Page 8 of The Blackmail of Mr. Darcy
They played the C major scale, both girls automatically adding chords with their left hands, then moved on to D major. Elizabeth began to sing a Ben Johnson poem:
Drink to me only with thine eyes
And I will pledge with mine
And leave a kiss but in the cup
And I’ll not look for wine….
Georgiana began to play the left-hand chords asarpeggios, and the results of the poetry and the beginnings of complexity in the left hand made it feel as if they were playing actual music, or so Elizabeth told herself. She segued from “Drink to Me Only” to “His Excuse for Loving,” also by Mr. Johnson, and Georgiana began to giggle even as she made herarpeggiosmore complex. Elizabeth could not laugh while singing, but she continued to look over to Georgiana with mirthful eyes. She dared not raise her eyes to whatever dagger-looks Miss Bingley might be sending their way, but she was only downstairs, here in this room, on behalf of Georgiana, and she was willing to withstand others’ disapprobation as long as she helped her shy new friend.
When they finished, both laughing, Elizabeth and Georgiana stood up and bowed. Elizabeth was shocked to see every man in the room—even Mr. Hurst, who had been asleep when they began—standing and clapping. Mr. Bingley said, “That was so delightful to see you ladies having so much fun together!” Mr. Hurst nodded and smiled as widely as his brother. Elizabeth realised that she had never seen Mr. Hurst smile before.
She chanced a look at Mr. Darcy. He was smiling, too; although his smile was so small and enigmatic, it might be more accurate to say that he wassort ofsmiling. His gaze seemed intense, and she found that she could not look away. He mouthed the words, “Thank you.”
“Well!” Miss Bingley said tersely.
Elizabeth led Georgiana back to the sofa they had shared before they had stunned the room with their performance of the musical scales. Miss Bingley hurried to the pianoforte and began to play very competently, with well-nigh perfect technique but no feeling whatsoever, Mozart'sPiano Sonata No. 8 in A Minor.
Georgiana leant towards Elizabeth and whispered, “Thank you so much! That was so much fun. I never really thought about it before, but even if we had made mistakes, it would not have mattered much to anybody. They just liked that we were enjoying what we were doing, as Mr. Bingley said.”
“You are correct about your latter point,” Elizabeth replied with a quiet chuckle, “but I assure you that there was no need for the words ‘even if,’ because I did make a few mistakes. Luckily, your playing covered for me!”
When Miss Bingley finished, Mr. Darcy stood, clapping briefly before approaching his sister. “You did very well, Georgie. I hope you will have more fun with the pianoforte, in the future, rather than only work at proficiency.”
“Thank you, Brother.” Georgiana smiled and said, “Can I go up now?”
“Please wait until our hostess is done playing her second piece, so you can say a proper good night.”
They all turned towards the instrument, on which Miss Bingley was now pounding out Haydn'sPiano Sonata Hob. XVI:50 in C Major.Her expression was fierce. Everyone clapped when she finished, and then both Georgiana and Elizabeth made their excuses to retire for the night.
Mr. Darcy followed them out of the room and stopped them at the bottom of the stairway. “Miss Elizabeth, I must thank you again for your kindness. And your good humour.”
“I truly enjoy Miss Darcy’s company, sir. It is not a hardship to rescue her two or three times a day.” Georgiana laughed with Elizabeth. Mr. Darcy’s small smile had reached his eyes, and he looked at his sister with so much affection that Elizabeth felt something shift inside. Something that said that perhaps this was not an unpleasant man at all. Perhaps he was a pleasant man who, one night, had behaved uncharacteristically badly–very badly, to be honest.
He looked back at Elizabeth again, his intense eyes so dark they were hard to read. He said, “You have a lovely singing voice, Miss Elizabeth.” His smile flickered into a wider, dimple-displaying smile, but then disappeared altogether as he said drily, “I have rarely heard Mr. Johnson’s verse put to music so well.”
“I warrant you haveneverbefore heard Mr. Johnson’s esteemed poetry put to music,” Elizabeth said with a grin. “And, Georgiana, do you think we can rightly call what we played music?”
Georgiana’s laugh was fuller than her giggles, and Elizabeth decided that eliciting that laugh would be her new goal. Georgiana said, “It was at least music-adjacent!”
The two then bid Mr. Darcy good night one more time and mounted the stairway. Georgiana surprised Elizabeth with a hug as she parted from her. “I hope your sister continues to improve,” she said.
Jane’s feverbroke around midnight, and not long after that Elizabeth finally relaxed enough to fall asleep herself in the adjoining bedroom she had been assigned.
Elizabeth slept past dawn, which was unusual for her. She threw on a dressing gown and hurried into Jane’s room to check on her, finding her still sleeping.
Just like the morning before, Susan was there, and she reported that Jane had not coughed as much as the first night. However, she had started coughing more in the past hour, although her fever had not risen again.
Elizabeth asked Susan to stay with her sister a few more minutes while she got dressed; she returned to a still-sleeping Jane with the two books, a hairbrush, and the intention of asking for trays for breakfast. Susan left and promised to send the food up.
Before long, Jane woke up with a coughing fit, and Elizabeth patted her back and dosed her with the apothecary’s draught. Soon their breakfasts and tea arrived, and they ate together.
Thinking that Jane would have a good long session of being awake, Elizabeth was looking forward to reading more of the novel, but almost as soon as her sister had swallowed her thin gruel and her honey-laden tea, she fell asleep. She continued to move around in discomfort every time she coughed, but the coughing did not fully wake her. Finally, about half an hour after she had gone to sleep, the medicine kicked in, and Jane fell into a deeper and hopefully more restful sleep—with no coughing.
Elizabeth longed to take a walk, so she pulled the cord and arranged for Susan to watch Jane sleep while she did so. She quickly put on her bonnet, gloves, and pelisse, and she went to the kitchen garden and from there walked towards the maze.
As always, she set a brisk walking pace and soon saw Mrs. Hurst walking in the same direction. She greeted her politely but passed her. Soon she saw Miss Bingley and Georgianawalking together, ahead of where she forged up the trail. As she approached them from behind, Elizabeth could hear Miss Bingley talking to the younger girl in a scolding voice.
