The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy (7 page)

He would have to put these thoughts from his mind for the time being as he had promised Georgiana that they would spend the holidays with the Smythes before returning to London for her last term at seminary. After that, he would be free to make the journey to Pemberley, and the view of the Peaks with their ever-changing landscapes would restore his spirits. Because of the lingering memory of Elizabeth sitting outside the parsonage clutching his letter to her bosom, he refused to be devoid of all hope, and if there was a solution to be found, it would be found at Pemberley.

Shortly after Lizzy and Jane returned to Longbourn from their travels, Lizzy was finally able to unburden herself as to what had transpired at the parsonage. Jane’s response was to be expected. Because of his place in society, she was greatly surprised by Mr. Darcy’s offer of marriage and equally dismayed by the mode of his declaration. However, it was merely in the blink of an eye before she went from chastising the gentleman for assuming so much to feeling sorry for him.

Jane was even more surprised when Lizzy acquainted her with all of the facts concerning Mr. Wickham and Miss Darcy. She now believed the very worst about him, and she would shortly have proof of it.

The Bennet family had very good relations with their servants, but it was Mrs. Hill whom they loved and trusted. Because of her many years of service to the family, there were very few topics that were not freely discussed in front of her, and Mrs. Hill understood that any confidences shared with her would remain within the confines of Longbourn. However, Mrs. Hill often shared news of what was going on in the village and the surrounding farms because every piece of gossip was quickly circulated amongst the servants of the farmers and shopkeepers.

“I was talking to the Smart girls,” Mrs. Hill began. “All four of them was hired by Miss Bingley when she come to Netherfield, and while the Bingleys were there, they hardly shared a thing of what was going on abovestairs, afraid they was of being sacked. But now that the lot of them are gone, they could hardly wait to get all of it out. But I doubt that you two would be wanting to hear such tattling.”

“Oh, how wrong you are, Mrs. Hill. We want to hear every juicy morsel, and nothing should be left out,” Lizzy said, laughing. Although Jane had resigned herself to the fact that Mr. Bingley and she would not see each other again, Lizzy understood her sister would want to hear everything she could about him.

“First of all, Martha said Mr. Bingley was as nice as could be, and the only thing that could put him in a sour mood was two rainy days in a row so he couldn’t go out riding. What Martha said about the others was that Miss Bingley was never happy with their work and was always complaining, that Mrs. Hurst went along with anything her sister said, and that Mr. Hurst couldn’t be kept from the port wine no matter what his wife said to him. The only juicy piece of gossip was that Miss Bingley was flirting with Mr. Darcy all the time, but he wasn’t paying her no mind. She heard that from Jeremy Stockard, who was hired on as a footman. He could hardly believe that people were willing to pay him good money to stand by a door with a powdered wig on his head, so the ladies wouldn’t have to open it themselves. But that’s what Miss Bingley wanted, so he lined his pockets and kept his mouth shut.

“I says to Martha, ‘Well, there’s not much news there. It’s just as you’d expect,’ and she said that was true but there was a surprise, and that was Mr. Darcy. Now, I know you don’t like Mr. Darcy, Miss Lizzy, but it seems that he was a good friend to Mr. Bingley, and when Mr. Bingley decided to have the ball, well, there was no way it could happen without some help. So Mr. Darcy sent a letter to wherever he lives in Derbyshire, and the cook, butler, and a wagonload of servants come down to get everything ready for the big night. And all of Mr. Darcy’s servants went on and on about how good it was to work for him and Miss Darcy. Well, I never would have believed it from what I heard about him from the time at the assembly when he snubbed Miss Lizzy.”

Jane looked at Lizzy out of the corner of her eye. It seemed as if evidence was building that her sister had seriously misjudged Mr. Darcy.

“But that’s nothing compared to what’s being said about Mr. Wickham,” Mrs. Hill said in a conspiratorial whisper. “Sally Smart, who works for the Drapers, says Mrs. Draper has been crying on and off for days because Mr. Wickham didn’t pay any of his bills. What Sally said was that Mr. Draper had ordered some expensive heavy fabric and a brass clasp from London for a cloak that Mr. Wickham wanted made special. He told them he’d pay them when he got paid, but he never did, and Mrs. Draper is afraid he never will. And once word got out that Mr. Draper hadn’t been paid, others from the shops said they were owed money too. But they hadn’t said nothing before with Mr. Wickham being an officer and a gentleman and all. But Mr. Corbin said, gentleman or no, he’s writing to Colonel Forster. He wants his money.”

