A Midsummer Christmas

Part 14

"Well?"

Elizabeth could not help but turn triumphantly to Darcy, although she voiced her one-word question in an almost silent whisper. Darcy seemed to grasp it all the same. His response was unreadable, though. He tilted his head very slightly, his gaze sliding from Lizzy to Georgiana and back again. His eyes widened almost imperceptibly.

You cannot bear to admit that I am right! Lizzy thought but did not say. How anybody could have witnessed this evening's performance as anything other than a declaration of deep affection, Elizabeth did not know. And now, to see the way Georgiana gazed at the sleeping Colonel Fitzwilliam. It was pure poetry!

"Well," Darcy said, his voice echoing over loud in the silent parlour.

"Well!" Richard shuffled upright, stifling another yawn with the back of his hand before grinning boyishly around the room. "I am for my bed! Dreadfully indecorous to lie here snoring in a room full of people." He stood, swayed slightly, and regained his equilibrium. "Forgive me. My old military bones cannot get used to this slow-paced country life!"

"It is a lack of exercise!" Lizzy declared, pulling the idea from nowhere. "We shall put you to work tomorrow, Colonel Fitzwilliam! Do not forget you offered to accompany Georgiana and me on our visits throughout the estate."

"Indeed, I have not forgotten it." He bowed to each lady in turn. "I look forward to a fine day of society and charity and your good company. Darcy." Saluting his cousin, he made his way out of the room and they heard his slow step on the staircase before Lizzy dared to glance in Georgiana's direction. Her sister-in-law was not aware she was being observed, for her gaze was fixed on the point in the room lately occupied by Colonel Fitzwilliam as he made his departure. A hint of a smile teased at Georgiana's lips, her eyes bright as they followed a line of thoughts only she could see.

She is in love! Lizzy longed to rejoice but did her best to remain stoic. She recalled Jane in those first heady days after meeting Mr Bingley and fancied she could see the very same love story playing out before her now. Only with a few minor alterations. There would be no misunderstanding, no separation, no dreadful Mr Darcy... Lizzy bit her lip. When Jane's love story did not immediately resolve in her favour, she placed the blame squarely on Darcy's shoulders, never once dreaming that she, Lizzy, would one day end up married to the man she vehemently disliked. I did not know him then, she reflected, her words a balm for the shame she still felt at underestimating her husband for so long upon their first acquaintance. I understand him better now. This thought was not entirely the comfort it ought to have been. Yes, she knew him better, but that did not mean he would not see his way to interfering in his sister's happiness. He cares so much for Georgiana, and for Colonel Fitzwilliam too. Surely he must see that they will be perfectly matched! And if Georgiana cares for her cousin as I fancy she does then Darcy will want nothing more than to secure her future happiness.

The clock on the mantel chimed and the sound of it broke Georgiana's apparent reverie. Smiling at Elizabeth, she stood.

"I think I will follow Richard's lead. After all, we shall have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow."

"Indeed we shall!" Lizzy said, standing and embracing Georgiana. She felt a sudden flash of affection for the young lady who had become as dear to her as her own sisters. "How kind of Colonel Fitzwilliam to offer to accompany us!"

"You did not afford him very much choice, my dear."

"He might have refused!" Lizzy would not let her husband pour cold water on what, to her, seemed clear evidence of Colonel Fitzwilliam's affections for Georgiana. "Sleep well, Georgie dear. See you tomorrow!"

Georgiana bade her brother goodnight and made her way upstairs, leaving Lizzy and Darcy alone in the quiet parlour. Elizabeth turned to survey her husband, whose own features were shadowy with concentration.

"Is something wrong?" Lizzy was not sure she wanted to know the answer and braced for something unpleasant. "Don't be too disapproving of me, my love, for you must see that I have your sister's happiness as my chief concern. Whatever else I may wish to see happen during Colonel Fitzwilliam's stay."

"I know it." Darcy stood and held out his arms for Elizabeth to fold herself into as they made their way towards the door. "And who is to say what will happen? Maybe you are right." He drew in a breath and Lizzy turned to look at him.

"But you do not think so!" She was all accusation and softened it with a smile. "You still think I am seeing romance where there is nought but friendship."

"I think you are seeing romance where they may well be romance. For Georgiana, at least..." This last was uttered in little more than a whisper, and it took Elizabeth a moment to digest the full meaning of her husband's words. She moved away from him, staring at him in shock.

"You think Colonel Fitzwilliam does not care for Georgiana?"

She had spoken louder than she meant to, and Darcy cast a wary look overhead but when no sound came he replied in a low voice not designed to carry.

"He cares for her as he ought. As a cousin, as a friend..." He shrugged his shoulders. "I do not see him forming a romantic attachment to her. How can he? They have known each other all their lives!"

"Sometimes that can lead to the very greatest of affections," Lizzy said, stubbornly. "I had a friend who -"

"Oh, I am sure there are hundreds of happy matches up and down the country made between just such old acquaintances." He smiled, half-heartedly. "Recall that I was poised to be one of them! But I never could bring myself to think of Anne de Bourgh as anything other than my cousin Anne."

"That is different!" Lizzy protested, but the sorrowful look in her husband's eyes stopped her from mounting an argument.

"Let us not interfere, Lizzy. It may backfire on us if we do. And hasn't Georgiana had enough heartache to last a lifetime? We oughtn't to go seeking out more for her."

They said nothing more on the matter, but it returned to Elizabeth late in the night. She lay awake and restless, thinking over their conversation and revisiting the happy future she had planned in her imagination for Georgiana and Colonel Fitzwilliam and wondered if she had based the whole thing on her foolish dreams. I know what I saw, she told herself stubbornly, as she recalled the lovesick expression on Georgiana's face. This did little to settle her conscience, though, for her husband's words haunted her. Hasn't Georgiana had enough heartache to last a lifetime? This much was true, and it made Lizzy's own heart hurt in sympathy. If Georgiana had begun to care for Colonel Fitzwilliam then he must - he would! - be made to love her in return. It shouldn't be too difficult. He already values her as a cousin and as a friend. Surely that is three steps towards love, to begin with!