The girls’ laughter as they raced across the last pasture echoed against the trees, after which they slowed their pace and entered the woods.
“Now, I hope you will explain yourself to me,” Georgiana said suddenly. “We seem to be working at cross purposes, and I must know your intentions.”
“Explain what? Intentions with what?”
“Your sister, to start with.”
“What has Jane to do with anything?” Elizabeth was genuinely confused.
“I was trying to create opportunities for Mr. Bingley and Jane to get to know one another, and you seemed intent on preventing it.” Georgiana sounded truly put out.
“I had not realised,” Elizabeth laughed. “I certainly was not actively trying to stop you. It is only,” here she paused, uncertain how to explain herself. “I was only trying to do what it seemed would make Jane the most comfortable.”
“Did I overstep?” Georgiana asked. “I would not wish for Jane to feel uncomfortable at Pemberley for anything.”
“It is not that. You did nothing untoward.”
“Very well, then can you assist me tomorrow at dinner—let us ensure she and Mr. Bingley have every opportunity to spend time together.”
“I have no objection to Jane and Mr. Bingley getting to know one another, but let us not be prescriptive about it. Thereare a number of people Jane and I do not know, and tomorrow’s dinner and the other outings we have planned over the next two weeks will provide opportunities for us to see and know all of the new people.”
“So you are hoping for time with someone in particular?”
Elizabeth and Georgiana had never spoken of Elizabeth’s feelings for her brother. Lizzy assumed her friend knew only because when she was younger, Lizzy was less than subtle about it. Thinking on those years sometimes still made her blush with embarrassment. Since Georgiana had never brought it up, Elizabeth had not either.
“That is not what I said.”
“That is not an answer,” Georgiana countered.
They rode side by side, still about half an hour from their destination. “Have you developed a preference for my cousin?”
Without meaning to, Elizabeth pulled Neptune up short. “Colonel Fitzwilliam? Whyever would you think that?”
As it turned out, the easy rapport she and Stephen had quickly established could be misconstrued.
“I am sorry,” Georgiana said once they had canvassed it all and it was clear Elizabeth had no interest in her cousin and implied that she suspected some mutual interest between him and Jane which, as it turned out, thwarted another of Georgiana’s plans—this time for Jane and Mr. Bingley.
“Perhaps we should both give up any pretence at matchmaking,” Elizabeth laughed. “We are hopeless.”
“It is true, but I have always wanted you in my family, and since it seems you and my brother are not inclined to one another, Stephen was the ideal solution,” Georgiana said, her face scrunched in concentration.
Elizabeth’s gasp of surprise was covered by a birdcall. She thought carefully how to respond.
“What has happened to bring you to these conclusions?” She was proud of how her curiosity sounded reasonable and not as desperate as she felt.
They had reached the pond, so Elizabeth had to wait several excruciating minutes while they dismounted, gave their horses a quick rub-down and then found seats on a log alongside the water. Before she began to speak, Georgiana took Elizabeth’s hands into hers.
“Ever since we met, I have had this childish fantasy that you would be my sister someday. At first, it wasn’t connected to you and William, but after a few summers, I thought you and he marrying was the perfect solution. Once upon a time, I believe you even harboured some girlish dreams to this effect.” This was said with such a mixture of certainty and nonchalance that Elizabeth was almost not embarrassed by how true it was. “It sounds silly when I say it all out loud, but I just felt as though all we needed was for William to wake up and see you were perfect and perfect for him. He always liked you, and you got on so well. It did not seem so impossible.”
Impossible was exactly how Elizabeth always thought of herself and Darcy. Her affection for him was such a part of her she rarely questioned it, but her belief in his indifference was just as certain, so there was no use in considering it. Butsuddenly someone else was speaking of this impossible thing as if it was, at one time anyway, not impossible. She had to know more.
“I wonder why you never mentioned this plan to me.”
“You are teasing me, but in truth, I just thought of it as inevitable and did not imagine you two needed my help at all. But then John Robertson gave me pause. He showed genuine interest, which you seemed to return at least in part. Still, I thought you and William might yet warm to one another in time. Not until I overheard William speaking with Mr. Bingley after breakfast the morning of your stay did I realise the futility of that scheme.”
A feeling of dread settled in Elizabeth’s stomach, but still she couldn’t help but ask, “What was said?”
“Mr. Bingley was teasing him about you, saying William had not described you properly. And then he said he must have an ulterior motive for doing such a thing.”
