Mr. Darcy's Little Sister (21 page)

They both nodded in agreement.

When Darcy returned later he told them that he had not met Sir Robert, but he assured his wife and his sister that he would try again the next day.

“If I do not casually run into him, I will risk sending an invitation asking Sir Robert to dine with me at the club. Now let us forget Walker and ready ourselves for dinner. We do not want Kitty to know that we are upset.”

***

The next evening, they attended a large ball given by another acquaintance of Lady Whitwell’s, Mrs. Dalrymple, for her daughter Justina.

Justina Dalrymple was a small, pretty, and vivacious girl of twenty years who was entering her third Season and who possessed a tart wit that amused the gentlemen, and she had rather a good opinion of herself. She had many admirers but had not deigned to accept the hand of any one of them, declaring to one and all that she would enjoy herself before tying herself to a husband. Her parents were anxious to have their daughter married before she was much older for fear that she would end up a spinster and made sure that every eligible gentleman in town received an invitation to the ball. Georgiana was slightly acquainted with Justina, and she whispered to Elizabeth that Justina was very pretty but her tongue was rather sharp.

“In fact, she reminds me a little of Miss Bingley, who, by the bye, has just arrived,” she said in a dry tone.

Elizabeth looked up and saw Caroline Bingley posed in the doorway, Bingley and Jane standing unobtrusively behind her. One of the gentlemen separated himself from the group that was milling around the debutantes and approached the arriving trio; Georgiana suddenly realised that it was the Comte de Tournay. He was dressed in the latest fashion and was really a fine figure of a man in spite of his forty-plus years. He must be making the rounds of the parties to find another wealthy wife, she thought cynically. One would think that he would look for a wealthy widow closer to his own age rather than a woman young enough to be his daughter, but perhaps a widow would not be youthful enough for his discerning tastes—and might come with additional encumbrances, such as children. Georgiana could not picture the suave aristocrat as a doting father to someone else’s child.

Georgiana greeted the Bingleys and then was claimed for the next dance by the eldest Dalrymple son, a handsome young man, if overly taken to preening like a peacock. She had told him that she would only dance with him if he danced with Kitty the next pair of dances, and he had agreed, perplexed that a debutante would want to help a competitor find dancing partners. When there was a break in the dancing, Elizabeth thanked Georgiana quietly for her kindness to Kitty and asked her if she had arranged the exchange of partners. Georgiana blushed and admitted that she had, saying, “I did not realise that you would notice. You are far too acute, Elizabeth! Do not tell Kitty, please.”

“That was very kind of you, dearest.”

“Not at all. I have no interest in a man who thinks he is prettier than I am, so why should I not direct him towards Kitty as a dancing partner?”

Elizabeth smiled and shooed Georgiana back to the debutantes.

The evening passed uneventfully, and Georgiana was satisfied with the number and quality of her dancing partners. She could feel her brother’s eyes watching her every move as she progressed around the room, and she could tell that he was a little nervous for her still, so she gave him a smile as she moved to the head of the set.

About an hour after the ball began, Colonel Fitzwilliam arrived, handsomely outfitted in a beautifully cut black coat and breeches and snowy stockings. Elizabeth was standing by Georgiana when he greeted his cousin.

“I am pleased to see you, my dear little cousin. I am sorry that I missed you yesterday morning, but I hear that your curtsey was flawless,” he said, bowing to her.

Georgiana flicked a glance at Elizabeth and then returned the colonel’s courtesies. She moved off when her next partner, an impeccably dressed young gentleman with a pleasantly ugly face, came to claim his dances with her.

***

The colonel turned to Elizabeth and asked her if she would like to dance.

“I know that my cousin does not enjoy dancing and I would not want a handsome young lady such as you to be unable to enjoy the ball.” He smirked at Darcy, who just shook his head and rolled his eyes.

As they danced, Elizabeth could not resist teasing the colonel about his own matrimonial ambitions.

“You will never find a wife, Colonel, if you spend your time dancing with the married women.”

“Very true, but I like to do a tactical analysis before plunging into the maelstrom of battle,” he said, his eyes alight with mischief. “It is a very difficult problem when the loveliest ladies are already taken,” he added with a courtly bow.

“I thank you, sir, for the compliment; however, I suspect that there are probably plenty of pretty young ladies who would be happy to dance with you and with whom you could find ample consolation.”

“It is not the dancing, but the predatory mammas that frighten me,” he said with a straight face.

