A Constant Love: A Pride & Prejudice Continuation, page 8
“Brother, is something the matter?” She touched her hair and looked down at her gown, wondering what might be amiss.
“No Georgiana, there is nothing the matter. You look quite lovely. I simply find myself shocked to realise how much you have grown up.” Were Darcy of the more expressive sort, he might have noted that Georgiana had finally outgrown the awkwardness of the last few years, and matured into her height, and as such carried herself as a tall, quite pretty young woman. Most would not call her fully beautiful, but then, there was a kindness and good nature in her countenance that most truly beautiful women of Darcy’s acquaintance lacked – excepting his wife. His hope was that she would meet with a gentleman who preferred these qualities – if indeed she had not already.
“Thank you, Fitzwilliam.” Georgiana stepped forward and embraced her brother. She wanted to thank him for his care of her, since the death of her father, and to tell him she was sorry it had not always been easy – Mr. Wickham and even Mr. Davis came to mind – but she could not think of what to say, and he did not seem to mind that this was all she could manage.
Elizabeth, Catherine, and Mary came down soon enough, with exclamations over Georgiana’s dress and how lovely she looked. She returned the compliments, but felt the specialness of her own situation, and how happy they all were for her.
The Allens’s ballroom proved slightly smaller than the Darcys’s, but was so well-decorated that none of them could find fault with it. Lord and Lady Brandon were the only Fitzwilliams in attendance, their son and daughter-in-law having returned to the family estate at Stradbroke. The elder couple had been waiting to escort the Darcys in and make the introduction to Sir Walter and Lady Allen, and it was clear to all of them that they were the sort of well-mannered company that could be expected to be friends of the Fitzwilliams. The number of male partners, however, was already apologised over by Lady Allen, and after a few remarks among the group about how perhaps there might be more in the coming season, with the peace, they went inside.
Georgiana, at least, had the joy of dancing the first set with her brother, after Elizabeth kindly said she would sit it out; she simply could not see Georgiana not dancing the first dance at her first ball. Elizabeth had not known that this would prompt all the men in the dance to look at Georgiana, and note her to be a quite elegant young lady, worth seeking out for a dance of their own, but this was indeed what happened. Such mental notes by the gentlemen were soon followed by the news that spread quietly through the ballroom that Georgiana was just recently out in society, she had thirty thousand pounds, and her family owned one of the largest estates in Derbyshire. She found her hand requested for every dance, and at first felt all the compliment of such attentions.
By the supper set, however, Georgiana was miserable. Aside from one dance with Lord Brandon, who had kindly asked for a set with each of the ladies in their party, she had been through an array of suitors. One had proved exceedingly clumsy, although nice enough. Another insisted on talking constantly about nothing of great importance, so much that she could not even enjoy the dance. There was Mr. Turner, who was quite good-looking, but seemed to be an enthusiast of horse racing, and little else. And finally there was Mr. Ward, who had claimed the supper set although he had no conversation at all, so that she had spent both the dance and the meal attempting to come up with topics, only to see each of them dissipate after a few minutes of effort.
When supper was mercifully over, Mr. Ward led her back into the ballroom, but noticed an acquaintance and abandoned her before they had reached her party. Georgiana saw Elizabeth across the ballroom and was attempting to make her way over to the only familiar face she could see, when a man stepped up to her.
“Mr. Thomas Simpson,” he said. “I understand you are Miss Georgiana Darcy. Might I have your hand in the next set?”
Georgiana was mortified at the nerve of the man – to approach her without her family, to introduce himself!
“Please, Miss Darcy. I assure you I am an excellent dancer. We shall have quite a delightful set together.”
She began to better understand the reason for his boldness and unacceptable manners: his eyes were unfocused and his speech was slightly slurred, he had certainly had too much wine or perhaps even stronger spirits.
