The Darcy Cousins (12 page)

Dawson puffed up a pillow, straightened out a table cloth, cast another searching glance at Clarissa, then left the room.

"Lady Catherine sent her to spy on us! Imagine that! Are we to have no peace anywhere in the house? I thought at least here we would not be disturbed," said Clarissa.

"Apparently not," said Georgiana, who was not at all surprised.

"But I don't know why you are behaving in such a furtive manner. It is perfectly acceptable for you to play the piano. You do not have to pretend to read. On the contrary, according to Anne, Lady Catherine would object more strongly if she knew you were reading."

Clarissa smiled wryly. "I did not think of what I was doing--I just knew I did not want anyone to find out my secret. If I stay long enough in this house, I will be jumping at shadows. For now though, since Lady Catherine does not wish it, and Dawson has no doubt gone to report us, I intend to read," she said defiantly. She took up the book she had grabbed earlier, and, tucking her feet under her, she gave every appearance of preparing to read for some time.

Georgiana, who did not wish to read, strayed over to the piano and began to sing the Duchess of Devonshire's I Have a Silent Sorrow. She did not know why--sometimes she thought whim-sically that since the Duchess was her namesake, there was some connection between them--but the song had always fortified her when she was gloomy.

It was the wrong choice. Her fingers hammered at the piano, and her voice yelped. So when Clarissa winced yet again at a discordant 102

THE DARCY COUSINS

note, she put down the piano cover and picked up a book lying on the table. It was Waverley, a novel which had taken London by storm. Confident that a good novel was just the thing to distract her from her worries, she settled down to read. But this enterprise proved even less successful than the other.

Her mind seemed capable of holding only one thing, a single phrase-- dull as ditchwater.

There was no escaping it. He had injured her with his words.

He had humiliated her. He had pierced her pride. But she felt it clearly; he had said nothing but the truth.

She had become too dull. After Wickham's betrayal, she had spent a great deal of time alone. She had promised herself never to make the same mistake again. So she had withdrawn into herself and devoted all her energy to her music. She had put her childish gaiety--for that was how she saw it--fully and firmly behind her.

Her brother had been kind and he had tried his best to cheer her up, but he was a young man, with his own interests and pursuits.

And then he had fallen in love and devoted himself to Elizabeth and his marriage, and now he had a son.

Somehow, she had fallen into a rut. She had not even known that she was in one until now. When had anyone last praised her about anything but her music? True, music was an important part of any young lady's education, but surely there should be something more than that to recommend a young lady to society?

She had allowed herself to become dull. Mr Channing's words had hurt her all the more because they were true. It was more than time to put Wickham behind her. She would be starting her Season in the next few weeks, and she did not want to be declared the dullard of the season.

She had to do something.

103

MONICA FAIRVIEW

Georgiana observed Clarissa's stylish form as she sat on the sofa, absorbed in her reading. Her dress was white muslin, with folded bands at the hem and a high collar, nothing elaborate at all. But the eye was drawn to the exquisite shawl--shimmering blue with gold embroidery and tassels at the corners--draped elegantly over her shoulders, and the white satin bandeau trimmed with shimmering blue flowers.

Her own clothes, in contrast, were very plain--her white dress complemented by a pale yellow silk shawl, and a hat of matching yellow silk with a straw brim. They were well made. They were fashionable. But they were--dull.

At that moment, Clarissa looked up and smiled. It was a smile that suggested shared secrets and common interests.

"Do you suppose we ought to join Lady Catherine now?"

she said.

An impulse came to Georgiana, blindingly obvious the moment it occurred to her.

She would ask for her cousin's help. Who better to ask? Clarissa was even capable of drawing someone as morose as Anne out of her shell. Why not her? They would be ordering a new set of clothing for her in readiness for the season. She would depend on Clarissa's advice entirely in selecting her clothes. She would take lessons from Clarissa about how to behave, and she would learn to be lively. She would transform into a charming, buoyant young lady.

