Page 75 of When Elizabeth Said Yes

His fingers hovered at his lips. He smiled and said, "Good night, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth was woken by the sound of footsteps on the stairs. She was disoriented and couldn't tell what time it was, but she realised it was still dark once she was fully awake. And yet there was an awful lot of noise in the house.

She had no matches, and so she couldn't light the candle she had blown out before bed. She grabbed her dressing gown and pulled it on over her nightrail before hurrying to the door and pulling it open, her heart racing.

Thankfully, there was a maid with a candle hurrying past the door, and so she could see.

"What's amiss?" she asked the maid, whom she had not met before. It had been so late when they'd arrived that she had not been introduced to all of the staff. The maid, of course, knew exactly who she was.

"Begging your pardon, Mrs Darcy, Miss Georgiana's not well. Mr Darcy has sent for the doctor."

"Goodness," Elizabeth said. "Not well? What ails her?"

"A fever, Mrs Darcy, and a rash. I believe Mr Darcy is in with her."

Elizabeth nodded. "I must go to her. Can you show me to her room?"

"Of course, ma'am," the maid said, leading her down the corridor to a room at the far end.

When they entered, Darcy was kneeling by her bed, holding her hand. Georgiana appeared to be asleep.

***

It had been a long time since Fitzwilliam Darcy had prayed, but as he knelt by his sister's bedside and held her feverish hand, he prayed with all his might that she would recover.

He did not like the look of this. She had just been tired, hadn't she? And there was mention of a headache… And yet now she was feverish, and her maid had said she had been thrashing around in her sleep and was not responding.

The rash on her face was clear, and the maid had said it had spread to her chest, too.

He heard the door open but didn't turn around, his focus entirely upon his sister.

"Darcy," a soft voice said, and he gulped as he realised it was his wife.

His wife. He had only just brought her here, and now this disaster had struck them.

"Is there anything I can do?" she asked.

He shook his head. "The doctor is coming."

But instead of leaving, Elizabeth made her way to the other side of the bed. She reached for one of the cloths in a basin of cold water that the maid had left and knelt down on the floor, laying it across Georgiana's forehead.

Darcy watched her, not saying a word, and then his sister took a harsh, shuddering breath, and he returned to his fitful prayers.

"I don't understand," he said, emotion catching at his voice. "She was well when we got home. Tired, perhaps, but nothing like this."

Elizabeth nodded. "These illnesses can come on very quickly. I have seen it in my sisters. But she is young, Darcy. She will fight it, and she will recover."

She reached across Georgiana and took his hand.

"I pray to God you are right," he said.

Georgiana was his closest relation. He had cared for her after their mother had died and had, alongside his cousin, acted as her guardian in the years since his father had passed.

He had made mistakes, that was true. One being trusting that dreadful Mrs Younge with her care and nearly losing her to Wickham's clutches. But he had not seen her ill like this, not since she was young, when it wouldn't have been his responsibility.

But now... He feared doing the wrong thing. He feared losing her. His whole body was racked with fear.

"All will be well, Darcy," Elizabeth said, her cool, calm voice filling the room. "All will be well."