Page 16 of Sweet on Mr Darcy

Miss Darcy and Mrs Younge had joined Kitty and Lydia in conversing with Mr Wickham. Whatever it was that the lieutenant was saying, it must be outrageous for the ladies to make such a scene.

Before she could consider going over to quiet the young ladies discreetly, like Mrs Younge ought to be doing, she noticed that Darcy’s face was like a thunder cloud just as it had been that morning when they encountered him in the hall. I thought he hoped never to have another fit of temper like this again.

Before she could act, Darcy was across the room, growling in Mr Wickham’s ear and glaring at Mrs Younge. Mr Wickham smirked at him as he sauntered away. Darcy whispered to his sister, who quickly returned to her father and her cousin.

“Do you do that every time she makes a sound?” Elizabeth asked the horrid man when he–for some reason–returned directly to her side.

“I beg your pardon?” Darcy inquired, brow raised.

“I think that you actually wish for your poor sister to be too frightened to converse!” she exclaimed.

“What an accusation to make!” Darcy objected. “You cannot really believe it.”

“I think it would serve some men very well for their sisters to be timid and afraid of causing offence.” Elizabeth crossed her arms in defiance. “I am sure that a frightened girl who is eager to please must be very convenient for a brother who is very busy and has many concerns.”

“I wish you would not think so ill of me when I am trying to improve your opinion of my character,” he replied.

“Perhaps I would not if you were not such an ogre!”

“I beg your pardon, but I do not think it was actually my sister making that noise, nor did I admonish her, or even the other young ladies, which would not have been my place,” he defended himself. “I addressed the gentleman, who I assure you, knows better.”

“You were certainly effective at ending the conversation Miss Darcy was taking part in!” Elizabeth accused. “I did not like the tone of their conversation either, but I would never have made such a scene!”

“Well, perhaps you ought, whenever Mr Wickham approaches your sisters. You should not wish for them to be taken in!” said Darcy.

Elizabeth was struck by his words. “But, certainly he can mean no harm. He comes with your father!”

“Miss Elizabeth, I am ashamed that I must admit this to anyone, and I wish you would not repeat it. I only say it because there are so many young ladies in your family. Due to the condition of his heart, my father is very ill and ageing before his time. He clings to his attachment to a boy he once knew, and he cannot be moved from his belief in Wickham’s goodness. But I will not suffer the cad to consort with my sister, and neither should you.”

Elizabeth frowned as he left her to draw his sister into conversation, and the girl did not look at all distressed to converse with him. She looked at her own youngest sisters. Lydia and Kitty were told before they came that they would not be socialising with officers, and though the older sisters had danced with a few of the redcoats at assemblies, Charlotte had invited none to dine, nor had she accepted calls from the officers in the afternoon, citing her illness as a reason she must limit her callers. Elizabeth knew that the true reason was to prevent Kitty and Lydia from getting to know any of them well, and because Charlotte hoped that with their dowries, all of the girls would marry gentlemen with some prospects rather than an officer who needed their dowry to live on.

But they saw Mr Wickham often, for he frequently accompanied Darcy Senior, even though he quickly moved on to speak with ladies the moment they arrived anywhere.

As Georgiana spoke animatedly to her brother, Elizabeth realised that Mr Wickham mostly spoke to the younger girls and Mrs Younge, with whom he seemed to get on rather well. He was speaking with her again now, and Elizabeth saw that Darcy had noticed. The more she thought about it, the more she realised that Mr Wickham rarely approached her, or even Jane. He hardly even spent time by his godfather’s side, though that gentleman watched him often with obvious affection. But he charmed the youngest ladies endlessly, and they followed him like bees. She decided to warn Mary and Jane, and to keep a closer eye upon Mr Wickham.

Charlotte, unsure if Mr Darcy’s son would take to either of her eldest step-daughters, but certainly willing to try, had seated Darcy between Elizabeth and Jane, with Mr James on Elizabeth’s other side, and Mr Lovett as Jane’s other dinner partner. Elizabeth scowled at her stepmother for hemming her in. Charlotte had no idea what had happened earlier, but Elizabeth still did not appreciate being trapped through the entire meal.

Mr Wickham was seated between Mr Darcy and Mrs Younge. Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at how animatedly the two spoke. What was astonishing about this now that she had actually taken the trouble to notice it, was how odd this was for that lady’s character. Elizabeth and her sisters spent a great deal of time with the ladies of Darcy Cottage, and Mrs Younge was rarely in good spirits. She objected to nearly everything Georgiana wished to do, and she disliked her charge making new friends with anyone. Priscilla treated the woman as if she were only a necessary body required for propriety and completely ignored her. At first, Elizabeth had thought it cruel, but she understood it was due to the woman’s personality, not her station. Now Elizabeth realised–as she watched their conversation–that Mr Wickham seemed to be the only person of their acquaintance that Mrs Younge liked.

Elizabeth spent the night in misery, answering Mr James’s questions about the sights she had seen and what she still wished to do in Ramsgate. Then when the company turned, she had to do the same with Darcy, and though she had much to think about regarding his revelation about Mr Wickham, she still did not particularly wish to like him.

She was grateful to escape to the tea table in the drawing room, shooing Charlotte to a comfortable chair and insisting that her stepmother save her strength, for she usually retired immediately after the meal, and Jane had been taking over as hostess when they had guests.

But Jane was speaking with Mr Lovett, Mary, and Mr Painswick about a plan for an outing to a botanical garden, and Elizabeth appreciated the occupation of serving the tea. Eventually Mr James fell into discussion with her father and Darcy Senior about crop rotation, and Elizabeth was able to settle into a corner with Lady Priscilla and Miss Darcy.

“Miss Elizabeth, are you quite well? Will you forgive me for the abominable thing my brother said?” Miss Darcy embraced Elizabeth impulsively.

“As if you of all people should need forgiveness! Miss Darcy, I would never blame you for something done by another,” Elizabeth promised. “I have forgiven your brother as well, but I do wish he understood that I still need time for my temper to settle. As we have all witnessed, I have one of my own to contend with.”

“Miss Elizabeth, Will is the very best of men, I swear it to you!” Miss Darcy promised. “He has never spoken to me thus, not once! I have never even seen him properly angry about anything until this very day! It is true that he often avoids ladies, and society, but that is only because he was never ready to marry. He is not an ogre, I assure you. Only as protective as you are for his sister, and today he expressed it very badly.”

“She is not lying, or even misinformed,” Lady Priscilla added. “Darcy truly is the best of men. I was properly shocked by his conduct today. I would never have believed him capable.”

“I never thought I was capable of being so unladylike.” Elizabeth shook her head. “And in front of your father, who opened his study door and saw it all…I can only imagine what my father will say when yours tells him of it.”

“Perhaps they will be too busy speaking of the Roman Empire, like they usually are.” Lady Priscilla smirked. “Miss Elizabeth, I wish to invite you to address me informally. Please call me Priscilla, both in public and in private.”

“I would be honoured. But what gave you such an idea?” Elizabeth asked curiously.