“Don’t you listen to Mr. Gardiner talk about his business?”
“Beyond a general way, not often.Heknows better than to flirt with women in such a manner.”
“Oh. But Mr. Peake is not flirting with me.”
It was time to offer some sage advice. “Youwill need to encourage him.”
“What?” Georgiana squeaked.
“Mr. Peake is not Wickham. He is a little shy himself, you know. Good with his profession, but not such a great social creature. And he is a tradesman. It would seem to him presumptuous to ask for your hand.”
“Ridiculous, there is no difference of that sort. Not any longer. I lowered my name such thatheis above me. All of the advantage would be on my side.”
Elizabeth pursed her lips and looked at Georgiana.
“You don’t think — I know I have a great fortune. But… He is doing very well. Right? I do not understand business, but the stories he tells me makes me think his firm must show a good deal of profit.”
“I amcertainhis attachment is not of that sort. Though — let us be honest — the presence of a fortune neverlessensthe charms of a girl.”
“I am scared of making a mistake, after Wickham...I always depend upon Fitzwilliam for such decisions.”
“No — no.” Elizabeth frowned, a strange anxiety and terror of possessing an opinion entirely different from Darcy in her guts. It was strange after they argued so much that she now would be frightened of disagreeing with him. “Even if you do not think much of your just claims, any longer, your brother has a high opinion of them. He is likely to dislike such a match, simply because Mr. Peake is in trade, and educated for it, rather than educated to be a gentleman.”
“No! He would not oppose my happiness on such grounds. You know how sweet Fitzwilliam is — I am beneath any tradesman. Ihaverepented. But I sinned. That sinning, and Anne, will always be with me.”
Elizabeth pursed her lips. SheknewDarcy would not consider it in that manner.
“You must be mistaken. Mr. Peake could not like me so much.”
“He does not take time to talk toeverypretty girl in his path.”
Georgiana frowned thoughtfully. And sweetly. She really was a pet, so worried about this.
“No thinking of this sort. You are well matched in temperament and mind, and there is a strong mutual affection which survived a separation of many years. That is what matters.”
Her friend bunched her hand up in a fist and resting her chin on it looked out the window at the clear, crisp morning. “You really think he admires me? A little, at least.”
“He does.”
They sat quietly. Elizabeth’s eye studied the familiar vista. The woods denuded of leaves. The wagon track leading around the house. The fields bare, waiting the sprouts of winter wheat to poke their heads above the ground. Half of the tall stone barn was visible from this window.
“But I want toknow!” Georgiana exclaimed plaintively.
Elizabeth raised her eyebrows and Georgiana blushed.
“I sound rather childish, do I not?”
“Very sweet” — Elizabeth poked her friend — “Pay attention, and you will see — you must pursue your own path in this. Follow your heart and your head.”
“You still think Fitzwilliam would oppose such a match.” Georgiana shook her head. “He only hopes for me to be happy and he likes Mr. Peake.”
Elizabeth loved Darcy, and she believed hewouldaccept his sister’s choice in the end. But such a match would make him unhappy.Heknew the value of Pemberley too well, and he thought much too highly of his sister to think she had been lowered to the level where a man in trade — a man who had once been employed upon his estate — could be an equitable match.
“If…” Elizabeth swallowed. There was a strange feeling in her gut. Darcy would disapprove of what she planned to say. Elizabeth shoved that emotion away. Darcy loved her. He did not expect them to share all opinions, and he was no controlling ogre. “If he opposes the match, do not lethimdo more than make you hesitate.”
“I could never go against Fitzwilliam’s wishes!”
“It is your life, not your brother’s. You have the final guardianship of your own happiness. And, Georgiana, happiness is what you deserve.”
