Chapter 12

It had been a long few days for Georgiana, fretting for and looking after her older brother. Unaccustomed as she was to being the responsible Darcy sibling, she had taken to looking after Fitzwilliam as if she had always been his keeper. She was equal parts strict and caring, such that he had been forced to follow the doctor's orders, but had not felt upbraided at any point. She had requested his meals to be delivered to his room, for the most part delicious broths that she then enjoyed with their guests. She sat with him whilst he ate, enjoying their quiet communion together.

At noon of his third day of his bedrest, she arrived at his room ahead of the lunch delivery by their serving staff. He was sitting in a warm chair by the fire and had clearly been seen to by his valet. She smiled warmly at him.

"I was growing rather fond of your whiskers, brother" she chuckled. "But I am delighted to see you are feeling more yourself."

"I was getting rather restless in my miserable state," he replied with a rueful smile. He made to stand and invite his sister in, but wobbled on his way up, having not quite yet found his balance.

"Brother, please do not overexert yourself on my account," she requested.

He harrumphed, straightened his lapels and wobbled his way over to her. She did not complain when she felt his considerable weight bearing on her as he leaned in for an embrace. It was a rare occurrence in any case, but made more meaningful by the stress of the past few days. Breathing in his cologne, she let out a deep breath and a small tear.

"I am so glad you are back with me," she whispered.

He placed a kiss on her hairline and bade her to sit on the chair opposite his by the fireplace. He was desperate to hear news of their guests - indeed, one guest in particular - but did not want to seem overeager. He asked her instead about her day so far, hoping for a glimpse of news about the guest he cared the most about.

"I have had a delightful morning," she began, and decided to tease him a little. She had suspected her brother's preference for Elizabeth's company since she had joined their party and he had been unable to take his eyes from her person. Indeed, he had found some way of asking after her every day that they had been separated by his injury. Georgiana would have found it amusing if it weren't so endearing. Her brother, a hopeless romantic. She would not believe it if she were not seeing it with her own eyes. But his condition was much improved today, so she decided to toy with him and not mention her friend at all.

"The weather outside is so fine for this time of year," she said. "Have you wobbled your way to your balcony yet this morning?"

"Indeed, it is a bright morning," he replied gruffly.

"It looked so divine out there that I partook of a stroll in our grounds, which was most diverting. Did you know that Mr Proctor has designed a beautiful array of autumnal gourds and squashes in the kitchen garden?" She continued.

"Of that I was aware," he responded. "I thought that we should have excellent soup courses this year." He proceeded to ask the question close to his heart. "And were you accompanied on this promenade, Georgie?"

She chuckled at his directness, and spoke of one of her favourite subjects.

"Indeed, I was accompanied by a great conversationalist, and we spoke of the joys of autumn, the leaves which have begun to fall throughout our estate. Elizabeth was full of compliments for our gardening team. Do you remember our snow-ball throwing contests as children?' He replied in the affirmative. "Well, she introduced me to a similar game with the crunchy autumn leaves. We did laugh so. Well, when you are more straight on your feet we shall have to introduce it to you."

Mr Darcy was having a hard time composing himself, having thought about Elizabeth leading his sister in a leaf fight. Everything she did intrigued him. His heart and mind had not had any rest these three days, even without seeing her directly. Through snippets of conversation with his sister, he felt as though she was there with him.

"I think I should like to frolic with you and Miss Elizabeth, indeed," he said.

"Yes, well," his sister began. "We had a lovely walk. You would be interested to know that she asked after you, your health and how you were bearing up without access to your beloved horses."

That was a positive sign. Though, he reasoned, any polite guest would ask about their host in such a situation. He hoped her request had been laced with intimate regard. Georgiana had opened the door for him to ask for her blessing for a forthcoming event he was anxious to make a reality.

"Georgie, I would like to ask you something and I would appreciate your discretion that this may remain confidential until matters resolve themselves," he pleaded, in a serious tone with a crease in his brow.

"Of course," she replied. Her curiosity piqued, she started to worry, thinking her aunt might have done something ridiculous again. Or perhaps Mr Wickham had managed to find a novel way to ruin their lives.

