Georgiana looked at her beseechingly. “Truly?”
“Indeed. He had us all fooled too, Georgiana; everyone in Meryton thought him ever so fine and personable. Even I was taken in, to my sorrow. I believed some of the dreadful things he said about your brother, and I have already offered Mr Darcy my most heartfelt apologies for believing such appalling lies.”
“And you have already been forgiven,” Darcy said promptly, “for I know all too well how convincing George Wickham can be, and I did not help my own cause by being a proud, arrogant boor on the occasion of our first meeting - and most of our subsequent ones! You had every reason in the world to think ill of me.”
“And yet, I could never think you quite so dreadful as he claimed,” Elizabeth said softly.
Georgiana looked at her new friend and her brother, gazing raptly at each other, almost as though they had entirely forgotten her presence. Despite her heartsickness, a small smile touched her lips.
“I would like to be left alone for a little while, to think,” she said. “Poor Lizzy has been cooped up inside with me far too long, Will; would you take her outside for a turn around the garden, to get some fresh air?”
“Of course,” Darcy said, quite willing to promise Georgiana the moon at that moment if she would only forgive him. Elizabeth, a little more suspicious of Georgiana’s motives, narrowed her eyes but acquiesced.
“Are you sure you would not like me to find Jane to come in and sit with you? Or perhaps Kitty?”
“I would not drag Jane away from Mr Bingley,” Georgiana shook her head, “and Kitty - she does not know about Mr Wickham, does she?”
“She does not know that he had any sort of connection with you, no,” Elizabeth shook her head.
“Perhaps I will tell her one day, but not just yet.” Georgiana looked at the letter, leaning down to pick it up from the floor where it had fallen. “Do you need this, Will?” she asked her brother. When he shook his head, she crumpled it up and threw it quite deliberately onto the fire, watching as the cheap paper flared up before shrivelling away to ash. “There. It is done.” Her cheeks were still tear-stained, but her eyes were dry as she looked bravely at her brother.
“I would have spared you if I could, Georgie,” Darcy said tenderly, rising to his feet and stooping to press a loving kiss on her brow, “from all the evils of the world, but most particularly that one.”
“As Lizzy so wisely said, it is a lesson I had to learn,” Georgiana said, her small chin held high and proud. “When I am old enough to truly be out in society, I will know what to look for. Next time a charming rogue with a honeyed tongue crosses my path, I hope I will be wise enough not to give him the time of day.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The snow was falling again as Darcy opened the front door, and he glanced back to ask Elizabeth if she was quite sure she wanted to go outside. She was already striding past him, though, pulling her woollen cloak close around her, and he smiled and shook his head. If heavy rains and thick mud had not deterred her from walking to Netherfield, a light snowfall would certainly not keep Elizabeth from taking the air in Longbourn’s garden. Setting his hat atop his head, he closed the door behind him and set off after her.
“Thank you for what you said to Georgiana,” Darcy said, falling into step beside Elizabeth.
“You are most welcome,” she said with a glance up at him. “I told her nothing but the truth, though.”
“For which I am very grateful. It was, I think, exactly what she needed to hear. Georgiana can be stubborn - it is a Darcy trait, I fear.”
He caught her smile before she ducked her head, hiding her face behind the wide brim of her bonnet.
Smiling himself, Darcy continued. “Wickham will never again receive any reaction from her but repugnance, I am glad to say. She is quite implacable once her resentment is fixed.”
“You said that once of yourself,” Elizabeth said, still not looking at him.
“I did,” Darcy agreed, “but I hope that in the last few weeks, I have learned that hasty judgements made on first impressions can and indeed should be revised once more intelligence comes to hand regarding the character of the persons in question.”
“I could not agree more, Mr Darcy!” Elizabeth said fervently.
“Elizabeth…” she stopped walking when he spoke her name, turned to look up at him through sparkling dark eyes. Darcy had to speak. “You said that you could never think me quite so dreadful as Wickham painted me.”
“Some part of me would not believe it,” she whispered, “despite my own confidence in my ability to judge a character, some small voice inside me whispered that he lied. That, and I have friends and family far wiser than I; both my dear Jane and Charlotte Lucas told me that they did not care for Wickham and they did not believe you could possibly be so proud and unfeeling as Wickham claimed.”
