Page 57 of Master of Netherfield
“A few years?” Georgiana asked in an unusual, petulant tone. She exaggerated her tone when she added, “I shall be old and grey in a few years.” William’s lips twisted with a small smile hearing his sister’s teasing.
“I wish to discuss a letter, Georgie.”
“You sound very serious,” the teenaged girl observed.
He stopped walking and looked directly at his sister before saying, “This is a family matter for you and I to discuss without Mrs Reynolds hovering or Mrs Annesley participating in our conversation.”
Thinking of how Elizabeth and Jane would react to these words from their father, Georgiana nodded her head only once before William continued, “A letter came from the Earl of Matlock. He announced that the family will descend upon Pemberley at Christmas.”
Georgiana’s face was truly sour remembering the few times she had been in company with her relatives over the last years. “We are in mourning! Surely, they will not expect us to entertain...”
“I have replied that we would house them for one week with their departure occurring no later than two days following Christmas.”
Georgiana nodded but sighed. “Do I have to sit at the head of the table and act as hostess?”
Shaking his head, William said, “I shall not ask you to do so and neither Aunt Edith nor Aunt Catherine will act as such.”
“Shall I bite Lady Catherine?” Georgiana teased remembering Kitty’s solution for dealing their aunt several years before when the harridan invaded Netherfield.
“Only if absolutely necessary,” he agreed. “And remember, neither aunt has authority over you.”
“My aunts have never had time for me other than to direct my efforts to improve my performance on the pianoforte or in dancing. I was always too young of a girl to keep their attention,” Georgiana said.
“But now you are an heiress with a substantial dowry,” Darcy reminded her. “They will invite you to visit them and offer to sponsor you for your presentation at court in a few years.”
“I am determined that I shall not come out until I am eighteen years or more!” the girl insisted. “Elizabeth decided to wait until next year when she is nineteen. I shall wait until Kitty and I can come out together at the Assembly Ball in Meryton.”
Darcy’s face now shone with a happy grin–his sister was determined to follow in the paths of her friends but then he asked, “I thought Miss Elizabeth planned to come out this fall? I have heard nothing of this in her...in Mr Bennet’s letters.”
Smiling gently, Georgiana slipped a hand onto her brother’s arm. “All of the Bennet family misses us. Mrs Bennet is willing to allow Elizabeth to wait another year. And Elizabeth wrote that she cannot come out without your presence for a dance.”
Georgiana nodded confidently, “I think you must have her first dance.”
“I had not thought of Miss Elizabeth coming out,” William admitted. “She would enjoy herself very much with dancing and conversation.”
“But she does not want the parties and dinners this fall,” Georgiana insisted. “She writes she thinks of us each day and prays for our comfort.”
Darcy considered their Hertfordshire friends for a moment and admitted that he too missed their company and the young woman who filled every meeting with bright laughter and conversation.
“Our lives will be different now Georgie,” William said as they walked back to the horses. “Many more people will invade our home wherever it is, and we shall have to spend time in town during the season.”
“Mrs Annesley has mentioned that you will require time at the house in London to gather with men of power and influence.”
“And you will be a great lady in the ton someday,” William assured her. Feeling his shy sister grow tense, he made a promise. “We shall arrange a court presentation for you and Miss Catherine together in a few years. I shall find some pleasant lady to sponsor Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth next year to lay the foundation for Miss Mary, Miss Kitty, Miss Georgie and then Miss Lydia to be presented.”
“Oh, Lydia will not like having to wait until last!” Georgiana confided to her brother. “Mrs Bennet and Nanny Brice often talk to Lydia for many minutes when she chaffs at being too young to ride or sit up after supper.”
Upon reaching the horses, Georgiana turned to her brother before he helped her mount. “William, I would ask something of you.”
“Certainly,” he replied. “You ask for very little.”
“I do not want you to rush in taking a wife next year.”
“A wife?” he asked. “Why would you think I...”
“The ladies who came to the house during Father’s funeral were excessively curious concerning your marriage prospects. They insisted that you are the most eligible man in the entire kingdom and that every young woman would be thrown in your path in town.”
William sighed. “And our relatives will forward their candidates as well.’
