Bingley invited everyone to his house the next day, for tea, and the group finally departed.
Darcy and a footman escorted the carriage carrying Elizabeth, Georgiana, and Mrs Annesley back to the house in High Cross.
Once there, Darcy met with Mr Nicholls and haggled over money. Darcy attempted to pay for the kindness the Nicholls hadextended to his sister and the other ladies, while Mr Nicholls attempted to turn away even a small payment.
Finally, Darcy said, “Mr Nicholls, do you tithe to your church?”
“I do, of course,” he said.
“Then might I pay a generous donation for your church?”
Mr Nicholls chuckled and finally accepted a small purse full of coins. “This is all going to the church,” he said to Darcy.
“As you choose,” Darcy said. “I wish you to know how much we appreciate your generosity.”
Before he left, Darcy said, “Georgiana, there has been so much happening, I feel that we have had only a few seconds here and there in which we could talk. May I escort you on a short walk?”
“I would like that.”
They had walked perhaps ten yards away from the house along an empty street in the small market town before Darcy finally asked, “I take it you are very fond of Elizabeth?”
“Ohhh, yes. She is so amazing,” Georgiana said. “I felt so comfortable with her, I broke your rule about never telling anyone about…you know, about Ramsgate.”
Darcy was shocked that she had so immediately wished to do so. He did not reveal that he had already told Elizabeth everything about the incident; instead he assured, “I approve of your telling her, because I hope she will soon be our very closest relation, and in my opinion she needed to know about this event. I completely trust her, and I imagine that you realised you could, as well.”
“I do trust her, Will. And…I love you and Richard so much, but you put all the blame on four people: that man whose name will never again pass my lips, Mrs Younge, and yourselves. You do not admit that you blame me.”
“You were so vocal, blaming yourself, Georgiana. You took too much of the blame, and it did not seem right.”
“Miss Elizabeth heard me blaming myself, too, but this is what she said: She said I was showing an utter lack of perspective in my self-blame, and I over-generalised as a young child might. She said that what she heard from me was that I was bad, and stupid, and that I should have known that nobody would ever love me as he claimed he did. Miss Elizabeth said having those ill thoughts of myself was a way of shirking my true responsibility.”
“Did she?” Darcy was not certain how he felt about that, but Georgiana went on.
“She did. And she is right. Miss Elizabeth told me that I had much more capability of acting well than of acting poorly, and therefore I could not be ‘bad’ as I had said. She told me, ‘You acted badly in this particular circumstance, but that does not make you bad.’ She said that everyone makes mistakes, especially when we are moving from childhood to adulthood. She said that we must learn from our mistakes, and part of that is not thinking in terms of all-bad or all-good. Most things are not black or white.”
“I have always thought that Miss Elizabeth is wise beyond her years.”
“Yes! And, Brother, she pointed out how intelligent and knowledgeable I am on so many topics, so telling myself I am stupid because I made a mistake is just showing more black-and-white thinking. Finally, she assured me that I am worthy of love.”
Darcy felt a gush of emotion. That Elizabeth and Georgiana had already, within the first few days of their acquaintance, talked about such important topics…. It was almost incredible.
“You will make her my sister will you not?”
“You heard us talk about this, Georgiana. I wanted some of the emotions of the past few days to abate, so that there will be no pressure or additional complications to consider when I propose, which I will do tomorrow.”
“Good. I am so happy, Will,” his sister said. “I am happy for myself, and for you. And more than that, I am proud of you for having discovered such a lovely lady, and for seeing her loveliness, and especially for showing her your appreciation. I am so happy that you did not make her despise you because you did that whole high-and-mighty act.”
Darcy felt affronted—his much younger sister never spoke to him as Richard did.
“Yes,” Georgiana said, “all of that.” She pointed her finger at him and then drew a circle in the air. He realised that he was frowning, and that the frown felt quite familiar on his face.
He consciously smoothed his brow and then smiled. His sister smiled back. “Keep at me, Poppet,” Darcy said. “I need your guidance, just as you need mine.”
“Have a safe ride back to Netherfield, Will. Sleep well.
Richard generally acted as a conduit between the Darcys and his family, so it did not surprise Darcy that, after the earl and countess retired, Richard approached and asked for a private conversation. Bingley once again offered his study. “We will stay here and bitterly argue over our partners’ play,” he said with a jovial smile. His family was setting up a table for a game of Whist. Other evenings, Darcy had been in the room as the Bingleys vied against the Hursts at the Whist table; he knew that his friend did not exaggerate.
Richard eagerly helped himself to Bingley’s brandy and silently asked Darcy if he wished to partake, lifting his eyebrows as he hoisted the bottle. Darcy shook his head.
