by the crowd of people. Then he turned back to save Caroline, but there was no need for that. She had already reached shallow water and was wading towards the side. Nevertheless he aided her out, because she was coughing and spluttering.
Caroline sank down on the ground elegantly. "Thank you, Mr. Darcy." Caroline wrung out her gown as best she could. She shivered and Anne brought her her cloak. "I want to get home as soon as possible."
"Before you catch a cold," Lady Catherine agreed. She commandeered a nearby carriage for the task.
"We are going in through the back entrance," Caroline declared. "I will not have more people see me like this." As soon as she was inside she ran upstairs, leaving a wet trail behind. The carriage left to take Darcy home.
Lady Catherine quickly ordered somebody to prepare Caroline a hot bath before she followed her upstairs.
Caroline towelled herself dry and warm in front of the fire, and then slid into bed to await her bath and drink some of the hot drink that had been brought up.
"That was very good of you, Caroline," Anne said.
Caroline shrugged. "I had to," she said simply. "I imagined it happening to Julia or James, and it was a horrible thought."
"You must tell me where you learnt that."
"Richard, with his usual disregard for propriety, taught me that."
"Why?" Lady Catherine asked.
"Why? Oh, for no other reason than that we were having fun at the beach."
"Fun at the beach?" Lady Catherine asked as if these were foreign words.
Caroline looked at her curiously. "Fun, Lady Catherine. Do you not know what fun is?"
"I know what fun is, but I do not see how it can be had at a beach."
"I suppose your husband would not take you to a deserted beach, drag you in, and tell you to start swimming because it is no fun at all to do it by himself?"
"No," Lady Catherine said with wide eyes. She did not know if she approved of her relatives doing things like this.
"I was so heavy I could hardly do anything, but I did not feel that in the water," Caroline smiled in recollection. "It was so agreeable."
"Madam, your bath is ready," said the maid, and Caroline got out of bed in her bathrobe.
Lady Catherine followed. "What a strange bath!" she exclaimed. "How very unusual!"
Anne decided to go downstairs, to think this all through. Just as she made to leave the room Richard entered, but he did not even see her. "Yes, Caroline is in there," she said inaudibly, staring after him as he went straight to Caroline, with the curious Robert on his trail.
"Caroline, I heard you came home all wet looking as if you have been swimming?" he asked.
"That is because she has been swimming," Lady Catherine answered. "And what are you doing here, Fitzwilliam? Your wife is about to take a bath. And you certainly have no business here," she admonished Robert.
"Aunt Catherine, would you mind taking him downstairs?" Richard asked. That way he would be rid of both of them very diplomatically.
Lady Catherine left unwillingly, feeling the impropriety of leaving him there. Caroline got into the bath. "Wonderfully warm," she sighed.
"What have you been doing?" Richard asked anxiously.
Part 88
"I got wet," Caroline answered.
"I understood that, but how?"
"I had to rescue a little boy from drowning."
"You?" Richard exclaimed.
Caroline chuckled. "You look just as surprised as Darcy."
"What does he have to do with it?"
"Oh, he came to my aid when I was nearly drowning myself."
"Caroline!" Richard moved closer to the bath. "What are you saying?"
"The boy was pulling me down. I would have had to hit him if Darcy had not jumped in." Richard did not look pleased and Caroline saw it. "Do you think I misbehaved?" she asked quietly.
"No," he said slowly.
"My gown looks dreadful."
"Who cares about your gown?"
"Then what is it?"
Richard looked a little uncomfortable. "Well, I am not jealous, I think, but..."
"But...?"
"I feel a little..."
"You feel a little left out of the whole drowning business?" Caroline chuckled. The expression on his face gave her enough of an answer. "He did not have to rescue me," she reassured him. "It appears that - well, if you wish to know, you must come closer. I feel a sentimental speech coming on. Lock the door."
"I cannot lock the door if you want me to come closer, and I am already as close to this bath as I can get."
