Chapter 19 #2
I hope you will therefore forgive me for writing to you again as someone who stands so highly in my brother’s esteem. There is no one here presently whom I can trust to advise me, and I feel so very troubled.
Elizabeth closed her eyes and frowned at this rather apprehensive opening. She had enough of her own family’s problems to deal with at the present moment and likely ought not to get further involved with Georgiana’s.
Much as she liked Mr Darcy’s sister, the girl was very young and somewhat naive. What was very troubling to her might be only a trifle to older and more experienced people. Mr Darcy might also be rightfully angry if she continued her correspondence with Georgiana after Lydia’s disgrace.
Well, she might as well read the letter, even if she chose not to reply, she supposed. The distraction of someone else’s more minor problems might even prove a welcome distraction. Opening her eyes again, she read on.
In fact, I feel quite afraid, and alone.
Mrs Annesley has been called away to attend her dying mother in Dublin.
It is very selfish of me, but I half wish that my cousin Ludlow had not given her permission to go.
Mrs Annesley herself was reluctant to leave me before Fitzwilliam returned, but the letter from Dublin was so very alarming that Ludlow arranged her travel immediately.
Georgiana went on to describe this letter, apparently from a physician who had been attending Mrs Annesley’s mother.
The old lady, while almost five-and-seventy years of age, had been hale and hearty at the time of her last letter.
The news of apoplectic fits and insensibility had therefore come as a terrible shock to Georgiana’s companion.
With Mrs Annesley’s departure, Georgiana’s only company now was Mrs Reynolds, the housekeeper, and other servants.
My cousin Ludlow, Lord Hexham, is here very often since Mrs Annesley left, and he would not like to hear me say that I am lonely or afraid, but it is so.
He professes that he is very fond of me and thinks me beautiful.
I wish he would not. If I am praised for one thing, I would far rather it was my playing on the pianoforte.
I do not feel as comfortable with Lord Hexham as I always have with Colonel Fitzwilliam, his younger brother, who was my guardian from when Father died.
I do not like to even call him by his first name, as he has invited me to do.
Lord Hexham might be angry if I said any of these things to him, but I must say them to someone.
Elizabeth was reading with greater attention, a creeping dread in her veins.
Now that she thought about it, there had been something of the same apprehension in Georgiana’s first letter, although it was less explicit.
This older cousin evidently made her very uncomfortable and was showing too much familiarity for Georgiana’s liking or understanding.
When Mrs Annesley was there, the young woman knew she was safe.
Now, however, Mrs Annesley was gone too, and she felt unsafe enough to write to Elizabeth for help.
Something was very wrong at Pemberley… After a page in which Georgiana assured Elizabeth of her respect for her older cousin and the correctness of her behaviour around him, the letter took a tangent that sparked real concern in Elizabeth’s breast.
Cousin Ludlow wishes me to accompany him on a summer tour of Scotland, a surprise which he says Fitzwilliam has agreed to.
This seems very out of character for my brother.
I do not want to go, especially not without Fitzwilliam or Mrs Annesley.
Yet Lord Hexham is one of my legal guardians, and I cannot think to disobey him either.
He says we must leave Pemberley while the weather is good and the roads to Scotland easy.
The worry of all this has made me so ill that I have been in bed these past two days.
Lord Hexham says that the air in Scotland will cure me in a day.
I fear my cousin might insist on travelling despite my present infirmity.
With a gasp of alarm, Elizabeth jumped from the tree, as if she could run to Georgiana’s aid here and now. The final lines of the letter were only a desperate plea for advice and assistance.
I beg your most urgent guidance on what I should do, Elizabeth. My present situation is most peculiar, and I do not feel equal to it. Please write back to me as soon as you can. I don’t think I can even try to get out of bed until I hear from you…
While thunderstruck, Elizabeth knew she must act.
Georgiana’s whole future could depend on her advice, and Darcy would never forgive himself if his sister came to harm.
