Previously: The Darcys chased after Jane. Mr. Darcy and Mr. Davidson had a confrontation.
Friday, August 7, 1818
Bingley House, Sator Square, Kensington
As the incipient lovers pondered the difficulty of obtaining time to spent alone together in order to formalize their relationship Elizabeth and Miss Davidson continued their own difficult conversation.
It had had an innocuous start. Miss Davidson designed the fabrics woven by D & B Mills and she showed Elizabeth a sample book of her designs. Elizabeth was impressed with the effects to be had with the various permutations of coloured warp and weft and she so complimented Miss Davidson but her purpose today had been to find Jane, and though that had been forestalled, she kept pressing Miss Davidson as when Jane would be back from her honeymoon so she could see her again. Miss Davidson ignored those entreaties and stubbornly spoke about textile design.
Finally, Elizabeth had had enough and she reached over and shut the sample book which Miss Davidson had on her lap. "Excuse my rudeness but I cannot help but feel that you are working very hard at not telling me something about Jane. What is it?"
"I'm sorry but I do not want to hurt your feelings…"
"I am not as fragile as I might look. Tell me."
"I anticipated that you would come looking for Lady Bingley so I asked her if there was any message I could pass onto you and she gave me a sour look and said no. I pressed her and she said to tell you…" here Miss Davidson paused and Elizabeth motioned with her hand for her to continue "that she was not happy to have found out what you and Mr. Darcy knew at Easter six years ago but didn't bother to tell either her or Sir Charles so she would not be corresponding with you and if you wanted to talk to her you could do so at your mother's."
Elizabeth sank back in her chair. "Oh."
"Mrs. Darcy, you are unwell. May I get you something? Perhaps some wine?"
"No, no I am fine" Elizabeth offered. "It is just to have my sister say such a thing … but of course you do not know her that well yet and you do not know what she is referring to … I suppose I owe you an explanation…"
From what Sir Charles had told her Miss Davidson did know what the reference to the 'Easter' knowledge meant but she did not want to embarrass her visitor so she said "No, it is none of my business." She laughed "I had a sister once and we used to have terrific rows but heaven help any outsider who got caught between us. I'm sure Lady Bingley and you will work things out."
Elizabeth was not so sure. Arranging a meeting with Jane at their mother's seemed like an insurmountable obstacle. But this was not the time and place to deal with it so she laughed and said "If you think it was bad with one sister imagine what it was like with four." Miss Davidson laughed as well but Elizabeth thought it was forced, like she was relieved instead of amused. Relieved about what? Elizabeth pointed a finger at Miss Davidson. "What else did my sister say?"
"Are you sure?"
"Tell me."
"She said you should know that your husband and your daughter are treating you like you and your father treated your mother." Miss Davidson recoiled from the fierce look Elizabeth gave her. She held up her hands. "Do not kill the messenger."
Elizabeth took several deep breaths and got herself under control. Miss Davidson was correct; it was not her fight. Her anger was rightly directed at Jane. How dare Jane interfere in such a way, trying to cause divisions in the Darcy family. After all they had done for her, taking her in when she was almost a destitute war widow. This was how she repaid them. The ingratitude was not to be borne. She was jealous that they had a loving family and she had to settle for being a stepmother. Yes, that was it. Jealous and ungrateful. Jane was lucky they would not be meeting anytime soon.
The butler announced Mr. Darcy. Everyone in the room stood. Mr. Darcy nodded at Elizabeth and Miss Davidson and then walked straight to Mr. Davidson. He handed a letter and bank draft to Mr. Davidson who laid them on his drafting table without looking at them.
"Will you not review them?" asked Mr. Darcy.
"I trust they are in order" replied Mr. Davidson.
The two men stared at each other. Mr. Darcy had perfected his imperious look in the many years he had stalked the ballrooms of the ton before he had met Elizabeth and it had never failed to intimidate. Until now. Mr. Davidson was smirking at him.
Elizabeth broke his concentration by touching his arm. He looked at her. "We have imposed on the Davidson's hospitality too long" she told him.
"But we have ordered lunch" objected Miss Davidson.
Elizabeth turned to her. "I am sorry for your trouble but in the circumstances we cannot stay." She then turned to Georgiana. "Georgiana, you should say your farewells as it is unlikely we will see Mr. and Miss Davidson again."
Georgiana was about to object when she, and only she, saw Mr. Davidson wink at her. She felt calmness settle over her. She turned to Miss Davidson and curtsied. "It has been a pleasure to know you even though it has been only for such a short time." Georgiana then turned to Mr. Davidson and held out her hand.
