Still no baby. But I do have a week until I'm due which means that it could happen at any time in the next three weeks until they decide to induce me (please not again). The support I received after the last chapter has been overwhelming and I'm incredibly grateful for it. Beating the husband away from the computer is still a difficult task but I have one day a week at least that I can spend some time alone in the house without entertaining children or husband. Happy days.

Previously: Darcy and Elizabeth were married, Caroline proved that she is utterly clueless and the first meeting between Elizabeth and Georgiana did not go well.

Chapter Twenty-One.

To say that Darcy was dismayed that Elizabeth had withdrawn to their chambers after a mere half hour alone with his sister could be considered something of an understatement. Although she had stated that fatigue from their long journey to Pemberley was the primary cause he was certain that some of the blame could be laid at the feet of his sister. Well aware that Elizabeth was not one to withdraw from a battle of wills and wits, indeed he had seen her contend with one too many women like Caroline Bingley, he was certain that her departure here must be more tactical than caused by intimidation. From the satisfied smile on the lips of his sister Darcy was certain that she did not view it as such.

"You see, brother, how quickly your wife excuses herself from my company," triumph was obvious in her tone. "Are you still certain that she will welcome me to remain in your home?"

"You could not be civil for one evening, cousin?" The colonel interjected before Darcy could formulate his reply. "Must you inflict your misery upon everyone around you?"

"I know not what you mean, Colonel, but I certainly resent your implication!" Georgiana retorted hotly.

"Enough, both of you," Darcy interrupted before either could continue. "It is only natural that my wife would require rest after our long journey and perhaps the fault lies with me for insisting that we all dine together this evening instead of taking a quiet meal in our chambers." Although disguise was abhorrent he would not mention that the idea had been Elizabeth's to begin with, he doubted that would do much to ease his sister's apprehensions about his marriage. "I understand that news of my engagement must have come as a great shock to you, Georgiana, and I am aware that you would be uneasy given your own experience. I would have you understand, however, that I wish to see you happy and that I believe that the love of your family would help greatly in your recovery from your experience."

"She is not family," Georgiana insisted sullenly. "I know that you cannot see it, but you have told me yourself of the arts that the daughters of gentlemen will employ to capture a rich husband. Perhaps her method is simply one that you have not seen yet."

"An interesting idea," Fitzwilliam responded, "but I find it hard to believe that she would employ such a risky strategy to secure her own future."

"The point is moot," Darcy added. "We are married. I do not recognise this woman that you have become, Georgiana. You have been mistreated, I know, and alone for far too long. Elizabeth was willing to welcome you here before she had met you, could you do her the courtesy of getting to know her before you judge her so harshly?"

"Will you cast me from the house if I do not?" Georgiana asked softly in reply.

"I have no desire to see you leave, sister, you have been gone for too long, but the happiness of my wife must come first."

oOo

Mrs Wickham was seen only in passing in the days following the Darcys arrival. She joined them for services in silence on Sunday and partook of a family meal that day although she barely spoke two words together. Instead she seemed to use her time with them to observe the way that Mr and Mrs Darcy behaved towards one another, as though seeking to prove her theory that Elizabeth was little more than a fortune hunter with her eyes on Mr Darcy's pocket book. Now, ten days after their arrival, Mrs Darcy knocked on the door to Mrs Wickham's sitting room. Much to her surprise she was invited in and offered a seat.

"Thank you for agreeing to speak with me," Elizabeth said softly after she had sat in a rather comfortable chair by the long window.

"It is your house," was the less than gracious reply.

"And these are your chambers," Elizabeth responded reasonably. "With four sisters you can hardly expect me to ignore the joy that a private sanctuary might hold. I would never presume to march in here without permission."

"As you say."

"Mrs Wickham, I am aware that you are not pleased with the fact that your brother chose to marry me," Elizabeth sighed. "I admit I am at a loss as to how to reassure you of the depth of my feelings for my husband. Truthfully I had expected to one day marry a tradesman, perhaps an associate of my Uncle Gardiner or brother Bingley. This was never a part of even my wildest dreams. The marriage has happened, and Mr Darcy is more dear to me than I have the proper words to express. Nor should I be expected to, the emotions that your brother and I share are for the privacy of our home and not the gossips of the ton."

"If this is what you have come to say to me then perhaps we should declare this discussion over?" Georgiana suggested.

"It is not all I have come to say to you," was the swift response. "This rift between us, between you and your brother, is causing him a great deal of grief. I believe he feels as though he has regained you only to lose you once more. He worked very hard to find you, dedicated himself to his attempts for your safe recovery."

