June 1816
Pemberley

Georgiana awoke that morning feeling something more in the air. Her previous day's injuries were fading away and she could stand and bare weight on her ankle. Gentle sunlight was filtering through her bedroom's curtains and her handmaiden assisted her in dressing for the day. She selected a pastel blue dress that would be paired with a light silver jacket and bonnet if she ventured out later over the grounds of Pemberley. Georgiana hoped she would be able to accompany Nicholas on horseback around her home- the land was extensive and only Elizabeth was capable of traversing the premise in a single day's walk.

Her horse was a beautiful white stallion named Wisterian. The horse had been a gift from her brother a couple years ago and Fitzwilliam had not expected Georgiana to take such a great interest in riding. He had intended for the magnificent animal to be more of a well cared for breathing trophy. If he had known his younger sister would have planned to ride it he would have gotten her a gelding. She named it after the flowering wisteria trees they had seen outside of London on a trip years ago. The Essex area had grown them quite well and Georgiana had come to admire the trees and altered the name to feel more masculine for her horse. The only markings on it were the slight grey tinge to its muzzle, fur around it's blue eyes, and underbelly area. She wondered if Nicholas had named his dapple grey mare.

Once she was presentable Georgiana thanked her handmaiden and headed down to break her fast with her brother, sister-in-law, nephews, and hopefully Mr. Nicholas Tulane.

Pemberley was indeed a magnificent estate. In the last few years it seemed to only grow more radiant with the addition of two little boys. Georgiana had never seen her brother smile and laugh so much prior to William and James. He and Elizabeth were truly happy now and she knew that Lizzie wished for a girl someday. William would be three soon in August and James was close to a year and a half. Her own birthday was fast approaching and there was to be a grand coming out ball in her honor at Pemberley. In a week on the eve of her twenty-first birthday Georgiana was to be presented to society in a formal declaration of her amiable skills in the art of finding a suitable husband. She was excited for the romantic aspects of the evening's fine prospects- an extravagant dinner, live music with dancing, and not to mention seeing nearly all of her extended family and friends.

On the other hand, Georgiana was nervous about being the center of attention. Since living with Lizzie she had grown more assertive and comfortable in larger groups but this was an entirely different matter. Mr. Bingley and Mrs. Bingley would be arriving in a few days ahead of the party. With them they were to bring their adorable young girls: Alice and Sarah. Georgiana had also asked Lizzie to invite Catherine and Mary, there were plenty of rooms at Pemberley for them all to stay and enjoy a break from their parents. Georgiana had come to particularly like Miss Kitty Bennett, as she would come to visit Lizzie and Jane often. Once able to be her own person and in the company of good people Kitty greatly blossomed. In her last letter Kitty had mentioned that a clergyman in Derbyshire was still pining after her and Georgiana wanted to know all of the details in person. Mary had also grown considerably and even began to more comfortably socialize. She was still prone to awkward moments and aloofness but Georgiana did not mind and bonded over their shared musical interests.

As for the growing list of acceptable gentlemen to be potential suitors... Georgiana was less than enthused about the subject. She knew her brother meant well and this was one of those times when he assumed a more fatherly controlled role rather than her older brother. She desired most to actually love the man she was to marry. In her life she had come to know many ladies who did not particularly know their intended husbands very well before marriage. Generally they turned out decently tolerable, some were less agreeable than others. Occasionally more joyousness found its way into their relationship. After seeing the overwhelming love between Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth alongside Charles and Jane, well Georgiana could only wish to find someone she truly cared for.

She knew her brother was only considering the finest gentlemanly suitors for her husband. The men would be of fine social status such as barons (perhaps a viscount or earl if she was lucky), elite wealthy gentlemen, or a very high ranking officer (such as a knight). His character was going to be thoroughly scrutinized by Fitzwilliam, Lizzie, Jane, and even Lady Catherine de Burgh to an extent before approval. While she appreciated their efforts sometimes it seemed they forgot or did not think to consider her opinions in the matter. She reconciled this with herself by remembering that one day she would have children and would be the one to name them. Her firstborn daughter would be named Genevieve, for short she could go by Gen or Evie or just Eve. If she had more girls other names Georgiana liked were Victoria and Eleanor.

