Chapter 6

The following months were pleasantly uneventful for the two friends. Mr Wickham did not resurface in their lives, for the quick actions of Mr Gardiner had ensured he was sent far away to serve out his time with other such scoundrels.

Elizabeth, for her part, settled back into the quiet society of Meryton. She was relieved to return to the relative safety and obscurity of the countryside, where she could forget about her brush with Mr Wickham. For all her trepidation towards them, she was even glad to be reunited with her sisters. Their chaos provided a delightful distraction from the traumatic experience she had just lived through. And whilst she could not be quite so open with all of her sisters, she recounted to Jane her adventures in Ramsgate almost immediately upon arrival at Longbourn. Though Jane was shocked and concerned at the events leading to Lizzy's early removal from that part of the country, she enjoyed Lizzy's reassurances and tales of the fun she had shared with her new friend by the seaside. Her storytelling was aided greatly by the sketches she had received from Georgiana before they departed company. Jane was enamoured by Lizzy's recount of her new friend, and declared her to be the dearest of creatures. Lizzy did not take much encouragement to agree with her.

Lizzy settled quickly back into life in the country, returning to her father's side and aiding him with the management of their estate, and visiting the neighbours and attending dinners and parties with her mother and sisters. It was gentle and safe and just what she needed after the incident that curtailed her stay by the sea.

~:~

Georgiana awaited her friend's account of such domestic happiness with great excitement on the alternate weeks to the letters that she had sent her friend. Georgiana's spirits had been very low since her return from Ramsgate. What with her shame at her near elopement, the heartbreak of finding out that the first man outside her family who she had loved had only been interested in her financial assets, and the absence of the first friend she could truly claim to have made of her own merit, her spirits were rather blue. Her brother watched her withdraw inside herself with no small amount of concern. His sister, usually a much more lively creature at home, was moping - if the truth be told. Mr Darcy had tried to comfort her on numerous occasions about her confrontation with Mr Wickham. But he could not be so direct with her as to talk about the scoundrel directly, both for her sensitivity and his mortification and anger. So instead he plied her with endless distractions. They enjoyed warm walks about the marvellous Pemberley Estate, and even on occasion took a picnic to the peaks. Georgiana received gifts in the form of books and music sheets aplenty, and she enjoyed the momentary pleasure they provided. But her solemnity was deep rooted. And she did not think her sombre brother was of the disposition to coax her out of her sadness. He had realised the same, and had found her a gentle companion, a Mrs Annesley, who had launched her into some new studies and provided distraction in that sense. But she was not Elizabeth.

She knew that her brother was trying his best, but he had been a very withdrawn man since their parents passed away and he was thrust into the role of Master of Pemberley and gained her guardianship. He had never really had a companion to speak of save for their staff, their small family and briefly his university friend Charles Bingley. She longed for him to find a wife so that she would have a sister, and so that life in Pemberley would be full of vitality again. In his current manner, spending time in his company did not alleviate her guilt and sadness at the affairs in Ramsgate.

Mr Darcy, for all of his fumbled words in the Gardiners' drawing room, had changed the opinion of Georgiana's friend and her relatives that he had formed before their half-hour meeting. From the brief conversation with Mr Gardiner, he had begun placing some choice investments in the fabric trade, and the two gentlemen were on the way to a cautious friendship. He had written to ask for some advice in his foray into fabric investing. What had followed was a surprising but joyful response, peppered with quips that caused him to cough into his coffee with rather ungentlemanly laughter on more than one occasion. Georgiana caught her brother on one such occurrence, two months after the affair in Ramsgate, chuckling into a large piece of paper.

"Whatever has you chuckling so delightfully, dear brother?"

"A joke from Mr Gardiner about the difficulty of finding anything in one of his warehouses. He writes, I do believe I should call them 'where-houses.' A curious jest indeed," he replied. "What a jovial fellow Mr Gardiner. I do so enjoy his correspondence."

