Chapter 26

Now she understands, very cute to see it finally dawn on her, Jane apparently reminded her but Elizabeth just doesn't see a problem in the situation. She wouldn't, she can handle Wickham any day, she'd give him a perky retort and watch him slink off to lick his wounds. But Georgie and himself just aren't made that way.

'I'm sorry once more,' Elizabeth addresses first Georgie, then himself, 'I didn't think Fitzwilliam would have any trouble facing him, ignoring him worked just fine in the past, didn't it, love? And you must have spent hours with him, arranging his marriage? How did that go about, you had to speak to him then.'

That is true, but that was different, there were no other people, and Wickham was clearly the scoundrel, even Mrs Younge had been disgusted with his behaviour. But most people in Hertfordshire still believe what Elizabeth once believed, that Darcy ruined George Wickham just for the fun of it.

'You've seen me in company in Hertfordshire, Elizabeth. I handled Wickham easily enough when we were by ourselves, I had a mission and I was going to bring it to a successful end, no room for niceties. But a wedding is all about social graces, and heaven knows I'm not liberally endowed with those, especially not with people who have such a dislike against me, whereas Wickham has nothing but social graces, especially among the good people of Hertfordshire.'

He even manages to say 'good people' without sounding sarcastic.

'If that is your problem, Fitzwilliam,' Elizabeth says with great conviction, 'rest assured that your marriage to a local girl will have softened most of the neighbouring families towards you, as well as your friend's marriage to my sister. And don't forget that Bingley is still at Netherfield, making friends with everyone for miles around, as his friend and my husband you will be more than welcome. Besides, Wickham left a lot of debts behind, and do you for a moment have the illusion that one of the neighbouring families doesn't know that Wickham seduced a sixteen year old girl to elope with him and live with him in sin for several weeks? No matter how shameful that is for our family, it reflects most on Wickham, who undoubtedly still doesn't feel the shame, but don't think the Hertfordshire people will ever fall for his charms again. They will be ready to receive you as one of their own, and shun Wickham.

Of course that doesn't help Georgiana, no-one knows what happened within your family but my sister Jane, whom I couldn't help confiding in. But Georgiana, she's the most thoughtful and discrete person in the world, no-one will ever hear anything from her.'

'Never mind, Elizabeth,' Georgie observes, 'I'm kind of glad she knows, so thoughtful of her to think of me and remind you. If Miss Bingley knew, I'd be horrified. Or Mrs Wickham, and Wickham probably told her, they're married.'

'My sister Lydia lived in sin for weeks, Georgiana, until your brother forced her to marry. If he hadn't, she would have continued as she was and enjoyed it until Wickham left her, with child probably. I blush to even think of it. Think of what it would have cost us, her sisters. But the memory of living in sin doesn't cause my sister any shame, so reminding her will not bother her. Should she bug you, tactfully remind her you have a fortune of your own, that'll shut her up.

What if you should make friends with Kitty, Georgiana? If you join the young girls, you need not listen to anyone, you can just ignore the adults, dance as much as you like and never stop to talk unless you want to. Can you stand her company at all? If we promise her a few weeks in London with Maria Lukas she'll be your best friend forever and you'll not be burdened with her all the time. I'll be expected to invite her over anyway, you may as well profit by it. I wonder that she hasn't written yet, and that my father hasn't called. Though he dislikes town, he says there is too much dumb folk there, but I suspect him of feeling rustic. Not being able to look down on everyone would bother him a lot.'

'I hope you don't talk about me in such a way, Elizabeth,' Darcy cannot help commenting, though he knows she'll rub it in.

'Of course not, Fitzwilliam, I wouldn't dare. People would censure, slight and despise me.' Her cheeky face is worth millions, and she adds, 'Besides, while I had months to consider spending my life with you, no-one ever gave me a choice about my family.

Anyway, I guess I'm just happy to see them again so soon to rattle away like that, even Lydia, I wonder how being married agrees with her.'

'I suppose I would like to join the young crowd if your sister helps me, it would be strange but maybe a good experience, I've never been with girls my age. You think they'd let me?'

'Sure, Kitty and Maria are very nice girls, and they merely dance with the young men, they don't flirt. Do you expect any young bachelors of name and fortune, Fitzwilliam?'

Darcy tries to recall Bingley's acquaintance, but he doesn't come up with anyone in particular, which doesn't mean there will not be any, one never knows.

'Not off the top of my head, no. You aren't planning to marry Georgiana off, are you?' Of course that is said with a smile, for Darcy knows Elizabeth is planning no such thing.

