Chapter Thirteen

M iss Amberley's drawing room was a flurry of chattering ladies. Colourful muslins and silks rustled as the ladies from Carlisle House entered, all of it fading away as the previous visitors exited. Elizabeth was dismayed to see that they would be suffering this visit alone, as her expectations for congenial conversation were not high. Miss Amberley had been a student at Mrs. Buxton's Academy for Girls, but although Lady Henrietta had never treated her well, Miss Amberley had always attempted to gain her approval. Neither Elizabeth nor Jane wanted to pay this call, but Miss Amberley's parents were friends of Lord and Lady Carlisle, and appearances had to be maintained.

Elizabeth glanced behind her, where the front doors were still open, and watched Lady Carlisle's coach pull away past a carriage that had been sitting in the front of the building when they arrived. The countess would travel a few blocks away to have her own visit and then return for the three of them. The sound of clumping boots on the marble made her turn her head to see Laramie stationing himself across the hall from the drawing room. She flashed him a smile before entering. He never smiled back, but sometimes she imagined that he had .

"My dear Miss Hamilton," Miss Amberley called, rising to greet them, one hand outstretched in welcome. She glanced at Jane and Elizabeth. "I expected you earlier, but here you are. And your friends." Her gaze moved between Jane and Elizabeth before she turned back to Amelia.

"But you are acquainted with Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth Bennet. We were all at school together," Amelia said.

Miss Amberley wrinkled her nose slightly, but clearly not wishing to offend a niece of Lady Carlisle's, nodded. "Do sit down."

Just as they did, three other ladies entered the room, and Elizabeth's heart sank.

"Lady Henrietta!" Miss Amberley exclaimed. "How kind of you to call."

Elizabeth had hoped this dreaded first meeting would occur on somewhat more neutral ground, but of course Miss Amberley would wish to have it take place in her drawing room. She had invited them for this purpose, and thank heavens they were later than expected, or there would have been a great many other visitors to witness it. Given that Lady Henrietta was known for not visiting with women who had no title of their own, Miss Amberley had secured herself a patroness by serving them up in such a way.

Elizabeth felt foolish—the coach sitting at the front of the house had not been waiting for its owner to return. It had been Lady Henrietta, not deigning to enter until she saw her prey arrive.

"Good day, Miss Darcy," Miss Amberley said sweetly. "Your cousin was telling me just the other day about your love for music and I begged her to bring you with her next time she came."

"Miss Amberley," Miss Darcy murmured, and the three of them curtsied. Miss Darcy's brows pinched together as she glanced between her cousin and the others .

"Will you introduce me to your friends, Lady Henrietta?" Miss Darcy inquired.

Perhaps it was only that they were in public, but Elizabeth certainly hoped that Miss Darcy was not required to call her cousin by her honorific at home as well.

Lady Henrietta frowned. "They are acquaintances at most."

"Truly?" Amelia inquired. "I am sorry to hear that, for we were at school together, Miss Darcy, and I recall your cousin very well."

Jane nudged Elizabeth slightly with her elbow, and the two exchanged a fleeting glance. Amelia, for all her giggling and innocent gossip, was becoming a formidable friend, and with a few more years in the ton, she would be nigh unstoppable.

"But my brother knows them all, does he not?" Miss Darcy asked, bemused.

"Your brother did speak of meeting them, but I doubt that they are anything but the merest acquaintances."

"Like you and Elizabeth?" Amelia asked.

"Amelia," Elizabeth said warningly.

"Ladies," Jane said firmly, and Elizabeth was grateful. This was not an appropriate time or place to debate what had happened at school years ago. If she had her wish, it would never be discussed again.

Amelia subsided, but Lady Henrietta glared at Jane. "You are in no position to chastise me, Miss Bennet. I would ask you not to make the mistake of doing so again."

"I cannot imagine what you mean," Jane said innocently. "I would never wish to offend you, Lady Henrietta." For this she earned a cold stare, but her expression remained serene.

