The Gypsy Blessing by Wendi Sotis

from what he was a few minutes ago—watching Elizabeth walk away—Darcy forgot his sister’s presence entirely. It was not until Elizabeth passed out of his sight that he realized he had forgotten to bow before the Bennets had walked away. He looked down at Georgiana, who was fighting back a smile.
    Darcy cleared his throat. “Shall we go in, Georgie?”
    ~%~
    “Lizzy, you have a letter,” Mr. Gardiner called out from the doorway to the sitting room as Jane and Elizabeth were about to mount the stairs. Elizabeth looked at the handwriting on the letter and then glanced significantly at Jane. Both the young ladies were so eager to talk of meeting the Darcys and to see the new drawing that they had to consciously make an effort to slow their steps as they made their way to their bedchamber.
    A moment after Jane closed the door, she was at her sister’s side. Elizabeth broke the seal.
    “Well, this answers your question, Jane. The drawings have followed me!”
    After taking a few moments to examine the new drawing, Jane asked, “Do you know who that man is speaking with Miss Darcy?”
    “No, I have never seen him... but he is handsome, is he not?” Elizabeth observed, “There is something about his eyes, though. I am unsure whether I like him.”
    “Perhaps it is simply a fault in the talent of the artist and not in the subject, or maybe the artist is not very fond of him.”
    “Oh, Jane, you would find a way to think well of everybody.” They both examined the page a little longer. “But I do not. I have decided that I do not like the way he looks at Miss Darcy. I believe he poses a threat to her.”
    “Lizzy, you cannot judge a gentleman so harshly by looking at a drawing of him.”
    “It is more a feeling I have when I look at him than what the drawing depicts. Do not worry; I will not act upon my feelings unless I have good reason, but I feel it is a good idea to be on our guard when we do meet him.”
    “You think we will, then?”
    “After our chance meeting with the Darcys this afternoon, I am sure of it.”
    “I spent so little time with them; what were your impressions of them?”
    “Actually, I barely had a minute more with them than you did. Miss Darcy seemed very sweet; she did not hesitate to ask after James’s and my health after the accident. When I met Mr. Darcy in person, I certainly did not have any of the same feelings that I had looking at the drawing of him. He was extremely cold and reserved—I would call his manner almost rude. I was rather disappointed in him.”
    “I have found many times in the past that others will misunderstand behaviour that I would call ‘reserved’ as ‘rude’ instead. Perhaps he was only discomfited by meeting new people who had not been rightly introduced.”
    “Although I might not have been introduced in the usual way, you certainly were—or are saying that I did not make the introduction properly?” Elizabeth teased.
    Jane laughed. “No, you did a lovely job of it.”
    ~%~
    After she had finished playing for her brother’s amusement, Georgiana moved away from the pianoforte. With a particular goal in mind, Darcy asked, “What did you think of the Misses Bennet?”
    “I hardly met them, but I think them both pretty and agreeable. The way Miss Elizabeth spoke so easily with those she did not know reminded me of Aunt Adelaide.”
    “They are a gentleman’s daughters, for certain, but if one compared either of these ladies to our aunt, the Bennets would surely come up severely lacking. I have never heard the name ‘Bennet’ mentioned in Town. I would think their father owns an estate of no particular significance,” Darcy said, trying to convince himself more than his sister.
    Georgiana seemed disappointed. “How shall I act towards them should I meet them again?”
    “They are owed nothing more than common civility. If today’s events had not occurred, I doubt we would have ever met them.”
    Knowing the way her brother thought, she