After Mr. Stanley left, there was a brief period during which Elizabeth and Georgiana were alone. “Is Mr. Stanley not a kind gentleman?” Elizabeth said. “And so interested in music!”
“Yes, he is,” Georgiana replied.
“I would think that he would make a suitable husband,” Elizabeth ventured.
Georgiana looked at her in astonishment. “This is the first time you have said such a thing about anyone, Lizzy. Do you think him the best of my suitors?”
Elizabeth backed up rapidly. “The best? I do not know, Georgiana, as there are a good many of them! Mr. Stanley, certainly, as well as Mr. Taylor, Mr. Dunfred, and did Mr. Sawyer not send a bouquet as well as visit the house today? They have been here on many occasions, paying you compliments and asking you for rides and walks.”
“I notice you did not mention Lord Fane,” Georgiana said, rather coolly.
Elizabeth tried for a careless shrug. “I do not think of him as a serious suitor,” she replied.
“Do you not? And why is that? Is he too good for me?”
“Too good? Of course not! Georgiana, you know that your brother and I think there is no one in London good enough for you. But you know that we discussed this, the duties you would have as a Countess, and you did not seem at all inclined.”
“No,” Georgiana shook her head stubbornly. “I recall that I said that I could perhaps grow accustomed to it. Lizzy, what are you not telling me?”
Elizabeth took a deep breath. “Georgiana, there are two problems here. The first is that his mother does not approve of the match.”
Georgiana’s lower lip trembled for a moment before she firmed it. “I know I did not do well with her. And the second?”
“George Wickham.”
Georgiana’s forehead creased. “I do not understand.”
Elizabeth sighed. “I have so very much not wanted to speak of this! But, dearest Georgiana, were you to make such an excellent match, there is no doubt that this particular rat would come creeping out of his rathole to make trouble. He would demand money in exchange for his silence, but the blackmailing would never end.”
There was a long silence in the drawing room. Finally, Georgiana said, in a whisper, “I had not thought of that.”
“Georgiana, please believe me, I had no wish to speak of it –“
Georgiana rose and said, quietly, “I feel a headache coming on, Lizzy. Would you please make my excuses to any guests?”
“Georgiana!” Elizabeth rose to her feet and moved towards her sister, but Georgiana walked away very quickly and ran upstairs to her room.
Georgiana found her maid, Cathy, in her bedroom repairing a split in one of Georgiana’s gloves. “Would you please leave me, Cathy?” Georgiana asked, quietly.
“A headache, Miss?” Cathy said solicitously.
“Yes; but I do not need a tonic, I just need to rest.”
Cathy curtsied and left Georgiana alone. And just in time, as Georgiana began to weep. Tears rolled down her cheeks and soaked her pillowcase. She felt certain that she was becoming more assertive and more self-confident, and she was certain that she could win the approval of Lady Amelia eventually. But Georgiana’s dreadful mistake, theone mistakeshe had made in her entire sheltered life, would apparently keep her from marrying the gentleman she was coming to care for so very much. Even now, years later, George Wickham managed to ruin everything. She would never, never be free of him.
***
Elizabeth found her husband in his study. “I think I have made a terrible mistake, William,” she said at once.
“What happened?”
In a few brief sentences, she told him what had transpired between Georgiana and herself. “I should not have said anything,” she said, sadly.
“No, it was time,” Mr. Darcy assured her. “She could not be allowed to continue to indulge her feelings for Lord Fane. Very possibly we should have had this discussion with her weeks ago.”
“What if he offers for her? Do we tell him why she cannot accept?
Mr. Darcy’s sigh seemed to come from the bottom of the earth. “No; this must remain a family secret. For the Earl would tell his sister, Lady Agatha, who would then confide in her mother, and soon all of London would know of it.”