Lady Henrietta exercised some power in the ton, but her few truly intimate friends were unlikely to be anyone Elizabeth or her sister cared to know. They had the sponsorship of Lord and Lady Carlisle, and the countess had proved herself more adept at the stemming of gossip than Lady Henrietta was at spreading it. Most of Lord Matlock's family did not seem to be supportive of Lady Henrietta's disdain, and they had several friends in town now. In that sense at least, they were on more even ground with Lady Henrietta than when they had been at school together. She wondered if that accounted for Lady Henrietta's most recent vitriol—she could not be pleased that those she had disdained had been so warmly welcomed into her society.

Miss Darcy shifted uncomfortably, and Elizabeth's heart went out to her. She could tell that the young woman, still a girl, really, had been made anxious by the tension in the room.

"I do know your brother, Miss Darcy, as well as your other cousins, and even your uncle is not unknown to me. As unusual as it may be, I would be pleased to introduce myself to you if you would like."

"I beg your pardon, Miss Elizabeth," Miss Amberley stated with some affront.

"Yes, Miss Amberley?" Elizabeth asked sweetly. Her inquiry, however, was overrun by Lady Henrietta's snide retort.

"They are from the country," Lady Henrietta said to her friend. "You can hardly expect better."

Miss Amberley turned up her nose and addressed Elizabeth. "Perhaps you were unaware, but introductions are my office as hostess."

As if they were unaware. But if Elizabeth waited for Miss Amberley to introduce them she would be waiting forever.

"Oh, please do introduce us," Miss Darcy said, causing Lady Henrietta to frown and leaving Miss Amberley no choice but to comply.

Elizabeth decided that she liked Mr. Darcy's sister very much .

These introductions were completed quickly, and they were all finally invited to sit. To her cousin's clear annoyance, Miss Darcy took a chair next to Elizabeth and nearest the door, while Jane and Amelia sat on the settee with Lady Henrietta.

"Country gowns," Miss Amberley was saying. "Those Harris girls, you know." Elizabeth ignored them, knowing that the two women were in fact speaking of her and Jane. It was all foolishness, but Miss Darcy frowned and glanced at her own clothes.

"Miss Amberley said that you are very fond of music?" Elizabeth inquired in order to distract her.

Miss Darcy blinked. "Yes."

"Do you have a favourite composer?"

"No."

Lady Henrietta glanced over at them and smirked before returning to her conversation with Miss Amberley. Jane and Amelia were attentive, but apparently not required to participate.

"I myself am fond of Clementi." Elizabeth hoped that this would prompt Miss Darcy to speak a little more.

The girl looked up, her posture relaxing a bit. "I do like Clementi. I am working on his Sonata opus 26 just now."

"The opening to that piece is so clever," Elizabeth replied.

"It is!" Miss Darcy nearly beamed. "He lifts the spirits."

Elizabeth wondered why Miss Darcy, of all people, might require such a thing, but immediately chastised herself. Wealth did not solve every problem. Everyone needed something to make them feel lighter from time to time.

"I do not practice nearly as much as I should since we have come to London," she confessed, "but I really ought to make the time. I am not naturally gifted at the pianoforte, so I must not neglect it."

"I would not say that I am gifted either," Miss Darcy said quietly, "though my brother always praises me. I feel it is too much, sometimes."

Elizabeth was sympathetic. "It can be difficult to perform to his standards, then?"

"Oh no," Miss Darcy said, her expression earnest. "My brother is an excellent man. It is only . . . he thinks more highly of my talent than it deserves, and I fear I must disappoint when he asks me to perform for others. I do love to play, though."

"Whereas I love having mastered a piece, but not so much the learning of it." Elizabeth was pleased to see a very small smile appear on Miss Darcy's countenance. "You must come visit us at Carlisle House and we can play music together. Perhaps you will teach me to enjoy scales."

