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Authors: Fenella J Miller
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better if we are both away from Pemberley for a while until matters next door have calmed down.'
She stared at him for a moment and then moved away. 'I shall, of course, do as you request, sir. I think that you are quite wrong in your assessment of the situation. The rift between my dearest Jane will only worsen in my absence.' She straightened her shoulders and it was as if an invisible wall had come down between them. 'Pray excuse me, sir, I have things to attend to elsewhere.'
She walked away and he wanted to call her back and explain his reasons but couldn't do so. They would depart next week, sooner if possible, not leave it until the end of the month. He must send a message to Georgiana cancelling the dinner engagement tonight. Better no one else knew about today's events.
He would go upstairs and talk to Lizzy when he had written the letter to his cousin. Hopefully she would have calmed down a little and be ready to listen to him by then.
An hour later he arrived at their shared apartment to find everything had changed. She had removed herself and her belongings from his bedchamber and the communicating door was firmly locked from her side. She could not have made it plainer.
He stared at the door and was tempted to go around to the other side and remove the key but thought better of it. Lizzy was upset and he didn't blame her. He would allow her a night to get over it before making the closed door an issue.
He loved her – she was his life – but this was his house and he would not be denied access to any of its rooms even by Lizzy.
*
Lizzy collapsed on the bed expecting to hear her husband hammering on the communicating door at any moment. The knob turned. She held her breath but he did no more and she was relieved there wasn't going to be further confrontation.
One thing was certain, if he insisted that she accompany him to London she would never forgive him. She would always love him but things between them would never be the same. It was fortuitous he already had an heir as the way things were at the moment he was unlikely to have the opportunity to produce another.
A woman was in law, considered a chattel of her husbands for him to do as he wished with. She believed there was even a statute that said a wife could be beaten with a stick no thicker than his finger. Fitzwilliam could demand his marital rights, indeed could take them by force, but however estranged they became she was certain he would never do anything like that.
The door between their rooms was locked. That would be enough to tell him he wasn't welcome in her bed until – well, until he agreed that they shouldn't go away before she and Jane were reconciled.
Her first task must be to send a letter to both the butler and housekeeper at Grosvenor Square informing them they would not now be coming. It would probably be wise to also cancel the dinner engagement tonight as she had no desire to share her marital problems with anyone else.
It took several attempts to compose the necessary correspondence as her penmanship was all to pieces. Eventually she was satisfied and sanded the sheet, folded it, applied the sealing wax and pressed in the Darcy seal.
Her abigail had been arranging her gowns and underpinnings in the closet. She could take the letter down and make sure Peterson sent a footman to the village immediately. She glanced at the clock on the mantelshelf and saw to her surprise the time was only half past eleven. How could her world have fallen apart in so short a time? Returning to the nursery was not possible as the children would be taking their morning rest. She needed to clear her head and a long, brisk walk around the grounds would do exactly that.
The sun was out – a perfect day to be outside. She had never enjoyed riding, that pastime was left to her sister Jane. Thinking of her brought tears to her eyes and she blinked them away. She would not be a watering pot but remain calm and dignified and not allow her innermost
She stared at him for a moment and then moved away. 'I shall, of course, do as you request, sir. I think that you are quite wrong in your assessment of the situation. The rift between my dearest Jane will only worsen in my absence.' She straightened her shoulders and it was as if an invisible wall had come down between them. 'Pray excuse me, sir, I have things to attend to elsewhere.'
She walked away and he wanted to call her back and explain his reasons but couldn't do so. They would depart next week, sooner if possible, not leave it until the end of the month. He must send a message to Georgiana cancelling the dinner engagement tonight. Better no one else knew about today's events.
He would go upstairs and talk to Lizzy when he had written the letter to his cousin. Hopefully she would have calmed down a little and be ready to listen to him by then.
An hour later he arrived at their shared apartment to find everything had changed. She had removed herself and her belongings from his bedchamber and the communicating door was firmly locked from her side. She could not have made it plainer.
He stared at the door and was tempted to go around to the other side and remove the key but thought better of it. Lizzy was upset and he didn't blame her. He would allow her a night to get over it before making the closed door an issue.
He loved her – she was his life – but this was his house and he would not be denied access to any of its rooms even by Lizzy.
*
Lizzy collapsed on the bed expecting to hear her husband hammering on the communicating door at any moment. The knob turned. She held her breath but he did no more and she was relieved there wasn't going to be further confrontation.
One thing was certain, if he insisted that she accompany him to London she would never forgive him. She would always love him but things between them would never be the same. It was fortuitous he already had an heir as the way things were at the moment he was unlikely to have the opportunity to produce another.
A woman was in law, considered a chattel of her husbands for him to do as he wished with. She believed there was even a statute that said a wife could be beaten with a stick no thicker than his finger. Fitzwilliam could demand his marital rights, indeed could take them by force, but however estranged they became she was certain he would never do anything like that.
The door between their rooms was locked. That would be enough to tell him he wasn't welcome in her bed until – well, until he agreed that they shouldn't go away before she and Jane were reconciled.
Her first task must be to send a letter to both the butler and housekeeper at Grosvenor Square informing them they would not now be coming. It would probably be wise to also cancel the dinner engagement tonight as she had no desire to share her marital problems with anyone else.
It took several attempts to compose the necessary correspondence as her penmanship was all to pieces. Eventually she was satisfied and sanded the sheet, folded it, applied the sealing wax and pressed in the Darcy seal.
Her abigail had been arranging her gowns and underpinnings in the closet. She could take the letter down and make sure Peterson sent a footman to the village immediately. She glanced at the clock on the mantelshelf and saw to her surprise the time was only half past eleven. How could her world have fallen apart in so short a time? Returning to the nursery was not possible as the children would be taking their morning rest. She needed to clear her head and a long, brisk walk around the grounds would do exactly that.
The sun was out – a perfect day to be outside. She had never enjoyed riding, that pastime was left to her sister Jane. Thinking of her brought tears to her eyes and she blinked them away. She would not be a watering pot but remain calm and dignified and not allow her innermost
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