No sooner had she resolved on this course of action than she acted on it.

"Wait. I have something particular I wish to ask you, Clarissa,"

said Georgiana. She wondered even as she spoke whether Clarissa would laugh. It would be too humiliating if Clarissa were to laugh.

104

THE DARCY COUSINS

"I am waiting," said Clarissa agreeably.

Georgiana took a deep breath. "I would like you to help me with my launch into society. My sister Elizabeth will make an excellent chaperone, I am sure. But I would rather rely on your guidance in my choice of clothing, for I find your clothes very much to my taste. Also, I would like your help to tell me how to behave with a gentleman, for Elizabeth is quite charming, but she has a sharp tongue and is quite different from me, and I could never be like her, but I would like very much to be like you."

The sentence was so long that she grew breathless by the end and had to stop to take a deep breath. She looked in mute appeal at her cousin, praying that Clarissa would not say something cutting and destroy her hopes.

Clarissa, her eyes shining, took Georgiana's hand in hers. "You flatter me too much, Cousin. I am not at all remarkable. But I would gladly give you any assistance you would like."

Georgiana slumped back against her seat in relief. She squeezed Clarissa's hand in thanks, quite unable to utter another word.

Clarissa, who was never one to say something without acting immediately on it, sprang to her feet and began to pace the room restlessly.

"I have some ideas for clothing that would suit your colouring,"

she said enthusiastically. "I have sometimes wished to suggest some changes, but held back for fear of being thought impertinent. But I know just what would work for you."

She came and stopped before Georgiana, examining her closely.

Then she resumed her pacing.

"I have a tendency to overdo things. Anyone who knows me will tell you that. So if you really wish me to help you, you must promise me that if I interfere too much you will tell me, very clearly.

Do you promise me that?"

105

MONICA FAIRVIEW

Georgiana would have promised anything at that point. "Of course I will tell you if you go too far," said Georgiana.

"Then let us begin this very minute," said Clarissa, and tugging her by the arm, she dragged her away.

106

Chapter 10

It had become Anne's habit to join them daily for a stroll around the grounds close to the house. Anne seemed to have reached some agreement with Mrs Jenkinson, for they usually met at the same time, and she no longer had to depend on furtive notes.

Though they could hardly be called close friends, the three young ladies had at least abandoned any appearance of formality and spoke very readily of many things--just as long as they did not touch upon Anne's situation directly. Any reference to that matter brought an immediate tension into the air that was very difficult to dispel.

By now spring was in full bloom, prepared, it seemed, to stay its course, with none of the surprises Nature likes to let loose on unwary mortals. Along the slope which led down from the house, white and yellow competed with green, as daisies and buttercups insinuated themselves in the midst of the verdure.

On one particular day, a pleasantly warm sunny day, Clarissa suddenly threw down her parasol.

"Oh, how I love daisies," she cried, and flopped down onto to the ground. "I cannot help it. I have longed to sit among them for days! You do not know how hard it has been to restrain myself."

MONICA FAIRVIEW

Georgiana hovered above her. She wondered how wet the ground was, worried about grass stains, and considered whether they were within sight of the house.

"Come on, Georgiana," said Clarissa. "I thought you wanted to make some changes. Let us sit and make daisy chains, like little children. You too, Anne. How could the two of you possibly resist it?"

Anne hesitated. Then, pulling away one of her shawls, she arranged it carefully on the ground.

"You can sit next to me, Georgiana," she said. "That way we can protect our clothing. We need not be quite as reckless as Clarissa here."

Georgiana felt intensely annoyed with herself. Her condition must be dire if even Anne was willing to do something she hesitated about! If she did not start soon, how could she change enough before the beginning of the Season?

So, tossing all uncertainty behind her, she sat on the shawl offered by Anne.

