Fitzwilliam Darcy…
He knew he had made a mistake a second time—knew that running away did nothing more than intensify the problem. But the truth was, he wasn't running away from her or from fear as much as he was running away from himself—from that little part of him that had always rebelled against the system. He was running away from the little boy that hadn't washed his hands when his father ordered him to do so—from that little part of him that had always hated the aristocracy—had always hated expectation. Darcy looked over at a sleeping Bingley as he pulled the luxury car he had retrieved from the airport into the driveway of Pemberley estate. He felt better as the tires crunched along the gravel just knowing that he was home—a place where he knew every shadow, every corner, every hiding place. It was the one place in the world where he could let down his guard. It was where his sister was. Listening as the brakes squealed when he applied too much pressure, he shifted the car into park before shaking Charles gently.
"Time to wake up, mate." Darcy said insistently as Charles stirred. He looked around wearily, and Darcy felt the first stirrings of guilt. He wasn't doing Bingley any favors. If anything, he had done nothing more than make the man miserable. Charles sat up slowly before stretching.
"I have always liked Pemberley. Even when we were boys. There is something about this piece of property." Bingley said with false cheerfulness as Darcy looked up at his estate. Pride filled his chest at the sight of every stone inside its structure. And then the front door opened, and he smiled with joy as he watched Georgiana stick her head around the thick wood before squealing.
"Will!" She shouted as she barged through the hole and ran down the stairs carefully, trying to avoid tripping in the heels she wore with a sophisticated, yet casual dress. She was quite the young woman and Darcy took pleasure in knowing that she had turned out so well. He threw his car door open and stepped out quickly to avoid having her throw herself into the vehicle, stepping out just in time to catch her flying figure as she moved into his embrace.
"You stay away too much." She complained as Darcy laughed. He supposed he did. Charles stepped out from the other side of the car and Georgiana beamed at him before her expression fell suddenly as she looked between the two men. Georgiana had always been a very perceptive kind of girl—had always been able to discern when something wasn't quite right with the people she loved. She crossed her arms over her chest.
"Anything interesting happen while you two were away." She asked curiously as Charles and Will exchanged bemused looks. There was no point in staying depressed when Georgiana was around. She reminded Will a lot of another woman sitting now in Italy probably checking into the hotel he had left instructions for them to check into. Darcy looked down at the ground.
"Not too interesting." He finally muttered as Charles 'hrrrummpphed' from across the vehicle before moving toward the two and embracing Georgiana in his own welcome hug.
"Unless you count the fact that your brother is now engaged as interesting news." Charles stated slyly as Georgiana gasped before looking over at her brother. She narrowed her eyes as he kept his eyes averted.
"Engaged? My, my brother. You certainly know how to take a girl back, don't you? Can I take a guess at who the lucky girl is?" She asked winsomely as Darcy brushed past her towards the door. He could tell his sister was more than a little shocked and was trying to cover up her surprise by pretending getting engaged was something he did on every business trip. He was too tired to discuss Stephanie, especially since he knew Georgiana and she had never really gotten along as well as he would have liked.
"Another time maybe." He answered as she followed doggedly behind him, leaving Charles to direct the servants who had come to gather their things. Charles didn't seem to mind. He instinctually knew that Georgiana fully intended to interrogate her brother. Her heels tapped rapidly as she scurried after Darcy.
"Who's the other woman?" She asked so suddenly that Will almost tripped. He couldn't help but be shocked at the fact that Georgiana would ask something like that. First, She discovers he's engaged and then automatically assumes the reason he doesn't want to talk about it is because there was another woman. Who was she kidding?
"What?" He asked in surprise as he turned toward her just inside the foyer of the house. She smiled as she realized she had caught him off guard.
"Ah hah! So there is another woman." She stated simply as Will shook his head in exasperation before turning away again.
"No other woman, Georgiana. I met up with Lady Stephanie in Italy. We reacquainted ourselves and I felt it was about time I thought about settling down. That's all there is to it." He said quietly as Georgiana snorted with unladylike flair from behind him. It almost made him smile.
"Lady Stephanie? Ughhhhh! Settle down? Don't give me that load of bull. I can read every single one of your emotions just from the way your voice changes when you talk. You're running from something…or from someone." She remarked defiantly as Darcy stopped again near the foot of a set of winding stairs. He glanced over at her sternly.
"I'm not running." He defended quickly as she shook her head solemnly, letting her eyes move from side to side as she scanned his face and his pupils gently. She sighed.
"Keep telling yourself that, brother. But, while you try to convince yourself, could you please tell me about this other girl. I'm suddenly very interested in a woman who can tie you into such visible knots." She said with a shrug as Darcy growled amiably.
"There is no other woman!" He argued as Georgiana raised her brows and laughed softly.
"Sure. Keep telling yourself that too." She admonished before brushing past him up the stairs. She looked down just as she reached the top.
"But I still want to hear about this girl that doesn't exist." She insisted before laughing again when Darcy started to chase her up the stairs.