Second Glances: A Tale of Less Pride and Prejudice Continues (Tales of Less Pride and Prejudice) (4 page)

“I must beg her pardon when I see her. How did you meet?”

“I saw her at the theater, shortly after arriving in town, and Lady Catherine introduced us. I tell you, James, that never have I found a lady more comfortable to talk to! Never mind that she is perfectly exquisite, she is also so very accomplished! She speaks on any number of subjects with sense and ease – everything one could want in a life’s companion!”

“She must be a very different creature to the knobby kneed child I remember.”

Simon laughed. “Yes, I think she must be greatly altered.”

“I haven’t seen Darcy in quite some time either. Not since he married. Yet he has been often in my thoughts lately, largely because he is about the only person in town, other than yourself, of course, whom I will take any pleasure in meeting. You must have seen his wife?”

“Indeed! A lovely woman, and sure to be a great favorite with you. She has an excessively ready wit, and though I have not yet seen him for myself, I hear that Darcy is an entirely new creature under her influence. Never has he been so jovial.”

“Certainly not! I cannot begin to imagine such a description as jovial being applied to Darcy, even in a comparative context. The anticipation is unbearable. I must leave my card with them today.”

“You may do better than that. I am expected in Curzon Street this very morning, and you are more than welcome to join me.”

“I am obliged, Simon, but my other business cannot wait.”

“Darcy arrived with his new sister yesterday, having escorted her from Bath. She is a great friend to Miss Darcy, and I hope to make a good impression.”

“What is the lady’s name?” he asked eagerly.

“She is a Miss Bennet, and she will be spending the season with the Darcys.”

“Bennet!” Sir James declared, an adventurous light kindling in his eyes. “I see I could not have timed my arrival better, as you are obviously in need of my services. Business will have to keep until tomorrow. I shall keep Mrs. Darcy’s sister entertained, so that you may garner Miss Darcy’s undivided attention. Excellent!”

“What is?”

“I cannot yet be certain, but we shall see. I am agog with curiosity. Are you ready to set forth?”

“Almost instantly,” came the ready reply, Mr. Brooks’ interest thoroughly piqued. He knew his friend too well to ask him to reveal
his thoughts. When it came to Sir James, he felt that one was best served by sitting back and allowing events to take their course, the very opposite philosophy of managing the baronet to that held by Augusta Westingham.

--

Kitty had indeed arrived, she and Mr. Darcy having traveled in easy stages from Bath, the previous afternoon. Although she had been to London many times in her life, she had yet to have the pleasure of visiting the Darcy home in Curzon Street. Two visits to Pemberley had prepared her to encounter something very elegant, but she noticed a great difference between arriving at an isolated country estate, no matter its grandeur, and descending from a fine carriage in front of an imposing town house, with all the attention of those in the street upon her. She felt particularly conscious of her clothes as she disembarked, not yet being arraigned in town finery, but finding herself soon wrapped in her sister’s embrace and made to feel perfectly at home by the efficient staff, she forgot about her wardrobe deficiency, trusting no one would see her before the matter was attended. She was, therefore, unprepared for the news her friend had to impart at breakfast.

“I am so pleased you are down before my brother and sister,” Georgiana confessed. “Indeed, I wonder if Elizabeth did not arrange it so purposefully. You see, I have something very particular to tell you, and I suspect she knows it.”

“What is it?” inquired Kitty excitedly. “I’m sorry I retired so early, or we could have spoken last night.”

“You need not apologize for wanting your bed after a long journey!” chided Georgiana. “It is only that I am expecting a caller this morning whom I particularly want you to meet. It is a gentleman,” she whispered the last words.

Kitty’s eyes grew wide. “My dear Georgiana! Has he declared himself?”

“No! Nothing like that. We have only met a few times, really.”

“But he is special to you?”

“That is a very nice way of putting it,” she smiled. “I do not think I could have phrased it better, or so simply. Very special, Kitty.”

