“Mary, you must share her,” Lydia insisted. “I know the two of you could happily play the pianoforte together all day, but it is not fair to the rest of us.”
“I know! We will look throughLa Belle Assembléetogether,” Kitty said. “She must be interested in fashion.”
“Or novels?” Elizabeth put in. “Perhaps have a small selection of novels nearby so that you could take turns reading it.”
Lydia rolled her eyes at this suggestion, but the others thought it a good idea just in case Miss Darcy was not interested in fashion, and so it was agreed thatRomance of the Forest,The Mysteries of Udolpho, andThe Monkwould be set on a side table, in case they were needed.
“She is shy, remember,” Jane cautioned her sisters. “So go slow, give her a bit of time to adjust to five people all wanting to talk with her.”
“We are all accustomed to the noise of five girls, but she is not,” Elizabeth chuckled.
***
Miss Darcy was accompanied by her brother; he quickly explained to the Bennets that he was only an escort, and had no intention in the world of “ruining her fun,” as she had put it, by remaining.
Once Mr. Darcy departed, Miss Darcy looked uneasy for about a quarter of an hour, and spoke only when asked a direct question. But Kitty soon admired her gown and half-boots, and then irrepressible Lydia dragged Miss Darcy upstairs, followed by the other Bennet girls, to look through Lydia’s wardrobe and get Miss Darcy’s opinions on her gowns. For, as Lydia put it, she was in sore need of new gowns, and perhaps Miss Darcy could help convince Mrs. Bennet of that fact! Georgiana soon relaxed and began to enjoy Lydia’s unquenchable good humour.
Once they had gone through Lydia’s closet, with Georgiana being made to try on the best of Lydia’s gowns, Kitty’s closetwas next. Then Lydia decided to try doing Georgiana’s hair in a different style, and a good many ribbons and pins were produced and put into place before it was decided that it had looked better before.
“There is no point in going through Mary’s closet,” Lydia said, in some disgust. “She wears nothing but browns and greys.”
“We all wear colours that make us comfortable,” Georgiana said, sounding wiser than her years. “My aunt says that clothing either shows who we are or hides who we are, and we make the choice as to which we prefer.”
“Your aunt?” Elizabeth asked.
“Yes; she is the Countess of Matlock,” Georgiana replied, innocent of the fact that her brother did not want this known.
“A countess! Heavens! Well, then, I think we can assume that she knows something about fashion,” Jane said.
“An aunt who is a Countess, just think!” Kitty said, admiringly.
“So, Mary, are you showing who you are, or hiding who you are?” Lydia asked, flippantly.
Mary looked away, and Georgiana immediately felt her friend’s discomfort. “That is something for Miss Mary to decide for herself,” she declared.
Mary looked at her new friend gratefully, and then quickly added, on impulse, “Please, can you not call me Mary?”
“I would be happy to. And I am just Georgiana, though in truth Miss Darcy has fewer syllables! All of you, please, I am Georgiana. It is a combination of my father’s name, George, and my mother’s name, Anne.”
“Oh, heavens!” Jane said. “I am grateful my family did not follow such a tradition, as I would be called – let me think, how would you combine Thomas and Fanny? Tanny?”
“No, it would be Fanmas!” Lydia crowed.
“It does not bear thinking of,” Jane said, with a shudder.
“Speaking of syllables, my family calls me Lizzy, which is far shorter than Elizabeth. You are welcome to do the same, Georgiana,” Elizabeth said. “Jane is the luckiest of us, for her name has only one syllable.”
Kitty made a face. “And I am Catherine, but everyone calls me Kitty.”
“Kitty is such an adorable name!” Georgiana said.
“Yes, but a bit – well, childish, do you not think?”
“No,” Georgiana said at once. “I like it. My cousin started calling me Georgie, but I made him stop. Georgie is not nearly as adorable as Kitty; it sounds like a little boy.”
Comfortably established on a first name basis all round, the girls trooped downstairs to find that tea was waiting for them. There were no ham sandwiches, but there were a good number of cucumber with butter sandwiches, as well as cheese, accompanied by scones and the tarts Georgiana had favoured the day before. As the tea progressed, the Bennet sisters learned a bit about their new friend’s life.
She lived in a large estate in Derbyshire and yes, it was quite cold there in the winter. No, she had no close friends, as every young lady of her social circle lived very far away. Her parents had died when she was quite young, and her brother and cousin were responsible for her. She became uncomfortable at this point, directing her words at her plate rather than at her companions.
