Georgiana blanched and dropped her eyes. “I do not control my husband. No decent wife would even try.”
Drinking, gaming, or prostitution was how her two guineas werespent. She could not fully account for everywhere Darcy went or whom he saw, but he was home every evening. He assured her with his words and behaviour that he was faithful. Darcy had never said that he loved her, but at least his actions proved he cared for her and respected her.
“Aside from his disrespecting you by not being faithful…Georgiana, I fear he will give you some malady, if he has not already.”
She sucked in a breath. “I did not come here to be insulted,” she said harshly. “I came here for help.”
Elizabeth sighed and handed over three more pounds, but Georgiana baulked. “This is hardly anything. My brother must give you more than this.”
“This is all the ready cash I have,” she said, bristling at her ingratitude. “I am given pin money quarterly to have accounts wherever I shop.”
Georgiana sighed and shoved the coins into her reticule. “Wickham will be disappointed.”
“You must know I can give you very little,” Elizabeth said. “Why come to me at all?”
“My husband says you are a valuable ally in reconciling with my brother. I told him what a good friend you had been to me in Ramsgate.”
“Idowant you to reconcile, but you know under what terms that must happen.”
Her eyes flashed, and she crossed her arms. “I must live apart from my husband? Be further dismissed and slighted? Forsake all hope of children? That is madness.”
“So was marrying that man.”
“I am a wife now, Mrs Darcy! How many girls of fifteen are so secure?” Georgiana threw up her hands. “I no longer must spend the next ten years parading my accomplishments, talking to strangers, being on display. Forcing myself to pretend I am not shy just to get a husband. I am loved, and venerated for having entered the married state.”
Elizabeth shook her head. She might be glad to avoid putting her shy nature on display for the world, but Georgiana wanted tobe distinguished as a married woman. She really was a lovesick girl.
“I hope you will carefully consider your situation, my dear,” Elizabeth said sadly. “If you change your mind or need a friend to talk to, you must send for me.”
“And if we need more money?”
“I have given you over five pounds in four days,” Elizabeth cried. “There will be no more money. You ought to afford a servant to help you now, and what I gave you today will cover your necessities until your husband finds employment.”
Georgiana heaved a sigh and fidgeted with her fingers. “Then, then may I come to the house?” she asked timidly. “I have clothes and other items in the room I used when I visited my brother. They were stored there after I left school for when I was to form my establishment with Mrs Younge after we went to Ramsgate.”
This was a request she could answer. “You and Wickham are not welcome at the house, but I will have them sent to you. Which Edward Street are you in?”
Georgiana paled. “Did I say Edward Street?”
“You did. What is the matter?”
Georgiana now looked like a little girl rather than a defiant young lady. “Wickham does not want Fitzwilliam to know where we are. He fears he will come in the night and steal me away.”
That did not sound like Darcy. If he did not force her in Gretna Green, why would he do so now? Besides, Wickham would have the legal right to bring her home. Darcy gave his sister every opportunity to make the right choice for herself. He was not the sort to force a woman or a dependant into anything. And if he dragged his sister away, she would just go right back to Wickham.
“He will not seek you out unless you send word you want to abandon your husband. Please, where may I send your belongings?”
Georgiana fervently shook her head. “I cannot tell you. Wickham forbade me to say. Please, can I not just come to the house?”
“And how will you carry away your clothes on your own?” She certainly did not have a footman or a carriage or even the money to hire one.
Her sister-in-law huffed. “It is not really clothes or personal items. It is a few jewels and some books. I want to sell them.”
Georgiana looked ashamed, and Elizabeth felt for her. She had been an heiress of thirty thousand pounds, with all the connexions a girl could ask for, a home with a brother who doted on her, and now she was destitute and despised for marrying a well-known seducer and gamester. Yes, it was all of her own making, but Elizabeth held back any further reprimands.
“Your brother mentioned needing to go to Derbyshire soon. When he is gone, you may collect your things.”
“How will I know he is gone? I will not tell you where to direct a letter to me. Wickham does not trust you not to tell my brother where I am.”
