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The Countess sighed, for about the 100th time, and for the same reason. Her niece, Georgiana Darcy, had reduced the Countess to endless sighs. It had been three years since her disgrace at Ramsgate. And there was little doubt that she was still not over the matter. Whereas in the past, during her childhood, she had been young and shy, now she was timid, and the Countess was beginning to think that she should not have been presented at court. It did not reflect well on the family if both female members were seen as lacking. Anne’s illness in her youth was the convenient excuse used as the reason for her not to have been presented but they had no such thing to rescue Georgiana.

“Darcy, come in and sit down.”

He was taken aback at the sharp tone.

“Have I offended you in some way, Countess.”

His own tone was not sharp, but it was defensive.

“No Darcy. It is a reflection of my general mood, not against you in particular.”

The swords were metaphorically sheathed.

“I am concerned that although Georgiana is now 18 years of age and has been presented to Her Majesty she still appears to let Ramsgate bring her down. She might have been the belle of the season, but the months that followed have done her no favours.”

There was no point in dancing around the issue. Although it was not particularly Christian attitude, Susan Fitzwilliam was pleased to observe a sigh from Darcy as well. It was not just her that was frustrated with Georgiana Darcy.

“I know. We have tried everything, but any small progress is quickly squashed. She cannot seem to get break the hold it has upon her.”

“You have always gone on about needing to marry well for Georgiana’s sake. I am beginning to worry that she may never marry. She has the air of a spinster about her.”

That got a reaction.

“Surely it is too soon to make that assessment?”

“Is it? It has been three years and she does not present as merely shy, she comes across as a wallflower. And you know as well as I, that the normal path for wallflowers is that of the spinster. What is the old proverb, you can take a horse to water but you cannot make it drink. We can take Georgiana to balls, and we have, she has even danced, but even with us, she barely speaks above a whisper. On the dance floor, her partner barely hears a word. How many occasions will it take until her flaws are well known throughout society? She is in danger of attracting the wrong sort of attention. Those that are older and only interested in her dowry.”

Darcy ran his fingers through his hair. He wished he could counter any and all of the Countess’ claims, but he could not. Suddenly her worry that Georgiana was well on the way to being a spinster was all he could think about.

“Is there any hope?”

The Countess made no attempt to mask her sigh.

“I will take her to Bath later in the summer. It will get her out of London but I am not sure the location makes any difference.”

Darcy had a thought.

“Should I take her back to Ramsgate?”

The first genuinely new idea in a while. The Countess was intrigued.

“Let us consider the matter. The main and obvious benefit is that it in some way breaks the hold that the affair has on her. Nothing else matters, and everything else flows from it. But what of the downside? It does not seem possible that it could make her worse, but could it?”

She looked at her nephew.

“That it would upset her mind so much that she would no longer be able to be out in society?”

“I was about to suggest that you take her there this month, but let us reflect on the matter over the summer. We can also discuss it with her while in Bath and gauge her reaction.”

“You would allow her the power of veto?”

“No, but if she dissolves in a flood of hysterical tears, are you really going to force her to travel there?”

They were going round in circles.

“I am intending to spend August and September in Bath. I will take Georgiana with me. Perhaps you can attend during September, that will have given me time to assess her further.”