Chapter 18
When the meal was finished, Lady Matlock led the ladies to the drawing room, where tea and coffee was served.
Once all the ladies were seated with the beverage of their choice, Georgiana turned to Lady Matlock.
‘Aunt, I have been patient long enough this evening. It was obvious to me that you all knew what my brother was about when he apologised to Miss Elizabeth, but no one saw fit to inform me about what is going on. I may not be out yet, but I am no longer a child, and you know perfectly well that withholding information can have serious consequences.’
The lady smiled and gave her niece’s hand a gentle squeeze. ‘You are quite correct Georgie. I suppose that none of us wanted to distress you since you worship your brother.’
The countess hesitated a moment before she explained. ‘There was an article in the gossip column of today’s paper telling the world that your brother was part of a party which also included Miss Bingley who was evicted from Meryton because they behaved in a rude manner.’
‘I gathered from what he said that on some occasion he expressed himself badly, but surely – ’
‘My dear Miss Darcy, you are certainly a master of understatement,’ Jane interjected with a sad smile.
‘Will somebody please just tell me what he said that was supposedly so very bad,’ Georgiana tried very hard not to whine but was only partly successful.
‘If you must know, he said, and I quote She is tolerable I suppose but not handsome enough to tempt me, and I am in no mood to give consequence to ladies who have been slighted by other men,’ Elizabeth stated blandly.
Georgiana gasped. ‘He could not have. My brother would never say such a horrible thing about any lady. Surely the story must have become garbled,’ cried Georgiana, looking around from one lady to the next, quite bewildered.
Suddenly she blinked and looked at Elizabeth.
‘He apologised to you. Does that mean he actually said that about you?’
‘I am afraid so… immediately after he was looking at me.’
Suddenly Georgiana’s face crumpled, and she burst into tears. ‘Oh no, that is my fault. If I had not been so stupid this summer, he would not have been in such a bad mood.’
‘Surely, you could not have done anything which would have made your brother as arrogant and rude as he appeared in Meryton.’
Georgiana glanced at her aunt who tilted her head and gave a minute shrug as if to say it is your choice.
Making that choice, the girl took a deep breath and explained, ‘Last summer an old family friend made me believe that he loved me and that I was in love with him. He even convinced me to elope with him. When my brother arrived the day before we were to leave for Gretna Green, I told him of my plans. That was when I found out that the friend had long stopped being a friend and all he was interested in was my dowry.’
Georgiana grimaced and sighed. ‘William was disappointed and angry and has been in a foul mood ever since.’
‘Surely your brother does not blame you for trusting an old friend. How were you to know that he was untrustworthy,’ cried Jane.
‘That is why you insisted on learning the truth. You cannot make good decisions if you do not have the proper information,’ Mary exclaimed in understanding.
‘You truly think so?’
‘Well, it was foolish and highly improper of you to agree to an elopement, but since you confessed your plans to your brother as soon as you had a chance, that mitigates your culpability. And in my opinion, the greatest share of the blame lies with the man who took advantage of the trusting nature of a young and na?ve girl.’
Georgiana continued to look pensive while she thought about Mary’s statement. Eventually she raised her eyes and gave a tentative smile. ‘I thank you. You have made me feel better.’ Her lips quirked. ‘Ironically because you do not absolve me of all the guilt. I have learnt a lesson.’
Lady Matlock sat back and watched the interaction between the young women. She had tried to tell her niece the same things, but Georgiana had refused to believe her, claiming that Lady Matlock only said this out of family duty.
As this part of the past was cleared up, Georgiana recalled the other issue they had been addressing. ‘Miss Elizabeth, I am sorry that you had to witness my cousin displaying such violence.’
‘There is absolutely no need to apologise. Not only was I not offended, but I was grateful to your cousin.’ Elizabeth sighed.
‘I know that I should not have enjoyed watching the Colonel hit Mr Darcy, but that man has such a knack for insulting me…’ She shook her head.
‘I have never known anyone who could make me so very angry…’
‘I believe that in the days of chivalry, ladies had champions to defend their honour. I suppose that the Colonel appointed himself as your champion. As ladies we are supposed to be gentle and sweet and… insipid. Colonel Fitzwilliam acted in your stead,’ Mary opined.
‘No one could ever call Miss Elizabeth insipid,’ Lady Matlock interjected and turned the conversation to more neutral topics.
