At that moment Georgiana came down the sweeping staircase, pausing in the middle of the flight and looking perplexed when she saw them bending over the basket.
“Come down, Georgiana, dear, we need to give you your Christmas present a little early!” Elizabeth exclaimed.
Georgiana tripped lightly down the remaining stairs and hurried over. When she saw the puppy, she exclaimed, “A puppy! He is just adorable! Is he really for me?”
“Of course he is, my dear,” Darcy said fondly.
She reached gently into the basket and picked him up, cradled him against her and stroked him, and then burst into tears.
“I am sorry,” she said thickly, wiping her eyes. “I have wanted a puppy since I was a little girl. You are so good to me.” Her eyes welled up again.
The puppy wagged his tail and licked the tears from her face then started whimpering. Darcy gently took him from her with a smile and gave him to one of the footmen, saying, “He probably needs to go outside for a moment; he has had rather a long ride today.”
While this was taking place Georgiana embraced her brother tightly and laid her head on his shoulder, the tears still sparkling in her lashes.
“Thank you, my dear brother. You are too, too good to me.”
“You should thank Elizabeth,” Darcy said, kissing her affectionately on the forehead. “It was her idea and she arranged it with the Gardiners.”
She embraced Elizabeth and whispered, “Thank you, my dear, dear sister. I do not deserve either of you.”
She released them and took out her handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes.
“What kind of dog is he?” she asked, trying to make her voice sound matter-of-fact.
Elizabeth answered, “He is a Maltese. I knew someone once who had one and he was very sweet—the dog, I mean.” They all laughed and then she added, “Do you know what you want to name him?”
“I must think about it—this is such a surprise that I am quite overwhelmed.”
The Gardiners came down the stairs and Georgiana ran to them, embracing them and sweetly thanking them for their part in bringing her gift. The children, meanwhile, were crowding around the footman who had returned with the puppy. Georgiana took the little dog and held out her hand to the smallest of the children, saying,
“Let us take him into the drawing-room, shall we?”
They trailed after her happily, and they all sat on the floor in a circle while the now wide-awake puppy gambolled around them. The older adults sat outside the circle and had their tea, amused by the antics of the puppy and the children. The elder of the two boys said suddenly, “You are so lucky to have a puppy!”
Georgiana’s eyes widened, and she said, “That is a perfect name for him! I shall call him Lucky!”
That night she recorded in her diary,
15 December: My wonderful brother and sister gave me a puppy for Christmas! I am going to call him Lucky, and he is an adorable little ball of white fluff. Elizabeth says that he will only weigh about seven pounds when he is full grown, and he will have long, silky hair. I insisted that he stay in my room tonight, and he has a neat little basket made up for his bed. I have wanted a puppy for years, but their kindness makes me feel even worse about my disgusting behaviour of the past months. I am even more determined to keep my spirits calm and cheerful to repay their patience.
***
The next day, Georgiana appeared a little wan in her glass as her maid, Durand, dressed her hair; she had been kept awake much of the night by Lucky’s whimpering, but she tenderly held him and petted him in spite of her fatigue.
“I’m sure he will be better soon,” Elizabeth reassured her when they met in the parlour after breakfast. “After all, this is the first time he has been away from his mamma.”
The children all looked very sad at that idea but started laughing when Lucky stuck his head over Georgiana’s arm, where he was nestled comfortably, and looked at them with his black button eyes. The tiny tip of his tail was visible, curled over his back and vibrating furiously in excitement.
That afternoon Georgiana introduced Lucky to Pilot, who generally spent his day sleeping in the library near his master’s desk. They all watched Pilot warily as Lucky waddled up to him, alert for any signs of aggression towards the tiny dog who was invading his territory. Pilot, however, waved his tail majestically while he sniffed the newcomer thoroughly, his muzzle as large as the entire puppy. When he was done with his examination he licked him with his huge tongue, knocking him off his unsteady little paws. Lucky returned the compliment, giving the great nose in front of him two quick licks and then rolling over on his back with his tail wagging.
“It seems that Pilot is going to accept him,” Darcy said with relief, and Georgiana picked up Lucky and went back into the parlour, patting Pilot affectionately as she went by.
The day passed quickly, but by dinnertime Georgiana was exhausted, tired out by the incessant motion of a house full of children and by her lack of sleep the night before. Bessie, one of the younger housemaids, had been given the task of entertaining the children while they had their dinners upstairs in the nursery and the adults ate theirs in the quiet of the dining-room. Georgiana was too tired to be self-conscious and she was able to converse with Mrs. Gardiner without hesitation during dinner and afterwards in the drawing-room while they had tea and coffee, but it was a struggle to stay awake and she went upstairs early.
***
The next morning, Elizabeth received a letter from Jane, which she read upstairs before she and Darcy went down for breakfast.
