Chapter 35
Georgina left Mem Lavigne’s later that afternoon, assuring Colt that she would return straight home and work towards setting her affairs in order. When she arrived at Half Moon Street, however, she found Sarah waiting for her.
A concerned Jarvis greeted her at the front door and advised her that Mrs Fortescue had sequestered herself in the library for the last hour, refusing to leave until Miss Pace had seen her.
Georgina received this information calmly, familiar with Sarah’s strong-willed requests. She hastened upstairs and took a few moments to clean herself up—changing her shirt and breeches for fresh ones—before hurrying back down to Sarah.
“Georgina, you do not look well. What ails you?” Sarah remarked, rising as Georgina came in.
“Apologies for the delay. I have been at Mem Lavigne’s. You understand I lose track of time there.”
Sarah nodded knowingly and sat back down as Georgina poured them both a hefty glass of port and nestled on the sofa beside Sarah.
“What has happened, my dear?”
One of Georgina’s hands flopped by her side, while the other clung to her glass as though it gave her life. “Everything simply went wrong.”
Sarah draped a protective arm around her friend’s shoulder. “It cannot be as bad as you think.”
“Sarah, tell me, what is the relationship between Elizabeth Mortimer and Mrs Gardner? Is it romantic?”
Sarah gave Georgina a curious look. “I could not tell you if it is romantic or not, though I know Elizabeth supplies her with the house in St James’s Square.
Oh, my dear, I didn’t realise you were in earnest about Elizabeth.
I thought you were only dallying with her, like all the others.
In the past, you have never minded whether people have had other arrangements in place. ”
Georgina swallowed a knot in her throat.
“Have you felt this way about her for a long time?”
Georgina stared at the fireplace. The unpredictable flickering of the flames afforded her comfort. “I met her just before the Blakes’s ball. Not a long time at all … and yet it feels like an age.” She sipped her drink.
Sarah gave her a sympathetic smile. “She may well have feelings for you. And if Mrs Gardner is as rotten as I’ve heard of late, -Elizabeth’s arrangement—if romantic—might have concluded. I would presume nothing. Perhaps you should ask her?”
Georgina shuddered, recalling her final hour with Elizabeth.
The Countess had stood between Georgina and the vultures of Solitaires, trying to protect them.
The force that had brought them together after Byron’s soiree propelled them in opposite directions that day, creating a distance she could not bridge.
Georgina sighed. There was no use dwelling on it. “I hear you have had an exciting time. A proposal?”
Sarah’s cheeks darkened with instant effect, and she shrank her shoulders closer together. “We have always bantered together. You know that. But it was never physical until lately.” Sarah shrugged. “I told him he must stop pursuing me, but he does not listen.”
Georgina knew Colt well enough to recognise this truth.
“It was all a terrible mistake.”
“Did he please you?” Georgina asked in a hushed voice, her tone lightly teasing.
“Very, very much,” Sarah broke into a smile. “I have not known the equal of him. And the pleasure was mutual.”
“In that case, it cannot be a mistake.”
“But after that, he proposed. I have told him I think the whole idea nonsensical.”
Georgina shrugged. “I know you love him.”
Sarah looked aghast for a moment, then threw her hands up in the air. “I do. But you see why I have entertained scruples about the matter—and why I should not accept him.”
“Naturally,” Georgina agreed, adding mischievously, “and moreover, he is so conceited, it will do him good for you to make him wait, if only a day or two.”
Sarah giggled.
“I hope he proves worthy of you,” Georgina said.
“My expectations are not entirely high on that score, but he has vowed to try.” Sarah smiled to herself. “And I do think he may have fallen in love with me. It is strange to see him so smitten.”
“He has always adored you, my dear. Everyone knows that. Do you intend on making him linger a significant amount of time to test his commitment?”
“I find that notion distasteful. I told him he might need to wait indefinitely, but the truth, Georgina, is that I want to be with him. I miss him when we are not together. Perhaps I am trying to prove a point by making him wait. But it’s at my expense, it seems.”
