Page 29 of The Shades of Pemberley

P eace settled over Pemberley for the first time in what seemed like months in the wake of Lady Catherine’s departure.

With the lack of such a disrupting influence, the visit of the Bennet and Darcy ladies proceeded in daily meetings and excursions to nearby sights known to both Georgiana and Fitzwilliam and ended a week later with the visitors returning to the south with the promise that the Darcy party would follow as soon as they could thereafter.

As might be expected, Darcy traveled to Lambton the morning the ladies were to depart, eager for a few more precious minutes in Elizabeth’s company. While together, they discussed the last few details they still needed to resolve about their future.

“You may tell your mother,” said Darcy as they stood on the street, waiting for the luggage to be loaded on the carriage, “that I shall return by about the middle of March. I shall write to confirm the exact date when I know it.”

Elizabeth smiled and nodded. “Mama will be pleased to hear it, for she has gone on about the delay in our nuptials; one might almost think it was she who must endure the wait.”

“That is your mother, to be certain,” said Darcy with a fond chuckle for the woman who, while not a model of propriety, was a loving woman who had raised her daughters to be a credit to the family. “What do you say about an early April wedding, Elizabeth?”

“I say that I shall endure it, so long as we do not delay it a moment longer.”

“Then we agree,” said Darcy, kissing her hands. “Inform your mother. Should anything delay my return, I shall still promise to arrive by the date of our wedding, whatever may come.”

“Very well,” said Elizabeth, her pleasure shining in her face.

“It appears we must leave you now, William,” said his mother as she approached them with Kitty on her heels.

Darcy noted the carriage was ready to depart, and he nodded, though with no little reluctance. “It appears to be so. Thank you for escorting Elizabeth here, Mother.”

“I would not have you pine away with no hope of seeing her,” quipped his mother, with Kitty giggling behind her.

“No, indeed,” was Elizabeth’s wry addition to the conversation.

“I cannot wait until we are again in each other’s company, Elizabeth.”

With a last few words of affection and farewell, Darcy handed the ladies into the coach and watched as it rolled down the street and onto the road leading south beyond.

To Darcy’s gratification, Elizabeth turned to look at him, her eyes remaining fixed on his until she was too far away to see.

Then, when the carriage disappeared, Darcy sighed and mounted his horse, setting it into a canter toward Pemberley.

The ensuing days proceeded much as those previous.

Darcy busied himself about the estate, riding out to meet tenants, dealing with disputes, inspecting fences and fields, and learning all he could about his new enterprise.

As the last days of February waned and March arrived, their attention turned to planting, and Darcy closeted himself with Moore, the steward of the estate.

In all this, Fitzwilliam was his faithful companion; even if he had not managed an estate himself, Fitzwilliam had learned at his father’s knee.

At length, when the first week of March had almost passed away, Darcy made the final decision on his return to the south; as Fitzwilliam’s need to return to his duties influenced the timing, they planned to travel together.

“It is a letter from my general,” said Fitzwilliam as he opened a folded missive that accompanied Pemberley’s post that morning. “As I suspected, he is requesting my return to my post in London.”

“That is unfortunate,” said Georgiana, though with a twinkle in her eye. “You have enjoyed this holiday from soldiering, but now you must go back.”

Fitzwilliam turned a grin at his young cousin. “Time and the army wait for no man, Georgiana. As I am a second son, I must make my way in the world, and thus, I serve at the pleasure of my commanding officer.”

“When do you suppose you will overcome your wanderlust?” Georgiana offered the question with studied innocence. “As I recall, you must have a woman possessing fifty thousand pounds to maintain your lifestyle. Do you not suppose you should be about finding her?”

“Perhaps I would, if I thought there was any chance of it. If I could convince Charity to introduce me to her hordes of friends, I might have some success.”

Georgiana shook her head, and Fitzwilliam turned to Darcy. “It appears that I am for the south, Darcy, for I must be in London by the twenty-third.”

Darcy considered the date. “Shall we depart on the seventeenth? We shall be at Netherfield by the nineteenth, then you will have only a brief journey to London.”

“I have no objection,” agreed Fitzwilliam.

“If I might make a suggestion,” said Mrs. Younge.