Mr. Davidson bent down and kissed Georgiana's hand. As he straightened up, he could see that her brother was at the boil. Without dropping her hand, he said "Do not mourn the ending of our brief time together Miss Darcy; instead think of how glorious the short life of a rose blossom is." He squeezed her hand and then let it go.
Knowing no else could see her face she blew a kiss at him. He smiled back at her.
They were almost back to Darcy House before anyone in the coach spoke.
"You will not have anything further to do with Mr. Davidson" Darcy told Georgiana.
She did not reply; she continued to look out the window.
"I will not tolerate any insolence from you; you will do what I say." Darcy was louder this time.
"Or what?" sniffed Georgiana. She looked for help from Elizabeth but none appeared to be forthcoming. "Are you going to beat me? Is there a high tower or low dungeon I don't know about at Pemberley in which you are going to lock me? I am of age; I will do what I want; and I want to marry Mr. Davidson."
"I control your dowry. Marry him and you will never see it."
"Keep it; you probably need it more than he does. Guess what the 'D' in 'D & B Mills' stands for. He owns the townhouse next to the one you were just in. He owns patents on inventions."
"You will not marry that money grubber; I will give you until next June to accept a proposal from a suitable candidate from the ton; and if you do not, I will pick a husband for you."
"No. I am going to marry John."
"You are under my protection; you will do what I say."
"Then I will remove myself from your protection. If I am gone by noon will that be sufficient?"
Elizabeth slapped Georgiana.
Georgiana and Mr. Darcy both stared at Elizabeth aghast. Georgiana touched her cheek. It started to sting.
Elizabeth shook her finger at Georgiana. "You ungrateful little chit. After all William has done for you. Raised you, clothed you, educated you. Given you three glorious seasons. And do not forget, he saved you from that fortune hunting rake, Wickham. And how do you repay your brother? With defiance and insolence and no doubt planning an infamous elopement. You should be ashamed of yourself."
The slap all but forgotten Georgiana gaped at the raging manifestation of Lady Catherine de Bourgh before her. That was not the connection that Mr. Darcy made. He had seen Elizabeth this angry once before: the night of his first refusal. What had triggered her anger this time?
The stopping of the coach halted Elizabeth's harangue. The moment the footman opened the door she spilled out of the coach, charged up the steps past the surprised butler, and continued through the entry hall and up the grand staircase. Moments later the slamming of her bedroom door reverberated throughout the house.
Darcy started up the staircase after Elizabeth then stopped and turned to Georgiana. "We will talk later once I have this sorted out."
Georgiana did not reply. I do not think so she thought. She went into Mr. Darcy's study and wrote a short note. She then rang for Chamberlain and when he appeared, she asked him to send Roger to her.
"You wanted to see me Miss?" Roger asked.
"Yes. Do you remember how to get to the house we were just at in Kensington?"
"The one where I knocked the gentleman down?"
"Yes."
"Yes, I do."
"Good. Here's a letter for that gentleman, his name is Mr. Davidson. I want you to take it to him right now, as fast as you can, and then bring back his reply directly to me. Do not give it to anyone else." Georgiana dug a shilling out of her reticule. "This is for you and tell the gentleman I said he would give you another shilling as well. Do you understand?"
"Yes Miss," Roger turned to leave.
"And Roger, do not tell anyone and in particular, I mean Chamberlain or Mrs. Burke, where you are going. Just tell them you are running a very important errand for me. Now off with you."
Georgiana watched him go and then went to her bedroom. She did not think she had the luxury Jane had enjoyed of being able to take all her clothes. She wondered what she could fit into her reticule and overnight valise. She thought about her maid, Jane had taken her maid, but Sarah was out, she would have to send for her later.
Roger was back within the hour. He was quite excited. "Mr. Davidson gave me a ride back in his carriage. And he gave me a crown for my trouble."
Georgiana smiled at him. "Did he give you a note?"
"Oh yes, sorry Miss, here it is."
Roger turned to leave but Georgiana told him to wait. She might have to send a return note.
She broke the seal and read:
'Your carriage awaits around the corner by the entrance to the mews.'
Georgiana gave Roger a note. "This is for Sarah. She is running an errand, when she gets back give it to her."
Georgiana took a deep breath. This was it. She felt like she was about to step off a high cliff. She hoped John would catch her.
