Chapter 44 The Long Road Back to Yesterday
Fitzwilliam looked down at the receipt in his hand.
Clementi & Co.
Beside him, Georgiana held the other receipt. Her gaze moved from the paper to the rows of instruments, the shelves of music, and the clerk standing behind the counter.
Fitzwilliam took in the shop before meeting his sister’s eyes.
Georgiana began to weep.
She made no sound, but tears slipped down her cheeks as Fitzwilliam led her aside. He put his arm around her and rested his cheek against the top of her head.
His own eyes were moist.
For some time, they stood together before Georgiana wiped her face.
“I am tempted to visit the Gardiners and ask after Elizabeth,” he said. “But she is not living there yet. She remains at Longbourn with her parents.”
Fitzwilliam kissed her hair. “My Elizabeth is not here yet.” He straightened.
“Come, my dear. Let us go home.”
When they returned to the counter, Fitzwilliam caught the clerk watching them with some concern.
“I believe we have disturbed the gentleman. He is probably wondering why we are weeping over our purchases.”
Georgiana laughed and wiped another tear from her cheek.
Fitzwilliam offered her his arm, inclined his head politely to the clerk, and led his sister from the shop.
Once they were settled in the carriage, he directed the coachman to Gracechurch Street.
“When you reach this address, slow down. I wish to have a look at the house.”
“Shall I stop, sir?”
“No, there is no need, Hobbs.”
Neither spoke. London passed outside the windows, familiar and unchanged, until the carriage entered the neighborhood whose address Elizabeth had written in his letter in that other life.
He leaned forward when they reached the Gardiners’ street.
“There.”
Georgiana followed his gaze.
The carriage slowed as it passed the house. A servant crossed the pavement carrying a parcel, and farther along, two women stood talking beside a doorway. There was no sign of Elizabeth.
Georgiana glanced at her brother. “Shall we go around again?”
He was tempted.
“No. She is not there. Elizabeth is in Hertfordshire with her family.” He looked back at the house as the carriage continued along the street. “But I am glad we came. It makes her seem less distant somehow.”
Georgiana reached out and took his hand.
Higgins received them in the entrance hall.
“Sir. Miss Darcy.”
“Higgins. I want a message sent to Mr. Kendall. Ask him to attend me as soon as he is available.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And ask Mrs. Younge to meet me in my study.”
Georgiana’s hand closed around his.
Fitzwilliam looked down at her. The color had left her face.
“You need not see her, Georgie.” He lowered his voice. “Shall I send you to Aunt Helen? I will collect you when Mrs. Younge is gone from the house.”
Her eyes widened. “May I, Fitzwilliam? I do not think I can bear to see her after what she did to me. I trusted her.”
He kissed the top of her head. “All will be well, Georgiana. It will take time for both of us to recover from what happened, but we will take each day as it comes.”
Higgins had already started down the hall.
“Higgins.”
The butler returned.
“Stop the carriage. Have Peter and Robert accompany Miss Darcy to my aunt’s house. I will collect her later.”
“Yes, sir.”
Fitzwilliam waited with Georgiana until Peter and Robert appeared. He helped her into the carriage himself and stood on the pavement until it pulled away.
By the time he entered his study, Mrs. Younge was waiting.
“Mr. Darcy.”
“Mrs. Younge. Please be seated.”
She did so.
Fitzwilliam remained behind his desk. “I have decided to make a change in my sister’s household. Your services as Miss Darcy’s companion are no longer required.”
Mrs. Younge stared at him.
“Sir, I do not understand. You are dismissing me?”
“I am.”
“But in what manner have I displeased you? Georgiana and I get along perfectly well. She trusts me, and I believe she has become very fond of me.”
Fitzwilliam said nothing.
“You know how retiring your sister is, sir. It has taken me months to gain her confidence. You will have a very difficult time finding another companion with whom she is so comfortable.”
“I am prepared to accept that difficulty.”
Mrs. Younge drew herself straighter. “Surely there has been some misunderstanding. If you will allow me to speak with Miss Darcy, I am certain we can settle whatever has troubled her.”
“My sister has nothing to do with this decision.”
“Then I confess I understand it even less.”
Darcy’s eyes narrowed. Would Mrs. Younge admit to knowing Wickham? He decided to take the chance.
“What of George Wickham, ma’am?”
Her face blanched.
“Did he send you to us?”
She looked away but made no reply.
“I believe he told you of this position. If I write to the persons who provided your references, what will I discover, ma’am? Are they falsified?”
Mrs. Younge stood, curtsied, and left the room without answering.
