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Chapter Thirty-six
Dismayed though he was at finding two relatives had misbehaved, Uncle Percy was not deterred from delivering any lectures to Georgiana. Lady Catherine had quite capably steered him towards her niece when the Fitzwilliams that he had just married had left.
The girl was defiant and not very willing to listen, but the Archbishop had encountered such an attitude before and he was not discouraged. "Mrs Wickham, as we regrettably must call you, marriage is a sacred institution," he began.
"Then why do you regret addressing me by my husband's name?" Georgiana replied instantly.
"It has come to my attention that you did not care about propriety before you married. You eloped."
"But I got married."
"That was your brother's doing, I gathered. Without your brother's interference, you might have continued to live in sin." He stressed that last word in his best preaching voice. It had a habit of impressing people.
"I see no difference."
"Precisely," Uncle Percy said meaningfully. He reached for his Bible and started to quote a passage he considered appropriate for the situation.
Many more followed and because of his monotonic voice, Georgiana nearly dozed off. She was not at all interested in what he was saying.
"Mrs Wickham," he said suddenly. "I trust these passages have been enlightening."
"Very much so," she said lest he should start over again.
"I am glad you are beginning to see the error of your ways. I trust you are properly repentant. Let us pray that you are forgiven." He was silent for a minute. "I discussed with Lady Catherine the absence of your husband. Do you know where he is?"
"Yes, I do," Georgiana lied.
"Where is he?"
"He is in France."
"Where in France? Will he return to England?"
"Naturally," she said almost contemptuously.
"He will come for you then?"
"I know he will."
"I can have your marriage annulled if you are helpful." The Archbishop felt he was being the essence of charity. He had Lady Catherine had discussed this option and thought it might be the best course of action for the family.
Annulled? That was not at all what Georgiana had had in mind. She looked at the Archbishop in shock. "But he will come back to me! I will not have my marriage annulled! How dare you suggest such a thing?" How dared he try to separate her from George? No one ever took George seriously. She became very angry with all of them.
Uncle Percy could see she was not yet ready to consider the idea. Lady Catherine had warned him about this, but sometimes it was best to shock and to leave the shocking idea to linger in a mind. Perhaps the girl would start to think about it later. "The family advises you to consider it."
Georgiana turned red from anger. "The family? What business does the family have with my marriage?" They were always telling her what to do.
"The family is currently giving you food and shelter. The alternative is perhaps not very attractive to a spoilt young lady such as yourself. Do you know any of Wickham's relatives and can you rely on them to take you in?" He was certain the answer was negative. If she had known them she would never have chosen to remain here, feeling so hostile towards her own relatives.
Georgiana had not given any thought to Wickham's relatives at all so far. George had occupied her thoughts and life solely and completely ever since the day he had become so friendly with her. She looked back fondly on that period. It had only been the two of them and he had been so kind to her, kinder than they would ever understand. It would be useless to them about it, biased as they were.
No, she did not know any relatives. She would not even know where to find them if there were any. He had never mentioned his family. His parents, whom she had known when she had been very young, were dead and he had no brothers or sisters that were still living. If her own family turned her out, she would be completely on her own. The idea scared her. She had never felt how it was to be alone. There had always been relatives -- so many that her brother had never felt the need for her to have any close friends outside of the family circle.
Perhaps the prospect of being abandoned was frightening and serious enough for the girl to give a little consideration to the family's wishes. Uncle Percy grabbed his chance to embark on another sermon full of quotations and moralistic wisdom. He did not spare her this time -- some of it had to get through to her.
Georgiana listened to it with more resignation than before. It might represent the opinions of her relatives and in that case she had better take note of what the enemy was thinking, in order to fight them better.
The interview left Uncle Percy feeling satisfied -- for he had perceived a marked change in attitude -- and Georgiana feeling numbed and lonely.
Richard stood looking out of the window, curious how long he was to maintain this position. Caroline would be able to manage for a while before she called in his aid. Until that time he would stay out of it.
"But what business does Jane have with recipes?" Caroline asked.
"She writes in the nicest hand," was Mrs Bennet's explanation. "Lydia does not like recipes, Lizzy cannot be bothered to copy them, Kitty writes too slowly and Mary would only strip them of all luxuries to turn them into something not worthy of our position."
"I see." Caroline suppressed a mocking grimace and her eyes flickered towards Richard, wondering if she was ever to have a daughter who had to copy recipes for the cook. Perhaps only if a daughter volunteered and there was no real need for the copying.
Fortunately they were joined quickly by Mr Hurst, who was not going speak much, but who could at least distract Caroline sufficiently from the boring chat with Mrs Bennet, especially when after a curt nod he went to stand by the window beside Richard, as if they had some secret business there that the ladies were not allowed to know about.
"What is on display?" he asked in a low voice. There were only hopping rabbits to be seen and a bird here and there, but nothing to get excited about.
"I am turning away from the display. It was too tempting," Richard answered. He imagined Mrs Bennet engaging in a discussion with Hurst about luxurious food. Perhaps he could steer them in that direction. It would save Caroline.
"Tsk." Hurst clicked his tongue. "Do not tell me you are having improper thoughts of your lady...so early in the day...in the breakfast parlour..."
Caroline seemed to sense they were talking about her, because she gave them a suspicious glance. She tried to think of a topic to keep Mrs Bennet occupied. Surely the woman would find it odd if she kept staring at the gentlemen.
Mrs Bennet was quicker. "I heard you have been away, Miss Bingley." Her accompanying look signified that she had things to tell and that some of these things might even be interesting to her audience.
Caroline looked cautious. "Yes, I was." She was not saying anything that nobody knew.
"I heard all sorts of rumours," Mrs Bennet revealed cheerfully.
Both gentlemen at the window turned -- Richard because he wanted to know about the rumours and Hurst because he wanted to see how Caroline saved herself.
"Did you?" Caroline asked politely. "Did I get married?"
"That too!" The excitement in Mrs Bennet's voice was audible.
"That too? There was more?" That Meryton should talk about her in admiration was flattering, but that Meryton would invent gossip was disturbing -- especially when they were getting near the truth.
"Oh yes, but perhaps I should not tell you about that."
"But I should like to know whom I married."
"If any of my daughters should get married without my knowledge I should at least hope she was aware of the identity of the man she married!" Mrs Bennet said sharply.
"But his name is part of the ceremony, Mrs Bennet. Was it so long ago that you have forgotten?" There was not really anything that had called for this insult, but Caroline found that old habits died hard when she felt cornered.
"There are as many weddings here as in town!"
That was a stupid claim to make, according to Caroline. There were not as many people here, so how could there be as many weddings? "From which I deduce you receive more invitations to country weddings. I have been to the odd country wedding, but --"
"Only to the odd ones?" Richard interrupted.
"Yes, how else did you think she snared --" Hurst began and then stopped when the other man sent him a murderous glance.
"With her fortune, Miss Bingley does not have to do any snaring herself," was Mrs Bennet's opinion. "She must take care not to be snared by a poor man in need of a rich wife -- perhaps like the Colonel here!"
"I do not snare," he said in a dignified tone.
"All men snare," she contradicted him. "Dare to deny it!" They either snared something rich or something pretty. Characters were of little interest to them.
"While in the past I entertained notions of needing a rich wife --"
"See!" There was triumph on Mrs Bennet's face. She had won this argument.
He remained calm. "I realised I valued something else much more."
"A titled wife?"
Richard raised his eyes to the ceiling in a helpless manner.
"A beautiful wife?"
"A good wife." Everyone would have a different definition of good, but his would be the only correct one.
"That is what I said."
"No, it is not."
"Yes, it is. I know how men think."
"I am sure you are correct in most cases, but in mine I must say you are very much mistaken."
"Well," said Mrs Bennet, as always unfazed, "there is something to say for a poor and ugly wife. You will always have her all to yourself. In the daytime too!"
"Mrs Bennet is a woman of infinite insight," said Hurst, who was enjoying himself. He knew Caroline would not like his words.
"Please listen to what you are saying," Caroline said irritably. It irked her that Mrs Bennet should be credited with insight. "You are agreeing to the fact that I was snared and that Rich-...rich," she corrected herself just in time, "women are...well, I do not know what they are." And now it irked her that she had nothing to say, after just having been critical.
"Why, no. I was merely complimenting Mrs Bennet on so capably shedding light on that shady trip of yours, sister, and in doing so we discovered the Colonel's motives for having remained single all this while and some pieces of advice he may want to pass along to his cousin and your brother before we all become related!"
Caroline regarded Mrs Bennet in a new light. She had to sit down. Suddenly she felt quite nauseous.
Chapter Thirty-seven
The joke had turned on them. Hurst was deriving great enjoyment from exposing them to Mrs Bennet. Caroline studied him. Look at his smugness! He must really be proud of himself. The only thing she could do was to take away his pleasure, to expose herself before he could do it to her. Richard was not helping much. He was only silent. She sent him a commanding look. He had better cooperate.
He had been studying on a course of action, but only very shocking ones had occurred to him and he did not know whether Caroline would like any of them. She was a respectable and proper lady and she might not like that Mrs Bennet told her neighbours otherwise -- which might happen. Apparently they had been discussing Caroline before and all the gossipworthy things she might have been up to in her absence.
He caught her look and interpreted it as permission to do what he liked as long as he did something. Well. That was good. He stood a little more stably on his feet. But how to start? That was a difficult thing, but he knew an opening would always come up for him to react to. He waited for Mrs Bennet to speak. Surely she would.
And she did. "Colonel! You have been remarkably silent this morning!" She overlooked the fact that she had never met him before this morning and that she could not possibly know if talkativeness was an habitual characteristic.
"Am I disappointing you, Mrs Bennet?" he asked politely.
"Oh, not at all, sir! But I was hoping to be better acquainted and that can be done only if you speak."
"That is true again, Mrs Bennet," spoke Hurst admiringly. "You are in fine form this morning."
Caroline looked disgusted. "And so are you, Mr Hurst."
"A gentleman's job is to flatter ladies -- and I cannot flatter you because Fitzwilliam would have a go at me, though he is neglecting to do anything himself."
Richard nodded. "I would have a go at you because that would be fun." He did not react to the bit about flattering Caroline. He did not think she should be flattered at all times in company. That would be insufferable.
Mrs Bennet looked from one to the other. "A duel?" Her voice rose in concordance with her excitement. She was most obviously interested.
"Those are forbidden, Madam. As forbidden as they are stupid."
"What a pity."
"I agree that duels are stupid," said Caroline. "Should my husband fight a duel over me, I would challenge him to a duel myself."
"You would?" he asked, his eyes bright and attentive. "Would that be verbal or physical?"
Hurst coughed.
"Physical to be sure," Caroline replied. "That is what duels are about."
Mrs Bennet was a little slow on the uptake this time. "Your husband?"
"Indeed, Mrs Bennet. My husband -- that man there." She nodded at Richard.
Mrs Bennet stared. "Well, well! I am not surprised."
"Why not? You did not know me before this morning," he said, a little puzzled. Was there any fun in not meeting with surprise?
"But if Miss Bingley has a husband, it follows that he must be here and you are here, so you must be that husband."