And so with all due optimism Georgiana headed down the servants' staircase, followed by Roger carrying her valise and the potted rose, out the back door and through the mews. She could see John waiting for her by his carriage. She started to say hello to her but he put his finger to his lips to hush her and then he pointed at the coach. He opened the coach door and handed her in. As she settled into her seat, she saw Miss Davidson was seated opposite wearing a very severe look. She went to speak but Miss Davidson also shushed her. A wave of apprehension rippled through Georgiana. What was wrong? She could hear John take the valise and rose pot from Roger, hand them up to the coachman and then tell Roger to come to Bingley House if he ran into trouble at Darcy House. And from the sound of Roger's effusive thanks John must have given him another generous tip. John got into the coach and Miss Davidson motioned for him to sit in the same seat as Georgiana but with some separation. Miss Davidson gestured at the ceiling and John tapped on it twice with his cane. The coach started forward.
The coach had gone at least three blocks before Miss Davidson spoke.
"Our parents should have drowned you John when you were born. As for you Miss Darcy I suppose you have burnt all your boats and there is no hope of you returning to your home."
Georgiana nodded. Miss Davidson continued.
"There will be no elopement." When both Georgiana and Mr. Davidson looked to object, she shook her finger at them. "Neither of you say a word. There will be no elopement" she repeated. "This is what's going to happen. Miss Darcy and I are going back to Bingley House; John you will be staying at your club. On Monday we will head to Manchester." She looked at Georgiana and asked, "You are the full age of twenty-one, aren't you?" Georgianna nodded and Miss Davidson continued, "Good. You will stay with me at our house there." She gave Mr. Davidson an evil grin, "and you will stay with Aunt Jean."
"But, but…"
"No buts at all. While Miss Darcy is establishing her residence in our parish the two of you can court."
"But we already have an understanding" objected Georgiana.
"You don't have anything more than a poorly written first draft of a pantomime. I will have to check but I think it takes three months to establish residence; by then, if you two still want to marry, the banns can be read and you can be wed by the first of December."
"But we already know…"
"You know nothing about my brother Miss Darcy. I will tell you one big thing about him and you can find out the rest on your own. And when you do know him and if you decide you cannot live with him, I will help you move on. Maybe your brother will welcome his prodigal sister home. Now the most important thing that you can never forget about John is that he is always thinking. Awake or asleep it doesn't matter. You will awake some winter night in your marital bed all cold and alone and see him at the bed side table scribbling in his notebook of something he dreamt. You do remember his notebook from when we first met? If you ever get a chance, go through them; he dates them so you can see what his thoughts were that day the two of you first met. His writing is very legible although there may be water stains, he keeps his notebook by his bath. And he's never thinking just about one thing; no, it's three or four things all at once. And he doesn't just have thoughts; he wants to make them real. And the next thing you know your privy has blown up; or your aunt's terrier has turned blue; or the walls in your house have gaping holes; or, you are receiving a potted rose rather than a posy."
"Agnes be fair. No one, man or beast, has been killed …."
"Only through the grace of Our Lord taking care of dumb animals and foolish inventers. Miss Darcy, on your wedding night, if it gets that far, you will see a very interesting set of scars. Do ask John then about the 'soaring like an eagle' scar; it is quite the story."
"Agnes! You know very well that those thoughts as you call them have led to more than two dozen inventions which produce a very respectable income in royalties. And you, more than anyone else, enjoy the hot water baths made possible by the plumbing system I designed."
Agnes ignored him and continued on. "And Miss Darcy if you do marry John you will responsible for saying 'no' to him loudly and repeatedly. He will mention an idea of his to you and you must be instantly alert to the implications lest you look out the window and see your first born floating away in the basket of a hot air balloon. 'No' Miss Darcy, practice it 'No, no, no'. Develop a 'no' look, better yet several, ranging from 'really dear, you had best reconsider' to 'one more twitch out of you and it is the apocalypse'. It is an awesome responsibility Miss Darcy, your loved ones, your neighbours, all the realm, nay all mankind, depend on you. One of the happiest days of my life will be your wedding day when I can surrender the office of naysayer to you."
"Agnes, stop. Can't you see that you are scaring Miss Darcy" Mr. Davidson said although the latter looked rather more bemused than frightened.
"Good, that is my intention. Miss Darcy, should we turn the carriage around and head back to your brother's house? They probably don't even know you're missing yet."
Georgiana tried to collect her own swirling thoughts as she looked at the two siblings then she saw the twinkle in Miss Davidson's eyes. "No" she said and smiled. They both smiled back at her. She had passed. "What happened to the blue dog?" she asked.