I decided to share the images for this post in a bit of a different fashion today, and you have some options. You can press play and listen to the rest of this post being read to you, or you can press play and turn off the sound to see the images before you read the post below. It’s totally up to you how you wish to enjoy it.
While Georgiana’s sketchbook in Protecting Miss Darcy contains only sketches, I couldn’t resist sharing these pretty watercolor flowers that I found, so that, just like Lily (Alfred’s niece), you could “page” through them.
In the excerpt below, you’ll hear a bit about an incident involving a flower and bee and, hopefully, you’ll enjoy watching Alfred come to a surprising conclusion.
“Ah, here are my little darlings,” Alfred’s mother said as she and those who had been strolling in the garden joined them. “Did you have fun playing?”
Both Nathaniel and Lily assured their grandmother that they had.
His mother’s eyes looked around the gathered group. “We seem to be missing one. Is Miss Darcy still composing her letter?”
“I thought I had seen her exit the house,” Mr. Darcy added.
“She is gone to get a picture,” Ellen said.
“Of a flower — the one Uncle Alfred took from the bee,” Lily added.
“I did not take it from the bee,” Alfred retorted.
“She wants to show it to me,” Lily continued, completely ignoring her uncle’s protest.
“That is a lovely thing to want to do,” Alfred’s mother said to Lily before turning her attention to her guests. “You have a very thoughtful sister, Mr. Darcy. You have done well by her.”
The man smiled and accepted the compliment graciously while adding his own commendations about his sister.
It was another five minutes, at least, before Georgiana joined them. She smiled sweetly and blushed as she made her excuses for being tardy.
“There was no specified time,” Mrs. Langley said. “I understand you were on a mission to retrieve something that my granddaughter would dearly love to see.” She looked at Alfred. “Would you like to introduce your friend to your niece and nephew?”
Mr. Darcy’s left brow did that critical arching thing that it liked to do, but, fortunately, it was not accompanied by a scowl.
“If you wish … I will.”
“I do,” his mother assured him.
Miss Darcy,” Alfred began, “I would like you to meet two of my favourite people in the whole world. This young man on my left is Master Nathaniel Langley and, on my right, is Miss Lily Langley. Nate, Lily, this is Miss Darcy.” He turned to Nathaniel. “She is Mr. Darcy’s little sister.”
“Like me!” Lily’s legs were swinging back and forth as they hung over the edge of her chair, causing her to bounce where she sat.
“Yes, just like you,” Alfred assured her. Then, he took a chair from the far side of Nathaniel and placed it near Lily. “Miss Darcy,” he offered.
She hesitated.
“Lily is eager to see your drawing,” he added. Why was she hesitating? Did she not wish to be near him? Or was it that she was not comfortable with children?
“Are you?” She smiled at Lily, who nodded.
That seemed to say that it was not discomfort with children which was causing her to hesitate. That thought only confused Alfred more. Why would she not wish to be near him?
“I have it in this book with several other flowers, but I think you will know which one it is.” She sat down next to Lily and, opening her sketchbook, began paging through it.
“Oooh,” Lily cooed, “they are very pretty.”
“Thank you. I like drawing flowers.”
“Grandmama likes drawing trees.”
“Yes, she does. She told me that.”
“Miss Darcy,” Nathaniel interjected.
“Yes, Master Langley?”
“I am sorry you got stung.”
“Thank you.” She gave Alfred a curious look.
“I told them,” he said softly. “It was part of the story about my eyes.”
She nodded and continued turning pages.
“Did it hurt a lot?” Nathaniel asked.
“No more than one might imagine,” she replied. “And likely not so much as your uncle’s stings did.”
“Oh, I see it!” Lily cried. “There is a bee on it!” She grabbed Alfred’s arm. “See, Uncle Alfred, she gave the flower back to the bee.”
“Indeed, she has. May I?” He asked with an outstretched hand.
“Yes, of course.” Georgiana placed the book in his hand.
“I thought it might be easier for Nathaniel to see this way,” he explained.
“That is a very good thought,” she agreed
Nathaniel scrutinized the picture for several minutes, turning the book one way and then the other.
“It is very good,” he finally said before giving the book back to Alfred, who allowed Lily a moment to look at the picture before returning it to Georgiana.
“May I see it?” Ellen asked.
