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

Chapter 14

"Mr Birch! And a proposal!" Georgiana looked at her brother in a horrid manner. "My dear brother! Mr Birch is a wonderful young man but I shall not marry him!"

"Georgie, I know that this is a surprise for you. But Mr Birch is a fine man. You would not find another man like him. Do not forget to think about it." Elizabeth held Georgiana's hand as she spoke in a soft voice.

She looked down at her feet, but in reality, she was lost in her thoughts. Mr Everett was the one she loved. But he was engaged. On the other hand, Mr Birch was completely in love with her and she knew it by the look of his eyes on the night of the ball.

Looking up into Elizabeth's eyes, she slightly nodded her head. "I accept the proposal. But I shall only marry on the day when Catherine and Mr Everett will get married."

"This is a wonderful news! It would be delightful to have two weddings on one day! Mr Darcy, shall we spread the good news?"

"We should." Mr Darcy replied with a wide smile on his face.

Georgiana, unable to say anything, rushed upstairs to her room. After two days, the news had spread like a fire and they had received so many guests and so many gifts for Georgiana. Mr Birch and his sisters became frequent visitors at Pemberly and Georgiana tried hard to forget Mr Everett but she could not.

On one afternoon, Catherine and Mr Everett came to Pemberly to pay their congratulations, and Georgiana hesitated to even look at them.

"It is delightful, really, to hear that you both will get married on the same day as us." Kitty sipped her tea.

"It was my dear's idea." Mr Birch held Georgiana's hand, who gave him a painful smile, which he could not identify.

Mr Everett remained quiet. He smiled at the couple but he was surprised at the fact that Georgiana was engaged so soon.

"Augustin, why are you not having tea?" Kitty gently stroked his arm.

"I am not quite feeling well today. I have so much to do today. It is never easy being an artist." He ran his hand through his brunette hair as he sighed.

"Pardon, but just few months ago, you said that every savage can be an artist. How come your opinion changed so quickly?" Georgiana placed her tea cup on the table, staring at Mr Everett constantly.

"I did not mean it when I said it. I was just trying to make you gain confidence." He scoffed, stood up and walked up and down the room.

She felt her heart become tighter, as if it was slowly shattering. Her feelings were hurt. "Art is a harmony parallel with nature." She said quietly.

Mr Everett glared at her and mused over her words. "Yes it is quite indeed."

"So is music." Mr Birch added.

"Music and art are two common languages which can unite people. In our era, we see many disputes." She bit her lip, still feeling a little down.

"Great art is as irrational as great music. It is mad with its own loveliness, both are unreasonable. It might be odd for an artist to say this, but it is quite true."

"I object." Georgiana stood up and made her way towards the window. "Art and music feed the heart and soul of a person. Both of them are clearly logical. If there was no art or no music, the world might have been dull. There would have been nothing to talk about, nothing to entertain ourselves with and nothing to impress others with. Great art and great music are both reasonable."

"There, Miss Darcy has said it all. It is also quite true that ones feelings are revealed through art and music." Mr Birch said.

Georgiana and Mr Everett glared at each other silently for a time of few minutes but they looked away. Mr Everett was clearly not being himself that day. It was a dreary afternoon for both of them and nothing was later said about art and music. They just planned out their wedding day.