A Constant Love: A Pride & Prejudice Continuation, page 21
They saw Lady Julia as Captain Stanton was escorting Georgiana back to the ballroom, and went over to greet her. Lady Julia had embraced the trend for diaphanous ball gowns, if her current dress was any indication, and Georgiana did not at all like the look she gave Captain Stanton as he approached.
“Captain Stanton, Miss Darcy, it is so good to see you,” she said. “How are you enjoying the ball so far?”
“It has been lovely,” Georgiana said.
“Lady Tonbridge always puts on quite the event,” Lady Julia said. “Oh, there is Mr. Albury! You must wait here while I introduce you to him. He is not quite my type, but he absolutely doats on ladies with musical talent.”
The latter was said in an aside to Georgiana, but still loud enough that Captain Stanton could hear, and Georgiana stood beside him in helpless mortification as they waited for Lady Julia to return.
“Mr. Joseph Albury, this is Miss Georgiana Darcy, and Captain Matthew Stanton,” said Lady Julia, returning to them accompanied by a very plain but kindly looking young man. “They are in the musical club with me.”
“Oh, indeed?” Mr. Albury asked. “Might I ask what you play?”
“I play the cello,” Captain Stanton said. “And Miss Darcy plays both the pianoforte and the harp.”
“Miss Darcy – I did not realise you also played the harp!” Lady Julia exclaimed.
“I must admit I much prefer the pianoforte, although there is a piece I have been working on for the harp that I quite love,” Georgiana said, pleased to be rewarded with a small private smile from Captain Stanton. “Besides, you play so well we have no need of additional harp performances.”
This was true; Georgiana readily admitted to herself that Lady Julia was the superior player to her, although found it a bit disappointing that the lady did not take any risks, as many of the other players in the club did. She preferred pieces she seemed to have utmost confidence in playing, and then exhibited them very well.
“I am sure you are being modest, and even if you are not, to play the harp as well when you are so skilled on the pianoforte is quite impressive,” said Lady Julia.
“Indeed, I find it exceedingly impressive,” Mr. Albury said. “I should very much like to hear you play sometime, however, for now I wonder if I might have your hand in a dance.”
Georgiana was not engaged for the next set, and told him he could. This, of course, left Captain Stanton to ask Lady Julia for her hand in that set, which Georgiana realised was likely the lady’s purpose for the entire exchange.
Mr. Albury proved to be a fine enough dancer, but it was during his set and the others following that Georgiana found her wrist getting increasingly worse. The constant contact on her hand from the other dancers brought increasing pain, and she could feel it swelling against the confines of her glove. She knew she should begin refusing requests to dance, she knew she should sit out the rest of the ball, and yet she could not bring herself to do so. Captain Stanton had not asked for her hand in the waltz, but she longed for him to do so, and she was unwilling to give up the opportunity.
Georgiana felt a great deal of relief, therefore, when the viscountess announced the waltz, and she determined that if Captain Stanton did not ask her for the dance, she would refuse anyone else who did. She stood in fear that Mr. Albury or some other gentleman would make his way over to their party, or that Captain Stanton would not. Captain Stanton did come over, however, with Captain Ramsey, who made the formalities of asking for Catherine’s hand and being given permission by Elizabeth, although they had all known the dance to be long-promised.
“Miss Darcy, would you do me the honour?” Captain Stanton asked, then, looking to Elizabeth. “With your permission, of course, Mrs. Darcy.”
“Yes, I would like that very much,” Georgiana said, waiting for Elizabeth to nod before she gave him her hand and allowed him to lead her to the floor.
Georgiana managed the Marche well enough; indeed, she felt more aware of Captain Stanton’s hands, one placed upon her shoulder, the other delicately grasping her hand, than she felt the pain in her wrist. The trouble began for her as soon as they had transitioned to the Pirouette. To hold her hand above her head, grasping his, required her to bend her wrist and keep it bent in a way that she had not done all night, and it was already throbbing. She might have continued with the dance anyway, but her eyes welled with tears of pain, and in a dance where their eyes were to be on each other constantly, a far less observant man than he would have noticed immediately. His hand tightened around her waist, pulling her slightly closer, and her breath caught in her throat.
“You are unwell,” he said.
“It is my wrist,” she admitted. “I cannot keep it bent like this.”
“Come,” he said, simply, and escorted her from the floor; his hand on the small of her back and her memory of how close he had held her the only pleasant thing about the entire situation.
Elizabeth, Mary, and Mrs. Annesley met with them immediately, encouraging her to sit, Mrs. Annesley fanning her as though she had taken faint. Captain Stanton disappeared for a while and then returned with both a glass of wine and an ice. He placed the wine glass in her good hand, and then asked the ladies to remove her glove. Her wrist only looked a little worse than it had when Hughes had unwrapped it earlier, but they all still looked horrified at the sight of it.
