Mr. Darcy's Little Sister (5 page)

***

The next day the lovers returned to Hertfordshire, leaving Georgiana and Mrs. Annesley behind. Deep down, Georgiana felt relieved to be alone with her companion again; the Bennet sisters were lovely, but trying to make a good impression and converse like an adult was causing her great strain. She hoped that someday she would be able to join in a conversation easily and naturally without needing to plan each comment like a general deploying his army. The small delay before returning to Netherfield would be salutary and allow her to overcome the headache which had been nagging her since she witnessed the ill-mannered snubbing of her brother and his fiancée at the opera.

With Mrs. Annesley’s assistance, she chose the pattern and fabric for her dress, but she was not really enthused about it. Her gowns all had a high neck on the bodice, which was suitable for a girl not yet out, but her upcoming presentation and Season would mark a time when she could have more mature styles which flattered her figure, and she felt that she was wasting her time on a dress which she would only wear a few times. An idea occurred to her: perhaps she could have some of her favourite gowns remade with lower bodices before she came out. With this cheerful thought, she finished her dress order and they were back in Hertfordshire within three days.

The next fortnight passed quickly, punctuated by only one minor incident. A week or so before the wedding, the Netherfield residents were dining with the Bennets and the invitation had included Mr. and Mrs. Collins. Mr. Collins was Mr. Bennet’s cousin, and his wife was Elizabeth’s childhood friend Charlotte; they were visiting his in-laws at Lucas Lodge. The Collinses had been brought together with the Netherfield inhabitants several times since their return from London, and Georgiana had quickly realised that Mr. Collins was a fool. How could her aunt Lady Catherine de Bourgh tolerate his grovelling and scraping? Georgiana had always been terrified of her aunt, and her brother tried to spare her sensibilities by not taking her to Rosings Park when he made his yearly duty visit, but she had always thought her aunt an astute and clever woman (too astute and observant of the failings of others!). Her aunt’s support of Mr. Collins, however, did not speak well of her judgement.

On this evening, while they were sitting in the drawing-room before dinner was announced, Mr. Collins casually said to Elizabeth and Jane, “I congratulate both of you again, my young cousins, on your excellent good fortune in your marriages. It will be most gratifying to me to do my part in assuring your future happiness.”

Jane and Elizabeth glanced at each other, their faces unrevealing but their eyes wide. Elizabeth found her voice and said faintly, “I beg your pardon, Mr. Collins?”

“I said I shall be delighted to perform the marriage rites for my two dear cousins.”

Georgiana knew that Elizabeth and Jane had arranged to have the service performed by Mr. Martin, who had been the vicar at Longbourn Church for most of their lives, but the two young ladies were so taken aback by Mr. Collins’s insistence that they seemed unable to marshal a protest. Fortunately, his wife saw her friends’ dilemma and quickly stepped into the breach, saying in a shocked tone of voice, “My dear husband, do you really think that you should perform the service? Lady Catherine will be most upset if she learns that you have attended the wedding, let alone performed the service.”

Mr. Collins’s resistance was quickly overcome by this reminder of his noble patroness’s fury over Darcy’s marriage, and he immediately gave way.

“Well… perhaps you are right, my dear Mrs. Collins. I would not wish to offend my noble patroness. Yes, on further consideration I believe that it would be unwise to officiate at the service.”

With a straight face, Elizabeth said earnestly, “Oh, Mr. Collins! You must certainly do nothing to upset Lady Catherine! Not after the kindness and condescension she has shown you and Mrs. Collins!”

“My dear cousin Elizabeth, you are so thoughtful of the well-being of others!”

Elizabeth gave him a humble smile and moved on to another topic of conversation. Georgiana described the scene in her diary that night, and concluded,

…As this small crisis passed before me, I was amused by Mrs. Collins’s clever handling of her self-important husband. I cannot comprehend what my aunt sees in the gentleman. I should go mad being the object of his attention day after day.

