Page 131 of Twice Chosen

Their first daughter had possessed Elizabeth's eyes, almost startlingly bright from birth.

This child was new.

Grief and love collided so violently Elizabeth began to cry.

Darcy understood.

He touched the baby's cheek with one finger. "Who are you?"

The child yawned.

Elizabeth laughed through tears. "Impertinent already."

"Then yours."

"Her nose says otherwise."

They did not name her Anne.

Anne belonged to a daughter they had loved.

This child deserved her own name.

Elizabeth looked down at her. "Clara."

Darcy raised an eyebrow. "Clara?"

"I have always liked it."

"You never mentioned it."

Elizabeth smiled. "I was waiting another lifetime."

Darcy laughed.

Clara Darcy.

New.

Entirely herself.

They loved her without apology.

The first weeks were exhausting in ways memory had softened. Clara slept only when carried. She possessed a powerful voice and no respect for household schedules. Darcy, who had once believed babies belonged primarily to nurseries, discovered himself pacing the library at three in the morning with a furious infant against his shoulder.

Elizabeth came to the doorway in her dressing gown and laughed.

Darcy glared. "Do not."

"You look very dignified."

"She has been screaming for forty minutes."

"She likes you."

"This is affection?"

Clara abruptly stopped crying and fell asleep.