“Are you aware of what that dead seducer attempted with my cousin, Georgiana Darcy?” Hilldale queried.
“I am,” Jane admitted.
“Gigi has not been shunned for her almost disastrous error, and neither would I send you away because your sister fell victim to that libertine’s charms. You said that as far as anyone in Meryton is concerned, your sister and two other girls were sent to a school in the north,” Hilldale recapped. “Also, did you not say that not one hint of scandal about your family has been spoken of in the neighbourhood around your father’s estate?”
“Yes, all of that is true,” Jane confirmed.
“Then let us have no more talk of you sending me away because of something done to your sister. If it is your choice not to pursue a courtship with me, as much as I would hate to, I would withdraw from the field. However, if your desire is to continue to see whether we, as I believe we do, are the perfect fit one for the other, do not allow that late miscreant any power to spoil what we could have together.” Hilldale looked intently into Miss Bennet’s eyes. His face was but inches from hers.
“As what I told you did not scare you off, I think we both agree that we are more than likely one another’s match. Yes, Lord Hilldale, I would very much like to be courted by you,” Jane responded with a look ofpleasure on her face. “Will you call me Jane in private?”
“As long as you call me Andrew when we are not in public. I have a feeling it will not be long before the formality between us will be banished in public as well.” He smiled at Jane as she blushed.
He took each of her hands and bestowed lingering kisses on first one and then the other. The feeling of his lips on her uncovered skin sent thrills and tingles coursing through Jane’s body. She knew this was not the time, but she could not stop herself from wondering how wonderful it would feel for his lips to touch her own.
“I need to speak to Gardiner. I know you are of age, so I do not need his permission, but out of respect for him, I would like his blessing.” Hilldale stood and offered Jane his hand to help her up.
After the kisses to her hands, her legs felt somewhat weak, but she managed to stand with his assistance. Jane could not have been happier. Not only because she was being courted by this wonderful, considerate man, but also because he did not think it below him to ask her tradesman uncle for his blessing.
When the couple entered the drawing room, the Gardiners and Elizabeth could instantly tell from the glow of pleasure emanating from Jane that the interview had ended on a very positive note. Elizabeth lifted her eyes to the heavens to give thanks for her most deserving sister being put on the path to a lifetime of felicity with a man who deserved her.
It was the work of a moment for Gardiner to grant his blessing.
“Just like Andrew told us about his keeping his true identity hidden before we left this room, I did not want to accept his offer for a courtship until he knew about Lyddie. Like what he told us did not make me want to break with him;what I related made no difference to Andrew,” Jane reported.
“Miss Elizabeth, I would be pleased if you too would address me as Andrew in private, and you as well, Mrs Gardiner,” Hilldale offered.
“I am Elizabeth, or Lizzy,” Elizabeth accepted.
“Even though we are, I believe, close in age; unless you find it too strange, Andrew, you may address me as Aunt Maddie,” she allowed.
It was no great surprise that Hilldale spent the rest of the day at Lakeshore House and did not return home until well after dinner that night. As soon as he arrived home, he wrote a letter to his parents.
Chapter 23
While acting as chaperon to Jane and Andrew, Elizabeth was feeling some of her mother’s famous nerves as she waited for a reply from Gigi. She kept on worrying that she had been far too forward and had caused Mr Darcy to withdraw.
Yes, it was only the final day of June, but still her mind made her worry even though today would be the first possible day a reply would likely arrive.
She was aware that in the absence of certain knowledge, that she was allowing her mind to run free, imagining the worst possible reactions to her daring paragraphs in her last letter to Gigi. No matter how much Elizabeth knew that her mind was tending towards the worst interpretations, she could not help but wonder if Mr Darcy would refuse to allow Gigi to continue to correspond with one who was so forward. If that was the case, it would lead to some awkwardness when Jane and Andrew married, and she became a cousin to the Darcys.
The three of them had been walking along the lake shore not too distant from the Gardiners’ house. Elizabeth was still deep in thought when they arrived back at the house. She did not notice that there was an additional horse in the stable to the one side of the dwelling.
On entering the drawing room, Maddie smiled when she noted Lizzy’s faraway look. She did not know what had caused it, because when she had asked her niece, Lizzy had waved away her concerns. She had a feeling her niece was about tocheer up considerably. “Lizzy, Edward and I will sit with Jane and Andrew. There is a letter waiting for you in your chamber.” She placed her hand on Lizzy’s arm because her niece was about to bolt towards her chamber. “Before you go, Edward and I received a letter from your father. Yes, you did not mishear; your father wrote an epistle. Jane and Lizzy, you will be happy to hear that Lydia will not bear the results of being manipulated.”
“That is the best of news,” Jane stated. Next to her, she saw Andrew nod his head in agreement.
“Indeed, they are very welcome tidings,” Elizabeth stated. “Now when the neighbours hear that Lyddie was sent to a school for wayward young girls, it will be nothing but the truth.” She paused and looked at her aunt and uncle beseechingly. “May I go and read my missive?”
“Go, Lizzy,” Gardiner allowed with a grin.
Elizabeth did not have to be told more than once. She managed to keep to a walk even though her inclination was to run. She closed her chamber door and walked to the dresser where the sealed letter was leaning against the mirror. She felt relief flood through her body as soon as she identified Gigi’s script. All her worries were for nought; Mr Darcy had not forbidden his sister to correspond with her.
After removing her half boots, she grabbed the epistle, and Elizabeth threw herself onto her bed. She propped the pillows up behind her back and leaned against them, all the while clutching the paper as if it were her most valuable possession. She stared at it for some moments.
Admonishing herself for being silly, Elizabeth broke the seal and opened the pages. A single page fell out from the centre of the missive. On it Gigi had written:Read my letter first.
As curious as she was, Elizabethdid as her friend asked no matter how much her inquisitive nature was crying out to read the still folded page.
