Chapter 12 #2
Lady Cassandra burst out in peals of laughter and nodded.
“As for the Gardiners, I was not being kind to them, Miss Bennet—quite the contrary; I sought out their company for selfish reasons. I am simply delighted to be around them, as I truly like them and have come to appreciate them more with each new encounter. There are few people whom I like as well as your uncle and aunt. And now you had better go and talk to Georgiana so you will be able to join us all downstairs.”
“Thank you. I shall do so at once. Would you be so kind as to inform my sister I shall return shortly?”
“Of course—when I return to the drawing room. However, it might take me quite a while as Netherfield is still new to me, and I could easily get lost. But I am sure Mr Bingley will act as the most perfect host in the interim,” she said, a mischievous smile overspreading her lips.
Elizabeth could not believe that her ladyship was devising a scheme worthy of Mrs Bennet. Then she laughed. “A little delay could do no harm, Lady Cassandra. I shall see you later then.”
“Oh, Miss Bennet…Should I say anything to Darcy in case I see him? Or would you rather tell him personally?”
Elizabeth’s face coloured anew. She turned her head impetuously and daringly answered, looking straight at her companion: “There is no need to say anything to Mr Darcy; I have already told him everything I wanted to. As for the rest, it can wait until we meet.”
Lady Cassandra remained motionless in the middle of the room, staring at the closed door.
∞∞∞
Elizabeth knocked tentatively at the door; Georgiana’s soft voice invited her in. When she did so, the younger girl’s surprise could not be misinterpreted.
Elizabeth advanced a step further, summoning a smile to dissipate the obvious tension in the room.
“Georgiana, welcome to Hertfordshire! I am so happy to see you again. I have missed you.”
“Miss Bennet…I am pleased to see you, too.” Her voice showed anything but genuine pleasure.
“I hope you are well. Mr Darcy and Lady Cassandra told me of your fatigue from the journey.”
“I am quite well; thank you for your concern. You are well, too, I hope?”
Elizabeth remained equally disconcerted and saddened by her cold attitude. She was pained by this unexpected rejection, especially as they were soon to be sisters.
“Georgiana, I have missed you so,” Elizabeth repeated, her voice even more soft.
“Miss Bennet, may I offer you some sweets or some tea? Or have they already been offered? Have you been at Netherfield long?” Her tone was proud and distant; Elizabeth had never seen her so before.
“We just arrived a few minutes ago, and I have come to see you directly. But no, I do not need sweets or tea; I should like my friend Georgiana back, if possible.”
The girl turned instantly, and their eyes met: dark eyes moist with warmth and hope, and blue ones casting cold barbs and displaying profound sorrow.
“I am quite at a loss to understand your meaning, Miss Bennet; to which friend do you refer? The one who trusted you implicitly and confessed to you her darkest fears, opening her heart to you though she had barely known you a month? Or the one you purposely deceived when you left Pemberley, despite the fact she had begged you to tell her the truth?”
The harshness of the girl’s words and her bitter tone made Elizabeth pale; she stared at her young friend, their eyes again in a painful, silent confrontation for several, unbearable moments.
“You had better leave now, Miss Bennet; I am feeling unwell. Thank you for visiting me,” the girl said, struggling to defeat the tears that invaded her eyes and made her voice tremble.
“I know you are upset, and I know I deserve your censure, but I have never deceived you, Georgiana. If I caused you pain when I left unexpectedly, I beg your forgiveness. But you must believe that everything I did was to protect you.” Her voice was overwhelmed by emotion, and Elizabeth did nothing to conceal it.
“To protect me? How did you imagine you were protecting me, Elizabeth? Keeping me ignorant and hoping I never would discover the truth? Can you imagine my shock when I accidentally found out about your sister’s wedding in my uncle’s dining room, where apparently everybody else was aware of it?
Can you imagine how I felt when I understood that this was the reason for your sudden departure and that you deceived me? ”
As her tone grew angrier and her face lost its colour, tears rolled down her cheeks. Elizabeth could not resist moving closer and taking her hand. Georgiana withdrew it furiously.
“Georgiana, I cannot tell you how sorry I am. I never imagined you would discover the truth in such a manner. That day at Pemberley…I did not say anything precisely because I knew how insupportable the subject would be for you. I was ashamed, distressed and deeply worried for my family—and for you, as well. I was certain that leaving Pemberley as soon as possible was the best thing for me to do in order that you not be exposed to the situation. I would have done the same for my own sister. I care deeply for you, Georgiana.”