~T~
When the ladies left the dining room, the Earl invited the gentlemen into the library. ‘I am afraid that my wife objects to the smell of tobacco in the dining room.’
The party naturally split into the younger and older groups as they took their drinks and sat down.
During the latter part of the meal, Darcy had been drawn into a discussion about literature with Miss Elizabeth. While he found the lady well educated and erudite, he could not help but notice that Miss Bennet seemed to greatly enjoy her conversation with Deveril.
Remembering her comments about Bingley, Darcy kept wondering if it was a situation of the lady does protest too much.
He could not help but think that Miss Bennet might not have been as immune to Bingley as she had claimed, since Bingley was convinced of her feelings, but the lure which Deveril presented outweighed any sentiments she might have had for his friend.
As a consequence, Darcy said to Richard, when he thought he had a chance to speak without being overheard, ‘I ran into Bingley earlier who was trying to find Miss Bennet. I am concerned because he mentioned that he heard from his sister that the lady is in town since Miss Bingley saw Miss Bennet yesterday afternoon entering a private residence with an affluent looking gentleman… unchaperoned.’
‘Did she indeed? Where was that?’ asked Richard who suspected the truth of the matter that Miss Bingley had been loitering in the area around Grosvenor Square in the hope to accidentally run into Darcy.
‘Miss Bingley did not give an address, only saying that it was in a fashionable part of town, but she claims that Miss Bennet appeared quite… cosy with the gentleman,’ Darcy replied with a pointed look at Deveril.
Gardiner, who had excellent hearing and having heard the quiet comment, cut in.
‘Are you trying to determine whether Miss Bingley is slandering my niece with her insinuations or whether Jane’s disinterest in Mr Bingley stems from a mercenary motive?
If the second, then I hate to disappoint you, because unlike many members of so-called polite society,’ he gave Darcy a meaningful look as he spoke, ‘my nieces have no need to be mercenary. As for Miss Bingley’s insinuations, they are slander as it was I who escorted my niece into my aunt’s house. ’
‘You?’ Darcy gasped, uncertain whether to be relieved or affronted. The affront was mainly fuelled by a feeling of shame for having given any credence to Miss Bingley’s insinuations.
Before he had a chance to say anything else and since Gardiner had not bothered to speak privately, a bristling Deveril snarled, ‘Darcy, you had better watch your tongue. If you think that ruining the reputation of a lady on the say so of a… woman… like Caroline Bingley is a wise choice, you have less intelligence than a slug.’
As that had been the last thing on his mind when he made that quiet enquiry of his cousin, and because Darcy was a loyal friend and wanted to see Bingley happily settled, he replied, perhaps unwisely, ‘I have no intention of ruining the reputation of an honourable lady. I only wonder whether you used your wealth and your position as a future duke to turn the lady’s head.
Bingley was quite adamant that Miss Bennet cared for him until you appeared on the scene. ’
The Earl decided that Darcy was getting too far out of line.
‘Stop defending that spoiled child. You are as blind to that rake’s character as your father was to Wickham.
Quite frankly, I believe that you have spent too much time with Bingley and his pernicious sister. You are starting to sound like them.’
While Darcy stared in open mouthed silence, Richard had his say.
‘In my opinion Miss Bennet described Bingley’s character to perfection.
’ Having sat opposite Jane during dinner he had heard her explanation.
‘You should also know that Deveril has been out of town for the past ten days and only returned this afternoon.’
That gentleman added his own information.
‘Furthermore, Miss Bennet is unaware of my full family connections.
When my Cousin Amelia, that is Mrs Carleton, introduced us the other week she only used my name since it was a family gathering.
When Miss Bennet called me Mr Deveril, no one bothered to correct her.
‘But why would Mrs Carleton introduce Miss Bennet to you at a family gathering no less?’ spluttered Darcy.
‘Because John Carleton is my cousin as well,’ Gardiner informed the totally confused man.
‘But I have never heard of a Gardiner family in our circles.’
‘Probably because I am not of your circles.’ Gardiner gave Darcy a pitying look. ‘Have you not realised yet that I am that ghastly uncle in trade, to use Miss Bingley’s words?’
‘You…’ Darcy stared at Gardiner as if he had seen a ghost. ‘But you are genteel.’