Page 4

LONDON IN AUGUST

“D arcy!” Bingley excitedly waved to his friend across the street.

“That man is like an excited puppy,” Fitzwilliam remarked under his breath.

Darcy turned to his sister, who was walking sulkily between her guardians. “Behave yourself, Georgiana. Fitzwilliam and I are sick of your nonsense.”

Bingley crossed the street and Georgiana’s scowl turned to the widest smile Darcy had ever seen on her face. Fitzwilliam and Darcy frowned at Georgiana. Her behaviour did not portend anything remotely good. Despite the fact she was not out, she preened under Bingley’s gaze and thrust her chest forward in a most provocative manner. Darcy felt sick to his stomach. This was not the first time he had been out with his sister since he and Fitzwilliam had separated her from Wickham’s clutches, but this was the first time they saw firsthand the girl’s revolting behaviour.

Fitzwilliam pulled Georgiana away to look in the shop windows on Bond Street while leaving Darcy to talk with his friend. As soon as they were far enough away from the other two gentlemen, Fitzwilliam gritted his teeth as he began quietly chiding her. “What has gotten into you? Behaving like a common doxy ?” He demanded.

“I was not. I was merely getting ready to say hello,” Georgiana defended herself.

Fitzwilliam growled softly. “If you behave that way around men, you are heading for ruin.”

“If you had allowed Mr Wickham to marry me, then I would not be your problem,” Georgiana spat. “I know that it was something you and my brother said to him that caused him to leave me. I guess I have to find a husband in someone else.”

“So, you do not love him, then?”

Fire blazed in Georgiana’s eyes. “What does it matter if I love him or not while I am the property of you and my brother? I have to do as you say and I have to go where you tell me to. You both see me as an inconvenience and a toy to play with when you think the time is right.”

“That is the petulant kind of behaviour that has kept our watchful eyes on you and exactly why I gave up my commission and agreed to live at Darcy House for the moment. Now, you are going to walk back and be polite to Mr Bingley – without flaunting your body at him. Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear. ?” Fitzwilliam demanded.

Georgiana’s eyes dulled. “What if I refuse?”

“Then you will be confined to the house for the next twelve months while under the guardianship of the strictest woman we can find. There are plenty of them to be found,” Fitzwilliam threatened her.

Her shoulders slumped. “I am not a little mouse with no character.”

“Nor are we demanding you to be. We are just asking you to show more decorum in your behaviour,” Fitzwilliam answered. The two of them rejoined Darcy and his friend.

“You must all come and visit us once we have settled,” Bingley invited.

“Are you moving, Bingley?” Fitzwilliam asked confused.

Bingley laughed. “Not yet. I am going next week to view a place in Hertfordshire. It’s an estate that has the option of purchase or rent. If I like the place and it’s well kept, Darcy has advised me to rent for the year to gain the experience of running an estate.”

“Bingley, we would be delighted to join you,” Darcy said.

“Mr Bingley, will you be needing a hostess?” Georgiana asked.

Darcy spun on his heel and pulled his sister backwards. “Fitzwilliam, please take her home. I will join you momentarily.” As soon as Fitzwilliam and Georgiana were walking away Darcy turned to his friend, visibly trying to calm his anger. He rubbed at the flesh between his thumb and forefinger as he apologised to his friend.

“Do not worry, Darcy,” Bingley assured him. “She is young and will come right. As for her question, remind her I have five sisters, any one of which will happily be my hostess.”

“Her behaviour at the moment is a constant embarrassment to Fitzwilliam and myself. I will come if I can, but we are struggling to find a woman who will accept the charge of a young woman who is so out of control. I have failed her, Bingley.”

“No more than my parents failed Caroline. In certain situations, Caroline is just as bad, as you well know. It occurs to me, I do not think that Mrs Annesley has a position at the moment. As you know she was the one who brought some kind of decorum to Caroline’s behaviour. I will find out the address of the agency she worked for, they may know how to get in touch with her now. I will send it to your home when I find it.”

Darcy breathed a sigh of relief. A companion who could get his sister under control would be a godsend. “Thank you, Bingley.” The two men parted company with Darcy taking long strides to catch up with his sister and cousin.