“I know you care for me, Elizabeth; I never doubted that, but you never trusted me enough to tell me the truth and allow me to decide what was best for me to do. You said we were friends, but you did not consider me so. I know I am younger than you, but I had hoped we could trust each other.”
“Your age has nothing to do with this situation—I would have done the same if you were ten years older than me. I do trust you and cherish our friendship. How can I convince you?”
“You told Cassandra, though I believed you two were not on such friendly terms as we were. And she told William, but she kept me in the dark and concealed the truth from me even when we went to London. Did you ask Cassandra and my brother to keep the secret from me? Or did they simply treat me like a child, too, as always?”
“I did ask—demanded—from Lady Cassandra that she keep the secret from you and from Wil—from Mr Darcy, too. I would not have said a word to Lady Cassandra if she had not happened upon me when I read the letters that revealed the dreadful event.”
“But my brother knew. I am sure of it!” she replied, looking doubtfully at Elizabeth. “He went to London the very next day, and I am certain he went in search of your sister.”
Elizabeth’s cheeks coloured highly from mortification. She smiled bitterly to herself as she warmly squeezed Georgiana’s hand.
“Georgiana, Mr Darcy was not informed by my wish. In fact, I had tried diligently to keep this matter from him as well as from you. I had hoped to keep you both unaware of the scandal and disgrace in which my family was involved. But Mr Darcy somehow figured everything out for himself…and perhaps he had also spoken to Lady Cassandra. I do not know all the facts myself! I did not know he was involved in the search for my sister, and the notion that he attended their wedding was astonishing to me—almost as astonishing as it was to see Mr Darcy return to Hertfordshire!”
“I do not understand! I thought you were the one who informed him! How could you have been astonished to see my brother again? I was certain you had an understanding.”
Elizabeth turned pale and then crimson in the next instant. She looked at her companion for a moment before averting her eyes.
“My dear friend, let us move to the sofa, and I will tell you everything—shall we?”
∞∞∞
Half an hour later when Mr Darcy entered his sister’s room, his gaze instantly enveloped both ladies as he searched their expressions with alarm. The warm smile on Elizabeth’s face and Georgiana’s tearful eyes melted his heart and put aside any concern about a possible argument between them.
“Miss Elizabeth, how delightful to see you again! Please forgive me for not being able to receive you properly when you arrived. I hope I did not interrupt your conversation—
“No interruption at all, Brother. Elizabeth was kind enough to share the latest news with me.”
“I am pleased to see you, too, sir,” whispered Elizabeth.
“Are you well, I hope? And your family?”
“Yes, I am very well, thank you.”
“I am glad to hear it.”
Their neutral dialogue would have been considered merely a proper and polite greeting if not for their intense glances at each other and Elizabeth’s constant blushing.
Georgiana was slightly embarrassed as she felt like an ignored intruder in their intimacy; then she smiled, finally lighthearted for the first time in weeks.
“Would you please excuse me for a moment? I would like to prepare myself and then will join you downstairs. I would like to greet Miss Bennet.”
“Yes, by all means,” answered Darcy, only half hearing what she said. She seemed very well and reconciled with Elizabeth, and that was all that mattered to him.
The moment Georgiana exited the door toward her dressing room, Darcy stepped closer to Elizabeth, his eyes never leaving hers.
He did not touch her, nor attempt to take her hand; only his eyes captured hers.
Her lips became drier as her hands ached from the longing of being held.
Slowly, his gaze left hers and travelled along her face, toward her half open mouth then back to her cheeks and returned to meet her eyes again, so tenderly that his intense stare felt like a caress.
“I presume you and Georgiana solved all the differences between you,” he said in a low voice.
She swallowed hard and licked her lips so she could speak. “Yes, we did.”
“I am happy to hear it, and I am happy to see you again, Elizabeth.”
She had no time to tell him how happy she herself was as Miss Darcy returned to the room and froze in the doorway. She apologised and attempted to exit again, but Elizabeth regained her composure immediately.
“Georgiana, do not leave please! This is your room, my dear, is it not?”
“Yes it is, but…I thought you were talking, and I did not want to interrupt you.”