Page 46 of Elizabeth and Caroline
“Oh, soon, of course,” said Georgiana. “Truly, even when my brother is not angry with me, I see him little. I am often alone, and I should like to be married to someone who truly dotes on me, who wishes to be in my presence often. And children, that would be lovely, too.” She gave Elizabeth a small smile.
Elizabeth thought that perhaps Georgiana should be shipped off to live at Longbourn with her sisters instead. That might do her some good. Should she make a match for this poor girl or let her have the chance to be a girl, instead of giving her a household to run on her own at such a tender age and trying to turn her into a grown woman at sixteen?
But, well, regardless of what the best way was to do things, there was the way that society dictated, and who was she to cast aspersions on it?
“All right,” Elizabeth said softly, almost to herself, “I am working on a plan. If it goes well, I shall find a way to make everyone happy.”
“I FEEL WEmust talk about Georgiana,” said Elizabeth to her husband that evening in the drawing room.
“I know you went to visit her today,” said Mr. Darcy. “I’m grateful you are looking in on her, I must say. I love her dearly, but she and I have never been close, I’m afraid. The distance in our ages, the fact that I know not what young girls such as herself even care about, it makes it all difficult.”
Yes, Elizabeth knew it was about Mr. Wickham, but she had determined to leave the man out of the conversation if she could. Her husband did not seem to think clearly when it came to Mr. Wickham.
“I am curious about a few things,” said Elizabeth. “When do you wish to see your sister married, for instance?”
Mr. Darcy raised his eyebrows at her. “Well, she’s still quite young, I suppose, and I have neglected seeing to her coming out in society, so I suppose that must be delayed another year—”
“In point of fact, it is only February, and much of the activity of the Season is only now getting underway,” said Elizabeth. “She likely has some dresses that will be acceptable for now as we are having new ones made up. It would not be impossible to have it all ready. We may or may not be able to get her presented to the Queen, of course. It depends on whether she will open her drawing room soon for young ladies to be presented. But I am told this is not entirely necessary.”
“She should be presented to the Queen, I think,” said Mr. Darcy. “I feel as if my aunt, Lady Matlock, should be involved in this conversation.”
“Well, you said she is out of town. When she returns, she will be.”
“I suppose you can’t simply send her a letter, considering you haven’t been introduced yet,” said Mr. Darcy. “However, you are related to her by marriage. Perhaps it wouldn’t go awry?”
“You send her a letter, sir,” she said, shaking her head at him.
“I could,” he said, thinking about it. “You want to give Georgiana a Season, then.”
“I think she is very lonely, if you want to know the truth,” said Elizabeth. “What I personally want is to put her somewhere in an environment of all young girls her own age and let them all giggle with each other and be young girls for a few more years. I think she could stand to be somewhere where she is safe and welcomed and happy, not in a ballroom. But that is neither here nor there, and I have no capability to move heaven and earth and create such a place for girls. Instead, I can make matches. So, she thinks marriage will make her feel less lonely, and perhaps she’s right. I will find her a marriage, if I can. She wants someone blond with curls.” Elizabeth smiled at her husband at the whimsy of it.
Mr. Darcy raised his eyebrows. “We are back to this matchmaking, I see.”
“We don’t go back to it, Fitz,” she sighed. “I am always thinking about it. It is what I do. And whether or not you think it is even possible, it does not change that fact that I know it is possible and that I am skilled at it.”
“I vex you. I see that.” He was chagrined. “I don’t mean to. I suppose it’s harmless.”
She knew it was, in fact, the opposite of harmless, and that her only worries about it were, in fact, the ways she could do harm to others. But there was no point in this devolving into an argument. “I have a plan for how I can maneuver into society when I have hitherto been hidden away like a bad secret,” she said. “And I don’t know if you’ll like it, so I wish to speak to you about it before I implement it.”
“Now wait a moment,” he said, sitting up straight in the easy chair where he was sitting and fixing her with a stern look. “A bad secret? Is that fair, Lizzy?”
“I did not say I was a bad secret, only that it could look that way.”
“Oh, a politic sidestep,” he muttered.
“It occurred to me that having a marriage like this, one with a woman who is not entirely proper, it could be something to shift interest away from your sister. I thought I might lean into it. Instead of trying to be the most proper and perfect of wives, being seamlessly accepted into society, I thought I would attempt to be a bit improper.”
“What are you saying?” He sounded concerned.
“I worried you might not like it,” she said, smoothing her skirts over her knees. “I would only be improper in ways that might make other women jealous, though, ways they might wish to be improper. Then it looks like freedom, and they are wont to accept me for embracing things they wish they could embrace but are too frightened to embrace.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” he said. “You speak as if propriety is a prison, and it is, in fact, what keeps everything functioning. If we tear it all down, we have no civilization left.”
“I don’t wish to tear anything down,” she said carefully. She sighed. “Are you regretting the fact that you told me that it was your duty to protect me from being too harsh on myself?”
“What?” He shook his head fiercely. “No, not at all. We are engaging in conversation is all, Lizzy. I would not have been as attracted to you as I am if you had not been quite intelligent. I would not be in a relationship with a woman who could not think, after all. I think that would be dull. I suppose I don’t understand, however. Why can you not be proper in order to be accepted?”
“Well, I am not proper, though,” said Elizabeth, spreading her hands. “You yourself have acknowledged this numerous times when talking about the match.”