“I am so pleased for you! Does Lizzy know?”

“She has indicated that she approves of Mr. Brooks, but we have not discussed my feelings, no.”

“Oh, but Lizzy surely can guess. You have a glow about you, you know.”

Georgiana blushed. “I hope not! He will be here soon. I told him he could call before we went shopping.”

“Perhaps I should not greet him,” Kitty responded, looking down at her morning dress. “I look positively dowdy in my school clothes. This cannot be the impression you would wish me to make.”

“Mr. Brooks will not care,” asserted Georgiana firmly. “He is more concerned with the mind than appearances.”

Kitty laughed at her smitten friend. “Then he is sure to find me lacking at any time.”

“Do meet him! I have been so anxious to have your opinion. You cannot know how pleased I am to have you here, Kitty, especially at this particular time.”

“Very well, then. What shall we be doing when he arrives?”

Upon finishing their breakfast, the ladies managed to arrange themselves quite becomingly, sorting through several duets in order to decide which they would pursue. It was fortuitous they had put some thought into the matter, for when two gentlemen were announced, both ladies found themselves flustered by the unexpected addition. Mrs. Darcy stepped forward in eager greeting, and Kitty saw a tall gentleman of handsome countenance agreeably introducing her sister to his companion before her gaze rested on this latter personage. It was with horror she recognized the gentleman with the careening curricle, and with even greater mortification that she watched Georgiana greet him as an old friend. She heard the introduction and made her curtsy, and without releasing her clutch on the music in her hand, she took her seat with the rest of the party.

“Is that the piece you would prefer?” questioned Georgiana, taking the music from Kitty and examining it.

“I think so,” said Kitty quietly, though she had no notion what it was. She folded her hands and proceeded to gaze at them furiously.

“I see we have interrupted your music,” Mr. Brooks apologized.

“Not at all,” smiled Georgiana.

“My sisters plan to rehearse a duet together. A highly unexceptional occupation for young ladies, do you not agree, Sir James?”

“Undoubtedly,” he smiled, charmed by the teasing tone of Darcy’s wife. “You oversee your charges admirably.”

“I am so sorry Mr. Darcy is not here to meet you. He speaks of you quite fondly, you know, and his affection is not easily bestowed. You spent a great deal of time together as children, I understand.”

“Our mothers were great friends, and so it behooved our fathers to become great friends too.”

“What wise gentlemen!” Elizabeth laughed.

Kitty had never felt so mortified.

Elizabeth Darcy saw her vibrant sister disappear into a vapid shell the moment the gentlemen entered. She prayed that this was not demonstrative of the manners her father had spent so much of his income upon, and resolving to speak with Kitty before allowing her into company again, focused on the very pleasant task of meeting a gentleman of whom she had heard such positive report. As her husband and sister had told her, Sir James was handsome and easy of manner, though they failed to capture in their description the animation of his presence. He was the sort of gentleman she would have found easy to befriend, even if he were not an old acquaintance of the Darcys, but as their conversation progressed, she noticed an aspect of his behavior she could not like. He stared a bit more than proper at Kitty, whose attention remained fixedly on her lap. There was intensity in the looks he directed at her, along with a great deal of humor, and Elizabeth had difficulty conceiving what he could find so entertaining in a schoolgirl’s discomfort.

Upon confirming that they would all be in attendance at the upcoming festivity, Mr. Brooks’ was quick to secure a dance with Georgiana, also vowing to stand up with Miss Bennet. It was only gentlemanly for Sir James to extend the same courtesy, but there was something in the manner of his bow that Elizabeth thought particular, or peculiar. She could not identify the source of her unease, but determined to ask her husband for more information about Sir James Stratton.

An intense day of shopping prevented the ladies from discussing their morning visitors, but the gentlemen were under no such restraint. Immediately upon departing Darcy’s house, Mr. Brooks began to interrogate Sir James: “Well? What did you think of her? Is she not stunning?”

