Imperative: Volume 1, A Tale of Pride and Prejudice (85 page)

Placing his mouth just above her ear, he whispered.  “Welcome to the world of double entendre, my love.” 

“I see that I shall have to listen more closely.”  She murmured and to his surprise, her eyes did not remain on him, but travelled to Gladney. 

Darcy’s eyes narrowed and his grip on her hand tightened.  “If you hear something that you think may be suggestive, never hesitate to ask me for a definition.”  His eyes found hers again, and he caressed her cheek with the back of his hand.  “Never.  You are still so innocent and I admit to hoping you remain so.” 

“May I help you, Georgiana?”  Samuel smiled and drew out a chair.

“Oh.  Thank you.”  She smiled shyly and sat down at the table, and watched him pick up the deck of cards.  “Do you play often?”

“No.”  He laughed and shuffled.  “No, since I began working, I do not often have time for much frivolity.  My employer is a great taskmaster.  I find myself bent over a desk writing more often than spending an evening with friends.”

“You look differently from how I remember you.”  She blushed when he looked up at her enquiringly.  “Older, I suppose.”

“I could say the same of you; my gaping surely attracted attention when I greeted you.  Forgive me for it.  I hope that you are happy to be home.  We are all happy you are home.”  His eyes met hers and she looked down and nodded.  “Your sister tells me that I am William’s younger self.”

“You certainly do resemble him.”  Cathy appeared and waited for him to jump up to pull out a chair.  “Although your face does not bear his perpetually dour expression.  I believe I would have grown weary of it rather quickly.”

“So you would not have attempted to relieve it, as Mrs. Darcy does.”  Richard sat down and sent his sister a pointed smirk.  “How lucky for him he has married a woman who laughs.” 

“Laughs.”  Cathy took her cards and examined them.  “She will find herself laughed out of the parlours before long if Aunt Catherine has anything to say about it.”

“I enjoy her laughter.”  Samuel spoke softly and hearing Richard’s chuckle looked up to see Cathy staring at him.  “She is glad to express opinion and amusement.”

“And disgust.”  Richard snorted.  “I have been the recipient of her opinions on numerous occasions.”

“Deserved, I suppose.”  Cathy shot him a look.

“Undoubtedly.”  He smiled and looked at Georgiana staring at Elizabeth.  “She has a knack for putting people at ease; see how she works now on Darcy?  He is wound tighter than a top tonight.” 

“She is working on him, that is certain.  See them watching us?”  Cathy said to her cousin.  “She is wondering what we are talking about.  What was your brother thinking marrying someone like her?”

“You do not like her?” 

“Do you?”

“Brother does, all he wants to do is be with her.” 

“Not you.”  Cathy whispered.

“Naturally.  The man has been married only five and twenty days, and has spent next to none of it alone with his bride!  He is most anxious to see us gone.”  Richard snorted and took up his cards, nodding at Samuel to give him another. “Stop trying to plant doubts in her mind, Cathy.  Jealousy is unbecoming.”

“Jealous?  Certainly not!  He should have married someone from our circle.  We know proper behaviour.  Do you see him touching her cheek?”  She shook her head while keeping her eyes glued to the delicate caress and the little smile that played over Darcy’s lips.  “Next thing I will hear is that he kisses her publicly.”  Georgiana’s eyes widened.  “Oh, so he does?”  All eyes turned to the couple standing beneath the mistletoe and saw Darcy’s eyes light up when he leaned to kiss his laughing wife.

Georgiana stared, but came to their defence.  “He loves her.  He told me, and Brother never would say that if it was not so.” 

Cathy waved that off.  “Oh, men fall in and out of love.  She will try to win you over as well.”

“And what is so terrible about that?”  Samuel spoke up.  “They are sisters.  I would have loved to have siblings, and I am delighted to have gained a new cousin through Darcy.”

“Well said.”  Richard nodded.

“She is just stirring up the pot.”  Gladney noted and came to stand behind Cathy and look down at her cards.  “You are not seriously going to play on with that hand, are you?”

She glared back at him.  “Who asked you, such an expert you are!”

“Anyone can add up to one and twenty, Sister.”  He shrugged and walked away. 

Richard laughed at her reddened cheeks.  “That is the most sensible thing I have heard him say since we arrived.” 

“And
you
wish for siblings.”  She spat at Samuel.

Georgiana was still watching Elizabeth.  “Brother wants us to be friends.”

