“Come in.”
Ruby entered and curtsied. “Miss Darcy, I have a note for Miss Elizabeth, from Gracechurch Street.”
Elizabeth felt an instant unease. Her aunt would not write unless there was some urgency.
She rose as Ruby crossed the room and handed her the letter.
“Thank you, Ruby.”
Elizabeth sat down and broke the seal. She read the short note once, then again, before lifting her eyes to her friend.
“Georgiana… I am called back to Longbourn.”
Georgiana’s face paled. “Why?”
“My mother writes that my father has taken ill and I am to return home to care for him. Mother fears for his life.”
Georgiana whispered, “Oh, Lizzy… this is very bad.”
“My mother has a tendency toward exaggeration. I cannot yet know whether this is a true alarm, or merely a scheme to draw me home and place me once more in my cousin’s path.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Or perhaps my father truly is dying, and she has sent for me, her least favored daughter, as a last resort. When it comes to the sickroom, my mother has never been of much use. Our housekeeper has always been more nurse than she.”
Georgiana reached for her hand. “You will write to me, Lizzy. I should wish to know how you go on,” Georgiana asked, concerned. “Are you close to your father?”
Elizabeth sat, staring at the pair of lovebirds, lost in thought.
“I love my father,” she said at last. “But when I begged him to see to Lydia and Mr. Wickham, he refused.”
She turned to her friend and said angrily, “It pains me to admit it, but I believe he was too indolent to care. Our entire family might have been ruined, and he would not lift a finger. I brought Lydia away only through a clever deceit. Otherwise, she would have run away with Wickham by now, and we should all have been lost along with her.”
She drew a breath.
“Georgiana, I do love him… but I am very angry with him still. I do not know how I am to attend him in Christian charity when I think of his blatant disregard for all his daughters.”
Georgiana’s eyes clouded in sympathy.
Elizabeth forced a smile. “It is well, my dear girl. I will go to him. I will do what I can and give him the treatments Dr. Edgerton has prescribed. And I will write to you, so that you may know how matters stand with my family and me.”
Then, her eyes filled with compassion, she added, “Your brother should be home soon. When he receives your letter, he will return directly to you and attend to the business of Wickham.”
Georgiana reached for Elizabeth’s hand.
“It is strange, is it not? You ran from him with your sister to save her, and then you came to me and saved me from him.”
Elizabeth gathered the girl into her arms.
“Perhaps it was Providence, my dear. Providence watches over us all, you know.”
Georgiana clung to her for a moment, then drew back, tears in her eyes.
“I shall miss you, Lizzy.”
“And I shall miss you too,” Elizabeth replied. “But remember, we will write to one another. And when I come into London again, I shall send word that I am in town, and I will visit you, if you will have me.”
“Yes,” Georgiana said, wiping her cheeks. “That is what we shall do.”
