Christmas at Pemberley

Part 2

Georgiana Darcy sat on what might have been her favourite seat in the whole of Pemberley - her piano stool. However, despite being afforded an hour entirely to herself and a pile of new music, her playing was listless and distracted. She made simple errors, tripping over her notes and forgetting the key so often that eventually she abandoned trying to play at all, crashing out one last, off-key chord and sinking her head into her hands with a groan.

How unlike last year this Christmas is! she thought, allowing her mind to roam over all that had changed in the last twelve months. She was with her brother, which was always a blessing to her, and still more wonderful, she had gained a sister, for whilst he and Elizabeth had been married but a short time she had recognised in Elizabeth Bennet a kindred spirit, so that, had Darcy not acknowledged his feelings and proposed himself, Georgiana would likely have taken matters into her own hands to unite the pair just as soon as she could.

Why, then, was she so melancholy? She enjoyed Christmas. Advent was invariably her very favourite season. It ought to be still more so this year, for not only had the Darcy family grown by one member, they would be hosting the friendly and cheerful Gardiners, along with their children. Georgiana liked children and remained convinced that Christmas was never truly Christmas without them.

She could not help but feel a little lost, though. A little alone, even in the midst of the promised crowd of guests. William was married and happy, which state Georgiana rejoiced over, but being surrounded by such new wedded bliss served only to remind Georgiana how alone she was. Lizzy, far more sensitive to Georgiana's circumstances than she had expected her to be, still deferred to her on a great many matters of housekeeping, but still, Georgiana must cede her position in the house to Elizabeth, the new Mrs Darcy, and she could not help but feel a little superfluous.

There was a light knock at the door and Georgiana straightened, immediately lifting her lips into a smile as Elizabeth skipped into the room.

"Ah, here you are!" her sister-in-law exclaimed. Her bright smile dulled and she frowned at Georgiana. "I was not sure I would find you here, for it is so quiet!" She paused. "Or am I disturbing a moment of genius?"

"Hardly!" Georgiana said, stifling a yawn. "I think genius has entirely forsaken me today if indeed it ever graced me with its presence." She shrugged one shoulder. "I cannot concentrate on music this afternoon."

"Excellent, you will be in need of some occupation, then!" Lizzy declared, her eyes sparkling. She had been concealing behind her a basket of ribbon and lace, which she plonked unceremoniously down in the centre of the room. "I have to make a hundred bows, and you can help me!"

Georgiana eyed the basket ass if fearing it might spring into life.

"Would the servants not be better equipped to do that?"

"I dare say they would," Lizzy said, pulling a ribbon free and settling to the task. "If I had asked them. But I feel like this is a task I ought to undertake myself." She frowned as the ribbon slipped out of her hands. "At least, one I ought to attempt to undertake myself." Trying again, she succeeded in tying a knot and let out a yelp of frustration. "Jane was always much better at this sort of thing than me. She had far nimbler fingers. Like yours, Madame Mozart!"

Georgiana laughed, slipping from her stool and joining Lizzy by the basket. She slipped free a length of ribbon and fastened it in a bow, drawing Elizabeth's attention with the ease and speed with which she succeeded at the task.

"There! You are far better at this than I am! I shall delegate the task to you entirely!" Lizzy laughed, shoving the basket a little closer to Georgiana. "But I shall sit here and talk to you all the same." She paused, shooting her friend a tentative smile. "If you do not mind my company?"

"Mind it?" Georgiana shook her head, reaching for another ribbon and repeating her steps to fashion a second bow in the image of the first. "Why on earth should I mind it?" She let out a sigh, recalled to her previous lonely melancholy and was not quick enough to stifle her sigh. Lizzy leapt on it.

"There, you do not sound as if you do not mind it. Tell me the truth, have I interrupted you? Am I keeping you from doing what you would much rather be spending your afternoon doing?"

"No," Georgiana said, firmly. She plucked a completed bow and leaned over to Lizzy, fastening it carefully amidst her dark curls. "I was a little lonely, that is all. It is well remedied with you here."

"Lonely?" Lizzy frowned.

"Don't worry," Georgiana told her, returning to her task. "It was just a little bit of silliness. I love Christmas but this afternoon I could not help but miss Ge-" She caught herself just in time, swallowing the rest of her words and concentrating fiercely on her work, praying that Lizzy had not noticed the slip and would not discern the truth.

"I was thinking," Elizabeth mused, as if the idea had just occurred to her. "We ought to host a dinner and invite some of the neighbours. Although your brother has been kind enough to introduce me to many of them, I feel as if we have not yet fully settled into life here in Derbyshire. Christmas is the very time for making new friends and I am sure that a dinner celebrating the season might be the very thing we all need to really embrace the holiday. We might time it to celebrate the arrival of my aunt and uncle as well. What do you think?"

Georgiana pulled a face, imagining how quickly her brother would overrule such a suggestion.

"I am not sure if William will care to -"

"I am not worried about him!" Lizzy said, with a merry toss of her curls that loosened the bow and sent it floating down to join its neighbours. "I wish to see what you think of the idea, Georgiana. Do you like it? Would you help me to organise it?"

Georgiana nodded once, tentatively, then twice more with growing confidence. She would like to help her sister-in-law plan and execute a festive meal and it would be enjoyable to fill the Pemberley dining room with more than just the three of them.

"Excellent!" Lizzy clapped her hands. "I am sure between us we shall have no trouble at all in persuading your brother." She glanced up at the ceiling consulting an imaginary calendar. "How about this Tuesday? Will that be enough time for us to plan, do you think? It can serve a dual purpose then, to welcome my aunt and uncle to Pemberley. I do not suppose even William can say no to that!"