Darcy & Elizabeth by Linda Berdoll

was pale and a little wobbly, but he was absolutely sober. The flask was returned to the drawer from which it had been taken. After his return, Mr. Darcy appeared altogether unsuspecting that his own jeopardy had provoked poor Goodwin’s falling afoul of the bottle.
    Within a fortnight, save for the newborns, one would have thought nothing extraordinary had befallen the denizens of Pemberley. Soon, Goodwin had reclaimed himself sufficiently to begin to cavil over her every step. Rather than being annoyed, she rejoiced. That was proof positive that their lives had regained a sense of normalcy. Moreover, once the blessed event became evident, the disagreeable country gossip that had abounded was effectively squelched.
    It had been long in coming. The foundations of country life—church, tavern, and mansion house (up to and including, regrettably, a number of rooms in Pemberley House itself)—had been abuzz for months with talk both high and low of what had and would come to pass within the walls of Pemberley. Hannah was not so far removed from her roots not to have learnt of the gossip. But the bewildering range of case and canard that had been bandied about was astonishing even to her tolerant disposition. People gossiped—Hannah knew that was the way of the world. But some of what she had heard was outright calumny and to her, lies were lies. Knowing that prattle was ignited by ignorance and fuelled by fear did not make it any less objectionable. Forthwith of Mr. Darcy’s return and Mrs. Darcy’s lying-in, the grumbling and sniggering citizens were finally and irrevocably hushed. The injurious accusation, which had been growing disturbingly urgent amongst its tenants and tradespeople suggesting that the House of Pemberley had fallen fallow, was finally put to rest. The little matter of primogeniture was at last settled. With the simple act of giving birth to a male child, Mrs. Darcy terminated the winds which had shaken the georgic grapevine into a malicious frenzy. To one and all, mistress and maid, it was a time of contentment. All was as it should be. And because it was as it should be, that it was a long time in coming was hardly mentioned.
    Still, there wasn’t a rich man, poor man, beggar man, or thief in Derbyshire County who didn’t know the particulars.

9
    Mr. Darcy Loves Miss Bennet
    As were many of the largest estates at the time, Pemberley was entailed to the male line.
    Therefore, the burden of producing an heir did not encumber the willowy figure of Georgiana Darcy—it fell squarely onto the exceedingly broad shoulders of her older brother and only sibling, Fitzwilliam Darcy. (To those whose leanings embraced the tenets of good breeding, Mr. Darcy’s exceedingly virile figure was seen as a great advantage.) Indeed, as Miss Darcy was for all intents and purposes exempt, successionally speaking. Her single duty was to marry well. Her brother alone bore the responsibility of begetting an heir apparent. Of course, to do this properly, his foremost objective would have been to obtain a suitable wife. Providentially, the amplitude of Mr. Darcy’s fortune was exceeded only by the liberality with which nature had blessed his propagational apparatus. Whatever capital happened to incite their interest most keenly—that in his breeches or that with his banker—it was of no great astonishment that there had been no dearth of applicants for the office of Mr. Darcy’s wife. Of the allurement of his wealth and position, he was well aware.
    In spite of the spate of ladies throwing themselves in his path, finding a potential wife who was not only of similar station, but met all the others of Mr. Darcy’s notoriously stringent standards, had been no easy quest. By the time he had reached the age of eight and twenty, he had come to understand that what reason demanded his matrimonial ideal to be was quite out of harmony with that of his heart.
    When he beheld Elizabeth