Reginald laughed. “I will heed your advice. Did she come with you today?”
“Yes, Lady Matlock is entertaining her in the drawing-room.”
“And my mother?”
“Not that I saw.”
Reginald sighed. “Well, you had better come with me. I do not relish telling Mother the final word about Richard in any circumstance, but even less do I cherish the idea of doing it alone.”
“Elizabeth?Areyouinthere?”
Georgiana’s voice at the door to her room surprised Elizabeth, but the girl’s face when she answered was an even greater shock. Her features were meek and repentant, but her face was smooth, not as one recently reduced to tears.
“May I come in?” she asked.
Elizabeth stepped aside. “Of course, please.”
Georgiana glanced around the room, with its open trunk and scattered articles of clothing, as if trying to decide what to do with herself. She was carrying some papers and seemed at first as though she would simply present them and leave, but then she looked Elizabeth in the eye. “I came to apologise.”
“Apologise?” Elizabeth moved to the sofa and gestured for Georgiana to seat herself. “For what?”
The girl rolled her eyes—the faintest glimmer of a tear shining in the corner—and scoffed. “What do I not need to apologise for? I do not think I have spoken a kind word to you since you came here.”
Elizabeth smiled. “Have you just come from a conversation with your brother?”
“Yes, but I meant to speak to you, anyway. I have been thinking. You really saved me, Elizabeth. I still cannot credit how stupid I was.”
“We are often stupid in the pursuit of our own wishes,” Elizabeth said wistfully. “You are not unique.”
“But Ididknow better.” Georgiana’s gaze was firm, her words not to be gainsaid. “I did. I knew exactly what I was doing, and I think some secret part of me wanted to disgrace my brother at that point. I would not have cared until after it was too late.”
“Why? You cannot tell me you wished for Mr Wickham to hurt you. That would be insanity, and I do not believe that.”
“Not hurt me, no. I never thought he would act like that. You must understand, I have known George Wickham since I was a child. He was a favourite of my father’s, and he and William were even friends until some falling out after my father’s death. At least, I thought they were friends. William just told me some things I did not know, but until that day in the orangery, I never would have suspected him capable of anything like what he tried to do. I doubt I would have believed William if he had told me sooner.”
“My goodness! What did he do?”
“He said when Father died, Mr Wickham tried to insist upon an establishment in the local parish from my father’s will. He even threatened a legal complaint if my brother refused to honour that bequest, but as it turns out, it was conditional only, and he had not satisfied the terms. Can you imagine, that bounder wished to be a clergyman! Like your own cousin, that Collins fellow. I have no great faith in the clergy, for so many of the ones I have known seem only to worship themselves instead of God, but at least your cousin is harmless. I cannot say that for George.”
Elizabeth’s mouth worked, and she made two or three false starts at some kind of response. “I am sorry you discovered his nature in such a terrible fashion,” she said finally. “At least no real harm was done, was there? You were mostly unhurt, and there do not seem to be any rumours or scandals.”
Georgiana’s exhale at this statement was heavy and shaken. “Oh, but it could have been so much worse. William told me also… he has kept informed of Mr Wickham’s activities in the last five years, and what he told me…”
Elizabeth gripped the girl’s hand. “What is it?”
“Ah.” She swallowed. “He has become involved with a terrible man—group of men, really. Criminals. William thinks they trade in black market opium, and that Mr Wickham sometimes takes jobs transporting it.”
Elizabeth felt the hair standing on the back of her neck. “What?”
Georgiana shuddered again. “I cannot begin to imagine what he truly intended to do with me.”
Elizabeth stared, and her voice was fragile as glass when she spoke. “Your brother must have been outraged when he heard of it! How terrifying! Was he very harsh with you?”
Georgiana laughed brokenly. “I thought he would be. I thought I would be sent to a convent or have all my privileges and pin money stripped away and sent to the orphans. I thought he would have me ladling soup in a poorhouse or laundering sheets for the charity school, or something of that kind.”
“What did he do?”
Georgiana’s brow knit. “It was the strangest thing. He gave me a hug.”