"One more innocent remark and I shall really believe that you bought this bath for the four of us."
"Do you mean you distrust my motives?" Richard asked as he took two strides to lock the door.
"Not at all, but you may distrust mine," her eyes sparkled.
"I think I have found you out."
"Have you?"
"Oh, yes."
"What are my intentions then?" Caroline challenged him.
"Why tell you something you already know? It would be a waste of words. I shall just tell you that I am a willing participant in whatever you choose to undertake."
"That is a waste of words as well. Hurry."
"Oh, there you are, children," said Lady Matlock. "You look a little flushed, Caroline. I hope you did not contract a fever from swimming in this weather."
"Oh, no. It is from dressing quickly." It had suddenly been tea time. Time had passed very quickly.
Lady Matlock saw that Richard looked just as bright and flushed, but she did not ask if dressing quickly was the cause of that as well. She merely raised her eyebrows at it and commented to herself that she did not want to know. "I already had tea, but would you still like some?"
"Yes, please," they both nodded.
"Your children are alright," Lady Matlock informed them. "I took the liberty of looking in on them. Catherine - the elder - of course objected to having them downstairs. She wants Anne to move to her house until the wedding. Anne is having dinner there, by the way, and so is Andrew."
"Another name we cannot use," Richard mused.
"For what?" Caroline asked.
"Nothing yet at this moment, but I really object to people with decent names marrying into our family."
"Why?"
"Because they restrict our choice of names."
"Who says the occasion will arise again?" said Lady Matlock, trying to temper her son's enthusiasm.
"Do not talk in riddles!" Caroline cried.
"Babies," her mother-in-law explained.
"Oh."
"Darcy is going to name his first-born Ovid," Richard said. "That is something I approve of. It leaves us a greater choice."
"Ovid Darcy?" Caroline wrinkled her nose in distaste.
"His wife will not allow it," Lady Matlock said decidedly.
"Of course not. Husbands are so silly at times. What if it is a girl?" Caroline wondered.
"George for a boy and Anne for a girl. Or both," Lady Matlock suggested.
"And for two boys George and Richard," Richard nodded.
"That is an honour you are not going to reciprocate," Caroline warned him. "Not even William Fitzwilliam."
"I wonder what Cathy will come up with. If it goes well this time," he added hastily. "She is catching up, but we are still one ahead of Darcy." His mother looked at him in disapproval.
"You never play to win. Did you lie or did you change? I play for the sake of playing," Caroline quoted his own words.
"I spoke for the sake of speaking," Richard replied solemnly. "It is very good for my self-esteem to see everybody react in the way I had expected them to react."
"So you lied," Caroline stated. "Or perhaps you did not know yourself."
"I must not have known myself," he said generously.
"Or you just said that because it was the opposite of what I was saying?"
Lady Matlock had no idea what they were talking about and she had a great desire to see her grandchildren downstairs, because she had not seen them for at least an hour. She rose. "I am going to see if the twins want to come down."
"Of course they do," said Richard. "I shall come with you to carry one, if Caroline does not object to my breaking off our conversation."
"Not at all," Caroline replied. "I know how it would have ended anyway."
"You do?" he asked interestedly.
"Yes, it would not have ended."
"Come," Lady Matlock pulled her son away before they began another discussion. "You two are very tiresome at times," she said to him as they ascended.
"I hope we are tolerable during the rest of the day."
"Of course. Caroline spent the rest of the day in a bath, I heard."
"Oh, mother!" Richard pretended to be shocked.
"I made some discreet inquiries. The servants would not reveal anything to your Aunt Catherine, but they are always very communicative towards me."
"And I was going to give them a nice Christmas bonus."
"If you had heard what they told your aunt, you would give them a double bonus."
"What did they say?"
"That you had gone out to buy some rare bath salts at Caroline's request and that it was taking you very long to find them."
"Did Aunt Catherine believe that?"