There was more news, equally bad, about Wickham taking liberties with some of the local girls, as well as extensive gaming debts and displays of bad temper and drunkenness. If only half of the rumors were true, Wickham was as vile as Mr. Darcy had described him.

Both sisters were truly distressed by Mrs. Hill’s news, but Lizzy was heartsick. She could hardly bear to think about how she had taken sides in Wickham’s favor and at the expense of Mr. Darcy. Now, she completely understood the look of disgust on his face before he left the parsonage and the necessity of his writing that awful letter.

“Lizzy, I can see what you are thinking. But it was not only in the matter of Mr. Wickham on which your dislike of Mr. Darcy was based. You had other provocations.”

“Yes, I did. However, in the light of all that I now know, it can be argued that I am a terrible judge of character.”

Jane was beside her sister in a moment. “You are too harsh. The Wickhams of the world succeed because they excel at deception. He succeeded in fooling everyone, Lizzy.”

“Except Mr. Darcy. Apparently, he never succeeded in fooling Mr. Darcy.”

Darcy and Georgiana celebrated Christmas with Lord and Lady Smythe at their country estate in Sussex. Their daughter, Agnes, and Georgiana attended seminary together and had become the closest of friends. The Smythes were having a ball to celebrate their daughter’s eighteenth birthday, but the dance had another purpose: to serve as a practice ball, as both Agnes and Georgiana would come into society when the London season began in earnest in May. Darcy watched the event with mixed emotions. His sister had emerged as a beautiful butterfly from the cocoon he had kept her in these past five years. After admiring how gracefully she danced with the young swells and how easily she mingled with all the guests, he realized that he would soon have to set this butterfly free.

After the holidays, brother and sister returned to London in preparation for Georgiana resuming her studies for her final term. From that point on, everything she needed to know would be learned as young people had always learned them, by trial and error, and she would know heartache and joy, success and failure, and the peaks and valleys of being in love.

Georgiana was excited about their return to town as her brother had hired a Madame Delaine who would assist her in acquiring all the clothes and accoutrements necessary for her debut. That decision had been made after his last visit with his sister to the milliner. Seeing his growing impatience, the owner had suggested he employ Madame, who would relieve him of all such duties. Shortly thereafter, the pair began making the rounds of London’s finest shops.

For the past year, a departure had been made in Georgiana’s education. After demonstrating a mastery of those subjects expected of a daughter of one of England’s great families, her brother had agreed to find another outlet that might possibly satisfy his sister’s seemingly insatiable curiosity about nearly everything, and she had been enrolled in Mrs. Margaret Bryan’s Academy, where she was instructed in mathematics, philosophy, and the natural sciences. Because the academy was located at Hyde Park Corner, Georgiana received her instruction in the morning and divided her afternoons between her German tutor and dancing and music masters.

Each evening, Georgiana came into her brother’s study to tell him about her lessons, more or less to get that subject out of the way so that she might discuss the much more important things in her life, such as fabrics, bonnets, the latest styles, etc. Darcy looked forward to their evenings together and their evolving relationship. He was feeling more like a brother and less like a guardian.

“Will, have you ever been in love?”

Darcy was no longer surprised by Georgiana’s questions, as they were becoming a regular feature of their after-dinner conversations. When he first heard the question, he immediately thought of Elizabeth Bennet, but quickly put her out of his mind and replaced the dark-haired, dark-eyed Elizabeth with the first woman who had ever touched his heart, the beautiful Christina Caxton.

Seven years earlier, after having finished their studies at Cambridge, Darcy and Richard Fitzwilliam had traveled to the Continent during the Peace of Amiens, a two-year interval in the wars between England and France, to begin their tour of the great cities of Europe. With letters of introduction in hand, they had traveled from one exciting destination to another, and one of their stops was at the Chateau de Crecy in Champagne where Christina had been living following the sudden death a year earlier of her husband, a British wine broker, who had foolishly walked behind a horse.

