Page 42 of Darcy's Guarded Heart
“I said come,” he repeated, speaking the word slowly and in a low tone so that she would understand just how displeased he was.
“Very well,” she said, and dropped her shoulders. As she walked towards him, Lydia grabbed her by the arm, whispering something that made Georgiana giggle.
No doubt the young Miss Bennet had said something inappropriate about Darcy. Something disrespectful. He wasn’t going to have such disrespect.
“Georgiana,” he said, as she came closer. He took her by the elbow and steered her outside. He turned his head to Caroline. “I do thank you for drawing my attention to this. It will be handled,” he said, and then walked a few steps before increasing his pace to bring Georgiana down into the hall and towards an alcove. There he turned to her.
“Georgiana, what are you doing?”
“I am enjoying myself at a private ball, just like everybody else. Everyone was playing games.”
“Not everyone. You must not draw such attention to yourself. You must not raise your voice in such a manner or laugh as though you were a commoner. You are not. You are a high-born lady, granddaughter to an earl. Conduct yourself with the proper decorum, Georgiana.”
“Lydia and Kitty are gentlemen’s daughters, and they are allowed to enjoy themselves.”
“No one is telling you that you cannot enjoy yourself, but the way you acted attracted attention, and the way you spoke to the officer and he to you was below your station. And where are your gloves?”
She slipped her hand into her reticule and pulled out her bunched-up gloves, putting them back on swiftly. As she did, her chin wobbled, and he saw her eyes fill with tears. “I did not mean to upset you, William,” she said. “I simply wish to enjoy myself for a little bit at least. I saw nothing wrong with how I acted.”
“Which is precisely the problem,” he said, but her tears, which threatened to spill over, softened his heart. “Georgiana, I only want what is best for you. I want you to make a good match with a respectable gentleman who will take care of you if ever I am not able to. But you must understand that keeping company with officers, as you just did, and behaving in such a manner will not attract such a gentleman. And your choice of friends likewise will play a role.”
“Perhaps I like the Bennet sisters to be my friends. And perhaps do not wish to attract a gentleman right now. Perhaps I do not wish to attract anyone, or perhaps I am not interested in attracting the sort of man you think suitable. What if I choose someone you do not like?”
He frowned. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing! Only that you cannot control everything, William, you certainly cannot control me.” She turned and walked away, and Darcy remained alone in the hall. He had to admit that perhaps she was right. Perhaps he truly didn’t know how to control her, and that frightened him more than anything. They had not had these issues back home. At Pemberley, she’d been an obedient, well-mannered young girl. It was only since they arrived here that her temper got the best of her and her sense of propriety appeared to have diminished.
***
Two glasses of wine and a shot of whiskey later, Darcy found himself dancing with Caroline. Despite her earlier excitations, she had accepted his first offer of a dance without any sort of protest. The long line of suitors she’d earlier eluded to, appeared to have disappeared in the crowd—if they ever existed at all.
“You were right to do what you did, Mr Darcy. Someone must show the young lady her limitations. Heaven forwent if somebody had seen her carrying on like that. Oh, you should have seen them earlier, when they were diving in the flour for the bullet… Fortunately, I could intercede before Georgiana found herself face-first in the flour.”
“I thank you. Truly, I do,” he replied. “I do not know what I am to…”
“Exactly as you did tonight, Mr Darcy,” she reassured him. “Let your sister know that she cannot act this way. I do truly believe it would be best to tell my brother that we must return to town for the time being. The company there is much more refined. Do you not think?”
“Indeed,” he said, looking around the room. Mary Bennet was now sitting at the pianoforte, accompanying the orchestra rather badly. Her father, Mr Bennet, stood beside her, whispering in her ear with a look that suggested to Darcy—and everyone else—that likely, he was attempting to persuade her to stop.
Their cousin, the bumbling Mr Collins, was now on the dance floor, dancing with Charlotte Lucas. The young woman appeared to have the patience of a saint. Darcy had looked over at them twice now, and both times Collins had stepped on her feet.
He could not spot Elizabeth anywhere, nor her sister Jane, and had to assume that they were somewhere engaged in their confederacy of two, no doubt analysing the events of the evening.
The music came to a stop, and he escorted Caroline from the dance floor.
“Now, now,” Mr Bennet’s voice came, loud enough for most people in the vicinity to hear. “You have played long enough for us, dear Mary. It is time to let somebody else have their turn,” he said in a firm voice. Mary Bennet looked up at him and then down at the instrument, rather crestfallen, as she snatched up her notes and walked away.
“That girl plays rather dreadfully, but I do feel badly for her being humiliated in such a manner in front of all these people by her very own father,” Caroline said, shaking her head.
“Indeed,” Darcy agreed. He had not enjoyed Mary Bennet’s playing either, and the orchestra looked rather relieved to see her leave, but he didn’t think it was quite necessary for her to have been dismissed in such a fashion. He thought quitehighly of Mr Bennet, but it seemed that even he, the family patriarch, did not possess the sort of manners one would expect of a gentleman.
“Goodness, it seems Georgiana recovered rather quickly,” Caroline said, and Darcy looked at her, following her gaze. To his dismay, he found the source of Caroline’s comment. Couples were lining up for the English country dance, and standing in line with them was Georgiana, alongside Thomas Bennet. The two were deep in conversation, with the young man chattering away and Georgiana placing one hand in front of her mouth as she giggled.
Darcy’s blood boiled. Was she dancing with him because of their conversation? Georgiana’s words came back to him. Had she implied that she had her eye on someone Darcy wouldn’t approve of already? Or was he interpreting things wrongly?
“I think another conversation is in order, Mr Darcy,” Caroline said beside him, and he nodded.
“Indeed. It seems it will be.”