“Oh, dear. Jane wishes us a Happy Christmas and then she continues,
…I must tell you, dearest Lizzy, that Caroline has joined us unexpectedly for Christmas. She was to spend it with the Hursts, but she and Louisa had a disagreement (which Bingley attributes to bad temper resulting from Darcy’s marrying you, but which I would not like to think of my sister-in-law) and she left town and came to Netherfield. If it is not convenient for you to have an additional and unexpected guest, I fear that we must stay here, for I do not feel that it would be correct to leave her. I will say that she has been very courteous to me since our marriage and has been a charming guest since her arrival. Please write to me as soon as possible and let me know what you wish me to do.—With our dearest love, etc…”
Darcy agreed with Elizabeth that they were obligated to invite Miss Bingley, and she wrote back immediately to invite her cordially to come with Charles and Jane to Pemberley, but she commented as she finished the letter, “I can think of few people whom I would not prefer to Miss Bingley as a guest, knowing that she tried so hard to capture your heart, and her jealousy added to our mutual dislike to make her insufferable to be around in all of our previous encounters. She is the epitome, in my view, of the worst of society—snobbish, disdainful, and deeply engrossed in her own importance.” She sighed and, with a chagrined smile, added, “I suppose that I should try to repress my feelings about her. I have erred in the past in my evaluation of character. Perhaps I will be proven wrong in her case as well.”
Darcy gave her a sly smile and returned, “You must take consolation, at least, in the fact that you were the victor in the contest for my heart—even though you did not know at the time that you were competing for it—and realise that it must be even more trying for her to be your guest than for you to be her hostess.”
Elizabeth agreed but warned Georgiana that Miss Bingley was coming, much to Georgiana’s dismay.
“Oh dear,” she exclaimed, “I hope her manners have improved since the last time I saw her! I was quite disgusted with her nasty comments about you after your visit here last summer, and it gave me great pleasure when my brother was finally driven to set her down about it.”
“Was he now?” Elizabeth commented, surprised by Georgiana’s vehemence after her fortnight of almost unnatural calm. “Well, we must try to forgive h
er for her past jealousy. She will probably be more amiable now, since she will want to continue to visit Pemberley.”
“No doubt,” she replied tartly.
***
The rest of the week before Christmas passed quickly away, and Christmas Day arrived with just a dusting of snow to make everything sparkle in the pale sunlight. When Georgiana entered the breakfast-parlour, she found her sister-in-law sitting flushed-faced at her usual place. When Elizabeth saw her she jumped up and ran to her and kissed her on the cheek.
“I understand that you are partially to thank for my lovely gift, my dear girl!”
“Only partially,” said Georgiana with a grin. “So… I am guessing that you liked it.”
“It it lovely! I never thought to own a Shakespeare first edition, and I adore his sonnets! I will treasure it. However did the two of you manage in the short time we were in London?”
“Perseverance and an exceptional bookseller,” Georgiana said laughingly. “And, you forget that I was in London without you for two short periods of time!”
Elizabeth gave her a final squeeze, and they turned to smile at the Gardiners as they arrived en masse to breakfast. The children could hardly eat between their excitement over the presents and the unusual treat of joining the adults at the table. When they had finally finished their breakfasts, they were allowed to open their packages and then Bessie took them off to the schoolroom to play with their toys and the adults finished eating in peace. Afterwards, they opened their presents and Georgiana’s eyes widened when she opened her pearl necklace.
“This must surely be the most beautiful present I have ever received,” she said then looked down at her lap where Lucky was sitting. “Other than you, Lucky!”
She once again hugged and kissed her brother and sister for their kindness, as well as the Gardiners for the beautiful embroidered Indian shawl they had given her.
***
The cook outdid herself and Christmas dinner was a sumptuous feast of roast goose and venison, Yorkshire pudding and buttery roast potatoes, with plum pudding at the end. The children were again allowed to join the adults in the dining-parlour for this special occasion, seated at a small table just for them with Bessie supervising and helping the littlest ones cut their food. They were overawed by the sparkling chandeliers and the footmen silently attending the table but managed to eat some of their meal. Georgiana sat at the main table with the adults, and her eyes sparkled in the candlelight as she ate and talked and watched the children solemnly doing their best to behave correctly. By the time dinner was over, the littlest ones were drooping from exhaustion and Bessie took them up to bed, their feet dragging even as they protested that they were not at all tired.
The rest of the family retired early, worn out from the excitement of Christmas Day. Georgiana dragged herself upstairs and took out her diary before she flopped on the bed, unheeding of her silk gown. She opened to where the ribbon marked her place and read through the previous fortnight’s entries. Those bitter thoughts seemed so long ago that they hardly seemed written by the same person. She had kept her word to herself and kept her temper under control; it had been easier with the children and the puppy to entertain and keep her occupied. There had not been time for more than token visits by neighbours to wish them Happy Christmas, so there had not been any discussions of young men or her feelings. However, the colonel would be arriving on the morrow after spending the holiday with his family at Whitwell Abbey, and his visit would be the true test of her resolve. At least Lucky gave her a distraction if she was tempted to needle her flippant cousin Fitzwilliam.
***
The next day was Boxing Day and the Darcys were up early to supervise the distribution of the Christmas boxes to the Pemberley dependents. When they were finished, the family had a quiet breakfast and enjoyed their last day together, for tomorrow the Gardiners would leave for Hertfordshire.