The front door to the house closed and the anger in the air became palpable. All the servants scurried out of sight when the small family walked past. They made their way to the family parlour, where the storm broke.

“What do you think you were doing?” Darcy fumed at his sister.

“I was only being friendly,” Georgiana answered.

“You deserve to be horsewhipped for such behaviour! Thank God it was only Bingley, who’s known our family for years. If I did not know better I would have thought I was in the company of a whore, selling her wares on the street rather than my innocent sister who is not even out. God only knows what kind of thoughts my friend must have had.” Darcy’s anger seemed to get worse as he expressed his humiliation at his sister’s behaviour.

Georgiana’s eyes went wide. “Was my behaviour so very bad?” She whispered.

“Worse! I was embarrassed to be seen with you, let alone that you were my sister. Behaving as if you were a bitch in heat! I was only surprised you did not throw yourself into his arms and have done with it! Georgiana Darcy, you have been given the good breeding to know how to behave. If our parents were here they would expect you to behave with decorum and dignity! We have a family name that has remained unsullied by scandal for generations, something that few families in England can claim. I will not have you sully that name. Throw yourself at a man like that again and I will horsewhip you until you cannot sit down for a month!” Darcy threatened his sister. “I swear that mother and father would be quite ashamed of you!”

Georgiana looked at the carpet. She was unsure of herself, but she was not afraid. Her brother’s threats had been just that. She would find a way around them. She just had to bide her time. “What…” she pretended to cry.

Fitzwilliam laughed at the pitiful display. “You are to be confined to your room for a week and go without supper tonight. You will dine on nothing more than bread and lemonade for the rest of the week.”

Georgiana gasped. “That’s torture!”

Darcy folded his arms across his chest. “Would you rather be horsewhipped?”

“I’d rather have no punishment at all for making conversation,” Georgiana grumbled.

“Georgiana, you all but offered to be his whore by asking if he needed a hostess. Think yourself lucky that you get that punishment. Now scoot! Get up those stairs to your room!” Fitzwilliam thundered.

Georgiana complied, sullenly. She knew she had no choice. Maybe she could bribe a servant to take a letter to Wickham. Sillily, she thought that she might work on him to come and rescue her. Both Fitzwilliam and Darcy followed her up the stairs and it was Darcy who turned the key to her bedroom.

Later that evening, Bingley proved to be as good as his word, with a servant arriving with the address of the agency Mrs Annesley worked for. Fitzwilliam agreed that it would be he who would attend the agency the next day. After a brief discussion and the events of the day, the cousins decided that if Mrs Annesley proved suitable, then they wanted her to begin immediately.

* * *

M rs Annesley proved to be everything that the two men wished for in a woman who would take Georgiana’s education in hand. She turned out to be a strict disciplinarian who did not allow for any nonsense. Any punishments that the cousins gave Georgiana were strictly enforced and a few new ones were added in. However, she also proved to be a good friend to the young lady who had lost her way. Fitzwilliam and Darcy agreed that one of them at least should be living at the house at all times. They would oversee what was happening personally. The events of Ramsgate left them all feeling weary and jaded. More than anyone else, Georgiana was the one who resented this change the most. However, she eventually began to relax.

Bingley seemed wary to visit with Darcy in the weeks that followed and it was not until early September that the young man barrelled into Darcy’s study with the excitement of a young puppy. “I did it, Fitz,” he blurted out, as he entered. “I fulfilled the promise to my father. I have rented, with the option of purchase, Netherfield Park in Hertfordshire. The Bingleys will soon have an estate of their own!”

Darcy looked up from the paperwork that littered his desk. The Pemberley Estates were problematic at that moment. He needed to raise the rents of a few of his tenants while realising that their incomes would not hold a large increase. Floods of the previous year had left a lot of devastation in their wake. Many cottages had to be renovated while several businesses were teetering on the edge of failure. He removed the glasses he used to read the fine print and looked at his friend through tired eyes. “When do you move in?”