Elizabeth laughed and they continued their dance. After a moment the colonel added, still with a light tone, “Seriously, however, the mammas who are interested in the younger son of an earl seem to be those with no breeding and plenty of lucre; they wish to get their foot in the door of the nobility and their daughters have not the beauty or charms to attract an eldest son. It is quite frustrating.”

“Perhaps you should not confine your search for a wife to the ladies of London, Colonel.”

He smiled. “Perhaps you are right.”

They finished their dance in silence, and when the colonel went off to ask the daughter of the house to dance, Elizabeth stood again with Darcy and watched the dancers. Elizabeth noticed that Georgiana gravely observed her cousin as he made the rounds of the room while at the same time trying to listen attentively to her various partners’ conversation.

On the way home in the carriage, however, Georgiana threw off her serious mood and chattered about the ball with Kitty, who seemed to have had a better time than at the previous one, and the two girls went upstairs giggling together. Darcy and Elizabeth made their way sedately up in their wake, and Elizabeth sighed in relief at the success of the beginning of Georgiana’s Season.

***

The next morning, Darcy left for his club, where he was still trying to catch Sir Robert Blake, leaving Elizabeth and Georgiana to eat alone. Kitty was a late riser and usually missed breakfast. Georgiana was lightly discussing the previous night’s ball with Elizabeth, when her sister decided to ask, “So tell me, my dear, what do you think of the young men in London? Have any caught your eye?”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened in shock as a sudden flare of red rushed up Georgiana’s face and she averted her eyes.

“I am sorry, Georgiana. I did not mean to embarrass you!”

“No, no… I-I should like to tell you,” Georgiana whispered, as her eyes filled and a teardrop fell on her clenched hands.

“If you are finished, let us go up to my sitting-room where we can be private,” Elizabeth said quickly.

When they were settled in front of the fire, Georgiana paused to gather her thoughts then said, “I like the gentlemen I have met well enough, excepting only Mr. Walker, of course. Sir Robert is especially nice and very handsome, and I like his brothers and sister, too. The problem is that… well,” she paused for a moment, her throat constricted. She took a deep breath to calm herself and plunged on, “My heart is already taken.”

Georgiana could see that Elizabeth’s thoughts went instantly to Wickham, and she quickly said, “Do not worry, Elizabeth; I am not in love with a married man!”

She turned her eyes down and stared at her hands as they twisted her handkerchief and whispered, “I am in love with Colonel Fitzwilliam. Until my brother told us of his actual role at the palace I thought my cousin a dilettante, funny and entertaining but lacking any serious purpose in life. When I heard about his responsibilities and the respect in which he is held by the Prince Regent I struggled to change my opinion of the man I thought I knew but clearly did not. I finally understood why my father made him one of my guardians. Then I was abducted and when the colonel burst into my room to rescue me like a knight in shining armour…”

She stopped and laughed once, harshly. “I sound like some dewy-eyed lack-wit. What I realised was that he was not a man lacking passion. He was quite ready to kill someone to protect me. I have tried to decide if I am suffering from an understandable case of hero-worship or whether I love him as I should love the man I marry. I have thought back over my entire relationship with the colonel and realise now that I have loved him since I was a little girl.

“I remember when I was six years old and I was afraid to ride my pony. He spent the entire fortnight of his holiday teaching me to ride. He was so patient, and he never made fun of me for being frightened in spite of his being a grown twenty-year-old who was afraid of nothing. I did not see at the time that his care for and patience with a lonely little girl was far beyond what most men would show a young girl who was only a cousin and not his responsibility. He quietly goes through life doing his job without any fanfare. He does not try to impress everyone or put on an act. He is just himself, and that is a fine man who any woman could love and respect.”

Elizabeth took her hand gently.

“Well, dearest, there is no reason that you cannot marry Colonel Fitzwilliam. I will speak to your brother…”

“No!” she cried, clutching Elizabeth’s hand until her sister winced. She released it immediately and said, “I am so sorry, Elizabeth, but please promise me you will not talk to my brother about this!”

“But, why not, Georgiana? He could talk to the colonel…”

“No! That is exactly what I do
not
want!”

“But, dearest…” Elizabeth said insistently.

Georgiana riveted her eyes upon Elizabeth’s and said, “Do you not see? I do not want the colonel to feel
obligated
to marry me. I do not want him to marry me only for duty to his family—I want him to marry me because he loves me… I want the kind of love and respect that you and my brother have for each other, not a cool, logical arrangement for the benefit of the family. Oh, it would solve so many problems! The colonel would have a wife with money, Georgiana would have a husband, and we would not have to worry about the threat of Walker revealing the kidnapping scheme because the colonel already knows,” she finished bitterly.

