Beginning, Section II
Jump to new as of April 22, 2000
Mrs. Reynolds knocked on Georgiana's door one morning and with a beaming face handed that young lady a letter.
"What is it?" said Georgiana. "Is it from William?" Mrs. Reynolds nodded.
"I do think it might be."
"But ... it is from Pennsylvania! What would he be doing in Pennsylvania?" Her fingers tangled themselves opening the letter, she was so nervous.
"Read it!" said Mrs. Reynolds anxiously. Georgiana obeyed and her eyes lit up.
"He is staying with a lovely family named Bennet until he recovers from minor injuries."
"Injuries?" Mrs. Reynolds echoed.
"Yes. He doesn't say what happened, but he is well. Why doesn't he want me to show George the letter?" She looked up perplexedly. Mrs. Reynolds kept silent on that regard, not wishing to hurt her charge's feelings by telling her exactly what she thought of her boyfriend. Georgiana finished the letter and did an uncharacteristic dance of joy as she folded it.
"I'm so glad he's well!" she exclaimed, hugging the housekeeper.
"Me, too!" cried Mrs. Reynolds.
"Oh! And I think he's in love! Read this!" Georgiana pointed to the paragraph about Elizabeth. Mrs. Reynolds read it and clapped her hands to her bosom.
"I do hope you're right, but ... he seemed to speak about each of the girls equally."
"But he called her `intriguing.' That's a good thing, isn't it?"
"Of course." Suddenly Georgiana burst into happy tears of relief.
There was a knock on the door and Mrs. Reynolds went to answer it while Georgiana composed herself. When Georgiana made it to the parlor, she found George and Bambi. Whenever she saw them she remarked to herself on the lack of resemblance between them, but she shrugged it off.
"Are you okay, Ana?" asked Bambi concernedly. She had taken to calling the girl Ana, to avoid confusion between her `brother' and her.
"Yeah, fine," Georgiana smiled. "It's just that..." she paused slightly. Her brother had instructed her not to show George the letter. That did not mean she could not share her joy. "I finally heard from my brother today."
Bambi gasped and looked at George, whose eyes had grown hard.
"That's wonderful," he said smoothly, as satisfied as a cat that has the canary trapped. "Where has he been?"
"Um...." Why didn't William trust him? Suddenly realization hit her hard: William didn't trust him. He usually had good reason... "Actually, I can't tell you. He didn't want me to tell anybody."
"But you can tell me," he said. "Come on, don't you trust me, Georgie?"
"Why are you asking me that? Why do you immediately think I don't trust you? I see no reason to distrust you. Do you? I only want to keep a promise to my brother."
"Oh, then you've spoken to him? On the phone?"
"Yes, on the phone," she lied quickly before she could persuade herself to do otherwise.
"Ana," said Bambi abruptly. "Can you show me where the bathroom is?"
"You know where the bathroom is," said George.
"Yeah, but I might get lost. This place is so big," said Bambi, dancing persuasively. Georgiana led the way to the bathroom, and as soon as they were out of earshot from the parlor, Bambi pushed her into one of the bedrooms and locked the door.
"What are you doing?" said Georgiana, indignant.
"I gotta tell you something," said Bambi urgently. She dug in her purse for a moment and popped a fresh stick of gum in her mouth, for courage. "It's about George."
"What is it?" said Georgiana, looking around herself warily to be sure she could protect herself, should Bambi decide to attack.
"Well, for one thing, he ain't my brother."
"What?" said Georgiana, alarmed. Bambi shook her head morosely.
"No. He wanted me to pretend to be his sister so that he could keep an eye on you, in case you led him to your brother."
"What does he want with William?" said Georgiana.
"I'm really his girlfriend. At least, I was his girlfriend. I'm not so sure now. He won't marry me, you know. I asked him if we could go to Vegas and get married. I don't have to have a big wedding. I ain't choosey, you know...."
"What does he want with William?" Georgiana said again, more urgently. Bambi offered her a stick of gum, which she refused.
"He wants to finish the job," said Bambi simply. Georgiana's eyes widened and she her hands flew to her mouth.
"You mean...."
"Sweet, ain't it?" said Bambi ironically, nodding her head. "I don't think I will marry him, now. I don't wanna trap a husband, and besides, I didn't like what he did to your brother."
"What did he do?" asked Georgiana. `Minor injuries.' William always did underestimate his own injuries. Bambi smiled wanly.
"I ain't gonna tell you that. It would only upset you. But you see, you told George you talked to him on the phone."
"Yes," said Georgiana absently.
"But you see, I know that, when and where I left him, he wouldn't be able to get to a phone, especially.... But another thing is, your brother ain't the phone type."
Georgiana pondered this.
"Maybe you're right."
"'Course I am. But George knows that, too. You have to burn that letter."