Fitzwilliam reached for the call bell. When Higgins entered, he said, “Mrs. Younge will be leaving us today. Please accompany her upstairs and see that Jenny assists with her packing.”
Fitzwilliam remained at his desk while the household went about the unexpected business of Mrs. Younge’s departure. An hour later, the sound of a carriage reached him from the street.
He crossed to the window in time to see Mrs. Younge enter the carriage. Higgins closed the door behind her, and it pulled away from Darcy House.
Fitzwilliam had changed the course of his sister’s life.
* * *
Fitzwilliam returned to his aunt’s townhouse late that afternoon and found Georgiana with Lady Helen in the drawing room.
His sister rose when he entered. He knew from the question in her eyes what she wished to know and simply inclined his head.
Lady Helen appeared piqued by their silent exchange but did not question them.
“I want you both to return for dinner. Richard expects to be back from the War Office by six, which will give you time to visit before we dine.”
“We would be pleased to join you, Aunt Helen.”
“Excellent. I also wish to speak with both of you about an invitation I received to a soiree at the Ramsburys’. Miss Ramsbury will be there, Fitzwilliam. Richard has told me how thoroughly she has caught your eye.”
Fitzwilliam recoiled before he could prevent it.
His aunt appeared not to notice, but Georgiana’s hand tightened around his. She rested her other hand upon his arm, and he covered it with his own.
“Thank you, Aunt Helen, but I have changed my mind about Miss Ramsbury.”
Lady Helen stared at him. “Since when?”
“Recently.”
“Well, I am sorry to hear it. She is a lovely young woman, who commands a large dowry and everything I know of her family recommends the connection.”
“I am sure it does. She is a lovely young lady, but I do not wish to pursue the connection, Aunt.”
“I feel certain you would change your mind if you would only see her again.”
Fitzwilliam continued before she could pursue the matter any further.
“Charles Bingley has been considering the lease of an estate in Hertfordshire. He has never managed landed property and has asked me to help him examine the estate before he decides. I expect I shall spend some time there this summer if he takes it.”
“Then you mean to leave London before Ascot.”
“Quite possibly.”
“That is too bad of you, Nephew. The Ashcombes have invited us all to a house party, including Phillip and you, and I had hoped you would attend. There will be several eligible young women among the guests.”
“My dear aunt, I am sorry to disappoint you, but I have no wish to attend a house party in search of a wife.”
Lady Helen gave him a long look. “You are soon to be eight and twenty, Fitzwilliam. You cannot avoid marriage forever.”
Georgiana lowered her eyes.
Fitzwilliam pressed his sister’s hand. “At present I have other matters requiring my attention, and I have no intention to leave Georgiana behind. Did she tell you that I dismissed Mrs. Younge this afternoon?”
Lady Helen looked immediately at her niece. “Georgiana, you never said a word to me.”
“No, Aunt. I did not know whether Fitzwilliam wished to tell you himself.”
The countess considered this before reaching for Georgiana’s hand. “You were right to defer to your brother, my dear.”
She looked back at Fitzwilliam.
“There was something in Mrs. Younge’s character I could no longer trust,” he said. “I should have made more careful inquiries before engaging her. I thought it better to dismiss her than risk Georgiana’s welfare.”
“Of course. One can never be too careful where a young girl is concerned. But what caused you to distrust her?”
Fitzwilliam glanced at Georgiana before answering.
“I asked Mrs. Younge if Wickham had sent her to us to obtain the position of Georgiana’s companion. She did not answer me, Aunt. She looked away, left the room, and within the hour, had left my house.”
Lady Helen’s expression changed. “George Wickham? I have never trusted that young man.”
“No, Aunt Helen. He is not to be trusted.”
“But I understood that he had gone into the church. I am certain Richard mentioned something of the sort.”
“He refused the living my father intended for him and accepted three thousand pounds in lieu of it. He has since spent the money.”
“Three thousand pounds in the five years since your father’s passing?”
“Yes. I have reason to believe he is now deeply in debt.”
Lady Helen looked at Georgiana. “Has he attempted to contact you?”
Georgiana’s fingers tightened around her brother’s.
Fitzwilliam continued. “No, Aunt. Georgiana is safe, but I have learned that Mrs. Younge cannot be trusted where Wickham is concerned. I will not permit her continued access to Georgiana.”
“Then you were quite right to dismiss her.”
“I have asked my solicitor to call upon me tomorrow. I intend to have Wickham investigated and determine precisely where he is and what he has been doing.”
Lady Helen regarded him with concern. “Does Richard know?”
“Not all of it. That is one of the matters I wish to discuss with him tonight.”