Lo How a Rose E’er Blooming
London
December 23, 1811
Georgiana sat in Darcy House’s drawing room. Beside her, Caroline Bingley and Louisa Hurst rambled on with false compliments about how accomplished and lovely she was. She was not sixteen years old, and yet, according to them, she was far superior to most ladies with years more education and experience in the world. If only they knew the truth.
Georgiana’s eyes flitted to the clock on the mantle again. She hoped her brother and his guests would return earlier. For six days now, they would emerge, and she would hear the voices of Mr. Bingley and her cousin in the hall talking about plans to visit Hertfordshire and seeing the Miss Bennets. The first night, plans were made to go on the following day. Suddenly, Georgiana was blinded by a bright light and heard a loud ringing as the clock hit seven.
When she awoke the next day, she learned it was still December rd. She put it down to a strange dream, until it happened again and again. Even stranger, no one else seemed aware of the days repeating or had memories of the preceding days.
The second time it occurred, Bingley had pressed to leave for Hertfordshire that very evening. Even when they called on Longbourn right away, time continued to reset. It always occurred at seven o’clock in the evening.
Before this incident, Georgiana suspected her brother was in love with Miss Elizabeth Bennet. She felt as certain as she could be in this strange world that something relating to her brother and Elizabeth would set the world to rights. He denied his heart, and it wreaked havoc on the universe. To that end, Georgiana knew they needed to arrive at Longbourn earlier.
At Longbourn, no one else seemed to act like they knew the day was repeating continuously until two nights ago. On that night, Miss Mary Bennet had tried to show her journal to her eldest sister. Last night, the usual plans were made to leave for Hertfordshire, and Georgiana did not realise at first that a grave error had been made. On the way to the Bennet estate, she learned that for everyone else, two years had passed. Arriving at Longbourn, they found the youngest Bennet daughter had married a man and became mother to George Wickham’s child. Georgiana had not learned the truth of what had happened, but she could guess the scoundrel seduced the girl and refused to marry her.
In what looked like a desperate act, Miss Mary showed her diary to Richard, who then kissed her! Georgiana assumed it was some sort of test to see if those around them would remember the next day. It certainly did not break whatever spell or curse was upon them. In normal proceedings, Richard would have had to propose to Mary or face pistols at dawn. However, Georgiana suspected Richard’s idea was on the correct path.
She had no idea how many days her world had been repeating but knew she became aware of it after standing up to George Wickham and explaining to Elizabeth Bennet how awful the man was. It was as if she had fallen out of step with destiny and was now trying to forge a new path. Could it be the same was true for the others? If so, Georgiana dearly hoped her brother’s destiny would intertwine with Elizabeth’s.
“Pardon me,” Georgiana interrupted Caroline and bolted from her seat.
She walked at an unladylike speed back to the dining room where the men were still gathered. Glancing at the clock in the hall, it seemed she had arrived just in time. Hovering outside the door, she heard the following conversation.
Mr. Bingley chuckled. “If you only want character and do not care about money or standing, then Darcy and I know a whole host of women.”
“Indeed?” Richard asked.
“Yes, in Hertfordshire. Near the estate I am leasing.”
“Forgive me since I am a military man, but I would think it would be best to learn more about the estate by residing in it longer than a few weeks. Should you not go back?”
“You know, I was just thinking the same.”
Georgiana could hear the smile in his voice.
“How am I to learn how estates are run in the winter if I am not there for it? I think I must return for Christmas. You are welcome to come along, Richard. I doubt Darcy will desire to return.”
“Forgive him. He’s very busy, our Darcy.”
“I think you might hit it off with Miss Elizabeth Bennet, actually,” Bingley offered.
“I will come!” Fitzwilliam practically shouted.
“Thank you, Bingley. I will check with Command, but I believe I can leave the area for the holidays.”
Georgiana could contain herself no longer. She opened the door with so much force that it slammed against the wall.
