Chapter Twenty-Three #2
George released her hands and ran both of his through his hair as he stepped away, visibly trying to gather himself.
"No. I am sorry. That was ridiculous. Of course I would never put you in that position. I do not know what I was thinking. I came here to make things right and appear to have made everything worse."
Bella reached for him and drew him back towards the bed, taking his hand between both of hers when they were seated once more.
"I am not saying that I do not wish to be...
" She looked shyly down at her lap, suddenly finding the words much more difficult to say now that her anger had left her.
"Connected to you, George. Very much the opposite.
But we must find a way to do this properly. "
George studied her profile for a moment. "What do you suggest?"
Bella drew in a breath. "I would like to go downstairs and speak to my parents. I believe my mother has spoken to Papa by now and that he will have softened."
"I do not think he will have softened very much if he discovers that I climbed into his daughter's bedchamber in the middle of the night," George said, casting a worried glance towards the door.
"That part is not ideal," Bella conceded. "But it has brought you back to me, so I cannot be too unhappy about it. My mother will deal with Papa. She is very good at that."
She leaned towards him and placed both hands against his face before kissing him sweetly.
When she drew away, she delighted in his expression.
He looked soft and loving, but also distinctly panicked, and it pleased her greatly to see her strong captain so utterly undone.
"Now come, my brave captain. Let us see what can be achieved together. "
???
Bella changed quickly behind the screen into a simple day dress.
George blushed quite handsomely when she asked him to help with the smaller buttons at the top of her back that she could not reach, but he accomplished the task without comment, his fingers moving with reverent care and brushing lightly against the bare skin of her back.
That achieved, they crept along the hall and down the stairs as quietly as their feet could carry them.
Bella would not lie to her parents again, but perhaps it was best if they did not immediately discover that George had entered the house through her bedroom window.
She stopped before the parlour door, where she could hear the soft murmur of voices from within, and looked back at him with a small smile. "Are you ready?"
"As ready as I shall ever be, Princess," he said, his mouth set in a determined line.
With that, Bella knocked softly upon the door and pushed it ajar, popping her head around the wood.
She had felt quite brave before that moment, settled upon a plan and confident that she could see it through, but that had been when she imagined her mother and father sitting together reading or talking quietly. To her horror, the room was full.
Mina was sketching in one corner, while Kate sat tucked into the corner of a settee with a huge book open across her lap and her feet curled beneath her.
Aunt Lydia and her parents were sitting together near the fire, conversing quietly, and every head in the room turned towards Bella as she appeared.
"Good evening, everyone," she said weakly.
Aunt Lydia let out a squeal of delight and rose quickly. "Oh, my darling girl, my beautiful Bella. Look at you. You look much improved. Are you well? You must come and sit by the fire."
She caught hold of Bella and pulled her rather inelegantly into the room, causing the door to fall fully open and reveal George standing sheepishly beyond it.
"Captain Harwood," her aunt said, her eyes going as round as saucers. "What an unexpected pleasure. It is perhaps a little late for visitors, but..." She looked back towards her sister and brother-in-law.
Bella's mama gave the smallest nod, and Lydia immediately turned back to George with renewed enthusiasm. "Well, come in then, Captain. You cannot stand about in the hallway all night."
George stepped into the room and came to stand beside Bella. She had the uncomfortable impression that they resembled prisoners in the dock awaiting sentence as he bowed and greeted her parents and aunt before accepting introductions to her sisters.
"He is very pretty, Bella," Mina said, looking him over with unabashed interest. "I can see why you ran away with him."
"I did not run away with him," Bella said quickly. "We met when..." She closed her mouth at the stern look from her father.
Kate had risen from the settee and now appeared to be observing George with the steady curiosity of a scientist examining some new and interesting discovery.
"How do you do, Captain Harwood?" she said carefully, looking from him to Bella as though attempting to piece together some puzzle in her own mind.
