Lady Elizabeth's Affectionate Heart Page 2

  Darcy, never one to disobey any orders given him by the elder figures of the family, compiled regardless of his inner feelings of being trapped. Once he sat down next to Anne, a quick glance at his former position assured him that Lizzy and Richard were horribly trying to fight back their amusement at his current state.

  “How long do you think he’ll last?” Richard whispered to Elizabeth as he fought down the urge to burst out laughing at the way Darcy was now glaring at him.

  “Depends. If Aunt lets him sit there without conversing with Anne then I think he’ll last till dinner is called. However, if he must speak I’ll give him no more than five minutes,” she replied, taking in Fitzwilliam’s uncomfortable situation and oddly feeling sorry for him. Their aunt’s continual schemes and antics at forcing Anne’s company on her cousin was a dirty trick. Since Lady Anne’s passing, the woman has been trying to create some childhood betrothal that everyone aside from Lady Catherine knew was never going to happen. Anne herself was never interested in the notion but said nothing as she was fixed on being her mother’s perfect daughter.

  “What are you two whispering about?” Lady Catherine’s voice echoed through the room.

  “We were only wondering where Uncle Darcy and Cousin Georgiana are,” Elizabeth answered trying desperately to avoid rolling her eyes.

  “Mr. Darcy and Georgiana will not be joining us this Easter. Seems urgent business has come about. Now sit up straight, young lady. Where is your governess? She should be reprimanded for your horrible posture. You are the daughter of an Earl and you will carry yourself as such. Take Anne as your example.” Lady Catherine went on as her words fell on death ears and Lizzy began drowning her out until dinner was announced.

  It was no surprise that Darcy escorted Anne into the dining room and was seated next to her at the table. Elizabeth was seated next to her brother the Viscount but across from Richard, which she knew was her Aunt’s way of trying to control the interaction between them.

  “Fitzwilliam, how is Georgiana adapting to her new governess?” Lady Catherine asked after the soup was served.

  “Quite well. I haven’t seen her since Christmas, but judging by the tone of her letters, Georgiana is quite interested in the pianoforte,” Darcy replied, not hiding the pride of his eleven-years-old sister.

  “I hope she practices a lot. One will never advance without it,” she stated turning to Lady Matlock. “Helen, how is Elizabeth’s lessons? From what I exhibited earlier, her governess is obviously lacking in the areas of being strict with etiquette.”

  “She is doing wonderfully in the areas of literature and drawing, Catherine.”

  “Elizabeth, sit up straight,” Lady Catherine scolded seeing her niece’s posture. “She would benefit from being sent to boarding school. She’ll be coming out in a few years, what a man of great wealth would want a woman who cannot even keep a proper posture?”

  “Actually, she is going to school in upcoming season,” Lord Matlock revealed causing his daughter’s eyes to open wide.

  “What is this you speak of, Papa?” she tried to remain calm, but this was shocking news to her. Never once had her parents mentioned they fancied the idea of sending her to some etiquette boarding school.

  “We decided with your mother to send you to exclusive school in Devon, near Exeter, Lizzy,” The Earl stated matter-of-fact.

  “As she should be, a girl of her wild behaviours cannot be taught by a governess. She must be separated from all things comfortable and there she will learn to become a true lady she should be.”

  Elizabeth was distraught and furious. How could her parents do this to her without consulting her first? Had she known she would be sent away, she would have taken her lessons more seriously. Judging from the guilty looks on Richard, Thomas and Fitzwilliam’s faces she was obviously the only one who knew nothing about this. As much as she wanted to storm out of the room, the respect she had for her parent’s kept her glued to her seat clenching on the napkin on her lap.

  Dinner conversation carried on awkwardly with everyone only speaking when Lady Catherine asked a question. Darcy was aware of how hurt Elizabeth must felt, he watched as she sat quietly moving around the contents of her plate never once looking up. At one point, he thought he saw drops of tears fall on her lap as she looked down. Nudging Richard’s elbow next to him, he visually communicated for him to try to save Elizabeth from their aunt’s another brutal word regarding her unladylike behaviours.

