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Post by Mr. Darcy on Aug 30, 2008 1:36:33 GMT -5
"I'm certain that if you are quite yourself, Fitzwilliam, they cannot choose but to be delighted," Georgiana was saying, her delicate features nonetheless registering some slight anxiety. "It is myself I am less confident of. Are you certain they wish to meet me? They have no acquaintance with me, they cannot possibly--"
"Come now," Darcy said, not unkindly. "You wished to meet Miss Shirley, andIhave no doubt you will get along famously. If you are yourself, my dear, I have every confidence in you."
He smiled affectionately at his sister as he straightened his cravat, for he himself was not altogether certain as to where this meeting would take them. Miss Shirley had hardly seemed inclined to be polite for its own sake before--he had no doubt she could have told him quite plainly that she was busy, or leaving London, or a host of other excuses. And he would not have blamed her.
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Post by Anne on Aug 30, 2008 3:17:14 GMT -5
*Alright, so she was curious. She would be the first to admit it. Well, to anyone but Darcy, that is. Which is why the afternoon found Marilla wearing her best dress, which, if a bit sombre in her way, at least had some lace and her amethyst brooch. Anne wore her best day dress, a pretty one, if simply done up, the fabric a light cream colour, with a smart brown jacket. She tried not to wring her gloved hands together as they got out of the hansom cab, paid the driver, and made their way up the steps to ring the bell at the grand residence. Marilla was perfectly equal to the situation--her gravity and reserve could hold their own in any social circumstances. Anne...was less composed, but managed to keep the butterflies in her stomach covered with a somewhat serene expression as she attempted not to gawk at the grandeur beyond even her imagination.*
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Post by Mr. Darcy on Aug 30, 2008 20:48:59 GMT -5
If the housekeeper noted Anne's discomfort, she was too well-trained to let on; Master Fitzwiliam had specifically asked that she greet their guests at the door, though why these in particular, Mrs. Reynolds could not know. Nor was it her business to wonder, though she did think Miss Shirley a most vivacious looking creature, so fiery next to the excellent, though more reserved, Miss Georgiana and the dark Mr. Darcy.
"Mr. Fitzwilliam and Miss Georgiana are expecting you," she said, curtsying slightly in deference to her own position. "If you will come this way?"
She led the ladies to the parlour, where Darcy stood beside the mantel and Georgiana sat with demure anxiety on a divan next to him. As Miss Cuthbert and Miss Shirley were announced, Darcy stepped forward to greet them and Georgiana stood.
"Miss Cuthbert. Miss Shirley," he said, his expression denoting reserved, yet open, pleasure. "May I introduce my sister, Georgiana."
Geogriana curtsied, flushing slightly. "Miss Shirley. I have heard ever so much of you. Thank you for urging Fitzwilliam towards Tennyson. I've never read anything quite so... romantic."
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Post by Anne on Aug 31, 2008 4:13:21 GMT -5
*Anne smiled at Georgiana--it was clear the girl was quite shy, and not so very many years younger than herself.*
"I'm so pleased to meet you, Miss Darcy," *she said warmly.* "Though I rather wonder that your brother took my suggestion for Tennyson," *she said in a lower voice, noting that Mr. Darcy paid marked attention just then to Marilla, making certain she was seated comfortably.* "Our tastes are quite different, and I believe he has a general distaste for anything remotely connected to romance."
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Post by Mr. Darcy on Aug 31, 2008 10:25:01 GMT -5
Darcy, arranging things to Marilla's satisfaction and ordering that tea be brought in, inadvertently left Georgiana to field Anne's disbelief. The girl's eyes widened, automatically seeking her brother for a moment with clear admiration before speaking.
"Oh no, Miss Shirley! My brother holds your taste in very high opinion. As to his tastes, I shudder to think what he must be like out in company, to give you that impression."
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Post by Anne on Aug 31, 2008 12:02:33 GMT -5
*Anne laughed softly, so only she and Georgiana could hear.*
"He is very unlike himself, then, I believe. I beg your pardon if I have misjudged him on the basis of his behaviour."
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Post by Mr. Darcy on Aug 31, 2008 15:43:21 GMT -5
Darcy glanced over briefly at Georgiana's quiet laugh, gratified by her apparent good spirits. He wanted Anne and his sister to get along; why, he refused to speculate on.
