“I assure you, I do. I should not be gossiping, but the servants say at night he has taken to scouring the attic, book room, and looking through piles of old papers. Peculiar practice, wouldn’t you say?”
“I agree. I am curious why a man with such a lovely wife would spend his time in such dusty and isolated pursuits?”
He saw her roll her eyes. “I can honestly say I do not care to understandanythingthat man does, as long as it does not negatively affect my friend. I am quite content living in ignorance.”
Yes, Elizabeth. But Wickham always has a reason for everything he does. He is looking for something, and I mean to find out what it is. And why.
Day 8
The next morning had dawned bright without a cloud in the sky. Jane and Elizabeth had set out with baskets from the parsonage kitchen for parish families and met their friends on the road.
“Mrs. Wickham, Miss de Bourgh. Good day to you.”
“And to you,” Georgiana said, with a smile. “It is a beautiful day, is it not?”
“It is, indeed. A fine day to walk. Have you been out long?”
Anne shook her head. “We have only just come from Rosings and are on our way to purchase some sheet music for Georgie. Would you care to join us?”
“We thank you but must leave you at the village. We are to go to the Hathornes’s, as the baby was born two nights ago.”
“Please let me know if there is anything we can do at Rosings.”
They resumed their walk when Elizabeth noticed Georgiana’s locket. “What a lovely piece of jewelry. I have never seenyou wear that before.”
Fingering the object, she said, “It is very precious to me.” She unhooked the necklace and dropped the gold chain into her reticule. “I only wear it when I feel melancholy, missing my parents.” She opened the locket as Elizabeth and Jane both gasped.
“Your mother was lovely. So much like you,” Jane said. “And your father…what a handsome man he was.”
“Yes, Papa was. These are miniatures commissioned for the occasion of their wedding, so they were quite young.”
“Your father,” Elizabeth said, struggling to find the right words. “He is very striking.”
“Yes.”
“Do you not think”—she began and looked up at Anne de Bourgh, who was watching her with a raised brow—“do you not think…he looks like someone we know?”
Georgiana looked down at the picture with a furrowed brow. “People always said that my husband resembled him as if he were a nephew, but I do not think that is true. Only in his coloring but not his expression or demeanor. And not to be indelicate, but Mama and Papa were traveling for a year on the continent when my husband was born. After her loss.”
“Forgive me, her loss?”
“Yes. She gave birth to a son. But he did not live. They named him William. Mama’s grief was so great that Papatook her away from Pemberley in attempts to rally her spirits.”
The four women stood on the side of the road, examining the miniatures when a baritone voice broke their reverie.
“Good morning, ladies. What a pleasant surprise on this dusty road.”
Startled, Elizabeth looked up to see Mr. Fitzroy, his brown eyes dancing with merriment, and a loan dark curl licking at his forehead. “I hope I am not interrupting some secret confidence…? If so, I can move along and wish you a good day.”
“Oh, no,” Elizabeth heard herself say. “We are just examining the miniatures in Mrs. Wickham’s locket.”
Georgiana smiled and held the locket for Mr. Fitzroy to see. “Miss Bennet and Mrs. Collins believe my father reminds them of an acquaintance we have. I”—she paused at a loss for words—“why Mr. Fitzroy, I have never before noticed the resemblance…” She opened the locket, handing it to him.
Elizabeth glanced again at the miniature in the gentleman’s hand and studied the strong jaw, warm brown eyes, small dimple, and same errant curls, and felt as if she were looking at the model of the painting.
Mr. Fitzroy did not respond, yet rather seemed fascinated by the locket too. A wrinkle came over Georgiana’s brow as she stared from the locket to Mr. Fitzroy.
“Well then. If you will excuse us, we should be about our errand,” Anne said, taking Georgiana’s arm. The movement broke her trance, and Georgiana quickly looked away from Mr. Fitzroy before glancing back in his direction.