'Certainly not, poor girls go first, they need to marry to secure their future, Georgiana need have no fears of becoming destitute, so she can wait until she actually wants to marry.'

Though Elizabeth says this in a droll way, it is clear she is deadly serious, marrying well is important to girls who are of gentle breeding but poor, like Elizabeth herself when she was still a Miss. And she's not done explaining.

'If there are eligible young men to be impressed, young, unmarried girls are less likely to welcome a richer, more accomplished girl with better connections in their midst. But I suppose Kitty is not that conniving, and Maria certainly isn't, she's singularly sweet. Do you remember her from Hunsford, Fitzwilliam?'

'You mean Mrs Collins' younger sister? I cannot say I got to know her, but I suppose that is your whole point, she's sweet and inconspicuous. I have nothing improper to accuse her of, she seemed perfectly polite and unassuming.'

'Let's still take this up with Simon,' Darcy finally offers, 'maybe he has some improvements. I know where I stand now, so I'll be perfectly ready to meet George Wickham, even if he asks either of you to stand up with him. And Georgie, we'll take good care of you of course. And I suppose you'll want to be at the piano part of the night anyway, since hearing anyone else play will grate on your ears and nerves.'

They have long since arrived in the dining-room, where Elizabeth shows them several sketches Mrs Annesley has made of their ideas for a centrepiece. One sketch immediately catches Darcy's attention, and he says, 'That one, that should be present in this house as well as Pemberley, and the colours will be magnificent in embroidery. Do you really think anyone, even Mrs Annesley, can capture that with needle and thread?'

'She assures me she can. I'm glad you like it best, I did, too. What do you think, Georgiana?'

'It's grandmother, isn't it? On the horse, like the painting in the gallery. It's gorgeous, Mrs Annesley draws well, she never told me. Though I might have guessed, with her needlework so exquisite, you think she drew that from memory? I'm amazed.'

'Do you think we should have that image in this house as well, embroidered by Mrs Annesley?'

'I think it is very fitting, Fitzwilliam, and with the border made in blues and purples, I think it will fit very nicely in this room. Or were you planning to have it in another room, Elizabeth?'

'No, somehow both dining-rooms seem perfect to place these works, we've adapted the colour-scheme to the décor. She has also made some of these sketches for Pemberley, but we are to take them with us and look at them there before deciding. She must have an incredible memory of what the room looks like. We were going to keep it exactly as it is, weren't we, love?'

'If you want it as it is, it will stay that way. We'll stun viewers with our most opulent room so they will continue their travels unable to admire the landscape, having been blinded by our wealth.'

'Never mind, Fitzwilliam,' Georgiana observes, 'if I were to visit a great house, I would want to see riches, preferably old treasures, not like aunt Catherine's opulence, that's just bragging. But why keep it all hidden, it's not as if you bought all that stuff, you merely inherited it, and it has history attached to it, years and years of it. Frankly, I like the dining-room, I wouldn't like the whole house to look like that, but I agree with Elizabeth that we should keep it and even add a few riches of our own: Mrs Annesley's amazing needlework being a perfect example. It's the one thing I was never any good at.'

'Do you regret that, Georgiana?' Elizabeth asks in a friendly tone.

'Sometimes it does bother me, yes,' Georgie replies, 'for needlework is about the only activity one can busy oneself with in company without being offensive. Playing is not done unless the mood turns to music, drawing is not acceptable, reading is absolutely prohibited, but sitting and talking would be so much more endurable if my hands were occupied.'

'When did you last try?'

Laughing, Georgie replies, 'That must be years ago, I gave up even before Mrs Younge told me embroidering was for meek little housewives, offering to teach me drawing and decorating instead. Then when Mrs Annesley's work showed me Mrs Younge hadn't been altogether right, I was disheartened by the level of her skill. I knew I'd never reach those heights, and by then I had acquired quite some drawing skills.'

'Will you let me teach you? I know some decorative techniques that will sharpen your skills without looking like little girls' work. When you've mastered those we'll ask Mrs Annesley for tricks of the trade and improve together. Deal?'

'Deal. I'll be expected to behave in company more and more, so I'd better learn some respectable occupation to keep my attention to what is said. But, if you teach me needlework, I want you to let me help you start playing again, Elizabeth. Fitzwilliam says you haven't played at all since you two got married.'

'I never play the piano unless forced to, either because there is no other person available who can play and there is a need for music, or because someone asks whom I cannot refuse. No-one did, so I didn't play. Which is also the main reason why I'll never be any good as a pianist, I just don't play on my own initiative.'