"I can see I have worried you," he said sheepishly. "Do not fret, it is a happy question. I would like to ask for your blessing for me to ask if I may court Miss Elizabeth Bennet."

Georgiana squealed, and her brother smiled and continued. "I do not wish to unsettle your friendship by presuming too much. But I find I cannot proceed without determining if her heart is similarly attached as mine. Georgie, I feel - no, I know - that she is to me as air is to breathing, or pens are to writing. And I cannot rest until I know if she will have me."

It was such a sincere and vulnerable declaration. Georgiana felt tears springing to her eyes at seeing her brother so altered from the morning in the Gardiner's parlour in Ramsgate.

Taking her tears as confirmation of his anxious catastrophizing, he started apologising profusely. "I understand your concerns, sister. That it will put you in an uncomfortable-"

"Stop overthinking," she commanded. "I am delighted, she will make a wonderful wife. And I can't imagine another person I should wish to join our family more."

His features broke into a wide grin, and he got up again to pick her up and spin her around. Such was his joy that it could not be contained, imagining the three of them for years to come in company at Pemberley.

His balance had not returned well enough to spin, nor to hold his sister. The combination of the two proved unwise, and the two of them toppled into the bedpost. Georgiana shrieked, of equal parts delight and surprise. He began apologising right away, as did she. They chuckled at the silliness of it all.

"Perhaps you should sit back down, Fitzwilliam," she entreated. "I should imagine you have two other serious conversations coming over the next day or so. And it would not do to have any additional bruises to your person before then."

"Right you are, Georgie," he acquiesced. He blushed when his mind immediately thought of another method for sustaining bruises, particularly in the presence of the lady at the centre of their discussion. He mentally upbraided himself, it was not proper to think of her, of them, in those scenes. But he could not help himself. She was so tempting.

The two siblings discussed lighter matters over their lunch in his room, and he stated a desire to see the autumnal gourds - or at least to pass a short interlude outside - over the afternoon. He was not entirely certain that his balance was up to it, but he longed to see his guests again. In fact, a certain pair of sparkling green eyes, and an enticing slim figure were the chief inducement to leave his rooms.

~.~

Mr Darcy greeted his guests in the green sitting room just after two o'clock in the afternoon. They were gathered around a table with his sister, playing some kind of parlour game. He stood in the doorway for a moment, enjoying the sound of life and laughter once again filling Pemberley's rooms. Elizabeth was on the far side of the table from where he stood, and wholly engrossed in the game. He heard an indistinct challenge from her uncle, focussed as he was on the intensity in her expression, and the gentle curve of her exposed neck.

He walked over to where they were playing and cleared his throat. He thrilled at the moment when she registered his presence. The mask of concentration morphed into a brilliant smile, saved especially for him. He swallowed thickly and returned it.

"Please, do not let me interrupt your game," he said. "I was enjoying the sounds of friendly competition. One can hear them from the staircase in the great room." This was met with friendly chuckles, and Mr Gardiner was the first to remark.

"Competitiveness has always been a hallmark of our family games afternoons," he started. "And if we are a little enthusiastic, it is dear Elizabeth who is to blame. She is always at the centre of any friendly mischief."

"Uncle," Elizabeth challenged, "you will paint such an awful picture of my character that I shall never return to Pemberley."

If she were never to return, let it be because she never left, he thought. Georgiana shared a similar sentiment on his behalf.

"You will always be welcome here, Lizzy. I believe you have performed such unexampled kindnesses to both me and my brother that you will always have a hero's welcome here."

Elizabeth blushed and sneaked a look at Mr Darcy. He was smiling directly at her.

"I find myself desirous of a stroll after so long indoors," he stated. "But please do not let me interrupt your game. I shall return shortly, and I long to hear of your time in Pemberley over the past few days. I hope everything was to your taste."

"Perhaps you should remain in company out there, brother? I would never forgive myself if you took another tumble without one such as Elizabeth to return you to us."

Elizabeth coloured at the remembrance of his closeness when she had helped him to his feet on the peaks.

"I shall not stray from the line of sight of the gardening staff, and I shall not go far," he told them. Not allowing for further obstacles to be invented, he bowed to the room in general and departed for the garden, hoping that the fresh air would clear his head.

