“Is this truly something we should discuss in front of Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth, Darcy?” Mr. Bingley demanded.
It was Georgiana who responded. “Actually, Charles, I would value the opinions of my friends.”
Mr. Darcy added, “And I would welcome their opinions as well. Might Richard join us? Does he know we have visitors?” In truth, he wanted Miss Elizabeth to know that the poison was leaving his heart.
Just then, Martha appeared with the tea tray. She smiled at the two Bennet sisters as she curtsied to her new mistress.
“Oh, of course you must know the Bennets, Martha,” Georgiana said.
Elizabeth responded much as she had to Caroline Bingley months ago. “Martha is the daughter of Mrs. Hill, Longbourn’s housekeeper.”
However, Georgiana’s response was very different from that of Miss Bingley. “Oh, that is delightful! It is as if we are all family! Martha, would you please let Mr. Fitzwilliam know that Miss Bennet is here?”
Martha curtsied and departed, but not before giving Elizabeth a quick wink. Mr. Fitzwilliam was in the room in moments, bowing before Jane and taking her hand to kiss. “I did not know you intended to visit, Jane, or I should have been standing outside to await you!”
“And freezing as a result,” Jane laughed.
“Well worth it!” he declared.
Mr. Darcy cleared his throat impatiently. Mr. Fitzwilliam looked up. “Yes, cousin?”
“We were discussing an important topic and thought you might weigh in.”
“Of course.” Mr. Fitzwilliam looked about; not seeing a chair near Jane, he strode across the room to a vacant seat, lifted it easily and carried it back so that he might sit beside his now blushing fiancée. “I am ready,” he announced. “What is the important topic?”
“The extent to which ladies should be protected from the harsh realities of life,” Mr. Darcy replied.
“Oh! And you truly wish to discuss this in front of Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth?”
“I do, indeed; theirs are certainly valuable opinions, as they are the sort of ladies we would wish to protect,” Mr. Darcy said. “So the question is – do ladies wish to be protected?”
There was a moment’s silence, as no one knew quite how to begin. Finally, Georgiana said, “I think we must fill you in a bit. I know you both are aware of what I did this past summer. As a result of my reckless behaviour – no, Brother, let me speak – I had a very difficult time of it. I found myself living a life I had never imagined possible, cleaning up after strangers, reviled, ignored –“ Her voice faltered. Mr. Bingley put a protective arm around her and she leant against him. “My clothing was sold and I was dressed in coarse housemaid’s dresses. My supposed husband hurt me and was unfaithful, though it turned out it wasmehe was being unfaithful with, as he already had a wife! I cannot understand how Mrs. Younge was able to bear it. In any case, the worse things got, the angrier I became at my brother for not warning me about the world. I had no idea that such wickedness was possible. I suppose I was living in a sort of fairytale, right up until Gretna Green.”
She turned then to Mr. Darcy. “And then, once I was found, I learnt that he was angry at me, as well. Go ahead, Brother. Please.”
Mr. Darcy bowed his head and did not speak immediately. Elizabeth felt again the awkwardness of the situation and the inappropriateness of her presence there. "Would it be easier if we left, Mr. Darcy?"
"No, you know my hopes; you deserve to hear it all. As I told you long ago in Netherfield’s library, Miss Elizabeth, my father asked for my promise to care for Georgiana on his deathbed. I did everything I could to make good on that promise. I gave her everything she could want; but not just things, of course, I also spent every minute I could with her. Did I not, Georgiana?”
“You did, of course you did.” Tears were coursing down her cheeks now. “As busy as you were with Pemberley, I had but to ask for your company and you would put everything aside to be with me.”
“But she was right when this morning she said that she had lived in a fairytale. Nothing is perfect, of course, but I suppose Pemberley is a bit of a fairytale in and of itself. The Darcy family has always prided itself in taking the best possible care of its dependents. There are sufficient funds to cover most eventualities. Cottages burn down, but we are always able to find room for the family until a new cottage can be built. Occasionally, a tenant will have a crop fail, but we waive the rent and supply the family with food and fuel until the following season.”
“Which is why you could not let Wickham have access to Pemberley’s coffers,” Georgiana said. “You were right; he would have demanded more and more until there was nothing left. I understand that now, though I did not at the time.”
“I could not, no, but nor should I have just walked away from you!” His self-loathing was plain to hear.
“What could you have done? I was George’s property.”
“And that is the biggest problem of all, “ Elizabeth felt compelled to interject. “Why should a wife be her husband’s property?! It is of all things the most absurd.”
Mr. Fitzwilliam said, “Ah, we have a devotee of Mary Wollstonecraft here!”
Elizabeth blushed at having been so outspoken, but Mr. Darcy said, immediately, “As is any intelligent female!”
Mr. Fitzwilliam raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. “I am entirely on your side. My mother belongs to a London society devoted to Mary Wollstonecraft’s beliefs, and she has raised both her sons to respect the rights of women.”
“I thank you,” Elizabeth managed. She threw a grateful look at Mr. Darcy.