  “If I may be excused, your ladyship,” Richard announced. “Father? Mother?” He said turning to his sister. “I think Elizabeth isn’t feeling well. I will escort her to her room and see that she is well again.”

  He rose without waiting for an answer, knowing he would be scolded for his breach in proper dinner etiquette. After the siblings left the dining room, rather than leading her up to the room, he took them to the front entrance and towards the path leading to the lake.

  “Lizzy, I’m sorry,” he finally spoke as they stopped on the small wooden pier leading out into the lake. He watched as his sister removed her shoes and stockings and sat down to place her feet in the water.

  “Why could you not tell me, Richard? You and I share everything with each other,” she said softly, her voice filled with hurt at her brother’s deception.

  “Would you have listened to me? Or father and mother?” He asked sitting next to her, letting his now bare feet enter the water as well.

  “Absolutely not, but I would have changed… possibly taken my lessons with Miss Sudgeon more seriously,” Elizabeth confessed leaning her head on Richard’s shoulder. “Ricky, you know that all the girls of Town that have returned from those types of schools behave like snobs. Whatever am I to do if they force me to choose lace and fabric and trying to get me to enjoy sewing?”

  “Lizzy, it will only be for a few years and I’m sure I can come to visit you once I’m allowed.”

  “Do you promise?” Elizabeth asked as she looked up with wide eyes at her brother.

  “Cross my heart, sprout,” he responded as he smiled down at the hoping face of his little sister.

  “Will you write to me?”

  “I will write so often you’ll be begging me to stop,” Richard said as he replaced his boots and waited for Elizabeth to join him on the path back towards the house.

  “You think Fitzwilliam will write to me too?” Elizabeth asked. Although he was possibly the most annoying person on the planet, her cousin was also intelligent and well read, something Lizzy enjoyed when she wanted to discuss a particular point or theme relating to a novel she was reading.

  “He will if he knows what’s good for him,” Richard teased as they reached the servant’s entrance.

  “Sleep well, brother,” Elizabeth whispered as they reached her room.

  “Good night, Lizzy,” he hugged her and kissed the top of her head and turned towards the stairs where he met Darcy.

  “Is she all right?” The boy asked, obviously worried over his little cousin.

  “She will be. You know her, she is just disappointed.”

  “As she should be,” stated Darcy emphatically. “I never liked the way the family conceal it from her.”

  “Well, make sure your father is not doing it to Georgiana when she is older.”

  “You have my word, Richard.”

  Chapter 3

  University of Cambridge

  28 March 1808

  Fitzwilliam Darcy walked towards his quarters holding the stack of letters he retrieved from the post room. Sitting on the desk in his chamber, he sifted through the letters, first scanning the pile for any correspondent form his family.

  Seeing a letter from Georgiana, he broke the seal immediately and his eyes wandered over the writing, noticing how the ink ran down the page as if it were exposed to drops of water. Finding it odd that his sister would be so careless in writing, he began reading. With every read word, his pulse quickened.

  Dearest Brother,

  I am writing to tel
l you that father’s illness has taken a turn for the worst. I wished to write to you earlier, but Papa gave strict orders not to inform you about how severe his illness had become while you were still at Cambridge. Please return directly home once you have finished your studies, father and I need you dearly.

  With Love,

  G

  Darcy reread the letter with his mind processing a million thoughts at once. Grabbing his coat, he walked out of his quarters and headed towards the headmaster’s study to discuss his taking several days off.

  Unfortunately, George Henry Darcy had passed away before his son had a chance to see him. A day later an express reached him informing about his father’s death.

  When he arrived at Pemberley, the state of affairs and unfinished business was such that Fitzwilliam was forced to give away the last year at Cambridge and attend to his new duties as a master and a guardian of his little sister immediately.

