The Darcy Cousins (32 page)

She willed herself to push aside those shadows. They had not harmed her. Perhaps they had not intended to harm her at all, only to take what they could and leave. She focused instead on Gatley.

She would never forget that first moment, when his familiar features had appeared before her, sharp and clear despite the fog.

She had been flooded with such powerful emotions--a mix of joy, relief, and affection--she was amazed that she had not thrown herself into his arms.

What had she done instead? She had unleashed her tongue at him, accusing him of so many things she could hardly remember.

He had behaved badly, there was no doubt of it. She would not find ways to justify his conduct. But to accuse him of not being a gentleman, after what he did for them! To insult his very honour!

What had come over her?

She recalled his words; his pitiless condemnation of Clarissa, his unrelenting criticism of them both.

She did not regret what she said. He deserved everything that she told him.

Yet how could she quarrel with the very person who had come to their rescue? He had guessed they would be in trouble, and he 291

MONICA FAIRVIEW

had ridden headlong to their aid. And what did he receive in return?

A tongue-lashing delivered by a harpy.

The night passed. Inside her, a tempest raged. Different waves of feeling battered at her. Her fear of the murky figures alternated with a subdued, simmering anger towards them. She resented Gatley's words, but her resentment battled with her embarrassment at repaying his rescue with accusations and insults. Still, she clung to the fierce certainty that she was right.

At the end, the tempest left her hollow. All that remained was a vague sense of regret because she did not think Gatley could possibly forgive her.

The next day, sluggish from lack of sleep, Georgiana confided to Elizabeth some of what had happened in the carriage.

"You cannot blame him, surely, for being angry," said Elizabeth.

"Think of his position. Think of what would have happened if he had not appeared at that moment. He was not expecting to see you in the street surrounded by thieves. He was taken by surprise. You could not expect him to be perfectly calm and polite afterwards."

"It still did not entitle him to treat us like wayward children."

"You know as well as I do that people can say things they regret in the heat of the moment."

Georgiana allowed it to be so. Her own words came back to her, and she blushed as she recalled them. She supposed she owed him an apology. Perhaps she ought to have made allowance for the fact that the incident had caught him off-guard, as it had done with them. He had come out of the carriage prepared to fight.

Nevertheless, she still felt strongly that he had been remarkably boorish and had displayed an amazing lack of delicacy.

292

THE DARCY COUSINS

She certainly did not want to apologise.

Later in the morning an enormous and very handsome bouquet of flowers arrived for her. The note attached to it was very simple.

With my humblest apologies.

Gatley

The apology dissolved the last traces of her resentment. He was contrite. He had not let his pride stand in the way. His anger had stemmed from an impulse to protect them from harm, however inappropriately he had phrased it. She was still angry, but the good he had done far outweighed the impact of his unfortunate behaviour. She was willing to forgive--more, she was willing to apologise in turn.

Fitzwilliam, passing her as she pondered his note, smiled at her in a friendly fashion.

"I think we need to thank this hero of yours," he said. "I would like to invite Mr Gatley and his mother for a special dinner. What do you think?"

Georgiana was more than pleased to have a private occasion in which to present her apologies and to speak with him away from prying eyes.

"I would be very happy to express my thanks in this way," she said.

"Good. Then if is agreeable to you, you can be in charge of planning the dinner. But you must promise me you will not have anything on the menu that Elizabeth cannot eat."

Georgiana flushed at this reminder of her petty vengeance but agreed happily enough.

293

MONICA FAIRVIEW

Georgiana spent a disproportionately long time planning the menu for the dinner. She drove Cook to distraction by planning a dinner, not for two guests, but for thirty. And then she could not quite make up her mind on the main course.

"If you don't decide what you want, Miss Georgiana, I will have to decide everything myself, see if I don't."

Georgiana, knowing she was being unnecessarily fussy, gave Cook a rueful smile.

"I want to get it just right, you see," she said to Cook, who had been a familiar part of her life since she was a child.

"Then you'd better leave the kitchen so we can get on with it,"

grumbled Cook.