“Michaelmas, either just before or just after.” Bingley’s face fell into an apologetic look, making Darcy laugh. “I am sorry. I didn’t think. Will you be able to come and visit so soon?”

“What was there for you to think about? You have every right to be excited about your move. I cannot promise anything at the moment. Fitzwilliam and I are determined to keep a closer eye on Georgiana. I also have an estate problem I need to solve. I need to instruct my steward how to proceed, but at the moment I am baffled.”

Bingley moved around the desk and looked at the paperwork. “I am not an estate owner, but from a business point of view I can see a few things you could do.”

Darcy looked at his friend. “All help would be appreciated. Fitzwilliam is going to return in half an hour. We have been looking this over for the past week, but we seem deadlocked by the situation.”

Bingley laughed at his friend. “Fitz, how many times have you told me that half of estate ownership is good business sense? You seem to forget that sometimes when dealing with your tenants. You want to be a friend to all of them, but forget that many will abuse your friendship and desire to do them good. We will wait for Fitzwilliam to return and perhaps I may be able to persuade you both to be a little more bull-headed in business.”

Darcy opened his mouth to argue with his friend but shut it again promptly. He was not sure how many times his steward and father had said the same thing to him. He heard his father’s voice once more, ‘ Your tenants are not your friends . Do not treat them as such, or you’ll invite trouble .’ Darcy sighed. His father had always treated every single one of his tenants as his friends. He had gone out of his way to look after them. Bingley was right, but not for the reasons that he thought. Darcy rubbed his eyes. He was tired and this problem had left him with a constant headache for the whole week. It would be good to have a new perspective on the problem. Darcy looked at his friend. Easily persuaded in most things, Bingley became a force to be reckoned with in the boardroom. Bingley’s father had been a successful merchant, who had left a fortune of just under a hundred thousand pounds to his son. Bingley himself had assumed the position of head of the company, attending board meetings every six to eight months and making sure of the smooth running of the company. In business, his friend knew what he was doing and showed a streak of iron that few outside of the boardroom ever saw. Perhaps that was what was needed – a touch of the Bingley business steel! Darcy turned the conversation to other things while they waited for Fitzwilliam to return home. The break from his business was welcome to Darcy.

Fitzwilliam entered the room with two cake boxes in his hand and several small boxes of treats. “Fitz, any progress on that problem yet?” He asked as he entered the room.

“Not yet, but Bingley has some business ideas that could solve my dilemma,” Darcy answered.

The three men proceeded to pore over the documents and letters that were on Darcy’s desk until the light began to fade in the study. Darcy lit the lamps, but knew he could not hide the true extent of his recent sight loss in that light. So he suggested they pick it up the next morning. Bingley’s input had changed everything and now they were making good progress in solving the issue. Bingley agreed to return in the morning, while Darcy put the documents away. Darcy then proceeded to pour drinks and some of Fitzwilliam’s treats were shared around. The conversation now turned to Bingley’s new estate.

“Why not bring Miss Darcy with you, so you can both visit Hertfordshire?” Bingley asked but knew it was a mistake the moment he said it. Each man remembered Georgiana’s comment from the last time they had all been in the same place.

Darcy frowned, while Fitzwilliam, mutely, stared into the fire. “Georgiana is still a child! At present, it is impossible for the child to be in decent company. Mrs Younge has filled her head with plenty of nonsense it is embarrassing and difficult for us to be around her sometimes.”

Bingley shifted. “I should have shut her down.”

“You have done nothing wrong,” Fitzwilliam assured him. “We failed her and Mrs Younge ruined her character. I only hope Mrs Annesley can do enough to help her.”

“Has she improved since Mrs Annesley has been here?” Bingley enquired.

Darcy shook his head. “No, I do not think so. The longer this goes on, the longer I think that her character is going to remain fixed and my sister is destined to bring shame to our noble family name.”

“Don’t be too hasty, Fitz. She is still young enough to change. Give it time. You let Mrs Younge go only three months ago,” Bingley reminded them.

“So you understand that it is impossible for us both to visit you next month. We will be hard-pressed if even one of us can get away.” Darcy exhaled. “If it’s at all possible, only one of us will be able to go.”