***

The day before the wedding, Darcy and Bingley went off with Mr. Bennet to his solicitor to perform the last piece of business before the wedding itself: the signing of the marriage articles. Georgiana stayed at Longbourn with the ladies while they were gone. She was curious how much her brother was settling on Elizabeth but did not dare to ask him such a mercenary question. She had no doubt that he would be generous. The day was a sore trial as the elder Bennet sisters tried to keep their mother from gloating aloud over her daughters’ imminent wealth, particularly in front of Georgiana. Mrs. Bennet was, of course, not present at the actual signing of the articles, but her avid interest was evident all afternoon until the exigencies of the wedding arrangements finally distracted her and the others could breathe a mutual sigh of relief at the respite.

The Netherfield party dined at Longbourn that evening but departed early, and Georgiana retired to her room as soon as they reached Netherfield. Her diary entry was brief:

18 October: The wedding preparations are all complete, and tomorrow is the day of reckoning! My cousin Fitzwilliam will arrive from London in the morning, but his parents are apparently not coming. I am going to bed now, but I do not anticipate sleeping much. There are too many changes and too many aggravations occurring tomorrow to allow me a restful sleep. Changes with my brother’s marriage, and aggravation with my aunt and uncle for not accepting Elizabeth.

***

The wedding day, when at last it arrived, went off beautifully. The day dawned cool and crisp, with a cloudless, pale blue autumn sky. Darcy and Bingley had stayed up after Georgiana had retired the night before, and she did not hear them come up until a quarter past twelve. At breakfast all were absorbed in their own thoughts until ten o’clock arrived and it was time to dress. The very last act of the gentlemen’s valets was to offer their masters a small glass of wine with which to congratulate each other, and afterwards the gentlemen solemnly shook hands before they all climbed into the carriage for the drive to the church.

Eleven o’clock finally arrived, and the couples were married in the tiny Longbourn church with their families and a few close friends in attendance. Georgiana watched her brother standing before the altar, awaiting his bride, with a pang of painfully intense happiness. His face had its usual solemnity, but his eyes seemed to her to be glowing. She hoped that his marriage would be as fulfilling as he deserved. If only she could find a man of such heart and intelligence (if perhaps of somewhat less formidable composure!) as her brother. She also watched Mr. Bingley as he awaited his bride with a frank grin, obviously delighting in his good fortune. Perhaps she might find someone with Mr. Bingley’s ease combined with her brother’s intellectual attainments.

Colonel Fitzwilliam was sitting with Georgiana and her companion during the service, and he patted his cousin’s hand as she dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief during her brother’s vows. Georgiana was the first to embrace her brother and sister at Longbourn after the wedding, shedding a few more tears.

“This is supposed to be a happy occasion, little cousin,” the colonel said in her ear.

“I
am
happy,” Georgiana said with unconscious dignity. “I apologise if my tears on the day of my only brother’s marriage are an embarrassment to you, Colonel Fitzwilliam.”

“I am sorry, Georgiana,” he said with chagrin, although his eyes were still twinkling mischievously. “I should not tease you.”

“Indeed you should not,” she returned with asperity.

When the newlyweds had greeted all of their guests at the wedding breakfast, Colonel Fitzwilliam gave Darcy a brief letter from his father:

My dear Nephew and Niece,—

I congratulate you upon your marriage and wish you great joy. I regret that we were not able to attend the ceremony, but hope that we may wait upon you this winter at Pemberley to give our compliments in person.—With our best wishes,

Lord and Lady Whitwell

“His lordship dared not risk the fury of Lady Catherine, it seems,” the colonel commented to Darcy and Elizabeth. “Sad to have a father who is a coward,” he added, shaking his head in mock sorrow.

“Would you face Lady Catherine’s wrath?” Darcy queried with an ironic lift of his brows.

“I am a soldier, not an imbecile!” Fitzwilliam returned with a horror-stricken expression.

Darcy and Elizabeth laughed lightly, but Georgiana felt again a twinge of annoyance that some of their closest relatives would still not readily accept her brother’s bride. She silently entwined an arm in Elizabeth’s and her sister patted Georgiana’s hand reassuringly.

Soon after the wedding breakfast, the two couples changed into their travel clothes and departed to the cheers of the guests. The Bingleys were to take a honeymoon in Cornwall, where he had rented a cottage. The Darcys left for their short seaside honeymoon, and Georgiana and Mrs. Annesley departed Netherfield for Ashbourne House soon after.