“I know you will gamble much by throwing in your lot with Colt, but in recent times, I’ve come to realise that being separated from someone you care about can be pure torment. If you love him, why delay? Be with him.”
Tears of joy pricked the inner corners of Sarah’s eyes. “You are such a good friend to me. I do love you dearly.” She crushed her friend against her bosom in a warm embrace, releasing her only when Georgina coughed, gasping for air. “I’m sorry!”
***
Georgina and Sarah were deep in conversation when Jarvis entered the library carrying a tray. He brought it over to Georgina and presented her with a thick, sealed letter.
“Miss Pace, I am loath to interrupt, but this letter has been waiting for your attention for some days. The messenger indicated it was quite important. I was not sure when you might return from your club …” The usually unflappable Jarvis appeared unsure whether he had followed the right course.
Georgina recognised the familiar monogram. Her heart pounded in her chest as she snatched the letter from the tray and dismissed Jarvis with thanks.
Sarah watched her over the rim of her glass.
When Georgina broke the seal, a bundle of handwritten pieces of paper within tumbled into her lap.
Despite the fall of Solitaires, Elizabeth had restored Arthur’s promissory notes.
A small gasp escaped Georgina’s lips, and she clapped her hand across her mouth, fighting an urge to burst into tears.
“Mr Coombes will be pleased,” Sarah remarked, though her dark eyes remained fixed upon her friend’s countenance.
Georgina set the notes down and read the letter to herself.
Dear Georgina,
Please find enclosed the vowels belonging to Mr Coombes.
He may safely consider his debts discharged.
I regret that you had to go to so much inconvenience to obtain these, and I can only wish you had seen fit to entrust me with the task of resolving the matter at the outset.
Even though my own name has now been publicly maligned, something I also regret, I have only ever wanted to help and protect you and those you care about.
It appears I may have been mistaken, after all. Not everyone is capable of redemption. I hope these notes bring comfort to Mr Coombes and allow him to pursue his future happiness with his intended.
Warm regards,
Elizabeth
Georgina folded the note and forced a smile upon her face. “Arthur will be thrilled. Finally, he can propose to Lady Maggie unencumbered. What a splendid outcome.”
Before reading the words, a small hope had kindled inside her heart. She was glad for Arthur, of course, but this letter left her hollow. A tightness gripped her chest, and she breathed through the pain, not wishing to reveal her inner turmoil to Sarah.
“And what about you and Elizabeth?”
Georgina gave a look of feigned confusion. “We are not lovers, Sarah. A mere dalliance, as you said.” She waved her hand fleetingly. “I shall enjoy finding a new flirt directly.”
Sarah gave a hesitant nod.
“Now, tell me what you are going to do about Colt.” Georgina swept the topic away from Elizabeth. She did not want to cry again today.
***
After Sarah took her leave, Georgina set forth from her home once more in the direction of Mount Street, to the residence of Mr Arthur Coombes.
She did not know exactly when Elizabeth had sent the vowels, but given she had been lost in the stronghold of Mem Lavigne’s for at least a couple of days, it would be remiss of her to further delay this delivery.
With the news of the demise of Solitaires being liberally brandished across the newspapers, Georgina hoped Edmund might have deduced it was safe for Arthur to return home.
The Coombes’s austere butler greeted her. She apologised for the unfashionably late hour of her afternoon call but expressed she craved an audience with Arthur, if he was there. With a disdainful scowl, the butler delivered her into the front parlour, already occupied by Emily.
The butler withdrew, promising to fetch Arthur presently.
Emily sat in a chair close to the fire, a fashion template open in her lap. She wore a white muslin dress with a sky-blue floral print. Upon seeing Georgina, she shrank back into her chair and glanced towards the door.
“Are you here to talk to Mama?”
A puzzled frown formed between Georgina’s brows before she remembered Emily’s dramatic escapade on the heath following the duel. “No. Though I think some time back in the schoolroom might serve you well, you silly girl.”