This wonderful example of her astonishing logic left the rest of them to contemplate her words in respectful silence. "I am indeed," Richard answered after a moment.
"Excellent." This development disqualified Miss Bingley from Mr Darcy's attention. That was a very good thing, even if Mrs Bennet had never linked Darcy to any of her daughters. Still, he was an interesting catch and it was good that nobody else was setting her cap at him.
Mrs Bennet's complete lack of a shocked reaction surprised them. Hurst looked somewhat disappointed, but Caroline was relieved.
"When were you married?"
"Several weeks ago," she said without specifying anything.
"We had to accommodate my parents' schedule," Richard added. "They are always quite busy." The mention of his parents was to indicate that his marriage had the stamp of approval of the Earl and Countess and that it had not been an elopement.
"Oh, I approve!" Mrs Bennet squealed. "Parents are indispensable at a wedding and certainly yours, Colonel. What were you wearing, Miss Bingley -- Mrs Fitzwilliam?" She envisaged someone with Miss Bingley's fortune in a very fashionable and beautiful gown, something she would have loved to wear at her own wedding.
"A gown."
"Do you have the pattern or an image? I am sure it was magnificent. Perhaps it would be something for Jane."
"I could look it up." Caroline would be able to find something that looked remotely like a gown appropriate for a wedding. What she had worn in actuality would not satisfy Mrs Bennet at all because it had been far too simple. Who was she to stop people from dreaming? She felt relieved that her marriage was now revealed, if only to Hurst and Mrs Bennet. The more important people were yet to come, however. They might still be shocked at the news and criticise her.
Darcy returned with Jane. "What is it, Mama?" Jane was worried that something was wrong.
Mrs Bennet took her aside, or so it seemed because the others flocked together, eager to escape a discussion about recipes. None of them were interested in that.
"You missed something, Darcy," said Hurst.
"Really?" Darcy did not sound as if he really believed it. "I thought I had escaped it all." He looked reluctant to be there.
Now that Darcy was here, Richard felt he could leave Hurst alone with him. He took Caroline's hand and pulled her out of the room, no matter what Darcy might think of it. They needed a word. Or at least a kiss. It had been quite a while already.
Darcy looked after them in surprise. "I did miss something." When had this happened? And what had happened precisely?
"That is what I said," Hurst replied. "You missed something."
"How...? What...?" Darcy gestured after his cousin. He did not know how to put that into words.
"Things may happen in our absence that surprise us. Though if you look at it carefully it is no surprise." A chance meeting was often enough for such attachments to grow -- and the couple was not ill-suited, Hurst thought.
"Why not? Where did they meet?"
"I do not wish to know all the particulars. I can imagine them. I am married."
Darcy was not and he was highly curious. "It seems to me that there has not been a lengthy deliberation before this...thing." He was someone who always reflected on matters at length and especially on matters of this nature. He did not understand the speed with which some people threw themselves head over heels into attachments. His haughty and fastidious character forbade him to take the search for a mistress of Pemberley very lightly. His cousin did not have an estate to consider -- perhaps that was the explanation for this miraculous development. It was strange that he had never seen any signs. Had they known each other at all beforehand? Had they met through him? He thought so, but he could not recall any occasion on which they had spoken.
"She is out of our hair now," Hurst announced cheerfully. "What a relief."
"Finally alone with your wife," Darcy said sarcastically. He knew they tended to drive each other crazy. That was something he could not imagine either in a couple, but it happened too.
"I look forward to it," Hurst said noncommittally.
In the hall, Richard placed his hands on Caroline's shoulders. At that moment Bingley descended the stairs. "What!" he cried. "Caroline!"
"Brother." She hoped this would remind him of her seniority. He should look up to her and treat her with respect.
"Sister!"
"That follows."
"That does not!" He pointed at them.
"Has no one ever told you that it is impolite to point?"
"Yes, but that does not signify among siblings," Bingley said with a shrug.
"It does! Never forget your manners," his sister scolded.
"Never embrace men in my house then!" Bingley countered. He looked intrigued. His sister looked as if she welcomed the move. There were no scratchmarks on Fitzwilliam's face. That was strange. "What are you and Fitzwilliam doing?"
"What do you think it looks like?" Richard asked. He left his hands on Caroline's shoulders so Bingley could take a better look. Perhaps he had never seen something like this before.
"You seem to have quite a bond with my sister," Bingley observed. "Ordinary friends do not do this."
"They might. I see nothing wrong in it. But you are right. We have quite a bond and we are not ordinary friends." He smiled at his wife.
"We are married," said Caroline.
Bingley uttered a shocked exclamation that elicited a chuckle from Fitzwilliam and a frown from his sister. "Married?"
"That is what happens when you run into a minister." She shrugged casually, as if she were talking about something very common.
"Well, I have --" Bingley began before he realised the words had probably not been spoken in earnest. "Why did you?"
"Run into a minister?"
"Yes, if you wish to put it like that." He had not actually meant that, of course. He wanted to know how his sister had ended up being married, but even he realised she might have some trouble being direct about it. She never minded being direct about others, funnily enough.
Caroline ran a hand over Richard's cheek. "We are friends. Ministers do not like friends. They must marry them all off."
"Well, but how..." Bingley gestured helplessly. "How did you become friends? I did not know anything about that."
Caroline looked vague. "Such things happen. Just accept it." She was not prepared to divulge the exact history of how they had become acquainted. Her brother would not understand about France. Nobody might.
"So you are married." Then Bingley asked the question that any curious person would ask. "But why did you come here separately and unmarried?"
"Not unmarried."
"But not saying that you were."
"Also not saying we were not.I did not announce myself as Miss Bingley. The footman did."
"He could not have known he was not to announce you like that!"
"Enough!" Richard stopped the argument between brother and sister. "What would have been the fun in that, Bingley? At least now we got to see how clever everyone is."
"I am not, obviously, thank you," he replied humorously. "But in my defence, how could I know?"
"I believe I wrote to Darcy about my honeymoon," Richard said gravely. "I thought this was clear enough, but he has not asked me anything." He might have wanted to, but the avoidance strategy had worked -- Darcy had not yet been able to catch him.
Chapter Thirty-eight
"The honeymoon? Oh yes." Bingley nodded. "He told me about that. Military manoeuvres. That is what he made of it. I went along with it because I had no evidence to the contrary."
"And because you always go along with him," said Caroline, who did not believe him for a second. "Military manoeuvres indeed! Charles, how could you ever think a honeymoon was something military?" The stupidity of her brother amazed her. How could they be related? Should there not be some resemblance between them?
"I did not think that!" He had to defend himself, because she clearly implied he was stupid.
"Easy, children," Richard admonished, who foresaw another endless argument between brother and sister. "Stop bickering. It is really not important what Charles thought, only that Darcy is an idiot." He still could not believe it.
Bingley grinned tentatively. He was not sure he should betray his friend in this manner, even if Fitzwilliam was doing the same to someone who was his own cousin. "But he was not expecting you to be married. Who would have expected that? Very well. It does not signify. Welcome to the family, good man! As the only remaining male, I must take care of this sort of thing. It is my duty, you could say. Welcome! I am happy to admit another man into our family circle." He held out his hand.
Caroline rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Oh, Charles! Do not sound so pathetic! You will outnumber us three to two, not be outnumbered ten to one. He is not anyone's saviour."
"But Hurst...he and I have never really got along as friends." They were merely connected through his sister. He had never quite known how to fathom the man.
"And you think it will be different with me," Richard said with a snicker. "I might be a good brother and a bad friend. Or the reverse." He did not sound more enamoured of one thing than of the other.
"But you like more than just eating and sports, do you not?" Bingley looked eagerly expectant of a positive answer. He liked some more things and frankly someone who only liked eating and sports was a little boring to be around, sometimes.
"He is a man, Charles." Caroline turned her head away haughtily to present a less vulnerable front to Richard.
"Eating, sports and ladies, Caroline."
"Ladies?" She turned her head back, suddenly interested. "Which ladies?"
"Only one, my dear," he said sweetly to preserve domestic peace.
"Why do you call her that?" Louisa cried down the stairs. She had just finished her toilette and had thought she would join the rest for breakfast, but now she stumbled across some very interesting talk that would delay her. Why was Colonel Fitzwilliam calling Caroline his dear?
He smiled at her as innocently as he could. "Because she is. Good morning, Mrs Hurst. I trust you had a pleasant night?" To that he added a little smirk.
Surprisingly, there was a flash of something across Louisa's countenance, but it disappeared very quickly. "Yes, thank you, Colonel, but you did not answer my question."
"What was your question?" he asked politely, knowing he was annoying.
"Why you called her my dear."
"It was meant sarcastically. Could you not hear that in my voice?"
"Yes, I could hear that and that is what I am objecting to. Could you be a cad, Colonel?"
"Tied down and tamed, Madam." Richard bowed. He thought he might enjoy this.
Louisa stared at him. She stared at Caroline. She could not believe what she was thinking, yet there was only one thing she could be thinking. "You are married. Oh dear." There was no other way to tame a man, even if it had not really worked with Hurst.
"That is what I said. My dear." He was all politeness. "But she is female, so there is nothing to worry about."
Louisa was still staring, her hands clasped to her bosom. "Married. You went away to get married." She clearly could not grasp it yet. Caroline? Married? To the Colonel here? How and where had they met? Surely that was a prerequisite for getting married.
"I went away and accidentally got married." To Caroline there was a difference, a rather big one. She had not intended to get married when she had left, not even when she returned. It was Richard's parents and Lady Catherine who had made that decision for them, or at least prodded them to make it.
Her sister thought instantly of what she had missed. "But your preparations! They cannot have been sufficient. What did you wear? Where did you buy it? Who were there?" It was unthinkable that her sister should have wed in front of acquaintances and not relatives.
"It was a small affair," Caroline assured her. "Very small. It was private."
"Yet I..." Louisa was too overcome by the affront of not having been invited. She belonged to Caroline's private circle and she should have been there.
"It happened before we could realise we had not invited you." Richard's assistance was rather ludicrous, but at least it was some form of help.
"I refuse to believe that. My sister would not accept a man instantly, forgetting all the rest." She sounded as if she accused him of letting that happen -- if it were true in the first place.
"I cannot sketch a more believable picture than that," he said regretfully. "It has never been my intention to exclude you from our life and indeed having met Mr Hurst we realised it would be well-nigh impossible to attempt it."
"What," said Louisa ominously, "has Mr Hurst got to do with it? Was he present?"
"Oh Lou, how silly you are!" cried Caroline. "You would have missed him. How can you say such a thing?" She did not suppose Hurst could leave without Louisa knowing it.
Mr Hurst came out of the breakfast parlour., obviously drawn out by voices he recognised. "I can hear you screaming inside, Louisa. Is there really any need to make such a racket at this hour? All they did was get married. We ought to be grateful to the Colonel for taking the girl off our hands."
"The girl!" Caroline spluttered.
Mr Hurst took his wife by the hand and led her away. Obviously he wished to talk some sense into her, or perhaps he took her away for another reason they could not fathom. He looked quite intent on something, at any rate.