“Miss Darcy will not get a chance to eat if we keep her so busy,” Alfred’s mother said as the book was being passed from Edgar on Georgiana’s right to his wife. She nodded to Alfred that he should see that Miss Darcy be offered the plate of sandwiches and sweets.
He stood and moved the tiered plate down to where Georgiana could make her selections. “Would you like some lemonade … or a cup of tea?”
“Oh … I had a glass of lemonade earlier.” She looked behind her to where she and Ellen had been standing when he saw her while he was playing with the children.
“Allow me,” he said before retrieving her glass from the table near the chairs behind the hedge.
Then, with frustration building inside of him, he sat back down. He was happy to see her, but this stilted polite conversation was not for what he wished. He wanted to know everything which had happened at Ravincot in his absence. Most especially, he wanted to hear about the dinner parties she had attended. However, he could not ask her about that here, and he was not certain when he would get the opportunity to speak to her in private.
“I understand you have another sister who is marrying soon,” his mother was saying to Kitty.
“That is correct. Lydia and the colonel will be married at the end of the month,” Kitty replied.
“And she is the youngest? Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“Five daughters,” his mother said with awe. “That must have been a very active household in which to grow up. I know our home was never without some bit of excitement with our three boys, was it, dear?”
“No. It was never dull,” Alfred’s father said. “However, it was never topsy-turvy either.” He smiled broadly. “My boys are not so boisterous as some. The older two were more of a challenge than Alfred, however.”
“Yes, if we had all been as amiable as Alfred, there might be more of us,” Edgar said with a laugh. “However, he was just as capable of causing a stir as any of us were.” He tilted his head and raised a brow at Alfred.
“Neither John nor I ever caused so large a disturbance as Alfred did one summer at the pond.”
Alfred covered his heart with his hand and affected an affronted look. “Me? I only hid your clothes. The rest of the disturbance, as you call it, was all your doing, Brother.”
Alfred’s dad chuckled. “And it all worked out for the best, did it not?”
“Yes, it did,” Edgar agreed.
“Which means,” Alfred inserted with a grin, “that even when starting trouble, I do so to the benefit of others.”
This of course, led to all of his family laughing and the story of how Ellen and Edgar came to be married was shared – in terms which were appropriate for the ears of children while still allowing the adults to understand what had happened.
Nearly everyone enjoyed the story – even Mr. Darcy chuckled at it. However, there was one person who seemed not to enjoy it. Georgiana smiled while listening, but it was not a smile of enjoyment. It was more an expression of politeness, and try as he might to engage her, she did not once look in Alfred’s direction unless he was speaking to her. Something was not right. His hand fairly itched to hold hers and beg her to tell him what was troubling her.
Lily wrapped her arm around his and rested her head against him, drawing Georgiana’s attention, and that was when he saw it. She was not merely troubled. There was sadness in her eyes. His heart clenched at the sight, and a desire to do bodily harm to whoever had caused such sorrow nearly overwhelmed him. She turned away, and a scowl settled on Alfred’s face before he could stop it.
Edgar’s eyebrows rose in question when he glanced at Alfred, who shook his head and attempted to smile. No wonder Mr. Darcy scowled so often as he did when someone with the potential to do his sister harm came near her. It was just what one did when one loved someone so dearly.
Good heavens! Alfred gasped as a shocking realization washed over him.
Gasping, however, was a very poor thing to do when eating a sandwich, for breathing became an impossibility when a piece of food lodged itself in one’s windpipe. Alfred attempted to cough but could not.
Thankfully, Nathaniel noticed his uncle’s distress, and, after a fair bit of smacking on the back by Nathaniel and Edgar, followed by a well-placed punch to the gut, Alfred was once again able to draw a breath as he coughed the bit of food out of the way and swallowed it properly with a bit of lemonade.
He loved Georgiana Darcy.
And he had no idea what he was going to do about it.
Falling in love had not been part of his plan. He was to settle into his position as a parson, and then, in a year or two, he was going to begin looking for a wife. However, in a year or two, Georgiana might be married to someone else.
He cast a look in Mr. Darcy’s direction. He had time to figure it out. Georgiana was not yet out, and there was no way, absolutely none, that Alfred was going to even suggest that he be allowed to court her until it was proper to do so.
