Georgiana smiled widely—she could not help it. ‘Most admirable, Miss Bingley and Miss Bingley! Now, do please take a seat,’ she waved an arm towards where a chaise and some chairs surrounded a small rosewood table. ‘Tea will be here directly.’
By the time Darcy and Bingley walked into the room, tea had indeed been served. He was pleased to see his sister seated with the twins, though it was apparent she was more a listener to their lively discourse as he followed Bingley over to one of the long windows overlooking the parkland.
‘How long are you able to stay? You mentioned a fortnight in your letter?’
‘Yes; if you will have us. I would not have trespassed on your good nature so soon, but...’ Bingley shrugged. ‘Caroline was making life unbearable for us all. Once they are established in Harrogate, I will continue on to Scarborough to see how Cousin Margaret fares.’ A peal of laughter came from the far corner, and he winced. ‘Sorry, old chap! I do hope they do not cause too much disruption to the household. It is very good of you to oblige.’
‘Think no more on it, Bingley. They will settle, and their high spirits will do us good; the household is in general too quiet. We will all grow accustomed to each other in due course.’
He turned around as one of the twins approached, and she dropped a quick curtsey before turning to her brother.
‘Charles, how long must we be acquainted with Miss Darcy before we may call her by name?’
‘A little longer than a half hour, Viola!’ She gave a little pout, then grinned widely. ‘As you wish, Brother.’
~o0o~
After a lively supper, the Bingleys retired early, their travels having taken their toll, but soon it was the following morning, and an equally entertaining breakfast was passed, along with some debate over what they should do with their first day in Derbyshire. Darcy knew he must make the long overdue confession to his friend, and said they would join the young ladies after he had spoken to their brother on a matter of business.
Viola clapped her hands.
‘What say you, Georgiana? Shall we tour the park together?’
Bingley frowned. ‘You are a little forward in your address, Viola.’
‘How so?’ She assumed an innocent air. ‘You said, did you not, to wait ‘a little longer’ before using Georgiana ‘s name, and we tarried a little longer before commencing.’
Olivia rolled her eyes. ‘Truly, Brother, if you wanted a precise day and time for us to become intimate, you ought to have said so in the first place.’
‘And now it is too late, for we are already the best of friends, and nothing shall prevent us from being so for the rest of our lives.’ Viola beamed around the table, and Olivia joined in.
‘Ah, the enthusiasm of youth.’ Bingley turned to Darcy with a rueful smile.
Darcy laughed. ‘Yes, said from your great age, it must seem so.’
‘Brother?’
Darcy looked to his sister who sat beside him.
‘May I – that is, I do feel it an unnecessary restriction to call the Miss Bingleys as such. They are to spend all their holidays in our home. If they are so comfortable as to call me ‘Georgiana’, may I not repay the compliment and use their given names without committing any serious misstep?’
Darcy looked to Bingley, who shrugged.
‘Of course, Georgie.’ Darcy smiled at her, then he and Bingley exchanged a resigned look as the twins let out a rather unladylike ‘whoop’!
‘Then may we go out directly?
‘We are certain to get lost in Pemberley’s grounds without Georgiana.’
‘Yes, you must come with us!’ Olivia held out her hand expectantly, and Georgiana looked to Darcy.
‘Yes, go with them, Georgie. We will join you directly.’
~o0o~
Elizabeth had not slept well, rising as soon as dawn broke to take a long walk up to Curbar Edge and returning in time to break her fast with her father and sister. Her mind was quite bewildered, yet she could not place whence the confusion came.
‘We will call at Pemberley this morning, Lizzy,’ Mr Bennet cautioned her as they all left the dining room.
‘Yes, Papa.’ It was futile to delay it, and besides, surely it was best to make the call directly and have it done with?
The girls repaired to their respective chambers to make themselves ready, but once alone, Elizabeth sank into the chair before her dressing table and stared at her reflection. What was causing her insides to churn so, her mind to be so unsettled and why did she dread calling at Pemberley, a house she much admired?
‘Lizzy?’ Jane peered around the door, then came over to stand behind her sister. ‘Is aught amiss? You look—well, you do not seem yourself?’