Captain Stanton then instructed them to hold the ice against her wrist, and after the initial shock of cold, Georgiana sighed heavily at the relief it brought. They opened her fan and placed it in her lap so that she might sit with the ice against her wrist without it being seen by others at the ball, and then they all sat around her, looking concerned. There were more concerned parties to come, as well, once the waltz was over – Catherine and Captain Ramsey had noticed them leave the dance, as had the viscountess, Lady Julia, and Mr. Albury, and they all came over after it was done with expressions of worry and hopes that she should soon be recovered. Georgiana received their concerns as gracefully as she could, but she felt only embarrassment and frustration.
Chapter 30
Georgiana’s wrist was much improved in the morning, but Elizabeth and Mrs. Annesley still agreed that the surgeon should be summoned to examine her. He arrived, looked at her wrist, chastised her as much as a man of his position could for abusing it so, and said that it should be fully rested for a few days. He left the family with instructions to produce a sling similar to the one Captain Stanton had made, and to ensure that she wore it.
Fabric for the sling was located by Mrs. Annesley, who tied it together and placed it sternly in the correct position, but did give Georgiana a gentle pat on the shoulder when she was done. Georgiana was encouraged by all to rest, and this she did, waking from a shallow sleep to go down to the drawing room. There she was informed that the captains had called, that they had stayed nearly an hour, and that they had left with sincerest wishes to see her returned to health.
Georgiana, not desiring to be around company, made her excuses and went to the conservatory, so that she could fully settle into the despondency that wanted only a lack of distractions to overwhelm her. She could not help but think back to the ball with regret and disappointment, and continuing mortification at being seen by everyone not acquainted with her injury as one of those young ladies who fainted away at the slightest thing. And even to those who were, it was such a little thing to be overcome by. What must Captain Stanton think of her? To have fought in battles, he must have seen a great many wounds, and yet she could not even make it through a waltz with so little as a sprained wrist.
He had certainly been all kindness and attention, though. That she remembered pleasantly, and when she finally allowed her mind to turn to the way he had held her, just before escorting her from the floor, she still found the thought of it made her breath quicken. These thoughts were interrupted when Catherine came into the room. She was carrying her sketchpad; she did not seem to have come with any intent to interrupt, and indeed, immediately said:
“Oh, there you are! I am sorry – I did not mean to disturb you. I will go out to the garden.”
“No, please stay,” Georgiana said. “I do not mind a little company.”
Catherine sat and sketched in silence for a while, but she was of too sociable a temperament to stay so for long.
“Mr. Albury called,” Catherine said. “He expressed his concern that you were unwell. I hope we were right to not come and get you.”
“Indeed, you were,” Georgiana said. “I am ready for your company, not for a new acquaintance I do not have any particular interest in.”
“Oh, good – Georgiana, I hope you do not mind my saying so, but I was sorry to see you have to sit out the waltz. I was so hoping Captain Stanton would ask you, and pleased to see he did, but then we saw you had to leave. It must have been so disappointing.”
“I am not sure which was worse – the disappointment or the embarrassment,” Georgiana admitted, her throat tight with emotion at her friend’s concern and her own remembrance of the event. “I so wanted to dance that dance.”
“You will have other opportunities – I doubt that is the last time he will ask you to waltz,” Catherine said. “He looked very worried about you.”
“He is a gentleman; of course he would be concerned.”
“That is one explanation.”
“How were your dances with Captain Ramsey?” asked Georgiana, unwilling to allow herself to speculate on any other possible explanations, or how she would have felt about them.
“Quite lovely,” Catherine said, her countenance brightening immediately. “Although – he was very interested in my opinion of Bath. He is thinking of settling there, with the peace. I think – I think he meant to know if I should be interested in settling there, too.”
“Do you think he means to make you an offer of marriage?”
“Oh, do not make me answer that question! I so hope he will, but I do not mean to risk my luck.”
“Would you be interested in settling in Bath?”
“I do not know. He says it has a great number of diversions, plenty of assemblies and opportunities to go to the theatre, and I have always wanted to try the mineral baths. I would want to visit it, though, and then make up my opinion. Have you ever been?”
“I have not, but I certainly would visit you if you do settle there,” Georgiana said, smiling. She was glad Catherine had come into the conservatory; Kitty’s prospects were a far more positive place for her thoughts to dwell than focusing on her own situation following the ball.
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The requirement that Georgiana wear the sling meant that she could not participate in the shopping outing Elizabeth and Jane had planned for later in the morning, to purchase new dresses for Jane’s growing figure. Georgiana encouraged them all to go without her, however; and in the end she was able to convince all but Mrs. Annesley, who, in deference to her original purpose of employment, would stay behind with Georgiana.
Elizabeth, Mary, and Catherine, therefore, rode with Jane in the Bingleys’s carriage to one of their favoured clusters of shops. Elizabeth had fortunately found that as visible evidence of Jane’s pregnancy increased, she was no longer wracked with the same level of jealousy as she had been before. She had attuned herself to the idea of Jane having a child when she, perhaps, would not, and she found herself able to attend to Jane’s descriptions of the delights and difficulties of being with child with genuine happiness and sympathy.
