He admired her greatly.
The admission no longer seemed worth avoiding.
Indeed, he had admired her for some time. If he was honest with himself, it had begun the night of the Meryton assembly, moments after he realised she had read his lips. Since then he had disguised the feeling beneath concern for Georgiana and convinced himself that every effort to spend time in Elizabeth's company was motivated by his sister's welfare. That explanation had served its purpose. He was now finished with it.
The previous day had brought a letter from Fitzwilliam. His cousin intended to come to Hertfordshire as soon as his obligations allowed and investigate the matter of Wickham personally. Darcy was grateful that Georgiana remained ignorant of it all. If she suspected that something troubled him, she had not said so. He attributed that chiefly to the happiness she had found in her friendship with Elizabeth, a friendship which seemed to occupy much of her thoughts these days.
The following morning the rain eased somewhat, though not enough to tempt anyone outdoors. Darcy was spending an hour in the library when Georgiana sought him out.
"You have been distracted for some days," she observed, taking the chair opposite him.
Whatever gratitude Darcy had felt for her apparent reluctance to question him vanished immediately.
"I have had matters to attend to."
"You have been keeping to yourself and staring out of windows," Georgiana replied. "That is not attending to matters. That is worrying about them."
Darcy closed the book before him and offered a smile he hoped might discourage further enquiry.
"And how long have you been this observant?"
"I have always been this observant." She shook her head, making it plain that she recognised the deflection. "You simply do not always notice." She folded her hands in her lap. "Is it Miss Elizabeth?"
Darcy blinked.
Of all the conclusions she might have reached, that had not been one he was expecting.
Elizabeth was not troubling him in the least. Wickham was.
Yet Wickham was not a subject he intended to discuss with Georgiana, and so he found himself answering a different question entirely.
"Partly," he admitted.
Georgiana waited.
"I find that I..." He stopped and looked towards the window before beginning again. "This may sound rather sudden, given that we have been in Hertfordshire barely a month. But I am considering courting her."
The smile that crossed Georgiana's face was warm and not entirely guileless.
"Does it sound sudden to you?" she asked.
Darcy considered the question with care.
"No," he said at last. "It does not."
"Nor to me," she said. "She is remarkable, Fitzwilliam. I think you know that."
"I do."
Silence settled between them for a moment. The fire shifted in the grate. Rain tapped steadily against the windows.
Then Georgiana spoke again.
"Have you told her?"
"That I intend to court her? Not yet. I had thought—"
"Not that."
