Georgiana ran her fingers up the keyboard with a flourish.
“Enough.” She rose from the bench and walked about the room. She had been practising for an hour. She shook her arms and stretched her fingers. She tapped on the book which she had earlier discarded on a side table. No, her mind did not wish to read. She looked at the work basket on the chair next to the table. No, her fingers did not want to ply a needle. She sighed and walked over to the window. She peered out at the people who travelled here and there up and down the street below her. There was a footman polishing the knocker on the townhouse across the street. She sighed again and threw herself into a chair.
“Miss Darcy, that is not the way a proper young lady sits.” Mrs. Younge, her companion, looked over her spectacles and down her nose at her young charge. “Please comport yourself appropriately.”
Georgiana wrinkled her nose in displeasure and pulled herself to proper sitting posture, back straight, and hands folded in her lap. “I really do not see why I have to sit properly when there is no one here to see me.”
“You must practice good manners at all times. That way, it will become a habit, and you shall not have to worry about disgracing yourself by acting in an unseemly fashion.” Mrs. Younge gave her one more glare.
“La, I am so bored.” Georgiana fiddled with the ribbon that was tied around her light blue dress. She had been stuck in London now with only her companion to keep her company for a fortnight. Her aunt, Lady Matlock, and her cousins, Elise and Maryann Fitzwilliam, had departed to attend a house party and her brother had accompanied Mr. Bingley to assist him with the planting at his new estate.
If it had not been for his promise to assist Mr. Bingley, Georgiana would be at Pemberley now with her brother and able to, at least, go for a ride on her favourite horse. She sighed again. “I think I shall go write to my brother.”
Mrs. Younge watched Georgiana walk out of the room. Inwardly she sighed. Caring for spoiled rich young ladies was not something she enjoyed. Having to put up with their airs and whining really was taxing on one’s nerves. Miss Darcy was not the worst with whom she had worked. No, that prize went to Miss Graves. That girl could whine and fuss better than Mr. Bingley’s sisters. Mrs. Younge chuckled to herself. She tucked her needlework into her basket. She had some correspondence of her own which needed attending.
George had written two days ago, but she had yet to find the time necessary to consider all he had said. She had met him two years ago when he had come to her sister’s house in search of company with one of her sister’s girls. My, he was a handsome rogue. She had found herself drawn to him immediately, and they had developed an almost instantaneous rapport.
If only he were rich, she would have pursued him in earnest, rather than as just a momentary indulgence. But, that was soon to change according to George. He had a plan to fleece her employer, a proud man who had done grievous harm to him. Step one had been easy enough. A few false references and her job at Darcy House had been secured.
Mrs. Younge tapped the feather top of her quill against her cheek. Step two was going to take some doing. She pulled out a sheet of foolscap and dipped her quill into the ink pot. A letter to Mr. Darcy needed to be written. His sister was bored and most unhappy in London. Perhaps a trip to the seaside would be the diversion she needed. Mrs. Younge knew it was the diversion George needed. With Mr. Darcy so busy helping his friend with the new estate, George could visit at the cottage in Ramsgate without fear of seeing the arrogant boor.
Mrs. Younge lifted her head as she heard Georgiana return to the music room. “Have you attended to all of your correspondence?”
“Yes, I only wrote to my brother. I am still waiting to receive a response from my cousins.”
“I am writing to your brother as well. I thought perhaps a trip to a cottage at Ramsgate would be a lovely diversion for a young lady.”
Georgiana clapped her hands in delight. “Oh, Mrs. Younge, you are wonderful! But, do you think that you could ask my brother if I might first visit him at Netherfield before we go to Ramsgate. I do miss him ever so much.”
“I shall include your wishes with my request, but you must remember Mr. Bingley does not have anyone to act as hostess at present so I would not expect a positive answer, my dear.”
For the next week, Georgiana watched eagerly for the post to arrive. She received the letters she had been waiting for from her cousins, but no correspondence from her brother.
She was about to give up hope and write a second letter to her brother imploring him to let her visit when not one but two letters arrived from him. One was addressed to her and the other to Mrs. Younge. Georgiana broke open the seal on her letter and scanned its contents.
“He said yes!” She squealed with delight and danced about the room.
“Miss Darcy,” her companion scolded. “A proper young lady does not show her exuberance in quite so animated a fashion. Do calm yourself.”
“But, Mrs. Younge, my brother, who rarely says yes to anything, has said yes to both of our requests. I am to visit him in Hertfordshire, and after I visit him, if I should still wish, he is allowing me to go to Ramsgate. There is so much to do. Shall we get started?” Georgiana’s eyes shone with excitement.