Georgiana was at a loss for what to say – he had broken all bounds of propriety, but she could not bring herself to do so as well. If she were to refuse him the dance, she would have to sit out the rest of the evening. As miserable as many of her partners had been, she held out hope that someone with at least some skill in dancing and some conversation would ask her for a set, but now she would have to accept that the unfortunate Mr. Ward was to be her last partner of the night.
Just as she was about to open her mouth to speak, afraid that in his drunken state he would not take her refusal well, she heard another voice behind her.
“Miss Darcy! I hope you have not forgotten that you promised me the set after supper.”
Georgiana turned around to find that it had been Lord Alfred, calling out to her. She felt such a rush of ecstasy then, such gratitude, such delight; to be saved was a relief in itself, but to be saved by the one person she should most like an opportunity to dance with! How had he come to be here? Certainly she would have noticed him before; the ball was fairly intimate in its attendance.
“Lord Alfred, why yes – I thank you for reminding me,” she said.
He held his arm out to her, she left Mr. Simpson with the slightest of curtsies, and they went to take their place among the dancers.
“Miss Darcy, if you did truly want to dance with that man, I apologise exceedingly for the interruption,” Lord Alfred said to her. “But I know well the look of a man who has been too much at the card table with too many brandies, and he had it. I did not like the idea of him asking a lady to dance, particularly one I was acquainted with, even if it is but a recent acquaintance.”
“Oh no, I certainly did not want to dance with him,” she assured him. “He introduced himself to me!”
“He introduced himself? It is even worse than I thought,” he said. “I am sorry you had to put up with such abominable manners.”
“It is all over, now,” she said. “I do not know how to thank you for rescuing me.”
“I have the favour of your hand for a dance,” he smiled at her as they made their bows and began. “I assure you the rescue was no great sacrifice on my part.”
“I did not even realise you were in attendance tonight.”
“I was not, earlier. I had a previous dinner engagement this evening, but Lady Allen feared a shortage of male partners, and encouraged me to attend after supper, if I could. I found I was able to break away from my previous party, and so here I am.”
Lord Alfred proved to be an excellent dancer – he was graceful, he spoke just enough, but not too much, and he was interested in all she had to say about the ball so far. He was amazed to learn this was her first ball, and assured her she danced beautifully – he should never have known if she had not told him.
When the set was over, he led her back to her family, greeted Mr. and Mrs. Darcy with great enthusiasm at seeing them again so soon after Lady Catherine’s dinner, and requested to be introduced to Mary and Catherine, asking them if he might have a dance with each of them. Mary made her regrets, for she had had her fill of dancing and already begun making refusals before supper, but Catherine was relieved. She had already had to sit out one set, and although Lord Alfred seemed to take particular interest in Georgiana, he looked to be an excellent dancer and she would not mind a set with him at all, especially if it kept him from dancing with some other lady who was not her friend.
Elizabeth, who had noted with desperation Georgiana’s distance from her before the last dance, and seen the discomfort on her face upon being approached by a man Elizabeth certainly did not know and did not think Georgiana had been introduced to, was relieved to see her back with them, and intrigued that she had somehow come to be escorted there by Lord Alfred. After Lord Alfred had led Catherine off, Georgiana whispered the storey of his coming to her aid, and how he had arrived after supper, and so intense was their conference that no one dared ask for Georgiana’s hand for the next dance.
Elizabeth was nearly as thrilled for her sister as her sister was herself; she imagined the joy of the rescue, and noted particularly how it had further endeared the rescuer to Georgiana. She had been asked to dance a few times without introduction by some of the soldiers in Meryton, but they were all of them harmless enough, and she never would have expected such a thing at a private ball in town. She wished to inform her husband of the event, but she had required him to dance every set so long as there were ladies who still wanted to dance, and he was currently leading some young acquaintance of Lady Ellen’s up the floor and putting much effort into his countenance, so that he looked only slightly miserable.
