North by Northanger

could not predict whether he would approve of her traveling by foot all the way up to Camden Place. So she simply had not told him of her intent before he departed their lodgings upon errands of his own.

Her silence proved answer enough for Lady Catherine. “I thought not.” She turned to the other two ladies. “Mrs. Jenkinson, I have matters to discuss with Mrs. Darcy that are unsuitable for the ears of a young lady not yet married. This would be a convenient time for you to escort Miss de Bourgh to the Pump Room.”

Mrs. Jenkinson, who had developed an intense interest in the carpet pattern when Lady Catherine began chastising Elizabeth, rose with alacrity. Anne appeared more reluctant to leave, the words “unsuitable for the ears of a young lady not yet married” having offered the tantalizing promise of conversation different from her mother’s usual repertoire.

Her ladyship waited until they had departed before fixing Elizabeth with her gaze once more. “Now then. When do you expect this child?”

Though she bristled at Lady Catherine’s commanding tone, Elizabeth resigned herself to submission — within limits. Cooperating with the interrogation seemed the most efficient way to bring it to an end.

“March.”

“When in March? March is thirty-one days long. Did not your mother help you estimate any more precisely than that? When I carried Anne, I knew exactly which day the child should come.”

“Early March.”

“Hmph. I suppose that is the best you can do.”

“The sixth of March at twenty-three minutes past four in the afternoon.”

Her ladyship was not amused. “You will, of course, want to spend your confinement in London, where the best physicians may be found. Dr. Skinner in Harley Street is the man you want. He is an older gentleman, so he knows what he is about. He attended me at Anne’s birth, and I advise all the young mothers of my acquaintance to use him if he will take them as patients. He attends mostly peers’ wives, but I will speak to him.”

“We are already engaged to meet Dr. Severn on Monday.”

“And who is this Dr. Severn? I have never heard of him.”

“He is highly recommended.”

“Where does he practice? Here in Bath?”

“Mostly in London, though he comes to Bath each winter for the season.”

“He is a poor choice, then. What if your child comes early and he is still in Bath while you are in London?”

“I do not intend to be in London at all. I shall remain at Pemberley for my confinement.”

“Pemberley? Whatever for? Neither Dr. Severn nor Dr. Skinner can attend you at that distance.”

“Mr. Darcy hopes to persuade Dr. Severn to come to Pemberley when my time approaches.”

“And if this Dr. Severn will not?”

“Perhaps I shall simply ask the local midwife to assist me.”

“A midwife?” From her ladyship’s tone, one would think Elizabeth had said “milliner.” “With the most learned physicians in the country available to you in London, you would settle for the aid of some provincial woman?”

“My mother delivered all five of her daughters with the assistance of our village midwife and had no trouble.”

“Your mother was fortunate. Do you have any idea what can happen — to the child and to yourself?”

“I realize there are dangers, but—”

“You young women think you know what to expect, but you are entirely ignorant of the trial before you. I myself labored for a day and a half, and surely would have died of exhaustion without Dr. Skinner. Or take the case of my neighbor Mrs. Anderson, who lost a healthy son in a breech birth. Had she used a physician instead of a midwife, he might have survived. I could offer countless more illustrations.”

Which she then proceeded to do.

As much as Elizabeth wanted to disregard these examples simply because it was Lady Catherine who offered them, she found she could not. She had heard similar stories, and had not been insensible to them, but today the cautionary tales seemed to settle on her heart in a way they had not previously. Her fatigue at climbing Landsdown Road had left her more aware of her increasing physical vulnerability, an unpleasant reality that she would have to take into consideration whether she cared to or not.

Nevertheless, she soon had heard as much from Darcy’s aunt as anyone could be expected to tolerate for one visit. “Lady Catherine, I appreciate your concern and your counsel. I will accord the matter due thought.” She rose to go.

“A London confinement, Mrs. Darcy,” her ladyship repeated once more. “You cannot possibly contemplate anything else. Do not forget that my own sister lost three babes after Fitzwilliam, then bled to death bringing Georgiana into the world. Consider the effect the loss of you or your child would have on my nephew. Whatever my feelings toward you, I would not have him suffer the torment his father experienced.”

Neither would Elizabeth. She also could not help but think that her own death would hardly be an altogether agreeable event for herself.

Her ladyship insisted on not only ordering her carriage for Elizabeth, but also accompanying her to Pulteney Street. Elizabeth supposed Lady Catherine wanted to tattle on her for having arrived in Camden Place under her own power, but as it turned out, she had an entirely different issue she wished to bring to Darcy’s attention.

Darcy had returned from his errands and greeted Lady Catherine’s arrival with evident surprise. “Mrs. Darcy and I had not anticipated the honor of a reciprocal visit so soon.” He glanced to Elizabeth with amused curiosity as her ladyship settled herself in the sitting room. “You must have enjoyed a pleasant tete-a-tete.”

“I have advised your wife on several subjects related to her lying-in. She would do well to heed my counsel.” Lady Catherine waved her hand. “Mrs. Darcy, you may excuse yourself now. I have a matter of family business to discuss with my nephew.”

Elizabeth stiffened. To dismiss her like a servant from her own sitting room! Though a moment ago she would have welcomed the opportunity to escape her ladyship’s presence, she now wanted to remain in the room solely on principle.

Darcy’s expression lost its amusement. “If it is family business, it can be discussed in the presence of my wife.”

“It does not concern her.”

“Then it does not concern me.”

Lady Catherine bristled. She looked at Elizabeth resentfully, then back at Darcy with an air of calculation. Elizabeth sensed that Darcy’s aunt wanted something from him and was weighing how much cooperation on her own part would be required to obtain it.

“Very well,” she said finally. “I suppose you will only divulge our conversation to her the moment I leave.” She spared Elizabeth one more glance, then declared, “Southwell is gone to France again.”

The travel arrangements of Darcy’s cousin hardly constituted the momentous news Elizabeth had anticipated after such a dramatic preface. Darcy, however, closed his eyes and sighed.

“Has he—”

“I have no particulars yet. But you know how poor his judgment is, especially in regard to a certain individual. He narrowly avoided a scandal last time.”

“I remember.” He rubbed his brow wearily. “What does his brother think of this?”

“The news reached me only this morning, so I have had no opportunity to discuss it yet with Colonel Fitzwilliam. Even so, the colonel is needed with his regiment at present and therefore is not at liberty to sail off to France and serve as his brother’s keeper.”

“Neither am I.”

“If you can idle away weeks in Bath, you can go to Paris long enough to make a few discreet enquires. Someone must determine what his lordship is about and intervene if necessary to avert disaster. Else he could finally succeed in undoing himself, and all of us in the process. The political and social repercussions—”

“Would be grave indeed, I realize.”

“Then we are agreed. You will go.”

“No, but I shall send an agent in my stead. My solicitor, Mr. Harper, possesses sufficient connections in Paris