Ch4: Aftermath
The removal of Mr. George Wickham from the country of Derbyshire was met with great cheer from the townspeople of Lambton, for he had stolen more than mere goods and merchandise from many of the merchants and shopkeepers. Those with young daughters or sisters in particular gratefully breathed sighs of relief and relaxed their united but unspoken vigilance at keeping those same daughters or sisters safe. Great toasts were made to the Master of Pemberley, for certainly it was he who finally gained the courage to do what the previous Mr. Darcy could not or would not. That Lord Ashbury and his men were the ones who were actually observed manhandling a rather filthy and uncharacteristically subdued George Wickham into a pair of manacles and the confines of an enclosed carriage holding two burly manservants whose stern expressions forbade any remark from the gathered crowd was of little consequence. The people of Lambton remained quite determined to ascribe the credit of ridding the region of the blight that was George Wickham to Mr. Darcy of Pemberley. This perceived latest kind act by the most prominent of the local landowners thus only strengthened the good will the people of Lambton held for the Darcy family.
The subject of the many good wishes from the town was as yet unaware that he had done any great service. Nonetheless, though Darcy would have been quick to dissuade the townspeople from singing his praises and insist on giving Lord Ashbury all the credit, he certainly would have agreed that he too was glad to have finally seen the last of George Wickham. But the gentleman whose name was on the lips of many was much too focused on the impact of late events on his dear sister to consider the implications of these particular events on his own reputation. For her part, Miss Georgiana had been rather shaken by the tidings that Lord Ashbury had brought. Though she had been more disinclined to think too well of George after the events following her father's death, Georgiana still found it difficult to reconcile the young man of her memories who had smiled so charmingly at the world at large and the irresponsible scoundrel who had fallen so low as to commit murder, albeit with the aid of perhaps not a little inebriation and quite by accident.
Georgiana was well aware that her dear brother was under no obligation to make her privy to any details of the happenings around George Wickham and that, indeed, he would have much preferred to shield her from any knowledge of the darkness in the world. But Georgiana had never quite been as other young ladies of similar circumstance. Her Mama's early passing and the deep abiding sorrow of her Papa had resulted in a rather lonely childhood for the young heiress. Though Darcy was as attentive a brother as one could hope for, the ten years between the siblings might well have been as wide as the ocean that now separated them from George Wickham. So it was that Miss Georgiana was often left to her own devices and felt quite bereft even in a home as lovely as Pemberley. The music room thus became her place of refuge where she could keep the oppressive silence at bay with whatever music as could be procured. To her pleasure, her dear Papa would on occasion abandon his many responsibilities as Master of Pemberley to sit quietly in the music room and listen with a soft expression on his face as she wove almost tangible tapestries of thought and emotions with her growing skill on the pianoforte. It was in anticipation of those times that Georgiana learned to observe carefully those around her so that she could use her music either to sooth her Papa's worries or to reflect his pensive states of mind.
Her quiet nature combined with the lack of other diversions thus made Georgiana quite a perceptive child and one much older than her age would suggest. Her Papa's passing was thus perhaps not as much a shock for her as others might have expected, for she had observed his growing wistfulness and the increase in frequency with which he would clutch the pocket-watch that she knew helda miniature of her departed Mama. Indeed, the day before he finally grew too ill to leave his bed, she had caught a glimpse of her Papa's still form in the Portrait Gallery that held the likeness of so many Darcys of generations past. But her Papa had paid their illustrious predecessors no mind as he stood gazing at the portrait of his dearly departed. The Lady Anne Darcy of oil and canvas was in the full bloom of health and bore little semblance to the pale and wane creature she had become in the days before her passing. Her twinkling eyes seemed to hold a joyful secret, one that beckoned the observer to partake in some untold joke. After the sad day when her Papa drew his last breath, Georgiana often found herself standing beneath the same portrait, wondering if perhaps her Papa could now finally answer that same twinkle with one of his own. It was there that Darcy found her, when he had rushed home upon the news of his father's death, there under the loving gaze of Lady Anne Darcy that the siblings sought solace in each other's presence.
Though Georgiana appreciated the kind attentions of her aunts and uncles and the genuine murmurs of sympathy from her cousins, she found that she was quite relieved when they all, with the exception of Colonel Fitzwilliam, departed to their own homes and the Darcy siblings were finally allowed to mourn in peace. As Darcy threw himself into the role of Master Darcy of Pemberley and half of Derbyshire, however, Georgiana once again felt the silence closing in on her and sought solace in the one friend who had never abandoned her. Colonel Fitzwilliam observed the growing frequency and duration of her seclusions in the music room and could not help but be concerned for his young cousin. His agitation grew as he observed Darcy's efforts at drowning his sorrows in sheer exhaustion from the heavy responsibilities that had descended upon the young gentleman's shoulders. Finally, after one dinner too many during which even the slightest clink of silverware seemed an affront to the somber mood of the household, Colonel Fitzwilliam pounded his fist on the table, drew himself to his full height, and declared that he had had enough. Startled by this unexpected behavior from the usually jovial Colonel, the Darcy siblings were further shocked at the accusations he laid at their feet and could only stare wide-eyed at each other when, in a fit of exasperation, the Colonel decided to abandon the dining room and finish his meal in his own quarters. It could not be said that things changed overnight after the Colonel's most surprising outburst, but the healing process had inevitably begun such that when the Colonel was obliged to depart to rejoin his commander a month later, laughter had slowly started to creep back into the halls of Pemberley once more.
In the ensuing days, Darcy learned to recognize the unexpected maturity in his younger sister while Georgiana found herself quite content to put aside her false bravado and allow herself to be taken care of by a most understanding brother. Though both were of reserved natures, the siblings quickly discovered the benefit of sharing their worries. The Colonel was quite delighted to be informed via lengthy letters from both parties of the growing bond between his favorite cousins; they had both been forced by circumstance to grow old before their time and he was glad to see them recovering some of their youthful spirits. Thus, his greatest fear after the most recent incident with the dratted fiend George Wickham was a regression of things back to the way they had been. Fortunately, he discovered that his worries about either Darcy withdrawing within themselves were unfounded. Despite Darcy's worries, Georgiana recovered well from her initial shock at the man George had become. Though the enormity of his crime greatly troubled her sweet and gentle nature, Georgiana found herself much occupied by an even greater task. Despite the alacrity with which Darcy had agreed to Lord Ashbury's plan, Georgiana knew that her brother believed himself responsible for the reprehensible actions of George Wickham. No doubt he was berating himself for not checking Wickham's behaviors earlier or for not foreseeing the possible dangers Wickham could have brought to Georgiana. So it was in a manner that would brook no argument that Georgiana insisted on an end to Darcy's hovering and a return to normalcy. Though heartened by her determination, Darcy remained quite reluctant to leave the house unattended for too long during his visits to the tenants. After all, in his mind, he had almost failed not only to make certain of his sister's safety during his absence but also a Master's duty to all those under his protection. It took Colonel Fitzwilliam's threat to teach Georgiana fencing skills, a most unladylike pursuit, to bring the smile back to Darcy's face. Only when he extracted a promise from Georgiana that she would never set forth from Pemberley without accompaniment by someone named on his meticulously made list, however, did he begin to relax somewhat. Even so, it would be weeks before Darcy stopped being haunted by the specter of might-have-been's.
