Page 39 of What Change Entails

Georgiana scarcely knew what to do with that. She lowered her eyes, then remembered she had not answered with her own name. “I am Miss Darcy.”

Lydia stopped fussing with her bonnet. Every bit of anger vanished from her face, replaced by open astonishment. “Miss Darcy? As in Mr. Darcy’s sister?”

Georgiana’s pleasure vanished almost as quickly as Lydia’s indignation had. She recognized the look. Young ladies often changed around her after learning who her brother was.

She drew herself up a little. “Yes.”

Lydia, however, did not simper or look reverent. She pointed back toward the house with an expression of delighted recognition. “We met your brother in Hertfordshire last autumn. Well, I met him. He hardly spoke to anyone, of course, which was excessively disagreeable, though very grand. Lizzy said—” She stopped abruptly, then eyed Georgiana with curiosity. “You are truly his sister?”

“I am.”

“How astonishing. I was nearly killed by Mr. Darcy’s sister.”

Georgiana stared at her.

Lydia then emitted a sound of amusement. Not politely or prettily. Her laughter suggested the event had surpassed its tragic nature, becoming overwhelmingly ludicrous.

Georgiana’s guard lowered by one cautious inch. “I hope,” she said, “that will not be how you describe me to others.”

“Oh, I shall certainly mention it to Kitty.” Lydia bent to retrieve a fallen ribbon from the grass. “She will be vastly entertained. But I shall add that you were very sorry and nearly twisted your own ankle, which makes it less wicked.”

“My ankle is quite well,” Georgiana lied.

Lydia peered down at it. “The way you are standing suggests it is not.”

Georgiana shifted her weight and failed to hide the wince.

“You see?” Lydia said triumphantly. “I am an excellent observer.”

“So, it appears.”

A groom came running from the direction of the stables, his cap in hand and alarm in every line of him. “Miss Darcy! Begging your pardon, miss, I saw the mare rear.”

Georgiana addressed him with relief. “Thomas, take her, please. She was startled but unhurt, I think.”

The groom accepted the reins and ran a practiced hand along the mare’s neck. “Aye, miss, she’s sound enough. Shall I walk her in?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Thomas glanced once toward Lydia, then wisely asked no questions.

Lydia watched him lead the mare away. “You have a great many servants.”

Georgiana considered the house. “Yes.”

“Do they all know what to do without being told?”

“Usually.”

“How convenient.” Lydia shook a bit of grass from her sleeve. “At Longbourn, everyone must be told everything several times, and then Mama forgets what she wanted done in the first place.”

Georgiana found herself smiling before she could decide whether she ought to.

Lydia noticed. “You laugh more than your brother.”

“Most people do.”

“Lizzy says he is proud.” There it was again. Lizzy. Said so easily. As if Miss Elizabeth Bennet belonged beside them on the path and might appear at any moment with opinions.