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Charles sighed; his innate dislike of conflict battling with his increasing aversion to his younger sister.

“My father’s will requires me to welcome her in my house until she turns twenty-five.

Or rather, it required Arthur to do so. Obviously it never occurred to Da that my brother wouldn’t be alive to look after us all.

” He managed a crooked smile. “I can just imagine his dismay to find that it’s fallen to silly little Charlie. ”

Darcy cleared his throat. “Bingley, you’ve handled the transition of your father’s business extremely well, particularly given that you were not prepared for the load that was thrust upon your shoulders so unexpectedly.”

Charles shrugged one shoulder. “I’ve done my best—and I can never thank you enough for your support through it all, Darcy.

Da had it all planned out; Arthur would take over the family business, Louisa was married to the son of one of his investors, and Caroline and I were to be raised as a lady and gentleman, poised to launch the next generation of Bingleys into a higher plane of society. ” He sighed.

Knowing how it was to live with the feeling that one could never live up to the expectations of one’s ancestors, Darcy attempted to encourage his usually optimistic friend.

“Charles, your father would be proud of you. You have accomplished all he wished for you and more. Not only have you fulfilled the duties he expected to fall to your brother but you have also completed your education and taken the first steps in learning to manage an estate. And you are engaged to a worthy gentleman’s daughter.

Would you father not have approved of Miss Bennet? ”

Bingley’s somber face was instantly lit by a genuine smile.

“Da would have worshipped the ground Jane walks on. He would have revered her manners and beauty and undoubtedly would have told me that I am not worthy to kiss the ground she walks on. Most importantly, he would have admired her kind and gentle nature. Da was a man who valued strength of character.”

Charles looked up at his friend with a happy gleam in his eye. “He would have liked both of our fiancées, Darcy. Perhaps that’s why it’s so easy for me to think of moving into the Waverley Street house again—Mum and Da would have welcomed Jane there with open arms.”

His expression soured. “Unlike Caroline.”

After a pause, Darcy ventured, “Could she stay with the Hursts?”

Caroline’s brother shrugged. “I’ll discuss it with them.

Louisa and Gil have not been themselves since…

well, since that summer. I remember when they first married, he couldn’t stand Caroline and even Louisa had little patience for her pretensions.

They divided their time between his London house and the family estate in Somerset.

We would all dine together occasionally and we might talk to the Hursts if we happened to be at the same parties or balls but there was not the closeness that we have now.

Well, the physical closeness—living together, attending events and such—I can’t say that we share much of our thoughts or feelings with one another these days. ”

Darcy remained silent, sensing that his friend needed to work his way through the knot of emotions and duties.

“I would like to believe that Caro was less of a snob then. Artie and my father would never have put up with her superior airs for all that they wished her to be a lady. My parents desired for our family to move up in the world but my father especially had a great deal of respect for his forefathers, tradesmen or no.”

Charles sighed. “Our forefathers, I should say. Regardless of what Society values, I’m proud of my family; I come from a long line of honorable, hardworking men. ”

Darcy nodded. “My own family invested in your family’s enterprise; from everything I’ve heard, my grandfather, Worthington Darcy, was one of the most inveterate, class-conscious snobs there was and yet he recognized the value of Bingley and Sons.”

The two men were silent for a time, each pondering the impact of their ancestry.

Eventually, Darcy began to speak again, quietly and thoughtfully.

“The world is changing, Bingley. We have seen the lower classes revolt against the aristocracy in France and America and anyone who pays any attention at all to our own parliament can see how the power of the Commons increases with every passing year, for all the bluster of the Lords. And, for all of my own family’s connections, I can’t help but agree that it is right for any man, regardless of his birth, to have the opportunity to strive for whatever education and advancement he desires; many of my peers feel the same.

“The economic power is shifting as well (or more likely it is the cause of the social changes). When I review my grandfather’s ledgers, Pemberley’s revenues were almost entirely from the land—wool, coal, corn, hops and so forth.

Now, I can’t imagine not having shares in the woolen mills and breweries and canals.

