Vampire and Prejudice

Chapter 29 - Darcy

If at first my presence made Elizabeth somewhat uncomfortable, dimming her cheer and playfulness with which I was usually rewarded—deservedly or not—then soon enough she was a picture of ease and smiles. None of them directed at me, of course, which was understandable, considering she had found a worthier person to gift her attention to.

Georgiana was much elated by her new friend, and the change in her was heartwarming. It wasn't a big change. She did not wake up and was unrecognizably better, forgetting her misery during a single night. No, it was the little things: a soft humming when she otherwise would have stayed silent, a glint of enthusiasm in her eyes, a longing look she gave the window, even if it was for a carriage that she waited to appear and not necessarily for the outside world.

It was certain then—Miss Elizabeth had bewitched not one, but two Darcys. Her powers were considerable, and I could only pray that she would always use them for good. Always, of course, is a long time for a vampire, but... No, I must not be hasty in my eagerness. Elizabeth was simply kind towards my sister—no matter the circumstances, I never had supposed she would be otherwise. And she merely tolerated my presence, having laid many crimes at my door, not all of which I had atoned for. But if only there was a way for Elizabeth to stay in Pemberley longer...

I would miss her presence, but that was a condition I was well accustomed to; however, it was becoming clear that Georgiana would also miss her, which was an issue with potentially dire consequences. She might sulk a little or she might go on a hunger strike.

"Brother, I was wondering," Georgiana said before Mr. Gardiner arrived and whisked me away for some fishing, "if Miss Elizabeth would like to stay awhile in Pemberley?"

I played very hard at indifference, though I did ruin a perfectly good letter to my solicitor with a few well-placed ink stains. "I gather it is a question for Miss Elizabeth to answer."

"I am sure it is. But could you ask her?"

I looked at Georgiana, my gaze sliding to her half-drunk glass of blood, then to Georgiana again. "I think not."

Hope drained from my sister's face, replacing it with a sullen expression of an admonished child. "Why not?"

She dreaded the answer that she was a menace to society and the kind and good Miss Elizabeth had no business to entertain her for a while or any other measure of time. I knew it because I wanted to give her that answer; because I had set it up so that I might give it and be correct. I could hardly give her the true answer—or the amalgamation of all the true answers why I was not the person to ask Miss Elizabeth to stay in Pemberley. Not in the too distant past I had asked the very thing from her and had been rebuffed to such a degree that renewing the sentiment in any capacity would unequivocally end badly.

"Would it not be better for you to ask, seeing that it is your wish and she is your friend?" I suggested instead.

"You would be much better at asking. You are much better at making people do what you want them to do."

If only. In the case of Miss Elizabeth I had to relinquish that talent, for she had stomped so much on that famed ability that it had dissolved into tatters.

"Is it a good start of your friendship for me to order her to stay for your entertainment?"

Georgiana did not dare to raise her guilty eyes from the carpet. "No?"

"So we must conclude that it would be far better for you to ask her yourself." Preferably as soon as possible so I would not burst from the impatience. Would Elizabeth agree? Would she be struck with horror at the very idea? Would she leave and never come back again? I could not believe I would have to wait for hours to find out. Elizabeth at Pemberley! Sleeping under my roof! Walking the hallways, the stairs, the park. Reading the books, sharing the table to write letters in the morning, playing duets with Georgiana. My heart hammered in my chest from the excitement so much that I was certain it would create permanent damage.