Page 10 of Darcy’s Guarded Heart

“Wickham is an old acquaintance of my family,” he said, “and I would much rather not have him near my sister.” The words came out like a low growl.

To her credit, she did not question him but instead observed the scene.

Wickham and his sister were now in conversation as though they were two old friends, reunited.

“She does not appear dismayed by his presence,” she said.

“She wouldn’t. She does not know him as I do,” Darcy said, unable to take his eyes off the pair.

Then, Wickham caught his eye and dipped his head in his direction as though they were old friends.

He wanted to dash across the dance floor and grab him by the collar, dragging him out and sending him away forever, but none of those options were available.

He could not make a spectacle of himself and Georgiana would never understand.

She was naive and gullible when it came to Wickham, just as Darcy’s father had been.

Without warning, he found himself suddenly bereaved of a partner as Miss Elizabeth let go of him. He paused, confused by the sudden development.

Bingley and Jane were dancing right behind him, and if it weren’t for Bingley’s swift movement, they would have crashed directly into him.

He stepped aside just in time to see Miss Elizabeth bending down.

He hadn’t been aware that she had dropped anything, and when she rose again, he saw her pull a handkerchief out of her pocket.

What was she doing?

Then he saw it. They were standing just a few steps away from Thomas Bennet, and she quickly fiddled with her handkerchief so everyone could see but as she bent forward, he saw she was whispering something to the young Mr Bennet.

Then she turned around and got back into position.

“Excuse me, Mr Darcy, I was rather clumsy and dropped my handkerchief.”

“You did not—” he said, but she gently moved him back onto the dance floor, and they fell back into step. From the corner of his eye, he saw Thomas Bennet walking in the direction of Georgiana. He smiled charmingly while Wickham looked decidedly unamused.

With a smooth movement, Thomas Bennet inserted himself into Wickham and Georgiana’s conversion before bowing to Wickham and then escorting Georgiana away.

“Thomas shares your feelings regarding Mr Wickham,” she said quietly. “Rest assured, your sister will be perfectly well looked after.”

The rest of the dance passed without any interruption, though conversation between him and Miss Bennet ceased. He was too busy watching as Thomas Bennet led Georgiana, Lydia Bennet, and the officer whose name appeared to be Mr Denny towards the other side of the room.

Wickham, meanwhile, disappeared into the crowd on the other end of the room, and an unease filled Darcy’s stomach to the point where he did not know how to rid himself of it. Once the dance concluded, he bowed before Miss Elizabeth.

“Thank you for your interference,” he said quickly, and before she could reply, he dashed off in search of Georgiana.

However, to his dismay, he could not find her at once. The spot where the group had been now occupied by Mr and Mrs Hurst.

“Are you in search of your sister?” Mrs Bennet said from somewhere to his right. He spun and saw her standing there with a satisfied smile. “She and my daughters are having a rather grand time and are about to dance the Quadrille.”

“Thank you, Mrs Bennet,” he replied, loathing that he had to converse with her at all, let alone be grateful.

“I saw you danced with my Elizabeth. She is a gifted dancer, she studies dance as if it were a science, but I did attempt to share her delight with you before,” she said, not hiding her snide tone.

“I thank you, Mrs Bennet,” he replied and left to find Georgiana. Alas, once more, time was not on his side as by the time he found her, she was already in line to dance the Quadrille with Thomas Bennet.

She stood beside the young man on her left, while Mr Denny, Lydia Bennet, Kitty Bennet, and another officer stood on her other side.

Bingley and Jane Bennet then joined them, each with their partners.

He recognised the woman on Bingley’s arm as Sir William’s daughter, but he wasn’t sure who was the man with Jane. Whoever he was, he wasn’t Wickham.

The merry group chatted and then made their way onto the dance floor, all of them unaware that Darcy had been staring at them the entire time.

Across the room, he spotted Wickham making his way over to Elizabeth, who had left his side and unknowingly had given him no further thought after bidding her goodbye.

He realised that this was perhaps rude. He found his eyes darting from one side to the other.

On one side, his sister was dancing with a man most unsuitable.

In fact, if any of his Fitzwilliam family had seen her dancing with a gentleman’s ward, they would have been mortified and accused him of not looking after her properly.

Meanwhile, on his other side, the man he had long regarded as his greatest rival his entire life was making conversation with Elizabeth. Both sides were disturbing. And yet he found that right at this moment, he was not going to be able to do anything about either.