Cook was not the only one who was complaining by the night of the dinner. Georgiana's maid was quite at her wit's end trying to keep up with Georgiana's constantly changing opinions over what she planned to wear.

"If you don't mind, Miss," said Maid, "it might be best if I chose for you. I have an eye for these things, you know. You need not worry. You'll dazzle Mr Gatley, that you will."

Georgiana's cheeks turned pink. "I do not wish to dazzle Mr Gatley. I cannot imagine why you would think such a thing."

Maid turned away quickly to hide a smile, but not quickly enough.

"You are smirking, Maid," said Georgiana. "I saw you."

"Heaven forbid, Miss Georgiana," said Maid, hurrying to choose her a dress. "When have you ever found me guilty of such a thing?"

A last moment panic ensued when Georgiana turned her room topsy-turvy to find a chain she particularly wanted to wear--only 294

THE DARCY COUSINS

to find she was already wearing it. But then finally everything was ready, and she prepared to make her Grand Entrance.

Her eyes flew immediately to Gatley the moment she entered the room. He was, as always, immaculately dressed, his cravat perfectly tied, and his tailored dark blue coat fitted without a crease over his broad shoulders. He looked cautious, his expression non-committal. Her heart sank. Perhaps she had misunderstood his note. Perhaps it was nothing more than a formal apology for an offence caused and did not stem from any sincere impulse. Or maybe he had thought better of it since. Perhaps he was still angry at her for slighting his honour.

Well, she owed him an apology, and she would deliver it, come what may.

It did not prove as easy to speak to him in private as she imagined. With so few people present, snatching a moment of privacy would be very tricky indeed. And then she had her duty as a hostess to consider, since in many ways this was her invitation.

She made every effort to welcome Mrs Gatley in as friendly a manner as possible. As usual, she immediately fell into conversation with her, and before long she was drawn out to tell her side of the events on Leadenhall Street.

"I have heard a brief outline of the events from Gatley, but he was rather reticent about providing details, so I must rely on you, Miss Darcy, to explain the circumstances."

This was not surprising, since Gatley had not asked for an account and had reached his own conclusions. Georgiana was not very comfortable relating what had happened, but she could not refuse to talk about it without appearing churlish. So she told the story, conscious every moment of Gatley's presence in the room.

295

MONICA FAIRVIEW

Mrs Gatley proved to be a sympathetic listener. She quickly understood Georgiana's discomfort and contrived to put her at ease with her questions.

"Did they carry any weapons?" she asked, when Georgiana tried to describe the men who had attacked them.

"I did not see any--but they could have been hidden."

"Perhaps they meant only to toy with you and not to do any serious harm."

Georgiana found the statement comforting.

Gatley listened without comment. Georgiana wondered if he was passing judgment on her even now.

"Well, the ordeal is over now," said Mrs Gatley. "You should not dwell on it. It is best to put it all behind you."

"Except that we have Gatley to thank," said Darcy. "Do you not think Gatley here has the look of a hero? Are you not going to thank him, Georgiana?"

Georgiana wished Darcy did not still behave as if she was a child who needed to be reminded of her manners.

"I would indeed like to thank Mr Gatley for his timely rescue,"

she said. "I cannot imagine what would have happened if you had not reached us just then."

Gatley inclined his head formally. "I did nothing at all. Any carriage that would have happened by would have scattered the villains."

"That does not diminish the fact that you deliberately set out to make sure we were safe, Mr Gatley," she responded.

Gatley bowed. "Then I shall say it was an honour, Miss Georgiana."

There was a reluctance about him that she did not quite fathom.

296

THE DARCY COUSINS

The doors to the dining room were opened, and the butler announced that dinner was served.

As they moved towards the door, Georgiana grasped the opportunity of being able to speak to Gatley alone.

"I would like to apologise, Mr Gatley," said Georgiana. "I should not have spoken to you I the way I did in the carriage."

"I deserved every word," said Gatley earnestly. "You were right.

My behaviour was appalling. I am embarrassed even to think of it."

