“It was nothing, really,” Elizabeth breathed. She could not seem to tear her eyes away from his. “It was only a training piece.”
Mr Darcy smiled intimately at her. “But in your hands, it was magnificent.”
Elizabeth knew she must say something, but could not imagine what, when the necessity was suddenly removed. Georgiana struck the last chords of the piece with a flourish and turned to them with a smile.
“Shall I play another?” Georgiana asked brightly.
Mr Darcy stood, clearing his throat. “That was lovely, Georgiana. I have missed hearing you play,” he complimented her with obvious sincerity. “Please, do play another, if you would like.”
He looked down at Elizabeth. She stood, unable to keep herself from looking at him. Surely there was far too much emotion visible in her eyes.
Elizabeth cleared her throat. “Yes, do play another, Georgiana. Shall I pick one this time?”
“Yes, please,” Georgiana said. Elizabeth went over to the little wooden case and began sorting through its contents. Mr Darcy came over to the piano, and he and Georgiana began to converse — slowly at first, and with many pauses, but with a degree of ease beyond what they could have hoped for even a day before.
Yet all the while, Elizabeth could feel Mr Darcy’s gaze on her, as clearly as though he had lightly touched her. It was a disquieting sensation, but by no means unpleasant. Her awareness of him seemed sharpened until they might as well have been connected by an invisible thread, strung taut.
Pushing the fanciful idea away, Elizabeth quickly chose a suitable piece and handed it to Georgiana. “Here, try this one,” she said, her voice shaking ever so slightly.
“Oh, an excellent choice,” Georgiana said. Mr Darcy seemed at the point of sitting down to listen when a footman entered the room with a letter on a silver salver.
“A message for you, Mr Darcy.”
“Thank you,” he murmured, taking the note and rapidly scanning it. He looked up at them with obvious disappointment. “Please excuse me, Elizabeth, Georgiana. I am sorry to say that a tree has fallen on a tenant’s cottage — you may recall the Graham family. I must attend to this straightaway.”
“Was anyone injured?” Elizabeth asked him.
He shook his head. “No, thankfully not. But in such cold as this, they must have somewhere else to stay until the roof can be repaired. I must find a place for them and hire men to mend the damage.”
“Of course you must go,” Elizabeth agreed, and Georgiana, though obviously disappointed her brother could not stay, firmly agreed.
Elizabeth watched him until he disappeared, then turned and sat down on the settee, feeling as though her legs would go out from under her. His absence was almost as much a relief as adisappointment, for she felt badly in need of a little time to sort out her own feelings.
“Shall I go on?” Georgiana asked hesitantly.
“Yes, please do.”
A complicated progression of chords and arpeggios soon filled the room. Elizabeth closed her eyes for a moment, leaning against the settee. She was glad that Georgiana was engrossed in the difficult piece, for she did not think she could have borne it if her sister-in-law had noticed her odd behaviour towards Mr Darcy. Their marriage, which had begun in so strange and unpromising a way, had taken a turn Elizabeth could never have anticipated. She was falling in love with her husband. What an absurd thought!
Chapter 21
“Are you sure you want to go through with this?” Colonel Fitzwilliam’s voice lacked its usual warmth and cheer.
Darcy looked up, surprised by the intrusion. His cousin had entered his study without knocking and closed the door firmly behind him — all signs, as though any had been needed, of how awkward he found the task before them. Darcy could only agree. “It could make the remainder of their visit very awkward, and we must not make matters more difficult for Georgiana,” Fitzwilliam added.
Darcy stood and came around the desk, rubbing his chin in thought. “You are quite right in pointing out the difficulty. All the same, I think we must. It would be better to have time to get some of these things settled before they depart. I would not want to open such a discussion the day they are set to depart, and not give ample time to work through our differences.”
“Yes, but it is all too likely that Wickham will go to Georgiana and complain about our meddling. You know how good he is at twisting people’s words.” Fitzwilliam gave afrustrated sigh and sank into one of the plush chairs before the blazing hearth. “He is a wily one.”
“So he is,” Darcy agreed. He sat down beside his cousin, leaning forward to stare into the flames. He had tried not to let the surprise show on his face when Elizabeth told him that Georgiana had no pianoforte in her London house. There should have been ample funds and opportunity over the last six months for Wickham to buy an instrument for her, if not so fine a one as she had at Pemberley. That Wickham had refused was deeply concerning. Was he punishing Georgiana because he and Fitzwilliam had not released the whole of her inheritance to him? It seemed all too likely.
Upon apprising his cousin of the news, Fitzwilliam had found it equally worrying. If less certain than Darcy that confronting Wickham was the proper course forward, he at least agreed that something ought to be done.
Thus Darcy had asked Wickham to come to his study for a private meeting — an appointment that was now only minutes away. Fitzwilliam would prove a valuable witness, Darcy had no doubt. He could not answer for his temper if he confronted Wickham alone.
“You are sure that Mrs Darcy did not mishear what Georgiana said?” Fitzwilliam asked. “She explicitly said that Georgiana stated they could not get a pianoforte for the new house because their monthly funds would not allow for it?”
“That is exactly what she said. I did not bring it up with Georgiana, of course. I would not want to cause a rift between her and her husband, no matter how unworthy he is,” Darcy said dryly. “It is better for us to confront him. If he were to live within his means, he should be more than able to buy an instrumentfor her. I do not much care to think of what he is doing with the money instead.”
