Chapter 3
“Annie, did Mamma take you to the maze?”
“Mamma? Mace?” Annie did not understand. “Mamma.” She hugged Georgiana anew.
“Into the bushes? Did Annie go between big bushes?” Elizabeth’s hands mimed the high walls of the maze.
“Mamma. Bussies!” Annie laid her head against Georgiana once more.
“She may well mean that I brought her out of the bushes, not that her own mother brought her into the maze. Or, of course, she may be just repeating the words she hears us saying.”
“True,” Elizabeth agreed. “Well, she should be taken back. Truly I would be willing to go, and I do not want you to go without me, Fitzwilliam.”
“But I am in earnest that you should not go at this time,” Darcy replied. “Our child is due any day, and we cannot expect the Darcys on the other side to have made preparations for such an event. I am not willing to risk it, as long as there are alternatives.”
“I want to be the one to go,” Georgiana stated positively, “and I think I ought to be. Fitzwilliam, this is my responsibility —she is my daughter, in some sense, and it would not be the same risk to Pemberley, or to Elizabeth and little Andry, were I to tarry over there. Besides, it will be an adventure for me —a bit frightening, but not really threatening. Both of you have already come through the portal in the maze, safely in both directions: why may not I?”
“If she were to go, shouldn’t someone go with her, Fitzwilliam?” asked Elizabeth. “Not you, but someone else?”
“Whom should we send? Who would go?”
“I wonder if Ellen Ingram would do it? She actually has a bit of an adventurous streak in her. And she knows the story behind my pre-Christmas absence, of course, so she is used to the idea. And the other Ellen almost certainly knows the story as well. Especially if the other Fitzwilliam has met the other Elizabeth and brought her to visit Pemberley by now.”
“Brought her to visit? They are already married!” Fitzwilliam exclaimed. “Annie recognized you as her ‘Aunt Lizzy’, did she not? I do believe you owe me ten pounds, my dear!”
Elizabeth smiled back at him. “It would appear so,” she agreed. “When?”
“April?”
“March, at the latest!”
“Done!”
Georgiana was amused. “Wagering on probable wedding dates?” she inquired.
“Exactly,” her brother replied.
“Not having met either of them,” Georgiana said, “but judging by the two of you, I will say February.”
“You will probably win,” Elizabeth grinned. “A wise man once recommended that I never underestimate the attraction a Fitzwilliam Darcy feels towards an Elizabeth Bennet, and I may well have been guilty of doing so yet again in this instance.
“In any case, and to return to the previous point,” she continued, “Ellen —I mean the other Ellen, of course— knew me so well, she would be less surprised than most of the servants, I think, if she should encounter herself over there.”
“Shall you not want Ellen here in case Andry should make an appearance?” Darcy asked.
“Yes, of course, and so I shall want her to come back as soon as she can. But even if she were not able to, I should only want her. I shall need you.”
“What is your opinion, Georgiana?”
“I should be happy to go with Ellen, and I think she would be a good choice as a companion for me.”
“If we are in agreement then, let us send for Ellen.”
When Ellen joined them a few minutes later she curtseyed respectfully, then looked with well-disciplined surprise at Annie.
“Ellen, do you remember what I told you about where I was those two weeks before Christmas?”
“Yes, ma’am, at another Pemberley, you said. A place where there is another Mr. Darcy, and even another Ellen Ingram.”
“One thing I did not tell you was that in that world, Miss Darcy had married, had become Mrs. Wickham.”
“Oh, my!” Ellen did not know what to say, and looked in some distress from Elizabeth to Georgiana to Darcy, and back to Elizabeth.
“Mrs. Wickham had a child, a little girl named Anne Elizabeth.”
“Annie Dizbet,” confirmed Annie, nodding her head decidedly.
“This is that child. She seems to have come through the fountain in the maze, just as I did, twice, those five months ago now. She of course knew nothing about it, but her mother, and her uncle and aunt, must be quite sick with worry about her. We need to return her to them.”
“Yes, ma’am. Are you wanting me to take her?”
“Miss Georgiana plans to take her back, but we thought it would be better to have someone to accompany her. Would you be willing to do that?”
“Of course I …” Ellen began, but Darcy’s voice interrupted her. “Think carefully before answering, Ellen. It could be dangerous. When your mistress crossed over last time it was two weeks before she was able to return. We do know that there is a Mr. Darcy, and Mrs. Wickham, and probably Mrs. Darcy, on the other side. They know what can happen with the maze, and will help you in any way they can, but they cannot control when you may be allowed to return. Moreover, we cannot be certain that they are all at Pemberley: they may be in Hertfordshire, or London, for instance. The servants at the other Pemberley should recognize you, however, and they will help. But the whole enterprise is not without peril.”
“Yes, sir, I see what you are saying,” Ellen returned. “Yet if Miss Darcy is willing to risk going, I am willing to risk it too. If nothing else, it would be an adventure! Only, Mrs. Darcy, I hate the thought of being caught over there when your time comes, as it should any day now. Perhaps I should not.”
