Footsteps sounded in the hall outsde the salon; Fitzwilliam was practically running. He burst into the room with a smile on his face Georgiana had rarely seen outside the safe confines of Pemberley, and she stood to greet him, unable to remain sitting properly. For that matter, with only Mr. Bingley to see them, what did it matter if they practiced society's proper behavior? She had been terribly concerned about Fitzwilliam's well-being, and was so glad to see him she could not have refrained from embracing him had even the imposing person of Lady Catherine stood between them.

As it happened, she did not, however, and Georgiana could feel her brother's exuberance as he swept her up and twirled her around. An undignified greeting for a girl of her years, to be certain, but it didn't matter at all to Georgiana—or to Fitzwilliam or Mr. Bingley, clearly, because they were all laughing and happy.

"Fitzwilliam!" she cried breathlessly as soon as he had put her down. "Your letter was shamefully short and incomplete. Tell me at once—what news do you have for me?"

"Can you not guess?"

"I can, and have, many times in the course of the journey. But I would far rather hear it from you—and quickly, before I burst with the wondering!"

"Very well." He held her by the shoulders, looking down into her face, his smile wide. "I am engaged to be married."

"Yes, but to whom?"

Her impatience made him laugh. "To whom do you think?"

Georgiana glared at her brother. "Lady Anne deBourgh?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Because I had a letter from Lady Catherine."

"You did? What did she say?"

"She asked me to join with her to point you back in the direction she desired you to follow—straight back to Rosings and far away from the temptations of Hertfordshire." Georgiana watched her brother closely. He groaned, but the twinkle in his eyes didn't dissipate. "I knew it!"

"Knew what?"

"You have managed at last to prevail upon Miss Elizabeth to change her mind."

"In point of fact, I have not."

Georgiana's face fell, and Fitzwilliam chuckled. "You haven't?"

"No. It was Lady Catherine who did the prevailing, if you can imagine such a thing."

"How so, when she was so set against Miss Elizabeth anywhere near you?"

Mr. Bingley laughed. "You have the right of it, Miss Darcy. The lady came in one night, so late she roused the whole household, and gave my friend here such a dressing down as I never thought I would live to see him endure. He took it like a gentleman, politely told her that he intended to suit himself, and sent her on her way." With wide eyes, he added, "He didn't even offer her a cup of tea."

"You said that to Lady Catherine?"

Fitzwilliam looked abashed, but only for a moment before his smile returned. "I did, indeed. She was not pleased."

"To say the least," Mr. Bingley said.

Georgiana looked between the two of them in confusion. "But how did her appearance here convince Miss Elizabeth?"

"Oh, it didn't," Fitzwilliam assured her. "However, her appearance at the Bennets' home certainly did."

"Lady Catherine went to visit Miss Elizabeth?" Oh, how Georgiana would have loved to have witnessed that meeting! "To convince her not to marry you?"

"Yes. Apparently Lady Catherine's vicar is married to a friend of Lizzie's." Fitzwilliam started to catch himself at the use of the less formal name, and then appeared, from the light that brightened his countenance, to decide that as an affianced man, he had the right to be informal. "Through that connection, Lady Catherine was made aware of my relations toward Lizzie, and she came to Hertfordshire to demand that any agreement between us be brought to an end. Lizzie refused to promise such a thing, and that allowed me to hope as I had never dared to do before. I went the next morning to renew my advances toward her, and found them favorably received. And … here we are." The rush of words stopped, and he beamed at Georgiana.

Her eyes filled with tears. "It's just what I hoped for." Georgiana reaached up on tiptoes to give her brother a hug. "When is the happy day?"

"We are still working on that. Soon, we hope." He glanced at Mr. Bingley. "We have hoped we could coordinate with Charles and Jane—Miss Bennet … did he tell you his own news?"

Georgiana nodded, too happy to speak.

"Lizzie and Jane will be having luncheon with us tomorrow, and then you will meet the entire Bennet family at dinner the night after."

"All of them?" she asked, thinking of one member of the extended Bennet family she had no desire to come into contact with.

"All but the youngest. She has recently been married and is living with her husband in the north." Mr. Bingley was unaware of the former relationship between Georgiana and Mr. Wickham, and appeared truly downcast that she would not be able to meet the entire family assembled at once.

"Oh, that is a shame," Georgiana said, but she and Fitzwilliam exchanged a glance that said it was anything but.

Mr. Bingley smiled, the momentary seriousness gone from his face. "But not such a shame that we should allow ourselves to become downhearted."

"No, I should say not. These are happy days. And all the happier because of your arrival, my dearest sister." Fitzwilliam put an arm around her shoulders, giving her a little squeeze.

Georgiana couldn't help but sigh. Her brother's happiness all but secured, a congenial family relationship in at least one of his prospective brothers-in-law, and soon she would be in the midst of the Bennet sisters, where she had hoped to be for such a long time. Happy days, indeed.