Emily’s pale cheeks turned a rosy pink. “How ungracious you are. I have done nothing wrong.”
“You endeavoured to entrap a gentleman into marrying you.” Georgina’s voice lacked sensitivity; though as she looked at Emily’s pale face, it dawned on her that Emily, too, may have suffered a broken heart throughout all of this. “Did you love him? Or was it the idea of marrying a rake?”
Emily pouted. “He made me feel things.”
Georgina grinned. “Yes, and I do not doubt many others will make you feel many wonderful things again. But not Coulthurst.” She sat down opposite Emily and clasped her hands together.
“You are young and, if you will forgive me for saying it, not so wise yet. You do not need someone like Coulthurst crooning over you. And you certainly do not need to part with your virtue to make someone love you. By all means, take your pleasure, but do so for yourself, not from some misguided hope of trying to trick a man into marriage.” She paused.
“And whatever you do, do not shout your words at the next gentleman who asks you to dance—even if he is hard of hearing.”
Emily’s big blue eyes welled up with tears.
Fortunately, the door opened, sparing Georgina an emotional outburst from Emily.
Arthur shuffled into the room, squinting at Georgina through his spectacles. He wore an art smock over his daywear, on which he roughly wiped paint-stained fingers in readiness to shake her hand.
“Go now, Emily. I need to have a private word with your brother,” Georgina instructed. To her surprise, Emily complied with her request.
Once the door had closed behind her, Georgina greeted Arthur, a knot of anticipation tightening in her belly, fanning her need to share the uplifting news with him. On the short carriage ride over, she had already envisaged his reaction, and she could scarcely wait to bring his worries to an end.
Georgina urged him to sit down, and, without further ado, she retrieved the slips of paper from her pocket and displayed them to him. Such tiny pieces of paper that had caused such a weight on both of their minds for the last long weeks.
She watched as recognition flooded his face. He clapped his hand across his breast and sighed loudly. “G-George, you have my vowels!”
Georgina pressed them into his hand. “You have them. Destroy them and let no one convince you to write one ever again, my dear friend.”
“How did you get them back?”
Georgina hesitated. She had no simple explanation for this. She certainly did not mean to bother him with tales of housebreakings, muggings, prison, blackmail, and indictments. “I am not entirely sure. But we have them now.”
A beam filled his face, and his joy infected her.
Georgina smiled back. She handed him a generous wad of banknotes from her pocket.
“These are from Mrs Gardner. For what you lost at her tables. She is sorry for the inconvenience.” Before she handed them to him, though, Georgina took twenty pounds from the bundle.
“But you owe me this back. Now, we are completely settled.”
“Yes. Now, I can ask Lady Maggie to m-marry me, unencumbered.”
“She is a lucky woman, Arthur. I don’t doubt you will be very happy together.”
“Thank you, G-Georgina. I am lucky you are my f-friend.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “I’m happy I could help you, Arthur. You are a good friend to me as well.”
She swallowed, glad that she had managed to help him, even if it had not been as straightforward as she initially imagined. Despite the disturbances along the way, her intentions had only been honourable. Maybe she was not completely irredeemable, after all.
Georgina wished Henry had been able to find love, get married, and enjoy a life like Arthur.
But they’d cut his life short. She hoped her actions in looking after Arthur, including her efforts to bring those villains to justice, had in some way atoned for letting Henry down when he had most needed her.
Georgina left Arthur to his raptures and took herself home. At last, the weight of those damned vowels was off her shoulders, and he was safe. If she ever saw Elizabeth again, she would thank her.
At the thought of Elizabeth, she ached. This entire experience had justified her conviction to never become romantically attached to others.
She was delighted that it had worked out for Arthur.
Sarah and Colt were about to start their own journey together, and they both valued their friendship with her.
She loved each of them and hoped they would bring each other happiness.
For herself, the empty pocket in her chest grew wider with every breath. She was grateful she knew how to shield herself from further pain. Now, to find her next transient romance.