"Are you enjoying London, m'am?" he asked Marialla. "It must be quite different from your Avonlea. I have always preferred the country, myself."
Meanwhile, Georgiana was attempting to imagine her brother be anything but entirely correct in his behavior. "My brother's behavior is always quite proper," she said, not as if to correct Anne but as a simple statement of fact. "Though he claims I see him in his best light, being his sister and all. I don't... go about in society, much. I often have him all to myself. But I cannot imagine what he might have done, for he has always spoken so highly of you. Indeed, so much so that I simply begged him to introduce us."
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Post by Anne on Aug 31, 2008 15:54:22 GMT -5
*Anne blushed slightly.*
"Well, whatever my virtues may be, my faults most certainly outweigh them; and your brother will be the first to admit it. Indeed, I believe he has seen me at my very worst. I cannot say I am altogether proud of how I have behaved in the past."
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Post by Mr. Darcy on Aug 31, 2008 18:09:29 GMT -5
Georgiana's delicate hand fluttered out to lay itself on Anne's wrist, as if unconscious of the movement.
"Oh, no, Miss Shirley. I have never heard him speak to highly of a lady, in all my life. He had much to say for your wit and your spirit." Her fair skin blushed, as if she was suddenly aware of perhaps having said too much. "Fitzwilliam says you write," she said. "Won't you favor us with a poem, later?"
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Post by Anne on Sept 1, 2008 2:37:59 GMT -5
*Anne's jaw dropped a little before she recovered herself. Why would Mr. Darcy speak so highly of her supposed talents to his sister and then insult them to her face? If the man had any idea of trying to win her heart, he was going about it in a strange fashion.*
"I...er...I could gladly recite...just...not something of my own..." *she stammered.*
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Post by Mr. Darcy on Sept 1, 2008 11:21:48 GMT -5
Georgiana bit her lip, knowing full well the embarrassment of being called upon like this and regretting her impulsive request.
"Oh, I am sorry," she said. "I hate being singled out. I do play the piano, but if anyone asks me to sing! If you'd rather not... But if you did have something set to memory, I should like to hear it. I'm certain Fitzwilliam would, as well."
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Post by Anne on Sept 1, 2008 11:27:29 GMT -5
*Anne smiled gently.*
"...I could gladly think of something to recite...I only think that any compositions of my own might not be up to the standards of such fine company. Do you know The Highwayman?"
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Post by Mr. Darcy on Sept 1, 2008 15:53:45 GMT -5
"We're not as fine as all that," Georgiana said. "Certainly not too fine to hear any tale you might tell, Miss Shirley. Ihave not heard it; but perhaps, after tea, we will remedy that."
The tea was being brought in as she spoke, and she served with good breeding but the nerves of little experience.
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Post by Anne on Sept 1, 2008 17:09:47 GMT -5
*Anne was warmly grateful to Miss Darcy as she was handed her cup of tea. Georgiana was nothing like her brother, it seemed...sweet, open and with an earnest desire for the good opinion of others. Still...there was something of ease in Mr. Darcy's manner which surprised her, and pleasantly. She caught herself more than once glancing at him as she sipped her tea and chatted with Georgiana, forcing herself to look back at her cup and saucer, or to engage in conversation with her hostess.*
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Post by Mr. Darcy on Sept 2, 2008 11:06:43 GMT -5
Marilla was a fine guest, polite and not entirely cowed out of giving her opinions of London and England, but she was not Anne, and Darcy found his gaze drifting to her periodically. He did not stare, but he did notice the animated look on Georgiana's face as she spoke, unheard, and it warmed his heart. His sister had had little enough company after that episode last year, and he feared he was poor substitute for friends for the girl. She needed someone like Miss Shirley, to lend her confidence.
During a slight lull in his own conversation, he overheard a few words of Georgiana's, in which she was asking Anne to tell her about her small town and her farm.
"Forgive the intrusion," he said smoothly, with an apologetic glance at Miss Cuthbert, "but I, too, am intrigued by what I have heard thus far about Avonlea. No doubt you too, Miss Cuthbert, could oblige myself and my sister with your observations, unless you tire of such things."
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