"We have had them all," said Richard. "The secret is completely out. I think that without there being any danger to our reputation, I could safely place kisses on places other than your hands. What do you think?" He was a quick thinker and always ready to combine the practical and the pleasurable. He looked smug in anticipation.
"Do you mean here?"
"No, here." Richard kissed her.
"Oh. There."
"Yes, unless you do not want to?" He raised his eyebrows, but changed his expression to a pout. It usually had some effect on Caroline, he had discovered. Any effect was good, even a scolding.
"Yes, I want to -- there. But maybe not here." She looked hesitant. "It is a bit draughty."
"Surely when you are with me you stop feeling everything else?" Richard tried mischievously.
"Almost." She pushed him out of the draught, straight into the way of any people coming down the stairs.
The only person who could still come downstairs was Elizabeth and naturally she did while they were still standing there. "Pardon me," said an audibly embarrassed person.
"Oh, are we in the way?" Richard inquired in concern. He seemed less worried at being found engaging in a particular activity that one should not be engaging in at the foot of the stairs in someone else's house, even if it was the house of one's brother.
"Only slightly, but I think I can pass." Elizabeth averted her eyes as she passed them, a deep blush colouring her cheeks.
Chapter Thirty-nine
There was a hesitant knock on the door. She could tell it was not her aunt, who would have knocked harder and more insistently if she knocked at all. Whoever it was, Georgiana did not feel inclined to answer.
The knock was repeated. However hesitant, the person on the other side of the door did not seem keen on giving up. Still Georgiana did not answer, but it was harder to ignore something twice.
After the third knock, the person did not wait any longer, but she entered. It was Anne. "Mother thinks you might like to come out with me in my phaeton and ponies," she said, sounding certain that Georgiana would refuse.
Georgiana had always liked it. Being married now, however, she was not sure she ought to like it still. It was something for girls. Had she ever seen a married woman go out in a phaeton? She postponed answering by looking out onto the grey and gloomy park. Married women would not be doing such a thing. Consequently she should refuse.
"I thought you would not," Anne ventured uncomfortably when her cousin remained silent and her mouth set in a rather firm manner. She did not yet know the reason for her cousin's refusal. Perhaps it was the weather. "But mother said..."
"And you do everything Mother says." That was spoken with a small degree of contempt.
"Mother said the weather will clear up." Anne sounded unconvinced of that as well. She straightened her back nevertheless. She did not do everything her mother said. That was not true -- and what if it was? Was it so reprehensible to do what her mother said if her mother was right? Georgiana, she supposed, would do the opposite, even if it was stupid -- such as marry Wickham. Anne had picked up bits and pieces of that, when people had assumed she was not listening.
"I think not. Why does she want you to go out in this weather?"
"It is fresh outside." She became impatient. "If you are not coming, mother will have something for you to read." She had also gathered that the marriage to Wickham was a bad thing, something that had to be balanced by reading many moralistic texts.
Georgiana was amazed. "Are you threatening me?"
"No, I am simply warning you." Anne enjoyed being a wicked girl for once. She was always far too good. Georgiana was making it very easy for her, though. She was very predictable. "Mother has a book of sermons."
"That is very nice for her, but how does it affect me?" Georgiana stared out of the window again.
"She will read from it to you." Anne thought she was very clever. She had no way of knowing if her mother would really read to Georgiana, but she supposed that no one could escape the words if they were read to her, as opposed to being left to read at one's own leisure. Very little reading happened in such a case. She could testify to that herself. Perhaps she was not a good girl then.
"As a punishment for not wanting to go with you?" The fact that she had no choice made Georgiana angry. She would have to pick the lesser of the two evils, knowing that Lady Catherine would certainly stay true to her word and read for hours on end.
"Perhaps if you are like that I do not even want you to come," Anne decided. It was oddly exciting to be clever and in control like this. "No, I do not want you to." She raised her nose the way Georgiana had seemed to do earlier.
Anne left the room and went to her mother, for that was still an inevitable thing to do, even if she was in control. "I will not take Georgiana, Mother." She breathed a little easier once that message was delivered.
Lady Catherine was stunned. She had never heard her Anne speak like that. She would not take Georgiana. Even if it had been said very softly, there was no mistaking her seriousness. The girl stood firm. "Anne!" she exclaimed, for once at a loss.
"Mother, I do not like her," Anne confessed with a blush. "I fear she might turn me into a wicked girl." Her mother did not like wicked girls. This fear ought to have some effect on her.
Her Anne turning wicked was something Lady Catherine did not want and the development under Georgiana's influence was plausible enough for her not to dismiss her daughter's words. "Did she say she would?" Her Anne would never be allowed to be a wicked girl.
"No, but she was unkind and I felt great enjoyment in saying you would read sermons to her if she did not come. That is wicked." She looked appalled at herself, but also a little proud.
"Indeed Anne, it is. However, it is permissible wickedness," she said after a brief pause. It was no true wickedness. It was strategic manipulating. Bless Anne that she thought it was wicked, but also bless Anne that she showed this trait and that she finally resembled her mother in some way. "Do not be too concerned about it. If you do not want to take her, you must go alone with Mrs Jenkinson, as always."
"Yes, Mother." Anne hesitated. "What will you do?" She was curious about that. She wondered if her mother would now speak to Georgiana, or if she was simply going to increase the reading load.
"I shall have a word with her." Lady Catherine was determined to make it clear to Georgiana one last time -- the girl had to behave or she was on her own. She would not allow Georgiana to corrupt Anne.
Georgiana had but one option and that was to listen to her aunt. She sat down unenthusiastically when she was summoned.
"Anne told me she did not want to take you with her," Lady Catherine began. She was interested in hearing what her niece would say to that.
"I did not want to come, so it was not a very grave situation." Georgiana pretended it was nothing, although she had felt uncommonly abused by her cousin. It was not Anne's role to slight her. Anne ought to be accommodating and compliant, as always.
"Indeed. Do you look down on your cousin?"
"Although there is not much difference in our ages, there is an all the more significant difference in our situations in life," Georgiana said pedantically. "Which makes it difficult for us to be good friends. It is a matter of experience and interests."
Lady Catherine nearly gasped for breath. "The extent of your experience is not something to be proud of. I should not wish it for Anne. In fact, what is to blame for your situation is your lack of experience, not your having so much of it."
Elizabeth entered the breakfast room in a state of confusion. In it she found her mother and Jane, discussing something at one end with no attention for their surroundings, and Darcy and Bingley at the other end, softly conferring while looking out of the windows. Which duo was she to join and to share her recent experience with? Neither seemed aware of her entrance and yet she was brimming with news. It was perhaps not the sort of news to share with either group -- Darcy would frown and her mother would immediately repeat it in a loud voice, whereupon Darcy would still frown.
The breakfast table was set and she sat down, having nothing else to do. She observed the boiled eggs that lay waiting. It was not polite to start already, but where were the others? Were they all waiting for Mr and Mrs Hurst and Miss Bingley and the Colonel? In the case of the latter two, they might have to wait for a very long time. The couple had not seemed intent on separating any time soon. Elizabeth bit her lip and stifled an embarrassed giggle despite her attempt at composure.
"Is there anything amusing?" asked a voice right behind her.
She gasped. She had not heard Darcy approach at all. "N-N-No, sir. I was merely reflecting on something I saw when I was coming down the stairs."
"Which was amusing," he deduced.
"No, not really." There were other words for what she had seen. Yet if she spoke them, they would know to what she was referring.
"But it sounded very much like a giggle."
"Indeed." She coloured in despair when he sat down beside her, obviously intent on finding out what had been amusing to her. Bingley sat down on her other side -- she was stuck. How could she mention Miss Bingley's behaviour in front of her brother? "But giggles, well, they are multifunctional."
"They are? I cannot say that I giggle -- at all."
"You chuckle," Bingley offered. "Which is perhaps the male variant of a giggle."
"Thank you, Bingley."
"You may giggle for various reasons," Elizabeth resumed after this interruption. "Does that not apply to chuckles? If you saw something to which you would not immediately know how to react, what would you do?"
"I would prolong my observation," said Darcy.
Elizabeth gasped and again a small giggle escaped her lips. She imagined a prolonged observation of the couple. That would not do at all, not even thinking about it. "But what if such a thing is impossible? No prolonged observation?"
"Why would it be impossible?"
"Because it would make me giggle." And that would be a very improper giggle indeed.
"Giggle, while it was still not amusing?" Darcy tried to fathom what she was talking about. "Please, Miss Bennet. Could you be a little more specific?"
"Oh, I cannot."
"Then how might I know if I would chuckle at the sight?"
"I do not specifically want to know what you would do. You began by asking me if I was amused. I did not particularly wish to know your opinion." She thought for a second. "I apologise if that sounds rude."
"That is true," Darcy conceded. "But you have made me curious now."
"I know what it is!" Bingley exclaimed after a few moments of reflection. "Remember that I have just passed through the hall myself. I know what I left behind." Or rather, which people he had left behind.
Elizabeth turned towards him. She clasped her hands to her mouth. "Was it going on already at that point?" That would be very shocking indeed. It would be several minutes then.
"My guess it that it has been going on for several weeks at least."
She frowned. "Are we talking about the same thing?"
"The same people, surely? I left four of them there, although two of those seemed to leave at the same time in another direction. I did not look back to make sure."
"I saw two." She stared at him. If he knew which two, then it followed he was aware of the friendly contact between them and Bingley did not appear shocked at all. What was the matter here? One was his sister. She would have expected him to have a private interview with the Colonel, demanding an explanation. That was something a brother was supposed to do. They had no parents. Even her mother would have interrogated the Colonel, had it been one of her daughters in such a situation. She might secretly be thrilled, but she would not let it pass.
Darcy looked from one to the other. He did not know which people they were talking about. At least, he could not be sure. There were four people missing from the room. He supposed those were the four under discussion. Two of them had made Elizabeth giggle, but not in amusement. That was very curious indeed.
"I suppose we are thinking of the same two," said Bingley. "Is it not marvellous?" He had rather liked finding out about his new brother.
"That we are thinking of the same two?" Elizabeth asked cautiously. "Or what they were doing?"
Darcy shifted in his chair. So now it was established that the unmentionable thing had been an activity. That helped him along a bit -- only a bit.
"I do not know what they were doing," Bingley replied.
That confused Elizabeth. "But you said it has been going on for several weeks." And that could not be, because they had arrived separately the day before, so there had to have been at least one interruption.
"Related things, I suppose." He cast a look at his friend and grinned. He was not as clueless as Darcy in these matters. Those clever fellows always caught on to this quite late -- ironically, because they were quite quick with other things.
"Perhaps you should not elaborate," Elizabeth said with a blush. "For I do not know what you mean and I think I do not want to know."
Bingley wondered if Miss Elizabeth was clever. He had never really paid attention.
Chapter Forty
Elizabeth settled for being confused about it all. She had a strange sensation of perhaps not being fully awake, but her family had given her ample experience with situations that were not believable at first sight and so she merely folded her hands and looked at the table. They could not start eating yet, for not everyone was already present, but looking at the food would be better than wondering about the people around her.
Bingley, as master of the house, felt permitted to pour some tea for the ladies, even if only one had so far sat down. "Drinking is not eating and no great evil, I think -- and it is my sisters who are remiss. I cannot offend them." They were his sisters. Things were much easier between siblings.