“Have you read all he said? You will not be staying with him at Netherfield. He has secured an invitation for you to join three young ladies at a place called Oxford Cottage. It sounds from his description to be a bit more rustic than that to which you are accustomed. It also sounds as if he is planning for you to participate in some sort of lessons with these young ladies. I do not quite understand what he is saying.”
Mrs. Younge read her letter again. “You shall be learning domestic skills, my dear. It sounds more like school than a vacation. Are you sure you still wish to go?”
Georgiana grabbed Mrs. Younge by the wrists and implored her with her eyes. “Oh, yes, Mrs. Younge. I do miss him most desperately. I shall not mind the lessons if I get to see him. And, I shall get to spend time with three other ladies. Is it not exciting?”
Mrs. Younge eyed her charge sceptically. She was sure Miss Darcy did not realize what domestic skills might entail. There was sure to be an abundance of whining as soon as she did. She doubted Miss Darcy had ever been required to participate in any household tasks less dignified than needlework. But, perhaps, an introduction to such skills would bring about an earlier arrival at Ramsgate. This thought made her smile. “Well then, we must get busy with the packing. There is much to do.”
~*~*~*~*~*~
Mary flung the edge of the sheet across the bed to her sister. “What do you think Miss Darcy will be like?”
Jane pulled her edge of the sheet taut and wrapped it neatly around the mattress. “She is Lydia’s age, so I expect she will be very enthusiastic.”
Mary smiled at her sister. It was constitutionally impossible for Jane to make a critical remark. “You mean high-spirited?”
“Yes, that would be one way to say it, but she is a wealthy young lady who has been schooled by many fine masters, so I would expect her behaviour to be more restrained than our sister’s.”
Mary considered the behaviour of her younger sisters. It was not hard to imagine that Miss Darcy would be more temperate than they. Most young ladies of Mary’s acquaintance were less exuberant than her sisters.
Lydia was constantly putting on airs and whining as if she were the queen of the castle. She treated all of her sisters as servants, ordering them to do this or that for her. Mary, Jane and Elizabeth were not so obliging, but poor Kitty found it nearly impossible not to concede to her sister’s demands.
Father had agreed shortly after Twelfth Night that Kitty was to be allowed to attend her first assembly in June. Since that time, Lydia, who was two years younger than Kitty, had begun whining about the unfairness of being the only Bennet daughter not allowed to attend assemblies. She was after all, taller than Kitty and, in her own opinion, prettier than any of her other sisters. Surely these qualities should be taken into consideration as to whether she was allowed out or not.
According to Mr. Wallace, a long time servant at Longbourn who delivered supplies to the cottage each day, Mr. Bennet had tried to remain calm in the face of Lydia’s whining, which had increased as June approached. Finally, he had told her that until she mastered all of the tasks she had been assigned, as well as those which had been assigned to Kitty, she would remain at home alone, even if she were well past twenty. The result had been a week of loud lamentations followed by a slow acceptance of her father’s edict.
Mary sighed. No, Miss Darcy would not be as high-spirited as that. She was sure of it.
Perhaps she would be more like Kitty. Kitty, though excitable, was easily pleased. Her fault lay in the fact that she sought the approval of all and put little thought into how that might reflect on her character. Mr. Wallace had said Kitty was blossoming under the constant praise bestowed upon her by her father. She had been successful in all of his challenges so far save two. She had yet to memorize Hamlet’s soliloquy to her father’s satisfaction, and although she read the books he required, her responses to questions about her reading had not met his exacting standard.
Elizabeth came into the room and placed fresh towels near the wash basin. “I have finished with Mrs. Younge’s room. They shall be arriving soon.”
“And the tea is ready?” Mary asked as the three sisters stepped into the hall.
“Yes, Millie has just gone down to tend to it. And Jeremiah has started water heating for baths. I am sure the ladies will be wishing to refresh after their journey. I am glad Father has agreed to provide an extra footman while our visitors are here.”
Millicent and Jeremiah Stearn, who were sister and brother, had been with the sisters from the beginning of their residence at Oxford Cottage. Yesterday, they had been joined by Alfred Hopkins as Mr. Bennet thought it would be beneficial to have two footmen for protection with the house becoming more and more filled with young ladies.
“I believe Miss Darcy will be bringing her own maid. Millie has made room for her, has she not?” Jane paced the length of the sitting room.
Mary looked up from her stitching. “We have prepared well, Jane. There is no need to fear.”
A rattling, clattering sound drifted through the open window alerting the sisters to the arrival of their guest. They scurried outside to wait on the front path for their visitors.