"Amazingly enough - considering that she just got married -- she did."
They arrived at the nursery. The twins never objected to a change of scenery, especially if it was their parents or grandmother carrying them. "Do you think they know you are my mother and not theirs?" Richard asked.
"Do you think they know you are their father and not their mother?" Lady Matlock retorted playfully.
Part 89
Richard went over to Darcy to thank him. "Thank you, cousin. I owe you one. I hope you are not seriously ill," he said when Darcy blew his nose.
"No," Darcy blew his nose again. "It is merely a cold. Does Caroline not have one?"
"No, she took a hot bath straightaway. I owe you two," Richard grinned.
"I took a hot bath as well, for at least twenty minutes."
"Oh, perhaps that was too short?"
"She said you taught her to swim. Why did you?" Darcy asked curiously.
"Because I am selfish?"
"If you were selfish, you would not go through all the trouble of teaching her."
"Really, it was no trouble," Richard laughed.
"But why?" Darcy insisted.
"You have to agree that it is a useful skill," Richard said defiantly. He was afraid that Darcy would criticise him. "And I did not teach her anything -- she might have learnt some things in my presence, that is all. She was sitting there on the beach and it was so hot that I really had to go in, and I felt sorry for her, so we walked along the shore so she could get her feet wet, and...and I pulled her in."
"And then?" Darcy was intrigued.
"She screamed."
"Where there no other people?" Darcy would not want to be suspected of drowning his wife. "Or was this at your family's seaside house?" He and his cousins had frequently swam there themselves, even his cousin Catherine when she was a little girl, but to him there was quite a difference between a little girl and one's wife.
"Yes, it was and nobody saw us," Richard answered. "As long as we can justify our behaviour to ourselves, I could not care less what you think about it."
"Yes, you do, or you would not act so defensively."
"Alright, I do. You are my cousin."
"I think that it is alright to be as foolish as you like, as long as you do not harm anybody," Darcy said pensively. "Does Caroline really like whatever you put her through or does she acquiesce because she is your wife?" Elizabeth was capable of getting him to do unusual things, but he had never suspected Caroline of being like that. If anything unusual happened to the Fitzwilliams, it was more likely to be Richard's fault.
Richard gasped. "Does she acquiesce?" he repeated. "Just because she was always agreeing with you before she saw the light does not mean she is incapable of telling me she does not agree with me."
"I know that," Darcy said patiently. "You are constantly disagreeing, or pretending to disagree. It is so predictable. Every time you say something, she will counter it, and vice versa, even if the counter argument is completely senseless. I do not know if I could live like that. I should never really know what the other person's beliefs were. You do not know anything other than that Caroline's beliefs are the exact opposite of yours, and that sometimes your ideas are the exact opposite of what you have stated earlier. There used to be a time when I knew what you thought of things, but when I hear you speak now and then, I hear you say the total opposite of what you used to think. It is very confusing."
"Really?" Richard asked. "I had not thought about that. Well, I suppose --" he reflected. "Basically I still think the same things, except that marriage has influenced my beliefs a little. If you ever hear me deviate from my old beliefs, you must ask yourself the question if this could be the result of my being married, and if that is not the case, you should not take me seriously. But, if this is difficult, I could wink at you every time I say something that is not entirely true." He winked. "That is what I always do with Caroline."
"I have never seen you wink at Caroline."
"No?" Richard winked again. "You must have missed it."
Anne and Colonel Marsden were married two weeks later. After the wedding everybody left town to go back to the place where they usually lived. The Fitzwilliams and the Darcys travelled together, since the greater part of their journey was in the same direction, and Lady Matlock suggested that they trade places at every stop to make the journey less tedious for herself and for Georgiana. To be confined in a carriage with a married couple for two days was not very entertaining for a third person, and Lady Matlock stipulated that the husbands were not to share a carriage with their wives until the final stretch of their journey when the parties would go different ways.
Finally, everyone was back home and life returned to normal.
The End