"You can, but you do not care," Elizabeth corrected with a smile. Her experience was different.
Darcy was all for beginning. He was hungry and eyed the door impatiently.
"Mrs Bennet, would you like to join us for breakfast?" Bingley asked strategically. The invitation would end her conversation with Jane for sure and they would sit down. The large number of available empty seats would ensure that Jane sat close to him and not at the other end of the table. If he waited, other people might sit down in between.
"I have already -- I should love to." She sat down as soon as she had begun to speak. "I am sure your breakfasts are quite exquisite, Mr Bingley."
He did not know whether they were. His guests seemed to like them, though. "Darcy is very fond of them."
Mrs Bennet nodded. Darcy's approval was not a recommendation to her. She was not sure she liked the man. "Young men in the prime of their lives are generally fond of them."
Conversation was again at a stopping point. Neither Jane and Elizabeth, nor the young men knew what to reply. For a few moments everyone was silent as Bingley filled tea cups all around. He at least could do something practical.
They were distracted by the return of Hurst, this time accompanied by his wife. They sat down as if nothing had happened. Louisa only looked surprised to see Mrs Bennet, but she did not ask any questions.
Finally the couple entered that most people were thinking of in one way or another. "Good morning," Caroline said brightly. "Have we kept you waiting?" A quick glance had revealed that all seats were taken but two and that everyone was already there.
"I figured Fitzwilliam would not mind if we had tea already while we waited for you," said Bingley, a little fearful of his new brother nevertheless. He thought he was rather good at reading characters, but one could never be certain after such a short acquaintance. He did not think it was terribly insulting to have poured tea already.
"It would never occur to me to complain," Richard said politely. He observed that the only remaining seats were opposite each other at the far end of the table. One was next to Hurst. He wondered if he could be that cruel. Well, he could, but would he? Hurst deserved it. Or would he be punished more by being opposite Caroline?
Surprisingly, the lady herself had an opinion on the matter. It was all too easy to forget that sometimes they did not think alike and that sometimes a consultation was necessary. Caroline wanted to sit down next to Hurst in order to better converse with her sister across from her. This left Richard no other option than to sit next to Mrs Hurst, after he had pulled out Caroline's chair for her. He was a gentleman after all.
Elizabeth thought this was the least he could do to salvage his reputation. She still did not really understand their relationship. They seemed to get along better than established couples such as the Hursts or even her parents, even if they ought not to be linked. She tried not to look at them too much, or else Darcy would undoubtedly question her again. He appeared to study her every move.
Now that breakfast was underway -- Bingley having given the go-ahead at last -- people were initially too occupied to speak. The eggs were of greater importance.
"Mr Bingley, Mr Bennet has some new books he would like you to see," said Mrs Bennet all of a sudden.
People were surprised, Bingley most of all. He always claimed not to have the patience required to finish a book. He read the first page, the last page and then put it aside. "Does he not mean Darcy?" he asked tentatively. "Darcy likes books." Darcy was the reader of the two. Of course if Mr Bennet insisted he would go there, but he was certain there was a mistake.
"You may bring him if you like."
Elizabeth felt embarrassed by her mother's magnanimous offer, about which her father in all likeliness knew nothing. She wished Miss Bingley would misbehave and distract everyone.
Caroline, however, conducted herself with all the grace and impeccable manners of a confident woman, safely and respectably married to a decent gentleman she could be proud of. She would not draw attention to herself -- except Richard's.
He felt a foot touch him under the table and he looked up. There was nothing amiss as far as he could tell, so he smiled. He did not need a reason for that.
"I take it Charles will have to do without you now," said Louisa to Caroline. Reality had begun to sink in, thanks to Mr Hurst. He had been quite helpful in that respect, but it had taken a while for her to understand it fully. "How will the poor boy manage?"
"I never thought of Charles." One did not stay unmarried to take care of one's helpless brother. He was old enough to manage for himself, if he had ever paid any attention to how she had run things. "He could always ask Darcy's advice."
"Excuse me?" Darcy heard his name mentioned in connection to the word advice. He did not have a good reputation when it came to advising people, so he feared he was being mocked, especially because it was Caroline speaking. She could not always be trusted.
"You could advise Charles on how to run an estate, now that I shall no longer be able to do so." She spoke as if she had always run Netherfield for him.
Elizabeth wondered if Caroline was going to live elsewhere, such as at her sister's house. That made sense, given her apparent intimacy with Colonel Fitzwilliam, who would be living closer to Mrs Hurst than to Netherfield. They would be able to visit each other much more often then. She dared not ask any questions to that effect, for certainly her mother would catch on and run with it.
Anne sped her ponies around the park faster than she had ever done before. She enjoyed her new-found control. Mrs Jenkinson held on tight, a concerned expression on her face. "Miss De Bourgh!" she cautioned. "You are going a bit fast." She did not want to be too critical of Lady Catherine's daughter. It might work against her.
"Nonsense," Anne echoed something she had heard Lady Catherine say only that morning.
"It might be dangerous to go this fast." In fact, she was certain that it was dangerous. A phaeton was not built for this and neither were ponies or Anne.
"Carriages go faster. Is your bonnet still in place, Mrs Jenkinson?" The wind tugged at her own bonnet, but she dared not look aside for fear of driving into a ditch.
"Only just, Miss De Bourgh."
Georgiana was still feeling extremely sorry for herself. Everyone had lectured her, but no one had been kind. It made her look back on Caroline's first reaction to her in a more positive light, even though at the time she had been upset by it. At least Caroline had showed some kindness, but she had ruined that, had she not? She had insulted Caroline in return for that kindness and now it was unthinkable that Caroline would ever be kind to her again.
Still, she could try. Staying at Rosings would never bring a change to her situation. Lady Catherine would not suddenly develop kindness and understanding. The only thing she would develop was a new way to lecture her and to make her life miserable.
There was only one thing she could do. She did not know where Caroline had gone and she would not be told if she asked. Presumably Caroline had rejoined her brother at his estate -- Netherfield. She remembered the address, so it should not be too difficult to get there.
She had no money, but she was certain that her aunt had some lying around that she could borrow. Georgiana sat up straight, becoming enthusiastic about the idea of leaving -- but giving very little thought to Caroline's reception of her.
Quickly she packed her things, trying to do that unobtrusively so it would not be noticed by her aunt coming into the room without warning. While she was packing, she tried to decide on a good hour to leave. It would have to be in the morning, as there was then a greater chance of arriving before nightfall. That would make it tomorrow.
She could not pack too much, because she would have to carry it to the village herself, unless she got a servant to do it for her. But would she find one who did not immediately run to her aunt? Perhaps if she paid him -- again with her aunt's own money. She was not sure where Lady Catherine kept her money or if she had enough of it in the house. Perhaps the great lady relied on credit when she went shopping. Still, the servants would have to be paid and that money had to be kept somewhere.
After reflecting on the matter some more, it felt too risky to Georgiana to go about finding and stealing the money -- plus that it would essentially be stealing, although she knew Wickham would say it was justified. She might just as well try to bluff her aunt's coachman into driving her to Netherfield, pretending that Lady Catherine was in on the plan. He could never doubt or disobey Lady Catherine's niece if she came with an order, especially if she said she wished to visit her brother. That would sound very decent.
She waited until Lady Catherine had left to visit the poor of the village -- on foot, for her Ladyship wished to show some empathy with the less fortunate.
It proved to be remarkably easy to get away. She did not meet with any resistance or reluctance on the way. It did not occur to her that perhaps Lady Catherine had reckoned with this possibility and that she had instructed the servants to co-operate. In any case, Georgiana leant back in the carriage smugly as they left Rosings Park behind. She was gone.
Just outside the gates they were overtaken by a phaeton and ponies, but fortunately its driver needed all her attention to swerve into a country lane to the right. Georgiana peered after it in amazement. Was that Anne?
"Was that my mother?" Anne halted the ponies some way down the lane, looking over her shoulder anxiously in case they were being followed.
Mrs Jenkinson let out the breath she had been holding and tried to let her heart recover from the near-attack it had suffered. Especially that last turn had almost done her in. "Please do not drive like that ever again, Miss De Bourgh." She straightened her bonnet and coat. "The phaeton will overturn and send us flying." She would not even get fired for putting Miss De Bourgh in danger, because she would be dead.
"I panicked when I saw the carriage. I sped up by accident," Anne apologised. She had stuffed her bonnet in her coat, after all. It would not do to be seen like that, least of all by her mother. "Do you think that was my mother?" Her mother would have a fit. She would order the carriage to turn around in order to chase her daughter to demand an explanation for that reckless action and then she would lock her up for life. "It was our carriage."
"I did not have time to notice," Mrs Jenkinson said shakily.
"It was our carriage, but perhaps it was not Mother." Anne was still looking over her shoulder. "The only phaeton in the neighbourhood is mine. She would have known it was me if it had been her. And she would have come after me. And no one came. Ergo..." she said slowly.
Mrs Jenkinson was not yet recovered enough to finish that thought. She was only wondering what had got into her charge so suddenly. The frightened and timid girl now drove like a careless rake. And where was her bonnet?
"But if it was not Mother, who was it? What were Mother's plans this morning?"
"Er..." Mrs Jenkinson remembered that she knew. Lady Catherine had told her. "She was going to visit the poor."
"It has to be Georgiana. Where is she off to? She did not tell us she was leaving." Anne looked thoughtful.
To be truthful, Mrs Jenkinson would only be glad for that. She began to think that Georgiana was the reason that Miss De Bourgh was behaving out of character. With Georgiana removed, Miss De Bourgh would return to her quiet and tractable self.
Chapter Forty-one
After breakfast Darcy finally had the opportunity to question his cousin. "Is there any news on Georgiana?"
Colonel Fitzwilliam had been waiting for this question and therefore he was prepared when it finally came. "She was in good health when I last saw her."
"When was that?" Darcy, with his personal experience of good physical health and bad mental health, could not accept his cousin's words without reservations.
"We left her at Rosings, which we had visited to inform Aunt Catherine of our marriage," said Richard, subtly changing the topic ever so slightly.
"You informed Aunt Catherine first?" Darcy felt he had been treated abominably ill to be informed of this only after seemingly everyone else had been told. "Was our constant intimacy not a good reason to come here first, not to mention my being the guest of your wife's nearest relative? Should telling her brother not have been her priority? And what about asking his permission?"
"You will get over the slight -- Lady Catherine never would." Richard felt proud of himself for having come up with this spontaneous gem of wisdom and insight into the characters of his relatives. And equally wisely he ignored Darcy's ludicrous notion of asking Bingley for permission to marry Caroline. The lady herself did not think they required her brother's opinion, save in retrospect.
Darcy was reluctant to acknowledge the truth in those words. "Hmph. And you saw Georgiana there?" Despite Fitzwilliam's efforts, he returned to the topic.
"I did."
"What was she doing there? And was Wickham there too?" He spat out the name.
"I suppose she was paying her respects to our aunt. I cannot pretend to know what business ladies have with one another. Wickham was not there. I do not know where he is. He was sent off to France and Spain." That was something that Darcy might have come to hear about already. Perhaps Lady Catherine had communicated this to him.