"Aside from the time that he dedicated to courting you," Mrs Wickham interjected.

"Indeed, although believe me there were times when my wishes were outweighed by your needs. For example when he finally managed to locate you he left Pemberley as soon as he was able to be at your side and delayed our reunion for several days. He wanted you here with us, Mrs Wickham, and after all that he had been through I could not deny him that. Will you?"

Georgiana shook her head but did not reply. Instead she watched as Elizabeth got to her feet and walked about the room, running her fingers across tables and chairs as she went. The room, serviceable enough for a young girl not yet out, had a decidedly childlike quality to it and the furnishings felt dated even though they were of the highest quality.

"I understand you like to spend a lot of time with your daughter," Elizabeth said as she looked at a half completed drawing of Eleanor.

"I do," was the stiff response.

"These rooms are a long way from the nursery," she continued as though ignorant of the anger that was steadily building in the younger woman. "They are also rather small for a married woman, would you not agree?" Mrs Wickham did not reply. "I thought that, perhaps, you and I could go to the west wing this week, more properly the second floor, and take a look at the chambers there."

"The family wing is in the east," Georgiana pointed out frostily.

"Yes," Elizabeth acknowledged, "and while I would dearly like to keep you here my plan would not work. I have a proposition for you, if you will, a way for you to have a comfortable space of your own to share with Eleanor without feeling that you have to leave the home of your youth.

"Naturally, should you so wish it neither my husband nor I will stop you. You are a widow now and should be allowed to make your own choices, but one so newly widowed and with such a young child should not be expected to continue on alone. We would be happy to offer you the dower house should you want it, however, I would like you to consider another option. I propose that we take a section of the chambers in the west wing and turn them into a large apartment for your particular use. Decorated as you would wish them to be, with a separate nursery for your daughter so that you can be near her whenever you wish. You would quite naturally have your own sitting room and music room, even a small dining chamber or study if you wished it. Mrs Reynolds would, of course, oversee the basic housekeeping and your meals would obviously come from the menu that she and I have agreed upon for the week. You will be left in peace there should you desire it but always welcome to join us if the solitude should become too much."

"Banish me to another corner of the house?" Georgiana asked in a small voice, as though the idea was worse than being sent from Pemberley altogether.

"Of course not," Elizabeth's smile was kind and she laid a reassuring hand upon that of the younger woman. "Merely a place that is yours. A place where you will not have to answer to your brother or I and that is close enough that when you are ready to rejoin our family completely you will be able to. Think on it. There is no great hurry."

oOo

When she had discussed the idea with her husband Darcy, like his sister, had been dubious. The idea of allowing his sister hide herself on the other side of the house and away from the people who had tried so desperately to find her had been upsetting to him and it had been some time before he had calmed himself enough to listen to Elizabeth's reasoning. Georgiana had, she pointed out, had a great deal taken from her by the deception of Mr Wickham. She had lost her innocence, her belief in love and her opportunity to find it in her own time. Instead she had been deceived, her youthful dreams turned into the most painful of nightmares and though she was not yet seventeen she was already a mother and a widow. Any bitterness must be understandable and forgiven in light of the awakening she had been subjected to. Of them all Georgiana would be the most familiar with the truth of the cruelties of the world and though it pained Elizabeth to know that Mrs Wickham believed her to be as mercenary and cruel as George Wickham she was well aware that the same sentiment would be echoed throughout the drawing rooms and parlours of the ton.

"I would not wish for you to have to chose between us, Fitzwilliam," she assured her husband as she finished explaining her reasoning.

"I would chose you," he assured her with a gentle kiss to her wrist. "You are my wife and I could do no less."

"Yet I would not have it be so," she replied. "I would not have you chose me and then come to resent me should your sister decide never to contact you again. I would not have you lose her a second time and I am convinced that given the opportunity to get to know me in her own time she would begin to soften her opinions." His smile was sad. "She can always change her mind and the suite can be set aside for Jane and Charles when they visit with their family in later years."

"It will be costly," said he after a moment of quiet contemplation, "however, I believe it is worth the attempting." Then he smiled. "It has, of course, one other benefit. By sacrificing a number of rooms it has the advantage of limiting the number of guests that we can accommodate. I find this suits me very well." Elizabeth had been able to do little more than laugh at that sentiment and it was with great joy that she was approached by her new sister after dinner with a request that they begin the process the next day.

Artemis