…for the mutual society, help, and comfort,

that the one ought to have of the other,

both in prosperity and adversity.

—Book of Common Prayer, “Solemnization of Marriage”

During the week that her brother and his wife were gone, Georgiana was again prey to her nervous fears that Elizabeth would be disappointed in her and that she would be a dismal failure during her coming-out Season. The day of their expected return found her chewing her lip pensively and staring out of the drawing-room window into the private little walled garden of Ashbourne House as she mulled over these thoughts during the long hours she awaited their return from the south coast. Her morbid imaginings were interrupted by Mrs. Annesley’s entrance and her soft, “You must not chew your lip, my dear.”

She flushed and said, “I know, Mrs. Annesley. It is very childish, but my nerves simply demand that I take out my fears in some fashion!”

“What are you worried about, Miss Darcy?”

“Nothing, everything… I do not really know. I am just being foolish, I suppose,” she said vaguely and steered the conversation in another direction. She tried the rest of the afternoon to appear her usual self, but it took all her effort.

***

Mr. and Mrs. Darcy returned from their honeymoon in a happy bustle which Georgiana thought, as she watched them from the stairs, covered an intense awareness of each other. It must be very difficult, she suddenly realised, to have the entire household be aware of your most intimate relations. She had never thought about it before; she was accustomed to having servants within hearing at all times, silently performing their duties. The housemaids could be ghosts for all the residents of the house would know, creeping into the bedrooms when the family was at breakfast lest they disturb the tranquillity of their masters and mistresses while they cleaned the grates and made the beds.

Her musings were disturbed when her brother looked up from giving instructions to the footmen and saw her balanced irresolutely on the bottom step.

“Georgiana! I wondered where you were! Are you not going to say hello?”

She blushed and smiled self-consciously as Elizabeth came over and embraced her before leading her over to kiss her brother.

“How is my girl?” He grinned at her like a schoolboy.

Elizabeth smiled and chided him, “The honeymoon is not even over and I have already been supplanted.”

Georgiana, startled, glanced at her sister in alarm but then realised that she was teasing. Elizabeth saw her reaction and said, “Do not mind me, dear Georgiana. I am a hopeless tease. What have you been doing, my dear?” she asked as they moved to the drawing-room.

“Oh, playing, reading, studying my French. The usual… Oh! I did visit my friend Catherine Freemont twice this week. Her father had some work to do before Parliament sits, so they returned early from the country.”

Darcy added to Elizabeth, “Miss Freemont’s father is a judge in the King’s Court. Their town house is only a few steps away from here.”

Elizabeth said, “It sounds from your voice as if you found most of your time dull. I am glad that you had a friend to visit. We must find more interesting activities now that we are back. I know that the little season is over, but there must be something going on in London.”

“Mrs. Annesley told me that
Romeo and Juliet
will open tomorrow at Covent Garden.” She paused, her brow furrowed. “I do not know how good the company will be. Would they not be playing during the main season if they were among the better performers?”

“Perhaps, but if that is the case we can enjoy it as a comedy instead of a tragedy,” Elizabeth said with a grin, which Georgiana returned hesitantly.

“I am not altogether sure a romantic tragedy sets the proper tone for a new marriage anyway,” Darcy said with a smile at his wife, “but I do enjoy Shakespeare.”

Elizabeth agreed but commented, “I have never seen
Romeo and Juliet
on the stage, but I have always thought that the young lovers behaved extremely foolishly. If they had just waited long enough to make sure their messages were received, neither would have died… not that I should be quibbling with lack of proper communication in romantic affairs,” she added in sudden embarrassment. Darcy chuckled over her blush while Georgiana stared at them in confusion.

Elizabeth reassured her, “Never mind, my dear. I am teasing again, except this time I am teasing myself.”

A footman arrived with tea, and Mrs. Annesley joined them and welcomed the new couple home. They later had a quiet family dinner at home, and all retired early.