Turning in her seat, Elizabeth raised troubled eyes to her sister. ‘Nothing of consequence.’ Then, she sighed. ‘There is one thing, though. Do you forgive me, Jane, for delaying our visit yesterday? I am a selfish being; I was so set upon avoiding it, I forgot the implications of its deferral.’
‘You mean Mr Bingley’s now being in residence?’ Jane shook her head. ‘Do not be concerned for me, Lizzy. I once found him the most agreeable man of my acquaintance, but that was long ago and things are much altered. I am altered.’
Elizabeth got to her feet. ‘As are we all. Yet I would not have you uncomfortable over this first meeting in so long; I have forced it upon you directly.’
‘Dear Lizzy.’ Jane followed her sister as she walked to the closet to collect her pelisse. ‘There is no sense in what you are saying. Mr Bingley is Mr Darcy’s intimate friend. As much as you understood Mr Darcy would one day return to Pemberley, so I too understood his friend would one day visit him. Even should we have paid the call yesterday, our paths will cross now he is in the neighbourhood. In many ways, this is more fortuitous, do you not think, for there will be ample company and thus distraction?’
Unable to forego so easily the sense of guilt she had carried since the previous day, Elizabeth walked to the mirror to button her pelisse. ‘Why are you always so reasonable, Jane?’
Her sister joined her and met her eye through the mirror. ‘It is not a matter of being reasonable, it is the truth!’ Jane rested her hands on her sister’s shoulders. ‘To be fair, Lizzy, there is much more between you and Mr Darcy than there ever was between myself and his friend. Our acquaintance was more fleeting and...’ Jane hesitated, casting Elizabeth a wary look.
‘And yours with Mr Bingley does not include a proposal and a rejection?’
‘I cannot conceive any meeting between myself and Mr Bingley being anything to what you and Mr Darcy must have felt upon your reacquaintance.’
Elizabeth smiled as she took her sister’s hand and they made their way out of the room. ‘Aye, and you are unlikely to greet him with a bucket of water!’
‘Poor Mr Darcy.’
Elizabeth could not help but laugh. ‘Yes; poor Mr Darcy, indeed.’
Chapter Twenty
Darcy led Bingley to his study, his mind in all sorts of confusion. How should he make a beginning? He knew he could rely on his friend’s discretion; no word of the Bennets’ whereabouts should reach Caroline or anyone else in Town, if it were at all possible. Should he, perchance, open with a cautionary word?
Or should he speak firstly of Miss Bennet, of having discovered her whereabouts? Was Bingley likely to listen to anything else, if this was the case? Perhaps he ought to broach the past before the present, confess his interference and apologise...
‘I am curious, Darcy; what is this business matter?’
Collecting himself, Darcy looked up to meet Bingley’s enquiring gaze, then gestured towards the chairs beside the hearth.
‘Come let us sit. There is something pressing I must tell you.’
~o0o~
Once suitably booted and out in the grounds, Olivia and Viola had studied Georgiana expectantly, and she had smiled at their eager faces. ‘Where would you like to walk first?’
‘Is there word of any hauntings?’ Viola’s
gaze roamed over the parkland. ‘Did anything of danger ever lurk in the woods?’
‘We like tales of adventure, of daring!’ Olivia gasped. ‘Was a duel ever fought here?’
‘Yes! Two love struck beaux of a cold-hearted maiden?’ Viola eyed Georgiana expectantly, and she bit her lip, anxious not to disappoint the girls, but unwilling to make something up to amuse them.
‘I must own, I know not.’
The twins looked a little crestfallen for a moment; then, Olivia brightened. ‘May we walk around the ponds?’ She gestured towards the rear of the house where there were several water features, including some small fountains.
‘Yes, of course.’ Relieved they seemed amenable to enjoying such a tame thing as the ornamental pools, Georgiana led the way along the path.
‘And are there dangerous fish in the water?’ Olivia made a V-shape with her hands, then snapped them together. ‘Ones that bite you, or strip your finger of its flesh? We have read about them!’
