A Midsummer Christmas

Part 6

"So this is Lambton!" Richard strolled purposefully along the street, moderating his pace only so that he did not leave Georgiana to scurry behind him. They walked together, nodding and smiling at the cheerful residents they passed, although Richard did not spot a single familiar face among them. "Where do you suppose we might find your brother and his wife?"

"I have no idea," Georgiana said, spying a group of young men walking two abreast and taking a step closer to Richard to avoid them. Richard frowned, surprised at how nervy his young cousin still seemed to be around people she did not know well. He knew that the Wickham business had hit her hard but he certainly had not expected her to still be jumping at shadows.

"Well, now that we are here, I suppose we might as well take some refreshments." Richard pointed to a tiny tearoom, prettily covered in climbing roses and fading wisteria. "What say you?"

"Oh, yes!" Georgiana beamed, and Richard was pleased that his suggestion had been so enthusiastically received. It took very little to make Georgiana happy, and it pleased Richard to do it. She had already been through more in her life than most young ladies ought to. "Although I shall not have cake. Lizzy has commissioned so many delicacies from the kitchen for - for your visit." Georgiana had been poised to say something else, Richard thought, but he chose not to press her on it. His stomach growled and he privately determined, delicacies to come or no, he would select the largest piece of ginger cake he could find.

Seated comfortably in a corner of the tearoom, Richard did just that, bringing a second for Georgiana in case she changed her mind.

"If you do not, politeness will compel me to eat it on your behalf." Richard patted his slim midsection. "Fortunately, I came back from battle a little underweight, for between my sister-in-law's efforts and my appetite, I shall soon require a visit to the tailor."

Georgiana rolled her eyes. Richard had never struggled with his weight, and the suggestion that an extra slice of cake or a hearty meal would change that was absurd.

"You mock me, Georgie, but I'm sure you should not be so happy to be seen with me were I the size of a house." He took a mouthful of his cake. "I have already been told I am old. Shall I be fat too and truly embrace my bachelorhood?"

"You are foolish if nothing else!" A sly voice came from overhead and Richard turned, startled and delighted to see Darcy standing there.

"We thought that was you!" Elizabeth said, curtseying before Richard and then slipping around him to join Georgiana. "What are you doing here?"

"Richard drove us!" Georgiana said, with a wary glance at her brother.

"I did. If you are going to leave a perfectly good buggy moulding away in the stables, Darcy, you can hardly blame a fellow for using it." The two men shook hands warmly and went in search of two extra chairs that could be brought to make Richard and Georgiana's pair a foursome. Soon more tea was brought and everybody was talking at once, a riot of conversation, laughter and merriment that made other tables in the tearoom turn enviously towards the cheerful, happy group.

"And so you have come to Pemberley at last!" Elizabeth said, lifting her teacup to her lips. "Although I am sorry to have taken you away from your brother."

"I'm not, and neither is he," Richard said, with merry bravado. "No, I jest, I have had a very pleasant time with my brother and sister-in-law and getting to know my young niece and nephew a little better." He winced, still finding bumps and bruises from their rough play and sure his body would welcome the more sedate pace of life at Pemberley.

"We were so disappointed not to see you at Christmas," Elizabeth began, with a rueful look in Darcy's direction.

"Yes, very disappointed."

Richard smiled, thinking it amusing indeed to see his cousin so skilfully managed by his new wife. I could not have foreseen it when I first met Elizabeth Bennet all those months ago in Kent! He took a sly sip of his tea, nursing his thoughts but saying nothing. And yet I now cannot imagine any other outcome but the one I see before me. How funny it is that some people can have no conception of how perfectly matched they are until one day, one moment, realisation hits and everything is changed!

"And so, as you were away and missed all of the festivities, we thought..." Elizabeth was speaking again and Richard turned his head, eager to make up for his wandering thoughts by now paying close attention.

"Elizabeth thought," Darcy put in, in a whisper at Richard's shoulder.

"And Georgiana!"

"That's right!" Georgiana tugged on Richard's arm, persuading him to look at her. "We have decided to do Christmas over - to celebrate it now, in July, as we did in December. So that - so that you might not feel you missed out." This last was finished in a rush, as if poor Georgie had run out of steam in the telling and now feared he would think the whole idea as ridiculous as Darcy did. "It was just an idea."

"And a very charming one!" Richard lifted his cup to salute both ladies. "I highly approve of it. Ah, Georgie! Is this why you were practising all your Christmas music when I arrived at Pemberley? It all makes sense!"

Georgiana reddened, and Richard laughed.

"Christmas in July! It is a very fine plan, and I think it will make my most enjoyable summer yet! Tell me, when shall we begin it? What shall the first task be?" He trailed off. "Dear me, I suppose that means I must procure gifts for you all as well! If I did not think better of you, my dear family, I should think that was the whole purpose behind such a scheme...!"

Everyone fell over themselves to explain that this wasn't the case at all, that the plan had been devised solely to benefit him, and Richard laughed loud and long and pronounced the coming week a success before it had even started.