“Hmm, Has she not been absent from her family for some time now?”
“She has.” His tone was clipped.
“Then tell me, Brother,” she continued, her voice now almost sly. “Do you not long for a glimpse of her? For just a few moments of hearing her voice, of seeing her smile?”
Mr. Darcy stared at his sister for a moment and then sank into one of the chairs, his head in his hands. “I am doomed,” he muttered.
Georgiana whirled around. “I shall have a sister!”
“I do not know if she even likes me,” he said, raising his head and looking at his sister.
“Let us go find out! Come on, Brother!” She grasped his hand and tried to pull him up.
“Georgiana, wait. She has only just arrived at home, as you pointed out. Might we not give her a little time to greet her parents and get Cousin Anne settled in?”
Chapter Eighty-Eight
Elizabeth’s arrival was greeted with rapture by her entire family. The mood at Longbourn was vastly different now; there were wax candles on the mantle, the tea was strong and fresh, and there were smiles on everyone’s face.
Jane hugged Elizabeth joyously, giving Elizabeth the chance to whisper, “I thought the money would not come until after the wedding?”
And Jane the chance to whisper back, “Charles gave Papa five hundred pounds ahead of time so that we would not be distressed!”
“Oh, how very kind!!”
Elizabeth presented her family to Anne de Bourgh, and then took her guest upstairs to her room to wash up, suggesting that there would be refreshments available downstairs as soon as she was ready. “I did not dare mention it in the carriage, lest your mother be upset, Anne, but you must prepare yourself for a good deal more noise than you are accustomed to,” Elizabeth warned her friend.
“I think I will like it,” Anne replied. “Rosings Park is so very quiet!”
“It is,” Elizabeth said, dryly. “You will find us rather more lively.”
Elizabeth waited in the hallway for Anne to ready herself, and then escorted her friend downstairs. Elizabeth paused atthe door to the parlour, listening to Lydia and Kitty arguing over a bonnet that they both wished to wear to Jane’s wedding.
“I see what you mean,” Anne said, but she was laughing. “Are they always like this?”
“Kitty and Lydia? Yes; they are like two kittens in a litter, forever biting and tussling with one another. And they share a room, so sometimes the squabbling goes on into the night.”
“Did one of them not take Mrs. Collins’ room? Or was she sharing a room as well?”
“No, Mary had her own room. And, of course, Jane’s room will soon be available. Longbourn would be a good deal quieter if my two younger sisters had their own rooms; I shall certainly suggest it, though I believe they would miss one another desperately.”
“Come in,” Mrs. Bennet called out. “Lizzy, you have been gone long enough; do not loiter in the entryway!”
Elizabeth walked into the parlour with Anne beside her. Kitty and Lydia stopped arguing long enough to greet Anne properly, and then began to pester her with questions.
Lydia began, “Lizzy wrote that you are accustomed to a good deal of elegance! I am so envious! But who makes your clothes? For they are not at all fashionable.”
Elizabeth, red-faced, said, “Lydia, it is not polite –“
Anne interrupted. “Oh, she can ask whatever she likes! My clothes are dreadful, because my mother picks them out, and she prefers rather grander fabrics with a good deal of decoration.”
“What will you wear to the wedding tomorrow?” Kitty asked.
“Something even worse than this, I fear,” Anne said, shrugging. “But my family is accustomed to seeing me poorly attired.”
“Can you not go to London and get whatever you like, Miss de Bourgh?” Kitty put in.
“No more than you can, I imagine,” Anne said. “And please, all of you, call me Anne; Miss de Bourgh is far too much a mouthful.”
