“Later,” Georgiana replied cryptically.
Before Darcy could ask for a clarification, his sister and cousin were walking down the hallway towards the door which led to the internal courtyard. He shrugged and made his way up to the library to place the last of his new treasures into their display cases. It was not until a little later that day he would notice the name inscribed on the book plate on the inside cover of one of the books.
The two cousins and the companion were soon in the coach, which had been warmed with hot bricks. Once the door was closed and everything ready, the four horses began to pull the conveyance out of the courtyard, under theporte cochère,and then turned onto the drive.
“There is a team waiting for us at the inn half way there, is there not?” Georgiana verified. “With our destination twice as that to Lambton, I did not want to waste time having to slow the horses too much.”
“You, Giana, are rather devious. William thinks we are on our way to Lambton,” the Colonel pointed out to his ward.
“Yes, but if he had asked me a direct question, I would have told him the truth. I know there is a good chance William will be going into Lambton today if he can tear himself away from his new books,” Georgiana laughingly replied. “For the last three years, he haswanderedinto the store as I was buying his Christmas present and spoilt my surprise, I am determined this year he willnotdo that. How can I fail with my brave Colonel and Mrs Annesley to assist me?”
“Miss Darcy, you do know a lie of omission is still a lie, do you not?” Mrs Annesley mentioned.
“Yes, Mrs Annesley I do. Had my brother mentioned Lambton, I would have been honour bound to correct him,”Georgiana rationalised. “I am well chaperoned, with you, one of my guardians, and two large footmen. Whether I am in Lambton or another town will not make me more or less safe.”
After about a half hour the driver guided the Darcy coach into the Blue Bird Coaching Inn where a team of horses from Pemberley, which the Colonel had sent out the previous afternoon while his cousin was engrossed with his books, waited for them. Due to the shortness of the travel, those in the cabin did not need to go into the inn. They were on their way again after less than a quarter of an hour.
Just over another half hour later, the coachman slowed his team as they entered the market town. “As you are in charge, where do you want to go first?” the Colonel asked.
“I would like to begin at the bookstore.” Georgiana turned to her companion who was next to her on the forward facing bench. “Did you not say you needed to go to the haberdashery?”
“I should be with you, Miss Darcy,” Mrs Annesley protested.
“As long as my ward is with me and Thompson, you are free to do your shopping, Mrs Annesley,” the Colonel allowed. “The coach will be parked at the inn, if you do not see us, take a seat within and have some tea. We will do the same if we arrive there before you, and you will have the other footman with you.”
Mrs Annesley accepted the arrangements as articulated by the Colonel. After all, he was one of her charge’s guardians.
Once they arrived at the inn, the coachman allowed the passengers to alight before he moved the conveyance towards the barn where the horses would be unhitched to rest for a few hours while the little miss and the Colonel ran their errands.
After seeing Mrs Annesley on the way to the store she wanted, with a footman trailing her, the cousins, followed by the brawny Thompson, made for the bookstore. There wasanother footman waiting outside of the store, and Thompson took up station next to the man while he watched Miss Darcy and the Colonel enter the shop.
Giana, with Richard trailing her, was about to go ask the proprietor if he had any first editions or new books very recently published. She froze as she heard a sob come from the corner, behind a row of bookcases.
She did not mean to listen, but the store was not that large. “Lizzy, what made you begin to cry?” Mary asked as she rubbed her sister’s back.
“I saw the pocket edition of Shakespeare’s…sonnets. Janey used to carry it…with her always. It was damaged when she…rode to Netherfield Park in…the rain,” Elizabeth sobbed as quietly as she was able. She did not want to attract attention. At least she had hoped she had not. However, she must have because a pretty young lady with blonde tresses done in the style of one who was not yet out, with piercing blue eyes, like someone else she had seen before, entered the aisle she and Mary were in. If that was not enough, she was followed by a man in regimentals, those of the regulars, and a Colonel by the looks of things.
“A-are you Miss Bennet?” Georgiana asked tentatively.
Elizabeth and Mary looked at one another as the former dried her eyes. “I am, but how would you know that Miss…?” Elizabeth responded.
Miss Bennet was slightly shorter than her friend, and both ladies were very pretty. Giana understood how Miss Bennet’s eyes captivated her brother. “I am Miss Georgiana Darcy, and this is my cousin, and one of my guardians, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam,” Georgiana enlightened the two ladies in front of her. “Please allow me to convey my deepest condolences for the loss of your sister.”
“On behalf of my sister, Miss Mary, and myself, I thank you, Miss Darcy,” Elizabeth greeted, “I am sorry you found mein such a state, but since Jane’s passing, certain things turn me into a watering pot.”
“Miss Bennet, it is barely more than two months, it is unsurprising you are still so strongly affected by the loss of your sister,” the Colonel stated. “I am only sorry I did not meet you while I was at Netherfield Park, but given the events at the time, it is little wonder. I too add my sympathies to that of my cousin’s. If I may, how is it you are in Metting? When my cousin, brother, and father met with your Uncle Gardiner, William asked after you and he was told you had left London, but not where you had gone.”
That Mr Darcy had asked after her caused Elizabeth to blush. She fought her inclination to reach for the linen square in her coat’s pocket. Seeing her sister’s reaction, Mary stepped in. “Our Aunt Maddie’s brother is the master of Lambert Hills. Uncle and Aunt Gardiner knew we would be more comfortable in the country and away from places which evoked memories of Jane, so our uncle escorted us to the Lamberts’ estate,” Mary revealed.
“Miss Bennet, in mourning do you hold that quiet family celebrations are allowable? Like passing Christmas day with family and close friends?” Georgiana asked slyly as she realised what the perfect present to gift her brother was.
“Yes, that is true,” Elizabeth confirmed not sure what Miss Darcy was asking.
“In my capacity as my brother’s hostess, I would like to invite you both to pass the day of Christmas at Pemberley,” Georgiana proposed with a twinkle in her eye.
“It is a generous invitation, but we are being hosted with our aunt, uncle and their three children,” Elizabeth replied. She felt a little disappointed, she would not have minded seeing Pemberley, and if that meant speaking to Mr Darcy again, so much the better.
“If you agree when we have all completed our shopping,we can accompany you back to Lambert Hills and I will extend the invitation to the Lamberts as well,” Georgiana suggested.
