Page 69 of A Most Favourable Match

“I will see you at luncheon,” he said shortly, and strode briskly away from her.

∞∞∞

“What is troubling you, Fitzwilliam?” Georgiana asked gently.

Darcy turned around in surprise. For a moment, he did not know what to say. He had been standing at the window of the garden drawing room, gazing out beyond the gates and the path that led to Longbourn.

“Nothing. I am only…thinking,” he said belatedly.

They had both been reading when they settled in the drawing room after luncheon, although Darcy had not been able to give any attention to his book on Venetian history. Mrs Annesley was busy sorting out some questions of linen with the housekeeper, and Bingley was mooning about in the gardens.

Miss Bingley, thankfully, had removed herself to her room immediately after luncheon, telling Darcy in unnecessarily confidential tones that she had correspondence to deal with. If she hoped he would ask her the nature of her correspondence, she was doomed to disappointment. Still, she showed no irritation at his silence, only murmuring that still waters ran surprisingly deep.

If he had been alone, Darcy would have packed a saddlebag and jumped on his horse that very afternoon. His only regret in leaving Hertfordshire would be leaving Elizabeth Bennet, a pang that had become a distinct ache since he danced with her at the Meryton Assembly.

It was not only the pleasure of that one dance that fired Darcy’s longing for her company. It was Elizabeth’s intelligence, her understanding, and her care for Georgiana. Leaving her now would feel like leaving a piece of himself behind.

“You are brooding, not thinking,” Georgiana gently contradicted Darcy, coming to stand beside him and lay her head against his arm. “I know you, Fitzwilliam. There is something on your mind, and it has been there for some time. I wish you would tell me, even if you tell no one else.”

Darcy thought of all the things presently on his mind, from Caroline Bingley’s unwelcome pursuit and Charles Bingley’s passion for Jane Bennet, to George Wickham’s evil presence in the neighbourhood. He would not talk of these things to someone so young.

The heaviest burden, however, was something that should be simple, natural, and easily ordered, but had become impossibly tangled by everything else.

“I have been wishing that I knew what a certain lady thought of me,” he admitted to Georgiana at last. “I think that I have not always shown myself well in her eyes and…it bothers me, profoundly.”

His sister seemed unsurprised, her eyes only sympathetic and knowing as she followed his gazethrough the window towards Longbourn. Georgiana was no longer a child, and he supposed she could easily have guessed the object of his affections by now. She did not ask him for a name because she did not need to.

“Have you asked this lady about her feelings?” his sister enquired, and Darcy shook his head. “Does she know how you think of her?”

“Her feelings were very much against me once. Now, it seems they are not, but to declare myself after everything seems such a presumption.”

“I think you must declare yourself, Fitzwilliam,” Georgiana told him. “If she cares for you, all will be well, and if she does not, it is better to know. Be frank, as you always are, but kind and sensitive too, as I know you can be, but not everyone does.”

“I shall think on it,” he promised.

At the sound of the door handle then, they both halted and looked towards the door expectantly, but no one entered. Darcy guessed that someone had stepped into the room and then stepped out again while they were distracted.

“It was probably only a servant,” Georgiana dismissed the noise with a shrug, and then yawned. “I think I must go outside and find Mr Bingley, or I will fall asleep on the sofa. Do you want to come too?”

“I thank you, no,” Darcy told her. “I believe I must think on this a little more.”

Georgiana smiled gently at that and patted his shoulder. Then she turned and made her way out intothe gardens.

Once Darcy was alone again, he looked back out towards Longbourn with greater resolve.

Georgiana was quite right. He must speak to Elizabeth before he left. Even if she did reject him completely, he must speak his heart and make a proper proposal of marriage. Courage and honesty demanded no less; Elizabeth deserved no less.

But even as he came to the decision, Darcy swallowed hard, knowing that her answer would make clear the likely path of the rest of his lie: full of love and promise on one side, or an uncertain wilderness on the other.

Chapter 25

“Oh, Mrs Bennet, have you heard the news?” Lady Lucas exclaimed as she hurried ahead of Hill into the parlour at Longbourn without even having taken off her pelisse.

“What news, Lady Lucas?” asked Mrs Bennet, sitting upright at once and adjusting the lace cap that had fallen over one eye as she dozed, despite the fact that it was only ten in the morning. “Has there been an accident on the road again? Is there fever in the town?”

“No, no, Mrs Bennet. Nothing like that. Lord Grantchester is back!”

“Lord Grantchester?!” Mrs Bennet exclaimed, and leapt excitedly to her feet with the energy of a woman twenty years younger. “Did you hear that, Jane? Lord Grantchester is here! You must put on your best dress and Hill will do your hair.”