It was strange how sitting on the ground gave one a different perspective. She ran her hands through the blades of grass, allowing the tips to tickle her palm. She followed the progress of a beetle as it laboured through the grass as if through a forest of tall trees and clambered over a bent blade with as much difficulty as a huge fallen trunk. She picked a buttercup and cradled it in her hand, admiring the soft yellow petals and wondering that something so diminutive could stand out so clearly from a distance.

Clarissa held up three daisies linked together. "Let's see who can make the longest chain," she challenged.

Soon the three young women were engaged in the sustained effort of making daisy chains. They made bracelets for their arms 108

THE DARCY COUSINS

and crowns for their heads and necklaces to adorn their necks, and were quite a sight when, some time later, they walked back to the house, carrying the springtime inside with them.

Henceforth, Anne's behaviour altered in small ways. She did not stray far from the protection of the house, nor did she honour the Darcy cousins with any special confidences, but she went out unaccompanied more and more often. She liked to walk in a small copse behind the house and was seen heading in that direction at least once or twice a day.

Georgiana felt that they had accomplished a great deal by helping her gain a little independence. Clarissa disagreed, however, for it was not so very remarkable that a twenty-nine-year-old woman should wish to walk in her very own park. She still did not go out alone on her little phaeton and ponies--Mrs Jenkinson was always with her.

When Georgiana reminded her that Anne was at least able now to escape the latter's surveillance, Clarissa shook her head. Her suspicions of Lady Catherine remained as strong as ever.

"How are we to know that this is not a trick on the part of Lady Catherine? She may well be relaxing her watch over Anne simply to give us the illusion of Anne's freedom. It is very likely that, the moment we leave, Anne will be back under the thumb of her keeper."

But Georgiana, who had known Anne longer than her cousin, could sense something different about her, a new sense of purpose that had not been there before.

"I think you are taking too pessimistic a view of things, Clarissa.

I am sure that Anne is different, and if so, it is due to you, and I 109

MONICA FAIRVIEW

thank you for it. Have you not noticed there is more of a spring to her step and that she is less inclined to retreat to the corner of the room? Why yesterday she even sustained a short conversation with Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth."

"Yes, perhaps you are right. Still, she moves far too slowly for one who is so young, and she has not given up a single one of her shawls yet, nor her muff."

"But if she is ill, how can she do so? You are expecting far too much too quickly. The kind of changes you are looking for cannot be accomplished in a few weeks or even in a few months."

Clarissa frowned. "You may be right. I do not know what I expect to tell the truth. I am too carried away by my hopes for her."

Georgiana remembered Clarissa's characterization of herself as likely to overdo things.

"You must check yourself, otherwise you will go too far, and she will retreat back into her old habits," said Georgiana. "You should be content that you have brought about the beginnings of change at least. That alone should be enough."

Georgiana, however, was not so serene about the changes that she wished to happen to her. She could hardly wait to go to London now, for she was impatient to acquire a new and more vibrant wardrobe. She had acquired an aversion to all her old clothes and now wandered how she could possibly have agreed to wear them in the first place.

They were due to leave for London in ten days. Georgiana tried to convince her brother to leave a few days earlier, pointing out that they had very little time in which to prepare for her come-out, for it was the beginning of May, and the Season had already started.

Darcy merely smiled and said he was glad she was finally showing some interest in the Season, but that removing themselves early 110

THE DARCY COUSINS

would only create ill feeling with Lady Catherine, who would take it as a slight. She expected them to stay six weeks, and they would. He reminded her--again, as if anyone could possibly forget--that it was Lady Catherine who had made the effort to set aside her pride and to receive her new nephew into the family after their estrangement.

Appealing to Elizabeth did not avail her either, for her sister had some notion of the country air being better for a baby than that of London and preferred to keep him away from London as long as she possibly could. As if a few days more or less would matter!

So--deprived of the chance to acquire new clothing--she spent a great deal of time in her room, trying out different expressions in the mirror and struggling to acquire one similar to Clarissa's, which somehow managed to convey a sense of practised ennui with keen interest. It proved quite impossible to replicate.