Adam Merriweather looked very distinguished on horseback, Darcy had to admit as the young man rode up the snowy drive that afternoon. His tall hat and fashionable long coat aided his stylish presence. Darcy watched him from his study's window. Merriweather's horse was a graceful, long-legged dapple gray that looked expensive.
"I bring news from Fenton Park's cats. They are standing down," Adam called to Georgiana while a groom held his horse and he dismounted. Georgiana stood outside in her coat and giggled to herself.
She did look quite happy, Darcy admitted.
"Poppet and Muffin will rejoice!" she replied, smiling broadly at him. "Finally, a truce! Do come in and say hello."
"It would be my honor," he said and bowed to her before following her inside Pemberley's entryway, where Darcy could no longer see them.
He closed the window and sat back down at his desk.
Georgiana and Adam Merriweather were quite amiable with each other. It was obvious their friendship had blossomed. Darcy dipped his quill into fresh ink and started a letter to Lady Catherine informing her Georgiana had agreed to go to court and they would travel to London in a week's time.
He looked down at his long scribbling strokes on the page and sighed. He didn't want to cause Georgiana any more suffering, but an attachment to the son of a tradesman, even one as wealthy as the Merriweather's were, would not be a suitable match for Georgiana by Lady Catherine's standards. He understood infatuations and felt diversion seemed the best, kindest route to break her and the boy's attachment.
Elizabeth may not understand.
Darcy began writing again and attempted to oust his wife's insistent voice from his head. Her lovely face rose up before his eyes. She had not been considered a suitable match for him either.
He paused, lost in thought, and dripped a splotch of ink on the paper.
Dammit.
It was different for him. He was a man. He could be snubbed by society snobs and not be affected in his day-to-day life. Besides, he was Mr. Darcy of Pemberley in Derbyshire. A great too many people here were dependent upon him to hold it against him, even if they did think he married below himself. But Georgiana was a female. It was different for women. He wasn't entirely sure how, but that's what he told himself. That's what he had always been told.
Was that hypocritical?
He grabbed a cloth and blotted the ink on the letter.
Deep in his heart, he believed it was. In his own life, he'd known plenty of women who were as, if not more, capable than a great many men he'd observed. His own mother had been a woman of formidable intelligence. There were fools in all walks of life, of course, male and female, but he secretly didn't believe intelligence or competence was intrinsic to either sex or to rank. Stupidity seemed to be liberally sprinkled among all mankind.
But Georgiana was his sister and a different case entirely. She was a clever girl, of course, but sometimes her shyness got the better of her. With a little practice, he hoped she could get past it. That was why they were going to London.
Elizabeth, on the other hand, was too clever for her own good, he thought and smiled to himself. It pleased him to realize he was married to a woman who was his intellectual equal. She was actually probably far more intelligent than he, he secretly believed. She read more than he and often weighed ideas more carefully than he did. He secretly believed she might have made an excellent kind and wise philosopher queen in another lifetime.
Thinking of Elizabeth made his heart beat faster and he marveled that he still had such a pointed physical reaction to her. He shifted in his seat restlessly. Cassandra was now six weeks old. The physician told him to wait that long before commencing marital relations again. It had been a long six weeks. He missed her attention, of course, but more so simply their private discourses and intimacy. He smiled at the thought that he'd be able to begin to visit her again at night if she would have him.
Ahem. Now back to Georgiana. Regardless, he hoped his sister's attachment to Mr. Merriweather would fall away naturally as she met others in London. That was how young people's infatuation went, like the tide. He finished the letter, folded it, and held his stamp under the candle for a few moments before he pressed the large D seal onto the back of the letter.
Georgiana laughed as her horse overtook Adam's. She knew she was not the model of female propriety but at the moment she was having too much enjoyment to care.
"Cheat! You're a cheat, Miss Darcy!" Adam called out to her, urging his horse on to catch her, but still she surged ahead. She knew her behavior would be the source of gossip, if anyone else were present to witness it. She sneaked a glance backward at the groom who followed them on horseback at a respectful distance across the field. He was far enough away to not hear their conversation. As soon they were in London her every move would be watched. She wanted to have fun while she could.
"I'm not cheating. My horse is simply faster," she replied, slowing her horse to a trot once she reached the agreed-upon finish line, a large oak tree. "I won the race fair and square."
"You didn't start early?"
She bit her lip, smiling, and shook her head.
The exertion warmed them both and Adam pulled off his gloves and patted his horse's neck affectionately.
"Bloody hell, Isis is supposed to be the fastest thoroughbred in the county. I was swindled when I bought her!"
Georgiana opened her mouth in fake shock and circled her horse around Adam's. "Such shocking language is uncalled for, Mr. Merriweather!" She laughed. "She may not be the fastest, but she is a pretty thing."
"Yes, I suppose I'm not the first man to have his head turned by something pretty, am I, Isis?"
Adam's horse lost the race, but he didn't seem to mind. Once again, Georgiana was struck by how good-natured Adam was on all occasions. The day was warm for February and the snow shrank into heavy, wet banks on the ground.
"Never you mind. We shall practice every day, shan't we, Isis? And when Miss Darcy comes back to Pemberley from London we will thrash her soundly," Adam said to his horse.
Georgiana's smile faded by the invocation of her upcoming trip to London. She had told Adam of her trip but didn't explain all the ways the trip may part them.
He saw her smile falter and walked his horse beside hers.
"That is unless you will be too superior after being presented at court to race simple neighbors," Adam said.
"I should hope I will never feel too superior to eschew racing," she said.
Adam shook his head playfully. "You say that today, but once you've been to court, your head will have turned." Georgiana's head bowed momentarily in response. "Oh, it's already happening, isn't it? You've already grown tired of us peasants."
She couldn't help it. Despite her fears over her trip, she giggled. "No, not yet. I hope I should never grow tired of days like this."
Adam stopped his horse near hers so he could look directly at her. "We will have more." His dark eyes were calm and bright. She wished she believed him.
Georgiana's face reddened. "I hope so."
"Depend upon it, Miss Darcy, for my horse is new and I am determined to get the most from my investment. I'm very keen on owning the fastest horse in Derbyshire."
Georgiana smiled again and patted her horse's neck. "Perhaps my brother will sell her to you."
Adam grabbed his heart as though he were wounded. "Alas! Isis, she slanders us greatly."
"Someone has to keep you from being the loudest braggart in Derbyshire."
"Too true. I am far too loud for my own good. There is reason enough for you to return: to keep me humble."
Georgiana smiled in spite of herself and turned her horseback toward the field from which they had come.
"Tell me, Mr. Merriweather, are you never vexed or cross?"
His smile faded. "Of course I am. What a silly question. Do I always seem the picture of propriety?"
Georgiana smiled and nodded.
"I believe I am as vexed as often as any man," he said. "But I prefer not to dwell on unhappy circumstances especially on days as lovely as this."
It was a pretty day, the air cool yet the sun still shone. Melting water ran nearby. The soft air made her sorry she didn't enjoy it fully and was instead fretting about her future. She wouldn't blame Adam if he were content to see her go as she was such an emotional goose.
"I do wish you'd smile more easily. Perhaps Isis and I will allow you to beat us one more time across the field? Would that cheer you?" Adam said.
Georgiana looked up to Adam Merriweather, her lips turning upwards despite herself. She felt freer and more content here with Mr. Merriweather than she had in awhile. "I believe I beat you without allowances," she said and urged her horse forward to get in front of his.