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 endof 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.”
“Georgiana,” said Darcy when she fell silent. “While I appreciate your thanks, I cannot say that I have done anything that any man of moral character would not have done in my stead. I did not offer to keep you here to make myself feel superior—I did it because I was concerned about you and wished to make your loss as easy to bear as I could.”
Darcy grinned, provoking her to respond. “As for my betrothed and her sister, I would point out that it is because you are such an excellent girl that they came to esteem you so quickly. That, my dear, is all your doing.”
A blush settled over her face, her responding nod shy. “Thank you for that. I hope you understand what you have taken on.”
“Oh?” asked Darcy, seeing a jest forthcoming. “And what is that?”
“Only that I mean to accept your offer so long as you can endure my presence. You shall never be rid of me unless I marry someday, for I mean to keep Kitty and Elizabeth’s, and all her sisters’ society forever.”
“They will welcome your society as much as you wish for theirs.”
Georgiana offered a pleased nod. “As for Mrs. Younge’s suggestion of the sea, I have no desire to go—as you are to become my guardian, I wish to inform you now. Perhaps, should the opportunity present itself, I should be pleased to go if you and Elizabeth are to go.”
“We shall discuss that when the time comes,” said Darcy. “As I intend to take Elizabeth on a wedding tour, we might use the house at Ramsgate. Perhaps this summer we could go to the lakes?”
“It is a lovely place,” agreed Georgiana. “You now own a lodge there—I should love to show it to you.”
“Then, should the occasion permit, we shall go.”
A bright smile lit up her face, and she excused herself, leaving Darcy to contemplate her after she was gone. Knowing her situation in the world, though he did, Darcy had not considered the truth that she was now the only member of her family left. Darcy did not think he had done anything so noble as he had informed her, but he could not but rejoice that his efforts to make things easier for the girl and repair her shattered life were not without success. When they went to Hertfordshire and met the remaining Bennet sisters, Darcy knew they would complete Georgiana’s transformation into a laughing creature. As she had said, she would always bear the scars of her lost family, but that was part of the experience of mortality. New and lasting ties of blood, family, and friendship would take the place of those, and Georgiana would yet live a happy life.
“I WISH TO ANNOUNCEsomething of interest to us all, Mrs. Bennet,” said Mr. Bennet one day not long after Elizabeth and Kitty returned from the north.
The calendar had turned to March, and spring was approaching with warmer weather, hope, and new horizons in its wake, and Elizabeth’s wedding, for which Mrs. Bennet had entered a frenzy of planning. This announcement of her father’s, therefore, was a surprise, for he had said nothing to any of them.
“What might that be, Mr. Bennet?” asked his wife. “I hope it is nothing that will tax my strength, for I must plan for Lizzy’s wedding!”
“It should not be beyond your capabilities, my dear,” said Mr. Bennet. “The timing is not the best, but I believe we have no choice.
“You see,” said he, holding up a letter sitting beside his plate, “I received a letter from my cousin, requesting leave to visit us and ‘heal the breach between our families’ as he terms it.”
“Mr. Collins? Your heir is to come to Longbourn?”
Elizabeth well remembered her mother’s nerves before William showed interest in her, for though she still displayed them, they were a pale shadow of what they had been before. Had Mrs. Bennet still lived in fear for her future, Elizabeth could imagine how she would react to the news that the man who had the power to turn her out of her home was to visit. As it was, Mrs. Bennet’s question was sensible and more than a little distracted, likely because she was still immersed in thoughts of what remained to be done to prepare for Elizabeth’s fete.
“He is,” confirmed her husband. “As I said, the timing is not the best, but I did not think it prudent to rebuff him. For good or ill, Mr. Collins will someday be the proprietor of this estate; itseems natural that he would wish to view it before he comes into his inheritance.”
Mrs. Bennet nodded, though she remained preoccupied. “Yes, you are correct to be certain. Welcoming Mr. Collins is no trouble, but I hope you do not mean for us to entertain him at all hours of the day. There is yet much to be done to plan Lizzy’s ball, and I would not endure a fortnight’s delay—if he intrudes upon our planning, I have no notion of how I will complete it all.”
“I dare say all will be well, Mrs. Bennet. So long as we ensure my cousin is aware of the situation when he comes, he should not intrude much. In responding to his letter, I have made this same point to him; he does not seem to see it as a concern.”
“Very well, Mr. Bennet. When is Mr. Collins to come?”
“March the sixteenth. According to his suggestion, he means to stay until Saturday week.
“What I did not tell your mother, Lizzy,” said Mr. Bennet to Elizabeth later in his study, “is that my cousin does not appear to be a sensible sort of man. Here, read his letter, if you can endure his flowery prose, for I suspect you will think no more of his capabilities when you read it than I do.”
As her father suggested, Mr. Collins’s comments were nothing short of ridiculous, from homage to his patroness to his assertions of his eagerness to admire Mr. Bennet’s daughters. In saying so, Elizabeth thought she caught a whiff of the man’s true reason for approaching them.
