Pemberley to Waterloo: Georgiana Darcy's Diary, Volume 2 Read Online Free Page A

from shaking, even at a casual after-dinner dance.
    Still, part of me would very much love to see the former Emperor Napoleon's face if he could ever hear himself being described as 'that nasty Frenchman' in Mrs. Reynolds's broad country tones.
    But I haven't yet said what happened today. Which began when I came down this morning, and found Edward and Fitzwilliam had already breakfasted early and gone out to make a tour of the estate and the tenant farms. My brother always likes to do that after he's been away, even for a short time. And then of course there are the charity gifts to the poor for Christmas to be delivered this year--to spare Elizabeth the worry and bustle of having crowds of people coming up to the house. Elizabeth was still upstairs in bed--she often feels ill in the mornings, even still--and Kitty had taken the boys out for a walk. All of which meant that I was alone when Mr. Folliet called.
    To be proper, I should call Mr. Folliet the Earl of Cantrell, for he succeeded to the title earlier this year. But he was Mr. Folliet when I met him last spring, and I suppose that's how I think of him, still.
    He'd sent no word, so we'd not expected to see him at all; I should have expected him to be at his estate, which is in Hertfordshire, or in London for the Season. So it was an utter surprise when Thompson, our butler, came into the music room where I was playing the pianoforte and announced that Lord Cantrell had come to call, and was waiting in the morning room.
    "Lord Cantrell, what a nice surprise," I said when I came into the room. And it truly was. Despite Lord Cantrell's having been one of the suitors my aunt de Bourgh tried to fling at my head last year, I've always liked him very much indeed.
    He rose to greet me and took the hand I'd offered.
    Lord Cantrell is the type of young man Kitty would certainly describe as a beau. He's very handsome--really, one of the handsomest men I've ever seen, with classically portioned features, dark eyes, and waving dark hair. And he dresses very well without being in the least foppish--snowy-white cravats, well-tailored coats, gleamingly polished Hessian boots.
    It's quite lucky for him that Kitty wasn't home when he came to call. Though I'm one of the very few people who knows how pointless her trying to flirt with him would be.
    This morning I thought he looked thinner, and more sober than he had? when last I saw him. But he bowed and then gave me the ghost of his old, flashing grin. "Do you think you could possibly manage Hugh ? Lord Cantrell always starts me looking over my shoulder for my grandfather. And I've spent the last six months almost exclusively on the estate, where everyone my Lord 's me every other word. It's been so long since anyone's called me by my Christian name that I can scarcely remember how it sounds."
    It's strictly speaking an utterly improper request, asking me to call an unmarried gentleman by his Christian name. But he was my only confidant last year when I was so in love with Edward but believed him engaged to another girl. And I am one of the very few people to know that Kitty would never get anywhere by flirting with Lord Cantrell. Not because she's frivolous and silly. But simply because she's a girl.
    So I smiled in return and nodded. "All right. Hugh, then." And then I sobered. "I heard about your grandfather. I am so very sorry."
    Hugh nodded and bowed his head. "Thank you." His grandfather, who raised him from a boy, was an old man, and ailing for some time. But it was just this past August that I heard he had finally died. Hugh lifted his head. "That's why I've come. To deliver something that my grandfather wished to be given to you."
    "To me?" I was completely startled for an instant. But then I remembered what I'd told Hugh six months before: The old earl's final wish had been to see his grandson happily married, or at least engaged. Not knowing how utterly unlikely that wish was to be fulfilled.
    What Hugh actually said when he