Page 4 of Losing Lizzy
Tears had filled his eyes and hers. “You are correct. The deed is done, and I could have come home to find a complete stranger installed in my house as your husband.” He reached across the space to pat the back of her hand in reassurance. “It will simply take me a bit of time to adjust my thinking. In my mind, you were still to be my sixteen-year-old younger sister. However, now that I think upon it, you will celebrate your twentieth birthday soon. It grieves me I lost those years where you blossomed into an extraordinary young woman. I am assumingyou were not permitted a Come Out.”
Georgiana shook off the idea. “I was never expected to take well anyway. You know how shy I am around new people, and, although Lady Matlock offered to bring me out, I kept telling everyone I could not think of marriage until I knew something of your fate.” Darcy had hoped his marriage to Elizabeth would have aided Georgiana’s Come Out. Elizabeth would have been more than his wife: She would have been Georgiana’s elder sister, a woman who could have guided his sister through the intricacies of Society’s many whims and provided Georgiana the confidence to shine.
Darcy looked again upon his cousin. “I have much to learn of what has occurred in my absence, but it appears I am deeper in your debt, sir.”
Georgiana motioned the colonel to sit beside her. Then she asked what Darcy knew she would. “Please. I must know what happened to you.”
Darcy provided them an accounting of his abduction and his life uponThe Lost Sparrowand his escape nearly a month removed. He, naturally, omitted the parts of what he had endured, attempting to spare her the worst of his condition when he was pulled from the icy waters of the Atlantic; however, from the look upon Fitzwilliam’s countenance and the manner in which his cousin studied Darcy, he suspected the colonel had read between the lines to hold a better understanding of what occurred. Darcy did not tell either of them how his back was riddled with scars from the captain’s cat-o’-nine-tails before he gave up fighting his kidnappers and waited for his opportunity to escape. For his insolence, for a long time, he thoroughly expected his captors to kill him, but, then, he had taken a different approach. Realizing he would never be permitted on the deck until he quit “fighting” his abductors, Darcy had settled into ship life. As he had often traveled on his yacht, he knew something of sailing and maneuvering a vessel upon the open sea. Using that knowledge, he had slowly won the respect and the acceptance of many in the crew, but never that of the captain and his first mate.That is when he came to the conclusion that his being taken had been purposeful.
He was just about to ask Georgiana what she knew of Elizabeth, when Mr. Jones announced the Earl of Matlock. His lordship quickly crossed the room to catch Darcy up in a very masculine embrace, which Darcy did not return. Behind him, he heard Fitzwilliam and Georgiana rise to their feet.
“I could not believe my ears when I heard the news of your return,” the earl declared. “Permit me to look at you.” Darcy presented his uncle a look of contempt, but Matlock evidently ignored the warning by design. “You do not appear worse for the wear.”
Darcy said blandly. “I suppose are you correct if one considers I am, at least, fifty pounds lighter, my skin is so tanned from the sun, it will likely remain so for the remainder of my days, and there is not an inch of skin on my back not raised with scars.”
Georgiana gasped, and Darcy instantly regretted he had spoken so plainly before her.
“There is no reason to speak so cruelly,” the earl warned.
“I have lost nearly four years of my life,” Darcy hissed. “I returned home to learn how your and Lady Catherine’s plans for my sister overrode those of my own. You knew I would never have tolerated an alliance with the like of Lindale for Georgiana.”
Matlock shot a look of contempt to his youngest son. “My sister and I only wished to protect the Fitzwilliam family—your family.”
“Do not think I believe your motives based in genuine concern,” Darcy countered. “Your protest has problems with its reasoning: You willfully ignored what George Darcy designed for his son and daughter. Georgiana and I are Darcys,” he declared in anger.
Matlock pulled himself up to his full height. “You and Georgiana are Lady Anne Fitzwilliam’s children. You are part of my family. I take those responsibilities seriously.”
“You fool only yourself with your declarations.” Darcywas not intimidated by his uncle because Darcy’s anger and his stubbornness were natural complements derived from both his parents. “Lady Anne agreed with her husband’s estimation of the Fitzwilliam family. I was in her bedroom, at her side while she was dying. My mother begged my father to see that Georgiana and I were protected from the earldom.” He glanced to his sister for permission to continue, and she lifted her chin in a beautiful act of defiance, one he had missed while away at sea. He continued, “Although I have always been grateful for your patronage, I have spent twenty years of my life without my mother’s influence, and Georgiana does not recall one day with Lady Anne. Her memories of our mother are all borrowed from those who knew your younger sister. Therefore, we are Darcys, and my father had distinct plans for both of us.”