"Oh, I would enjoy that, but I am not truly out," Miss Darcy said softly. "My brother only allowed me to come today because Miss Amberley is Lady Henrietta's friend, and she is my cousin. You may require more practice on the pianoforte, but he believes that I require more practice with other ladies."

"Did he say that?" Elizabeth was both aghast and amused.

"No, of course not," Miss Darcy said with a very quiet chuckle. "But I can tell."

Elizabeth considered this for a moment and decided that propriety might not be the best way to reach Miss Darcy. "I have a question to ask you, Miss Darcy. Please feel free to be frank—I will not be offended. May I?"

"Yes," Miss Darcy said softly.

"You do not know me well, but if he approved, would visiting with me, my sister, Miss Hamilton, and perhaps a few more of our friends be at all palatable to you? "

The girl hesitated, and just as Elizabeth was about to withdraw and beg pardon for her presumption, Miss Darcy nodded. "But my brother may not allow it. He does know Lord and Lady Carlisle, but they are not family."

"Your brother is certainly welcome to join us all for music, tea, and conversation if he wishes to gauge our suitability," Elizabeth said teasingly. "But he may not find it enjoyable."

"He might not," Miss Darcy said, as her eyes danced. "But my cousin Fitz says my brother needs practice with young ladies, too."

Ah, so Miss Darcy had a sense of humour under the timidity. This boded well. Elizabeth would have to think of a plan to ask Mr. Darcy to allow his sister to visit. It would be great fun to add such a sweet young lady to their circle of friends, even if she was too young to go out to balls and parties with them.

Amelia leaned over from her position on the settee. "You would be very welcome, Miss Darcy."

Elizabeth looked up at the sound of Amelia's voice and noticed that Jane's cheeks were flushed.

"I should not be surprised," Lady Henrietta was saying, just loud enough for the others to hear while pretending to be speaking confidentially. "Mr. Harris is a minor gentleman, barely deserving of the name."

"I see." Miss Amberley nodded once. "It is no wonder they must resort to accepting charity from others."

Elizabeth frowned at that. Even Miss Darcy suspected they were speaking about someone in the room. The girl's eyes widened at the insult, and her hands began to tremble. The poor thing was truly distressed.

Mr. Darcy was right about one thing: Miss Darcy would need more exposure to other ladies if she were to survive a season, though Elizabeth doubted that this was what he had meant. She tried to catch the girl's attention so that she could show the words did not hurt her, but Miss Darcy's gaze was on her hands, now tightly balled in her lap.

"Poor girls," Lady Henrietta said in a soft, achingly sweet tone, completely ignoring the effect her words were having on her own cousin. "One can only imagine their mortification, having to seek potential matches with a fortune sourced from others' pity."

Elizabeth did roll her eyes at that, though no one else noticed. The little pantomime Lady Henrietta and Miss Amberley had devised was quite ridiculous. Even minor gentry were far above the poor in terms of wealth, though Elizabeth understood that the life she lived was a privilege while it was clear her hostess did not.

Miss Amberley opened her fan to speak behind it. "No man will wish to tie himself to a family of beggars."

"Except the dozen or so eligible men who are already interested," Amelia said. "The Harris girls are generating an excitement that has not been seen in town in years. Even my aunt says as much, and she is so rarely impressed." She paused dramatically before inquiring, "Please forgive me, ladies, for I am sadly behind the news. Have either of you any gentleman callers?"

Miss Darcy gasped softly.

Lady Henrietta's expression darkened, and she ignored Amelia, turning instead to Miss Amberley. "There is not even a pedigree to make up for the way in which their fortunes were established."

Mrs. Smith flinched at the bite in her mistress's tone and fixed her gaze upon the floor.

Miss Amberley's eyes had widened at Amelia's direct assault, but she recovered quickly. "I do wonder how their sponsors could be so misled."

Jane had heard enough, for she asked, "Why do you not ask them?"

