Chapter 9

The next month passed slowly for Darcy. He had always been very busy during the harvest, and so that kept him occupied at least some of the time. The rest of the time he spent day dreaming about Elizabeth, wondering if she was well, wondering if her husband had beat her yet again, wondering whether her broken ribs were healed. He felt helpless and impotent, able to do nothing to help her while he was almost two hundred miles away. He found solace in praying for her every day, even while he knew his thoughts of her were less than pure. He could only hope that God would forgive him for lusting after a married woman.

He had always lived an upright life. Observing Wickham's debaucheries and carousing, he had resolved to never act in the same way himself. But now he found himself seriously considering having an affair with a married woman. He had not decided either way; he thought he could probably control himself. But he did not know what would happen when they reached London. Would he succumb to temptation? Would Elizabeth?

He loved her. And he thought, by the look in her eyes when he said farewell, that she loved him too. Would their principles prove stronger than their love? He was very afraid they might not.

It was not enough to keep him from going back to her however. He would face the temptation, no matter how it turned out. Elizabeth was all he had ever wanted in a woman: beautiful, witty, vivacious, kind, loving, with the finest eyes he had ever seen. Who would not love her?

When Georgiana had asked about the house party, he had told her about the guests, slipping in Elizabeth's name as a friend he had made.

"You would like Lady Carlisle, I believe, Georgie," he said. "She is only a few years older than you, but she loves books, and she is very good on the pianoforte."

"I should like to meet her!" replied Georgiana.

"Perhaps you may, when we go to London."

"We are going to London?" Georgiana asked, brows raised in evident surprise.

Darcy did not wonder at her astonishment. He usually avoided London like the plague, only visiting it once a year or so for business that could not be completed in Derbyshire.

"I thought you might enjoy the little season. You are sixteen now, almost seventeen. Perhaps you could order a new wardrobe, attend a few family dinners. Would you like that?"

He knew he was coming perilously close to bribing his little sister, but he could not even feel guilty about it, especially when he saw her response.

Georgiana threw her arms about him. "Oh, Brother! I should like that very much!" Her blue eyes were shining.

But it was another pair of eyes that Darcy was thinking about. Brown like chocolate, with golden flecks in them. Dancing eyes full of wit and impertinence. He had to take a deep breath to rein in his emotions.

"We should arrive there in about a month," he said. "As soon as the harvest is over."

"I look forward to it, Brother!"

The carriage trundled over the rocky roads as the Carlisles travelled to London. The journey took an entire day, and Elizabeth was glad to have the carriage to herself. They had left early that morning and Vincent had been in a grumpy mood. Fortunately, he preferred to ride most of the time so Elizabeth was spared his ill humour.

It had been a long month and a half. Elizabeth's ribs had finally healed, and she only had a few yellowish-green bruises on her arms.

She had missed Darcy more than could have imagined possible. He had become the only light in her dark world, the only hope in the misery that was otherwise her existence. She had hoped, after making friends with Rosamond Landsdowne, that Vincent would allow her to continue the friendship; but he would not permit her to travel the few miles to the Landsdownes' estate to visit. It was only when the Landsdownes came visiting themselves that he allowed her to spend limited time with her friend.

Rosamond had said nothing more about Elizabeth's situation once the Carlisles had left the house party, but Elizabeth knew she was there to listen whenever she needed to talk.

She had told no one about her tender feelings for Mr. Darcy. So far as she knew, Rosamond assumed they were just friendly acquaintances. It was too dangerous a topic to bring up, even to a friend.

She was not sure what would happen when they reached London, but she was eager to see Mr. Darcy again, and to meet his sister. Vincent would likely return to his mistress, whom she knew he housed in another section of London, and he would visit his clubs during the day. That would take up much of his time. Was she foolish to hope that he would give her more freedom than the last time they had been in London? He had taken to ignoring her more than ever, when he was not treating her like some pesky fly that annoyed him. And it was when he was annoyed or angry that she had to fear.

There was still light ahead for her, however. She would not be permitted to visit the Gardiners, but Mr. Darcy would be in London. She kept this sweet hope to herself, as if it were a precious jewel.

She knew that the only reason Vincent had brought her to London with him was to serve as his hostess. He could not have parties or invite his friends for dinner without a mistress for his household. Otherwise, he would have left her at his country estate. Elizabeth would have been happy to have been left there and out of his company, except for the promise of seeing Mr. Darcy in London.

They reached Carlisle House late in the evening after travelling almost twelve hours that day. Vincent ignored Elizabeth, leaving the footman to hand her out of the carriage, as he bellowed at the butler to have hot water brought to his rooms for a bath. Elizabeth knew she would have to wait to have her own bath. She was tired, but she did not mind. With a lightness of heart, she wondered how soon she would see Mr. Darcy.

As Elizabeth expected, Vincent slept in late the next morning, and then left for his club without a word to her. He did not return until the next day, either, which meant that he had spent the night with his mistress. Elizabeth was just glad to be spared his company.