The chemistry between Christina and Darcy was immediate and sparks flew. Five years Darcy’s senior, Christina was the perfect lover for a young man of twenty-one, who was more than willing to be educated. A pattern quickly emerged where Christina would visit a friend and suggest that an invitation be extended to Darcy and Fitzwilliam, and the affair would resume. Richard found that creating diversions so that Christina and his cousin could be together provided him with his own opportunities for romance. But it had all came to an abrupt end on the road to Pau, a spa in the south of France, when Darcy had received news of his father’s death.

“Will, you are smiling. You
have
been in love,” Georgiana said, before practically jumping out of her chair and joining her brother on the sofa. “Please, Will. Tell me all about her. Please.”

“Ah, if you insist, I shall tell you. She was like a goddess. Eyes like emeralds, teeth like pearls, skin of the purest ivory, all surrounded by a halo of gold, a walking, talking jewel case.”

Georgiana looked at her brother and frowned. “You are teasing me.”

Actually, that description was very close to accurate. He remembered with great fondness the last time he had seen her—every inch of her. She was standing in front of him like Botticelli’s Venus telling him it was time for him to leave while it was still dark. He had convinced her to return to bed, and they had made love again and fell into a deep sleep with his body conforming to hers. When he left that morning, he had no idea that was the last time he would ever see her.

“Why do you say that I am teasing you? Cannot my first love be as beautiful as Helen of Troy or at least as handsome as some of the women in the novels you read?”

When Will found himself at the age of twenty-two to be the guardian of a thirteen-year-old girl, he had immediately sought the advice of Georgiana’s namesake, the Duchess of Devonshire, a friend of his late mother’s. One of Her Grace’s recommendations was to allow Georgiana free rein in the Pemberley library. As a result, she had read everything from Aristotle to the godless Voltaire and the revolutionary Thomas Paine, but she had also read
The Mysteries of Udolpho
and other gothic novels. He had to bite his tongue when he had found her reading
The Insider
, a gossip magazine he despised, especially since he had been included in its pages. The writer had hinted that Darcy would shortly make an offer of marriage to Letitia Montford. Although Letitia was intelligent and accomplished, with a pleasant disposition, she lacked the one thing he greatly prized in a lady: a sparkling wit. The only person who had met his ideal was Elizabeth Bennet.

“Was there really someone as beautiful as Helen of Troy in your life? I mean were you really in love with such a creature?”

“Yes, I was in love with such a creature, but so was every other young man who crossed her path. She was kind enough not to tell us we were all making fools of ourselves. When the armistice between France and England fell apart, the widowed Mrs. Caxton was detained as an enemy alien. I later learned that she had decided to remain in France and married a Frenchman. That, my dear, is the end of the story.”

“How disappointing! It would have been much more interesting if you and she had been desperately in love, and it was only because of Napoleon’s armies that you were unable to be together. You would have searched for her everywhere, but of course, you could not find her because of the war. And when you learned of her marriage, it broke your heart, and you never recovered from the loss of your one true love.”

“Good grief, Georgiana!” and he changed his tone of voice, letting her know that this conversation had come to an end.

Georgiana knew she could press her brother only so far, or he would retreat into silence. She went over and kissed him on the cheek and said “good night,” but before letting her go, her brother counseled her, “Georgiana, love is as complex an emotion as exists. There are many reasons why love does not prosper. I was once told by an intelligent lady that ‘one bad sonnet’ was sufficient to drive love away. So the waters are perilous, and you would do well to know that, because unlike your novels, not every story has a happy ending.”

***

The next evening, when Georgiana joined her brother at the dining table, he was preoccupied with a letter he had received in the afternoon post. Because his brow was furrowed, Georgiana assumed it was a business letter and that he was not happy with its contents, but that was not the case. The letter was from Anne.

“Anne wants to come to London and possibly continue on to Pemberley.”

“Will, that is such good news. Why do you look displeased?”

“It is not that I am displeased. It is that Anne never comes to London before late May. The air is too dirty, and with her weak lungs, it puts her health in jeopardy. And as for Pemberley, she has not been there in two years because the journey is so arduous.”

“But I think it is wonderful she wants to come. You know we have had a very mild winter and, thus far, a beautiful spring, and you said she looked very well when you were in Kent. But I wonder why Aunt Catherine is allowing her to come.”

