Page 51 of Darcy's Guarded Heart
“A man of the cloth should know a warning when he hears one,” Thomas replied.
Elizabeth pushed herself between them.
“Mr Collins, I shall be their chaperone. This conversation does not require your supervision or interference. Kindly leave us.”
“I cannot.”
“You must. Now.”
He finally relented, muttering about impropriety.
“He is correct about one thing,” Elizabeth said, turning to Thomas and Georgiana. “If you’re alone, it could damage Georgiana’s reputation.”
“I do not mind if you hear what I have to say,” Georgiana whispered.
“Nor I,” Thomas added.
Elizabeth sat in a corner near the fire, letting the darkness envelop them. Their words became a soft murmur—sweet,private, aching. She gazed into the flames, the firelight flickering over her features, as her thoughts wandered to her own place in this tangled web of affections and departures. Every warm glow from the hearth was a stark contrast to the cold edges of change encroaching from all sides.
She heard quiet sobs, then Thomas’s gentle voice soothing them. A faint creak of the chair, a rustle of fabric. The intimacy of heartbreak. She could not bear to look.
Their silhouettes shifted. He held her. Perhaps more. Elizabeth did not wish to know. It was heartbreaking—and somehow, she felt responsible. She had encouraged Thomas to speak with Georgiana. But no—this was Mr Darcy’s doing. He was taking Georgiana away, just when she had begun to blossom.
After a while, the two approached. Georgiana’s cheeks were wet with tears.
“I must say goodbye. If my brother discovers this, he’ll be livid.”
“So you are truly leaving?”
“For London. For how long, I do not know. If my brother hears of this, I fear he would lock me away until I am one and twenty.”
Elizabeth’s eyes widened.
“Perhaps, I exaggerate. But my brother would be most displeased,” Georgiana added.
“We shall deal with Mr Collins,” Elizabeth promised.
Georgiana embraced her. “You have been a true friend. Tell your sisters goodbye for me. I shall miss you all. One morething, I’ve heard rumours. The Bingleys may be leaving too. I know not why. If it is so, I am sorry for your sister.”
Elizabeth gasped. Darcy’s departure she had expected. But Bingley?
“Surely he would call to say farewell?”
“I imagine he will,” Georgiana said gently.
Elizabeth was briefly comforted. Mr Bingley must care for Jane—he would not leave without a word. Perhaps he would even propose. And yet she worried.
Her thoughts drifted back to the assembly weeks ago. The whispers between Caroline and Mr Darcy. Had they conspired at last to separate them?
If Mr Bingley left Jane behind, there would be two broken hearts at Longbourn.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Darcy
Darcy House, London
“Georgiana, I am about to call on Bingley. Would you care to join me?” Darcy asked his sister.