Darcy's face took on a hopeful expression. "Dear God! Let him be killed!"
Richard felt he had to be the voice of reason, or if that was too much to ask, at least the voice of sanity. "You know as well as I do that such a thing never happens to people who deserve it."
"You must admit that there is a greater chance of that happening abroad than here!" Darcy folded his hands together as if he was going to pray for it that instant.
"Why, does the Lord favour France over us?" Richard thought Darcy looked ridiculous with his hands folded and his eyes on the ceiling. The only miracle that would happen was his not laughing at Darcy. It would be a major miracle indeed if he pulled it off.
Darcy was not in the mood for jokes. He ignored that question. "And she was well, you said?"
"As well as a rebellious brat of a girl can be," Richard replied. "We all still hate her and her darling George. There has not yet been any reason for her to think or behave differently, she believes, but I have good hopes that some exposure to Lady Catherine will change her outlook on life."
After Mrs Bennet had taken her daughters home, life at Netherfield resumed its course. Caroline had automatically taken up her old duties again before her husband could remind her that she was now a guest in this house. When he finally found her, she was instructing the housekeeper. He feigned his best neglected husband pout and stood waiting until she would finish. Perhaps, he reflected, they could leave again soon now that the family had been informed, so they could have some time to themselves. The Georgiana issue was no longer their responsibility either, now that she was at Rosings.
Darcy, in his chambers, was contemplating a painting with a ferocity not usually felt while looking at a work of art. It was as if he wished that the ship depicted would capsize and sink, taking all of its crew and passengers with it to the deep and desolate bottoms of the sea -- naturally in such a scenario one of the passengers would be Wickham.
Perhaps Wickham could even be devoured by a giant sea monster. He imagined a huge octopus wrapping its tentacles around the body -- did it have teeth? It should have, to increase the torture.
Whatever sense of reality he might have lost, Darcy had not lost his natural curiosity and desire for perfection and knowledge. This question had to be researched. He would not rest until he knew, otherwise the matter would trouble him all day.
He went to the library. All answers could be found there.
"If you tell Louisa I am here, I shall tell everyone what you are doing here," Hurst warned Darcy from one of the comfortable sofas on which he was lying. He had observed Darcy frantic climbing and leafing with mounting interest during the past few minutes.
"I beg your pardon?" Darcy, in his preoccupation, had not even noticed that there was someone in the room with him. He now looked up in confusion at the sound of Hurst's voice. He indeed discerned a figure stretched out by the window.
"Your search is futile. Bingley does not own such volumes as you are seeking." Random shots with hidden implications and insinuations were Hurst's preferred method. Quite often people began to defend themselves and revealed what they had been trying to keep a secret.
"I beg your pardon?" Darcy repeated. "I do not know what you are speaking of."
"You are not likely to find what you are looking for." Hurst folded his arms behind his head, taking up a more interested position.
"How would you know? You do not even know what I am looking for." There was a tiny doubt in Darcy's mind, but he dismissed it as silly.
Hurst raised his eyebrows in an infuriating manner and then yawned. "Do I not?"
Darcy began to be a little annoyed. "No, you do not." He spoke loudly to convince himself of it as well.
"Honestly, what could a man be looking for in such a feverish manner? You forget that I have quite some experience in lying hidden in libraries. I know what people are looking for."
"Whomever you have been spying on, I assure you I am not looking for the same things. I cannot imagine it."
"Indeed? Your imagination, while not wild, is not infertile. You are capable of more than you think. There is a logical problem in that comment," he mused. "I shall pursue it during my next nap. Anyway..."
"Anyway you are wrong." Darcy climbed down the ladder. "You cannot know what I was looking for, because it is something no other person would be able to guess." He faced Hurst with a straight back and unblinking eyes. "I was looking up the anatomy of the octopus."
"That is an apt word for them," Hurst said appreciatively. "I knew I was correct in my estimation of your imagination -- and your perception. Well done!"
Darcy stiffened. "I do not know to what you are referring, but I highly doubt that you are speaking of the same thing I was looking for."
"Do not imagine yourself to be the only man who has ever looked up octopuses." Hurst chuckled.
"Why are you giving the word such emphasis?" There was a joke being played out over his head, he felt, but he did not know what it was. It was annoying.
"Was I? Perhaps you imagined that." He chuckled again.
Darcy gave up his search.
Colonel and Mrs Fitzwilliam had considered it polite to stay another night, but not more than one. After a day during which they had seen very little of anyone except Louisa, they did not think they would be sorely missed if they returned home the next day. They were about to announce this intention, or rather, Richard was, when the footman announced a visitor. "Mrs Wickham to see Mrs Fitzwilliam, Madam. She wished to be shown into the back room."
"Oh," said Bingley.
"Georgiana?" Darcy jumped up. "I want to see her."
Caroline stood up. "I am not staying another night," she hissed at Richard. "Whatever happens. Darcy, I think you should stay here. She did not ask for you."
"But I am her brother." He spoke authoritatively.
"Perhaps you should have dropped that attitude long ago," Caroline said sharply, foreseeing how a meeting might go. He should have realised by now that such behaviour did not work on Georgiana and his notions of what a brother should do had partly got the girl into this situation.
The implications were clear and Darcy fell back on his seat with a dull thud as if someone had pushed him. He had failed his sister by being a brother. Thoughts jumbled through his mind and he gaped dumbly.
Richard wondered if Caroline should have been more tactful. Her words had quite an impact on Darcy, though it was possible that anything might, sensitive as he was about this matter.
Caroline found Georgiana pacing the back parlour. "Georgiana! Why did you leave Rosings?" She would have expected more of Lady Catherine and Uncle Percy. It was hard to imagine that they had let Georgiana go. Perhaps they were unaware of it.
"Because you were the only one who was kind to me!" Georgiana looked about to throw herself into Caroline's arms.
Caroline took a step back. She was not fond of such emotional distress. Her usual reaction was to become sarcastic, but usually it was not effective. "Kind to you? My dear girl, do you think you allowed anyone to be kind to you?" Perhaps she had mellowed somewhat since her marriage, for it did not come out the way she had expected.
"No! But I should have!"
It was better to realise such a thing belatedly than never at all. Caroline remained wary, however, and she was not prepared to hug. "Sit down." Where was Richard when he was needed? She did not want to handle this all by herself. Why should she succeed where everyone else had failed? Besides, she was hardly a compassionate soul.
"Do not imitate Aunt Catherine!"
"Perhaps she was imitating me. Please tell me what you are doing here. Sit down."
This time Georgiana obeyed. "I came to see you."
"What for?"
"I need to know what to do now."
"And I know this?" Perhaps she did, in some rational and tactless way, but she wanted Richard here. "I..." The door opened. "Oh there you are!" How had he known? Because he was wonderful, no doubt. She smiled at him happily because he had come.
Chapter Forty-Two
Richard entered the room, but he did not speak a word. Caroline was not unsettled by that, but Georgiana was. She gave him some uncertain glances, trying to determine what his purpose was. Why had he come? No one came in just to sit quietly. Caroline, she noticed, did not seem concerned, but rather the opposite. Georgiana really disliked missing out on unspoken communication. It was frightening to bystanders that they sensed something went on between the two when at the same time it did not. She stamped her foot in frustration, wanting to be let in on the secret.
"You are not waiting for us to speak. We are waiting for you," Caroline said in a calm voice. "There is really no need for you to become impatient. Tell us why you came."
"I want to speak to you. I do not necessarily wish to speak to Richard." His silence unnerved her. She was certain he would speak up critically the moment she opened her mouth, however. There was no kindness in his eyes when he looked at her, contrary to when he looked at Caroline. The difference was very obvious. He would be harsh.
"You have no choice. Speak to both of us or not at all."
Georgiana shuffled her feet and twisted her hands uncomfortably. "I...cannot. It concerns women's things."
"He is married to one." Caroline did not take the mention of women's things for an excuse. It could hardly be a private matter, for the girl had come all this way. Anything related to her personal health could have been dealt with at Rosings, where female members of the family were at hand. This was merely an attempt to remove Richard from the room, but he was not to be removed. Or at least not without her. She went where he went and at the moment that was nowhere but here.
Georgiana coloured when her argument was so easily dismissed. "Do you want me to divulge what those things are precisely?" she asked in a voice constricted by embarrassment or anger.
Caroline, who did not think there was anything to be divulged, shrugged indifferently. "Please do. I recall that you had no consideration for any sensitivity on my side with regard to delicate subjects in France. Why should you have it now? Why should you assume that I have changed?"
"I cannot speak of it." Georgiana turned away.
"Then you are on your own." Caroline waited for her to turn back. "And I do not presume that is why you came, to be on your own." She was most certainly not on her own herself. A glance at Richard revealed that. He held out his hand and she grasped it briefly.
That unnerved Georgiana even more. She was jealous of such a gesture, small though it was. It was unfair that they should have this bond that obviously excluded her. She did not want to be excluded. Always, as the only child in the household, had she felt excluded from everything until George had come along. For while she had felt very grown-up and valued, but she was beginning to realise that perhaps George had not included her in as much of his life as she would wish. In fact, in which aspects had she been included? She did not know where he was. She did not know what his plans were. She had been satisfied with him telling her he loved her more than anything, but she should let him handle the difficult things. She had been listening more to the former message and not well enough to the latter. What a trap.
Would Richard tell Caroline he loved her? Would he then tell her she should let him handle things? The answer seemed very clear. He would not. He was not handling anything. Caroline was, but what was more important, he was aware of what she was doing. She was not keeping him in the dark.
No, Georgiana had not come to be on her own. She had been on her own often enough. "No," she said slowly and so quietly that it could barely be overheard. "I do not want to be on my own." Her shoulders began to shake as if she was crying.
Richard grasped Caroline by her gown to hold her back and shook his head. He did not trust this. Whenever his cousin had cried, she had done so differently. He wanted to be certain that this grief was genuine and that any remorse or insight were equally real.
"You probably think I am foolish," Georgiana sniffled.
There was no escaping that thought, Richard said to himself. He did not allow himself to be tempted into denying it to comfort the girl. She had been foolish and it remained to be seen if she had improved. If only she listened to people. That might make up for her lack of serious introspection and reflection.
Caroline wrinkled her nose at her husband. Should they let the girl come to her senses all by herself? Obviously Richard seemed to think that was best, but she was not sure that a little interaction would not have a better result. Sniffling was not good for anything.
Richard wrinkled his nose back. Yes, he quite understood her point of view. It was not so different from his own. "Well," he said finally, breaking the silence he had been preserving up till then.
"Well what?" Georgiana asked immediately.
"Perhaps it would do you good to remember that I am your senior -- that we are your seniors."
"I have been aware of that all my life," was the bitter reply. She had always been by far the youngest in the family, not counting Anne -- but who ever counted Anne?
"Not everything we say is bad by virtue of our seniority. Not everything we do should be avoided."
"Not everything you do should be imitated either."
"Well..." he tried humorously. "But no, I do allow for differences of disposition and temper. Not everyone is the same. What works out well for me does not necessarily work out well for someone else. Now, if I eloped with Wickham..."
