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“It is not that. Is it not likely that your aunt will attend? And if she does, surely my cousin will accompany her?”
“Does he expect you to never leave the estate? You might have just come up for the day. It is only twenty miles.”
“Given our own wedding is still secret, why should I? I think there is some danger that either my cousin or your aunt might make a to-do if they see me there. I could not bear for a scene to disrupt Hildie’s wedding.”
Darcy could see the wisdom of his wife’s logic. “Very well,” he said, warming to the idea. “I look forward to having you all to myself.”
With a parting kiss, Elizabeth went off to dress in Georgie’s dressing room, borrowing his dressing gown to hide her chemise—the mistress’s chambers were not yet fit to occupy. When Darcy decided to take breakfast downstairs rather than in his room, as had been his habit since his return from the Continent, he was able to support his wife when Georgie expressed her dismay at Lizzy’s decision to miss Hildie’s wedding, merely to avoid an encounter with Aunt Catherine. Georgie tried to cajole her to change her mind.
“I must admit,” said Darcy with only a touch of pathos, “I felt quite lonely when you all departed for the opera last night.”
“Oh! Of course, Brother! Forgive me for not thinking of you, but it is such a shame! I am sure Hildie would wish Elizabeth to be there.”
“Brunhilda will be too busy saying her vows to look for faces in the crowd, Georgie. I promise I will come to the reception for a while.”
“But the dress, Brother! The train of her veil is to be thirty feet long!”
“I saw the dress at the modiste’s, Georgie,” reminded Elizabeth.
“But the six little flower girls, Elizabeth!”
“We look forward to your description, Georgie, and that of you too, Jane,” added Darcy.
Jane started slightly at being addressed so informally by her brother-in-law. He seemed to have disturbed her from another reverie.
Elizabeth participated in the excitement of the wedding by watching Georgie and Jane dress. Jane had borrowed the hat that Aunt Gardiner had worn to Lizzy’s wedding for the occasion to match the ivory silk gown she wore, while Georgie was dressed in pale pink. Georgie had sent Hobbes and Clara to Covent Garden to purchase bunches of white and pink roses so their hats might be decorated with fresh flowers to match their gowns.
When all three ladies entered Darcy’s study so that Georgie might bid her brother goodbye, Mr Trevor stopped reading aloud the architect’s report on the progress of the townhouses to look at Georgie and Jane with appreciation.
“Well? How do they look, Elizabeth?” asked Darcy. “Do you think they will rival the bride in beauty?”
“They will rival the bride in flowers. They look like they have raided Kew gardens and will be chased all the way to the church by bees.”
Knowing her sister, Jane merely smiled at this raillery while Georgie stuck out her tongue.
“Goodbye, Brother! Do not fail us at the reception! We will bring some cake for you, Lizzy!”
After her sisters departed, Lizzy sat down in a wing chair in the study to read to herself while Darcy finished his business with Mr Trevor. But she found her mind firmly fixed on weddings. After her eyes reached the end of the page three times without comprehending a word, Lizzy realised she really ought to seek out Finn.
She found Darcy’s valet in his dressing room, crimping pleats into the cuffs of one of his master’s shirts.
“Finn, may I seek your advice?” she asked, stopping just inside the door and placing her hands behind herself to lean upon them against the wall.
Finn looked up and raised an eyebrow. “Certainly, ma’am. How may I help you?”
“I have a friend, Finn—an acquaintance actually—who wishes to court my sister. He favours black and Jane does not like it.”
“A gentleman who favours black?”
“Sartorially, you understand—a trader from Bristol.”
“Ah!” said Finn. “We would not be talking about Mr Thorne, would we?”
“You know him?”
“He has visited the house on a few occasions. Some consider his style rather dashing.”
“Unfortunately, my sister is not one of them.”
