Honour and Intimacy - A Sequel to Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice'

Chapter 12

Months had passed by, winter came and went without being noticed, and then came spring. Five months had went by and everyone could see how Elizabeth became weak and how her round abdominal area grew large. Everyone predicted that the baby would be healthy and beautiful, after seeing the size of her belly. However, even after being weak and weary, Elizabeth did not stop taking Georgiana for different visits, trying to get her acquainted with new people in order to find a suitable partner for her. Georgiana did not like this way of getting a partner for herself since she was too shy but Mrs Darcy had always pushed her for it.

It was the month of April, on one blooming afternoon, Mrs Reynolds helped Georgiana to dress with exquisiteness. She had made her hair with more than usual prudence and she had told her to put up a pleasant smile on her face. Her rashes had vanished long ago and there was no hint on her face that would inform someone that she had suffered from measles. The colour of her cheeks had come back and she was not pale anymore. Georgiana was as fit as ever.

There was a knock on the door and Mr Everett entered the room without waiting for a permission. Many things had happened in those five months. Georgiana and Mr Everett had become close friends and what made them come close were two things; art and music. They knew that art and music had the power to make them inseparable. They ignored each others defects, and Georgiana even forgot the fact that he was engaged. However, only Mrs Reynolds was aware of their intimacy. Mr and Mrs Darcy just thought that they were mentoring each other in art and music.

"Georgie, why are you not ready yet?" Mr Everett asked with a slight indication of worry in his voice.

"I am almost done Mr Everett." She answered as Mrs Reynolds tied the bow of the dress behind her back. She gave one last look at herself in the mirror and walked out of the curtain.

Mr Everett was speechless and his expression was priceless. His eyes and his mouth were frozen wide open in an expression of stunned surprise. "Georgie, you look-" he gasped; "you look gorgeous."

She blushed with a slight grin on her face. "Thank you."

"May I walk you downstairs?"

"You may."

She stepped towards him and locked her arm in his. They walked down the stairs, to the huge hall where the whole crowd was awaiting her arrival. It was a marvellous ball that Mrs Darcy had planned, just for the sake of Georgiana.

"This is your night, Miss Darcy." He whispered in her ear before parting from her.

She saw him disappear into the huge crowd and she felt a little disappointed. Just then, Elizabeth joined her with a bunch of ladies and a young, charming man who looked as if he had been travelling around for many months. Even though his skin was a little dark, he possessed blue eyes which would captivate anyone's attention.

"Georgiana, I must introduce you to these excellent young people, who have come here all the way from France. This is Mr Alan Birch, and these are his sisters, Jennifer Birch and Alice Birch. Mr Birch owns an estate in Nottinghamshire but they mostly live abroad."

Georgiana made reverence to her guests and upon meeting Mr Birch's gaze, she saw that he was slightly blushing. He grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it, a gesture which showed his compliment for her.

"Miss Darcy, it is a great pleasure to meet you. Would you like to dance?" He said in a trembling voice. His nervousness was clearly visible. He seemed to be the youngest of all the siblings, but Georgiana had an easy composure, in order to calm him down. She had learnt this from Mr Everett.

"I would, indeed." She lent him her hand, and without any hesitation, he grabbed it and walked with her until they reached the centre of the hall where all the couples were dancing.

When Georgiana looked at her side, she spotted Mr Everett, dancing with Catherine and that was the moment when her blood started to boil. Anger had flushed all over her and she did not speak throughout the dance. She danced with utmost care, making sure that her steps were better than Catherine's, who was too lost in her Prince Charming. Mr Birch did not notice her expressions, because he was too captivated by her eyes.

"You dance very beautifully, Miss Darcy." He complimented.

"Thank you, Mr Birch." She bit her lip.

As soon as the dance finished and they bowed at each other, Mr Everett grabbed Georgiana's hand.

"Mr Everett!" She cried. "Did you mean to scare me in this way? Did you see my dance partner? Was he not so handsome?"

"Yes I did see him, and I wanted to ask who he was. Perhaps you could introduce him after our dance?"

Georgiana nodded her head and the next set of dance began. This time, she felt a little sick because she could feel Catherine Bennet staring at them, and it was not only Catherine who was staring at them, Mrs Bennet and Mrs Darcy had given their attention to them too.