Georgiana stamped her foot again. "Do not call it eloped," she hissed in annoyance.
"I am sorry. It was a perfectly open and validated courtship, naturally."
"Validated?"
"Which had received the blessing and support of your guardians and other family. You openly discussed with them what to do. You asked them for advice in matters you were not sure of. You tapped their greater experience before making important decisions."
"Your experience! A bachelor. What could you know of love?"
"Ask Caroline," he winked. "But to answer your question properly, I knew enough about love not to throw myself away on the first actress who claimed to love me."
"Actress?" Caroline said questioningly. Had he associated with actresses and the like? That was not very proper.
"A person who acts. Not necessarily in a theatre. One might put on an act in life as well, for various purposes." His words were now directed at Caroline, not Georgiana. "I have some money. I come from a respectable family. There have been ladies, young and old, who had some interest in me. But..." Here he turned back to Georgiana. "I was not fooled. Suddenly there is a person who claims to adore you, but once the feeling of being flattered wears off, you realise that is in fact all she has ever said to you. Nothing else. Not the slightest interest in your affairs other than the financial."
Georgiana was silent. She tried to remember what else George had said to her.
"Mad declarations of love," he continued. "Rather ridiculous if you analyse them."
"Perhaps other people do not analyse declarations of love," Caroline interrupted cautiously with a smile.
"They should. It would save them and their relatives a lot of trouble."
"Dispense with declarations altogether then."
"Why, no. They are useful and pleasant under certain circumstances."
"When the lady has been put to the test?" she inquired.
"Or the gentleman, whatever the case may be. Both need to be put to the test."
"I suppose you mean by the lady's male relatives," Georgiana said with a contemptuous nod. "Because they are better qualified to make a decision than the lady herself."
"In your case, yes. In Caroline's, no." He grinned. Bingley was the only man to contend with there and Bingley was easy. Perhaps there were uncles of sorts, but Caroline had not yet mentioned them. That meant they were unimportant.
"Because it concerns yourself, no doubt."
"In both cases it does, coincidentally, as gentleman and relative, which is why I feel qualified to have an opinion on both matters."
"You always feel qualified to have an opinion."
"True. Why should a sensible man not be qualified to think?" Richard raised his eyebrows inquiringly. He was a sensible man. His wife had told him so a few days ago and as a sensible man he listened to his wife.
Georgiana did not reply to that. She realised she would lose any battle. "All right. I admit that I may have made a mistake," she said tiredly. "Perhaps I ought not to have allowed myself to agree to...to...whatever happened. You would not rest before I said that. Perhaps I ought to have waited."
They were finally making some progress. Caroline sank down on the couch beside Richard. Perhaps they would be able to resolve this soon now. "That is all behind us. Now you will have to decide on how to move forward. You cannot remain like this. You will have to accept the possibility that he is not coming back."
The girl's lip trembled. "B-B-But if that is the case, he lied to me." She had been fearing that before, of course, but she had never wanted to consider it a real possibility.
Lying was by no means uncharacteristic to Wickham, Richard thought. "He has lied before."
"To you?"
"To everyone. You have heard that before, I am sure." In fact, he might have told her that himself as well.
"Yes, but I thought it was a lie because people did not like him."
"I am pleased to hear some of our words got through to you," Richard remarked. He did not really know how to move on from here and he looked at Caroline. Perhaps she had some idea. They could not take too long, because there was the impatient Darcy to reckon with as well. He was too eager to see his sister.
Chapter Forty-three
"There are several options," Caroline began. "One -- you may continue this way. Live in the house he had, if he had one, wait forever without money and without information about his whereabouts." She waited a few moments to let this sink in. Surely even Georgiana had to realise that this was not a desirable option. It would mean she would become dependent on charity alone, for it was too much to expect Wickham to provide for his young wife from a distance. "You cannot remarry because he is not dead. In fact, you cannot do anything because he is not dead."
"I do not want to remarry," said Georgiana.
"That is good. You would have frightened us if you had said otherwise." She should be wary of it now, not eager to give married life another try. "Two -- you may live on as if he is dead. He might not be and he might surprise you one day, assuming he can find you. If you were nobody, this might work, but for Georgiana Darcy this is not a good option. Too many people knew you got married, even if your brother tried to be discreet about this. There is too much potential for trouble and scandal in this option."
Georgiana did not react to this one. She realised it was true what Caroline was saying.
Caroline continued when she did not get any response. "Then there is the third option. You could have your marriage annulled by the Archbishop and you would be free." Caroline hoped that this sounded like the most attractive option to the girl. "I believe he offered you this help." Lady Catherine and Uncle Percy would see to it that this was brought to a satisfying conclusion.
He had. Georgiana had not wanted to consider it then. She was looking at it from a different perspective now, however. "But what if he returned and it turned out he had spoken the truth to me all along?" She did not want to condemn anyone before she had absolute proof.
Richard sighed. "Georgiana, he did not inform you of anything. He kept you in the dark. You do not know where he is. You do not know if or when he might be back. Does that sound like a man who cares about you deeply? The thought that you might wonder where he is does not even enter his mind and even if it does, he does not care to put your mind at ease. He does not care how you will survive during his absence. He gave you no money, no information. Does that sound as if he has been taking his marital duties seriously at all?"
Georgiana's lip trembled. "No," she said very softly. "Would you?"
"Would I what?"
"Would you tell Caroline everything if you left?" She thought she might be asking a stupid question.
"I would not even go," he said decidedly. "Not without her. I could not go and not worry if she was all right, even if I had provided for her to the best of my abilities." That was easy to say for him. Caroline was the type who would decide to go with him. He would not even be in the position to worry.
There was still some bitter rebellion left in Georgiana. "I suppose you think men should all be like you."
"I know they cannot." For the simple reason that not all women were like Caroline.
"Excuse me," Caroline spoke up. "We are not discussing Richard's virtues, but we were discussing Wickham's vices. I expect there to be many variations of men in between. And honestly, I could quite possibly let him go without speaking up or asking anything and then he might indeed go without informing me of what he was going to do. He should tell you, but you should ask. If he does not answer you, only then may you say he was at fault. I could not imagine not asking. I could not imagine being satisfied with no answer."
Georgiana bent her head. She had not always asked questions, believing that it was not her place to ask them. Caroline condemned that. Caroline condemned her as well. "How was I to know?" How was she to know she should have asked questions? Nobody had ever told her that.
"Do not be stupid. Make your choice. We gave you the three options. Perhaps you see more of them, but think about them carefully and think about the consequences. How would you want to live, for instance? You will be dependent whatever choice you make, But I expect that after one choice you may live with Lady Catherine, while after another choice you will live among the poor," Caroline said rather dramatically. She did not really know what happened to such women. They were not really spoken of in her circles, except in vague and hushed whispers. "Personally I do not feel inclined to lend a helping hand anymore if you choose an unwise option." She wondered what Richard would say to that. He was Georgiana's cousin, after all, and he might find it unthinkable to leave Georgiana to her own devices. She looked at him, but his face betrayed nothing. "Well, I shall leave you to think now."
Richard followed her out of the room. "Would she know what you would consider an unwise option?" He hoped that it had become clear to Georgiana finally.
"There is no hope for her if she does not. I..." Caroline felt she had tensed up during the conversation with Georgiana. She turned sideways and wrapped herself around her husband to relax. "Mmmm. I hope you do not think I was being too unfeeling."
He stroked her back comfortingly. "You? Unfeeling?"
"I can be."
"If you were, you would not have spoken to her at all, but you would have continued sitting with the others, appalled at the girl's nerve to come here to disturb your evening."
"I would have?"
"I do not really know," Richard confessed. "But I did not think you were unfeeling. She needs to see reason."
"We might not be reasonable people ourselves." Other people might have a different opinion about that.
"She is free to make a choice against the reasonable. There is only so much we can do to help her. There is only so much we are willing to do. She may be related to me, but..." He shook his head. "There is an end to it at some point. Perhaps if I had not met you I might have done nothing and forever felt guilty." He remembered how she had forced him to take action and he smiled.
After standing there for a while, lost in pleasant things, Caroline remembered Darcy and his impatience. "What about Darcy? Will he be waiting to see his sister? What should we say?" If they allowed Darcy to storm in with his irrationality, he might ruin everything.
Richard groaned. He would have liked to forget that his cousin was still waiting. "I propose that we shall return to our own home instantly and leave Darcy to sort this out. I am not really up for another session with another insane member of the Darcy family. They have bricks for brains."
The idea of leaving sounded very tempting to Caroline. Too much exposure to problems of this kind gave her a headache and reduced her faith in mankind. "Do we have a home of our own?"
"I should be happy to share mine with you."
"Then I shall undoubtedly consider it my own very soon," she smiled.
Darcy, who had very nearly been biting his nails in anticipation of seeing his sister, jumped up when his cousin and Caroline returned. "What happened?"
"Good-bye everyone," Richard said. He had just instructed some servants to prepare their departure. "We are leaving. Our work is done. We have been trying to sow the seeds of sense in the very infertile soil that is Georgiana's brain." This description earned him a soft nudge from his wife. "After this hard work we feel we deserve some rest and we shall return to town. Darcy, your sister is in the back parlour going over her options. She does not have very many, so I hope that making a choice will not take her too long. Whatever she chooses, you had better inform Aunt Catherine of it and let her decide on a course of action."
"I am not sure I understand what is going on," Louisa spoke up.
"Keep it that way," Caroline encouraged feelingly. "It will be much better for you."
Darcy walked towards the back parlour in trepidation when his cousin had left and he had satisfied Mrs Hurst's curiosity as well as he could. He had no idea what had gone on outside Netherfield, so he had not been able to tell her much.
The girl in the back parlour looked so very little like his sister that he at first thought it was not her. Her face was thinner than he remembered and it bore a bitter and tired expression. There was no happiness left in the girl. On her wedding day she had still looked happy. Who had been responsible for that change? Anger towards Wickham welled up in him again. It was never hard to summon up that emotion. It had never gone away.
For a moment he wondered if he looked as strange to her, but she seemed to recognise him instantly.
"Fitzwilliam," she said flatly, unsure of his reaction. What would he do? Would he be glad to see her, or would he start criticising her? It was hard to predict.
Chapter Forty-four
As he was staring at Georgiana, Darcy felt he was facing an impossible task. She had every reason to condemn him. All the feelings of guilt returned. He was to blame for all of his sister's misfortunes. His lack of proper guardianship and supervision had first allowed Wickham to insinuate himself into his sister's good graces and then to take advantage of her. Had he been more interested in her wellbeing himself, this would not have happened. He ought to have talked to her more, to have listened to her and to have discovered what was going on in her mind.
Furthermore, he should not have forced her to marry Wickham. Perhaps his reactions or expected reactions had made Georgiana go so far as to make marriage the only respectable course of action. She had known what he would do and she had manipulated him into doing it. Darcy could hardly believe that his sister was capable of such shrewdness.
He felt a pang. Would she know how he had suffered? He guessed she did not. She would be too caught up in her own feelings to think of another's.
Another thought struck him. It was a new take on the previous one. Did it even matter that he had suffered? Was it his place to suffer? Should he not leave that to her?
