Revelations an adaption of Pride and Prejudice

Chapter 45

Which is totally true. After dancing with Mr Manners for quite some time, they have so much to talk about, and he is such a good dancer, he rather upsets her, just when they are about to part to dance with someone else for a change.

As Wickham approaches casually, obviously to ask her to dance with him, Mr Manners whispers, 'You're not going to dance with him, are you, after what he did to you?'

That is such a shock, how could he know? She cannot imagine her brother or Elizabeth talking, and Jane is discretion itself, there is no way she'd have told Mr Manners. No-one else knows.

'I'm sorry, Miss Darcy, I've upset you. Will you please forgive my indiscretion, and my jealous remark? I really care for you, but I have no right to patronize you, please forgive me.'

He does look very repentant, and he is so charming, what can Georgiana do but tell him he is forgiven, and save the puzzle of how he knew for later? For now, she is going to dance, and certainly not with Wickham, but not because he still has power over her, but because she wants to dance with her brother, indeed the handsomest man of them all.

She looks around to find him, only to see Mr Grenfell come straight at her from the opposite side of where Wickham is nearing. This cannot be happening! She is planning to amuse herself at this celebration, and now she is dodging mercenaries from the past and the present?

Choosing instantly, she faces Wickham with a smile, and he bows and offers his hand, undoubtedly expecting to surprise her, but finding her ready and even eager to dance with him instead.

He is a very able dancer, not as strong a lead as Mr Manners, but good enough, and he is saving her from Mr Grenfell.

'Miss Darcy, Georgiana, thank you for honouring me with a dance. I always knew you'd turn out incredibly well eventually, your mother was stunningly beautiful, and I suppose even Lady Catherine had her days of being the belle of the ball.'

He is good at flattery, she has to admit, but she's not letting him off the hook so easily.

'So you dared take the chance of eloping with a gangly, skinny girl, expecting her to bloom in a few years?'

He probably did not expect her to be so frank, but Georgiana has learned a lot from Elizabeth, and never before have those pert remarks come to her so easily. She really has grown, but not just in beauty.

Her quick thinking and frank demeanour have surprised him, but only for a few seconds, after which he replies readily, with his usual captivating softness, and even some remorse.

'You must hate me for what I did, but you know I would have been a good husband to you, I did feel a certain love for you. And you certainly loved me.'

Georgiana is surprisingly calm as she formulates her own thoughts, and tells him exactly what months of contemplation have made her realise. For once, she is able to say exactly what she wants to.

'For a few years you would have treated me like a princess, George, until you had spent all my money. Then you would have complained to my brother and asked for more.

And you know as well as I do that I didn't love you like that, but merely as a brother, a love you perverted into something that suited you.

I have never known love like you refer to, I see it before me every day in Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth, and it is a love I hope to feel one day, in all its depth and intensity, but I'm sure I never have, yet. For so far I merely love Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth, as my brother and sister, as I once loved you.'

Such a good feeling, such relief to have given him a piece of her mind! He feels it, too, somehow mentioning love and her brother and Elizabeth in one sentence hurts Wickham. Good, he deserves it.