He wondered if Elizabeth was waiting to see him. He was anxious to get inside and talk to her. He’d waited and held back his feelings as long as he could.
He went through the front door, which was opened by the housekeeper, and went immediately toward the parlor. As soon as he stepped through the door, the first person he saw was Mr. Collins. He was standing near the window on the other side of the room. It dashed Darcy’s good mood. He supposed the Bennets had to invite him because he was family, but if the celebration was taking place at Pemberley House he wouldn’t be present.
No matter, Darcy was determined to set things in motion with Elizabeth, to truly take a step forward and end the game. He ignored Mr. Collins and looked around the room for Elizabeth. He didn’t spot her, though the room was quite full. He was greeted several times as he moved through the room looking for her.
Finally, he spotted her near the fireplace, holding a drink and talking to Mr. Wickham. Another jab to his mood. Darcy sighed. Though he was certain he could trust that she hadn’t approached Mr. Wickham and that it had been the opposite, it still annoyed him to see them talking. Wickham had left a very bad impression on Darcy many years previous, and it was difficult for him to let it go.
“Fitzie!” He heard a familiar female voice that he hadn’t heard in some months. He spun around and gathered his sister in his arms.
“Georgie! What are you doing here?”
“The Bennets are my friends, too, silly.” His petite little sister was wearing a gown that flattered her figure. Her hair was bundled up on top of her head, and long earrings dangled from her ears.
“You look stunning, Georgie! This is a wonderful surprise.” He wondered if she knew Mr. Wickham was present. It was because of Wickham’s treatment of Georgiana that Darcy held a firm grudge against him.
“Yes, I just had to come and see my wonderful brother and Elizabeth Bennet. I am in awe that you chose her, and I am very happy. This is a lovely family to join!”
“I think so, too.”
“Are you terribly happy, Fitzie?” She looked at him with the unconditional love only a sister could have for a brother. She took both his hands in her small ones and squeezed tightly. “Oh, I do so hope you are happy!”
“I am. I will be happier when she is my bride.”
“Have you settled on a date?”
“I plan to talk to her about it tonight.”
Georgiana hopped in place like a tiny bunny rabbit, clapping her hands. “Oh, my big brother is going to be married. I am so happy, Fitzie. I am so happy for you.” She threw her arms around him and pressed her cheek against his chest. He hugged her back, thinking her hair smelled of lilacs or lavender. He couldn’t figure out which.
“Thank you, sweet girl,” he said. They pulled away from each other.
“Have you seen Elizabeth? I cannot seem to find her.”
The temptation to look behind him and see if Elizabeth was still talking to Wickham was strong. But if he pointed them out, Georgiana would see that Wickham was here. It wasn’t a good idea. He turned her in the opposite direction and said, “Let us go over here and look.” He didn’t answer her question directly, he thought, so he wasn’t actually lying to her. He wouldn’t be able to successfully lie to Georgiana. She could easily see through him.
They did a stroll around the entire room, finally coming to the fireplace. Elizabeth was there but Wickham was not, much to Darcy’s relief. She saw the two of them coming and jumped up from the couch, a big smile on her face. He wished the smile was for him, but he knew it was for Georgiana, whom Elizabeth hadn’t seen in some time.
They met in a hug and double-cheek kisses.
“You are looking absolutely beautiful, Georgiana! I am so glad you came today. It will make the celebration so much nicer! Will you play for us? Oh, dear, I am imposing on you. I am so sorry.”
Georgiana laughed. Everyone knew she was an excellent player of the pianoforte, and was asked to play everywhere she went. “I would be delighted to play a bit for you and the family, Liz. Thank you for inviting me.”
“It would not be a celebration without you, sweet girl,” Darcy said, rubbing his sister’s arm.
She laughed. “Oh, brother dear, you have been to many celebrations without me.”
“Ah, but they were never as lovely.”
Georgiana turned back to Elizabeth with a smile. “You are going to be my sister, are you not? I have never had a sister. This is will be wonderful! I was just telling Fitzie how happy I am that you are joining our family and we are joining yours. Well, he is anyway. I suppose I am, too, in a way.”
“Oh, yes, definitely.” Elizabeth nodded, smiling.
“It is not like you need another sister, though, is it?” Georgiana burst out laughing. “I will be your sixth! You may not want that!”
“If I was ever to choose to have another sister, it would be you.” Elizabeth gave the girl another hug.
“Well, I am going to go mingle a bit. You two have a good talk.” Georgiana squeezed Elizabeth’s hand and patted her brother’s arm. She slipped off, leaving the two gazing at each other in amused confusion.
“That was sudden,” Elizabeth said, turning her eyes to Georgiana’s retreating back.
“Does she not look lovely?” Darcy asked, also watching his sister.
“She does. Has she found a man yet?”
He looked down at her. “You would know before I would. We do not talk as often as we used to.”
“Surely you have people telling you how she is doing.”
“The reports I get on my sister’s comings and goings are few and far between. It is a rare occasion when I run into someone who has made contact with her.”
“I wonder why that is.”