Coming down the main staircase Georgiana was listening intently to pick out if Mr. Tulane was already up for the day. She hoped that he had not caught a cold from being deeply drenched the day before. As much as she wanted to interact with him more, he would not really enjoy being ill on her account. With a slight jaunt in her step she was beaming as she rounded the corner to the drawing room. She tried to remain casual and refined as she strolled in and peered around the room. There were no sights that Mr. Tulane had been there.

"Georgiana, I am glad to see you are back in excellent health." Her brother said, looking up from his daily letters.

"Mr. Tulane has not yet joined us." Elizabeth informed her having noticed her wandering eyes.

Georgiana sat across from her sister-in-law and began to help herself to breakfast. This informal meal was joined William and James seated on either side of Elizabeth. Georgiana helped herself to French bread, honey cakes, hard boiled eggs, freshly cut strawberries, and ginger tea.

"I would like to extend an invitation to Mr. Tulane, for my birthday celebrations." She stated.

"Certainly, hopefully he is not otherwise engaged with another event." Agreed Elizabeth, she had taken to preparing James's food into small pieces allowing him to feed himself. William was for the most part capable of eating without additional help.

"Remember that you do already have several guests to attend to," Fitzwilliam countered. "you must not allow him to be a distraction."

Georgiana assured him that she would perform her respectful duties as intended. Truth be told she wanted to know everything about Mr. Tulane. Yesterday he had told her he was a musician and Georgiana longed to hear him play. He had said that he played both the violin and the piano and she had dreamed of playing duets with him last night. Today she hoped to learn more about him.

"Dear Lizzie, would you accompany Mr. Tulane and I today? I would like to show him the full extent of Pemberley's grounds on horseback."

"Of course, since you ask so decidedly." Elizabeth said with a smile.

"Excellent, I shall tell him the day's plan as soon as Mr. Tulane joins us."

As if composed by the maestro himself, Nicholas entered the drawing room announced by a servant. Georgiana's eyes lit up upon seeing him and she beamed excitedly. She greatly aspired to his intentions of not leaving immediately. As he approached the table she noticed that he was wearing some of her brother's old clothes. Gathering that his personal items were not yet dry she found it unexpectedly charming. Instead of his now signature blue and grey, Mr. Tulane was dressed in primarily black and white. His boots were black, breeches sandy white, white high collard shirt, beige waist coat, black tailcoat, and dark green cravat. Her brother was a little bit taller than Mr. Tulane leading some of the clothes to be slightly too long.

Before sitting down he greeted and thanked Mr. Darcy for letting him stay here and borrow suitable clothes. He extended this thanks to Mrs. Darcy and her hospitality. Finally he turned to Miss Darcy and inquired after her health once more and was very grateful when she relayed to him that she was indeed doing much better. In the circular table there was a vacant seat between James and Georgiana and Nicholas graciously sat down to eat. Right when she was about to propose the offer of a ride with him William and James ambushed him with a dozen questions.

Her two nephews were oftentimes called adorable and spitting images of their father. However, they took after their mother's intellect, charm, and had their own wild curiosity. Almost insistently they began to ask this stranger where he was from, who he was, what did he do, why was he here, if he would play games with them, and so on. Nicholas was caught off guard as he did not often spend time with young children. He was not put off or otherwise opposed to them as some might be. He actually enjoyed their honesty and playful company. Mr. Darcy quickly silenced their onslaught of conversation and told Nicholas he did not have to answer them at all. Georgiana was pleased to see that he was not bothered by it and decided to respond.