  Three months later, he sent Georgiana with her governess to their family estate at Ramsgate. They had a beautiful house there and many of the acquaintances, some in Georgiana age, and the girl herself was glad to spend a summer there.

  It was late August when Fitzwilliam decided to visit his sister and surprised her. Discovering that she is at the beach, he unhitched his horse from the carriage and road to meet Georgiana there. His eyes tried to focus on the small figures in the distance, but he was still too far to make them out. Riding closer he nearly flew off his horse in shock, as the figures were now identifiable. There before him walking along the beach was his sister holding the arm of George Wickham, his former friend, and behind them, at a distance too far to be considered proper chaperoning, was Mrs. Younge, the governess. The rage running through Darcy was nearing its boiling point. He unmounted his horse and reached out to pull Georgiana away from Wickham’s grasp.

  “Brother--” Georgiana started to say before she was abruptly yanked by the arm.

  “How dare you take advantage of my sister during our father’s mourning?” He spat at Wickham, who was beaming with a smug look of revenge on his face.

  “Georgie and I are getting married, Darcy. Now, step aside. It’s obvious she doesn’t appreciate the way you’re handling her,” Wickham spat.

  “Georgiana isn’t going anywhere with you. She is not yet fifteen, you scoundrel! Is this some kind of scheme to get her inheritance? You are aware that I am now her guardian and that you will never touch a penny of her dowry?” Darcy was furious and as much as he wanted to lunge forward and crack Wickham’s jaw with his fist, Georgiana’s trembling figure reminded him that he should behave with restraint.

  “She’s already been compromised. Do you realize what a scandal your interference will cause?”

  Darcy turned to search his sister’s face for an answer and seeing her shake her head with dismay he knew Wickham was lying. Throwing all restraint aside, he swiftly swung his fist at rascal and hit him squarely in the jaw causing the man to fall back onto the sand.

  “I’ll tell everyone about my relations with Georgiana, I swear it!” Wickham yelled half through pain from his now broken nose and the other half from rage.

  “Come near my sister again and it will be the last thing you do!” Darcy growled.

  *****

  The Girls Seminary, Devon

  22 September 1808

  “Lizzy, there you are. I’ve been searching for you all over,” Charlotte Lucas exclaimed as she spotted Elizabeth sitting in a nook with a book positioned in front of her face. They met during a lecture pertaining to proper standing and sitting posture. Since then they were thick as thieves and together they survived life at the Seminary.

  “Really? What an utter shame for I have spent the entire time trying to hide from you,” Elizabeth teased as she scooted over to make room for her best friend.

  “Lizzy, you will not believe what I’ve just heard.”

  “I’m sure you’ll tell me and I will, in fact, believe you,” she said mockingly and rolled her eyes at Charlotte’s excitement in daily school gossip.

  “Apparently, there is going to be a pageant to name the Seminary’s loveliest ladies.”

  “And?”

  “Please, Please tell me you’ll enter.” Charlotte pleaded to know her friend would never participate in such a contest.

  “Absolutely not, Charlotte. Being stuck in this awful place is enough and the last thing I need is to stand and be judged by the same instructors that ridicule me for slouching,” Elizabeth responded packing up her belongs and moving to leave her nook towards the safety of her living quarters and away from Charlotte’s obsession with the pageant.

  “Lizzy, you are by far the most beautiful lady here, there is not a doubt in my mind that you will...”

  “Charlotte no. Now, I must go and study,” Elizabeth shook her head at the friend’s persistence.

  “Well I tried to do this the easy way, but since you choose to be difficult, I’ll enter you into the pageant myself. And now I think would be the best time to tell you that I also saw your family crest on the rug of a horse as I walked through the west entrance,” Charlotte said smugly as she watched Elizabeth for her reaction.

  “WHAT? Why did you not say something before?” Elizabeth exclaimed and ran briskly towards the front of the school in such a hurry that she turned the corner sharply and ran face first into the chest of a very tall figure.