Lord Hexham might be heir to the Earl of Matlock, but his intentions towards Georgiana were distinctly dishonourable, and the girl was alone, without the protection of friends or relatives.
It seemed that George Wickham was not the only man attracted by the prospect of a malleable young woman with a ￡30,000 dowry.
Elizabeth even doubted that Mrs Annesley’s letter was genuine, and rather only a ruse by this cousin to get her out of the way.
The poor woman might get all the way to Dublin and find her aged relative knitting happily by the fire.
Rushing to the house, she found Longbourn a hive of celebration and activity. Mrs Bennet had finally risen from her bed and was dressing, all the while loudly proclaiming her intention of driving out to tell Lady Lucas and Mrs Philips directly that her daughter was engaged to be married.
Kitty and Mary were also busily rushing about with Mrs Bennet’s instructions to the servants. Jane was standing at the library door, watching quietly but intently as Mr Bennet wrote the required missive to Mr Gardiner.
No one paid any heed to Elizabeth rushing to her room and writing frantically at her desk for some minutes. There was no time to consider form or politeness in what she wrote, and she stuck to the most essential facts and recommendations.
Dear Georgiana,
Your instinct to write was correct. I fear you are presently in great danger and pray that you will follow my instructions exactly, both for your own sake and your brother’s.
You must leave Pemberley immediately for Rosings in Kent and take refuge there with your aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh.
I have no doubt that she can and will protect you.
A maid and coachman should accompany you on this journey; both must be trustworthy and sworn to absolute secrecy.
It is imperative that your departure is accomplished without alerting your cousin, Lord Hexham.
Elizabeth underlined this last sentence for emphasis and then paused to deliberate. Georgiana was a shy girl and might easily lose her courage. Unlike Lydia, stealing from her house under cover of darkness would not be some grand adventure, but an episode of terror.
In the absence of others around you wiser than myself, I take it upon myself to act in your brother’s stead and speak for him. I believe that this course of action is the one he would wish. Your wellbeing and happiness are Mr Darcy’s priorities.
Hopefully, that would be enough to spur Georgiana into action.
Mr Darcy might not wish to have his name used like this, but he was welcome to harangue Elizabeth for that later once Georgiana was safe.
She felt able to argue her case, and leaving the poor girl in her present perilous situation was unthinkable.
Folding and sealing the letter, Elizabeth dashed off two more urgent notes. One was to Mr Darcy at his London address, enclosing his sister’s letters and explaining how she had replied so that he might judge matters for himself.
The final letter was a very short message to Charlotte Collins in Hunsford, warning her that there was likely to be an unexpected visit by Georgiana Darcy in great distress.
Elizabeth hoped that Mr and Mrs Collins would do their best to welcome and help the young woman, since her companion had been detained elsewhere. She dared say nothing more.
Hurrying downstairs with her three letters, Elizabeth walked through to the kitchens.
“Mr Hill, I have three express messages to send. Can you get them out within the hour?”
“Of course, Miss Elizabeth,” nodded the manservant, who had just carried a large pile of laundry indoors for the maids. “I’ve already been told to take the master’s letter to the post any moment, so I’ll take them all together.”
There was no further comment from either Mr or Mrs Hill, presently consulting with Cook as she vigorously stirred a pan over the stove. Elizabeth supposed that with all the other messages going back and forth from London and Brighton recently, the servants would think nothing of a few more.
Her duties discharged, Elizabeth relaxed her shoulders and went to join Jane at the study door. Mr Bennet was now applying the wax seal to his letter, and Jane too seemed more at ease.
“Where have you been, Lizzy? Everyone has been rushing around as though we’re in a madhouse, but you vanished. Was your letter anything interesting?”
Elizabeth smiled a little and considered her words carefully.
“I suppose it was. There is presently nothing I can do to help Lydia, but I found I could do something small to help someone else avoid an almost equally unfortunate fate. I cannot say more at this time.”
Jane nodded with puzzlement in her eyes. To Elizabeth’s relief, she asked nothing further.