“Before I came here, I instructed the Killions and all of the footmen that neither you nor your sister is ever to be permitted entrance to my house again; something that I should have done long ago. This is now a standing order for any of my houses. I will not recognise you in public, and if you dare to approach myself or any member of my family, you will receive the cut direct. I warn you too, do not try and use my name with theTon, for it will not go well for you! I now take my leave, good night, Bingley.” Darcy bowed to his friend, though he acknowledged that both of them needed work on their sides to help make their friendship an equal one.
Bingley walked Darcy out and they shook hands. Darcy then entered his carriage to return to Darcy House. When Bingley returned to the drawing room, he discovered neither sister had moved and were standing like statues with their mouths hanging wide open as if to catch flies. It took Bingley a full minute to forget about his momentary resolve to change.
Chapter 5
Darcy walked to the music room upon his return to Darcy House from the draining confrontation at the Hurst’s townhouse. His sister Georgiana and his cousin Lady Tiffany were playing a duet at the Stoddard Grand pianoforte. He stood at the door and waited for them to finish, then clapped heartily as he entered the room.
His sister, who was still somewhat depressed after her ordeal at the hands of Wickham at Ramsgate, gave him a welcoming smile that did not reach her eyes, while his cousin’s smile was genuine. The girls looked as though they could have been sisters. Both had the hallmark blonde hair and blue eyes of the Fitzwilliams, and they were almost the same height. More than once on seeing them at a little distance people had asked if they were twins.
Having made the decision to be honest and not hide unpleasant things from his much younger sister, he knew that he had to face one more uncomfortable conversation that day. He did not think about excluding his cousin Lady Tiffany for the same reason; he needed to start treating ladies as intelligent beings. He closed the door after telling Killion, his butler, that unless it was some sort of dire emergency he was not to be disturbed.
“Ladies, I need to relate something that will not be easy for me to share, but I feel I have no choice.” Darcy smiled gently at the two.
“Shall I give you privacy?” Tiffany offered as she started to stand.
“Please stay, cousin. I would rather you hear about my folly from me and not from our family when you return to Matlock House on the morrow,” he requested, nodding in approval when she slowly lowered to again settle beside Georgiana.
It took him close to an hour to share the whole tale. He was mortified as he watched the different expressions play across the faces of the two girls. There were gasps, looks of mortification, wide open-mouthed surprise, times they were astounded, and not a little anger. At the end of his recitation, there was silence for a short while as the information was digested, though they both guessed what was uppermost on Georgiana’s mind, and were soon proven correct.
“You told Miss Elizabeth about Ramsgate; I pray I never meet her. She will not want to know one who was as naïve and silly as I was,” Georgie stated in a small, soft voice while tears ran down her cheeks.
“I had to tell her, Georgie. I wanted her to understand all of my dealings with that man. Did you miss where she took me to task for trying to protect your sensibilities and my not warning the good people of Hertfordshire about the wolf that was free among the sheep? I am certain that if you were to meet, you would find that she would be warm and welcoming to you. Unlike me, she is not judgemental and I am working to follow her shining example.
“Yes, she believed Wickham’s fictional tale of woe, but it was I who insulted her and behaved as if I was above everyone in the area. Could you imagine how that…” Darcy swallowed his words as he was talking to two maidens he loved deeply, “hewould have salivated if he had any idea how wealthy the Bennet ladies are? He is in for a very big shock tomorrow morning when he receives his justly deserved punishment from his Colonel, and then he will be sent to Richard guarded and in irons.
“It is hard to look at one’s own faults, but Miss Elizabeth has forced me to do so. I know I repeatedly told you that you have no responsibility for anything that happened in Ramsgate, but Miss Elizabeth has the right of it. Yes, you were faced with a practiced liar and seducer and Mrs Younge was working with the dastard, but you should have known better, Georgie. No matter how much they manipulated your tender heart. You were taught better than that.
“Why did you not write to me right away, Georgie? The charge of hypocrisy that Miss Elizabeth laid at my door is, to my chagrin, true. So now I would like to have the conversation we should have had before. I accused her family of bad behaviour while I ignored yours and Aunt Catherine’s. That aunt of ours behaved reprehensibly and I accepted it because she was my aunt and has a title. The shame I feel is beyond anything I can express. I have behaved more like Aunt Catherine and not at all like I had been taught,” he stated with downcast eyes.