No, was it not selfish of him to think he suffered when she was in such a predicament? All he suffered from was to be tainted by association. People might shun him. That was what he had been afraid of most, other people's reactions. What were they to him? He should not have cared more about them than about his sister.
It was too late for such a realisation now and he sighed. It might not even have worked not to care about his sister's reputation or his own. It would only be a speculation.
This was the situation now and this was their starting point. It was no use to look back and blame each other. He hoped Georgiana would feel the same. He cleared his throat. "How will you go on?"
Georgiana's mind had not been idle in the meantime. She had been going over her brother's possible reactions and she had been practising what to say in response. His words came as an interruption, even though she had been waiting.
Darcy wondered if he had asked a strange question when she did not immediately answer. He was just thinking of phrasing it differently when she spoke.
"I shall have my marriage annulled," Georgiana said cautiously. She hurried on lest he should interrupt and disagree. "Uncle Percy offered me this option." And from what Richard and Caroline had said it seemed the most desirable of options. She did not want to live alone and in poverty. As a Darcy, she had been raised with the best and while her infatuation with George had made up for some of the luxuries she had missed after marrying him, she knew she would be miserable and useless if she had to live a poor life. She would fail at it.
"Uncle Percy?" It took a few moments for Darcy to put a face to the name. He then remembered the Archbishop, not a relative he saw often, but it had always been a connection to keep in mind. He did not doubt that the man had the power to take care of an annulment, but where had his sister got this thought? He thought she was in love with Wickham. Had she finally seen him for what he was? There was a tentative feeling of hope.
"He was at Rosings." It would be evident that Lady Catherine had summoned him, so there was no need to say so.
Darcy shuddered for a moment when he thought of Uncle Percy's reactions to the whole scandal. He, as the head of the -- tiny -- Darcy family, imagined being taken to task by the old man and he blushed in shame. "What did he say?"
She gestured, as if it did not matter what Uncle Percy had said. He was a boring old man. "A lot. I did not listen to all of it."
"And this is what you have chosen?" he asked in a tentative voice, not wanting to upset her now that she appeared calm and capable of an almost reasonable conversation. He did not want to sound too jubilant. That might have the wrong effect.
"Yes." She did not give her reasons, because they might be attacked in turn. People had a tendency to criticise her for what she said or did, simply because she was young. They should stop doing that. It was unfair.
"I am glad." He did not specify why he was glad. "Will you return to Pemberley?" He did not know whether it was desirable for her to be so lonely and cut off from the world again. It made one vulnerable to attentions from people with dishonourable intentions. Yet if she went out in society her past might catch up with her. Unfavourable information always found its way into the wrong hands.
"I believe Richard spoke of Rosings," Georgiana said with an air of indifference. Of course she was not as uncaring as she pretended to be. She would much rather go to Pemberley than live under Lady Catherine's continuous scrutiny. Sometimes no company at all was to be preferred. It was unlikely that anyone would allow her to live alone, though, and a companion for her had proved to fail its purpose. They might not try that again and they were in charge. They did not miss any opportunities to point that out.
"Rosings," Darcy repeated. It was with family and it was under supervision. That was all he could think of right now. "If that is your choice..." He was hesitant to interfere another time.
It was not really her choice, Georgiana thought. It was simply the least bad of all the evil options presented to her. It would cost some swallowing of her pride to inform Aunt Catherine of her decision, especially after she had fled Rosings unannounced. Now she would have to go back there and place herself completely in the hands of her aunt. That would take some adjusting, but it was to be preferred to living in poverty. She could always lock herself in her room at Rosings and have meals delivered, whereas she might have to cook them herself if she lived in cheap lodgings. Georgiana was certain she would never learn how to do that. "Yes, it is."
Her brother felt tentatively relieved. He would not completely rest until he knew Wickham was dead or never going to come back. The annulment of his marriage might provoke him into action. Then again, if money was all he had been after, he might simply shrug and move on to a new target and leave Georgiana alone. He might derive enough satisfaction from the thought that the Darcys' lives were ruined.
Darcy had told his sister he needed to think, though he knew the situation was out of his hands. He would not be able to influence Georgiana, whatever conclusion he might reach. Did he even want to? He might not want to be responsible for someone so impossible.
He had gone outside, leaving her alone in the library. The fresh air and the exercise would do him good and clear his mind from the confused jumble of thoughts attacking it. He walked through the park, left it and headed in the direction of Longbourne. It was not the proper time of day to call, but he might run into Miss Bennet near the grounds.
He did not know what he would tell her or how she could help. As he walked, he reviewed the story. His sister had arrived and talked about having her marriage annulled. What could Miss Bennet say? Was that all, she might ask.
Yes, that was all. So far. It was silly to go over to Longbourne just for this, especially since the young lady had just left Netherfield. He could hear her ask again if this was all he could tell her. Mr Darcy of Pemberley did not run after young ladies to tell them trivial things that betrayed his uncertainty.
Why would he confide in her? Because he had done so before. How would she be able to help? The other time she had listened, but there was very little to listen to this time. She could give her opinion. She would probably agree that an annulment was best.
That was settled then. They would agree. Would there still be any point in going there if he knew this beforehand? He was insane. She would agree and he would rather not have that confirmed. Not by her, anyway.
Darcy turned back.
Georgiana, after considering a return to Rosings her best option, had briefly made an appearance in the room where the rest were seated. She had announced her intention to leave and when no one had uttered any sort of protest, she had left in a huff.
People had been too stunned to speak up. They had expected her to sit down and explain why she had come, or perhaps tell them what she had done all this time. Showing up only to say she was leaving was strange and they had needed some time to process it.
"What was that all about?" asked a befuddled Mrs Hurst.
"It is a farce," replied her husband. "At the end of the week we shall be quizzed. Who stopped by and for which reasons? You may play in my stead, Mrs Hurst. I have given up on keeping track on visitors. As long as I get my meals at the right times."
Georgiana commanded her carriage to take her back to Rosings. Her visit had been successful in that she now knew what to do, even though she had not done what she had intended to do, which was to demand sympathy from Caroline. Sympathy, she decided, was not in these people's hearts to give. They were all cruel and selfish, smugly convinced of their infallibility.
She reviewed her visit, notably the confrontation with her brother. He had not said much. She did not know what he was thinking or whether he would support her. It was not his business to disagree with her decision. What had been resolved between them? Nothing. She would come back to Lady Catherine and nothing had been resolved -- except that her marriage was to be annulled in order to resume her former standard of living.
What about Wickham? That was the question that remained in any case.
What if everyone pretended that he no longer existed and he would return after a few months or a few years? There was not much he could do if the marriage was annulled. That must be a comfort to everyone else, but Georgiana could not help but wonder how he would behave. What if he was as sweet as he had always been? They would have been wrong about him then. But if that were the case, she would probably be able to marry him again. It could not be very difficult and nobody would object if George was indeed sweet and good. They would all beg her forgiveness for having judged him incorrectly and it would be up to her to decide whether she would forgive.
For the time being she would live with the choices they forced her to make.
Chapter Forty-five
Anne had grown steadily more convinced of her own virtuous nature and of the fact that though sickly, she was to be preferred over such a bad girl like Georgiana. "I think more highly of myself now, Mrs Jenkinson," she whispered.
"Indeed, Miss De Bourgh! But you should always have thought highly of yourself."
"I hope I shall not be held up as good example," Anne said fearfully. "For I fear Georgiana will ridicule me."
"She will likely be locked up," Mrs Jenkinson predicted. "And you will not. She may ridicule all she likes, but it will not convince anyone. You really compare favourably, Miss De Bourgh."
"Do you think she will return?" Anne was surprised. She would not dare to return from where she had fled, especially not if it was her mother's house. She would be too frightened.
"I think," Mrs Jenkinson said cautiously, "that she is beyond embarrassment and humility and that she believed to have every right to steal Lady Catherine's carriage."
Mrs Jenkinson was proven to be correct in her estimation, for Georgiana did indeed return. She looked haughty and seemingly unaware of her aunt's anger. "I wish to have my marriage annulled," she announced immediately. "Please inform the Archbishop."
To say that Lady Catherine was not in a benevolent mood would be a gross underestimation. The theft of her carriage had put her in a very bad mood indeed and she had no wish to be patient. "You have no virtues remaining, Mrs Wickham, being an insolent harlot and a thief to boot. I do not see how you could be labouring under the assumption that I am disposed to help you in your endeavour. I suppose you even think you may take advantage of my hospitality and all the other comforts of Rosings while you use and abuse my property as you see fit?"
Georgiana had thought that her announcement would be met with joy and pleasure. She now stared in shock.
"Your opinion of yourself, Mrs Wickham, bears no resemblance to my opinion of you."
"Aunt Catherine --"
"Hear me out," Lady Catherine said in a tone that silenced the girl immediately. "Initially we had some sympathy for you. We pitied you for having been tricked by that evil man. I can assure you that I no longer think that way. Your conduct has been abominable and you have proved yourself to be deaf to reason and corrections. If anything, your conduct is deteriorating and you have added more vices to your list of transgressions. There is no hope for you. If you thought you could steal my carriage and insolently order me to do your bidding, you were quite mistaken. I am not to be used in that manner."
Georgiana looked stricken. "I --"
"Of course you had no idea," Lady Catherine said with sarcastic sympathy. "No idea whatsoever that it was wrong to steal a carriage. No idea whatsoever that one cannot be insolent without paying the price for it eventually. No idea that it is your own conduct and character that is causing you these problems, not your evil and cruel family."
"But --" She wanted to say she had come to do what they wanted her to do.
"My patience and goodwill are exhausted. I shall send you away tomorrow morning. You have one night to reflect on your sins."
"Away?" Georgiana cried.
"Yes, away. I fear -- nay, I know -- you would be a bad influence on my Anne. I cannot allow you to remain here."
Since no reasonable communication with Lady Catherine had been possible, or so Georgiana thought, she had gone up to her room and ordered a meal. She discovered that the servants had received instructions with regard to her, because it turned out to be impossible to have any food delivered to her room. She was told that she would have to ask the cook for leftovers.
"That is impossible!" she had cried, but the young and nervous maid had stammered that it was indeed so and then she had quickly run off.
Going to the kitchens and demanding food proved to be futile. Her aunt had seemingly been quite detailed in her instructions to the staff. It was not until she had lowered herself to some form of politeness that the cook listened and then she was given an almost mouldy piece of bread and some cheese.
"I am not eating that," she said in disgust. "I want proper food."
The cook was not impressed. "It is all that is left."
Georgiana considered throwing it onto the ground in contempt, but stopped herself just in time. It occurred to her that she might not be given anything else. These people were cruel. They were intent on starving her.
Chapter Forty-four
As he was staring at Georgiana, Darcy felt he was facing an impossible task. She had every reason to condemn him. All the feelings of guilt returned. He was to blame for all of his sister's misfortunes. His lack of proper guardianship and supervision had first allowed Wickham to insinuate himself into his sister's good graces and then to take advantage of her. Had he been more interested in her wellbeing himself, this would not have happened. He ought to have talked to her more, to have listened to her and to have discovered what was going on in her mind.
