Unconventional Ladies Chapter 2, a pride and prejudice fanfic

Sorry, I have to remove the bulk of the story because when I publish on Amazon, they insist on exclusivity to enrol the story in Kindle Unlimited.

I hope you enjoy.

As always, feedback and constructive criticism is welcome.

~~~oo00oo~~~

Georgiana

Miss Georgiana Darcy waited for the last note of the sonata to fade before removing her hands from the keys of the pianoforte.

As was her wont when she was at Pemberley, she had been practising all afternoon. For her, the hours of practise were not a chore but a joy. She loved music, and after the last summer, it was the one thing that soothed her troubled spirit.

At the age of fifteen she was a shy girl. An old acquaintance had preyed on that reserve and fond childhood memories to make her believe herself to be in love and agree to an elopement. She had been saved from that folly by the unexpected arrival of her brother, who had shown to her the calculating nature of George Wickham.

The shock of betrayal had made Georgiana even more withdrawn. Her brother and her new companion, Mrs Annesley, had both tried to help her regain her confidence, but it was a slow process.

A few weeks earlier, Georgiana could not bear it any longer, seeing her brother so concerned for her that she had encouraged him to accept an invitation from his friend, Mr Bingley.

The result of that visit was unexpected.

Like herself, Fitzwilliam Darcy was not comfortable in company, unless the company was comprised of family and close friends. In his case it was exacerbated by the fact that matchmaking mothers and their daughters had considered him their rightful prey for nearly a decade.

Mr Darcy was an excellent correspondent, who wrote to his sister frequently when they were separated. Now, for the first time, her brother's letters had been full of references to a young lady.

It seemed that Miss Elizabeth Mortimer was accomplished, beautiful, compassionate, delightful, educated, funny, gracious, humorous, intelligent, joyful, kind, lovely, modest, natural, open, perspicacious, questioning, resourceful, sensible, talented, understanding, vivacious, witty… the list only stopped because there was no adjective starting with x.

Although he did not say so, Georgiana suspected that her brother was head over heels in love. Only a man completely besotted could and would require virtually the whole alphabet to sing a lady's praises.

When she finished her practice, Georgiana's mind wandered back to her brother. She wondered how much longer it would take him to realise that Miss Elizabeth was perfect for him.

She was startled out of her ruminations when the butler entered the room, carrying a salver with a letter. 'An express from Mr Darcy has just arrived.'

Georgiana jumped up and rushed to collect the letter.

Mrs Annesley who had been working on some embroidery, looked up and watched her charge read the note. 'I gather there is good news,' she surmised when Georgiana's expression turned from pensive into a huge smile.

'My brother is getting married, and he wants me to come and meet his fiancée.'

'How wonderful. I am all anticipation to meet Miss Elizabeth.'

'How do you know it is her?'

'You forget, my dear, that you have related your brother's description of the young lady. I cannot imagine that he would be so effusive about one lady and then plan to marry another.'

Georgiana laughed. 'You are quite right. But now that he has come to a decision, he plans to marry as soon as possible. We need to leave early tomorrow.'

Her face fell as she continued to read. 'It seems I have been invited by Mrs Mortimer to stay at Brook Hall, to give me an opportunity to get to know my new sisters.'

'Georgiana, I am certain that your brother would not allow you to stay with the family if he had the slightest concern about your wellbeing in their company. He must be certain that you will be at ease with your new sisters.'

'You are of course correct.' Georgiana tried to put on a brave face. 'And he does say that he will be at Brook Hall to welcome me, and to introduce me to the family.'

As she read further, her face brightened again. 'He says that if I feel the slightest discomfort after meeting them, Mr Bingley will host me at Netherfield.'

'See, you have nothing to worry about. Now, shall we see about our packing?'

~~~oo00oo~~~

The Darcy carriage was approaching Meryton. The closer they came, the more nervous Georgiana Darcy became.

'Stop fidgeting. We sent the outrider ahead to inform your brother of your arrival. I am certain he will be there to greet you and introduce you.' Mrs Annesley tried to calm her charge.

'Yes, I know. And my brother assured me that all the ladies are perfectly charming and amiable and are looking forward to meeting me. But I never had sisters before. I simply do not know what to expect. I just hope they are not like the girls at school…'

Mrs Annesley, who had been watching the scenery out the carriage window, and had noticed that they had just passed though a gate, said, 'you should expect to exit the carriage shortly. I believe we have entered the grounds of Brook Hall.'

That news spurred Georgiana to look out the window. After a few minutes of driving through woods, the vista opened up and she spied a house reminiscent of Pemberley, albeit on a smaller scale.

By the time the carriage stopped in front of the house, the doors opened and Fitzwilliam Darcy exited in a hurry, followed a little more slowly by a stately lady of middle years.

When the door to the carriage was opened, and steps placed to help her exit, Darcy was on hand to assist his sister.

Georgiana could barely believe her eyes when she saw her brother. Where was the calm and controlled man she knew? Her brother was beaming at her, and as soon as she had her feet firmly on the ground and straightened up to greet him properly, she found herself engulfed in a hug.

'Georgie, it is so good to see you. You made excellent time.'

'William, it is wonderful to see you too, and looking so well, but we are not alone.' While Georgiana was ecstatic that her brother looked happy, as well as happy to see her, she was worried about the impression they might be creating.