The next morning Georgiana came down to breakfast in a more resilient mood than that of the day before. She saw Burton’s back as he disappeared down the stairs to the kitchen with the coffeepot in his hand, so she quietly opened the door to the breakfast-parlour herself. Her brother and sister were standing in front of the window which faced onto the garden, their bodies nearly touching. Before she could make her presence known, her brother leaned down and kissed his wife with a tenderness which made her heart ache.

With a deftness which surprised even her, she reversed her course and backed out of the room, closing the door as silently as she could. She wanted to run upstairs and hide her mortification at invading such a moment, but instead she went back to the staircase, walked part way up, and waited while the redness in her face subsided and her breathing calmed. When she caught the first glimpse of Burton returning with fresh coffee, she walked down the stairs again and crossed the hall. She noticed that Burton’s usual catlike tread was absent and his heels clicked firmly on the tile floor; she smiled to herself. In the future, she too would make sure that her entries gave her brother and sister due warning of her approach.

“Good morning, Burton.”

“Good morning, Miss Darcy. It is a lovely day outside.”

“Indeed it is.”

The butler opened the door and bowed her in to the breakfast-parlour where she found Mr. and Mrs. Darcy calmly eating their eggs and bacon.

Elizabeth looked up, a suspicious twinkle in her eye and blandly asked, “And how are you this morning, Georgiana?”

“I am fine, thank you.” She blushed slightly again and looked down at her lap as Burton unfolded her serviette and offered it to her.

“Would you like coffee, Miss Darcy?”

“Please.”

Darcy cleared his throat and said, “Georgiana, we were just discussing our plans for the day.”

She raised her brows in a questioning look and said, “Yes?”

“We thought we would take a walk. Elizabeth has not really seen the neighbourhood or the park. Would you like to join us?”

She glanced from one to the other and decided that they were not just being polite in their invitation.

“I would love a walk. We may not have many more nice days before winter.”

Elizabeth smiled at her. “Very true, my dear.”

Georgiana ventured, “W-would you mind if I asked my friend Catherine to come with us?”

Her brother answered without hesitation, “Of course, Georgiana. If you will write a note to her I will send one of the footmen to Freemont House.”

“I will do that, thank you… both of you.”

She finished her breakfast, went upstairs to write the note to her friend, and received an acceptance by return messenger.

When they were ready to leave for their walk, the footman brought their coats. Darcy’s was the same overcoat he had worn the day before, but, instead of Elizabeth’s cloak, the footman brought her a beautiful, dark russet pelisse of fine cashmere trimmed with fur.

“I must not let my wife get too cold when she is walking,” Darcy said as the footman opened the door for them. “I know, after all, that she is an avid walker.”

“It is just beautiful. Thank you, my dear!” she said while raising her brows and glaring at him behind the footman’s back for this sly reference to one of their early encounters.

She saw Georgiana’s surprise at her ironic expression and as they left the house told the story of Jane’s illness which had confined her to Netherfield for several days, and of Elizabeth’s hike across the fields to visit her when her father’s carriage was not available to take her.

“…and I arrived at Netherfield with my boots and petticoat covered with mud from the previous day’s rain. The only circumstance which allayed my embarrassment was that the hem of my gown was still clean and I could cover at least some of the mud with it. I really thought that your brother would die of shock. I declare I was quite concerned for some thirty minutes that we would need to call the doctor for him.”

Georgiana blinked and stared at the two of them. She was astonished to hear her stately brother made the subject of such pleasantries and half expected him to rise up in wrath. Instead, he gave a small smile to his wife and said, “Quite right. I have still not completely recovered from the experience.”

They laughed, and Georgiana suddenly felt an outsider as their eyes locked for a long moment.

They were all distracted by the need to cross the street, and Georgiana had time to recover her poise. When they had negotiated the crossing, they turned and looked back the way they had come. The Darcy residence was a large stone edifice on a corner of Audley Square, the entrance facing the small, quiet, cobblestoned square and with a walled garden on the side facing noisier South Audley Street. The garden wall was high enough to muffle slightly the sounds of the traffic passing by outside and created an intimate little Eden into which the drawing-room and dining-parlour faced.