“I was lonely, brother. And I believed I was in love; well, I wanted to believe it, that is. It was childish of me; I know that now. You have so much on your shoulders, as you have had since Papa died five years ago when you were but two and twenty. It felt like I was living one of those romantic novels like theMysteries of Udolpho.
“Miss Elizabeth is correct. I behaved poorly, like a petulant child and not like a gently bred lady. Can you forgive me, brother? I knew better and should have behaved as such. I am sure that Tiff would not have behaved in such a manner. I have to say that facing my wrongdoings makes me feel a lot better and gives me something to work on so I will be more confident in the future.” Georgiana offered her brother a hesitant smile.
“I hope that I would have made better choices, Georgie, but the truth is that unless I was in your place, I do not know what I would have done. I do believe that I would not have forgotten all that I had been taught, but hopefully I will never be in such a situation to find out,” Lady Tiffany offered as she reached out and squeezed her cousin’s hand.
Georgiana took a moment to assemble her thoughts. Not only had Tiffany admitted she might have been foolish, but her brother had made mistakes with more far-reaching consequences in his own life. Instead of focusing on it, he was not just admitting his mistakes verbally but taking steps to improve. He had not forgiven himself, but accepted it. It was past time she did the same. She accepted that she was used, but she had allowed it despite knowing it was wrong. She was just as at fault as her seducer and his accomplice. Maybe even more so. ‘I can never tell William or Richard what happened, and what almost happened, how stupidly I acted!’ It was time now to grow into a wiser person than she had been. She took a breath and looked at her brother for a long moment, considering the list of his mistakes.
“Brother, I want to ask you something that may be hard to answer. How could you have been so arrogant as to think that you knew what Miss Bennet felt in her heart? Miss Elizabeth has the right of it.” Georgiana frowned at William.
“I know, Georgie,” Darcy winced as he nodded. “I was very wrong, and even worse was my concealing from Bingley that Miss Bennet was in London. It seems that my arrogance and hypocrisy knew no bounds. I tried to protect a grown man, not even a member of my family, as if he were my ward and could not think for himself. The truth is that I wished to protect myself as much as Bingley.”
“One very good thing that has come out of all of this is that you have broken with Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst. If I had to spend one more day with them fawning over me to try and win your favour for that smelly shrew, I would have screamed. They are the most false people in Town, and that is saying a lot when you consider the behaviour of theTon,” Georgiana stated assuredly.
“Thank goodness my parents never recognised them. Whenever I am out shopping or at Gunter’s, I always hide my presence from them if I am able. You have the right of it, cousin. They are harpies both, though I have noticed that the younger is worse and the older one seems to follow her lead in everything,” Lady Tiffany agreed.
“You are quite right, cousin,” Darcy chuckled. “To think that the woman thought that I would ever offer for her. She could have been wealthier than the Bennets and I would not have considered her. The look on the superior sisters’, as Miss Elizabeth calls them, countenances was priceless when they realised precisely whom they had been so dismissive and derogatory to. It will take Bingley a little while, but my hope is that this whole thing will help him grow and to learn from the loss of his chance with Miss Bennet. I am worried that he will not take on the mantle of responsibility, but I have to hope.”
“I also want you ladies to know that I am going to deliver a mea culpa to the Miss Bennets at their uncle’s house on Portman Square in the morning on the morrow. Why do you not come with me, Georgie, so you can meet them? You will see they will not judge you. If anything, I believe they will like you. If you would like to join us Tiffany, you may send a note to ask permission from your parents.”
“Let me send a note to Mama right now,” Lady Tiffany smiled brightly. “I know that if she agrees I would love to meet both Misses Bennet, but I especially want to now after what you have told us of Miss Elizabeth.”
As Lady Tiffany sat and wrote her note, Georgiana berated her brother for the mockery of a proposal he had delivered to Miss Elizabeth. He appreciated her point of view as he had never done before. Indeed, he had never considered a woman’s full perspective until he met Elizabeth, and he could not help but see that if he wished a chance with her, he must start anew. He must hope that she would give him the chance to prove himself.
A half hour later the footman that carried the note to Matlock House returned with Lady Matlock’s permission for her daughter to accompany the Darcys, which included a request to invite the Misses Bennet and their aunt to join her for tea.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The morning was looking up for one George Wickham when he awoke. He was a happy man. He had gained a completely new wardrobe and so much more, and he would soon leave the gullible fools in this town behind and his debts as well. He knew that with his mounting debts of honour it would not be long before he would have to slip away from the Militia.
