Family (a Pride and Prejudice fanfiction)

Sisters of the Heart

It had been decided that both couples had waited long enough for a clear way to happiness; neither was interested in a long-drawn-out engagement. Lizzie had been determined from the first that it would be a double wedding. Jane had demurred initially, which Georgiana had found confusing, but she happened to be present when the sisters talked it through—Jane had been concerned that Fitzwilliam and Lizzie would want a grander, larger wedding than either she or her equally shy fiance would be comfortable with. Georgiana was able to assure her for Fitzwilliam's part that he was just as shy as Charles, although he showed it in a different manner, and Lizzie convinced her sister that a small, private wedding would more than suit everyone involved, with the probable exception of her mother and Kitty.

To compensate their mother for the loss of the grand weddings she had so fondly imagined, the two brides allowed her to choose both of their gowns and dutifully attended fittings with every evidence of enjoyment. If they were uncomfortable in the much-flounced gowns Mrs. Bennet had chosen, they didn't show it.

How could they be uncomfortable, Georgiana thought, when it was so clear how happy they each were with their choice of husband. She had thought she was in love with Mr. Wickham, but seeing Lizzie and Fitzwilliam, Jane and Charles, and even watching Mr. and Mrs. Bennet in the occasional moments when he could be induced to look up from his pursuits and focus on his wife, Georgiana understood far better what it was to be truly happy with one's chosen partner. She was reminded inescapably of her parents. In the nursery and then the schoolroom, she had not had many opportunities to observe her parents together and form any true image of their relationship with one another, but her impression had always been that they enjoyed one another's company and respected each other—just as Lizzie and Fitzwilliam did. She was glad for her brother that he had found a woman who truly challenged him and enlivened him to share his life with.

And somewhere deep inside her heart, a determination was growing. After the dreadful affair with Mr. Wickham, Georgiana had been more than content to settle into childhood for just a little longer, burying herself at Pemberley. Marriage had been something she thought about with a shudder, grateful for her narrow escape, not something to look forward to. As her experiences had receded into memory and she had drawn closer to the time when she knew she would have to be presented in society, she had considered marriage as a necessity, as a particularly challenging sonata to get just right. Now, watching her brother and his fiancee, she began to give serious thought to what she might want in a husband, and to what would secure her happiness instead of her comfort, well-being, and standing in society.

As the weddings drew nearer, the brides and bridegrooms appeared to increase in happiness, while all around them increased in chaos. Mrs. Bennet had her hands full rushing to and fro, always with Kitty and Mary at her sides, calling out orders to one girl, then giving a conflicting order to the other, then countermanding both to start over again. Mary worked with a will and actually was responsible for many of the plans being completed, while Kitty would start something then fall into a daydream and forget what she had begun. Mr. Bennet locked himself in his study, avoiding all of it.

Georgiana found herself rather at loose ends. She had little to do at Netherfield, no particular responsibilities for the wedding preparations, and everyone else had little time. She had offered to do more, but Mrs. Bennet told her not to worry herself, that she and her girls had it well in hand.

She was practicing away on Charles's rather second-rate pianoforte, wishing for her own at Pemberley to make the music sound just right, one afternoon when she heard a sound behind her. Georgiana finished the crashing chords she was in the midst of and then turned to see who was behind her.

"I'm sorry to disturb you," Lizzie said.

"Oh, no. Please. I don't mind at all." Georgiana carefully closed the cover over the keys and stood up. "Was I too loud?"

"No, it was lovely. I wish I could play with as much emphasis and expression."

"You know I am always happy to practice together."

A smile lit Lizzie's face. "I do, and I look forward to it when we live together at Pemberley. Only a few short days now."

"Are you nervous?"

"Nervous?"

"About the wedding."

"Oh. Not especially. Mama appears to be the one who most wants everything to go well, and some way or another, she always seems to get what she wants." Lizzie laughed. "Look how well she managed to get her daughters married off. Look out, Georgie, or she'll have you on your way down the aisle as well."

"She would have to find a suitable candidate before that could happen."

"Well, there you're on your own."

They smiled at each other, but Georgiana could feel her smile fading as she looked at her soon-to-be-sister. "Lizzie, may I ask you a question?"

"By all means! At any time you like."

"Do you mind at all ..." She stopped herself. The question was indelicate.

"If we're to be sisters, you must be willing to ask me questions that you think you shouldn't." Lizzie smiled. "Heaven knows my own sisters have asked me any number of uncomfortable questions, and thought nothing of it."

Georgiana nodded, but she could feel a blush stealing across her cheeks. "Do you mind at all sharing your home with your husband-to-be's sister?"

Lizzie looked startled. Whatever question she might have expected, that was evidently not it. "Why, of course not! What ever would make you think so?"

It was hard to explain, and the thoughts she'd had seemed to Georgiana to have been about more intimate things than she felt she could comfortably discuss with Lizzie. She shrugged.

"Ah." Lizzie appeared to understand her reticence. She patted Georgiana on the shoulder. "Remember what I am used to, sister-to-be. A much smaller establishment than Pemberley, and one simply packed full with sisters bursting in upon me at the most inopportune times to ask questions and offer confidences and opinions. What would I do in that vast house without someone of similar intimacy? It would be entirely too quiet for me."

"But you would have Fitzwilliam."

"Yes. And I quite look forward to that." Lizzie's smile was positively impish this time. "But when one is used to being surrounded by family, one person, no matter how beloved, seems likely to make for an unusual amount of privacy. And while I cannot say I have never longed for some peace and quiet, there is a vast difference between four sisters of varying liveliness constantly underfoot and one sister of more sedate tastes and more modest behavior sharing an extremely large house. I most earnestly desire that our little family of Darcys shall not be broken up until you are ready for your own home and hearth."

It was impossible to doubt her sincerity; Georgiana felt the little storm of uncertainty that had filled her stomach on and off since Fitzwilliam had first come home speaking of Miss Elizabeth Bennet calm itself. She reached for Lizzie's hand. "You are generous to say so."

"You are generous to allow me into your home, your life, and your brother's heart. I have no wish to supplant you there; I hope you will believe that."

"I do, indeed." And they embraced. Georgiana truly felt that today she had gained a sister; she could hardly wait for the day that would bind them together as such for the rest of their lives.