Page 105 of Twice Chosen

Darcy muttered something under his breath.

Elizabeth leaned closer. "What was that?"

"Nothing fit for a gentleman's daughter."

"I have been your wife. I can survive it."

Mr. Bennet looked between them. "There. Again."

Both froze.

"Again what?" Elizabeth asked too brightly.

Her father narrowed his eyes. "You speak as if half your conversations began years before I entered the room."

Darcy recovered first. "Miss Elizabeth is unusually quick."

Mr. Bennet looked at his daughter. "That explanation would satisfy me if you did not occasionally answer before he finishes."

Elizabeth smiled. "Perhaps Mr. Darcy is predictable."

Darcy gave her a wounded look.

Mr. Bennet laughed and let the matter go.

But Elizabeth noticed him watching them afterward.

Her father would never receive proof.

Still, perhaps some part of him would always suspect that his favorite daughter had returned from somewhere he could not name.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Georgiana's Truth

Georgiana chose to tell Elizabeth about Ramsgate.

Darcy did not arrange it.

That mattered.

They sat together at Pemberley several weeks before Elizabeth's wedding. Rain tapped softly against the windows, and the fire in Georgiana's sitting room had burned low while they spoke of books and a new piece of music Mary had sent from Longbourn.

Then Georgiana's hands began to tremble.

"There is something I want you to know."

Elizabeth knew.

Of course she knew.

She also knew this version of Georgiana needed to own the telling.

So Elizabeth waited.

Georgiana drew a breath. "It concerns Mr. Wickham."

Elizabeth set aside her sewing. "All right."