Finally her father spoke. "Captain Harwood. How interesting to see you again. With my daughter. In my sister's home at..." He pulled out his pocket watch and consulted it. "A quarter past ten at night." His gaze moved towards the door. "I do not recall hearing the knocker."
"Captain Harwood was outside. I let him in," Bella said quickly, hoping that would suffice as some sort of explanation, although even as the words left her mouth she knew they sounded weak and would stand up to no interrogation.
Luckily, her mama looked at her with soft eyes for a moment before placing one hand lightly upon her father's arm, halting whatever he had been about to say.
"It has been a rather unusual few days," Elizabeth Darcy said calmly.
"What is one small aberration more? Come and sit by the fire, Captain. Bella, you will sit too."
George took the chair nearest Bella, although he took pains to move it several inches so there was not the slightest possibility of their knees touching.
She might have laughed under other circumstances.
Her father noticed it too. Bella saw his gaze travel briefly from George to the small space between their chairs before he settled back more comfortably beside her mother, looking every inch the master of Pemberley.
For several minutes the room fell into an uncomfortable quiet.
Mina returned to her sketching, though Bella noticed she was doing far more looking than drawing, while Kate had abandoned all pretence of reading and was observing George over the top of her book.
Aunt Lydia, meanwhile, seemed to be vibrating with the effort of containing herself.
Eventually it was Lydia who rescued them. "Well, this is much nicer. Everyone together and nobody missing. I have had quite enough excitement to last me until Christmas."
Bella's mama gave her sister a look, but the tension in the room eased by the smallest degree.
Mina tilted her head as she studied George. "Were you really a naval captain?"
"I was, Miss Wilhelmina."
Mina’s nose crinkled at the formal address. "Did you fight pirates?"
"One or two in my time. In the Mediterranean mostly. Though those skirmishes are rarely as exciting as they are portrayed in novels."
"Mina," her father said mildly.
"I have never met a naval captain before, Papa."
"You met Admiral Croft."
"Yes, but he was ancient and spent all of his time speaking about his digestion. Uncle Richard told me he had never actually been to sea and spent all of his time behind a desk being pompous."
"Well, perhaps we can leave that particular subject where it is for today."
George coughed lightly and Bella suspected he was trying to disguise a chuckle. She felt some of the tightness in her chest ease. He was here, amongst her family, and the world had not fallen down around their ears yet.
Kate closed her book properly and set it aside. "Did you spend much time in the Mediterranean, Captain Harwood?"
"A good deal towards the end of my service."
Her expression brightened. "Did you ever see flying fish?"
George looked momentarily surprised by the question, but answered with complete seriousness. "Many times."
Kate immediately asked how far they could travel above the water, and before long George was attempting to describe the movement of flying fish while Kate listened with rapt attention.
Bella watched the exchange with fondness and noticed her parents’ eyes on the pair too.
He did not laugh at her serious sister's questions or speak down to her, but answered thoughtfully and drew her out with his own remarks and queries.
"And what will you do now, Captain?" her mother asked when Kate had finally exhausted the subject. "I understand the business with Mr Trevethan has rather altered matters for you."
George shifted in his chair. "The Customs Office has offered me a more permanent position. I would travel between ports where smuggling is proving particularly troublesome and assist with investigations."
Her father sat forward in his chair. "You intend to accept?" he said with a terseness that earned him a reproving look from his wife.
"I am giving the matter great consideration," said George, his eyes shifting to meet Bella’s. "But it is not my first priority."
Bella’s heart beat faster and she felt the world drop away as he offered her a look so tender that it felt physically painful to receive. The room settled into silence once more and she decided she could bear no more.
"Papa, Mama, might George and I speak with you privately?"
Mina's head came up at once. "Why?"
Bella turned towards her. "Because it is private. I believe you understand the meaning of the word, sister."
"But I should so very much like to hear it. And I promise to sit quietly."
"I am sure you would," said their mother, and Bella caught the flicker of amusement in her eyes. "Nevertheless, you will not."