When Fitzwilliam nodded, she addressed Georgiana. “As you recall, your brother and I discussed a holiday on the coast. Perhaps when we go to the south, you and I can proceed to the house in Ramsgate and stay there for a few weeks.”

“I am not certain that is at all advisable at the moment,” said Fitzwilliam while Darcy watched. “What do you think, Georgiana?”

As they had received no confirmation about Georgiana’s guardianship question, Darcy allowed Fitzwilliam to speak in situations such as this.

It would, he supposed, be acceptable for Georgiana to holiday in Ramsgate in April, as her deep mourning for her brother would have elapsed.

However, Darcy agreed with Fitzwilliam, for he thought Georgiana would be better at Netherfield in the society of Elizabeth’s sisters.

Georgiana, it appeared, agreed with Darcy’s opinion on the subject.

“Going to Ramsgate is appealing, but I believe I would prefer Hertfordshire instead.” Georgiana turned a smile at Darcy. “I am impatient to see Kitty again and to meet her other sisters, for both Elizabeth and Kitty have told me so much about them.”

“The season will soon start,” added Darcy. “Though I know you are too young to participate, I suspect your aunt and uncle would prefer you remain in London for the duration. Perhaps this summer we can consider the Ramsgate proposal.”

“I agree,” said Georgiana.

“Thank you, Mrs. Younge,” said Fitzwilliam, turning back to the companion. “Please continue as you have. Georgiana can concentrate on her studies while she remains at Pemberley, as I cannot suppose she will be so eager when she is among the Bennet sisters in Hertfordshire.”

“Very well, Colonel Fitzwilliam,” said Mrs. Younge, not showing a hint of her feelings.

It was later that day, when Darcy was alone in the study seeing to a few matters, that Georgiana joined him.

The knock on the door was so diffident that Darcy suspected who it was at once, not at all surprised when the girl entered upon hearing his invitation.

Though he had come to know her these weeks in Derbyshire, Darcy had rarely spoken in private with her.

As he was not her brother, some might call a private conversation in a room with a closed door a breach of propriety, but as Darcy was to become her guardian, he did not concern himself with such things.

“Yes, Georgiana?” asked Darcy when she sat in a chair in front of the desk, perching herself on the edge as if ready to flee at the first sign of danger.

The girl did not speak for several moments after she entered, but then she appeared to gather her courage. “I wished to... thank you, William.”

Darcy arched an eyebrow. “For what, my dear?”

Georgiana fidgeted with the gown. “For making the transition so easy for me.”

While Darcy thought to protest any such thanks being needed, he sensed she had something she wished to say and would lose her nerve if he interrupted.

With this in mind, he waited for her to continue, a wait that proved longer than he expected.

When she spoke again, there was a quaver in her voice, but the longer she spoke, the stronger it became.

“My... brother’s passing was difficult for me.” Georgiana paused and shook her head. “Some might say that is obvious, and I cannot but suppose they are correct, for it is never easy to lose a loved one.”

Georgiana looked at him, a hint of pain deep in her blue eyes.

“It has been hard, for I am a young girl, only sixteen, who has lost all her family.

I never knew my mother as she died when I was a babe, and then my father died five years ago, leaving me feeling alone and adrift in the world.

Then, when Jamie had his accident, I thought my world had ended, for I was now the only Darcy remaining.

The thought of another master coming to Pemberley filled me with dread, for I was certain it was the end of my residence here.

I am the last of my family, and I wondered what would become of me.

“You were nothing I expected.” The girl’s lips curled into a slight smile.

“In truth, I cannot say I knew what I expected.

Yet you came and instantly reassured me that, though my brother and parents were all gone, you were willing to serve as a surrogate.

Of course, I had my aunt and uncle, Anthony, James, Charity, and Rachel, but there is something.

.. comfortable about coming to esteem another who bears the Darcy name.

In some strange way, our shared history is reassuring; I still have family in the world, as silly as that sounds.

“Then you arranged for your betrothed to come to Pemberley along with your mother and her sister, and I knew that I would never want for family with their love and support. I have lost Jamie, and that will always be a wound in my heart, but you have given me another chance to have a family to love, and for that, I will always thank you. It is more than I expected, and not at all what I feared.”