"I beg your pardon, Miss Bennet?" Lady Henrietta asked. She was truly startled. Apparently, she had not thought she and her friend would be called out on, well, anything.

"You do well to beg my pardon, Lady Henrietta. Please, do take your concerns to Lord and Lady Carlisle. I am certain you will be well received and that your father will applaud your initiative."

Elizabeth gaped at the sight of sweet, mild Jane issuing such a set down, though she closed her mouth the moment she was aware of it.

"We were speaking of the Harris girls, Miss Bennet," Lady Henrietta said with a smug pleasure. "If you find there are similarities in your position, do not blame me."

Well, there was nothing for it. Now that Jane had waded into the fray, Elizabeth would not allow her to do so without sisterly support. All that work to memorize Debrett's was useful at last. "Which Harris girls?" Elizabeth asked. "Do you mean the cousins of Viscount Fordwich or the wards of Mr. Nicholas of Hearthstone have come to town this year? I should be happy to tell either that you hold them in such esteem."

Lady Henrietta's lips clamped satisfyingly shut.

Jane stood elegantly. "Come, Amelia, Elizabeth. We shall wait for Lady Carlisle in the hall."

Elizabeth turned to Miss Darcy, intending to repeat her offer to join them for tea so that the girl would know that nothing had changed. But she was not there. Miss Darcy was not in the room at all, though clearly her cousin had not noticed her leave, either.

She hurried into the hall and glanced both ways. Someone cleared their throat, and she looked up.

Laramie inclined his head in the direction of the front doors. Amelia was his charge, and so he would not be able to follow Miss Darcy to ensure she was well. Elizabeth would have to do it .

"Thank you," she said as she nearly ran in that direction.

Behind her, she could hear the other ladies exiting the drawing room, but she was already at the front of the house. The butler, appearing rather concerned, gestured down the steps and to the right. "Miss Darcy left without her cloak, Miss Elizabeth, and it is very cold." He held two cloaks in his hands. She took the first, tossing it quickly around her shoulders, and grasped the second.

"I shall fetch her," Elizabeth said, and rushed out. At the top of the steps, she turned to the right and saw Miss Darcy, clearly distraught, making her way through the London crowd about a half a block ahead.

Wherever was she going? Elizabeth felt a rush of shame that they should all have behaved so badly as to send her new friend fleeing into the street to avoid them. Elizabeth flew down the steps after her, noticing as she moved that the cloak she was wearing was too long.

Darcy descended from his carriage, nodding at the footman as Fitz stepped down to the pavement behind him. He turned, glancing aimlessly to the end of the block. His shoulders stiffened as a familiar pale pink bonnet came into view on the far side of the street atop the head of a tallish girl. The rest of her came into view as she edged her way between two gentlemen.

That was Georgiana. What was she doing? Was she walking back home? Alone ? She knew it was not safe, and that the intersection was especially treacherous this time of day.

He set off in her direction, and Fitz scrambled after him.

"Darcy, what . . ." Fitz hesitated. "Good God, is that Georgie?"

An icy knot of dread formed in Darcy's stomach as Georgiana approached the busy street without raising her head. The traffic was heavy enough that there were coaches and carts and horses all traversing it at the same time, yet light enough that they were able to move at a decent clip, and she was not even looking . Darcy's long legs ate up the distance between them, all weariness forgotten. Surely she could not be so foolish!

As one daintily shod foot stepped out into the chaos, Darcy broke into a run, Fitz at his shoulder.

He could see the pink bonnet bobbing as Georgiana wove precariously between horses and carriages, halfway across the road before she looked up and froze like a frightened doe. Darcy's eyes moved from his sister in the direction of her gaze and his heart lurched.

A closed carriage drawn by six horses was bearing down upon her.