“Georgiana!” Darcy cried and put out his cigar. “Is something wrong?”
She met his eye and spoke with steely determination. “No, but I heard your conversation just now. No, do not stop to scold me. I think we ought to leave immediately.”
Fitzwilliam sputtered something about her not coming, but Georgiana’s attention was focused on Mr. Bingley.
“Leave tonight?” he said.
“Yes, you could have more time with Miss Bennet, then.”
“How quickly can you be ready, Georgiana?” Richard asked, startling her.
Did he remember? “Molly can pack my things in less than an hour. We...well, we’re well practised at hasty packing.” For once the reminder of her near elopement with Wickham had become a positive thing.
“Excellent,” Bingley and Richard said in unison.
Richard then left to send a message to his command and Bingley went to inform his sisters of the plan, leaving Georgiana alone with her brother.
“Georgie,” Fitzwilliam said quietly but forcefully, “you are not coming. I forbid it.”
At first, Georgiana stared at her feet. It had always been so difficult to stand up to her brother or pain him. Their father had been ill most of her childhood, and her mother died after her birth. Fitzwilliam was more often her parent than her brother. However, she knew she could not back down from this. The happiness of so many was held in the balance. Poor Miss Lydia might be a silly, thoughtless girl, but no one deserved to be cast aside by Wickham.
Georgiana raised her head and met her brother’s eyes. “If you want to test stubbornness, I am ready for a siege. I am too old for you to carry me away to the nursery. Punish me however you like, take away my pin money if it pleases you, but you will not stop me from boarding that carriage.”
Chest heaving and face red, she turned on her heel and left the room. Richard stood just outside.
“Bravo, Georgie! Our tender rose has thorns!”
Georgiana smiled but felt her face blush harder. “I am a Darcy and a Fitzwilliam. Is it any surprise I can be obstinate?”
The clock beside her signalled the time as noon. “With any luck we will arrive with plenty of time,” she whispered to herself.
“I share your hope,” Richard said.
“What do you mean?” Georgiana asked nervously. She did not feel prepared to explain things to another.
Richard looked incredulous. “Do you really think I go around kissing bloody maidens and not remembering it the next day?”
Georgie attempted to stammer an answer when Fitzwilliam finally exited the dining room behind them.
“If you wish to leave in an hour, you had best inform your maid,” he said while walking past them.
“Do you think he knows?” she hissed to Richard.
“Not a chance.” He shook his head. “We cannot talk more now, but I have a theory.”
“Perhaps we can speak when we change horses?”
“Excellent notion,” he agreed before she scampered off.
Georgiana held her breath as she boarded the coach, but Fitzwilliam said nothing. For the next two hours, she twisted her hands as she attempted to recall details of the previous days. Without a doubt, something revolutionary needed to happen before seven o’clock on December twenty-third. What precisely was needed, she was less sure. Mary changed events by showing her diary to Jane, and the repercussions were that Bingley and Fitzwilliam did not return to Longbourn for two
years and Lydia bore Wickham’s child.
At last, they reached the coaching inn to change horses. Richard offered to allow her to stretch her legs.
“It is fortunate we have so much moonlight,” Georgiana observed as they walked near the inn.
“That was fast thinking to get Bingley to leave instantly. If matters went on for another few days, we’d be in New Moon territory, and travelling at night would be impossible.”
“Richard, I have been thinking. This is connected to Fitzwilliam and Miss Elizabeth.”
Richard nodded. “Yes, I had surmised as much. However, Mary tried to show her sister her diary, and that made a monumental change. We have some control over the circumstances.”
“Maybe…” Georgiana trailed off. This entire situation seemed impossible; how could she think she understood it?
“Do not think you are too young to share your ideas,” he said gently.
“If not young, then stupid.”
“Fitzwilliams are never stupid!”
“Just Darcys, then?” she said with a half-smile.