Elizabeth knew it was not proper to leave the game and follow Mr Darcy unchaperoned to the garden. As much as she desired a half hour alone with him, of course just to see with her own eyes that his health had improved, she remained at the bridge table to the satisfaction of her three companions.

The Pemberley party passed a delightful afternoon in each other's company, playing parlour games and enjoying tea together. Mr Darcy rejoined them after an uneventful and energising half hour in the gardens. He tried to divide his attention amongst the whole party, but found his concentration would lapse every so often and he would return his focussed attention to Elizabeth. He could not help gravitating towards her, and he could not quite bring himself to worry overmuch that the others in the room may begin to suspect his partiality for the lady in question.

Georgiana was delighted to see the two of them exchanging what they thought were surreptitious glances. She thought that Mr Gardiner would be requesting an audience with her brother soon, if he had not already found some clever way to do so.

He recalled after an hour or so his earlier desire to hear her play and sing at the pianoforte, having heard such praise from his sister. And so he proposed an informal recital through a request to hear some of the duets they had learned in Ramsgate. The two ladies took a little persuading, but Georgiana was uniquely unable to refuse her brother anything, and Lizzy was quite malleable towards merriment of any kind.

They chose a slower number to begin with from a light operetta, which fit comfortably within Lizzy's rich alto range, and which showed off Georgiana's considerable skill at the pianoforte. They painted a perfect picture of a talented pair, who were so synchronised to each other that it appeared they had had years, rather than days to practise together. And whilst all of the members of their party, indeed anyone who was in earshot, wholeheartedly enjoyed their performance, it was Mr Darcy who could truly claim the most enjoyment out of the half hours' diversion.

He was transfixed at the picture they painted, enthralled by the magic in Elizabeth's emotive tone. She sang with such feeling that he should have understood the words even without his firm grasp of the Italian language. To own the truth, he could have gleaned a great deal of enjoyment watching her even if he had not been able to hear her beautiful voice, such was the physical pleasure he gained in watching the way her chest, throat and mouth moved when she sang. As it was, he savoured every perfect note as if they were the last of the summer wine he were to enjoy on his grand tour.

He stared openly and adoringly at her for the whole performance, and was delighted when she returned his gaze with a flirtatious glance through her eyelashes. He could see the ghost of a smile tug at the corners of her mouth as she sang, and his heart rose to attention. What I wouldn't do to kiss those smiling lips, he thought idly.

He only noticed that his friend Mr Gardiner had been trying to get his attention when his trance was interrupted by the loud clapping of everyone else in the room. He blushed and refused to remark upon the reason for his distraction. It was clear that the pair were exceptionally talented, and Mr Darcy was very affected by seeing such a picture of domestic felicity. He felt his heart become even more irrevocably affected as the pair's performance continued.

The Gardiners were very amused by this turn of events. They had suspected a particular partiality on Mr Darcy's behalf, and the afternoon had confirmed their suspicions. Whilst his intentions may have been honest, the way Mr Darcy was drinking their niece in with his ardent gaze was everything but proper.

"You should engineer a conversation with him," Mrs Gardiner muttered under her breath when he was once again distracted by the lovely performance across from them. "Mr Bennet would not be pleased to know we did not challenge him and his impropriety."

As they often were, the Gardiners were of the same mind in this matter. Mr Gardiner looked at his wife with his very own ardent gaze, and affirmed in the positive what she had so correctly stated. He would find his time. He felt his good fortune at finding such a woman to share his life with. Madeline had been the jewel of Derbyshire society, and he had only seen her accomplishments grow as she added new titles to her name. First wife, then mother, covert businesswoman and now overprotective guardian to their favourite niece. He was reminded of his good fortune every day.

Georgiana for her part very much enjoyed their musical interlude. Usually nervous when performing in front of people, it was testament to how comfortable she was with her new friends that no such nerves surfaced. She was ideally placed to watch with delight as her brother made his feelings transparent on his face, and how her friend looked shyly at him through her thick eyelashes. The game was on, indeed.

