AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 14
As soon as they returned to the crowd, Percy was tugged away by some important person from society, and as he left, he gave Lydia an apologetic look. She waved encouragingly at him and then began looking around for Marianne. However, she was immediately practically tackled by Georgiana Wentworth.
“Lydia, there you are!” she cried when she came upon her. “I’ve been looking for you all evening! Where have you been?”
Lydia felt the colour coming to her cheeks, so she knew she had to answer quickly before she blushed too much and gave herself away. “Your brother showed me the library,” she answered truthfully. “It is such an extraordinary collection. I’m so envious that you can access it whenever you want!”
Georgiana, however, did not look as happy. “Yes, yes, sure, sure,” she said, brushing the compliment off. “A library is a library. But did Percy show you my greenhouse yet?!”
Lydia smiled to herself. “No, he hasn’t, would you like to show me?” she asked, and instead of answering, Georgiana just pulled her in the direction of the room of flowers. Lydia had to ask her to slow down no less than three times, and thankfully as they went, Lydia was able to spot Marianne and signal to her that she had returned from her time with Percy.
When the two young women finally made it across the back lawn to the conservatory, Lydia did some of the best acting she’d ever done and pretended that this was the first time she’d seen the collection of plants.
Georgiana, of course, was positively thrilled by Lydia’s reaction, and the girls spent the next few minutes going around the conservatory, with Georgiana spouting off information about every plant species like it was her job. Lydia was so happy to see Georgiana so enthusiastic about something, and she hoped that she would continue to grow her love for plants.
After Georgiana had given her a tour of all of her favourite species, the two young women sat on the wicker chairs at the ends of the aisles and talked for a few minutes. “I’m so happy that you showed me this, Georgiana,” Lydia confided in her. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a finer collection of plants in my life, and even though they all require such specialized care, you somehow manage to tend to all of them. Do you have anyone assisting you?”
Georgiana looked down at her shoes sheepishly, and Lydia sincerely hoped that she had not offended the young woman. Thankfully, however, Georgiana responded with, “That’s one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me about my plants. I always thought that keeping such a great collection and knowing so much about it made me ... I don’t know, unfashionable in some way.”
Lydia could hardly believe her ears. “Made you unfashionable?!” she cried. “The furthest thing from it! In my experience, it is always better to be too enthusiastic about something compared to not enthusiastic enough. If we dampen our passions for other people, what good does it do us? I think that you should teach yourself as much as possible about these species and then you can wow every person who you bring in here. You are an incredibly intelligent young woman, and I cannot imagine anyone thinking that you were ‘unfashionable’ for being an excited naturalist!”
Georgiana giggled excitedly. “Well, thank you, Lydia,” she said gratefully. “You have no idea how much your words have buoyed my spirits, and I can tell that they have done the same for my brother.”
“Do you think so?” Lydia asked her seriously.
“Oh yes, very much indeed!” Georgiana responded, nodding along to emphasize her point. “Ninety-five per cent of the time before he met you, Percy walked around with a scowl on his face. Nothing seemed to truly make him happy before. He was so concerned with what society thought of him all the time, and his preoccupation with that began bleeding from his public life into his private one. It seemed like he was wearing a mask all the time to hide how he was truly feeling.”
“But now that you’re in his life,” Georgiana continued, “he seems to have left his mask in his bedroom each day when he comes down for breakfast.”
Lydia was very intrigued. “What do you mean by that exactly?” she questioned her.
“It’s like you said,” Georgiana responded. “Percy has always suppressed every true desire, passion, or excitement that he’s felt in his life because he’s always been made to feel that what he cares about isn’t ‘proper’. Like medicine, for example. Society doesn’t give a fig if a duke knows how to stop an artery from spewing blood, what matters is if he knows how to act at a public gathering. And because he’d been fed this idea for his whole life, he’d become a bit ... dry before you stepped into his life. All he cared about before were rules and doing what was right. But now that you’re here ... he’s slowly becoming himself again.”
Lydia felt her admiration for Percy igniting in her chest and then flowing out through all of her extremities. She could hardly believe what Georgiana was saying – was he truly that miserable before they’d met? What was it about her that made him feel like he could be himself? Lydia thought that she was just as bad as Percy; she spent a great deal of time worrying about what was right and wrong in society’s eyes. But perhaps her class, or lack thereof, offered her a bit more freedom when it came to matters of enthusiasm. She had never considered that before.
“I am very, very glad to hear that, thank you for telling me, Georgiana,” Lydia told her, taking her hand and squeezing it. “Your brother has had the same effect on me, I think. Perhaps that is what happens when you meet someone who you truly care for.”
Those last few words tumbled out of Lydia’s mouth before she could stop them, and once she’d said them aloud, she panicked as to what Georgiana would say. She watched Georgiana’s face carefully, waiting to see any signs of anger or outrage, but none ever came. It seemed that Georgiana had been expecting this.
“I believe you are right,” Georgiana said, making no mention of what Lydia had said. She breathed a sigh of relief and felt some of the tension that she hadn’t realized she’d been holding leave her upper body. “And I understand the feeling that both of you are experiencing because that’s how I feel every time I am with …”
Georgiana suddenly pulled her hand out of Lydia’s and looked at her sheepishly. Lydia stared at her more intently. “Georgiana,” she said carefully, “I do not mean to intrude on business that I know is not my own, but ... do you happen to be speaking about Arthur?”
Georgiana looked at her as though she had just asked her if she was in love with a dog. “Arthur?” she asked in disbelief. “Goodness gracious no! No, my speaking with Arthur is nothing more than a way to infuriate my brother. Arthur Middleton is an ancient man who I would not allow to touch me with a fifteen-foot poking stick.”
Lydia was positively flabbergasted. “You’re ... you’re not speaking about Arthur?” she asked in disbelief.
“Absolutley not!” Georgiana cried. “But please, forget I even said that about somebody else, there isn’t anyone else, I ... I was just trying to empathize with you.”
Suddenly, Georgiana sprung up and dashed from the conservatory. “Georgiana, wait!” Lydia called after her, but the young woman had already run through the main doors and was now probably halfway across the field headed back towards the party. Lydia stared after her for a few moments, unsure of what to do with herself.
Should I follow her?she wondered.I don’t believe for a second that she was ‘only trying to empathize with me’. I bet there is someone else who Georgiana has fallen for, and I must find out who it is so that I can speak with her about it before Percy finds out!
Lydia stood up and was about to go after Lydia, but she realized there was no point. Georgiana had probably made it back to the house by now, and there was no way that she would want to talk to Lydia after an exit like that. And so Lydia decided to take her time going back to the house.
She wandered through the rows and rows of plants, stopping to smell the heavenly scented flowers that popped up every few pots and admire all of the exotic species that Georgiana kept in there. She went over all that had transpired tonight and couldn’t believe that it had all happened to her. She chuckled to herself and finally went through the doors of the greenhouse, rejoining Marianne and her family at the party.
