“But it is in any case ridiculous. You would not do such a thing. You are…well, you areyou. You can be trusted. I should not be so confident in my judgement on the matter. But I do havesomeexperience in being deceived.Youbehave nothing like Mrs. Younge or Mr. Wickham did when they deceived me. And besides, you did not immediately accept my poor brother. He is anxious upon the matter.”
“Good. I have enough anxiety about it to be pleased with the company.”
“No, no. He is just scared that you shall say no. That is part of why I came out.”
“I hadhopedfor some time to think, not to hear you make his case for him.”
“You had at least an hour, Lizzy. That must be plenty if you were thinking about it sensibly.”
“And yet,” Elizabeth replied, “I made no progress at all in my thoughts.”
“He likes you so very much,” Georgiana said. “And you two are such easy friends. And you can make him laugh, though I hardly understand it. You say such daring things to him, that I would die to say, and then he laughs at them.”
Elizabeth smiled at this description. “I am not surprised thatyouhave rather more difficulty in that matter. You have been raised to see him nearly in the nature of a father.”
“Yes, but you make him happier. I have never seen him smile so much. And he was so unhappy at first, about having killed Wickham. And now he is much less so. And you have taken such care of him, and of me, and of everyone. And you are a perfect mother, and you have been what I always imagined a sister would be. And…but I see that I am speaking about whyIwould be pleased if you married my brother, and not why it would be good foryou.”
Elizabeth hugged Georgiana. They both then sat on the sand next to the sleeping George.
“Thatyouare so pleased by the notion is no small incentive.” Elizabeth sighed. “I am frightened.”
“Because you made a mistake. But I can promise you that my brother’s character is perfect. He never makes mistakes.”
Elizabeth laughed. “If I thoughtthatwas true, I certainly would not consider marrying him.Ihave been known to make mistakes. It would hardly do to enter such an unequal match.”
“It is so very romantic,” Georgiana said.
“No, no, no. Do not say that. I hate romance, and I distrust it. I am determined to never make a decision driven by romantic notions again. Not once in my life.” Then Elizabeth sighed and leaned back against her arms. She stared at the blue sky, the wispy clouds, and the cawing sea birds. “But I suppose then I know what I must do.”
“Oh, no! Don’t refuse poor Fitzwilliam. Not just because I said it was romantic.”
Elizabeth laughed. “I mean to accept him. Because it willnotbe romantic.”
Chapter Thirteen
“George, go—”
“I wanna stay. You are going to tell him yes. I know you will. You said you would.”
This rather reduced the strong feeling of suspense that Darcy had, but Elizabeth’s solemn expression left some in place.
“Really,” Elizabeth said, “it does not do to say such things—one must keep any gentleman admirer in suspense for as long as you might. But I suppose that will never be an issue for you. Now,go—and no, Mr. Darcy, as much as you delight in keeping little George around, this is not a case where I wish for him to be here.”
“Are you also banishing me?” Colonel Fitzwilliam said rising with a smile. “Alas, if onlyIhad made a march on Darcy, I could enjoy the affection of such loveliness myself.”
Elizabeth smiled at his cousin, but in a sort of dismissive way. “Are you not holding out for at least fifty thousand pounds?”
“By no means; as the second son of an earl, I can never expect more than forty. Not unless my brother were particularly unhealthy. Unfortunately, he both has his own heirandis a picture of good health—also, unfortunately he does not always show good sense. I am warning you, to not expect a sensible fellow when you two meet.”
“So, you assume we shall?” Elizabeth said.
Colonel Fitzwilliam smiled. “You did inform your son about your intentions.”
“I believed he was asleep.”
For his part Darcy was happy that his cousin was providing none of the opposition that he had feared from that quarter.
“Yes, you’d best go as well,” Elizabeth said. She frowned and then sat down in the chair next to Darcy. Her expression was stiff. Her fingers pressed together and twisted in her lap. She held herself away from the chair so that her back did not touch the velvet.
