“Howdidhe treat you when he was in my employ?” Darcy leaned forward with a hard gaze.
“Oh! No, no, no. Surely you don’t think — Mr. Peake is a good man. Honorable. Not while he was in your employ, besides,” Georgiana giggled, “he thought himself much too far beneath me to look at the daughter of the house with serious intent. He told me that hedidlove me then, and I had an admiration for him, but we were too young. We only talked; I asked him everything about the estate business and collecting rents, and the sorts of things you don’t like to be bothered by a woman with. But he enjoyed explaining.”
“He did? You say he loved you then? He told you that now?”
“You are terrible suspicious. Though Wickham…suspicion is not unjustified.”
“Did he make love to you then?”
“You are not listening. Even though he knew all about my disgrace, he still thought I was above him.”
“Youareabove him.”
Georgiana waved her hand. “Nonsense. I am outside of normal society — even in Hertfordshire, they all see me differently because of Anne. Even if they are courteous, I am not treated the same as other girls. So you see, you really have no reason to oppose us. I should not be treated as before, I sinned, and even after repentance—”
“You are a Darcy. You were born a Darcy. You cannot cease to be a Darcy.”
“I could marry. Then I would quit the name.” Georgiana smiled at him. “Please listen, Fitzwilliam. I am not being irrational — I know what I am about when I wish to marry Mr. Peake. I can explain—”
“No you cannot.”
“You can hardly know whether I can explain or not if you do not listen to me.” She spoke in a reasonable tone, but Darcy could see in the eagerness in her eyes, that she still hoped he could be convinced.
Darcy sighed and pulled at his hair. “When did you become so combative and forward?”
“Lizzy taught me—” Her face shined as she grabbed Darcy’s wrist. “Matters are not ruined irretrievably. If you only listen, you will understand that I am notreallyabove Mr. Peake, and there is no reason to stop us from marrying, and we can return straight away, and you and Lizzy can reconcile, and we will all be happy the way I thought we were yesterday and—”
“She threw my ring away becauseI was too gentlemanly.”
“You are crying for her, and—”
“Do not speak ofthat.”
Georgiana pursed her lips, and tilted her head to look at him as if he were a strange insect trapped in amber in an eccentric gentleman’s curio cabinet. “Why ever not?”
“It is not done. Not done. Bad form.”
“Crying?”
Darcy felt full of shame now at remembering how he had sobbed. His eyes were still red. A gentleman such as him should be able to hide his tears.
“That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard from you. Tears relieve pain, it is natural.”
“A gentleman should not be weak enough to need such relief.”
“Lizzy called you too gentlemanly?” Georgiana rolled her eyes and shook her head. “She was right — stop being too gentlemanly. Apologize, she still loves you, and—”
“I havenothingto apologize for.”
Georgiana’s eager motions halted. And her face fell. Darcy hated to see it. “I do not desire us to be unhappy,” she said.
Darcy was unhappy. Georgiana was unhappy, even if her brief moment of hope that she could change his mind made her forget it. Darcy softly tapped his foot against the leg of the table and looked at Anne peacefully playing with her doll. One of them was happy at least.
“I lost my right to the family name.”
“You did not.”
“Our aunt, Lady Catherine said—”
