The Houseguest A Pride and Prejudice Vagary by Elizabeth Adams Page A

would imagine it was Georgiana's. She seems rather taken with the idea
of having another woman in the house. Well, at least someone closer to her own
age. How old is Miss Bennet, do you think?"

"I believe she's somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty."

"Yes, that is a fine age; old enough to be a big sister, but young enough
to still remember what it's like to be Georgiana’s age."

"Yes, I suppose it is a rather good age."

"They met in Hertfordshire?"

"Yes. She met Miss Elizabeth while there. They got on rather well from the
beginning and have been corresponding ever since. Georgiana invited her to stay
here while I was in Somerset, but I returned early..." he trailed off.

"Yes, I wondered about that. Not very like you to invite a young single
woman to stay in your home, unaccompanied. And a damned pretty one at
that."

"Yes, you are correct; it is not very like me. But I could hardly send her
home after she'd been invited to come all this way. It wasn't Georgiana's fault
I cut my trip short and came home early. Plus I didn't want to discourage her;
it was the first invitation she'd made on her own and I have been trying to encourage
her to make friends and socialize."

"Yes, she certainly does seem to be recovering rather well. Time seems to
be working its magic. Or perhaps time with the help of friendship."

Darcy was about to reply when they were interrupted by the soft melody of
Elizabeth singing. He let the waves of music roll over him as he leaned his
head back on the divan and closed his eyes. Yes, this would be a pleasant way
to end most evenings, his sister happy and smiling, Elizabeth playing and
singing for him. Yes, he certainly could get used to this ‘domestic bliss’, as
the Colonel had called it.

 
    ~
     

 
    The next two days were spent in similar fashion, only
minus the company of Colonel Fitzwilliam. The two ladies would have breakfast
together, and then Elizabeth would take a carriage to visit her aunt in
Cheapside, while Georgiana did her studies with Mrs. Annesley. She would come
back in time for tea and the two would go upstairs and dress for dinner,
Georgiana receiving the same feminine pleasure from the ritual as she had the
first time. They would have dinner with Mr. Darcy, and afterward they would
take turns playing for him in the music room. 

Elizabeth had decided to heed her aunt's words and observe Mr. Darcy with an
open mind. She found that he was improving upon acquaintance and that he was
not as disagreeable as she had found him before in Hertfordshire, but she still
wouldn’t describe him as amiable. He seemed too often to be brooding. One
moment he was agreeable, the next he stopped talking altogether. She caught him
staring at her sometimes the way he had in Hertfordshire. What was he looking
for? She tried to ignore him and focus on something else, and on occasion would
ask him a question, ending his reverie. Surely he had found all the fault he
was going to find by now? 

But overall, his manners were improved. She wasn’t sure if this had anything to
do with him being in his own home, but she was beginning to wonder if he was
rather like Georgiana and reserved in company. Only in Georgiana, it came
across as a sweet shyness; in Mr. Darcy, it was a reticent haughtiness. Only
time would tell his true nature.

Wednesday afternoon, as Elizabeth's carriage pulled up to the Darcy doorstep,
she saw another pulling away and wondered who it was that had just left. She
stepped into the hall and handed her things to the footman. She went straight
to the drawing room, hoping Georgiana was still there.

"Hello, Miss Darcy. Did you have a pleasant morning?"

Georgiana looked up when Elizabeth spoke her name. "I suppose it was
pleasant enough. Miss Bingley just left. It's too bad you missed her."

"Yes, it is too bad," Elizabeth said ruefully. “Did you entertain her
on your own?”

“Yes. She does not know Fitzwilliam is back yet. He is trying to get his work
done without the