Edited by nanciellen

October 1812

The first several weeks after the accident were extremely difficult for Darcy. He was accustomed to being an active man and he had a very hard time adjusting to the fact that most of his responsibilities and many tasks had to be delegated to his steward. He followed the doctor's instructions to the letter and that meant spending several hours a day in complete stillness for the bones to heal properly. Added to this, he constantly thought about Elizabeth and despaired at the idea of never seeing her again.

One afternoon nearly a month after the accident, he was having tea with Georgiana in her sitting room when Mrs. Reynolds brought several letters for both of them.

Georgiana quickly looked at the senders, frowned slightly, and after hesitating said, "Brother, I have something very important to tell you, and I hope you will not be angry with me." She took a deep breath. "When you were seriously ill, you called for Miss Elizabeth in your sleep several times. I thought that you were engaged, so I decided to send her an express to let her know that you were very sick and later I sent her another express when the doctor said you were out of danger."

"Did she reply to your letter?" He asked cautiously.

Georgiana shook her head. "No, she did not answer me and it has been almost a month. Are you mad at me?"

Darcy shook his head and sighed. "No, I am not upset with you. You had no way of knowing that we ended our engagement."

Georgiana shook her head. "Richard warned me that you had argued and he thought the engagement was over."

"Did you talk to Richard about Elizabeth?"

"Very little, he just told me that he thought you were no longer engaged." She shyly asked, "Did you end the engagement because you could not rescue Miss Elizabeth's younger sister?"

Darcy sighed. "It is more complex than that, Georgie."

Seeing Georgiana's expectant face, he decided to tell her the whole truth, "I cannot marry Elizabeth right now because if I do, Richard has threatened to take away my guardianship."

Georgiana's eyes widened and with much difficulty, she asked, "Could he really do that, Richard?"

Darcy sighed. "Unfortunately, yes. According to our father's will, either of the two guardians in certain situations can do that, Georgie."

Georgiana shook her head. "This has to be a mistake. Richard would never do something like that."

Darcy shook his head. "Unfortunately, I am certain that he would." He took a deep breath. "Maybe not of his own free will, but under pressure from Lord Matlock and Lady Catherine."

"But what would they gain from it? I want to live with you! I barely know Lady Catherine and the Matlocks."

"They would have full access to your dowry and could also arrange a marriage between you and whomever they chose."

Georgiana was stunned and in a clipped voice she asked, "Is that why you broke off the engagement with Elizabeth? To protect me?"

"That was the main reason. But Elizabeth was the one who made the decision to do so."

"Then it is all because of me..."

"No, Georgie. How can you say that?" He gently squeezed her hand and lifted her chin so that he would look into her eyes. "The only ones to blame for this situation are Wickham, Elizabeth's younger sister, and her parents for not raising her better."

"But if it was not for me, would you marry her?"

"I do not know, Georgie." He told her to reassure her, although he knew that probably he would have done it.

From then on, the relationship between the siblings became even closer, and Georgiana stopped writing to Richard. She was very disappointed in her cousin and the Matlocks.

Christmas 1812

It was not until Christmas that Darcy, with much difficulty, was able to descend the stairs and enter the main hall. Georgiana had asked Cook to prepare her brother's favorite dishes that day on Christmas day to celebrate his recovery. Later she played and sang his favorite songs. It was a wonderful day for both of them.

After dinner, to Georgiana's surprise, two footmen brought a large package for her. Opening it, she saw that it was a harp with a short note from his brother.

"Merry Christmas, Georgie"

Georgiana smiled and they hugged tightly. They both had hopes that from now on everything would be better...