'There is no need to worry, my dear. Aunt Stephanie is family, and does not stand on ceremony with family. Come let me introduce you, you will love her.'

Darcy took his sister's hand and led her to the lady, who had looked on with pleasure at the warm greeting between the siblings.

'Aunt Stephanie, may I present to you my sister Miss Georgiana Darcy. Georgie, this lady is Mrs Mortimer, Elizabeth's mother.'

Georgiana curtsied, 'a pleasure to meet you, Mrs Mortimer.'

'I am very pleased to meet you too, my dear. But, since you are nearly family, you must call me Aunt Stephanie, like your brother does.'

'Thank you, Aunt Stephanie. I prefer Georgie to Georgiana, but will answer to both.' Georgiana smiled shyly.

Mrs Mortimer smiled and held her arms in a subtle invitation to give Georgiana a hug, but when the girl appeared too shy to respond to the invitation, she turned it into a gesture towards the house with one hand, while the other gently came to rest on Georgiana's shoulder. 'It is too cold to stay out here. Come inside and meet the girls.'

They had gone two steps, when Georgiana recalled her companion. 'Mrs Annesley,' she gasped.

Darcy looked chagrined that in his excitement to see his sister, he too had forgotten about the lady. He turned back to see that the lady had just exited the carriage with the help of a footman.

'Mrs Annesley, please forgive my thoughtlessness…' Darcy started to apologise.

'Never mind, Mr Darcy. I quite understand.' The lady smiled pleasantly at her employer.

Darcy performed the introductions and the party moved inside.

~~~oo00oo~~~

As soon as the front door closed behind them, the sisters came from the parlour, with Elizabeth in the lead.

Once Darcy had performed the introductions, the sisters insisted on showing Georgiana to her room, so that she could refresh herself after the journey. Before Georgiana knew what was happening, she was led up the stairs amid a group of happily chattering girls.

Elizabeth: 'William has been telling us so much about you.'

Kitty: 'What a wonderful sister you are.'

Mary: 'Do you truly practice the pianoforte six or more hours each day?'

Lydia: 'Do you like riding? We can show you around the estate.'

A voice was suddenly raised above the babble. 'Quiet,' demanded Elizabeth. 'I am sorry, Georgiana, as you can tell we are excited and happy to meet you. But William also told us that you are shy, and I expect you would not be used to four sisters babbling at you all at once. If it is too much, just say so. We truly do not mind.'

Georgiana smiled helplessly. 'I am simply overwhelmed. William and I have always lived quietly…'

Kitty gave her a searching look. 'You were worried about being thrust into a group of strangers. Not certain if you were welcome, or possibly about putting a foot wrong.'

'How…'

'That is how I feel when I am amongst people I do not know well. It must be worse for you since you do not know us at all. But please, do not fret yourself. We do not expect you to be perfect. We each have our foibles, and we have learned not to judge.'

'What Kitty is trying to say is, just be yourself. According to William you are a rather nice person, and we are hoping to get to know the sister that he knows,' Lydia could not help but try to help.

'I agree with everything my sisters have said, and here is your room. I hope you will like it,' added Mary.

In her excitement to meet William's sister at last, Elizabeth had forgotten about Mrs Annesley. Jane, realising her sister's faux pas, offered to escort the amused lady.

'Do not concern yourself, Miss Mortimer, I still remember being young and excited.'

They followed the excited group at a more sedate pace. Mrs Annesley watched her charge carefully, but noting the goodwill amongst the sisters, thought it best to let Georgiana deal with them by herself.

Jane had noticed the look and said quietly, 'all will be well. As far as sisters go, you could not wish for better.'

'I believe you are correct, Miss Mortimer,' replied Mrs Annesley, content that Georgiana was in good hands.

~~~oo00oo~~~

Georgiana had refreshed herself was changing into a clean dress with the help of the sisters, when she realised something.

'I thought you were sisters. But you, Kitty, call Mrs Mortimer mother, but Lydia calls her Aunt Stephanie…'

'We are sisters,' said Kitty.

Before she could explain, Elizabeth sighed. 'William obviously did not explain.'

'Men…' huffed Mary.

When Georgiana looked uncomfortable, Lydia managed to be first with the explanation. 'Please do not look so shocked. We can behave with perfect decorum in public. But we are at home now and you are almost family. At least you will be in a matter of weeks.'

'But to answer your question. The short version is that Lizzy, Mary and Kitty were adopted by Mrs Mortimer when they were young. Jane and I became her wards when our father died. That is why I call her Aunt. But since I think your brother is waiting for you, the long version of the story will have to wait till after dinner, when we can get together and chat all night if we can stay awake.'

Lydia gave Georgiana a hug. 'Do not worry, we rarely bite and then only someone who deserves it.'

'I am not worried. I am overwhelmed by your welcome. I am a complete stranger to you and yet you treat me like family…'

'We like your brother. Soon he will be out brother and that makes you our sister. We simply decided it was silly to treat you as a formal acquaintance for three weeks, and then change and treat you as family. We might as well skip the formal stage and go straight to family. It is more fun… for all of us.'

Georgiana was not yet certain about the fun part, but was willing to accept the welcome. Although… the enthusiasm would take a while to get used to.

~~~oo00oo~~~

btw if you have KU and have not checked out 'Remember, you wanted this', there is an extra chapter on the Bingley story, plus another story - Caroline's Compromise.