"What letter?" asked Georgiana innocently.
"I ain't as stupid as I look, Ana," said Bambi. "No phones. Only other way is by letter."
"Why would anyone want to hurt William?" Georgiana sank onto the bed in despair, covering her face with her hands. Bambi sat beside her, awkwardly making her first attempt at comforting a person.
"I guess it comes with the job," said Bambi. "What do they say on TV? Job hazard, or something like that?"
Georgiana was stunned. George was a criminal. William was seriously hurt, in a place that had no phones ... where would that be? Pennsylvania? Amish! Of course!
"Thanks for telling me," she turned to Bambi abruptly. "I really appreciate it."
"Sure, sure," said Bambi, embarrassed. "Um, I'm gonna go now. You stay here. I'll tell George you got sick, or something, okay?"
"Thank you," said Georgiana as Bambi closed the door behind her. A few minutes later she heard the Ferrari pull away from her house, and she collapsed on the bed in sobs.
About an hour later, Mrs. Reynolds knocked on the door.
"Georgiana, there's a man on the phone, wants to talk to you."
"It isn't that awful reporter, is it?" said Georgiana, sitting up and drying her eyes.
"I don't think so. He didn't say his name, and he was speaking very quietly."
Puzzled, Georgiana went down to use the phone in the kitchen - which, for some reason, was the only one in the house working, these days - and answered tentatively.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Georgie," came a soft reply, in relieved tones. Georgiana gasped.
"William?!"
He laughed softly.
"Yeah, it's me."
"Where are you? Are you okay? When are you coming home?"
"I'm fine. I'm calling from a pay phone, so I can't talk very long. Did you get my letter?"
"Yeah, I just got it today. Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, fine," he laughed.
"When are you coming home?"
"Soon," he paused. It would have to be soon. "Georgie, did you ever hear Dad talk about Pennsylvania?"
"No. Why? Should I?"
"No, I guess not."
"Will, I thought you'd been taken off that case. You're not making yourself crazy, are you?" She asked, worriedly.
"I don't know." He laughed shakily.
"Really, though," she said urgently, "you need to focus on getting better."
"I'm fine, really." He wondered if she had somehow guessed how badly he'd been hurt.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Georgie, I'm being very careful. You don't have to worry. I might have found something.. I don't know. I will be home soon, but ... I need to see what's going on here, as far as Dad goes."
"Will, I was as upset as you when Daddy died, but it was eight years ago. You can't go on like this forever."
"I don't intend to," he said, unintentionally harsh. "Only until I find something resembling the truth."
"Are the Bennets treating you well?" she decided to change the subject.
"Yes, they are." Georgiana noted the obvious change in his tone.
"Tell me about them," she said.
"I can't talk long," he started. "They're very ... quaint."
"Are they Amish?"
"How did you guess that?"
"Well, Pennsylvania, you know," she explained. "And you had to go to a store to use the phone. Are they all quaint?" she asked almost teasingly.
"More or less," he laughed.
"Your letter made it sound as if you are enjoying yourself very much."
"More or less."
"Is anything wrong?"
"No," he said abruptly. "No. I'm just ... very confused. Everything is confusing me lately."
"Me, too."
"I hear you have a new boyfriend," he said abruptly.
"No, I don't," she said sadly.
"What happened?"
"Well, your letter came, and when I saw you didn't trust him enough to let him see the letter, well, it made me suspicious."
"You didn't tell him anything, did you?"
"No, nothing important," she said hastily.
"What's his name? It's important that I know."
"I understand. I know why." She swallowed and blinked back tears. "It was George Wickham."
He cursed angrily.
"I'm sorry, William," she cried. "I didn't know. Bambi told me the truth before I could say anything, really. He only knows that I heard from you." She babbled hurriedly.
"It's okay," he assured her. It took him some time to calm her down.
"What will you do?" she asked.
"I guess I'll have to leave the Bennets," he sighed. "Um, Georgie, I have to go. Elizabeth's waiting for me."
"The one you mentioned in your letter?"
"Yeah."
"Are you in love with her?" she attempted a teasing tone.
There was a long pause, and for a moment Georgiana thought he had hung up.
"William?"
"I'm here."
"Are you in love with her?" She was more serious this time.
"I ... I don't know. Maybe. I don't think so. Maybe I am. Well, Elizabeth's one of the things that confuses me right now, you see." He ran a hand down the back of his neck nervously. He hadn't thought of being in love. Was that what was happening to him? He was very nearly aghast at the thought. "I have to go. I'll talk to you later. Bye."
He hung up before she could say anything else. As he walked out of the store, still limping slightly, Elizabeth silently handed him his cane and started walking. He observed her as she walked ahead of him, and was thankful when the rest of the party joined them, rendering his conversation unnecessary.