“And you know I would love to have you here, Ellen. And I hope that shall yet be possible —that you shall be able to go and return quickly. That has also happened in the past, though not to me.” She smiled at her husband. “But if you are willing to go, I do think that you are an ideal companion for our dear Georgiana and for little Annie.”
“Very well, madam.” Ellen’s smile made it clear that she was actually excited by this possibility.
“Mrs. Darcy and I have discussed this in the past,” Darcy said. “Although the maze sometimes has seemed capricious in its functioning, and we know for a fact that it has proved dangerous for at least one person, it seems to be guided by a benevolent rather than a malicious will. When we have crossed in the past we have been enabled thereby to achieve an important good for our counterparts on the other side. So it is possible that your going there now will provide the opportunity for you to perform some helpful action or provide useful counsel. But we do feel that the power behind the maze is trustworthy—indeed, we had planned to attempt a crossing ourselves sometime after the child is born. We should not ignore that there is a risk attached to it however, or take it to be something to be endeavoured lightly or frivolously. In this case, however, returning Annie to her mother is certainly a good reason to attempt it. If you go, do not be afraid should you be unable to return immediately, but keep your eyes open for what good you may accomplish there, and trust that the path will open to you later.”
Georgiana nodded, and Ellen dipped her head, saying “I understand, sir.”
They all took a deep breath together. “Is there anything you would need to do to prepare?” asked Elizabeth.
“Not that I can think of,” said Georgiana, “although perhaps it would be well to take some extra napkins and perhaps a blanket and a small basket of food for Annie, just in case we do not find anyone as quickly as we expect to.” She shook her head slightly, as if finding it hard to believe what she was actually contemplating doing.
“You should have some money as well.” Fitzwilliam asked their indulgence for a few minutes while he went to his room. He returned with five ten-pound notes which he gave to Georgiana and she placed in her reticule, and a five-pound note which he passed to Ellen. Her eyes widened. “It would be better for me not to have this ‘soft’, she said, “let alone such a great sum of money. Anyone would wonder where on earth I had gotten it.”
“I am sorry, you are entirely right,” Fitzwilliam responded, “except as concerns the amount. I will not have you short of funds, in case you were to need them.” After another quick trip to his rooms, he returned with an equal amount in coins of smaller denominations, with a few more for Georgiana to have with her. Elizabeth had meanwhile found a simple reticule to hold them, which Ellen tucked into her blouse after it had been filled.
They decided, then, to meet at the gate to the maze in somewhat less than half an hour’s time. Darcy suggested that Elizabeth remain above stairs, but she insisted that she wanted to be there with the others, and he acquiesced to her desire.
“Annie, did Mamma take you to the maze?”
“Mamma? Mace?” Annie did not understand. “Mamma.” She hugged Georgiana anew.
“Into the bushes? Did Annie go between big bushes?” Elizabeth’s hands mimed the high walls of the maze.
“Mamma. Bussies!” Annie laid her head against Georgiana once more.
“She may well mean that I brought her out of the bushes, not that her own mother brought her into the maze. Or, of course, she may be just repeating the words she hears us saying.”
“True,” Elizabeth agreed. “Well, she should be taken back. Truly I would be willing to go, and I do not want you to go without me, Fitzwilliam.”
“But I am in earnest that you should not go at this time,” Darcy replied. “Our child is due any day, and we cannot expect the Darcys on the other side to have made preparations for such an event. I am not willing to risk it, as long as there are alternatives.”
“I want to be the one to go,” Georgiana stated positively, “and I think I ought to be. Fitzwilliam, this is my responsibility —she is my daughter, in some sense, and it would not be the same risk to Pemberley, or to Elizabeth and little Andry, were I to tarry over there. Besides, it will be an adventure for me —a bit frightening, but not really threatening. Both of you have already come through the portal in the maze, safely in both directions: why may not I?”
“If she were to go, shouldn’t someone go with her, Fitzwilliam?” asked Elizabeth. “Not you, but someone else?”
“Whom should we send? Who would go?”
“I wonder if Ellen Ingram would do it? She actually has a bit of an adventurous streak in her. And she knows the story behind my pre-Christmas absence, of course, so she is used to the idea. And the other Ellen almost certainly knows the story as well. Especially if the other Fitzwilliam has met the other Elizabeth and brought her to visit Pemberley by now.”
“Brought her to visit? They are already married!” Fitzwilliam exclaimed. “Annie recognized you as her ‘Aunt Lizzy’, did she not? I do believe you owe me ten pounds, my dear!”
Elizabeth smiled back at him. “It would appear so,” she agreed. “When?”
“April?”
“March, at the latest!”
“Done!”
Georgiana was amused. “Wagering on probable wedding dates?” she inquired.
“Exactly,” her brother replied.
“Not having met either of them,” Georgiana said, “but judging by the two of you, I will say February.”
“You will probably win,” Elizabeth grinned. “A wise man once recommended that I never underestimate the attraction a Fitzwilliam Darcy feels towards an Elizabeth Bennet, and I may well have been guilty of doing so yet again in this instance.