“Absolute perfection!”

Mr. Brooks looked a bit surprised. “I had thought that knowing her as a child might blind you to her beauty.”

“Whose, Miss Darcy’s?” he asked. “No, no, my friend. She has grown to be very a lovely lady, no question about it, but it is of Miss Bennet I speak. Rather hard to notice Miss Darcy when Miss Bennet is in the room, is it not?”

“No!” declared a now thoroughly shocked Mr. Brooks. “Miss Bennet? Are you hoaxing me, James? I am sure she will look quite well once fitted out in fashionable attire, but I admit to being surprised by her lack of presence. The reports I had of her were generous in the extreme. She is a very different lady from her sister.”

“Nonsense! Mrs. Darcy is beautiful and certainly amiable – Fitzwilliam chose very well, much better than I ever thought he would – but I do not see the fire Miss Bennet possesses in her elder sister.”

“Fire! Did we just meet the same woman?”

“We certainly did! You noted her discomfort? How else could one expect her to respond? She is mortified, no doubt, to be suddenly confronted by me in a drawing room, but I will change her reaction, mark my words.”

“James!” demanded Mr. Brooks, halting his steps to confront him. “Do you claim a previous acquaintance with Miss Bennet?”

“I would not call it an acquaintance, no.”

Mr. Brooks cast a weary gaze at Sir James. “I see you are playing deep and wish to not reveal your hand. Let me just ask you to please not toy with Miss Darcy’s friend. It would not do if your attentions were misconstrued,” he added worriedly.

“Simon! You do me a great injustice! How can my attentions be misconstrued when I have every intention of marrying that girl? You did want me to find a wife, did you not?” and without waiting for a response, Sir James bade his friend farewell and strode merrily off towards his club, leaving an incredulous Mr. Brooks staring behind him.

--

Georgiana hastened to dress that evening, in order to speak with Kitty before they went downstairs. When she knocked on her friend’s door, Kitty was staring glumly at herself in the mirror. “My old blue gown looks drabber than ever,” she lamented. “I cannot wait to receive my new clothes!”

“That used to be your favorite dress, Kitty, and I still think it very pretty. It will certainly do for a family dinner.”

Kitty sighed. “Yes. I know. I just did not anticipate how very sad and pathetic I would look in my old things when next to you and Lizzy.”

“The matter will soon be rectified. We only have a few minutes, and I must have your opinion of Mr. Brooks,” Georgiana demanded, commanding a seat on the bed and gazing at Kitty interrogatively.

Kitty blushed and turned back to the mirror, smoothing some invisible crease on her bodice. “He seems very nice,” she said meekly.

“Very nice? Is that all you have to say on the matter? I quite depended on your sharing my enthusiasm for him.”

“I am so sorry, my dear Georgie. He’s quite handsome and amiable, I am sure, but the truth is that I was far too flustered by
that man
to pay him proper attention.”

“That man? You mean Sir James?”

“The very same.”

“I noticed you were not yourself this morning. What about Sir James upset you? He did seem to stare at you quite a bit, but I thought that his response to your refusal to meet his eye. He’s quite a character, you know, always teasing. You must pay him no mind.”

“He is Mr. Brooks’ very good friend?”

“His closest. They own neighboring estates.”

Kitty schooled her face to betray none of her dismay but was not entirely successful in the endeavor. Georgiana was surprised to find her friend so discomposed over nothing but pressed her no further. Kitty, determining to change her dress, told Georgiana she would meet her downstairs, and the latter left her to contend alone with the tumult of her mind. On the landing she met Elizabeth, who saw her exit Kitty’s room, and inquired after her sister as they descended the staircase together.

“She should be down shortly,” reported Georgiana, conveying with her eyes that there was more to be said on the subject. Elizabeth silently indicated her understanding, and, finding the drawing room empty, she seized the moment for communication.

“I am wondering if Kitty is not quite herself. Does she seem ill at ease to you?”