He wasn't proposing. He was making a declaration of freedom. He was clearing the path, she realized. She squeezed his hand. "Thank you for telling me. And for standing your ground."
"I would stand against the world for this," he whispered.
A shriek of laughter interrupted them. Henry had thrown a snowball that had gone wide and hit Lord Keathley squarely in the back of his expensive coat.
"Oh, it is war!" he roared, scooping up a handful of snow. "Defend yourselves!"
The park dissolved into chaos. The Viscount and Jane against the children. Mrs Gardiner laughing as she dodged crossfire. Even Mr Darcy, after a momentary hesitation, joined in, constructing a snow fort for Ruth with the seriousness of an engineer.
Elizabeth stood back, watching the scene with a smile, until she felt a presence beside her.
It was Miss Darcy. The girl was flushed from the cold and the excitement, but there was a shadow in her eyes. She wasn't playing. She was watching her brother laugh as he tossed snow at Henry.
"He looks happy," she said softly.
"He does," Elizabeth agreed. "It is a good look on him."
"I haven't seen him like this since... since before the summer." Miss Darcy picked at the fringe of her muff. "Miss Elizabeth, may I tell you something? Something only a few of my relatives know?"
Elizabeth turned, sensing the gravity of the moment. "Of course, Miss Darcy. Anything."
"Can you please call me Georgiana? It would make it easier."
"Of course, Georgiana, gladly. And I am Elizabeth to you, or Lizzy as my sisters call me. Tell me what troubles you."
"Elizabeth, you must think us strange. The way William is so protective. The way he panicked when he thought he might lose control." She took a shaky breath. "It is all my fault."
"I am sure that is not true."
"It is. Last summer, at Ramsgate. I was very foolish. I was lonely, and I wanted to believe that someone loved me. I listened to a man. A man I had known since childhood. He told me he loved me. He persuaded me to... to go away with him."
Elizabeth's heart stopped. She knew. Instantly, she knew.
"An elopement?" she whispered.
"Yes. I was fifteen. I didn't understand. I thought it was romantic." Georgiana's eyes filled with tears. "But William came. He arrived unexpectedly. And I was so confused, I confessed everything to him. He saved me. He stopped it. He saved me from ruin." She looked down at her gloved hands,ashamed. "Mr Wickham didn't love me. He was only after my dowry."
What?Elizabeth felt a chill that went deeper than the snow.Wickham?The charming officer in Meryton. The man who had told her such a sob story about Mr Darcy's cruelty. The man she had—heaven help her—flirted with.
She felt a wave of nausea. Mr Darcy hadn't just been jealous or cruel. He had been protecting this girl. He had been dealing with the man who tried to ruin his sister, and then he had come to Hertfordshire and found that same man spreading lies about him.
And she had believed every word. She forced her face to remain calm. She couldn't tell Georgiana that she knew him. Not now. It would shatter the girl to pieces.
"Oh, Georgiana," Elizabeth said, reaching out to take the girl's hands. "You were a child. You were taken advantage of by a predator. That is not your fault. That is his sin, not yours."
"But William blames himself. He thinks he failed me, failed to be a good guardian. That is why he is so severe and absolute with himself."
"He loves you," Elizabeth said fiercely. "That is all I see. A brother who loves you."
She squeezed Georgiana's hands. "Listen to me. You are safe now. You have a brother who would move the heavens for you. You have the Colonel. You have your cousin Robert." She paused, then added, "And you have me. If you ever need to talk, or cry, or just sit with someone who isn't a man, you have me. I am your friend, Georgiana. Always."
Georgiana looked up, tears spilling over. "Thank you. I wanted you to know. Because William thinks the world of you. And I wanted you to understand him."
"I think," Elizabeth said, her voice thick with emotion, "I am finally beginning to."
Georgiana drifted back to the group, wiping her eyes, leaving Elizabeth standing alone by an oak tree. Her mind was reeling. Wickham. Ramsgate. The summer.
It explained everything. Darcy's reserve. His suspicion of strangers. His hostility towards Wickham in Meryton.