“She is a shy woman. I doubt she will ever leave the cocoon-like existence she lives. She enjoys spending time by herself. She plays, sings, and makes drawings.”
“Like you.”
Darcy smiled. “Yes, except her drawings are much better than mine.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “I do not see how that is possible. I saw the sketch you made of me with my favorite relaxing spot in the background, and it looked beautiful. You did a truly remarkable job.”
“Thank you, my dear. That is quite a compliment.”
She smiled at him. “I mean what I say.”
“I know you do. That is why it means more to me.”
“Is that the only reason?”
“As a matter of fact, it is not the only reason.”
She smiled coyly. She had been waiting for him to admit his feelings for her. After all these months of playing a game, he had fallen for her. And she for him. She had a feeling she knew what he was going to say next.
“Elizabeth, I believe it is time to set a date for our wedding.”
She pressed her lips together, trying not to smile. She failed and smiled anyway. “I thought there would be no wedding, so long as Mr. Collins is still on the prowl.”
Darcy shook his head. “I must confess that I cannot get you off my mind, Miss Bennet. I think about you when I should not be thinking about you, when I should be dealing with my business and associates. I think about you more often than I think about anything else. When you enter my mind, I get a feeling of warmth through my body. I want to keep experiencing that. I want to be a changed man for you. I know you think of me as arrogant, but…”
“You do not have to say any more, Darcy. I am ready to set a date. I think about you just as much. I do not want to play the game anymore.”
“You will marry me?”
She smiled at him. “I will. I will marry you for real.”
Chapter 23
“I am glad you could take the afternoon off to spend some time with me, Darcy,” Elizabeth said, looking up at him. She had to move her parasol out of the way to see him, so she moved it to her other shoulder and held it back a little further. She hadn’t needed it but thought it made her outfit prettier, so she brought it along. She was dress
ed in one of her best yellow dresses with white trim. She was wearing yellow gloves, also with white trim, and her parasol was the same shade, with white designs spread throughout the fabric.
“Anything to get away from business,” Darcy replied. She gave him a look and he grinned. “Not that it is not wonderful to spend time with you, my dear. I just had a difficult day and I am glad to be out of there. Of course, I enjoy your presence much more than theirs. I am sure you know that.”
“I do know it,” Elizabeth giggled. “And it is a lovely day for a walk. I wish Jane would have come. She would have enjoyed it.”
“She is not doing well, though, is she?” Darcy asked. Elizabeth looked up at him.
“No, she is not. You were right about their relationship. It did not work out. I am still quite surprised that Bingley would simply leave that way. He did not really say anything to her. He just walked away and did not come back. The last thing he said to her was kind and sweet. She was sure they would court and be married and have children and be happy. But, no, that is not how it worked out.”
“I did not see it happening.”
“I know. You made it clear you were against the relationship from the beginning.”
“I am sorry, Liz. I do not want to bring up an old argument.”
“You never had anything positive to say to Bingley about Jane, did you?”
Darcy frowned, looking uncomfortable. “I do not want to spend the afternoon arguing with you, Liz. We were supposed to have a good time, not…”
“I just want to know if you ever said anything nice about Jane to Bingley.”
Darcy thought back on his conversations with Bingley. His friend had spent most of the time defending Jane, while Darcy tried to convince him it would be the worst mistake of his life. But that had been before he and Elizabeth became friends… and then more than friends. By that time, it was too late. He didn’t need to talk about Jane anymore because the Bingley sisters had done their part as well, driving a wedge between Jane and Bingley and bringing in another woman they preferred their brother with.
“I did not have many conversations with Bingley after you and I began courting,” he replied, trying to take some of the heat off the situation. “It was not until I began talking to you that I realized the error of my initial thinking.”
“So, you didn’t have anything nice to say?” Elizabeth pressed. “I am not surprised. You did have the reputation of an arrogant scoundrel. At least, that is what I heard about you.”
“Let us not speak about it, Liz. Please. What’s done is done.”
“But now my sister mopes around as though the end of the world has come. She is absolutely devastated. It is difficult to get her out of her room. She does not want to eat. She does not smile. Why, I do not think anyone but Georgiana was able to bring a smile to her face at the Easter celebration.”
“I know. It is a very sad state of affairs.”
“Which you helped create.” Elizabeth huffed.
Darcy frowned again. “I will go back to my meetings if we are unable to have a good time together today.”
Elizabeth shook her head, relaxing her tense shoulders. “I am sorry, Darcy. Do not go back. I am… I see my sister in such heartbreak, such pain, and it makes me angry at whatever caused it. Most of my anger is directed toward the Bingleys, especially those horrid sisters of his. I know they played their part. I know they were able to manipulate Bingley into leaving Jane like that. But it was still cruel that no one wanted them together. They seemed to love each other. They were so affectionate to each other. And now Jane is so alone, and she feels so alone. It hurts me, Darcy, it really does.”
“I understand, my dear,” Darcy put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a side hug. When he released her, he crooked his elbow in her direction and she wrapped her hand around it, giving him a smile.
“I suppose we should change the subject.”