It was more words than Georgiana had heard her brother speak in a fair while. She had seen multiple letters arriving on the same plain paper over recent weeks, and had sneaked a look at the return address. So she knew her brother was well on his way to mending his first impressions of her friends. She had expected to be forbidden from corresponding with Elizabeth after his cold first meeting with them, and she had been prepared to fight him on this. But he was in support when she had first asked him to post a letter upon their safe arrival to Pemberley.

Keen to continue on the joyful tone of the morning, she retrieved her latest missive from Lizzy from her dress.

"Oh they are such a tonic," she mentioned, of her friend and her uncle. "I am surprised you did not hear my laughter upon opening Elizabeth's letter. For she enclosed her effort at a sketch such as those I made for her. Only, she is not a born artist, as she confessed to me in Ramsgate."

It was about the most scathing comment he had ever heard his sister make about her dear friend. He braced himself for something truly awful. Georgiana presented to her brother a very abstract looking picture, which conveyed a great deal of feeling for what it lacked in structure or form.

"I do not wish to slight your friend, dear sister. And indeed, I have been oft told that should I not have pleasant words to say I should rather hold my tongue. So I think on this topic it is best to remain silent."

Georgiana burst into peals of laughter. When she had calmed enough to catch her breath, she replied. "I am very touched that she has made this effort for me. But I do question whether it is an animal from her father's estate, or if it is an attempted likeness of a family member? I cannot make out the brushwork. Still, she writes that she enclosed it in the hopes that my confidence in my skill would rise. And she has been successful in such an endeavour. And succeeded in raising both of our spirits, too, I daresay."

Fitzwilliam Darcy was busy considering the fine eyes which had gazed upon this work of art (if it could be called such) and correctly guessed that it would bring so much joy to a lonely pair of siblings. And it occurred to him, perhaps she was not so unaccomplished as she feigned to be. Perhaps she had correctly predicted what would bring her friend the most joy. It truly was too atrocious to be a real attempt at drawing her family.

~:~

With effort, he stirred himself from his admiration of a lady who was both far away, and far below his family's expectations for him, and remarked to his sister how well she looked this morning.

"It is the joy of receiving my letters," she explained. "They make me feel like she is here with us, making light jokes and helping me to move beyond that terrible almost-abduction." Her voice gained a wobble. She appeared to be considering her next words with great care. And he made to tell her that she need not continue, but she persisted. "Brother, I am sorry for believing his lies. I thought him to truly love me, and fancied myself in love with him too. I should have instead been thinking of the shame to the Darcy name if anything untoward may have come from my welcoming his advances."

He tried to quiet her, to reassure her. But she was not yet finished.

"Brother, I insist. Elizabeth has been helping me to process the thoughts and feelings which this whole affair has arisen in me. And I feel so foolish at what I could have so easily thrown away. That which could have been so easily taken from me had she not been there to intervene. Everything I have and love is here with you, and I promise I will never fall for such empty flattery again."

Having said her piece, Georgiana was happy to let the subject drop. Her brother gave her a significant look, and moved to hold her as tight as he could, and did not let her go for a full minute. He felt his protectiveness rise at her dejection, and decided he must have the last word on the topic.

He took a deep breath and began in a sincere tone, "Georgie, you could not let me down if you tried. Mr Wickham is practised in the art of deceit. He even tricked our father into thinking he was honest and truthful, and as much as you often behave in a far more accomplished way than most your age, you are still a child, and you cannot hold yourself in blame and guilt for this. No lies have been spread, due to Mr Gardiner's quick thinking, and there is no lasting evidence of your time with Mr Wickham." Here he flushed and winced, but persisted, "I daresay upon your coming out next year there will be no recollection of the man's name in polite society. Please do not be too hard on yourself, darling."

They sat for a moment more in comfortable silence, divesting themselves somewhat of their grief and discomfort, and then Georgiana proposed a plan so agreeable her brother could not deny her the pleasure of seeing it come to fruition, and set to making it a reality immediately.