Page 108 of Near Pemberley

Chapter XXIII

The following morning arrived bright and warm, though Elizabeth noticed little of either.

Mrs. Gardiner attempted conversation more than once during the drive, but with limited success. Elizabeth answered when required and even occasionally managed to smile, yet her thoughts remained elsewhere. Lydia was only minutes away. After everything that had happened – the fear, the uncertainty, the dreadful imaginings of the past weeks – she was finally going to see her sister… and Mr. Darcy.

Mrs. Gardiner announced that they were very near.

Elizabeth felt her heart quicken.

Mrs. Gardiner reached across and briefly squeezed her hand. “She is just a little thinner, but I was told she is quickly regaining her usual form.”

Elizabeth nodded.

Thinner. She cursed Wickham.

The carriage drew to a halt before Darcy’s townhouse.

Elizabeth glanced up at the building as the carriage stopped. It was an elegant house, standing quietly amongst its neighbours, and yet she found herself looking at it with an odd sense of wonder. Somewhere behind those windows, Lydia waited for her, and Mr. Darcy had made it possible.

Before the footman had fully lowered the steps, the front door opened.

Elizabeth’s breath caught.

Miss Darcy descended the steps with an eagerness that immediately banished any concern for formality. “Mrs. Gardiner. Miss Bennet.” She greeted them warmly, then turned at once to Elizabeth. “She has been asking whether you had arrived every quarter of an hour since breakfast.”

The remark was accompanied by such affectionate exasperation that Elizabeth could not help smiling. “Lydia?”

“Who else?” Georgiana laughed. “I finally told her that if she continued watching from the window, she would wear a path into the carpet.”

The ease with which she spoke of Lydia touched Elizabeth more deeply than she could express.

How strange life was. Only a few months ago, she had scarcely known Miss Darcy. Now her youngest sister was living beneath the same roof and being cared for as a friend.

Georgiana’s expression softened. “She is nervous.”

“So am I.”

That confession appeared to relieve Georgiana considerably. “Good. Then perhaps neither of you will feel obliged to pretend otherwise.”

Mrs. Gardiner laughed. “I begin to think, Miss Darcy, that you understand both my nieces remarkably well.”

A faint blush coloured Georgiana’s cheeks. “Perhaps a little.” She offered her arm to Elizabeth. “Come. She is waiting in the morning room. After a few minutes, we will leave you to visit in private. Mrs. Gardiner, I thought I could show you the conservatory.”

Both ladies agreed. Together they entered the house.

The elegance of the interior scarcely registered. Nor did the flowers arranged in the hall, though Mrs. Gardiner noticed them immediately and allowed herself the smallest smile. The arrangement looked suspiciously fresh for a household not ordinarily expecting company.

Neither lady remarked upon it.

“Thank you for helping my sister. It is remarkable that under the circumstances, you even want her here.”

Georgiana stopped and, for a moment, examined her shoes. Then she looked up. “I could not do otherwise. We… we are helping each other.”

Elizabeth looked at the girl next to her. She knew what she spoke of, though she doubted Miss Darcy knew that she knew. Their situation was not the same. Oh, but she was lucky to have a brother like Mr. Darcy! She patted Georgiana’s hand on her arm.

As they crossed towards the morning room, Elizabeth became increasingly aware of the sound of her own heartbeat.

The door stood partially open. Beyond it, she could hear movement. Then a voice. Lydia’s voice.