'And we thought you didn't dare to play because Georgiana is so proficient at it,' Darcy observes.

Now Elizabeth laughs and admits, 'That too, of course. But Georgiana rarely plays folk music or simple tunes, and I really like those, so sooner or later I think I would have sat down and played me some.'

'Let's do so now, Elizabeth,' Georgie urges, as if she hasn't just played the piano for nearly two hours, 'I like folk music, truly, especially to sing along with. Let's just play together for half an hour, and then you can go out with my brother all afternoon.

They indeed sit down at the instrument together, and though Darcy really has some letters of business that need his attention, he cannot seem to leave the room. Having heard a real master play just this morning, and really conscious of Mr Fielding's qualities and Georgie's superior playing, he just melts whenever he hears Elizabeth play and sing.

Of course she is not a virtuoso, she even makes little mistakes here and there, but her voice is so clear and sweet, and the songs she chooses are so poignant and feeling, it really moves him to hear her play again. It has been such a long time, it was at his aunt's house in Kent, and he was so very much in love then, and so very unaware of what he was going to suffer for that love very shortly.

The memories are still so vivid, it really takes some time for him to realise that is all they are, memories. Elizabeth is his forever, he can ask her to play for him whenever he wants to. And if he were to stand close and watch her as she plays, she will look at him with love instead of what he now knows was sincere irritation, not the invitation he held it for.

As soon as the memory is dealt with and Darcy can really listen to what is going on, he notices that Georgie has asked Elizabeth to teach her one of the songs she played, but is giving her sound advice on her application at the same time, playing little bits of the song as they should be played, showing the correct fingering and posture. She is very subtle, and seriously eager to learn the song, which makes her doting brother think she must be a born teacher.

Soon both sisters play the song together, and already Elizabeth's playing sounds much firmer and more assured.

'I like this music,' Georgie says enthusiastically, 'Eric will have a cat should he hear it, but I'm going to order some sheet-music, and study it for evenings at home and for parties. I'm sure your sisters loved these songs to dance to.'

And as Darcy indignantly realises that his sister just called Mr Fielding by his first name,

Elizabeth laughs and says, 'They did, they'll probably force Mary to play them now, though her taste runs towards what you usually play. I'm afraid you'll hear plenty of it once we're in Hertfordshire.'

'I'll just have to get over it. At least the piano will be in tune.'

And his sister is planning to do something she thinks her teacher will not agree with, which is quite a miracle, she used to be so eager to please everyone. Personally, Darcy thinks Mr Fielding will not mind Georgie playing folk music at all, her teacher truly loves music, most music, not just the kind he hears in his own mind. Eric.

To test his theory, he gets up and walks towards the piano with deliberation, watching his beloved and his sister play together, and sing together. At first, Elizabeth is so caught up in the action that she doesn't even see him, but Georgie does, and despite having no clue of the past, she gives him a big wink.

When Elizabeth finally does look up and sees her husband standing there, she actually blushes and says impulsively, 'Oh Fitzwilliam, my love, you're such a handsome man, and I never even noticed. I merely thought you very impressive then, but not in a good way, I truly felt you were trying to disconcert me by looming over me.

Although, maybe the difference is just knowing you are ticklish.'

'Is he?' Georgie asks, ignoring the reminiscences going on around her all day, of situations where she wasn't even near.

'Decidedly so,' is his beloved's answer, 'I've noticed that gives a girl a real advantage when dealing with a tall and strong man. If you ever find a man impressive, just imagine him breaking down in giggles when you tickle him. I'm certain you'll find instant courage to face him.'

'As a person who did his share of roughhousing in his schooldays, let me advice you that most men are in fact totally insensitive to tickling, Georgie. Your new sister may be so fortunate as to be able to render me totally helpless with a mere touch of her finger, it only works on the most sensitive of our gender. Of course those are the most desirable specimens anyway...'

'I'll keep them in mind, both insights. I suppose Wickham is not ticklish, being the most insensitive person I know. Too bad, for I'd make me feel safer around him to know he had a weakness like that.'

'Actually, Georgie, Wickham used to be very ticklish as a boy, he may still be. He was very sensitive, his first years at school I really had to stand up for him for he cried at virtually nothing and was put upon a lot because of that. My father asked me to take care of him so I did, I was a tall, strong boy two years his senior and very fond of little George.

