Chapter Sixteen

I wandered around the manor house for a while. It was so large that it felt as though I was alone and this helped me to pull myself together again. I was walking down a long corridor when Amanda came speed-walking towards me in excitement. She slowed her pace and looked at me sympathetically when she took in my appearance, gave me a hug and wiped away my tears.

I straightened myself out and asked 'What's got you so excited then?'

She launched straight into a long story about talking with Darcy and something about a wet shirt and finally exclaimed 'He loves me!'

I smiled and was unbelievably happy for my sister as she explained that she thought that she had been brought here to replace Elizabeth. She deserved this happiness and more. However, deep down I just kept wishing that things were so simple for me. That my heart hadn't been broken and that Lydia, Georgiana and Caroline weren't in this story. Part of me also wondered what would happen as obviously Manda would be staying here with Darcy. I couldn't stay and face Wickham? Even remaining in the time period would remind me of him. Could I say goodbye to my sister?

Manda noticed that my thoughts weren't particularly pleasant and so she took me by the hand. 'Come on, let's go for a walk. The grounds are so beautiful and peaceful. They'll take your mind of Wickham… for a while at least.'

We walked through the halls towards the gardens until we walked past a slightly open door. Manda did a double take and led us backward slightly and peered in. Inside sat a girl, young and innocent, arranging a dolls house.

'Hello' Manda said as the girl took notice of our presence.

'Hello. My brother has told me to stay in this room.' She said rather shyly and looking rather startled by our presence in her room. I merely nodded at her as I did not trust myself to speak without crying again.

'Good advice.'

'Why?'

'I would have thought… because of… what happened… to you… with Wickham.' Amanda tried to say delicately whilst looking at me. She could tell her words hurt me.

'What you have been told happened to me, is not what happened.' Georgiana stated. I looked up completely confused. Of course, it was true. It was in the novel. 'My nurse conceived a passion for Mr Wickham. She took me away with her to a place where she could encounter him as though by hazard. For this enterprise, I was the mask. But I had fallen in love with him. Every instant that her back was turned, I offered myself to him. He called me his 'sweet child', his 'adorable child', but a child nonetheless and he refused me. So, I went to my brother and I told him that George had ravished me.' My mouth flew open as her story unravelled. I couldn't believe that this girl had done so much to harm George's reputation. He had committed no crime and yet he treated as guilty.

'Jeepers.' Was all that Manda could think of to say. . I left the room swiftly and walked alone for a while. I needed to get my head around this revelation. After a while, Amanda came and found me again. This time she was the one that was crying. Darcy had rejected her because she wasn't a virgin, the bastard. She also mentioned that she was upset because in her anger she had torn up her copy of Pride and Prejudice and thrown it out of the window. I couldn't help but smile at the thought of this. I comforted her but Amanda was always the resilient one and she managed to spring back and wanted to help me with my problems instead. This brought back all the thoughts that had been racing around my head since our run in with Georgiana.

I began pacing up and down the corridor. 'What do I do Amanda? This is all my fault! This is what he meant. I didn't trust him. I believed the worst in him' I ranted.

'This isn't your fault. How were you supposed to know? It was written in the novel and he knows that you know the novel. It's not as if he denied it. Besides, it still gives him no excuse for what he said about Caroline' Manda reassured me. 'However, I think we should go see Mr Wickham and see what the hell is actually going on.'