“I begin to see the problem, my dear,” Elizabeth said rather helplessly. “But what can we do about it?”

“He thinks I am a child; when he visits he kisses me dutifully and pats me on the head like he does Pilot. He rescues me at the ball if the young men get too importunate, but he does it as a duty to a child towards whom he has a responsibility. He even calls me ‘little cousin’—sometimes I could just slap him for that!” she said passionately.

“Yes, I noticed him doing that,” Elizabeth said absently. “So… what do you want me to do, Georgiana?”

“I do not know. I just do not know how to even begin to get his attention,” she sobbed. “I am seventeen years old and am no longer a child, but how do I make him see that, and how do I find out if he cares for me without risking awkwardness and humiliation for both of us? It would be mortifying if he found out that I love him and he does not feel the same towards me. And how could he? He thinks I am still six years old.”

Elizabeth embraced her and Georgiana clung to her. She stroked her sister’s hair and said, “Well, Georgiana, my dear, the only answer I can give you now is that I will give this problem some thought and we will see what we can do. As far as I know, the colonel does not have a particular young woman he is interested in, so I think he is safe for the moment—although he might have a dozen young women courting him and I would not know!”

“Heaven forbid!” Georgiana said, smiling wanly through her tears.

“Now dry your eyes, my dear, and we will see what we can do.”

She carefully blotted her eyes, and, after sitting quietly for a few minutes with their arms around each other to compose themselves, they each went to their own room to think about the problem.

When you have done all you can in the interest of prudence,

Leave the rest to the gods and take the plunge.

—Horace,
Odes

The next morning, Elizabeth came to Georgiana’s room after breakfast.

“Georgiana, my dear. I have been thinking. I believe that we should talk to Lambert and see what she suggests to catch the colonel’s eye.”

Georgiana looked dubious. “Do you think she could help?”

“I am quite sure she can.”

“Can we trust her to keep a secret?”

“She is most discreet.”

They walked down the hall to Elizabeth’s room and found Lambert touching up some of Elizabeth’s dresses with an iron. Elizabeth explained the problem in general terms: that Georgiana was trying to attract the attention of someone she had known for many years and who treats her like a child.

“How can we convince him that she is an adult?”

Lambert considered for a moment, tapping her chin with her finger.

“I would suggest that we try to make a complete change in appearance. Mademoiselle Darcy is very attractive so we do not want to make her less attractive—
quelle horreur!
—but a style and colour of dress and a hairstyle which are completely different and make her appear older may do ze job. Because, Madame
et
Mademoiselle, ze gentlemen, they do not respond to subtlety; while Cupid’s little arrows sound lovely and romantic, he would be much more effective with ze truncheon.”

Elizabeth laughed and Georgiana collapsed onto a chair giggling. When she recovered herself, Georgiana said, “But what would you specifically suggest?”

Lambert looked at Georgiana and said, “If you would come here, please, Mademoiselle Darcy.”

Georgiana stood up in front of the maid and Lambert looked her over from head to toe, felt the texture of her hair, and examined the colour of her eyes and the dimensions of her figure.

“Mademoiselle Darcy, you usually wear ze white or ze cream gowns,
oui
?”

Georgiana nodded, fascinated by this evaluation.

“I would suggest that we try to find ze silk in ze sea-green colour; a light green with ze grey tone. Mademoiselle has beautiful eyes of a changeable colour; they will look more green or blue depending upon what she wears. Let us emphasise ze less common colour. We will also use just ze most subtle touch of rouge, and I have something to darken ze lashes a bit. She also has a beautiful long, white neck which we want to feature. Here is ze gown I would recommend.”

She took a piece of paper and sketched a detailed gown, with colours marked for the various parts.

Elizabeth asked, “What about her hair?”

“You usually wear ze simple style, so I would suggest several tiny braids looped from the front to the back, a cascade of curls at the crown and a few wisps of curl around ze face to bring attention to your smooth, white forehead. To finish it off, three long ringlets to hang over your shoulder. Very enticing!” She kissed the tips of her fingers. “Now, about ze jewellery. I have seen you wear ze pearls with ze tiny cross?” Georgiana nodded. “Zay are very nice, but he has undoubtedly seen them. What else do you have?”

Georgiana looked at Elizabeth, who immediately said, “Your mother’s diamonds, Georgiana.”

Lambert was pleased. “Ze diamonds will be ze perfect finish. What could be more elegant and sophisticated? When are we to make this transformation, Madame?”

“Do you think we could have the dress finished by this weekend? The Elliots are giving a very large ball and I think all the single men in London have been invited.”