“If we want to have a good time together, yes, I think that would be wise.”
They walked in silence for a few moments before a heavy sigh from Darcy made her look up at him. He was staring at something a few yards away. She followed the line of his eyes and spotted the problem. Mr. Wickham was standing against a tree, picking at something in his hands. On the ground, sitting atop a spread out blue and green blanket, was Elizabeth’s sister, Lydia.
“I had forgotten you mentioning that he was coming to the house to see Lydia,” Darcy growled. “I suppose I wanted to forget that. I do not want to think of him showing up at your house randomly without anyone’s prior knowledge.”
“Except Lydia’s,” Elizabeth supplied. “She always knows when he is coming.”
“How did this start anyway? Does your sister know she has to be careful with him? He is a liar, and has always been very greedy.”
“Greed is not going to get him anywhere with Lydia. Of all of us, she has probably the least money. She does no chores and no jobs for money. How would she get any? Besides, Wickham is not penniless. And he is a very charming man.”
Darcy sighed, stopped walking, and turned Elizabeth to face him. “If you truly want to know why I disagree with anything the man does, I will tell you. But I must warn you that you will change your mind about him, and there is no doubt of that.”
Elizabeth tilted her head to the side. “I do not know what he could possibly have done that was so bad it would make me think ill of him.”
“When we were younger, and my sweet sister was just in her teens, he tried to seduce her and make her run away with him.”
Elizabeth was stunned into silence. She drew her eyebrows together in confusion. She couldn’t imagine the charming and fun George Wickham seducing a young girl. “Why would he do such a thing?”
“He was going to lose a lot of money. He wanted to stay in the family so that he would have funds readily accessible to him.”
“I cannot believe that.” Elizabeth shook her head. “I cannot believe he would be capable of something like that.”
“It happened, Liz. He has been trying to get money from me for years. When my father was alive, he gave it readily. After my father died, he came to me seeking the funds my father had been supplying him with over the years. But I am not my father, and I am not his caretaker. He needed to make some money of his own.”
“You did nothing to help him?”
“Quite the contrary, I helped him for several years. But he always spent the money frivolously and then would expect me to pay for him even more. He is no gentleman. He is greedy and will do whatever he can to make money.”
“That is not a good trait to have if he wants to be in my family. We are not greedy, and have no money to speak of.”
“That is the difference between your family and him. You work for your money and, though you do not have much, you value it. He has little, and does not appreciate what he does have or what he was given… by me… for years. I tell you this, my dear, if he finds a way to get money with little effort, that is exactly what he will do.”
“I cannot believe he tried to violate Georgiana in such a horrific way. I never would have believed such a thing.”
“But it is coming from me, and you know I will not lie to you.”
It was the first time Darcy had said anything to her about trustworthiness. She gave him a smile. “And I will not lie to you, Darcy. Ever.”
Chapter 24
Elizabeth smiled into her tea cup. She was visiting Charlotte Lucas, and the woman was going on and on about a bird she’d been given that liked to sing off key.
“I did not know birds could even sing off key,” she was laughingly saying. “Did God not make them to sing?”
“I am sure he made them to sing the same way He did us,” Elizabeth replied. “Some can, and some cannot.”
“And some will even if they cannot.”
The two women laughed.
“It is lovely to hear, even if it is a bit off,” Charlotte continued, though she was laughing at the same time.
Charlotte gave her a look that she didn’t understand. When Charlotte spoke, she understood. “Mr. Collins.”
“Oh?” Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. “Have you been speaking with him often?”
“Yes, I have. We have spent some time together in the last week or two. He is a fine gentleman. We get along quite well.” She leaned forward and put one hand on Elizabeth’s knee. “I do hope that does not bother you, dear. I know he was pursuing you, but it did not seem you were interested in him. Especially after Darcy began to show you so much attention.”
“Oh, Charlotte, I do not mind at all. I am glad he has swayed his attentions away from me. I was quite fearful I would be forced to spend the rest of my life with him. But I do not love him, and I do not believe I ever would have. Do you love him?”
Charlotte’s cheeks turned pink and she looked down. “Oh, I do not know. I suppose I will in time, if he decides he would like to marry me. But he is a very stable man. His career is solid, and he is a good man of God. I want stability in my marriage. I am less concerned about being in love than I am having a comfortable home and living atmosphere.”
Elizabeth gave her friend a soft smile. “Yes, I do know that about you. I do hope you are very happy with him.”
“Such a shame about Jane. How is she doing?”
Elizabeth looked down at her tea cup and sighed. “Not well, I am afraid. She has taken to staying alone most of the time. She weeps at the dinner table.”
“My heart hurts for her.”
“As does mine.”
“Is there anything we can do for her?”
Elizabeth shook her head. “I have tried talking to her and getting her to go out with me. Even Darcy has tried to bring her out of her shell. But she is so broken-hearted. I think she may need to go to hospital.”
“I don’t think your mama and papa will allow that.”
“They may not have a choice. If she continues to deny food, and does not take care of herself, someone else will have to do it for her.”
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