‘No. Not at all.’ Georgiana was beginning to fear Pemberley had fallen deficient. ‘Though I do recall falling into one of them once. My brother had to fish me out.’
‘You brother is such a gentleman.’
Georgiana refrained from telling Olivia that it was her brother who had toppled her into the pond in the first place—accidentally, but it was he all the same.
‘We have not seen him since the year eleven, when we were but twelve years of age.’
‘But we have never forgotten him, have we Viola?’
Viola shook her head violently. ‘Indeed we have not!’
‘He is soooo handsome. I declare, he is the handsomest man we have ever seen.’
Georgiana blinked. ‘Er, he is?’
Olivia stared at her. ‘Do you doubt it?’
‘I – I have not thought of it.’
Viola rolled her eyes and tucked her arm in Georgiana’s as they followed the path around the house towards the ponds. ‘You are too close to him,’ she said sagely. ‘I suppose it is to be expected. We do not find our brother particularly winsome, but the ladies certainly do.’
‘Viola.’ Olivia cautioned her sister, but then she grinned. ‘Our brother seems quite the catch. Our sister, Caroline, believes she has an extensive acquaintance for all the number of young ladies calling in Grosvenor Street, but we know it to be our brother who is the attraction.’
Georgiana frowned. ‘How can you know such a thing if you are not there?’
Viola tapped the side of her nose. ‘We have our sources,’ she said solemnly.
‘Your sister has always been attentive to me when I have seen her. You cannot fault her manners.’
It was Olivia’s turn to roll her eyes as she took Georgiana’s other arm. ‘And do you not have a brother also, Miss Darcy? One whom we have just told you is the handsomest man in the world?’
This time, Georgiana did laugh. ‘In the world?’
Viola waved an expressive hand. ‘Pay Olivia no mind; she is prone to exaggeration. But,’ she fixed Georgiana with a bright stare. ‘Certainly he is the most handsome man of our acquaintance.’
Olivia nodded. ‘Though our acquaintance is not large, of course.’
‘With us not being out.’
‘Or indeed meeting many new people.’
‘And to be certain, not meeting many gentlemen... ‘
And so the conversation continued as the three young ladies reached the ponds, oblivious to the absence of their brothers and their promise to join them directly.
~o0o~
Darcy’s study overlooked the rear of the house and the same ornamental ponds that had attracted the attention of the twins.
It was some time after Bingley had left the room, however, before he became sensible to the sound of young voices filtering in through the window, and he sighed as he got to his feet.
His friend’s reaction had been anticipated in part; he had been taken aback by Darcy’s confession at first, then angry—leastways, as roused as Darcy had ever seen him, for Bingley did not have a temper.
Walking over to the window, he stared out unseeingly. Being Bingley, the flash of ire had abated as quickly as it came, leaving Darcy feeling infinitely worse. He had known his friend to be showing signs of attachment to Miss Bennet deeper than he had ever seen in him, yet he had so easily negated it. How could he have approved his own arrogance by deeming his actions a service to a friend? Was it any wonder Elizabeth had scorned his reasoning?
Clearly out of sorts, Bingley had stated he needed to partake of some air and had taken himself off—where or for how long, Darcy knew not. He could only speculate upon what his friend’s demeanour might be upon his return, but whatever it was, he knew he fully deserved every moment of unease and regret in the interim.
A squeal followed by a burst of laughter drew his attention, and he looked out of the window to see both Olivia and Viola skipping along the raised stone edging of one of the ponds. Georgiana looked torn between alarm and amusement, and Darcy turned away, intent upon joining them when a knock came upon the door and a footman entered with a calling card.
Darcy bit his lip as he studied it; this may be a case of the most unfortunate timing! He glanced at the footman.
‘Does the gentleman come alone?’
‘No, sir. He is accompanied by two young ladies, whom I understand to be his daughters.’
So, Elizabeth had not avoided the call this time. Well, nor had he.
Darcy nodded at his footman. ‘I will come directly.’
He walked slowly towards the door, then ran a hand through his hair. There was one thing to be thankful for: at least on this meeting with Elizabeth, he was neither drenched in water nor splattered with mud!