They spent much of their time at the modiste in seeing Jane fitted for new dresses, but Elizabeth discovered several bolts of muslin she thought her youngest sister should like, and showed them to her sisters, asking if they approved of them for Lydia. Rarely did a letter go by from Lydia when she did not ask for money or some manner of advancement for her husband, although she was fortunately still an indifferent correspondent, so the requests were not frequent. Elizabeth, however, preferred to send things she knew her sister would need. She feared that any money that was sent might merely end up on a gaming table in front of Mr. Wickham, and if she sent fine fabric, at least it could be turned into new dresses, which she knew Lydia would appreciate.
The fabric was approved of for Lydia, and Kitty presented a fan she thought her younger sister would also like, which Elizabeth readily added to their purchases. Mary had little interest in any shopping, but sat companionably with Jane while she was measured, and Elizabeth, who did not turn her mind to Lydia quite as often as she perhaps should have, now felt her sister’s absence. Yet she also saw the impossibility of Lydia being here with them – she would have been darting around the store, all giggling and silliness, drawing Kitty to follow her and making Mary more severe in censure. With some time away from Lydia and their mother, her unmarried sisters had improved substantially, and Elizabeth only hoped such improvements should last when they returned to Longbourn. Kitty, at least, would not return for some time – so long as Captain Ramsey continued to court her, there was no doubt of her staying in town.
When they returned home, it was clear Georgiana was agitated, and as soon as it was polite to do so, she informed them that there had been another letter from Viscount Burnley. Elizabeth was immediately concerned, but also hopeful – it was too soon after his last letter for him to have written them casually, but perhaps he was refuting the rumours of his engagement. When they had all settled in the drawing room, she opened the letter, and first silently read:
“It is my understanding that reports of a nature I had much rather keep private have now escaped this county, and from thence I can only imagine it will be a little time before they make their way to London, if they have not done so already. Although I should much rather impart the truth behind such reports at a more appropriate time, my respect and esteem for you and your family is such that I wished to do so immediately.
“I am engaged to be married to Miss Amelia Foster. She is an old friend of the family – her family’s home neighbours our own, and they are close enough acquaintances to have called to pay their respects at such a time. Miss Foster and I came to an agreement and had been of hopes that we might keep the engagement concealed until the appropriate time, but the news spread regardless.
“I know it would be impossible for your family to wish me joy at such a time, when we are all still mourning my brother. I hope you will understand, however, that this has made such a time more bittersweet than it has any right to be.
“Please accept my continuing wishes for the health and happiness of your family.
“Your devoted servant,
“VISCOUNT BURNLEY”
Elizabeth wished deeply that her husband was here; although he might be equally upset by it, he would at least be able to consider reading the letter aloud without his eyes filling with tears of concern for their sister. Then she reflected that the letter should not be read aloud immediately, that its contents should be given, gently, to Georgiana before the rest of them.
“I apologise,” she said. “There is some news here that I would wish to impart to Georgiana first. Georgiana, perhaps we could go to your chamber?”
They made their way up the stairs silently, although Elizabeth knew Georgiana must have sensed that the news was not good. They stepped into Georgiana’s room, and Elizabeth encouraged her to sit, before confessing the letter’s contents.
“He confirms his engagement to Miss Foster,” she said, softly, handing over the letter. “I do not understand how such a thing could have happened, when he devoted so much time to you.”
Georgiana took the letter, and spent some time studying it. Her eyes filled with tears, but she seemed otherwise in control of her emotions.
“I believe I understand what happened,” she said. “He has been in love with Miss Foster all this time, although he could not afford to marry her as a second son – assuming what Lady Catherine said about her dowry is true. Once he gained inheritance of the dukedom and the family estate, such a barrier was gone.”
Elizabeth considered Georgiana’s theory, which did make a great deal of sense. He had indicated Miss Foster to be an old friend of the family, which meant they must have spent much time in company, enough time, perhaps, for a love to form. So he had gone to London knowing he could not encourage such an attachment, and there had been Georgiana, and her thirty thousand pounds. Then his brother had died, and he had distanced himself from their family immediately – not even calling to take his leave from a young lady he had paid very dedicated attentions to over the last few months. Perhaps he had thought that with the distance, and his family in mourning, any expectations of him would be lessened.
Elizabeth was distracted from her thoughts by Georgiana’s first sob, as the poor girl broke down finally, and she sat down beside her sister and embraced her.
“He was only after my fortune, too,” Georgiana said. “And I thought him so interested in me. I was so foolish. How will I ever know if any man truly loves me?”
Georgiana could only be referencing Mr. Wickham, and Elizabeth felt the sting of having brought Wickham into the family.
“He at least did not make you an offer of marriage, that you might have felt compelled to accept,” Elizabeth said. “Perhaps he was too much of a gentleman to make an offer while he felt his heart bound to another.”
“Or perhaps he felt his brother would do something stupid eventually, and he would gain the inheritance, and I was just his back-up plan if that did not happen.”
“Oh, Georgiana, it makes me sad to hear you sound so bitter.”
“I do not mean to. But twice now I have been fooled into believing that a man had affection for me, when his real interest was in my dowry.”
“I know,” Elizabeth said, hugging her closer. “But there is perhaps one thing that you should consider as positive to come out of this event. He has used you ill, and he has damaged your trust, but what I have not heard you say is that he has broken your heart.”