It’s no longer feasible for the wool to be spun by women in their cottages.

These new ways of smelting iron and the new inventions using steam power …

they are shifting the balance of social power in our world— permanently, I believe. ”

John Bingley’s son looked at Fitzwilliam Darcy with fascination. He himself was not of a philosophical bent and their conversations rarely touched on such weighty subjects. “I had no idea you felt so.”

Darcy shrugged and crossed his legs. “’Tis not myself alone.” He gave his friend a pointed look. “As you would know if you read more.”

Charles could not help but laugh aloud and the atmosphere lightened significantly. “Ah, but why should I put myself to so much trouble when I have you to tutor me whenever I am curious?” His friend rolled his eyes and their usual camaraderie was largely restored.

Darcy rose to pour himself a finger of whisky and wordlessly offered to refresh the other man’s glass. They sat for some minutes in silence, enjoying the drinks and pondering their own lives. Eventually, Charles spoke aloud; “Caroline turns twenty-five in February.”

“No wonder she is being so forward—she has become desperate,” muttered Darcy without thinking, and then shut his eyes upon Bingley’s snort. “Forgive me, I apologize…”

“Oh please don’t! You’re absolutely correct. I hadn’t really thought about it. I suppose I assumed that her behavior was my own fault, because I was not as capable as my parents of restraining her.”

“You are only a year older than she, Bingley. Any brother would have difficulty, particularly with a sister as… spirited… as yours. ”

Charles chuckled but his manner grew serious.

“You haven’t had such problems with Miss Darcy.

I’ve always admired your relationship with her; she looks up to you as the ‘best of brothers,’ with both affection and respect.

I know very well that Caroline feels none of the latter for me and there are moments when I even doubt the former. ”

His tone was so despondent that Darcy sighed.

“Charles, Georgiana is more than ten years my junior and our circumstances have demanded a very different relationship between us than between you and your sister.

I remember Georgiana being placed in my arms as a newborn as if it was yesterday; it was my tenth birthday and my mother told me that it was my duty to look after her.

Mama died only a short time later; that is my last clear memory of her, so you can imagine how it has impacted me.

“After her death, I saw very little of my father and, in hindsight, I realize that he had fallen into a very deep melancholy. At the time, he seemed to be working constantly, rebuilding Pemberley’s staff and tenants, recruiting laborers and merchants to Lambton and Kympton to replace all those lost to the pox.

Grandmama Darcy looked after Georgiana and me for a few years but I suppose I knew she would not live much longer herself and so it was Georgiana that I clung to.

Even when I was away at school, I would write to her. ”

“I always wondered about that,” murmured Bingley. “She couldn’t have been reading yet when we were first at Eton.”

Fitzwilliam looked slightly abashed but still smiled at the memory.

“No; I gave her a doll who was dressed to look as I did. First Grandmother and later Mrs. Reynolds would sit with her and pretend that the doll was reading my letters. They would write to me with whatever accomplishments or events had occurred in her life that week. I knew when she walked and what her first words were, though I wasn’t there to see them.

And then, when she was old enough, she began sending me letters of her own. ”

Charles grinned. “I remember when you received the first letter that she had addressed herself—you were like a proud Papa.” He trailed off, blinking in realization. “That is rather more true than not—you are more father than brother to her.”

Darcy nodded seriously. “That’s the point I’m trying to make. Georgiana and I have been this way for far longer than I’ve been her legal guardian. Though now that she is older, I’m attempting to be more of a brother to her.” He studied the man sitting opposite and made a decision.

“Charles, we are to be brothers and there is something else you should know.” In a few terse sentences he summarized Mr. Wickham’s attempted seduction of his sister the previous summer at Ramsgate.

By the end of the story, Bingley had burst from his chair and begun pacing, his fury filling the room. “That bloody bastard! And Georgiana just fifteen, and a particularly young fifteen, if you will forgive me saying so. ”

Darcy agreed wordlessly, taking another sip of his whisky. It felt surprisingly good to hear the other man’s anger and know that his sister had just gained another protector.