As they strolled around the neighbourhood, they showed Elizabeth many large homes along the streets and squares. The houses were all made of brick or stone, with three or more storeys and tiny flowerbeds along the slate-paved paths to the front doors. They were surrounded by low wrought iron fences, which enclosed the beds and the areas leading down into the kitchens. Similar fences surrounded the square itself: a small park with gravelled paths and benches for those who wished to sit and enjoy the sun or for nursemaids who would bring their charges out to play on the lawn.

After finishing a circuit of the area, they detoured north onto Hill Street and came to a brick house only a moment’s walk from Ashbourne House. A small sign on the gate said, obscurely, “Mynydd Bwthyn.” Elizabeth raised her brows and the Darcys both grinned at her. Darcy explained:

“Miss Freemont’s mother is Welsh and her father amuses himself by using the Welsh language occasionally; usually for the mystification of his audience. Their friends and neighbours usually call this ‘Freemont House.’”

“I cannot imagine why.”

Georgiana tripped lightly up the stairs to the door, but it was opened by a footman before she could reach it, and her friend appeared immediately. Georgiana brought her down the stairs, took a deep breath, and said, “Elizabeth, this is my friend Miss Catherine Freemont. Catherine, my new sister-in-law, Mrs. Darcy.”

The ladies curtseyed and Miss Freemont smiled gracefully and responded, “How do you do? I am very happy to meet you. Miss Darcy has been eloquent in your praise.”

Catherine Freemont was a petite young woman with dark hair and bright blue eyes, and she had a low-pitched, musical voice with a very slight Welsh accent. Although not a classic beauty, her appearance was very striking and her manner was pleasant and elegant. Elizabeth returned her smile and answered, “It is my pleasure to meet one of Georgiana’s friends. Have you known each other long?”

Georgiana answered, “For years. Catherine has two brothers much older than she, and we were the only little girls in the neighbourhood.” She looked at her friend with a mischievous smile. “It is fortunate that we liked each other.”

Catherine laughed. “Yes, it would have been very bad if we had loathed each other.”

***

The two pairs of walkers turned and strolled on towards Hyde Park, the girls walking on ahead with arms linked. Elizabeth, when they were out of the girls’ hearing, asked Darcy where Miss Freemont was from.

“The Freemonts have been neighbours of ours in London for generations, but they have a small country estate in Shropshire. Her father is the younger son of his family, hence the judgeship. Because of his place on the King’s Court, they spend a great deal of time in London.”

They found a path which wound under a grove of plane trees and turned onto it. There were very few riders out that day on Rotten Row, and the chill in the air had discouraged the less hardy walkers on the footpaths. They wandered slowly along a neat gravelled path, and Darcy found a small bench about halfway down the length of it where he and Elizabeth could sit while the two girls walked to the end. The remaining autumn leaves, teased by the light gusts of a breeze freed from the enclosing buildings of the city, swirled around them like a golden and crimson blizzard. Elizabeth watched the dancing leaves, her hand through her husband’s arm, and felt something rigid inside her relax. All of the tension of the past year melted in the cool autumn air and she was left feeling warm and light. She gave a small, contented sigh and Darcy turned his head towards her and smiled.

“Happy, my love?”

“Blissful—I suddenly feel as if I have been translated onto an entirely new Earth from the one on which I had been living, everything bright and new around me.”

As he opened his lips to respond, a pair of urchins suddenly appeared with a ragged mongrel in tow to chase the squirrels around the trees before running off on some mysterious business of their own, but not before giving cheeky grins at the couple sitting, arms entwined, on the bench. Elizabeth laughed as the ungainly dog lolloped after the children.

“Well, perhaps not everything is bright and new!” she said, her thoughts involuntarily straying to the difficulties with various in-laws that disturbed her serenity like the urchins invading the park. She pulled her attention back to her husband. “However, I do feel that I have an entirely new outlook on life and on the people I know or meet. I remember a conversation I had with Jane not so many months ago, wherein I expressed to her my dissatisfaction with the human race and how inconsistent were the characters of so many of the people that I knew. This was after my friend Charlotte became engaged to Mr. Collins, an event which, as you know, shocked me greatly. I had not thought that she would disregard every better feeling merely to obtain a comfortable home.”