Elizabeth’s eyes flew open as her aunt entered the room, a small travelling case in her hand.
“Here we are,” Mrs Gardiner placed the case upon a chair and then turned to survey the room. “Lizzy!” She shook her head admonishingly at her niece. “Whatever are you about? Make haste, my dear, time is ticking away.”
She scooped up some of the clothes from the bed and Elizabeth smiled apologetically.
“Forgive me, Aunt. I did not mean to be so tardy.”
They both set to in an attempt to restore some order, and as Mrs Gardiner neatly folded one garment after another, Elizabeth turned her attention to placing her other possessions into the small travelling case. She only had to pick up her writing case, however, to recall the most significant letter inside and, impulsively, she turned to her aunt, the words spilling out before she could check herself.
“Is it too late to pay a call, Aunt? Can we not find the time?”
Mrs Gardiner looked over at her niece in astonishment. “Dear girl, no, we cannot! And pray, where would you be wishing to go?”
Regretting that she had spoken, Elizabeth made an attempt at nonchalance as she walked over to the dresser to retrieve her comb and hair pins.
“Oh, it is of little import. I thought that it would be polite to call upon Miss Darcy before we leave Town.”
There was silence and, turning around, Elizabeth met her aunt’s steady gaze. “She – she was so kind, was she not? Calling upon us on Friday?” She swallowed quickly. “We have not repaid the compliment, and there will be no further opportunity – they… she will not know that we have left…” Her voice tailed away at her aunt’s smile.
“And this desire to pay a farewell call is for Miss Darcy – or her brother?”
Elizabeth could not help the blush that would steal its way into her cheeks, and she quickly placed a cooling hand against her throat. Unable to meet her aunt’s eye, she gave an embarrassed laugh.
“Am I so transparent?”
“Forgive me, my dear. I should not tease you so. But sadly, there is no time. Departing so late in the day as you are, you cannot afford to delay further or you will not arrive at the inn before nightfall.” Her aunt gave her a kind smile. “However, if it will make you feel more at ease, I shall endeavour to pay the call myself on the morrow and convey your farewell to Miss Darcy in person.”
With that, Elizabeth had to be content; there was little she could do to alter the situation and, frustrated with herself for having given in to the urge to suggest it, she forced her mind away from such fruitless speculation. Placing her comb and the hairpins in her reticule, she turned her attention to the small pile of books on the bedside table.
“Jane will be disappointed.” Elizabeth waved one of the books at her aunt. “She had but two chapters to finish in this, yet she has forgotten it!”
Mrs Gardiner laughed as she placed a pile of clothes into the trunk. “I suspect she will bear her disappointment well.”
Elizabeth nodded. “Aye, true enough.” She added her sewing case to the smaller bag and began opening and shutting drawers in the dresser to ensure nothing had been left behind. “I do hope Mama is a little less forward this time, Aunt. She is oft unaware of the damage she may inflict and how it may be quite contrary to her purpose.”
“Do not be too hard upon your mother, my dear. Her concerns are all for your welfare, and she means well.”
“Forgive me. I do not mean to be censorious, but if only she could learn to curb her tongue a little, or if that is too far a stretch, merely lower her tone when in company, that the entire neighbourhood might not hear her effusions!”
With a laugh, Mrs Gardiner added the final pile of clothing to the trunk before turning her attention to Elizabeth’s ball gown.
“This is a truly striking gown, Lizzy.” She looked over at her niece. “And you looked quite beautiful in it.”
Assailed instantly by her earlier recollections, Elizabeth was conscious of the warmth in her cheeks. “You make me blush, Aunt! But you are very kind.”
“It is not kindness, my dear, but the truth.” Folding the dress carefully and wrapping it in tissue, Mrs Gardiner laid it gently on top of the other garments and lowered the lid of the trunk. “There. Now – let us see what has become of Serena and what she has found.”
~o0o~
By noon, just as Darcy neared his destination, the Colonel and Georgiana were settling into the carriage in preparation for their own journey thither, with an overnight stop at Marlborough planned.
The carriage pulled away from the kerb, and as it turned from Mount Street into Berkeley Square, the Colonel observed Georgiana staring into the gardens before releasing a soft sigh as she turned away from the window to meet his concerned gaze.
“Do not be so downcast, Georgie.”
“I am not. I merely wish that we had been able to call one last time – to say farewell.”
The Colonel sighed; he had suspected the direction of her thoughts to be with Miss Elizabeth Bennet, and he was clearly not mistaken. Wishing to illustrate the futility of her observation, he shook his head at her. “And what, my dear, would you have given as the reason for our precipitous departure?”
Georgiana opened her mouth and then closed it again, before blurting out: “But we could at least have offered our congratulations. It would have been a valid enough reason for a call, would it not?”
