Page 78 of Clwyd Castle
His look of surprise turned into a tearful smile as his fingers gently caressed the small bump of her stomach. “When we walked here together a year ago, I thought you could never make me happier than you did in that moment… until now.”
Elizabeth smiled so widely that her face ached from it, and she wrapped her arms about his neck, leaning in for a series of small, playful pecks on his lips. “How astonished I was, whenyou said you loved me! But you have shown it every day since then; I wonder how I ever could have doubted it.”
He nuzzled his face against hers for a moment before releasing her and gazing out at the landscape as he held one arm around her. “Our family is to grow again.”
Elizabeth bumped her hip against his and smiled deviously. “Had you ever imagined you would acquire so many new relations all at once? I have given you six new sisters, the four young Gardiners,twosets of in-laws, a niece and a nephew, three brothers-in-law, and we have lately acquired Maria as a cousin. And now….”
“And now, you have given me all that my heart could ever desire. I lost my parents, who often repined that I had not any siblings near my age, nor did Georgiana. I had only her and Richard for so long, and I longed for a large and affectionate family. My father was the eldest of eight, and spoke of how noisy Pemberley once was. You have made it so again, and I know it is what he would wish for me, much as I have desired it myself.”
“Eight! It is just like you to be so ambitious – I must remind you of your philosophy to let me have my own way. We shall have this little one, and then we shall see.” Elizabeth stroked her stomach and gave a happy sigh. “Do be a boy, my little Darcy.”
“I care not, so long as it is a healthy child, and hopefully one who is the image of its mother. Have you felt the quickening?"
“During our play, when we were enacting the scene of the falling chandelier. Perhaps I have a little Cathy here, to be so thrilled by the excitement.”
He chuckled. “I am all for family names, but perhaps one that is not shared by….”
“By certain terrifying dowagers?”
“Exactly. I daresay Richard will incite quite a riot amongst our hundred and fifty relations, vying for the distinction of a namesake.”
Elizabeth laughed. “Maria has already informed me she hopes to give Richard a little Betsy; perhaps I might return the favor.”
“It is the least you can do, after once brandishing a knife at her. What strange beginnings there are to female friendships,” he teased her.
“It was apenknife, and that was ages ago!”
“It does seem a lifetime ago,” he mused, holding her hand and standing near enough for their shoulders to touch. They lapsed into a tranquil silence as the pink faded from the clouds and the sun sank fully behind the distant hills, the colorful autumnal leaves fading into the falling dusk. The moat curled around the castle, black in the moonless night, and as ominous as it had ever been.
But just as she had discovered that fateful week at Clwyd Castle, Elizabeth felt perfectly safe with Lord Darcy. They had kept their word to never be parted, and their happiness was utterly complete.