“Such as your marrying that woman from Hertfordshire?” the earl accused. “You cannot tell me George Darcy would have approved of that woman or her family.”
Darcy growled,“That womanwould have been the greatest gift I could ever have known. My parents would have adored her, for the lady made me happy. I would advise you to keep your opinion of Miss Elizabeth Bennet to yourself.”
“Well, I see I am no longer welcomed in my sister’s house.” Matlock glanced about the room as if waiting for someone to deny his assumption, but no one did. Therefore, the earl turned his disapprobation on Fitzwilliam. “I pray you will not deny your mother the pleasure of knowing her first grandchild.”
“The countess will be made aware of when Mrs. Fitzwilliam is to deliver,” Fitzwilliam said evenly. “My wife and I have discussed it. We would wish the countess present.”
“But not the rest of the family?” the earl accused.
“Although my mother would never wish another bride upon me, for she has always adored Georgiana, the countess has readily admitted she had hoped for a different outcome for both of us.” Fitzwilliam reached for Georgiana’s hand, which Darcy’s sister readily provided, a telling sign of Georgiana’s tender feelings for her husband. Darcy’s acceptance of their marriagetook root. “I love my wife, but I am grieved that she never had a Season—never knew the time when the world could look upon her and discover her brilliant talents and her kind spirit, and all because of the manipulations of my family.”
Georgiana looked lovingly on her husband and spoke with equal clarity. “From the time I was fifteen, my greatest wish was to be the colonel’s wife,” she said softly, a slight blush marking her cheeks. “Yet, it grieves me he had to abandon his military career to save me in my brother’s absence from those who professed to love me. To save me from the people who should have thought to protect me. From those who should have consulted me on how I viewed my future. My father chose wisely when he named Fitzwilliam, along with Darcy, as my guardians, Perhaps, he suspected what was to come. And although I doubt he thought we would become husband and wife, I like to think he would have approved if we had had the opportunity to ask his permission. Unfortunately, we will never know George Darcy’s thoughts on the matter. I pray he would not know disappointment in his daughter’s choice.”
Darcy smiled at the pair. Though he had not been happy to learn that Georgiana had lost so much while he had been imprisoned onThe Lost Sparrow, he said, “In my humble opinion, it was as if George Darcy had anticipated what others would plan for his daughter’s future and chose a man of honor to protect her when I could not.”
Matlock scowled at them all. “Then I will take my leave. I know when I am not welcome in a household. Inform me when you come to your senses, Darcy, and understand I acted to protect the family.” With that, he was gone.
Darcy, his cousin, and Georgiana remained silent until they heard the front door slam into place. As Georgiana turned into her husband’s ready embrace, Darcy crossed to pull the bell cord. “Do you know how to reach Mr. Thacker, Jasper, and Samuels?” he asked without turning to look upon the Fitzwilliams’ intimate pose. He knew it would make him sad to view Georgiana, so like a lady, instead of the young girl he had left behind, and to think itshould be he and Elizabeth seeking comfort in each other’s arms.
When Darcy finally turned around, Fitzwilliam appeared confused. “Jasper and Samuels traveled with us from Pemberley. They are below stairs. As to Mr. Thacker, I imagine the information is in your ledger. I understand he took another position, one of less standing. Your secretary handled many of the details in those early days of our searching for you. Why is this so important?”
Darcy did not have an opportunity to explain before Mr. Jones stepped into the room. “You rang, Mr. Darcy?”
Darcy turned his full anger upon the man. “Yes, Jones. I want you and the two new footmen out of my house within an hour. Otherwise, I will summon the magistrate and have you forcibly removed.”
“Pardon?” the butler asked in flustered tones.
“I will explain once more so you are not mistaken of my intent: You and the two footmen have been dismissed with no letters of reference, that is, unless you can convince Lord Matlock to provide one, for you are, obviously, more dedicated to his patronage than you are to the Darcys’ interests. I will have no one in my employ who is not loyal to me and my family. There was no means for the earl to learn so quickly of my return without someone within this household sending him word. Whether that person was you or someone you oversee, Darcy business has no place on the lips of Society. Your services are no longer required in my home.”