“Pride is indeed a besetting sin of mine,” Darcy said ruefully, “as I have learned to my cost, since I claimed to you that night at Netherfield that where there is a real superiority of mind, pride is not a sin.”
A corner of Elizabeth’s lip twitched upwards. “You did sound like an arrogant prig that night, Mr Darcy.”
“You were quite justified in thinking me so. But Elizabeth… I have never been unfeeling. Especially not where you are concerned.”
They stared at each other. Elizabeth took a step closer. Darcy reached to take her small hand in his, wishing fervently that it was not so cold and they were not both wearing gloves. He wanted quite desperately to feel the soft warmth of her skin against his. Her nose was pink with cold, her eyes watering slightly with the chilly wind, and still he thought that he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life. Gently he squeezed on her gloved fingers, said her name once more, soft and low. She took another tiny step closer, turning her face up towards him, her lashes lowering to conceal her eyes.
A kiss, Darcy thought, dizzy with love for her. She will permit, nay, invites me to kiss her!
He was bending his head, thinking of nothing but how her soft lips would feel against his, when the sound of clattering hooves and carriage wheels at the front of the house made Elizabeth step back and look away.
“Who could that be, I wonder?”
Whoever it was, Darcy wished them to perdition at that moment. With an exasperated sigh, he turned his head.
There were two carriages at Longbourn’s door, not one, and one of them was his own. Mrs Annesley, he realised, with his valet Rogers and Georgiana’s maid. Colonel Fitzwilliam had dispatched them from London upon his arrival and they were just now arriving, badly delayed by the weather and the poor roads, no doubt.
The other coach, larger and more old-fashioned in styling than Darcy’s own new carriage, looked vaguely familiar. Darcy’s brow wrinkled as he searched his memory, trying to recall where he had seen that coach before, and then an unmistakable voice reached his ear.
“That is not at all satisfactory! I demand to see my nephew immediately! Do you not know who I am? I am Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and you will bring my nephew here at once!”
“Lady Catherine?” Darcy exclaimed. “What is she doing here?”
“Looking for you, it would seem!” Elizabeth said, walking quickly towards the front of the house. Darcy had no real option but to follow, though he had the terrible feeling that nothing good could come of his aunt’s presence at Longbourn.
“Darcy!” Lady Catherine shrilled as she caught sight of him. “Darcy, I have come to take you and Georgiana away from this place at once!”
“Aunt Catherine, Georgiana is unwell and cannot be moved,” Darcy said, trying to maintain his composure in the face of his aunt’s imperious attitude. “While it is always a pleasure to see you, what are you doing here?”
“Saving you from the consequences of your own folly, young man! Is this her?” Lady Catherine turned her gaze upon Elizabeth, who was watching her in fascination. “Is this the trollop who has tempted you from your duty?”
&
nbsp; Stunned to silence for only a moment, the sight of Elizabeth’s white, shocked face spurred Darcy to action. Striding forward, he stopped close to his aunt and said in a deadly serious voice, “You will apologise for that insult at once.”
“I most certainly will not,” Lady Catherine snapped. “I have heard all about Elizabeth Bennet of Longbourn, a young woman who refused the perfectly eligible suit of a good and Godly man, all while dragging her tail like a bitch in heat to tempt those whose boots she is not fit even to lick!”
Darcy’s face darkened with rage. “If by ‘a good and Godly man’ you are referring to Mr Collins, a more contemptible boot-licker I have never encountered,” he replied icily. “Miss Elizabeth was well within her rights to refuse his suit, a suit which was not looked upon with favour by her father, I should add. As such, your right to approve or disapprove of her decision is entirely immaterial, and I will not have you slander the good name of a lady who has done me an immeasurable service in her devoted attention to Georgiana during a very serious illness!”
Darcy’s rage was such that even Lady Catherine faltered. “But… Collins said…”
“Collins is a wretched little man who was disappointed in his suit of Miss Elizabeth. His disparagement of a lady clearly demonstrates his character, madam.”