I suppose that changed when mother passed away, and you still so young, Georgiana, father called me into his study and asked me to take up part of my duties as his heir, to make sure the estate wouldn't be left without guidance should something happen to him as well. From that moment on my life was very busy, I spent all my spare time on learning how to run an estate, and my holidays with my father and Georgiana, and I'm afraid I may have neglected George. He started to slide towards his later behaviour more and more, but I no longer had influence over him, and when I mentioned Wickham's extravagance to my father one time when it first started to show, he merely said very fondly: 'Yes, George sure likes the little comforts of life, doesn't he? He gets that from his mother, dear Victoria, she used to enjoy life so much.'

That was all he said, and I never dared mention it again, not even when it got out of hand, he was so fond of Wickham and as indulgent towards him as if he were my younger brother. I guess I was a bit jealous, too, that all my father and I did together was work hard and mind Georgiana, when Wickham got to spend my father's leisure time with him, and I suppose I was ashamed to feel jealous. I was the heir after all, and Wickham had no inheritance to look forward to.

When father fell ill he did tell me he had made provisions for Wickham, and he made me promise to keep an a watchful eye on him. Well, you both know how that turned out. In a way I feel responsible for George Wickham's downfall, though I guess my influence on his was less than my father's, and father either didn't know, or didn't want to know the truth about his favourite.'

'It sounds like your father was even more intimate with Wickham than your letter described, Fitzwilliam,' Elizabeth observes, feeling something like concern.

Fitzwilliam replies: 'True, I related the facts as I knew them from my own experience, not the suspicions I have entertained since I was maybe twenty years old: that my father knew of at least some of George Wickham's indiscretions, and didn't disapprove of them, may have overlooked them in someone he was so fond of. I couldn't very well tell you that, I had just been woken up to the fact that I didn't know you at all, and besides, it wasn't relevant at all.

Then lately, after discovering my father's hoard of indecent books, and reading one almost from cover to cover, I've had to revise my opinion once more: what if father did know all George Wickham's failings? He knew mine, taught me principles but left me arrogant and overbearing. What if he appreciated Wickham's friendliness and accepted him being unprincipled? Offering him the chance to lead a gentleman's life, but only on the condition that he improve his style of living. Leaving him the rights to a living instead of plain money may have signified father's regret at his protégé having lost his way.'

Elizabeth cannot help one pertinent thought forcing itself to the front of her mind. Her countrified naiveté has quickly been cured by Simon's lessons in the way of the world, she is after all very smart and learns quickly, and like her father is afflicted with a keen eye for human shortcomings, seeing excesses and inconsistencies in the behaviour of her own class everywhere since having them pointed out to her by Simon. Fitzwilliam would be shocked to know how wordlywise his young bride has become, but Elizabeth cannot regret her initiation into knowledge of the true nature of the big city one bit.

What Fitzwilliam tells her cannot but give her the sneaking suspicion that his father may have been even closer to Wickham than any of them think. His father's loving way of extenuating Wickham's personal weaknesses as a kind of zest for life he inherited from his similarly gifted mother, cannot but create a suspicion in Elizabeth's quick mind that more might have been going on between the gentleman and Mrs Victoria Wickham than the acquaintance between a valued employee's wife and the master of the house.

She is not going to share this thought with her beloved of course, not without proof. No-one wants to believe their own father capable of duplicity towards their own mother, her principled beloved has had enough pain to endure from the preference of his father for a more lively young man over his legal son, leaving the latter to suffer for lack of social abilities, and the other from want of boundaries to his habit of indulging in 'life'.

She deliberately breaks the mood by saying perkily, 'Well, Mr Darcy, since you have taken the trouble to stay and admire us, we must play your favourite. My fingers await your orders.'

That will distract him from Wickham, he may be Fitzwilliam's brother by marriage, but that is as far as it goes, and her beloved has enough regrets as it is. Time to divert his thoughts to something more pleasant.

And of course it works.

'Ah, you know I cannot resist you when you call me Mr Darcy. Something lively, please, for I am going to take my beautiful sister for a spin.'

They make a lovely couple, brother and sister, both tall and slender with a very upright posture, and yet so much more vulnerable to the world than Elizabeth had ever suspected. But that is for the best, there should be some equality in a relationship, and since Fitzwilliam is providing all the worldly goods in theirs, it is for the best that Elizabeth can at least provide some protection from those who know about their weakness and seek to exploit it. Let them try, and find Elizabeth on their way, armed with intelligence, wit, and now with ever growing knowledge of the world.

Of course Georgiana doesn't claim her brother entirely, but offers to switch places after a few minutes, playing the song Elizabeth taught her just now and of course to near perfection, improvising on it, as Elizabeth clings to her tall husband's elegant shape and lets herself be led across the room until lunch is ready to be served.