She then went on to describe the marital act in blunt anatomical terms that seemed impossible to reconcile with the gentle ecstasy Diana had already experienced in Edmund’s arms.
“Don’t look so appalled, my dear.” Henrietta smiled. “You will get used to it in time. It might hurt a little at the beginning, but you must endure that and not ruin your husband’s pleasure. It’s the only way to conceive a child, so that’s one thing to think about if it feels uncomfortable. Just a little discomfort in exchange for a great joy…”
Lady Birks was looking at her with sympathetic kindness once more.
“It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it?” She sighed. “But it’s far better to hear these things in advance from an older woman than go to the marriage bed entirely unprepared. You will thank me later, I’m sure.”
“I do thank you, Aunt Henrietta,” Diana said a little desperately, wanting both to be alone and to find a way to expunge her brain of the brutal images conjured by Lady Birks’s explanation of the facts of life. “But I’m feeling tired and unwell. I think I must go to bed.”
“Of course, you must,” her aunt agreed, chucking her under the chin like a small child. “I will take good care of you, Diana. You’re very precious to me, you know. No less than my own daughter.”
Smiling somewhat weakly at Lady Birks’s over-effusion of sentiment, Diana found herself walking back to the house and straight upstairs to her bedroom. Tonight, her aunt even dismissed the maid, put Diana into her nightgown and tucked her into bed.
Sensing that the older woman would go away more quickly if she didn’t resist, Diana curled up obediently under the covers and counted to a hundred after she heard Lady Birks wish her goodnight and leave the room.
She lay awake for several hours, listening as the rest of the household went to bed. It was only when the house was quiet and her disconsolate pull towards Edmund could no longer be restrained that Diana rose and found her bedroom door had been locked. There could be no nocturnal wanderings for her tonight.
The key which was normally inside the room had been moved outside. Henrietta must have turned it.
* * *
Diana was not released until Elsie came upstairs to her room at 9 am the following morning, finding Diana already washed, dressed, and pacing the room impatiently.
“Oh my word! Did someone lock you in, My lady?” Elsie asked in astonishment. “It’s no time for Lord Greene to be up to his tricks, surely?”
"Lady Birks must have done it by accident when she wished me goodnight, Elsie.” Diana laughed with a shrug. She could come up with no better explanation but made a point of pocketing the key before going downstairs for breakfast.
“Look who has just arrived to spend the day with us!” Lady Birks crowed as Diana entered the breakfast room. Her face looked as kind and affectionate as ever, giving Diana no clue to explain the incident with the key.
Her cousin, Kitty, smiled up at her from the table where she had been in conversation with both Edmund and Jacob.
“Cousin Kitty can join us for our ramble and picnic this afternoon,” Percy said happily. “Andrew has important business to attend to and sends his regards.”
“I’m very glad,” Diana muttered, taking the remaining empty seat beside Lady Birks. No one had sat at either end of the table since the night Percy had refused his father’s seat. “It’s always wonderful to see you, Kitty.”
Kitty sat between Jacob and Edmund, with Percy across the table from Edmund on his aunt’s other side.
“We were just wondering whether you might even persuade your mother to join you for a short outing one day soon, Diana,” Henrietta commented. “She was looking so worn out this morning. I could not persuade her to leave your poor father at all last night. She must look after her own health too. I can safely watch him all day if needs be.”
Diana nodded thoughtfully.
“I’ll try. Mother believes she’s the only one who can get the broth into Father, and that’s what’s keeping him alive.”
“Alas, prolonging the inevitable, my poor children. Has the Bishop responded to your letter, Percy?”
“He comes on Saturday,” Diana, who had dictated Percy’s letter and read the Bishop's reply, said.
“You must be ready to receive the Bishop, Percy,” Lady Birks warned. “Remember that you must address him correctly and be ready to answer appropriately any questions he might have.”
“We can discuss that with Percy tomorrow,” Edmund offered as Percy’s brow knitted. “My family’s acquaintances include a number of Bishops. I am happy to share what he needs to know.”
“That would be so very kind of you, Your Grace. Percy is lucky to have such a friend at his side. A friend willing to give up so much time for him.”
Lady Birks looked at her daughter and then back at Edmund with an affectionate smile.
“Indeed, our whole family is lucky to have you. I do hope that the Arnolds and Turners will always have a strong friendship. Don’t you agree, Kitty and Diana?”
Kitty echoed her mother’s smile and murmured her appreciation of Edmund’s kindness to her cousins. Diana only dared to lock eyes with Edmund for a moment and then looked away, afraid that the yearning she saw again would be automatically answered and visible on her own face.