She would grieve her lost daughter for the rest of her life, but milestones such as this made the loss more keenly felt.
Now, Elizabeth, Jane, and Mary took tea in the rose garden.
Elizabeth reached for a piece of white cake and asked, "Mary, how do you fare now that the boys are crawling about? Do you have enough help?"
"Oh yes, Lizzy. Nurse is not yet thirty and has plenty of energy to keep up with the twins. And then Charlotte is often with us. She takes great pleasure in spending time with the boys. I feel for her. She is desperate to be married."
Jane asked, "Is there no eligible gentleman in Meryton or the surrounding neighborhoods?"
Mary raised her brows and looked askance, as though she could scarcely credit the question.
"Jane, Meryton has never had an abundance of gentlemen, even in the best of years. But as the war has dragged on, we have fewer and fewer eligible men to choose from."
Elizabeth asked, "Do you ever wish to marry again, sister?"
Mary visibly recoiled.
"No indeed. I have learned how dreadful marriage can be if one is not wed to an angel sent from heaven, and believe me, Lizzy, it is not worth the risk. No, sister, I am perfectly happy living here at Longbourn with a doting grandfather, a mother who runs the household efficiently, and spends time sewing for the boys. The servants are all enamored of my children, and then Charlotte and Mary King are often here to visit. I have everything I could wish for."
Jane rose to her feet to greet their good friend, Charlotte Lucas. All the sisters embraced her, and then they sat and poured her a cup of tea.
"Kitty was a lovely bride, and Mr. Selkirk is terribly handsome. Your mother was very sad when her youngest daughter left her."
Jane said, "Yes, Mother has keenly felt the loss of Kitty because she was accustomed to seeing her and Lydia together. Kitty was Lydia's shadow. Her thoughts and opinions mirrored Lydia's exactly. But now she has become her own person and is a wife and perhaps will soon be a mother."
Charlotte looked at her friend.
"And what of you, Eliza? Are you increasing?"
Elizabeth's cheeks pinked as she smiled.
"I am, Charlotte, but it is still very early. Mr. Darcy knows, but I have told no one else. Mamma always said that one should wait until the quickening before making any announcement."
Charlotte leaned forward and embraced her friend.
"Lizzy, I am so happy for you. I imagine your husband is delighted."
"He is pleased. He needs an heir, but he had hoped we might have had more time together, just the two of us. Since I had never traveled farther than Bakewell, he wished to take me to the Continent and show me some of the beautiful places he visited on his Grand Tour."
"Tell him he can still take you, only now you shall have a nurse and your children in tow."
Laughing, Elizabeth said, "I shall tell him, and perhaps he will listen to me."
Charlotte turned to Jane.
"And you, my dear? Are you also increasing?"
Jane flushed. She rested a hand upon her abdomen, and the women could see the slight rounding beneath her gown.
"I am four months along by my calculations, though I am hardly showing. I imagine it is because I am taller than all my sisters."
Elizabeth saw tears glistening in Charlotte's eyes.
"What is it, Charlotte?" she asked.
"Oh, Lizzy, all my dearest friends are married, increasing, and have moved away. Even young Kitty is married and gone. I alone remain in my parents' home, a spinster with no prospects."
Elizabeth took her friend's hand.