“
Oui
, I will send for the seamstress and we will start immediately.”

She bustled off to begin preparations and Georgiana tried to stifle another nervous giggle with her fingertips.

“Do you really think it will work, Elizabeth?” she whispered.

Elizabeth put her arms around her. “I think that we have nothing to lose. I think it will take an earthquake to bring the colonel out of his complacence, and I, for one, am willing to do my best to bring about that earthquake, if that is what you want.”

Georgiana’s faced turned grim. “I will do my part, too, if it kills me.”

***

The next five days flew by. They continued to have engagements every night and although Georgiana tried to be sparkling and friendly to her cousin, she did not see any signs of awareness of her existence by him beyond the indulgent notice he had always given her. She was becoming increasingly frustrated with him and complained (with a petulance that was very unusual for her) to Elizabeth when they were alone.

“The colonel is oblivious to me. How can men be so unaware of what is going on around them? I wonder if I must knock him over or do other violence to him before he notices that I am alive.”

Elizabeth laughed a little. “You must forgive him, my dear sister, for men do not like change any more than the rest of us and ignore it for as long as possible.”

“He has been paying a lot of attention to Justina Dalrymple lately; he has danced with her more than once at several of the balls. You don’t suppose that he is considering making her an offer, do you?” she said with a frown.

“I certainly hope not; I have seen her speak rather sharply to her mother a couple of times in public—I would not be easy about his chances of happiness with her, even were there no other considerations. However, I agree that he is spending far too much time with her, but tomorrow night is the Elliots’ ball and you are ready to make your ‘appearance’ there.”

Georgiana put her hand to her throat nervously, but she nodded in agreement. That night, she wrote,

23 May: All of the plans have been made and my costume prepared for the ball tomorrow night. I have been distracting myself and trying to calm my nerves with Horace, figuring that reading ancient works would be either boring or soothing enough to help me sleep. I came upon a line in his “Odes” which I found quite apt: “When you have done all you can in the interest of prudence, leave the rest to the gods and take the plunge.” That is strong: permitte divis cetera.

***

The next evening, the ladies went upstairs earlier than usual to prepare for the ball. Elizabeth hurried through her toilette with Lambert, quickly donning her cream silk dress with the green sash and her Chinese jewellery and then they went to Georgiana’s room where Durand had all of the clothing ready. Georgiana had continued wearing white and cream-coloured dresses while the new gown was being sewn, so the new gown would be a splash of colour to contrast vividly with the others, as well as being the last word in decorous sophistication.

Lambert swept up Georgiana’s light brown hair into three shining braids on either side of her head and into a confection of curls on her crown, emphasising her height, and the three ringlets hung tantalizingly over her left shoulder. Durand then helped her into her stays, tightening them to enhance her bust line. Next, Lambert and Durand helped her into white silk stockings and a white cotton batiste petticoat that ended just above her ankles. The gown was next, a sea-foam green satin bodice and skirt, which was reflected in the colour of her eyes. The skirt of the gown was split from the waist to the hem to show an underskirt of finely pleated white silk that swept almost to the floor, peeping out below the green skirt. At the shoulder began the barest suggestion of a puffed sleeve, in green satin to match the bodice, and the low, scooped neckline was enhanced with a sweep of stiff, finely pleated white silk that stood up from the front of the shoulders and around the back, gently cupping the back of her long, slender neck and framing her face.

Durand helped her mistress don her white satin dancing slippers and then Elizabeth stepped in. She brought out the jeweller’s case she had been holding and opened it. She fastened the diamonds that had belonged to Lady Anne, obtained from the bank that afternoon, around Georgiana’s neck and the eardrops onto her earlobes. She stepped back, and she and the two maids examined their charge. The diamonds sparkled in the candlelight, the central pendant just reaching the top of her décolleté, and the dress picked up the colour of her eyes beautifully. After a moment of intense consideration as they walked around Georgiana, looking at all sides of her costume, Lambert smiled and nodded, and Elizabeth said, “Yes, you are ready, Georgiana.”

Georgiana examined herself in the glass and smiled slowly at Elizabeth.

“Yes, my dear sister, I believe I am.”

They covered her gown with a white satin cloak, careful not to crush the pleats around the neckline of her dress. By the time Darcy had appeared from the drawing-room Elizabeth had her cloak on as well, and they left as soon as Kitty appeared a moment later. Darcy commented in the carriage that the ladies looked very well. Georgiana and Elizabeth smiled at each other and at Kitty as they thanked him.