They did not have any visitors until a few days had passed and word had got out that they had returned to London. Unfortunately, that meant that Elizabeth had to entertain Vincent's friends and their wives. She was very careful to behave exactly as he wished in front of his friends. If he felt that she embarrassed him in any way, his anger and retribution would be swift.

He always drank heavily when he was with his friends, also; and that scared Elizabeth. Whenever he was drunk, he became especially ugly and unreasonable. He was ten times more likely to hurt her when he was drunk than when he was sober.

It was four days after their arrival that Mr. and Miss Darcy were announced during visiting hours. Vincent had gone to his club, and so Elizabeth was alone.

Her face shone with joy as she greeted them, unknowingly making Darcy's heart expand in his chest.

"Mr. Darcy, how pleasant to see you again," she said, trying to act naturally.

"Greetings, Lady Carlisle. May I present my sister, Miss Georgiana Darcy?"

The ladies both curtsied. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Darcy." Elizabeth was a little surprised at the sight of the girl. She did not resemble her brother except in height; she was tall, with a womanly figure, but she had blonde hair and blue eyes.

"It is a pleasure to meet you as well," Georgiana said in almost a whisper, looking down at her hands.

Elizabeth perceived at once that Miss Darcy was painfully shy. It surprised her a little, considering how confident her brother was. But now that Elizabeth thought about it, she had perceived shyness in Mr. Darcy as well when she first met him.

"Will you join me for tea?" she asked.

"We should be happy to," replied Darcy.

"Come, Miss Darcy. You must sit next to me and tell me all about yourself. Your brother tells me you play the pianoforte very well." She rang for tea and then sat on a loveseat next to Georgiana. Darcy sat across from them, apparently content to watch them converse.

"I do play," responded Georgiana shyly, "but I am not sure how well."

Elizabeth let out a laugh. "It is certain to be better than I play. My husband hired a master to help me improve my playing when we first married, but I admit that my fault is failure to practice."

"Our Aunt Catherine reminds us frequently how important practice is," said Darcy, winking at his sister. "Georgiana has always been very obedient. She practices hours every day."

"How committed you are! I am sure you will surpass my meagre abilities. You must allow me to hear you play sometime," said Elizabeth with a smile.

Georgiana blanched. "I – that is, I do not usually play before company."

"Well, I hope that soon we shall be friends, and close enough that you will be comfortable performing for me."

Georgiana blushed. "I would like that very much. To be friends, I mean. My brother speaks very highly of you."

Now it was Elizabeth's turn to blush, but she hid it by turning to the tea set that the maid had just brought in. She asked Miss Darcy how she liked her tea prepared, then fixed Mr. Darcy's correctly without asking him.

"I am sure your brother exaggerates," she finally answered, once they all had had a sip of tea. "I am certain he sees good in me that is not there."

"Oh, no, Lady Carlisle! My brother would never lie!" cried Georgiana, then saw the teasing twinkle in Elizabeth's eye. "You are teasing, are you not?"

"That is something that your brother apparently neglected to tell you. I do so love to laugh," replied Elizabeth. Georgiana smiled, and Elizabeth continued the conversation. If she left it to Georgiana, they would sit in silence. "Mr. Darcy tells me you like to read."

"I do, but mostly novels." Georgiana blushed.

"I have been known to enjoy a novel in my time. What think you of Ann Radcliff?"

"I do like her works, although The Mysteries of Udolpho left much to be desired. I preferred The Romance of the Forest."

"I agree that The Romance of the Forest is superior. Emily annoyed me excessively in Udolpho. She always seemed to be simpering and whining about something."

That brought a little laugh from Georgiana's lips. "I do admit she was a rather vexing character."

Elizabeth glanced over at Darcy as she continued to converse with Georgiana. He looked relaxed and happy, pleased to see the two ladies getting along.

Once the half hour of visiting time had passed, the two Darcys rose to depart. Before they left, however, she saw Darcy lean over and whisper something in his sister's ear.

"Oh, yes, I almost forgot," said Georgiana. "I would like to invite you to have tea with me at Darcy House whenever you have the time, Lady Carlisle," she finished shyly.

Elizabeth directed her beaming smile at both brother and sister. "I should be delighted. What day is convenient for you?"

"The day after tomorrow?" Georgiana suggested.

"That sounds lovely. I shall see you then, Miss Darcy, Mr. Darcy."

Darcy bowed over her hand, giving her a smile, before they both left.

"I like Lady Carlisle, Brother," said Georgiana, as the two walked down the Mayfair street back to Darcy House. "She is very agreeable."

Darcy's heart was filled with warmth at how Elizabeth had so easily won Georgiana's regard. He had known how it would be. Elizabeth had a natural way with people, and could seemingly without effort draw out someone as shy and retiring as Georgiana. Had she not done the same thing to him? What a wonderful sister she would have made for Georgiana. A pang once again centered in his heart, but he dismissed it. There was no use in brooding over what would never be. He was looking forward to seeing Elizabeth in his own home in two days. Perhaps he would even have some time for private conversation.