Chapter 1.18 #6
“Oh…well, I just told you what I wanted to say. Perhaps you did not understand me well enough. Shall I try to explain it one more time?”
He did not wait for her answer before lowering his head to capture her lips again, but she moved her head so his lips met only her cheek somewhere near her ear.
He did not seem displeased with this as he started to place small kisses on her skin, but she started to laugh and, not without a considerable struggle, extricated herself from his arms.
“Mr Darcy, as much as I would like to continue to…um…discuss things with you in this particular manner, I strongly insist that we must stop now. We are acting absurdly—not to mention improperly—and being very inconsiderate to Georgiana! Poor girl, she must be wondering what has become of us. Shall we not go to her and delay this…conversation for another time?”
She smiled teasingly, but she was slightly embarrassed, blushing at her own words, which encouraged him to persist in what she called improper and absurd behaviour. He took her hand and kissed it while assisting her to rise in order to exit the library.
“You are not to be blamed for anything, Elizabeth. I am the only one being inconsiderate, for I always tend to forget propriety when I am near you. I know I am not behaving as properly as I should, but I treasure so much these rare moments of privacy with you. Do you not as well?”
“I do; you know that I do…it is just…I do not want Georgiana to suffer. She has been very affected by these last day’s events.”
“I thank you for your concern, my love. I sent for the doctor when I returned home. I want him to examine her carefully. I am afraid that her emotions might make her recovery even more difficult, and I do not want to risk that. I am equally concerned about her feelings. She did not say a word after we spoke yesterday.”
“William, I did talk to her. I had to tell her that I knew about Ramsgate.”
“Oh my, I forgot to tell her that.”
“Do not worry—we managed to come to an understanding. She is much stronger than we thought where her heart is concerned. Do you know that her major concern was for you? She was afraid to disappoint or to hurt you. I dare say Mr Wickham means nothing to her now. I am glad I was able to make her see the event a little differently. That was all she needed.”
“Do you really think she is well now? I cannot believe you have succeeded in two days where I have failed for all these months. She is more open with you than she ever was with me, but I am so happy and grateful to you.”
“I am sure she is well, and she will be even better. She is an admirable young lady; I told her as much. So like her brother…”
She looked at him with her smiling eyes and quickly rose on her toes and kissed his chin, as she could not reach his lips.
He gazed at her, surprised but delighted by her spontaneous display and, as she turned her back to him and continued to walk, he lowered his head and placed a quick but warm kiss on her neck, feeling her skin tremble under his lips.
“Elizabeth, there is another thing I forgot to mention and which must be said before we enter Georgiana’s room. I had a very interesting conversation with Wickham today.”
“With Mr Wickham? What interesting things could he possibly have to say? Has he not done enough?”
“Oh, he did say a few interesting things, I assure you. Can you imagine? He tried to persuade me that you only accepted me for my situation and, moreover, that Mrs Bennet convinced you to do it. And he implied that you and he were…very fond of each other and that you and he had been more than slight acquaintances. He insisted on reminding me that you confided in him and favoured him from the beginning of your acquaintance.”
Elizabeth stopped in the middle of the hall at Georgiana’s door, turning to him in shock at such horrible insinuations.
She looked at him with worry, trying to find an answer and expecting to see a dark, offended expression on his face.
She was greatly surprised to hear his light tone and see a serene countenance, lightened by obvious good humour.
“Why would he lie about such a thing? He is to be marrying my sister in less than a week! Why would he lie?”
“To offend you and hurt me, of course.”
“And…may I ask what your reaction was after all that he said?”
“Well, for a moment I seriously considered strangling him, which would have resolved all our problems!”
“William, please be serious!”
“But I am serious, believe me. However, after I concluded that murdering a man in my own carriage in the middle of town might damage my reputation at some length, I could do nothing but laugh at such a ridiculous attempt. I told him I would share the story with you so that we could laugh together—and I threw him out of the carriage.”
She looked at him incredulously, half-laughing and half-frightened. “You did not—”
“Of course I did. I told you I would never lie to you. My only regret at that moment was that the horses were moving at a slow pace.”
She put her hand on her mouth to stop her laughter but with little success, and he joined her as they entered Georgiana’s room together.
∞∞∞
Caroline Bingley never remembered being so frustrated or distressed. The last week had been the worst. Eliza Bennet had arrived in town, and she was ruining all her anticipated plans and dreams.
Her brother, usually so docile, had now turned against his own sister, offending her any time she asked a question.
He was undoubtedly changed in a most annoying way.
And, worst of all, she had had no opportunity to speak with Mr Darcy and offer him an explanation for that unfortunate misunderstanding with the letters as he had completely ignored her at the dinner two days earlier, and she had not seen him since then.
She tried to persuade Charles to assure her of at least a short visit to Georgiana—her dear friend, whose company she missed so much—but he had decidedly refused her under the false argument that Miss Darcy was not well enough to receive visitors.
How was it, Caroline wondered, that a country nobody like Eliza Bennet was allowed to see Georgiana?
Of course, she did ask Charles that particular question, and he only answered rudely that she should reconsider her manner of addressing Miss Elizabeth and that Darcy was entitled to decide who could visit his sister and when.
Caroline spent hours trying to understand with what arts and allurements Eliza Bennet had succeeded in imposing herself upon Mr Darcy for him to bestow such attentions upon her.
Apparently, both her brother and Mr Darcy were under some outrageous spell that must be affecting their sensibilities and binding them to the Bennet sisters!
She blamed everything on Eliza Bennet. It must be her fault!
This thought made her lose her temper, and her vexation increased.
She did not know what was happening, but she could tell that it was indeed something very important.
The dinner had ended in a strange, hasty way, and afterwards, Charles had dropped them at their door and vanished, only to return the next morning, refusing to talk to her.
The previous evening he had had dinner out, and from the extra care with his appearance, she was certain he was going to see Jane Bennet, and Mr Darcy would likely accompany him.
The disaster she could foresee could not be allowed to happen!
Something must be done to stop Eliza Bennet in her plan to entrap the master of Pemberley!
Caroline Bingley could not just wait and see all her hopes thrown away.
But what was to be done? She absolutely had to talk to someone, someone who was easy to manipulate and who could divulge some useful information.
She had to visit Georgiana, and if Mr Darcy was at home, so much the better.
She would find a way to make him listen to her!