'Oh, where is the maid? Well be late if she doesn’t dress my hair soon!'
'She is still ironing your gown.' Elizabeth pitied her lady’s maid, so intense was Kitty’s excitement this first week of her first London season. Her sister hadn’t been demanding in an imperious sort of way, so much as desperately afraid of missing something if she paused a moment to catch her breath. But the servant had borne Kitty’s flurry with patience and good humor. 'If you had not changed your mind so many times about what to wear, we would not be in danger of arriving late.'
Three dresses, donned and discarded, lay on the bed. Pink had given way to white, then lavender, before blue was determined the most flattering. Kitty regarded the rejects dubiously. 'Perhaps the lavender after all — '
'Kitty!'
A gentle knock on the door interrupted them. Georgiana entered, fetchmgly attired in a dark green tunic over a white gown trimmed with gold ribbons. Kitty gasped.
'Oh, dear! My blue gown has gold ribbons!'
'I shall change,' Georgiana offered.
'No, no — you are already dressed.' Kitty bit her lower lip and considered once more the pile of cast-off silk and lawn. 'I will wear the pink instead.'
'The pink is most becoming,' Georgiana said. 'I think it is my favorite of yours.'
'Truly?'
The suggestion carried: Pink was now the gown of choice. Darcy’s even-tempered sister had a soothing effect on Kitty, for which Elizabeth was grateful. Perhaps Georgiana’s presence would also spare the maid the trial of every hair ornament in Kitty’s jewelry box before they could depart.
Elizabeth left the younger girls and withdrew to enjoy a few moments’ peace in anticipation of the evening ahead. At her own dressing table, she tested her headdress to ensure it was secure, then slipped on her gloves and went in search of Darcy She found him in the hall, hat in hand and wearing his greatcoat. He glanced at the tall case clock, whose hands indicated that the Middletons’ soiree had already begun.
'Is your sister ready?' he enquired.
'Not yet. She was having a gown crisis, but I think disaster has been averted.'
A look of concern crossed his countenance. 'Your mother provided her with numerous new gowns for the season. What misfortune befell them?'
'The unknown preferences of a duke.'
Concern gave way to confusion. 'Which duke?'
'Any duke. She has high hopes of meeting an unattached peer tonight and turning his head. All chance of her future happiness, therfore, now rests entirely on several yards of pink silk and lace trim.'
'I pray they are up to the charge.' He looked again at the clock, then cast an impatient glance toward the staircase. 'She shall not meet anyone if we never leave our own townhouse.'
'The soiree will last for hours, and I am certain we will not be the only guests to arrive late. Most of the
'They might form a more tolerable group if they did.'
'But then who would take note of them? One cannot make a grand entrance to an empty room.'
'Precisely why I prefer to arrive in a timely manner, before an affair becomes crowded.'
Her husband, she knew, did not care to draw attention to himself, nor to endure the tiresome company of those who did. He favored small gatherings of intimate friends over large assemblies of near-strangers, intelligent conversation over mindless gabble. His willingness, therefore, to sponsor Kitty for a full London season demonstrated affection for Elizabeth surpassing any that mere diamonds or other baubles could represent.
Tonight’s event, she suspected, would be just the sort of crush Darcy dreaded. She’d heard that the Middletons’ parties were always crowded affairs, the length of the guest list inspired more by the baronet’s gregarious nature than a realistic understanding of how many people his rooms could comfortably accommodate. Sir John, who had eight children of his own, took great pleasure in gathering young people together and wanted to include everybody in everything. Upon meeting Darcy and learning that he and Elizabeth had two young ladies in their charge, the baronet had insisted that the four of them attend Lady Middleton’s soiree.
She wondered whether Darcy realized what he had gotten himself into by accepting the invitation. 'Have you any idea how many guests the Middletons expect?'
'Sir John called tonight’s party a small get-together, so I anticipate a pleasant evening.'
Poor Darcy.
She wrestled a few moments with her conscience over whether to warn him of the probable scene ahead, but decided against spoiling his night any sooner than necessary 'Did Sir John say whether his eldest sons would be there?' The Middletons had two sons in their early twenties — John, named after his father, and William.
'They will. They have no titles, however — will Kitty still wish to meet them?'
'Kitty wants to meet every eligible young gentleman in attendance.'
He regarded her warily. 'Elizabeth, I trust your sister will comport herself in a dignified manner?'
'Of course she shall.' She prayed.
Since the elopement of their youngest sister, Lydia, last August, Elizabeth and Jane had worked hard to curb Kitty’s more foolish tendencies and check the undisciplined behavior in which she’d been allowed to indulge with Lydia. Kitty now, her sisters hoped, comprehended the difference between cream-pot love and genuine regard, and understood that genteel conduct solicited more respectable attention from gentlemen than did brazen flirtation.
'Kitty has learned from Lydias poor judgment, and benefits trom the steadier influence of our company,' Elizabeth added. 'Sometimes entire weeks pass without a single mention of officers or red coats.'
'Yes, it seems she has moved on to dukes.'
'You cannot fault her for harboring the same aspirations as every other young lady in town.' A servant arrived with Elizabeth’s wrap and helped her drape it over her arms.
'Georgiana anticipates the evening more soberly.'
'Your sister has experienced previous London seasons, so the prospect of a society affair does not hold the novelty it does for Kitty. Yet despite her natural reserve, I believe Georgiana, too, looks forward to increasing her limited acquaintance this evening.'
'Her present circle is quite large enough.'
'Darcy, you have shielded Georgiana from the fashionable world since the day she came out. You cannot sequester her forever.'
He turned, avoiding her gaze by inspecting his appearance in the trumeau mirror. 'I do nothing of the sort.'
Behind him, she raised a brow. He saw the accusation in her reflection.
'I merely restrict her exposure to men whose motives or merit I question,' he clarified, setting his hat down on the table to adjust the shoulders of his coat.
'That is to say, any men at all.'
He faced her and shrugged. 'Am I to blame if all the gentlemen one encounters these days are rowdies who lack purpose? Or worse — rakes and rogues who engage in less than noble behavior?'
She sighed, knowing that a single conversation could not surmount Darcy’s natural protective instincts toward his sister, nor his self-reproach for what he considered an inexcusable failure of watchfulness on his part. When Georgiana was but fifteen, even before she was officially out in society, she’d almost eloped with a fortune hunter — the same ne’er-do-well who had eventually seduced Lydia. That another, more sophisticated friend of theirs recently had been similarly deceived by another 'gentleman' only increased his mistrust.
'Not every potential suitor is a secret scoundrel, Darcy. Honorable men yet exist.'
'I should like to know where.' Though he spoke lightly, she could read disillusionment in his eyes.
'I found one.'
She crossed to the table, lifted his hat, and placed it on his head. As she met his gaze, she offered a playful smile. 'Unless you really married me for my vast fortune?'
'Nay,' he said, taking her hands in his as she lowered them.
'My superior connections?'
'Mistaken again.' He held her gaze and returned her impish grin. 'In fact, I believe it was
