Now, however, she might see that side of her brother, for she had no illusions about how he would react to her marriage.
“Here we are,” George said, halting before a tall, many-pillared structure. “You wait here, my sweet. I will only be a moment.”
“I am not going in with you?”
George chuckled. “Do not be silly, dearest. Women have no place in a bank.” With that, he released her and started up the wide steps.
Georgiana stared after him, bereft, suddenly aware of how crowded the street was. A pair of men left the bank as George darted in. A few others went up the steps. Georgiana had to admit, for all the activity around the grandiose building, she saw no women leave or enter.
Aware that passersby regarded her with curiosity, she tried to stand tall and not fidget. She was a wife now, after all. A woman. She could stand alone on the curb outside a bank if she so chose, and no one could say a thing about it.
Still, relief filled her when, nearly half an hour later, she sighted George exiting the bank. He trotted down the steps to her, smiling, and the world dwindled to that smile, and hishandsome visage. Everything seemed so much more right when she was with George.
“All taken care of, my pet,” he said, reclaiming her arm. “And I have directions to the nearest coaching inn.”
“Coaching inn? Is that the finest the city can offer? I want…” She trailed off in embarrassment. “That is, our wedding night should be somewhere special.”
His arm tensed beneath hers. “And it will be, for it will take place at Pemberley.”
“Pemberley?” she gasped. “But we are miles away. It will take days to reach.” Geography had never been her best subject, but she knew they were far from her home.
“Days? Two weeks, if we are fortunate. Down the eastern road, I think.” That last he said contemplatively.
“But surely we could have our wedding night now and depart come morning?” Would they have any privacy taking the coach south?
George shook his head. “Absolutely not. We will have our wedding night when we reach Pemberley and not a moment sooner. We have waited this long so that everything may be as special as possible.”
“But—”
“No,” George interrupted. “I have made my decision, and that is final. Need I remind you that I am your husband?”
Her feet halting, Georgiana gaped at him.
He released her arm, but only to put his about her shoulder. With firm pressure, he propelled her along. “People begin to stare.”
“I do not care if they do,” she huffed. “I care about how you spoke to me. Yes, you are my husband, but I am your wife, and you are meant to…to love me. To care for me. Not to order me about.”
Still exerting force to keep her walking, George let out a sigh. “This is the only way I can convince Darcy that I truly love you. It is important to me that I do not tear your family, my family, asunder.”
Georgiana considered that. His words made sense, but she’d waited for so long for the magic of their wedding night. She didn’t know much about what happened in the marital bed, but whatever happened, it was the culmination of her and George’s love.
“Please, dearest,” George urged, his voice low. “Wait a bit longer. For my sake. For the sake of our future happiness.”
Georgiana let out a sigh. “Yes, certainly.” A smile tugged at her lips as she added, “Whatever you think best,husband.”
George cast her a relieved look. He dropped his arm from her shoulders to re-twine with hers. “I am afraid, after I settle you to wait for the coach, that I must dash off to sell the remainder of your jewelry if we are to reach Pemberley in good time.”
“Oh.” They had only a few pieces left. Her mother’s pendent watch. A ring that had been her grandmother’s. Only her most cherished pieces remained, but George had told her from the start that they might need to sell everything. “I suppose, if you must, you must.”
“I will need the locket you wear.”
Her hand flew to the little heart hanging about her neck. “But you gave me this.”
“And I will give you another. One a hundred times better. Something worthy of you, my love.”
“But…” She squeezed the locket, a symbol of when she first began to love him. Truly love him. She’d been alone in the music room, crying, with no idea where her brother was. Nothing that Christmas had been right, without her father. George had found her there, and given her the little gold heart she wore. “I do not want anything nicer. I want this.”
His arm tightened, tugging her up against his side. He tilted his head, bringing his lips near her ear. “More than you want us to reach Pemberley and our first night as man and wife?”
