Chapter 14 #2
The shopkeepers and pub owners had also easily fallen under the spell of his charm and apparent respectability, and had happily permitted him to purchase food, drink, clothing, and trinkets on account.
He had no intention of paying them, of course, but he hoped that by the time they grew anxious about how much he owed them, the regiment would have moved onward to another town.
If not, well – he would figure something out.
He was far too handsome and charming a gentleman to go hungry, or to miss out on female companionship, for that matter…
He smiled broadly as he turned the corner onto a less traveled street. A few minutes of brisk walking later, he turned into a narrow alley, which led to a wooden building, which led to a staircase, which led to…
“Oh! Are they real?” Alice Brown squealed, gazing raptly at the necklace in George Wickham’s hand.
“My dear!” Wickham protested, bestowing a charming smile on the only daughter of one of the local tavern keepers.
The girl was a true beauty with dark hair and blue eyes, and her father was a fool to allow such a handsome creature to stay home alone in the morning.
He had every intention of taking advantage of that foolishness.
“My dear Alice, would I give the most beautiful girl in all of Brighton anything but real pearls?”
He gently pushed the girl over to her dressing table, upon which sat a mirror. He turned her toward the mirror and carefully placed the fake pearl necklace, made of fish scales and paste, around her slender neck. The dark haired girl smiled tremulously into the mirror and said, “Oh, Wickham!”
“Now you are absolutely perfect,” he murmured, leaning over to kiss her on her neck.
“Oh, Wickham!” Alice repeated, turning around and leaping into his arms and lifting her face to his. “I love you so very much!”
/
“Miss Bingley is waiting under the tree in front of the stable, Mr. Darcy,” Mr. Barstow said from his position at the main door of the stable.
Darcy sighed in exasperation and squared his shoulders, ready to face the dragoness, only to stop at the sight of his stable master’s expression. “Do you have a suggestion, Barstow?”
“As to that, sir,” the man said in a neutral tone, “I do believe that you might wish to examine the new fencing south of the walled garden. It was just replaced two days ago, and perhaps you should make certain that it was done to your liking.”
Darcy fought a grin and lost. His workers were hard working and competent, and there was no chance that the fencing had been built incorrectly.
However, if he exited through the back entrance of the stable to study the fencing, he would be concealed from Miss Bingley by a row of trees, and then the walled garden.
“Thank you, Barstow,” he said genuinely.
“It is my pleasure, sir.”
/
Inside the walled garden
“Oh Georgiana, it is so … so…”
“Ugly?” Georgiana Darcy inquired.
Elizabeth chuckled and said, “I was planning to say, peculiar, but yes, it is ugly. I hope you are not offended.”
“Why would I be?” her companion returned, reaching down with a gloved hand to carefully inspect the chick which had just flopped out of its egg.
“The newborn peafowl are all scrawny bodies and yellow down and grotesque feet when they are born, but then I have heard that human babies are often ill favored at birth. In time, this little male, or female, will be far more attractive.”
“Does it seem healthy?” Elizabeth asked, squinting down at the yellow ball of fuzz.
“It does,” Georgiana said, “though I will know better in a day or two. The babies are quite fragile and sometimes one born healthy dies in short order.”’
“That is sad.”
“It is, but it is the way of life, I fear. This one is, I believe, one of Neptune’s progeny, and I look forward to seeing whether he or she will form unusual white feathers. I … oh, Fitzwilliam!”
Elizabeth turned and straightened up at the sight of Mr. Darcy, who was standing framed in the east doorway of the garden.
“Good morning, Miss Bennet, Georgiana,” he said, bowing to both of the ladies. “I hope I am not intruding. I overheard your voices in the garden and gave way to a surge of curiosity.”
“You are always welcome, of course,” Georgiana said happily. “Elizabeth and I were fortunate enough to observe one of the peachicks hatching just now.”
“How wonderful,” Darcy said, striding over next to Georgiana and looking down at the peachick, which was now standing on wobbly legs with its mother hovering nearby.
Elizabeth, to her considerable surprise, felt her breathing quicken and her face flush at the gentleman’s close proximity.
Mr. Darcy was a very handsome gentleman, but he generally seemed distant, dressed as he typically was in austere elegance, with a remote expression on his face.
Now, with his hair tousled under his hat and his clothing smelling slightly of horse, with his arm around his sister, he seemed far more approachable and along with that, exceptionally attractive.
She took a deep breath in an attempt to control her racing heart.
Really, this would never do! She thoroughly admired Mr. Darcy, but she understood him to be promised in marriage to his cousin, Anne de Bourgh.
Even if he was inclined to look elsewhere for a bride, he could look very high in society, as the nephew of an earl and the master of a great estate.
No, it would do no good at all to lose her heart to him.
“I do believe another chick is hatching,” Darcy observed. “Am I right?”
“You are,” Georgiana agreed, squinting down at the egg which was now showing a crack in the shell. The threesome leaned a little closer, and all could hear the soft peeping of a peachick struggling to escape the confines of its small world.
Elizabeth exhaled in delight. It was a glorious thing to be in a beautiful garden on a lovely summer day watching a new life breaking free.
Darcy found his gaze drifting from the small bird to the happy countenance of Miss Bennet, and when the little creature had finished hatching, he felt a sudden desire to spend additional time with the lady and his sister.
“Miss Bennet?”
“Yes?”
“I recollect that you are a chess player; would you and Georgiana care to join me in the library for a game or two?”
“I would enjoy that very much,” Elizabeth said, feeling another unaccustomed surge of attraction toward the handsome gentleman. Yes, she would like to spend more time with Mr. Darcy.