“Your brother, maybe.” Richard nodded to where Fitzwilliam paced near the coach.
“Why do you now remember? Why have I remembered for days?”
“What do you think of Miss Mary?”
“I think, for her, sharing her private thoughts in her diary was an enormous change. When did you become aware of our predicament?”
“After Mary told me. However, I had an epiphany last night. I have lived too much by duty or frivolity to mask my pain. I have not lived by my own desires.”
“Ah, see! You did something so very unlike you!”
Richard chuckled. “Indeed.” A small smile played over his lips. “She taught me that.” Then he shook his head and cleared the faraway and tender look in his eyes. “And for you?”
“Do you recall our other meetings with the Bennets?”
“I do.” He nodded. “It is strange having memories others do not have. For example, last night we appeared to be two years in the future, but it is not as though I lived for two years. I can only tell you events that may have happened in relation to the Bennets—and their relations, the Collinses.”
“Precisely. Do you recall the evening we arrived while Wickham was there? Fitzwilliam, Elizabeth, and I played cards with him? I confronted Wickham. I mentioned my maid, whom he had dallied with, and hinted strongly of our relationship. It made quite an impression on Elizabeth.”
“I was at a different table. What else happened?”
“Before anything else could happen, the clock struck seven and time reset again. However, my memories were restored.”
“Ah, so you think standing up to Wickham was a profound change in your character?”
“You heard how I spoke to Fitzwilliam, did you not?”
“Yes, quite true.” Richard smiled down at her. “Well, I think we have some ideas. It is time to return to the coach. With any luck, we might break this spell we are under. Perhaps since we have made the wise decision to leave earlier, we will awaken at Netherfield and can speak more in the morning.”
Georgiana followed him to the carriage where all occupants remained silent. Rather than calling on Longbourn, Bingley preferred to stay in and consider a rehearsed speech. Despite Richard and Georgiana’s suggestions to go, Bingley—with Fitzwilliam’s assistance—remained implacable. Seven o’clock arrived, and just like the other nights, all fainted.
She awoke early the next morning, relieved to see she was still at Netherfield. When her maid confirmed the date as December twenty-third, again, Georgiana knew she needed reinforcements. She caught Richard alone in the breakfast room.
“Do you have a plan?” she asked eagerly after he finished his coffee.
“I think you were correct. Miss Elizabeth needs to know about Wickham, but Darcy must be the one to tell her.”
“Who am I supposed to talk to, and what am I supposed to say?”
Georgiana gasped at the sound of her brother’s voice.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Netherfield
December 23, 1811
Darcy stared first at his cousin’s face and then his sister’s. What they had just told him defied all belief and logic. “I believe our travel yesterday overexerted your mind, Georgiana.”
“And mine as well?” Richard asked. “Think carefully. Besides Bingley deciding to return to this house, do you recall the events of yesterday with clarity?”
Darcy took a sip of coffee to allow himself time to think over matters. “Well, nothing of significance happened. It is not so unusual to be unable to remember exact moments of nothingness. I’ve had much on my mind of late.”
“And are those things Miss Elizabeth Bennet?” Richard asked with a raised eyebrow and knowing smirk.
Levelling his cousin a glare, Darcy put his coffee cup down in a clatter. “My personal concerns are just that.”
“Dare I ask what has Darcy acting like a bear this morning?” Bingley popped his head in the breakfast room door.
“Georgiana has come up with the most fanciful tale, and Richard is indulging her. Think nothing of it, Bingley. I suspect it is all a plot to mock me.”
Bingley entered the room and shut the door behind him. “Who could resist such a temptation?” He busied himself gathering breakfast items and said over his shoulder, “I remember Miss Elizabeth never could.”
“Bingley,” Richard said when the other had sat, “what do you recall about yesterday—December twenty second?”