***
The colonel arrived in good time on the lightly snowing afternoon, and the Gardiners were interested to meet him, for Elizabeth had told them how pleasant the colonel was after she had first met him in Kent the previous spring. Georgiana and Elizabeth welcomed him to Pemberley, and he bowed over their hands gallantly before Elizabeth introduced him to the Gardiners. He greeted them and they talked easily as they moved into the drawing-room. He was a welcome addition to the dinner table that evening, entertaining them with (hopefully embellished) stories about his life since they had last seen him. He finished a tale involving some new recruits and some errant buckshot and Georgiana commented sardonically, “I hope that this story is not entirely true, Colonel. I would hate to think the safety of the royal family in such inept hands.”
“I swear to you, little cousin, that the tale is entirely—or at least mostly—true.”
His audience laughed and Georgiana rolled her eyes. After they finished eating, Georgiana went upstairs and brought Lucky down to meet her cousin.
“This is Lucky, our new watchdog, Cousin,” she said sternly. “Beware if you decide to sneak downstairs for a glass of ale or a bite of cheese during the night. He is especially fierce about cheese thieves.”
“I am sure he will be a welcome addition to the pack when we go hunting tomorrow as well, my dear little cousin,” he teased. “He will likely be the first to flush the birds, although those short legs may have some difficulty getting over the stiles.”
“Lucky is far too intelligent to spend his morning running around in the mud and the cold as you will be doing, dear cousin,” she replied, giving him an impudent grin.
The Darcys and the colonel excused themselves after dinner and made their required appearance at the servants’ party. Elizabeth and Darcy led the first dance, followed by Georgiana and the colonel. When they finished the dance the colonel bowed to his partner and said, “You are a charming dancer, little cousin.”
Georgiana gave him a sly look. “I was going to say the same about you, Cousin. You have improved much since you tripped over your feet at the New Year’s ball when I was eight years old.”
The colonel gave a thunderous look at Darcy. “Did your brother tell you about that?”
“Oh no, I saw it. After my governess sent me to bed, I got up and watched the dancing from upstairs through the balusters. I laughed so hard that I had to run back to my bedroom so as not to be caught spying. Of course, the next day I had to pretend ignorance or give myself away.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam rolled his eyes at Darcy. “The sins of our youth will never be forgotten will they?”
***
Later, Georgiana sat on her bed, chewing her lower lip, before writing,
26 December: It was wonderful to be back on my former terms with my cousin Fitzwilliam tonight and he seems to have forgotten my previous ill-humour. However, I was jolted when I teased the colonel about something which happened when I was eight and he commented that “the sins of our youth will never be forgotten.” I was doing the same thing to him that I have accused him of, i.e., never forgetting my past errors! I am sure that he knows I was only teasing him, but I feel badly about my saucy attempt to embarrass my easygoing guardian. I should be more forgiving of others’ mistakes, but, more importantly, I should be more forgetful of them. Sensitive as I am of my egregious and humiliating behaviour with Wickham, I should not poke fun at others about their trivial indiscretions and errors. Fortunately, the colonel’s innate good humour brushed off my faux pas with a joke. I hope that he was not hurt by my callous comment.
She sighed, closed the book, and blew out her candle.
***
The adults stayed up rather later than usual talking that last evening of their visit, but the Gardiners were up and ready to leave by nine o’clock the next morning. After the bustle of packing and loading the carriage they all said farewell, and Georgiana saw tears glittering in Elizabeth’s eyes. She walked over and put her arms around her sister, and they
clung to each other in the chilly air as they watched the carriage disappear into the woods.
Chapter 10
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
—William Shakespeare, As You Like It
Pemberley was quiet that day after the loss of their friends, but Georgiana felt an air of expectancy in the house as they waited for the Bingleys and Mr. Bennet and Kitty, who were to arrive in a few days. She was eager for the next round of guests, for avoiding too much intimacy within the family circle was her object. If there was no time for questioning and speculation about her marriage prospects, there would be no opportunity for her to lose her temper. Also, the less chance she had to speak, the less likely it was that she would embarrass herself with an awkward attempt at pertness.
In the meantime, Mrs. Reynolds was bustling about, making sure that everything in the house was perfect for their visitors. Her brother and the colonel spent the mornings out with their dogs and the kennel master when the weather permitted, hoping to flush a few pheasants but mostly attempting to train a couple of young dogs. Georgiana went up to the music room and played her harp for two hours to make up for her negligence over the holidays and to avoid a tête-à-tête with Elizabeth and her too observant eyes. She felt like a tightrope walker, carefully balancing her emotions and reactions to avoid both biting sarcasm and ill-timed jocularity.
When she left the music room she encountered Elizabeth in the hall.
“Are you done playing, Georgiana?”
“Yes, my fingertips are sore. I have not been playing enough to toughen them to the strings.”
“I am just on my way to find Mrs. Reynolds so we can work in the picture gallery.”
“I will join you, if you do not mind. I always enjoy hearing about the history of my ancestors, particularly some of those who made rather bad ends. It is interesting to see if you can see their history painted into their portrait faces.”
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