Chapter 3 The Nerve of Intrepidity #2
If any of the servants in the nearby quarters were still asleep, they soon were wide awake. Furniture was being dragged along the creaky floor and items toppled over, but no one went to lend a hand to the master’s endeavours.
Darcy did not mind the solitude as he rummaged through the piles of furniture his late mother had cherished.
Piece by piece, it had been removed by his grieving father, who said he could not bear to look upon it when its owner was no longer amongst them.
The thought prompted another action he needed to take, and he left the attic in search of his steward.
He hoped he might be obtainable, but if not, someone else might do.
Ian MacGregor had anticipated his master’s needs and was awaiting him in his study. Darcy did not approach his desk to sit as he usually did. Two days prior he had held his wife in his lap whilst kissing her deeply in that exact chair. It would have to be burnt.
“Mr MacGregor, since it is winter and nothing is happening in the fields, I have remembered some maintenance that must be done, but firstly I have an urgent task for you. Close up the mistress’s suite of rooms. I want them barred, locked, and impenetrable. Immediately, if you please.”
His steward eyed him warily.
“Should I not let the maids empty the room of personal belongings first?”
Darcy waved his hand dismissively. “No need. There is no time for it. We have much to do. Board it shut as it is. It will likely not be inhabited for several decades. The next mistress of Pemberley will have to deal with it when that day comes. Most likely it will be Georgiana, and she might want to move the master and mistress’s suite to another part of the house by the time she inherits.
No, leave it as it is. It does not matter. ”
Mr MacGregor bowed before he left to accomplish his assignment.
Pemberley moved into the busiest winter season in its history.
Georgiana was handed the task of designing a new library.
The study, music room, dining room, breakfast room, and parlours followed, each time his sister enquired after Mrs Darcy.
Why could she not be satisfied with his repeated, “because I ordered her to leave”?
The only chamber left untouched by Christmas of the following year was the master’s own suite of rooms. They remained unchanged, next to the locked mistress’s chamber.
The new task of redecorating came with advantages.
Darcy suddenly had a plausible excuse for declining all requests for his company, including his Matlock relations’ Christmas invitation, not to forget their Twelfth Night ball.
He could not stomach encountering his cousin; he might never again be able to look at the reprobate without reopening the wounds he was fighting so hard to mend.
Georgiana thrived and worked tirelessly day and night. Darcy prided himself that he was doing a satisfying job in preparing his sister to be the mistress of a large house. She, in turn, had an exceptional eye for colour and furnishings.
The first fly in the ointment came after the Twelfth Night ball. The cousin he could not abide came to visit. His servants had not known to bar him from entering; he had forgotten to give the order, which he immediately took it upon himself to remedy.
He adjourned to the blue parlour, where the scoundrel was waiting.
“Get out!” he ordered without greeting.
“Darcy, you cannot throw me out of your house. Believe me, you do not want a breach with the Earldom of Matlock,” the colonel warned.
“I have no quarrel with the earl,” Darcy countered calmly. “I fervently wish to never encounter you again, but I have no dispute with your father.”
“I am Georgiana’s guardian!” Richard yelled.
“I shall happily draw up the papers for you to sign her over to me or your father,” Darcy suggested.
“That will never happen, Darcy, but I did not come here to quarrel with you. I wondered whether you had heard from Elizabeth. I never found her, Darcy. No one has seen her in Lambton or Kympton. The only sighting of a stranger was of a servant girl in Rowsley. Do you know whether she took her red coat?” the colonel enquired.
“No, she took none of the garments I purchased for her. She left wearing her old brown coat,” Darcy deigned to answer out of curiosity.
It was to be hoped she had not become lost in the woods and frozen to death.
The image of a deathly pale Elizabeth appeared unbidden in his mind.
He shuddered whilst the colonel swore under his breath.
“It might have been her who was seen boarding the mail coach bound for the south.”
Darcy did not answer; he did not care either way.
“Damnation, Darcy. You could at least tell me whether she reached Longbourn. I imagine she travelled thither.”
Darcy shrugged. As if he held any interest in where Miss Bennet chose to travel.
She was no longer his responsibility. She had been correct in assuming his selfish disdain of the feelings of others.
Her betrayal had robbed him of all tender warmth and left his heart hollow and stale.
Where she went was of no importance to him, though he admitted to feeling relief that it was improbable he would happen upon her dead body in his woods.
His cousin glared at him.
“I should take responsibility for Georgiana. I am loath to leave her with a man devoid of the simplest compassion. It is more than seven miles to Rowsley, if she had the wherewithal to follow the river. She could be lying buried in the snow on your property for all you know.”
The colonel was one to speak about feelings. He was, after all, the one who had shattered his heart and then had the audacity to complain it was broken.
“I doubt it. There have been wolves spotted lurking in the area,” he said indifferently.
“Improbable. Wolves have been extinct these past two hundred years…”
The colonel’s eyes suddenly widened. He was looking over Darcy’s shoulder, where Georgiana had frozen mid-step.
Darcy pinched his nose. He should have moved the conversation to his study, but he no longer had one.
It was currently under construction, and he currently saw to his correspondence in his bedchamber.
“Wait for me in the yellow parlour, Georgiana. I shall be with you in but a moment. Colonel Fitzwilliam is leaving.”
Georgiana awoke from her daze and left with haste. She was such a dear girl, never complaining nor arguing. He turned to his cousin and glared at him. Richard took the hint and walked to the door, where he halted on the threshold.
“I am thinking of resigning my commission after this last assignment. I am leaving for Portugal in two weeks.”
What did he expect him to reply? That he would pray for his safe return? The colonel was in for a cruel awakening if that was the case.
“I shall pray Boney finds you before your assignment is over.”
The colonel left without a backward glance. Fortunately, Georgiana had not been within hearing range of his parting words.
His sister was waiting for him in the yellow parlour, sitting primly on the edge of her seat as an accomplished lady should. Which was why her words took him by surprise.
“I would like to know what happened between you and Elizabeth that made you hate her so much. I hear pieces and rumours, but I do not understand. Please, William. I beg you not to leave me in ignorance. I have to know what caused it so that I can avoid similar treatment.”
Darcy was shocked to his core. Never had he imagined his sister harboured such doubts about his constancy towards her.
She had nothing to fear from him. It was of the utmost importance to lay her concerns to rest. He searched his mind for his choices but concluded that his sister could withstand being told the truth.
She had once been crossed in love herself.
She should know that women could be as depraved as men.
He related the awful night as best he could, leaving nothing out. Not even his feelings, nor theirs.
Georgiana looked thoughtful when he had finished. He waited for what felt like a quarter of an hour before she replied. When she did, it was not what he had expected.
“She looked annoyed, then surprised, but did not look horrified until she turned and saw Cousin Richard? Do you think she could have spoken the truth? That she truly believed it was you who was embracing her?”
“Colonel Fitzwilliam and I are not of the same stature, Georgiana. Do you not think she would have noticed the difference in our heights or the size of our hands? Besides, our cousin made himself known to her as soon as he entered the library.”
Georgiana nodded, and he left her to her thoughts. It was a difficult subject for his sister. She had formed an immediate bond with the hussy at their first meeting. What would he not have forsaken to have that impetuous deed undone.