When he reached the entrance hall, the same footman was busily assisting the visitors with their outdoor garments, and Darcy came to stand beside Mrs Reynolds who bore a puzzled air and countenance as she looked on.
‘Mrs Reynolds?’
His housekeeper started. ‘Oh – forgive me, sir. Just for a moment, that young lady seemed familiar, though I cannot place why.’
Darcy followed her gaze to where Elizabeth studied the table laid out with miniatures of the family.
‘The family has been resident at The Grange for several months, so it is not unreasonable you may have seen her before, perchance in Lambton or walking in the neighbourhood.’
Mrs Reynolds looked uncertain, but she smiled nevertheless. ‘I am sure you have the right of it, sir. Shall I send in some refreshments?’
‘Thank you; oh, and Mrs Reynolds,’ Darcy hailed her as she turned towards the door at the back of the hallway. ‘Please would you be so kind as to send someone to fetch Miss Darcy and our young guests?’
‘Of course, sir.’
‘Mr Darcy.’ Mr Bennet had come to stand before him. ‘We appreciated your call upon us, and wished to repay the courtesy. Forgive us for trespassing on your time when you have visitors, but it seemed ill-mannered to delay further.’
Darcy inclined his head. ‘Not at all, sir. You are most welcome.’
He turned then to exchange acknowledgements with the ladies before inviting them to enter the drawing room. He tried not to look at Elizabeth as she passed him, but as she drew level, she cast him a quick glance and smiled faintly, and he dropped his gaze. Was this to be the way of it? Each time they met, he could feel himself being drawn increasingly towards her...
Rousing himself, Darcy followed them into the room. Mr Bennet was looking around appreciatively. ‘You have a charming home, Mr Darcy. Pemberley is as elegant within as its exterior implies.’
Encouraging them all to take a seat, Darcy smiled briefly. ‘Is that not the way of many fine houses in England?’
With a wry laugh, Mr Bennet shook his head. ‘All too often, I find they tend towards a demonstration of opulence rather than good taste.’
‘I cannot take all the credit, for Pemberley is the work of many generations. I am merely the present custodian.’ Darcy glan
ced about the room. ‘It is perhaps a little dated in parts.’
‘Its elegance transcends any passage of time, sir. What do you say, Lizzy? Is it as pleasing to the eye as when you last visited?’
Darcy’s startled gaze flew across the room to meet Elizabeth’s wary one, and she looked uncertain of what to say.
‘You have – when have you been here?’ He paused. ‘Forgive me; that sounds as though you should not have been. What I mean to ask is, how was it you came to Pemberley?’ And when, for heaven’s sake?
Elizabeth looked discomfited. ‘It was not recently, sir. I toured the peaks with my aunt and uncle last summer, and my aunt was keen to visit the house, having grown up near Lambton.’
Last summer? When last summer? What if he had come to Pemberley as planned last August instead of sailing abroad? Might their paths have crossed? And what if they had? Pushing aside such futile speculation, Darcy cleared his throat, but before he could speak further, a sudden commotion drew his attention as the twins and Georgiana came into the room, the former skipping to a breathless halt as his sister followed at a steadier pace behind.
Chapter Twenty-One
The introductions were swiftly made, and Darcy was unsurprised to see the twins follow Georgiana as she led Jane and Elizabeth to some seating near the windows, and they quickly engaged them in conversation.
Realising he must not overlook his duty, much as his attention wished to remain with the ladies, he joined Mr Bennet, and they soon fell into a comfortable discussion pertaining to issues of land management, a topic which was sufficiently mundane to permit Darcy to keep half an ear on the ladies’ conversation.
Elizabeth, meanwhile, felt all the awkwardness of having Mr Darcy discover her earlier visit to his home. Thankfully, however, the twins gave her no time to dwell upon it, for their conversation was lively and all-inclusive.
Elizabeth was taken with how much Olivia and Viola Bingley differed from their half-sisters. Despite Mr Darcy’s indication it was so, she had not quite believed they could be such enjoyable company.
She smiled at one of them—was it Olivia? She could not be sure.
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