His feet carried him forward without conscious thought, every muscle tensed in a primal state of terror. He barely heard the shouts of indignation from other pedestrians as he sped past. He could see that he would never reach his sister in time—the realization was a leaden weight in his chest. Yet still he ran, desperately beating back the vision of Georgiana lying broken in a London street. Darcy's strangled shout was drowned out by the cries of onlookers and the horses' hooves clattering on the cobblestone like gunshots.

Suddenly, a petite lady in an expensive but ill-fitting cloak appeared like an apparition, mahogany tresses escaping her bonnet as she raced towards Georgiana from the other side of the street. The shock was as great as being struck by lightning, for he knew this bonnet, too, and the slighter form of Miss Elizabeth Bennet. She was nearly flying, her cloak billowing out behind her as she grabbed Georgiana's arm and pulled her forward. Miss Elizabeth's momentum propelled both women out of the path of the carriage which barely slowed as it rolled past, the driver hurling curses at the women as he carried on his way .

Georgiana stumbled against her and as she attempted to stop, Miss Elizabeth's feet slid out from under her on the slick cobblestones. She fell hard, but quickly rolled to her hands and knees, her cloak twisted awkwardly around her. Georgiana reached down to assist, but they were still in the road and several men on horses—they did not stop, so he could not call them gentlemen—rode very near, the hooves clicking only a few feet away from the ladies. Darcy finally reached the corner and plunged into the traffic, placing himself in front of the women, holding his arms aloft and commanding the drivers to halt. A cart driver frowned but directed his team around them. Fitz appeared beside him and took on the job as Darcy at last turned to wrap Georgiana in his arms.

The traffic was quickly routed around them, and Fitz turned to take Georgiana, easily winding one arm around her waist and carrying her back to the safety of the pavement.

Darcy leaned down.

"Your hand, Miss Elizabeth," he said, still angry at the carelessness of his sister and the callousness of everyone else still watching them without offering assistance. She held up her hand, and without a word, he pulled her to her feet and then swept her into his arms to carry her swiftly out of danger.

"Kindly set me down, sir," Miss Elizabeth insisted once they were clear of the hazards, and Darcy complied. He took a few steps back, his head turning to where Fitz now held Georgiana in his embrace. His sister was visibly shaken, but thankfully unharmed. Fitz's own ashen complexion was slowly regaining its normal colour. Then Darcy's eyes moved back to Miss Elizabeth. Her posture was straight, even bold, but her pulse fluttered wildly in the delicate hollow of her throat, and her bosom rose and fell as she struggled to catch her breath .

Georgiana threw herself against him, her slender, trembling arms wrapping themselves around his torso. "Forgive me, brother," she whispered, anguish in every syllable. "I never intended to be so unwise. But my cousin and her friend were so horrible I could not stay."

He would deal with Lady Henrietta later. The overwhelming sense of dread passed from him in one more thunderous heartbeat, and Darcy held his sister close, drained even of his anger. "I am only relieved that you are well," he murmured. "We will speak of this later."

"Thank you, Miss Elizabeth," Georgiana said meekly.

"You are welcome, Miss Darcy," Miss Elizabeth said, as calmly as if what she had done was the same as pointing out a puddle so that his sister might avoid it. She added, "We should remove from the street."

Darcy looked at Miss Elizabeth over his sister's head, and their gazes locked. There was fear in her eyes, quickly masked, and he felt something shift deep within him, something unravelling, some unalterable truth that he did not yet have the power to understand.

"Miss Elizabeth," he said, surprised at how hoarse he sounded. "I am at a loss to convey . . ."

"Miss Elizabeth is correct," Fitz interrupted, herding them all back in the direction of Darcy House. "We must move the ladies inside. We have created enough of a spectacle."

The crowd returned to its business once deprived of their entertainment. No doubt Darcy would hear some version of the tale bandied about at his club and elsewhere, but he cared not for that now. He walked with Georgiana while Fitz offered an arm to Miss Elizabeth and the four of them strolled down the block towards the townhouse as though nothing had happened at all.