Furthermore, he should not have forced her to marry Wickham. Perhaps his reactions or expected reactions had made Georgiana go so far as to make marriage the only respectable course of action. She had known what he would do and she had manipulated him into doing it. Darcy could hardly believe that his sister was capable of such shrewdness.
He felt a pang. Would she know how he had suffered? He guessed she did not. She would be too caught up in her own feelings to think of another's.
Another thought struck him. It was a new take on the previous one. Did it even matter that he had suffered? Was it his place to suffer? Should he not leave that to her?
No, was it not selfish of him to think he suffered when she was in such a predicament? All he suffered from was to be tainted by association. People might shun him. That was what he had been afraid of most, other people's reactions. What were they to him? He should not have cared more about them than about his sister.
It was too late for such a realisation now and he sighed. It might not even have worked not to care about his sister's reputation or his own. It would only be a speculation.
This was the situation now and this was their starting point. It was no use to look back and blame each other. He hoped Georgiana would feel the same. He cleared his throat. "How will you go on?"
Georgiana's mind had not been idle in the meantime. She had been going over her brother's possible reactions and she had been practising what to say in response. His words came as an interruption, even though she had been waiting.
Darcy wondered if he had asked a strange question when she did not immediately answer. He was just thinking of phrasing it differently when she spoke.
"I shall have my marriage annulled," Georgiana said cautiously. She hurried on lest he should interrupt and disagree. "Uncle Percy offered me this option." And from what Richard and Caroline had said it seemed the most desirable of options. She did not want to live alone and in poverty. As a Darcy, she had been raised with the best and while her infatuation with George had made up for some of the luxuries she had missed after marrying him, she knew she would be miserable and useless if she had to live a poor life. She would fail at it.
"Uncle Percy?" It took a few moments for Darcy to put a face to the name. He then remembered the Archbishop, not a relative he saw often, but it had always been a connection to keep in mind. He did not doubt that the man had the power to take care of an annulment, but where had his sister got this thought? He thought she was in love with Wickham. Had she finally seen him for what he was? There was a tentative feeling of hope.
"He was at Rosings." It would be evident that Lady Catherine had summoned him, so there was no need to say so.
Darcy shuddered for a moment when he thought of Uncle Percy's reactions to the whole scandal. He, as the head of the -- tiny -- Darcy family, imagined being taken to task by the old man and he blushed in shame. "What did he say?"
She gestured, as if it did not matter what Uncle Percy had said. He was a boring old man. "A lot. I did not listen to all of it."
"And this is what you have chosen?" he asked in a tentative voice, not wanting to upset her now that she appeared calm and capable of an almost reasonable conversation. He did not want to sound too jubilant. That might have the wrong effect.
"Yes." She did not give her reasons, because they might be attacked in turn. People had a tendency to criticise her for what she said or did, simply because she was young. They should stop doing that. It was unfair.
"I am glad." He did not specify why he was glad. "Will you return to Pemberley?" He did not know whether it was desirable for her to be so lonely and cut off from the world again. It made one vulnerable to attentions from people with dishonourable intentions. Yet if she went out in society her past might catch up with her. Unfavourable information always found its way into the wrong hands.
"I believe Richard spoke of Rosings," Georgiana said with an air of indifference. Of course she was not as uncaring as she pretended to be. She would much rather go to Pemberley than live under Lady Catherine's continuous scrutiny. Sometimes no company at all was to be preferred. It was unlikely that anyone would allow her to live alone, though, and a companion for her had proved to fail its purpose. They might not try that again and they were in charge. They did not miss any opportunities to point that out.
"Rosings," Darcy repeated. It was with family and it was under supervision. That was all he could think of right now. "If that is your choice..." He was hesitant to interfere another time.
It was not really her choice, Georgiana thought. It was simply the least bad of all the evil options presented to her. It would cost some swallowing of her pride to inform Aunt Catherine of her decision, especially after she had fled Rosings unannounced. Now she would have to go back there and place herself completely in the hands of her aunt. That would take some adjusting, but it was to be preferred to living in poverty. She could always lock herself in her room at Rosings and have meals delivered, whereas she might have to cook them herself if she lived in cheap lodgings. Georgiana was certain she would never learn how to do that. "Yes, it is."
Her brother felt tentatively relieved. He would not completely rest until he knew Wickham was dead or never going to come back. The annulment of his marriage might provoke him into action. Then again, if money was all he had been after, he might simply shrug and move on to a new target and leave Georgiana alone. He might derive enough satisfaction from the thought that the Darcys' lives were ruined.
Darcy had told his sister he needed to think, though he knew the situation was out of his hands. He would not be able to influence Georgiana, whatever conclusion he might reach. Did he even want to? He might not want to be responsible for someone so impossible.
He had gone outside, leaving her alone in the library. The fresh air and the exercise would do him good and clear his mind from the confused jumble of thoughts attacking it. He walked through the park, left it and headed in the direction of Longbourne. It was not the proper time of day to call, but he might run into Miss Bennet near the grounds.
He did not know what he would tell her or how she could help. As he walked, he reviewed the story. His sister had arrived and talked about having her marriage annulled. What could Miss Bennet say? Was that all, she might ask.
Yes, that was all. So far. It was silly to go over to Longbourne just for this, especially since the young lady had just left Netherfield. He could hear her ask again if this was all he could tell her. Mr Darcy of Pemberley did not run after young ladies to tell them trivial things that betrayed his uncertainty.
Why would he confide in her? Because he had done so before. How would she be able to help? The other time she had listened, but there was very little to listen to this time. She could give her opinion. She would probably agree that an annulment was best.
That was settled then. They would agree. Would there still be any point in going there if he knew this beforehand? He was insane. She would agree and he would rather not have that confirmed. Not by her, anyway.
Darcy turned back.
Georgiana, after considering a return to Rosings her best option, had briefly made an appearance in the room where the rest were seated. She had announced her intention to leave and when no one had uttered any sort of protest, she had left in a huff.
People had been too stunned to speak up. They had expected her to sit down and explain why she had come, or perhaps tell them what she had done all this time. Showing up only to say she was leaving was strange and they had needed some time to process it.
"What was that all about?" asked a befuddled Mrs Hurst.
"It is a farce," replied her husband. "At the end of the week we shall be quizzed. Who stopped by and for which reasons? You may play in my stead, Mrs Hurst. I have given up on keeping track on visitors. As long as I get my meals at the right times."
Georgiana commanded her carriage to take her back to Rosings. Her visit had been successful in that she now knew what to do, even though she had not done what she had intended to do, which was to demand sympathy from Caroline. Sympathy, she decided, was not in these people's hearts to give. They were all cruel and selfish, smugly convinced of their infallibility.
She reviewed her visit, notably the confrontation with her brother. He had not said much. She did not know what he was thinking or whether he would support her. It was not his business to disagree with her decision. What had been resolved between them? Nothing. She would come back to Lady Catherine and nothing had been resolved -- except that her marriage was to be annulled in order to resume her former standard of living.
What about Wickham? That was the question that remained in any case.
What if everyone pretended that he no longer existed and he would return after a few months or a few years? There was not much he could do if the marriage was annulled. That must be a comfort to everyone else, but Georgiana could not help but wonder how he would behave. What if he was as sweet as he had always been? They would have been wrong about him then. But if that were the case, she would probably be able to marry him again. It could not be very difficult and nobody would object if George was indeed sweet and good. They would all beg her forgiveness for having judged him incorrectly and it would be up to her to decide whether she would forgive.
For the time being she would live with the choices they forced her to make.
Chapter Forty-five
Anne had grown steadily more convinced of her own virtuous nature and of the fact that though sickly, she was to be preferred over such a bad girl like Georgiana. "I think more highly of myself now, Mrs Jenkinson," she whispered.
"Indeed, Miss De Bourgh! But you should always have thought highly of yourself."
"I hope I shall not be held up as good example," Anne said fearfully. "For I fear Georgiana will ridicule me."
"She will likely be locked up," Mrs Jenkinson predicted. "And you will not. She may ridicule all she likes, but it will not convince anyone. You really compare favourably, Miss De Bourgh."
"Do you think she will return?" Anne was surprised. She would not dare to return from where she had fled, especially not if it was her mother's house. She would be too frightened.
"I think," Mrs Jenkinson said cautiously, "that she is beyond embarrassment and humility and that she believed to have every right to steal Lady Catherine's carriage."
Mrs Jenkinson was proven to be correct in her estimation, for Georgiana did indeed return. She looked haughty and seemingly unaware of her aunt's anger. "I wish to have my marriage annulled," she announced immediately. "Please inform the Archbishop."
To say that Lady Catherine was not in a benevolent mood would be a gross underestimation. The theft of her carriage had put her in a very bad mood indeed and she had no wish to be patient. "You have no virtues remaining, Mrs Wickham, being an insolent harlot and a thief to boot. I do not see how you could be labouring under the assumption that I am disposed to help you in your endeavour. I suppose you even think you may take advantage of my hospitality and all the other comforts of Rosings while you use and abuse my property as you see fit?"
Georgiana had thought that her announcement would be met with joy and pleasure. She now stared in shock.
"Your opinion of yourself, Mrs Wickham, bears no resemblance to my opinion of you."
"Aunt Catherine --"
"Hear me out," Lady Catherine said in a tone that silenced the girl immediately. "Initially we had some sympathy for you. We pitied you for having been tricked by that evil man. I can assure you that I no longer think that way. Your conduct has been abominable and you have proved yourself to be deaf to reason and corrections. If anything, your conduct is deteriorating and you have added more vices to your list of transgressions. There is no hope for you. If you thought you could steal my carriage and insolently order me to do your bidding, you were quite mistaken. I am not to be used in that manner."
Georgiana looked stricken. "I --"
"Of course you had no idea," Lady Catherine said with sarcastic sympathy. "No idea whatsoever that it was wrong to steal a carriage. No idea whatsoever that one cannot be insolent without paying the price for it eventually. No idea that it is your own conduct and character that is causing you these problems, not your evil and cruel family."
"But --" She wanted to say she had come to do what they wanted her to do.
"My patience and goodwill are exhausted. I shall send you away tomorrow morning. You have one night to reflect on your sins."
"Away?" Georgiana cried.
"Yes, away. I fear -- nay, I know -- you would be a bad influence on my Anne. I cannot allow you to remain here."
Since no reasonable communication with Lady Catherine had been possible, or so Georgiana thought, she had gone up to her room and ordered a meal. She discovered that the servants had received instructions with regard to her, because it turned out to be impossible to have any food delivered to her room. She was told that she would have to ask the cook for leftovers.
"That is impossible!" she had cried, but the young and nervous maid had stammered that it was indeed so and then she had quickly run off.
Going to the kitchens and demanding food proved to be futile. Her aunt had seemingly been quite detailed in her instructions to the staff. It was not until she had lowered herself to some form of politeness that the cook listened and then she was given an almost mouldy piece of bread and some cheese.
"I am not eating that," she said in disgust. "I want proper food."
The cook was not impressed. "It is all that is left."
Georgiana considered throwing it onto the ground in contempt, but stopped herself just in time. It occurred to her that she might not be given anything else. These people were cruel. They were intent on starving her.