Such was Mr Darcy's return to his sister and their guests. And whilst he did not manage to steal any alone time with Elizabeth that afternoon, he would not have traded their pleasant few hours, nor that special glance over the pianoforte,for the world. For he knew with increasing certainty that she was not indifferent to him after all.

~.~

It was curious, then, that he found himself in a heightened state of anxiety three hours hence, after a truly marvellous dinner with his cherished guests. The food had been delicious, and he had very much enjoyed the company, and the change of scenery from the walls of his four poster.

The nervousness was sitting heavily in his stomach, putting his dinner at risk of repeating itself, and it arose chiefly from the conversation he was about to have. He would have ordinarily foregone the separation of the sexes after dinner in such a small company, but he wished to conduct a private conversation with Mr Gardiner, and missing out on Elizabeth's company was a necessary price to pay to secure their future happiness.

He poured two glasses of brandy into elegant crystal glasses, and decided to begin almost immediately after taking his first sip.

"Mr Gardiner, I do not pretend to possess an extraordinary talent for delicately crafting conversation, so you will have to forgive my directness." Mr Gardiner nodded for him to proceed, in possession of a reasonable judgement of where this conversation might be travelling. Mr Darcy's next words confirmed this sound assumption. "Forgive me, this is slightly untoward, but in Mr Bennet's absence, I would like to ask for your blessing to offer for your niece. Nothing would make me happier than her choosing to stay at Pemberley and by my side."

"I presume from your phrasing that you have not yet asked Elizabeth for her input to this matter," he asked. His tone was completely implacable, and it put Mr Darcy on edge, so that his next words were snappier than he would have preferred.

"I would not dishonour her parental authority so, Mr Gardiner," he prickled.

"And yet here we are having this conversation, rather than in Longbourn in the office of Mr Bennet," he chuckled wryly. He greatly enjoyed the company of Mr Darcy, and did not wish to toy with him overmuch. So after a slightly uncomfortable silence, he continued; "I am being unduly pedantic, Mr Darcy. I can tell you care for my niece a great deal, and she will certainly be well looked after in your company. I cannot see her father having any objections, aside from the fact that he does not know anything about you, save that which I have written of you and anything that Elizabeth herself has told him. I only caution the haste you clearly have for this future to be settled. Could you not wait until such a time as you can speak to Mr Bennet yourself?"

"Mr Gardiner, you have proved yourself on multiple occasions to be a dependable and reasonable man. Tell me, on occasion that you are left without the company of your wife, how do you feel?"

"Well, I don't particularly enjoy the separation, it must be said."

"Do you remember what it was like before you were married? I feel that I shall go mad without her. I simply must know whether she feels the same."

Mr Gardiner chuckled, and admitted that he not-so-distantly remembered that feeling, then continued; "I suppose I should thank you for this formality, Mr Darcy. It seems that your mind is made up, and if I step outside the shoes of her parental guide, I would offer my deepest and heartiest well wishes for your union, when my niece accepts your offer."

This took Mr Darcy aback - he felt the gentle joy radiating from Mr Gardiner, and was overwhelmed at the feeling of having a close and supportive older relative. He had been the responsible party for so long, it was a pleasant change to be on the other side of the conversation.

"I return to my caution though, Mr Darcy. Please do not leave it too long before visiting Mr Bennet in Hertfordshire. Perhaps you can accompany us back there upon our return a few days hence. You will meet my offspring - I believe you left before they encroached on our calm back in Cliffsend."

"Thank you for your concern, Mr Gardiner, and for the invitation. I believe that you have provided the perfect solution, with one addition. My dear friend Mr Charles Bingley has reliably informed me he is looking to rent a property in Hertfordshire by the name of Netherfield Park. Should you wish to accompany us there, I would be happy to make the introduction and secure an invitation."

This was agreed upon readily, and the conversation concluded, both gentlemen shared a mutual desire to return to the lady folk. Mr Darcy let the tension release from his shoulders as he stood to rejoin the women in the parlour. He placed a hand on Mr Gardiner's shoulder on the pretence of gaining his balance, and reached his other hand for a firm and grateful handshake. The two shared a meaningful look, and a smile before turning for the parlour.