Quite fond of disparaging those who displeased her, there was little response Lady Catherine could make to that condemnation. “But then, why are you here, Darcy?” she demanded plaintively.
Darcy thought fast. They had no audience other than the silently watching Elizabeth; the Gardiners had tactfully withdrawn everyone else inside. “My friend Mr Bingley has just become engaged to Miss Bennet, the eldest daughter of the house,” he said truthfully.
“You were paying a visit to congratulate him,” Lady Catherine deduced, and Darcy did not correct her.
“Regrettably, Georgiana contracted a nasty fever after getting wet in the rain. Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth have been nursing her with great devotion and she is on the mend, but I could not leave now even if I wished to. She is not well enough to be moved.”
Lady Catherine looked most displeased by this intelligence. “Where is her companion?” she demanded. “You need not stay, if that Younge woman is here…”
“Mrs Younge is no longer Georgiana’s companion,” Darcy corrected her sharply. “Mrs Annesley replaced her some three months ago, and she is, I believe, just now arrived from London. We expected to stay only a day or so, but Georgiana’s illness caused a rethink of our plans. We shall pass Christmas here at Longbourn with our friends the Bennets, and hopefully return to London sometime after the New Year.”
“Humph,” Lady Catherine said. “You had much better return with me to Rosings, Darcy. Anne would be delighted to have you with us for Christmas.”
“It is always a pleasure to see my cousin,” Darcy said diplomatically, “but I cannot leave Georgiana. I shall come to visit you at Easter, as we have previously discussed.”
Lady Catherine rapped the tip of her cane on the ground and stared at him, but Darcy was not about to back down. She turned her glare on Elizabeth.
“Darcy is engaged to my daughter,” she said suddenly. “What do you have to say to that, young woman?”
“Since it is a falsehood, Miss Elizabeth need say nothing at all,” Darcy said sharply. “I pray you will desist in this foolishness, Aunt Catherine!”
“It was the dearest wish of your mother…”
“If it was, she never spoke of it to me, or to my father, who told me categorically before he died that my lady mother never stated any such thing. Both my parents told me to follow my heart when the time came to choose a future Mrs Darcy, Lady Catherine, and I have every intention of honouring their wishes.”
Lady Catherine turned her gaze back to Elizabeth. Determined not to be intimidated, Elizabeth lifted her chin and stared back.
“She’s pretty enough, I suppose,” Lady Catherine said at last, punctuating the observation with a sniff, “but think of your family, Darcy!”
“I am,” Darcy said evenly. “The only family member who might possibly be affected by my decision is Georgiana, and consequently I am determined that any lady I might even consider courting must love Georgiana as I do, as a dear sister. There is no other consideration that will affect my choice, of that I assure you.”
Lady Catherine’s lips thinned still further, but she finally said “I see that nothing I say will sway you. Well. I take no leave of you, Darcy; I shall only hope that you will come to your senses before it is too late.”
Darcy said nothing, only bowed stiffly as Lady Catherine stalked back to her carriage and accepted her footman’s hand to climb back in.
“At least she didn’t drag poor Anne all this way in the dead of winter,” he muttered finally, before sighing as he caught Elizabeth staring at him. “I must apologise for my relative’s poor manners,” he said a little stiffly.
To his great surprise, Elizabeth chuckled. “I was just thinking, Mr Darcy, that if Lady Catherine is an example of your family, your tendency towards the sin of pride is not at all surprising.”
Darcy opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, a little lost for words, before finally saying “While Lady Catherine is my mother’s sister, they were nothing alike. My mother and father raised me with good principles, but I fear at some time in the last few years I lost sight of them and began to subscribe more to Lady Catherine’s philosophies. It took meeting you to make me realise just how dreadfully wrong I have been.”
“Surely not,” Elizabeth said, that familiar twinkle entering her eyes, “surely it was meeting Mr Collins.”
Darcy found himself laughing, reaching instinctively for her hand. She did not try to pull it away. “Perhaps it was; perhaps hearing him parrot Lady Catherine’s words in his sycophantic manner was what made me think again. I prefer to think that it is you, Elizabeth; that your strength of character and steady understanding of right and wrong has made me rediscover my own.”