“Do you?”  Cathy’s head tilted and followed her gaze. 

“Aunt Susan says that we should be.”  She looked up to see Samuel smile towards his mother.

Richard spoke with an edge of anger in his voice.  “Then open your eyes and appreciate the lessons you are being given, Georgiana.  Appreciate what a true marriage of minds and body looks like, instead of one based on deceit.  Let some good come from this.”

“Whatever are you talking about?”  Cathy demanded when Georgiana’s face crimsoned. 

“I am merely pointing out to our young cousin that there is more than one way to be married.”  He lifted his chin to their parents.  “Is that what you want to have one day?  I do not.”

“They married for the money.  So will you, so will I, and so will Albert.”  She nodded to Georgiana.  “And you will, too.  I am not so sure about you, Mr. Darcy.”

“I hope for the new fashion of love.”  He smiled and looked back to the Darcys.  “My parents had it, and so does my cousin, and fortunately as I am earning my income, I have the freedom to choose as I wish.”  He looked back to Georgiana, who had recovered somewhat.

“I want love, too.  I think.”  She said in a small voice.

“Really?”  Richard looked at her and back to his cards.  “Well I hope that you have a firm grasp of the concept so that you are not swept up in the sweet murmurs of a cad.  But of course that would never happen, as you would surely ask me or your brother for advice before doing so much as accepting a call.”  Georgiana’s eyes welled up.  “I know how well you were raised.  You would not be susceptible to a schemer.  Would you be, Cathy?”

“Father would strangle me, and Mother, I do not care to think what she would do.  Like any woman, my reputation is my fortune; I will not squander it on some handsome man trying to collect my dowry.”  She laughed and looked over to Georgiana.  “What is wrong?”

“Nothing.”  She got up and the men stood.  “Excuse me.” 

“Georgiana . . .” Samuel touched her arm and she shook him off and walked to the other end of the room.

“Are you well, dear?”  Susan smiled at her when she sat beside her.

“Yes, Aunt.”  She looked down at her folded hands.  Darcy, Elizabeth, and Susan exchanged looks.

“Will you help me, Georgiana?  I planned several games to entertain us this evening.”  Elizabeth said with a smile.  “Unless you would like to play?  We could dance, perhaps?  I think that I can play a few of your songs creditably so that you may enjoy a turn.”

“I do not need to dance.”  She whispered.

“Of course you do.  If I will dance, then so must you.”  Darcy smiled.  “And I am sure that your cousins would be happy to dance a jig with you.”

Samuel turned to Richard and stared.  “Was that necessary?”  Richard cleared his throat and looked to his sister. 

“Well she obviously has no interest in what I have to say, look where she is.”  Cathy nodded to the sofa.  “I have no idea what could have upset her, but she cries at the drop of a hat.  I am so glad that I am not fifteen anymore!”

“No, you are much, much older than that.”  Richard smiled sweetly.

“I am not a spinster!  Oh, who wants to play with you, anyway?”  She threw down her cards and left to stand with her parents.

“Why was it necessary to attack her like that?”  Samuel demanded in a low whisper.  “She was actually supporting Elizabeth for a change.”

Richard glanced at him while picking up his sister’s cards.  “Did you know that a portrait of Wickham once hung in this home?”  Samuel stared.  “Did you know that our cousin visited it to cry?  I will wager you a pound that she wishes she was there this moment seeking comfort in his limpid gaze.”  Sorting through his cards he threw them down in disgust.  “Darcy, understandably I suppose, wanted to give her absolution, blaming himself, her youth, that bastard . . .” He spoke in a low tone.  “But he is also taking on the result of her behaviour for a lifetime and will have to look at it every day.  I demand that she be aware of the hurt she has caused.”

“I am sure that she is!   She lives with it every second of every day.  And Mother told me that Darcy let his disappointment be known.”  Samuel said  heatedly, “You caused her to cry!”

“In her condition, she will cry if she sees a portrait out of kilter.  You heard Cathy, she blames her age.”  He waved his hand dismissively.  “Tell me, young Darcy.  You have promised your father you would look at her again.  Now that you have seen the rather nicely matured form of your very young cousin, has your opinion changed?”  Samuel stared away to a window and his jaw set.  “Her looks are quite improved, are they not?”

“You disgust me.  You are her guardian.”