“Apparently, Lady Hargrove is visiting, and since Anne is not required for our aunt’s entertainment, she has agreed to her coming to London. However, she has not thought this through, and I am sure she will reconsider.”

“I do not think she should reconsider. Think of her life, Will, in that big house with only Mrs. Jenkinson for company. I was so very glad to hear that she has befriended Mrs. Collins because otherwise she would have no one near to her own age. And as for her health, who is in a better position to determine if she is well enough to come to town? She is, what, twenty-four years old and quite capable of making these decisions.”

“But what is this business about Pemberley? I, more than anyone, would love to welcome her to our home, a place with such fond memories for both of us, but it is an impossibly long journey for her.”

“But you should let her decide if she is well enough to continue.”

“It is not that simple, Georgiana. According to her schedule, we would have to leave for Derbyshire a week earlier than planned. You will still be at your studies, and remember, Bingley and his sisters are to join us. They would all have to change their plans.”

Georgiana gave her brother a half smile, which was something she did when she knew she had got the better of him.

“You have already agreed that I have accomplished all my goals at seminary, and as for Miss Bingley, she would drop everything, change every plan, cancel every appointment in order to be with you.”

“Oh, you have become a wicked girl.”

“You have not said I am wrong. You are just annoyed because I am right. With Anne at Pemberley, maybe it would allow us to have some time together without your being continuously annoyed by Caroline Bingley.”

“Georgiana, please do not be unkind. Mr. Bingley is as fond of his sisters as I am of you. I admit I am often cross with Miss Bingley. There is a smallness about her that I have such trouble overlooking. I wish it were not so.”

“The reason for Miss Bingley’s pettiness is that she is insecure with regard to her position in society. It takes three generations to make a gentleman. Whether or not Mr. Bingley’s grandfather was the first generation is subject to dispute. If that is the case, then Mr. Bingley is only the second generation, and, therefore, not a gentleman, which means Caroline is neither the sister nor the daughter of a gentleman.”

“Who told you this?”

“I heard Lady Mitchell say that to Lady Arminster about Mr. Bingley. But that is Lady Mitchell’s opinion. It is not mine, and it certainly is not yours or you would not be his friend.”

“May I ask where you are acquiring all of this wisdom?”

“From you, brother. I listen to all you say even when you do not know I am listening. Although I am not out in society, it does not mean I do not pay attention to what is being said all around me, and I am happy to report that there are very few men who come anywhere near to you in the depth of your knowledge and its practical application.”

Darcy laughed and smiled at his sister. What a charming young woman she had become. And he thought how fortunate was the gentleman who would win her affection and her hand in marriage.

“I was once accused of being of a taciturn nature. According to you, I am guilty of verbosity.”

“No, Will, that is not the case at all. Although you can go on at length when you speak of certain subjects, such as cricket.”

“Ah, but cricket is a subject that merits a detailed description. But as to the other matter, I shall write to Anne and make arrangements for her to come to London, and I shall speak to Bingley. You will correspond with Mrs. Reynolds to inform her of our early arrival.” After giving his sister additional instructions as to what should be included in her letter to Pemberley’s housekeeper, Darcy admitted that the change in their schedules would be beneficial for both of them. “We have been in town too long, and a visit to White Peak will rejuvenate us and prepare us for the upcoming season.”

After supper, both Georgiana and Darcy read quietly in the study while listening to the rain hitting the windows. Hopefully, it would clear the air of the accumulated coal dust that drifted over the city in menacing clouds all during the winter. He still was not convinced that Anne should come to London, but as Georgiana had said, who knew better than Anne if she was capable of making the journey.

“I was hoping to finish Miss Edgeworth’s
Leonora
this evening, but I am too tired,” Georgiana said, stifling a yawn, and she went to her brother and kissed him good night. Before leaving the room, she asked him, “Is the lady who said you were of a taciturn nature the same one who spoke to you of a sonnet driving love away?”

“Why do you say it was a lady who said I was taciturn?”

“What man would care? It is the ladies who are in need of good conversation.”

Darcy nodded but said nothing else.

“I hope I shall have a chance to meet her. Shall I have a chance to meet her?”

Darcy waved to his sister indicating that she should retire, but he answered her question after she had left the room. “I hope that someday you will have a chance to meet her, but that remains to be seen.”