  “My apologies, Miss. Please allow me--” an all too familiar voice spoke as she took his offered hand and look up at his face.

  “Tom?”

  “Lizzy, my goodness. I didn’t even recognize you, dear sister,” Thomas embraced her in a bone-crushing hug.

  “What brings you here? I hope all is well back home?”

  “Come, let us take a turn about the grounds. I’m sure there is no one better to show me all its hidden beauty than you.”

  “Brother, please tell me why you have come to visit without sending word first, something must have happened.”

  “Here, let’s sit down on that bench and I will tell you the reason behind my visit,” he said assisting his sister towards the bench and then settling down next to her. “Something terrible has happened and only the closest family have been informed about it. Please do not be alarmed, but I am here to make sure you are safe.”

  “Now, I am alarmed.”

  “Do you remember the Darcy’s estate in Ramsgate? Fitzwilliam sent there Georgiana with her governess. He stuck with the problems and unfinished business at Pemberley--“

  “What about Cambridge?” she broke in.

  “Lizzy, I do not think he will return there.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yes, uhmm, unfortunately, Georgiana’s governess was not as trustworthy as she made out to be. She allowed out cousin to go unchaperoned along the beach with George Wickham. I don’t know if you heard the latest reports about him but he is not to be trusted.”

  “Good heavens, Brother, do not tell me he--”

  “No, although he tried to convince her to elope with him. Darcy arrived just in time to remove Georgiana from his trickery and the scoundrel has not been seen since,” Thomas said, holding Elizabeth’s trembling hand in his. “We want to make sure that if by any chance Mr. Wickham will come here to see you, you will avoid him and notify us as soon as possible.”

  “What would he want from me? I barely know him and haven’t seen him since I was eleven.”

  “Exactly. Just promise me you will not even talk to him if he appears here.”

  “I promise, Brother. But tell me, how is Georgiana? Poor girl, she must be distraught...”

  “It really took its toll on her, I’m afraid. It shocked her into a state of depression. She is now under the care of Darcy’s aunt from Derbyshire and the family took her to Bath.”

  “So, what will happen now?” She asked lost as to how such a thing could happen to her younger cousin.

  “I am now going to Plymouth to visit a friend there and planning go back home for Christmas and taking y
ou with me. After what happened to Georgiana, Father don’t want you to be away from the family anymore.”

  “Of course, Brother, whatever you think is best.”

  “Oh, but be prepare, the Christmas is at Rosings this year.”

  “Oh, no.”

  “Oh, yes.”

  Bidding Thomas adieu she returned to her chambers to reread all the letters she received from both Georgiana and Fitzwilliam. She dearly missed her family, and her heart broke over her cousins’ misfortunes.

  Chapter 4

  Rosings, Kent

  17 December 1808

  Elizabeth sat across from Thomas in the carriage, too excited to finally reunite with her dear family. When the coach finally stopped in front of the Rosings' house, she felt the jitters bubbling in her stomach and even the presence of Lady Catherine would not ruin her joy.

  She watched as her brother got out of the carriage and extended his hand to help her out. After handing the butler her coat, the siblings were lead towards the sitting room where the rest of the family was waiting.

  “Lizzy, you’re here,” Lady Matlock exclaimed as she rose from her seat to greet her daughter. “Why, you’ve grown at least a whole foot since I’ve last seen you.”

  Of course, decorum was tossed out the window when Elizabeth set eyes on her mother and rushed into her opened arms and embraced her. “Mama, oh how I’ve missed you,” she replied. “Papa!” She turned to her father and embracing him as well.

  “My word, child, I thought an exclusive school would have taught you of proper greetings but it’s quite obvious you’ve not learned a thing,” Lady Catherine interrupted as she watched Elizabeth embrace the Earl without even addressing the host first.

  “Calm down, Catherine. We have missed out daughter so much and just look what a stunning lady she is now. And she is allowed such liberties among her close family,” Lord Matlock stated, his tone a bit colder than expected.