Chapter 2

2

September 1811

D arcy sat quietly as Georgiana played the new Broadwood for him, and he sighed heavily as he listened. She was playing one of the recent Santorio compositions she'd been practicing, and this piece had a haunting sadness with undertones of anger threaded through it. It suited both their moods at the moment, though he wished she might choose one of his lighter, more cheerful, works. Darcy could not understand how any arrangement of notes could convey such emotions; but they certainly did.

The piece was as challenging as most of Santorio's works were, and it was taking all of his sister's concentration to play it as well as she could. Darcy had to be satisfied with that. If only it took as much concentration to listen. Darcy needed to stop thinking about Ramsgate.

The near loss of Georgiana — and that it had been Wickham, as well! That reprobate took up all his thoughts, and he wished with a fierce longing that he'd had the courage to let his cousin deal with the man once and for all.

Richard had scowled. "You will never be free of him, Darcy, unless you hand all dealings with him over to me."

Darcy had shaken his head. "Father loved him. I cannot forget that."

He shivered violently. Georgiana. He must listen to her play, and not allow his thoughts to wander. He had been there in time. She was not shackled to such a man. It might take longer, but she would get over the sadness of realising that all Wickham had wanted was her dowry, and he didn't love her as she had believed.

She would get over what had happened. Somehow, Darcy must ensure it. His sister was the only close family he had left. He smiled; Richard might be his cousin, but he was the brother Darcy had never had, and he was grateful.

Richard and Georgiana, they were all he really needed.

The music drew to a close, and Georgiana twisted on the stool towards him. "What did you think, William?"

He rose to his feet and crossed the room. "It is a beautiful piece, and you're playing as well as ever, my dear."

She looked back at the score. "I wonder what he was thinking about as he composed it? I think his sadness almost bleeds through the paper."

"Is it more that you are sad?" Darcy said thoughtfully.

Georgiana looked down. "I still can't say why I think it, but these works are nothing like the other composers I play. I know I must be wrong, but I keep thinking they might be composed by a lady. The rhythms seem so much to be … different. Emotional." She glanced up. "Have you had any luck with Mr. Gardiner? Will I be able to meet Santorio? I feel such an affinity for his music, and I'd like to tell him so."

Darcy patted her on the shoulder. "I have told you each time I've heard from Gardiner. He tells me when he will be publishing the next scores from him — and I am thankful that Pemberley can keep up with such a prolific composer. But Gardiner also tells me as his publisher, that all he knows is that Santorio is very reclusive and lives only for his music. It is not you he will not see, it is that he sees no one."

Georgiana drew breath to speak, and Darcy shook his head warningly. "No, my dear. Once you are older and are out in society, we might take a tour to Italy and see if we can find him. He may do concerts and the like; I don't know."

His sister subsided on the seat with a sigh. "You could take me now if you were married. But I know I would not be happy with any of the ladies I have seen Aunt Alice parade before you. What do they understand of music?"

"Quite." Darcy swallowed. He knew he ought to marry, but not one of the debutantes he'd met, not one of the relations of his friends and wider family. None of them stirred his senses enough for him to believe he might have that felicity in marriage as his parents had before him.

He glanced up at the clock. "Have you been playing long enough? Would you like to go out in the carriage? Perhaps you'd like to go to Gunter's for an ice. You have worked hard this morning and deserve a treat."

Georgiana's face lit up. "Oh, that would be lovely. I'll go and tell Mrs. Annesley that we are going out and will be back for lunch, and then I can do the forms of address with her this afternoon."

Darcy smiled as he went to order the coach be brought round, and request a servant go to Gunter's and ensure a table was free in a quiet corner. He hoped it wouldn't be too busy. Although Georgiana needed much of his attention and care, it meant the work was piling up in his library. However, he could spend the afternoon working and make some inroads on the pile of letters.

Their table was in the window at Gunter's, and they were served with flattering attention from the proprietor, despite the fact that the place was often frequented by many of the nobility. Darcy watched idly out of the window as his sister covertly examined the latest fashions adorning the rest of the clientele. No doubt she would sketch the details with Mrs. Annesley this afternoon and ask their aunt about what might be considered appropriate for her tender years.

"Darcy! I never thought I'd see you here." His friend Bingley beamed at him. "It must have been because I was just now wondering why you hadn't answered my letter. But I am forgetting myself." He turned to Georgiana and bowed extravagantly.

"Miss Darcy, I am delighted to encounter you today, and looking so well."

Georgiana blushed and looked down. She'd risen to her feet and curtsied before murmuring an inaudible greeting and retaking her seat.

Darcy was also on his feet. He shook Bingley's hand, glancing behind to check his friend's infernal sister wasn't with him. "It is good to see you, Bingley. I've not received a letter from you, unless it was very recent and I have not yet seen it." He indicated a chair. "If you are not meeting anyone else, perhaps you will join us, and explain why you wrote to me."

"If you have no objection, Miss Darcy?" Bingley looked at Georgiana, who blushed fiercely and shook her head, not raising her eyes.

Darcy repressed a sigh. His sister needed to come out of her shell, and Bingley — without his sister — was an amiable and friendly place to begin.

"I wrote a few days ago, Darcy, to explain that I have found the most wonderful estate to lease. It's only in Hertfordshire, so not too far from town, and I wrote to plead with you to follow up on your promise of the spring to come and stay with me to teach me how to manage an estate." Bingley had barely taken his seat before his words tumbled over each other, and he looked expectantly and hopefully across at his friend.

Darcy swallowed. That promise had been before Ramsgate; how could he now leave Georgiana? But his sister was looking over at him.

"I think that's a wonderful idea, William. You could do with some time in the country, and you've been so busy entertaining me these last weeks, you've made no time for yourself."

Bingley glanced from one to the other. "I have taken it from Michaelmas, Darcy, so you have until the end of the month to prepare. And I have been assured the shooting is excellent and the locals delightful." He was bouncing up and down with excitement.

Darcy glanced thoughtfully at his sister. She seemed quite at ease at the thought of him leaving town. And Richard was not about to leave for Spain. He frowned thoughtfully.

"Perhaps you can dine with me at White's tonight and we can discuss it," he suggested. It would give him time to ensure Georgiana's feelings about the matter first.

Her smile widened. "That's a good idea." She knew very well that if Darcy had invited his friend to dine with them at Darcy House, his sister would have assumed she was included in the invitation.

Bingley leapt to his feet. "Excellent! And I will bring a copy of the map and the lease. We can talk about it over the port."

Darcy and Georgiana laughed at each other as Bingley was out of the door like a whirlwind. She giggled. "He exhausts me, you know. Amiable and friendly; but he never stops moving." She shook her head. "Thank you for not inflicting Miss Bingley on us tonight."

Darcy nodded. "But I will have to endure her if I go to Hertfordshire." He grimaced, and she looked contrite.

"But you will be busy with Mr. Bingley on the estate and riding out and shooting parties. You can make quite clear to her that you have no intentions toward her at all." She leaned forward. "Just be careful. You must take Mr. Maunder to sleep in your chambers to protect you. I could not bear it if she compromised you."

He forced a smile. Perhaps if he could show utter disinterest for a few weeks, Miss Bingley might give up the idea of marrying him for his estate and wealth. "I will make sure she understands the hard work needed for the duties of the mistress of an estate."