The Colonel frowned. “No, my dear. You could not have spoken of it, for it has yet to be formally announced. Besides, how would you explain such intimate knowledge?”
Georgiana met his eye with a mournful look, as if quite lost as to what to say.
“Georgie; dear Georgie. The acquaintance was but in its infancy, and though your brother had known Miss Elizabeth Bennet, and indeed her sister, these several months, he did not anticipate continuing the acquaintance after he left Kent. There was no necessity upon you, having met them so recently and so little, to pay a farewell call when the acquaintance must end. It is not as if you might renew it upon your return to Town.”
“But I liked her so very much.”
“As did we all, dear girl. As did we all.”
Georgiana looked quickly out of the window again, swallowing with visible difficulty, and conscious of her attempt to conceal her distress, he leaned forward and patted her hand where it rested upon her lap, giving it a quick squeeze before sitting back in his seat, and she turned to face him with a watery smile.
“I cannot bear to see his sadness, Richard.”
“He will rally, Georgie. He is stronger than you would give him credit for. And in some ways, it is better that we heard the news of Monday night as we did.”
Georgiana frowned at this. “Better? How so?”
Blowing out a huff of breath, the Colonel glanced out of the window briefly before returning his eyes to his cousin. “I will own that it puts paid to any chance of a reconciliation, but it is a blessing that it preceded your brother genuinely buying into that hope. That is something to be grateful for, despite my endeavours to persuade him to the contrary. After she rejected him, he…”
“Reconciliation?” Georgiana stared at her cousin with astonishment. “Rejected? What are you speaking of? How – how could – why did he not say so? She would not have him… I do not understand.” A tear made its way to the surface and trickled down Georgiana’s cheek.
Conscious that he had, as was often the case with Darcy, put his rather largely booted foot in it, the Colonel fell back against the seat, wincing as his tender head found leather. Then, realising the level of distress he had caused in his other cousin, he moved over to sit beside her and placed an arm comfortingly about her shoulders.
“Forgive me. I should not have spoken so unguardedly. Darcy will never trust me again, for it was not to be spoken of.”
Georgiana leaned away from him, that she might better observe his face. “Then it is true? But when… I do not understand… when was this? Why would she not have him? He is – he is…” but Georgiana could not continue and soon silent tears were coursing down her cheeks.
Pressing his handkerchief into her hand, Colonel Fitzwilliam returned to his former seat, the better to observe and converse with her. Feeling all the discomfort of having distressed her, notwithstanding his carelessness in letting slip something of intense privacy for his other cousin, he fidgeted restlessly in his seat as Georgiana mopped her face and drew in a deep breath.
“Forgive me, Richard. I do not mean to be so mealy-mouthed, but it breaks my heart to think of his suffering.”
“It is I who should seek your forgiveness, my dear. Lord knows if Darcy will ever bestow such sanction, breaking his trust as I have.”
“I will not tell him. He has sufficient to contend with. But please, tell me all. I must know it.”
With a heavy sigh, the Colonel leaned back in his seat and studied his companion thoughtfully for a moment. Then, coming to a decision, he sat forward again and, taking her hands in his, he began to tell her all he knew of Darcy’s growing admiration for Miss Elizabeth Bennet, and the misfortune that had befallen him not ten days earlier in Kent.
~o0o~
It was not unusual to arrive home at Longbourn from a stay of some duration elsewhere to find the place in uproar. Indeed, as Jane Bennet stepped from the Gardiner’s carriage she surveyed the house with a mixture of pleasure and trepidation. The raised voice of her mother could be heard distinctly and, knowing that there was no Elizabeth to act as a buffer or companion, she sighed.
“Jane! Jane is here!” An excited squeal was followed by the sound of running footsteps and Kitty appeared, followed closely by Lydia, and they both ran from the now open front door to throw themselves at their elder sister, talking all at once.
Jane hugged them both, trying to accustom herself to their boisterousness once more and then turned to embrace Mary, who had followed at a more sedate pace, albeit she did skip the last few paces into her sister’s arms.
“Guess what has-” began Kitty.
“Oh, hush, Kitty. How is one to ever guess such a thing, and Jane least of all.”
“Lydia!” Mary’s censure did little to sober Lydia, who merely stuck her tongue out at her sister and then looped her arm through Jane’s, dragging her towards the door.
“There has been such a scandal, Jane, and you and Lizzy have missed it all!”
Lydia’s tone was damning, and Jane threw her a questioning look, but then Kitty threaded her hand through Jane’s other arm and said, “Lydia, you should not be out here. You are banned from leaving the house.”
“I am still within the grounds, am I not?”
They made their way inside, Mary following behind, Kitty and Lydia bickering with each other all the way.