“Oh, you must not ascribe such to me! Look how willing I was to believe Mr Wickham’s word over yours…”
He kissed her, unmindful of the fact that they still stood in front of Longbourn and anyone peering out of the manor’s front windows would surely see them. He could not hold back a moment longer.
Elizabeth’s lips, slightly parted as she spoke, stiffened with shock for a moment and then softened, her free hand slipping up to rest on Darcy’s shoulder as she moved slightly closer. His arm curled lightly around her waist and he held her close, kissing her tenderly.
Her eyes were closed when Darcy lifted his head, her expression dreamy. When her eyelids fluttered open, her dark eyes held a depth of passion he ached to plumb, but he made himself step back.
“We should go in,” he said reluctantly.
“Yes,” Elizabeth agreed breathily. “We should.”
“But I must warn you that I cannot stand hearing his name on your lips. Should I hear it again, I may be forced to kiss it away - even in public.”
She laughed at that, shook her head at him. “You overstep, Mr Darcy.”
“I will never say that it was not worth it.” Lightly, he touched her chin, brushed his thumb over her lower lip, swollen and pink. “Come. Your mother will be beside herself, wondering how to cram so many residents into Longbourn.”
“My mother is never happier than when she has a houseful of guests, I assure you. She will rise to the occasion admirably, I have not the slightest doubt. By the time we go inside, Mary will have been moved into Jane’s room so that Mrs Annesley may have hers, and Georgiana’s maid and your man will be not only comfortably settled, but incorporated into the household staff.”
Darcy chuckled softly under his breath as Elizabeth pushed open the front door. “I do not doubt it. Within the walls of Longbourn, Mrs Bennet is a formidable mistress. Undoubtedly she has trained her daughters to manage a household just as effortlessly.”
“But of course,” Elizabeth said pert
ly, removing her bonnet and shaking a few flakes of fallen snow from it.
“I look forward to seeing you apply those talents at Pemberley.”
“Mr Darcy!”
Laughing, he held his hands up as though to ward off her indignation. Elizabeth shook her head at him, but she was smiling, a soft, almost incredulous smile, her eyes bright as she gazed at him. Darcy considered kissing her again, but the parlour door opened at that moment and Mrs Bennet called out for them to go in.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Finally escaping the noisy, excited crowd in the parlour by dint of insisting that Mrs Annesley must be eager to see Georgiana, Elizabeth led their newest guest upstairs. Mrs Annesley was a charming, genteel lady of perhaps five and thirty years, and indeed very concerned about her young charge’s health, though far too discreet to say anything about why Georgiana came to be in Hertfordshire in the first place.
Kitty was again sitting with Georgiana; the two of them had their heads together over one of Kitty’s sketchbooks.
“Lizzy, you did not tell me that Kitty was such a talented artist!” Georgiana exclaimed as Elizabeth came in. “Oh, Mrs Annesley — how lovely to have you here too! Look at my friend Kitty’s drawings, she is so much better than I will ever be and yet she tells me she has never had a single art lesson in her life!”
“Good afternoon to you too, Miss Darcy,” Mrs Annesley said, a tinge of reproach in her voice, but she was smiling as she crossed the room and bent to embrace the girl. “And a pleasure to meet you, Miss… Kitty?”
“It’s Katherine, really, but everyone calls me Kitty,” Kitty’s cheeks were high with colour at Georgiana’s praise. She bit her lip as Mrs Annesley accepted the sketchbook to examine.
“You have never been taught? My heavens, you do have quite a gift!” Leafing through a few more pages, Mrs Annesley paused, and then smiled. “Perhaps Miss Elizabeth should see this one?” she suggested.
The two younger girls giggled; Elizabeth found her curiosity irresistibly piqued. Accepting the sketchbook, she found herself looking down at an astoundingly good likeness of Mr Darcy, drawn in charcoals. It must have been sketched from Kitty’s memory, since the drawing showed him at Longbourn’s dinner table. His head was tilted slightly to one side as he listened to the person beside him speak, and the expression on his face was one of what Elizabeth could only describe of devotion.
A Christmas Miracle At Longbourn (The Darcy And Lizzy Miracles Book 1) Page 16