After Lord Alfred had escorted Catherine back to the group, Lady Allen let it be known that the next dance was to be the last dance, and it was to be a waltz.
“I realise we just danced recently, Miss Darcy, but I wonder if I might have the favour of your hand again,” Lord Alfred said. “I have hardly been here long enough to be introduced to any of the other ladies.”
“I would like that,” Georgiana said, blushing slightly.
“Mr. and Mrs. Darcy, might I have permission to dance the waltz with Miss Darcy?”
“You may,” Darcy said, and Elizabeth nodded her assent as well, secretly thrilled for Georgiana.
Catherine suffered a few moments of agony in thinking that no one should ask her to waltz, but Mr. Turner, who had come their way hoping to ask Georgiana, saw that she was already engaged, and decided Catherine would be a pretty alternative. He asked permission, and Elizabeth, who knew him from Georgiana to be dull, but harmless, and not a bad dancer, murmured to Darcy that he should give it.
They stood there for a little while, watching Mr. Turner lead a delighted Catherine off, and then Darcy held out his hand to Elizabeth.
“You have hardly danced tonight, Mrs. Darcy, and I have had my feet trampled too many times already.”
“Mr. Darcy, you forget that I have also stepped on your feet in the course of this dance,” she reminded him.
“Well, I would rather have my feet stepped on by my wife than anyone else. Will you never stop punishing me for not dancing enough in the first ball of our acquaintance?”
“I am not inclined to cease punishment yet,” she said, allowing him to lead her to the floor anyway. “If I force you to dance with enough young ladies, perhaps you will someday find one that is tolerable.”
Elizabeth was fairly certain he stepped on her foot once out of spite, but she found she enjoyed the dance very much anyway.
Chapter 9
As was to be expected, they had many callers in the day following the ball. Eager at just the outset of the appropriate hour were no less than three of the men who had danced with Georgiana, and one who had danced with Catherine. They were all of them treated politely, but with no encouragement that any acquaintance should be continued, and Lord Alfred, the one gentleman Georgiana had hoped would call, was not among the early group.
Following later were Jane and, to the surprise of all, Caroline Bingley. Caroline, in anger and embarrassment, had kept her visits to Curzon Street to the minimum that could still be considered proper. She was often indisposed when invited to dine, or had some other engagement that prevented her from calling with Jane. No one in the house minded; they were none of them fond of Caroline’s society. Yet here she was today, looking quite happy to be there.
They soon found out the reason for such a change in her countenance and interest in their society. She had lately made the acquaintance of a Sir Sedgewick, and he had become the new target of all her hopes for an advantageous marriage. For a full half-hour, they heard nothing but of what Sir Sedgewick said and did, of his estate in Warwickshire, his divine phaeton, and of course how he simply doted on Caroline.
Well she did to focus her efforts on Sir Sedgewick, who Jane later confessed to Elizabeth was an ill-looking but well-mannered man possessing a knighthood that he had earned some years ago in service to the army. Caroline Bingley had spent too many years chasing after Mr. Darcy; the bloom of youth was beginning to leave her, and if she did not manage to make a match in a year or two, Jane and Charles feared she might never marry. This was Caroline’s secret fear as well, and given the choice between compromising on looks, fortune, or a title, she had chosen looks.
Jane finally was able to divert the conversation to the ball, which had been her primary interest in wanting to call. All was related, in great detail, as Elizabeth had refreshments brought in to the sitting room – fresh fruits and the little tarts which were one of Cook’s best triumphs. When Jane and Caroline had taken their leave to return to the Hursts’s house, Georgiana and Mary took up their practise, so that Georgiana was quite absorbed in learning a new piece when Lord Alfred finally called. Georgiana started when Mr. Miller announced him, and made to get up from her bench, but he encouraged her to finish out her practise – he was quite diverted to listen to her play. Georgiana’s practise would otherwise continue on for at least an hour more, so she did not finish, but she did play for another quarter-hour to meet his request. Elizabeth, who had been sitting beside him, conveniently rose to see about more refreshments, in hopes that Lord Alfred would encourage Georgiana sit beside him, and when she returned to the room, found that he had.
