Page 65 of The Scarred Duchess
Lady Matlock did not make second calls to those same addresses where Jane had been made uncomfortable. The tittle-tattle throughout thetongrew. Drawing rooms saw a reduction in attendance by male suitors. The accustomed ebb and flow of the Season had radically changed, and the cause was the country goddess every male desired and every miss resented.
The countess conceded to Miss Bennet’s plea for respite after the vicious reception she received at Lady Sarah Rawling’s ball. Miss Bennet had barely cleared the overdone receiving line—fourteen Rawlings to greet, it was unheard of and unseemly—before Lady Matlock overheard the poisonous comments trailing her protégée.
“Pardon me?” Lady Matlock did not smile.
“I beg your pardon, Lady Matlock.”
“Let us speak later, Lady Rawlings.”Wretched poseurs!
A clandestine sobriquetcirculated the ballrooms and parlours of the wealthiest of theton.Those degenerate, insipid, envious men and women placed gloved hands over venal lips while they whispered fabricatedon ditsof Miss Bennet. They had dubbed the Season’s potential Diamond of the First Water theScarred Lilyand gossiped that she hadcreated her own mythology by fabricating the story of her injuries.
That evening, Lady Matlock discussed the problem with Mrs Gardiner. “I fear Miss Bennet may forgo the rest of the Season,” she lamented.
“Her eligibility and connexions make as worthy a potential bride as any of the gentry or lower ranks of the aristocracy,” agreed her cousin.
The ladies agreed to seek help from Lord Matlock. He would know how to protect the once-in-a-generation beauty from theton.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
The seaside, Darcy was certain, would be good for his sister. It needed to be, for the pall of melancholy hung over her. Georgiana had left school, eager to learn but driven to tears by the cruelty of other girls. Their father, distracted by estate issues that seemed to force his attendance at Pemberley or in Scotland, confessed he was unable to understand the mind of a young girl and turned to Darcy to manage Georgiana’s education. Darcy had been fortunate to find his sister skilled masters and a warm, intelligent, and attentive companion in Mrs Annesley, and to have his aunts avail themselves to help guide the shy girl. Her disfigurement was less pronounced than it had been as a babe, thanks to the skilled hands of a surgeon, but she would always have a scar marring her bow lips.
Perfection is dull, he told himself—and Georgiana, whenever she was melancholy about her appearance.It is our flaws and errors which give us depth and make us interesting.
Now she was fifteen, and although lonely, eager to see a little more of the world beyond Derbyshire, Kent, andLondon. Georgiana was to go to Ramsgate and enjoy the sights and sea air. Darcy joined her in her sitting room the day before her departure. “I am sending Reeves with you, of course.”
“But I have my abigail and Mrs Annesley.”
Darcy took her hand and guided her to her sofa; he called for Mrs Annesley to join them. “It is time for you to fully understand notwhoyou are butwhatyou are in the eyes of those with dishonourable intentions.”
He sighed, not wishing to frighten her away from venturing out into society or from making new acquaintances. He certainly did not want to paint all of society in a bad light, even if much of it was beneath the moral standards instilled in him by his father. “I know you have read some novels,” Darcy began, “and their tales of villains and endangered heiresses is based on some truths.”
Gently, he explained the questionable behaviours of peers, and the rogues and ne’er-do-wells who inveigled their way into innocent girls’ hearts, vowing love, romance, and all that followed, including the ruin of entire families, as the sin of a fallen sister contaminated all her relatives equally, and the casting out of the victim by her family because of social shunning.
When he finished, Georgiana stared wide-eyed, her handkerchief wrinkled and damp from the agitation of her hands. “How shall I ever believe a man is sincere in his interests?” she asked. “Look at me. It is surely not my beauty which will draw a gentleman to me—I am hideous.”
“Youare a gift from God.” He tapped her nose.
“You are too good.”
“As are you, sweetling.” Darcy paused, touched by the trust in his innocent sister’s expression, before adding one more caution. “Some men turn to robbery and burglary.Others are so truly desperate, they attempt kidnapping women or children to earn ransoms.”
Georgiana gasped. “Yes, I have read of such things in my novels.”
It disgusted him. Kidnapping was a misdemeanour under common law. The guilty, if captured, were liable to be fined at the very worst. Without the deterrence of a felony classification and its severe punishments, debt-ridden estate owners or tradesmen would hire thugs to abduct and hold unprotected heiresses. The ensuing threat of scandalous compromise would lead to marriage and unrestricted access to the woman’s fortune.
He was careful not to say too much, only to caution Georgiana yet again to be aware of new acquaintances who seemed too eager and never to wander away alone from their lodgings. “Much as I may fear your being importuned—what elder brother to a beautiful young girl would not—our Mrs Annesley has assured me of your intelligence and your understanding of what being a Darcy means.”
“I shall be careful, and would entertain no one without your presence!”
“Indeed.” He kissed her hand and stood. “And Sergeant Reeves shall ensure that you never have to consider such.”
Georgiana exited Ramsgate’s circulating library ahead of Reeves, who held open the door. She thought his regard for her safety excessive, but she would never gainsay her brother. After all, she did in fact feel safer in Reeves’s presence. From the corner of her eye, she observed someone duck back into the alley across the street from where they exited the library.She stopped and pivoted, putting Mrs Annesley’s back in that direction, and continued their conversation. Seconds later, a woman peeked out from the building’s corner. Georgiana lowered her eyes and remained still.
“Miss Darcy?” asked Mrs Annesley.
Georgiana knew what to do. Her brother had warned her, and his cautions were warranted. She peered back over her shoulder.
“Mr Reeves, I fear I am in danger,” she whispered. The perfection of a seaside summer immediately evaporated. She longed for Fitzwilliam and Pemberley.