"I am from London and I attended the music conservatory there for several years." Nicholas began, much to Georgiana's great interest. "After I had been there for a few years I was adopted by an Austrian composer named Joseph Haydn and I went to Europe for another handful of years to study music with him and other Europeans." The boys were excited with this as it must have meant Nicholas went on several adventures and encountered those dreaded pirates. "Mr. Haydn has since passed away and instructed me to one day return to England, to reconnect with my homeland. I arrived in London a few weeks ago and stayed in the city for a bit. After hearing so much about the countryside I decided to set out and Derbyshire is indeed very beautiful." Nicholas finished and his eyes wandered to Georgiana as he spoke.

The boys were satisfied with this initial short summary and were even more content when Nicholas said he would love to play any game with them later. Georgiana imagined that they would want to play hide-and-seek or any other game that could be pirate themed since it was the current fixation.

"How long will you be staying in Derbyshire?" Elizabeth asked him.

"For another fortnight at least, probably another week after that. I would like to see several of the smaller towns and scenery."

"Oh that's wonderful, this Friday is Georgiana's coming out ball and pending you have no other commitments we would like to extend an invitation to you." Elizabeth said, very much pleased. Nicholas smiled and responded that he would be most happy to attend and a formal letter of invite could be sent to his address at the Rose and Crown in Lambton. On the trend of this good fortune Georgiana mustered up the courage to ask him.

"Would you be so inclined to join Elizabeth and I on a ride around Pemberley today, Mr. Tulane?"

"Yes, that sounds lovely. This is a marvelously grand estate."

"Splendid, we shall go once through here."

The rest of the meal was polite indulgence of the two boys' questions and active imaginations. When Georgiana, Elizabeth, and Nicholas had eaten they parted from Mr. Darcy and the two children. Mrs. Darcy affectionately kissed both of her sons and husband before departing with the younger adults. Georgiana let her sister-in-law lead the way through the house and to the stables. The horse Elizabeth primarily rode was an older black gelding who was incredibly gentle and loved trail rides. Upon their arrival the stablehands greeted them and quickly tacked up their three intended horses. Georgiana greeted Wisterian with soft chin scratches and stroked his freshly groomed neck. Recalling her earlier thoughts she turned to see Mr. Tulane and his dapple grey horse.

"Does she have a name?" Georgiana asked.

"No, I only just bought her a few days ago and had not thought to give her one." Nicholas said petting the soft fur on her face. "Do you have any suggestions, Miss Darcy?"

Meeting his eyes Georgiana lingered for a moment before responding. "Opal."

"Opal," he repeated thinking it over. "It fits very well. Thank you."

Georgiana beamed and turned to her own horse and caught Elizabeth's knowing look. Confused by her expression Georgiana did not have time to dwell as the stablehand placed the mounting block in front of her and steadied Wisterian so she could get on. She sat sidesaddle as did Elizabeth. Once the three of them were ready they filed out of the stables in a line before turning into a row once in more open grass. During breakfast Georgiana had been thinking over the best route to show Nicholas the grounds. She deemed it best to go by the main road and along the woods before winding through the gardens, back end of the estate, and through the fields on the other side. There were so many gardens and well tended to places that she hoped to remember them all.

Along the invisible path she and Elizabeth alternated providing background context for each of the scenic places on the extensive grounds. Elizabeth personally enjoyed long walks and found the woods and fields to be her favorites. Georgiana on the other hand preferred the gardens and lakeside. As their ride progressed she was pleased with Nicholas's great interest in the land as well as in herself. Sometimes Elizabeth would ride a little ahead of behind allowing them the opportunity to speak more freely.

Georgiana was all caught up in the tour that she forgot it could not last all day. There were still several items of importance for her to deal with in the coming days prior to her coming out ball. She was tremendously thrilled Nicholas would be attending. After spending half the day with him riding around Pemberley she was disheartened to see him depart. His courtesy was genuine and Nicholas asked if she had any particular requests for birthday gifts- to which Georgiana said only "music".