He looked so genuinely contrite Georgiana's heart went out to him.

"I really was not much of a knight errant, was I? You should not apologise. But I hope this means you have accepted my apology."

Georgiana nodded. "Of course."

He smiled at her, and she glowed in the warmth of the smile.

The world around her sparkled and winked at her.

"The Season has done wonders for you," remarked Gatley's mother after they were seated. "You look quite radiant tonight.

You are clearly one of those young ladies who flourish once introduced into society. I remember very well our conversation on our way to Waverley Abbey. I believe you have found just the right approach."

Elizabeth immediately wanted to know about their conversation, and soon a lively discussion ensued about the expectations placed by society on young debutantes, in which Georgiana did not hesitate for a moment to express her opinion.

No dinner in those days could be considered complete without a mention of Napoleon, for the whole world was talking about him.

London was packed with people hoping for a glimpse of him when he was brought to England.

297

MONICA FAIRVIEW

"I do not know why so many people assume he will be brought to the Tower," said Mrs Gatley.

"I suppose they think he deserves to be treated as Royalty. He was an Emperor, after all."

"As if that signifies," said Darcy, "since it was a title he himself invented."

"Still, he was a man of genius and a great Commander. It took many armies to defeat him," said Gatley, "and he was able to instil strong loyalty in many people."

"I think the mark of a great ruler," said Georgiana, "is not his ability to make war but to achieve peace."

"Well spoken!" cried Mrs Gatley. "I think men are a great deal too likely to admire warfare, as if there is any merit in it."

"Now you have done it, Miss Darcy," said Gatley. "We will never hear the end of it, for my mother is a supporter of Mr Whitbread."

"There you have a great leader," said Mrs Gatley. She gave a mournful sigh. "But look what came of him--such an ignoble end for one who had so much courage."

There was a solemn gloom as everyone contemplated the sad wastefulness of Mr Whitbread's death. It was incomprehensible to Georgiana that he would want to take his own life, when he had so much to offer.

"Would you have us overruled by Napoleon, then? If we had listened to Mr Whitbread, then we would even now be under the rule of the Emperor."

"Pah!" said Mrs Gatley. "He would never have invaded England."

"You are quite mistaken about that, Mrs Gatley," said Darcy.

"For there is evidence of several plans to invade England. They were foiled by spies, fortunately."

298

THE DARCY COUSINS

"What did I tell you?" said Mrs Gatley. "It is the spies who saved England, not the armies."

A lively discussion ensued, and dinner passed quickly.

Georgiana, who participated as vigorously as the rest, intercepted several glances from Gatley and was very well satisfied.

The dinner was approaching the end. The cover was removed, and the desserts brought in. The pastry chef had truly outdone himself, particularly in the large centrepiece that was carried in ceremoniously by two footmen.

Gatley took one look at the enormous pastry that sat before him and exploded into a loud guffaw.

Everyone at the table stared at him in bewilderment. Everyone, that is, except for Georgiana, who hid her smile under her napkin, and tried to look innocent.

Darcy raised his eyebrow. "I am glad to see you in such good spirits, Gatley." His eyes went quickly to Georgiana.

"Georgiana, of course, planned today's menu. She enjoys the occasional--ah--prank."

Gatley knew the polite response would be to compliment Georgiana on the excellence of her choice and deny that there was any prank involved. However, at the moment, he did not trust himself to speak. The swan, with its shiny white icing and elegant contours was very beautiful indeed. The pastry chef had gone to great lengths to produce it.

It was the odd arrangement of peacock feathers on its head that was the problem.

"Well, I think she has chosen very well," remarked Mrs Gatley, trying her best to be tactful. "I have rarely had such an excellent 299

MONICA FAIRVIEW

combination of dishes. The peacock feathers seem a little odd, perhaps, but they are very pretty."

At this, even Georgiana had to laugh.

The warm glow did not desert Georgiana even when she went to bed. She could not help feeling that Mrs Gatley approved of her and seemed in many ways to encourage a connection between Georgiana and her son.