“Has anyone mentioned Miss Darcy?” Mrs. Gardiner enquired.
“No one has dared to, no; though I cannot help but feel that they are very much wanting to. Oh, and every single young lady that Mr. Darcy has ever looked at, much less danced with, has been thrown in my face! Why, oh why, they wonder, did he marry poor little old me, rather than Lady Amelia, Lady Annamarie, Lady Emma, and a hundred other young ladies! I think that might be the most annoying thing of all!”
Mrs. Gardiner chuckled. “When we visited Longbourn at Christmas, Mr. Gardiner told me in private that he had never seen a man as enamoured of a woman as Mr. Darcy was of you!”
“Truly?” Elizabeth asked.
“Truly. Whatever it is that creates a bond between a man and a woman, whatever mystery that is – for no one knows, that is certain! – you and your Mr. Darcy have it in abundance. And the simple answer as to why he did not marry Lady Amelia, Lady Annamarie or Lady Emma is simply because none of them were you, my dearest Lizzy.”
Elizabeth leaned her head against her aunt’s shoulder. “Thank you, aunt,” she whispered. Then she sat upright. “Oh! Before I forget! You will soon get an invitation to a ball at Matlock House, and you must come!”
“Does the Countess truly want us there?”
“What does that matter? The ball is in honour of the new Mrs. Darcy, and I promise you thatshewants you there very, very much!”
“Then we shall certainly attend, Lizzy.” Mrs. Gardiner hugged her niece hard. Then she looked over at Mary. “And what of your Colonel, Mary?”
Mary protested that he certainly was notherColonel, Mrs. Gardiner argued that he very likely was, and the visit ended with a good deal of laughter.
Chapter Seventy-Seven
As the day of the ball drew near, Elizabeth began to invite Georgiana into the drawing room when there were guests, saying, “Do allow my sisters to entertain us.” Then Georgiana and Mary would play a few duets, after which Georgiana would curtsey respectfully and leave the room.
Georgiana was always carefully dressed for these occasions, wearing frocks that were reminiscent of a girl still in the schoolroom, and her hair down her back.
Once she had left the room, there was usually a murmuring from the visiting ladies, and once or twice, Elizabeth thought she heard the word “elopement,” but more and more often the only comments were about the beauty of the music.
“Miss Darcy is prodigiously talented, is she not?” Elizabeth would say. Which, of course, led all the ladies to reply with everything polite.
Then Mary would add, “She is a lovely girl in every respect; it is a joy to play with her.”
They hoped, of course, that this demonstration of love on the part of Georgiana’s family, coupled with her innocent appearance and musical expertise, would turn the tide of public opinion.
***
It was a momentous day when the drawing room welcomed Countess de Lieven, Countess Cowper, Viscountess Castlereagh, and Countess Esterházy. Elizabeth had been warned of the possibility of such a visit by Aunt Ellen, and she could not deny that she was quaking inside as she dropped a respectful curtsey to these ladies and welcomed them.
“You know who we are, of course,” Countess Cowper began.
“Of course,” Elizabeth replied.
“We have a good many questions,” Viscountess Castlereagh said.
And they certainly did. Most of these questions were familiar enough – family, education, accomplishments, and so on – but others were not. She was asked about her views on society, what books she read, what she knew about being the mistress of an estate, and finally – how she intended to manage Miss Darcy.
“Manage her?” Elizabeth asked, puzzled.
“Yes, indeed,” Viscountess Castlereagh replied. “We understand that she is given to poor behaviour.”
“She most certainly is not!” Elizabeth replied, sharply.
“Did you not know?”
“Know what?”
“Why, that she almost ran off with a servant this past summer!” Countess de Lieven said, quite sharply.
“Oh, heavens! Do people still believe that?” Elizabeth forced herself to laugh.