“In any case, and to return to the previous point,” she continued, “Ellen —I mean the other Ellen, of course— knew me so well, she would be less surprised than most of the servants, I think, if she should encounter herself over there.”
“Shall you not want Ellen here in case Andry should make an appearance?” Darcy asked.
“Yes, of course, and so I shall want her to come back as soon as she can. But even if she were not able to, I should only want her. I shall need you.”
“What is your opinion, Georgiana?”
“I should be happy to go with Ellen, and I think she would be a good choice as a companion for me.”
“If we are in agreement then, let us send for Ellen.”
When Ellen joined them a few minutes later she curtseyed respectfully, then looked with well-disciplined surprise at Annie.
“Ellen, do you remember what I told you about where I was those two weeks before Christmas?”
“Yes, ma’am, at another Pemberley, you said. A place where there is another Mr. Darcy, and even another Ellen Ingram.”
“One thing I did not tell you was that in that world, Miss Darcy had married, had become Mrs. Wickham.”
“Oh, my!” Ellen did not know what to say, and looked in some distress from Elizabeth to Georgiana to Darcy, and back to Elizabeth.
“Mrs. Wickham had a child, a little girl named Anne Elizabeth.”
“Annie Dizbet,” confirmed Annie, nodding her head decidedly.
“This is that child. She seems to have come through the fountain in the maze, just as I did, twice, those five months ago now. She of course knew nothing about it, but her mother, and her uncle and aunt, must be quite sick with worry about her. We need to return her to them.”
“Yes, ma’am. Are you wanting me to take her?”
“Miss Georgiana plans to take her back, but we thought it would be better to have someone to accompany her. Would you be willing to do that?”
“Of course I …” Ellen began, but Darcy’s voice interrupted her. “Think carefully before answering, Ellen. It could be dangerous. When your mistress crossed over last time it was two weeks before she was able to return. We do know that there is a Mr. Darcy, and Mrs. Wickham, and probably Mrs. Darcy, on the other side. They know what can happen with the maze, and will help you in any way they can, but they cannot control when you may be allowed to return. Moreover, we cannot be certain that they are all at Pemberley: they may be in Hertfordshire, or London, for instance. The servants at the other Pemberley should recognize you, however, and they will help. But the whole enterprise is not without peril.”
“Yes, sir, I see what you are saying,” Ellen returned. “Yet if Miss Darcy is willing to risk going, I am willing to risk it too. If nothing else, it would be an adventure! Only, Mrs. Darcy, I hate the thought of being caught over there when your time comes, as it should any day now. Perhaps I should not.”
“And you know I would love to have you here, Ellen. And I hope that shall yet be possible —that you shall be able to go and return quickly. That has also happened in the past, though not to me.” She smiled at her husband. “But if you are willing to go, I do think that you are an ideal companion for our dear Georgiana and for little Annie.”
“Very well, madam.” Ellen’s smile made it clear that she was actually excited by this possibility.
“Mrs. Darcy and I have discussed this in the past,” Darcy said. “Although the maze sometimes has seemed capricious in its functioning, and we know for a fact that it has proved dangerous for at least one person, it seems to be guided by a benevolent rather than a malicious will. When we have crossed in the past we have been enabled thereby to achieve an important good for our counterparts on the other side. So it is possible that your going there now will provide the opportunity for you to perform some helpful action or provide useful counsel. But we do feel that the power behind the maze is trustworthy—indeed, we had planned to attempt a crossing ourselves sometime after the child is born. We should not ignore that there is a risk attached to it however, or take it to be something to be endeavoured lightly or frivolously. In this case, however, returning Annie to her mother is certainly a good reason to attempt it. If you go, do not be afraid should you be unable to return immediately, but keep your eyes open for what good you may accomplish there, and trust that the path will open to you later.”
Georgiana nodded, and Ellen dipped her head, saying “I understand, sir.”
They all took a deep breath together. “Is there anything you would need to do to prepare?” asked Elizabeth.
“Not that I can think of,” said Georgiana, “although perhaps it would be well to take some extra napkins and perhaps a blanket and a small basket of food for Annie, just in case we do not find anyone as quickly as we expect to.” She shook her head slightly, as if finding it hard to believe what she was actually contemplating doing.
“You should have some money as well.” Fitzwilliam asked their indulgence for a few minutes while he went to his room. He returned with five ten-pound notes which he gave to Georgiana and she placed in her reticule, and a five-pound note which he passed to Ellen. Her eyes widened. “It would be better for me not to have this ‘soft’, she said, “let alone such a great sum of money. Anyone would wonder where on earth I had gotten it.”
“I am sorry, you are entirely right,” Fitzwilliam responded, “except as concerns the amount. I will not have you short of funds, in case you were to need them.” After another quick trip to his rooms, he returned with an equal amount in coins of smaller denominations, with a few more for Georgiana to have with her. Elizabeth had meanwhile found a simple reticule to hold them, which Ellen tucked into her blouse after it had been filled.
They decided, then, to meet at the gate to the maze in somewhat less than half an hour’s time. Darcy suggested that Elizabeth remain above stairs, but she insisted that she wanted to be there with the others, and he acquiesced to her desire.