When they arrived at the ball, which was given in a large ballroom at the rear of their host’s home, Elizabeth took Georgiana and Kitty to a dressing-room to make sure that their costumes were perfect before they went into the ballroom. Darcy had gone ahead and was standing with Colonel Fitzwilliam and Lord St. George. They all three turned when the ladies entered, and both Georgiana’s cousins and her brother stared for a moment in surprise at Georgiana. She wanted to laugh at the astonishment on their faces. The viscount recovered first and stepped forward to take Georgiana’s hand, bowing over it and saying, “My dear cousin Georgiana, how lovely you look tonight! I hope you will give me the pleasure of your hand for the first dances.”

“Of course, Cousin,” she answered gravely.

The colonel watched them as his brother led her to the dance floor and joined the lines facing each other then walked over to Justina Dalrymple and asked her to dance. Darcy looked quizzically at Elizabeth and she said brightly, “Doesn’t Georgiana look well tonight, Mr. Darcy?”

“She does indeed,” he answered, turning his gaze to follow his sister speculatively as she danced. “She looks like a queen. Is there some reason for this dramatic change in hair style and ornamentation?”

“We are merely increasing the stakes in the matrimonial game—sometimes men need to be hit over the head before they notice the obvious.”

He looked at her in perplexity. “And who might she be trying to ‘hit over the head’ tonight?” he asked as he watched Georgiana dance, her eyes glancing over at Colonel Fitzwilliam several times. He looked at the colonel, who was watching Georgiana rather to the neglect of his own partner, who looked piqued. Before Elizabeth could form an answer which would not give away Georgiana’s confidences, Darcy’s face took on a look of surprised awareness, “Surely not Fitzwilliam?”

Elizabeth smiled briefly. “Would you have any objections if it
were
the colonel?”

“None at all; my cousin is a fine man. I am just—surprised—I did not expect it. The last I heard she was sniping at him. How long has this been going on?”

Elizabeth temporised, since Georgiana had not yet given her permission to tell Darcy. “Georgiana finds it very frustrating that he treats her like a child. She is not a child any more.”

“No, much as I hate to admit it, she is definitely no longer a child,” he replied, lifting one brow at Elizabeth’s avoidance of his question. She watched the dancers and pretended not to see.

They watched as the pair of dances ended and a crowd of young men surrounded Georgiana. The colonel observed them from across the room until his cousin accepted a partner then approached an unattached young lady and obtained her hand for the next dances. After they finished, Georgiana was again besieged by several young men, and Colonel Fitzwilliam joined Darcy at the side of the room. While Elizabeth was talking to Jane, who had arrived not long before, she overheard the colonel comment to Darcy,

“I hope that all these young bucks don’t overwhelm Georgiana, Darcy. Perhaps I should rescue her from them.”

Elizabeth, watching them from the corner of her eye, was surprised when Darcy looked his cousin in the eye, his face expressionless, and said very quietly, “Oh, I don’t think she needs to be rescued any more. She’s not a child, Fitzwilliam.” The colonel stared at him for a long, frozen moment, his brows raised in surprise and then he looked back towards Georgiana.

“I believe you may be right, Darcy,” he said slowly, “but I think I will ask her to dance anyway.”

Without another word he walked towards his cousin as she stood with a couple of other girls in the cluster of admirers. Lord St. George appeared on the opposite side of the group but, before he could catch Georgiana’s eye, Colonel Fitzwilliam neatly manoeuvred himself between the others, as he had done at the Pemberley ball, and took Georgiana’s hand, cutting off one of the young men before he could finish his awkward attempt at asking her to dance. Georgiana nodded to her cousin and took his arm, her eyes downcast as he led her to the floor, acutely aware of the warmth and strength of his arm through her gloves. As she rose from her first curtsey to start the figure she brought her eyes up to meet his, and she saw him stiffen. He covered his discomposure quickly and began the dance, but he appeared rather bemused as he danced the figures, his neck flushing slightly each time the dance returned him to his partner. Georgiana, for her part, kept her eyes modestly downcast as she moved down the line but raised them to meet his briefly each time they faced each other, the challenge in hers offering a counterpoint to the small, serene smile on her lips.

When they finished their dances, the colonel led Georgiana back to her friends and made his way to the refreshment table, where he slowly drank a cup of punch while he watched his cousin dance the next dances.

Later in the evening, Viscount St. George again asked for her hand for a pair of dances, and Georgiana accepted him, but she was distracted during the dance because the colonel was watching them with a serious intensity that was quite uncharacteristic. She hoped that he would ask her to dance again, but he kept his distance, maintaining his observation post and ignoring the other young women.