Having regained his memories, Richard noted they always dined together at Darcy House on the Twenty Second then agreed to leave for Hertfordshire. Last night, had been a dramatic change as Georgiana had insisted they leave that very night. Although the calendar advanced as normal and they remained at Netherfield—two signs they moved in the correct direction—Richard would bet only he, Georgiana and Miss Mary had solid memories of the evening before.
Darcy’s friend smiled. “Well, we decided to come here, of course. And, Miss Darcy, I cannot thank you enough for being so persuasive as to suggest we leave immediately.”
“Yes, but what else do you recall?” Richard pressed.
“Well...I...we dined at Darcy House.”
“And what did we eat?” Georgiana asked.
Bingley paused while cutting up his food. “Well, every meal there is always so good.”
Georgiana leaned forward in interest. “You do not recall a specific dish? Did I order Fitzwilliam’s favourite or your favourite for pudding?”
“I fear I do not recall,” Bingley said with an uncharacteristic furrow forming between his brows. “Quite the memory exercise. I give up. Tell me then, which was it?”
“I do not remember either,” Georgiana said gently.
“I do not understand.” Bingley looked from one person to the next. “What is the point of this questioning?”
Darcy pushed his plate aside. His appetite had vanished. “What Richard and Georgiana have proposed is that due to some strange and inexplicable reason, we have been repeating the same day for over a week now. Creating...what did you call it?” He looked at Richard.
“Alternate realities. It seems the choices we make can alter the events of the day, but we never progress to a new calendar date.”
“Except on one occasion,” Georgiana added gravely.
“What was that?” Darcy asked.
Richard frowned and looked as though he tasted something foul. “Miss Lydia had borne Wickham’s child out of wedlock.”
“Impossible,” Bingley said. “You believe you have seen the future?”
Richard held up his hands to stave off Bingley’s inquisition. “I wish I had a rational explanation, but Mary Bennet has proof in her diary. Georgiana and I have shared memories. There can be no other explanation.”
Bingley stared at his coffee for a long moment, and Darcy wondered why he was still sitting at the table and had not called a physician to examine his relatives. However, some
thing niggled at the back of his mind. Attempts at conversations with Elizabeth that ended in an argument. He had thought it was a recurring dream.
“I think I remember,” Bingley said at last. “I keep walking with Jane in the garden at Longbourn. I try to explain my absence and my continued affections, but we’re always interrupted. By the—”
“Clock chiming seven,” Georgiana and Richard said in unison with Bingley.
“If...if this were somehow true,” Darcy said slowly, “how does it work? What can stop it?”
“I think we regain our memories when we have some revelation in our character,” Richard said. “I learned to take a risk on probability rather than dwell on the impossible and frivolous.”
“He means he kissed Miss Mary in front of everyone!” Georgiana declared.
“What?” Darcy cried.
“Georgie,” Richard growled.
“And I stood up to Wickham,” Georgiana said with a smile.
“What is the story there?” Bingley asked.
“Never mind,” Richard pressed on. “Thanks to Georgiana’s insistence, we left earlier than usual yesterday. We had hoped to call on Longbourn last night, but you all refused to go. Time reset. At least we now have many hours to visit before the seven o’clock deadline.”
Bingley seemed convinced, but Darcy remained sceptical.
“Come, Darcy. Go with us to Longbourn. See Miss Mary’s diary. If we are right, then you have the power to prevent a terrible travesty. If we are wrong, then you have harmed no one.”
“If I reveal the truth about Wickham to the Bennets, then I could harm Georgiana’s reputation beyond repair.”
His sister raised her chin. “I do not care. What care I for the society of false friends, or a gentleman who would only marry me for my acceptance in such circles?”
Darcy studied his sister. Indeed, her words and actions today revealed a side to her unknown to him. The only thing he did recall in detail about the night before was that they left London at Georgiana’s insistence despite his objections. Could that be the work of a mere moment or had days passed, as they said?
Mr Darcy's Miracle at Longbourn Page 7