“You must all tell me of what happened before I arrived at the ball,” Lord Alfred said. “I rely on you for my intelligence since I was unable to be there myself.”
He was then told, in far greater detail than any gentleman would have any interest in, of every dance that was danced, the prettiest dresses in the ladies’s estimation, and all that had been served at supper. He bore it with patience and good humour, however, and every attention paid to Georgiana. She could not be quiet for long before he would ask her about some thing that had happened, so that any shyness she might have felt in having a suitor – for he must now be considered a suitor – dissipated quite quickly.
They asked if he had been calling elsewhere in the course of the morning, but he replied in the negative. He had been out riding with a friend in Hyde Park.
“Quite an enjoyable way to spend a morning,” he said. “Although I do find myself and Gambit longing for open space and a good gallop.”
“Oh yes,” Georgiana said. “My brother and I went riding two days ago, and it was all I could do to hold poor Grace back. I fear I have been neglecting her – I do not wish her to be always exercised by the grooms.”
“So you ride then, Miss Darcy – and your brother?” With this, he looked to Darcy, who had been worn down by the number of callers and all the talk of dress trim and dancing, and merely nodded in the affirmative. “Do any of the others in your party ride?”
The rest of them informed him that they had little interest in riding; Mrs. Annesley had a gentle old cob she could take out if needed to chaperone Georgiana, but she was not nearly to her charge’s skill level.
“Well, then, Mr. Darcy, Miss Darcy, I have for the past week been developing a scheme to go with some friends to Richmond Park. We have fixed on Friday next and I hope you might join us.”
Darcy had been to Richmond Park many times – any gentleman who was fond of riding and spent much time in town knew it well. Georgiana had never been, but the idea of fresh air and wide open space to in which to gallop would have been delightful to her, even if Lord Alfred had not been making the invitation. Both of them expressed enthusiasm in the scheme, and were glad they had no plans for the day.
The time before the Richmond Park ride passed slowly, with only one event out of the ordinary. Lady Catherine, determined to outdo Lady Ellen, had taken Mr. Darcy’s suggestion that Georgiana and Lord Alfred be allowed more opportunities in company with each other, and fixed upon hosting her own ball. She called to deliver the invitation personally, and Georgiana thanked her with deep gratitude, knowing that the ball was held largely for her, and that Lord Alfred would certainly be in attendance. Lady Catherine even deigned to include all of Elizabeth’s sisters in the invitation this time, which Elizabeth thought to be either at Darcy’s suggestion, or demand.
Elizabeth, Georgiana, and Mrs. Annesley attempted to return Lord Alfred’s call in the middle of the week, but found he and his brother were out, and the duke and duchess had returned to the family estate. Georgiana, therefore, had to console herself with knowing she would be in his company during the ride, which she looked forward to with as much eager anticipation as she had her first ball.
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Friday dawned with capital weather: crisp in the morning, but with a clear sky. The riders were to assemble at the southwest corner of Hyde Park, and from thence make their way to the much larger Richmond Park, so Georgiana and her brother had the advantage of riding through the park to get to the group’s point of rendezvous. Georgiana was wearing her best blue riding habit, and Grace was lively but smooth beneath her – she felt thrilled with all the potential of the day.
Lord Alfred was already there when they arrived, and greeted them with smiles and comments on the quality of the weather. As the rest of the group assembled, Darcy was glad to find that they all seemed to be young men who enjoyed sport, but had sense in reasonable proportion, and he suspected Lord Alfred kept quite different company than his elder brother. Two of the gentlemen had also brought ladies – one a recent wife, the other a sister. This was a relief to Georgiana, who had felt some concern only after accepting the invitation that she might be the only lady in the party.