“And my father demanded that I marry her just as strongly as yours.  His suggestions of what our life would be were truly disgusting.  Would you care to hear his description of our marriage?”  Richard’s brows rose when Samuel looked to the earl and back at him.  “And yes, I looked.  I can appreciate a woman, a girl, as much as you.  But I am not at all interested in my cousin, and never was, and my father will have to live with that.  You . . . what are you thinking?  Have you spent enough time with her to decide?”

He looked at his folded hands.  “She stares at Wickham’s portrait, you say?”

“She did until we took it down.”  Richard smiled.  “I am curious what she is thinking now.” 

“Do you take delight in seeing her hurt?   She is not . . .”

“Innocent.”  Their eyes met. 

“What of forgiveness?”  Samuel said in a low tone.  “Do you not believe in forgiving the truly repentant?”

“I do, when it is proven.   Darcy is even more liberal.  He claims to never forget an offense done to him, but how many times did he clear up Wickham’s messes and hope that he would reform?”  He nodded when Samuel sighed.  “Although perhaps that was done more to protect his family than out of loyalty to that fool.”  Richard rubbed his chin and saw Samuel’s impatience.  “When I am convinced that she is sincere, I will gladly forgive my sadder but wiser cousin.  She is fortunate that she does not have to depend on the forgiveness of society.  The sins of the mother will never be forgotten, even if the child is saved.”

“Unless she marries.” 

“hmm.”  Richard nodded and picked up the cards to reshuffle the deck.  “Tell me, what are you willing to forgive?  Do you forgive your father?”

“Father?”  He started.

“For disappointing your mother?”

“Oh.”  He looked over to where Susan sat with Elizabeth.  “It is difficult to see her hurt.  I worry for them both.  He is ill, I think.”  Samuel looked up to see Richard’s brow crease with concern.  “You have seen him in the grips of it.  Terrible headaches he has.  I have found him in a dark room, nearly sobbing with the pain, and so sick.  He resists taking anything for it, as it leaves him further incapacitated.”

“When do they come on?” 

“When he is angry, when he is in any great state of agitation or emotion.  You can imagine how he has felt these last months.”  He saw Richard’s understanding.  “I brought the subject up to Mother yesterday.  She said nothing then but later on she told me that he began having the headaches after my brothers and sisters died.  The devastation he felt from that horrible week of losing his family was debilitating to him.  She said that sleep became rare and anger became common.  Gradually things improved as life settled into the new normalcy, but then the headaches suddenly grew much worse about the time that Uncle George died.  And then this summer they began again.  I remember that I was just starting my position with Mr. Easterly and he was visiting the office when he was struck down.  We were to go to Darcy’s that evening to say farewell to Georgiana as she left for Ramsgate.  Before everything happened.”  He sighed. 

“I wonder.”  Richard sat back and played with his cards.  “Of course no soldier ever admits to pain or suffering from what he experiences on the battlefield,” he nodded at Samuel significantly, “however, I know of men returning home, and the sheer magnitude of the trauma they witnessed affects the mind, the body, in different ways.  Headaches, depression, even mania . . . I wonder if the loss of his children had the same effect on your father.”

“Making him fine most of the time but at times of stress, it would be triggered again?”  Shaking his head, Samuel sat back.  “If that is the case, then Father would be so much better suited to giving up the bench and coming to live quietly here at Pemberley.  That courtroom is no pleasant atmosphere to sit in day after day.  Hearing the cases would make any man angry.” 

“That is true.”  Richard rubbed his chin and saw that Gladney had disappeared from the room.  “Hmm.  Well, we should bring this up to Darcy.  Perhaps he could convince his uncle to come home for a visit, and then suggest that he remain.”

“Mother would be thrilled.”  Samuel smiled over at her.  “I would love to see that.” 

“I will not be a moment.”  Darcy spoke softly and leaning down, held Elizabeth’s face adoringly in his hands, then crooking his finger at Georgiana, brother and sister left the room.  She followed his broad back as he left and sighed.

“I am envious, Elizabeth.”  Susan smiled, bringing her back from her thoughts, “But I appreciate seeing my nephew so much in love.” 

Elizabeth blushed.  “Thank you.  I am so sorry for your disappointment.”

“Oh, well, I had hoped.”  Susan shrugged and blinked away the blur in her eyes.  “He needs to come home.  I know why he stays away; this time of year is always hard for him.  You see, our children died near Christmastime.  Pemberley in winter just seems to sap away all of his strength, but if he would just come once, especially to see you with Fitzwilliam, it would surely bring him joy.”