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A Letter Lost, A Love FoundBy Fiona KathleenChapter OnePosted Monday, 8 November 2004When Miss Georgiana Darcy was twelve years old she had just been given permission by her father to walk anywhere on the estate. Previously to this she had to ask permission and if it were too far away she would have to be accompanied by a maid. However yesterday her father had decided that she was old enough to walk anywhere so long as it was within the bounds of Pemberley.So on a delightful spring day Georgiana set off to discover an exciting adventure, in the manner of many twelve year olds who read far too many novels and have romantic sensibilities. It had been raining for some days so this was the first walk that Georgiana had taken in what seemed forever. She was careful to avoid the puddles, as she was wearing her favourite blue dress with the pink trimmings, but all the same her petticoat got rather muddy. Georgi walked slowly breathing in the delightful smells of a new season, she could smell the new grass coming up and the leaves unfolding in the trees. As she reached the road that separated Pemberley from the rest of the world she saw the mail coach rattle past. Watching it in the manner people often do when there is something that does not usually occur but is rather mundane all the same she saw something rather odd happen. Just as the mail coach turned the bend a white letter escaped from what was an obviously poorly closed door floated towards her and land face down in a puddle not six feet from where she was standing.Georgi ran toward it, stopped realizing that the puddle was outside the bounds of Pemberley, recollected and then ran toward it. She managed to fish the letter out before it was completely destroyed; however any letter that lands in the mud is destined to be damaged in some way. However whilst the directions were smudged and illegible, the seal had come open and the writing inside was still relatively intact. Georgi knew she shouldn?t but her curiosity was too great and she looked inside the letter?Miss Lizzy BennetLongbourne, HertfordshireMy dear Aunt Gardiner,I hope you are enjoying your visit to Lambton and seeing all the friends I know you so dearly miss?Georgi didn?t read any more but she had an idea and setting off at a most unladylike run she helter skeltered back to Pemberley.Sitting down at the writing desk that had been a present from her big brother Fitzwilliam last Christmas, Georgi took a fresh sheet of paper, mended a pen (wishing someone like Miss Bingley was there to do it for her, then she remembered what Miss Bingley was like and retracted that wish) and began to write.Miss Georgiana Darcy,Pemberley, DerbyshireDear Miss Bennet,Be not alarmed madam upon receiving this letter,That didn?t seem right; Georgi crossed it out and began again. Never having written a letter to a stranger before it took four false starts until she had something she was satisfied with.Miss Georgiana DarcyPemberley, HertfordshireDear Miss Bennet,Recently whilst walking around the edge of my property I saw your letter fly off the back of the mail coach and landed in a puddle not six feet from me. Whilst the front directions were smudged so I could not send the letter on, I have enclosed it within this one so that you might resend it. Be assured that I have not read the letter myself I merely noticed your address as the seal was broken.Yours SincerelyGeorgiana Darcy.Georgi closed the letter, sealed it and rang for a maid directing her to ensure that it was posted directly. Once this was done she stared out the window until it was time for lessons upon which she completely forgot about the matter all together, and studied her French.Sixteen-year-old Elizabeth Bennet got up on the morning after an assembly reflecting upon what had transpired the day before. Dressing herself she wondered if she would ever be known as anyone else besides the younger sister of the pretty Miss Bennet. The night before, she had danced certainly, and enjoyed herself immensely, yet no one seemed to pay her attention in the way men fawned over her elder sister. Indeed she had heard two men talking, the first remarked upon how pretty Jane was, this was normal Lizzy heard it all the time. The second than made a remark about how it was unfortunate that the younger sister was not so blessed in looks. Lizzy knew that was true, her face was too wide and her ears were too big for the rest of her face.The maid came in to dress her hair, and once it was put up in its usual bun she made her way downstairs intent on taking a walk. The countryside was beautiful at this time of year, albeit slightly muddy. The fresh wind did much to revive Lizzy?s sprits so when she came home for breakfast she could endure her younger sisters? noise with at least some patience.When the mail came that morning Lizzy was surprised to see two letters for her. One was from her aunt Gardiner who was currently in Lambton, the town where she grew up visiting old friends, with her husband. The other also seemed to be from Derbyshire, but from an address that Lizzy did not recognize. So excusing herself from the table she went outside to sit at her favourite bench and read this strange letter.Upon opening it a very muddy piece of paper fell out that appeared to be a letter that she had sent to her aunt. Once she read Georgiana?s letter she was surprised to say the least but was intent upon thanking her. She might even make a friend in Derbyshire, she thought, as the handwriting and tone of the letter appeared to be of someone her own age or a little younger.Sitting down at the writing desk that she shared with all her four sisters, not that Kitty or Lydia ever wrote a letter. She addressed a friendly note to the kind girl who had returned her letter.Miss Lizzy BennetLongbourn, HertfordshireDear Miss Darcy,Thank you so much for returning my wayward letter. It was to my aunt who is visiting your home county where she herself grew up. I personally have never been to Derbyshire but my aunt speaks of it in the highest terms that I am convinced that it must be the second most beautiful county in England, second only to Hertfordshire. I have lived in Hertfordshire all my life with my family, which consists of my two parents and their five daughters of which I am the second.I have been to London several times to visit my Aunt and Uncle and whilst I enjoy the joys that being near the theatre and the large array of shops I have to confess, most unfashionably, to preferring the countryside. It is here that I can take long walks and feel the breeze in my hair and whilst the society may be confined I have a dear friend whose house I can easily walk to.Yours Sincerely,Lizzy Bennet.Thus sprang up a friendship between the two girls, many letters were sent over the course of the next couple of years. First they began with the letters of new acquaintances telling of their families and favourite books, but as time went on and the ?miss?es were dropped so that the letters between Georgi and Lizzy were that of close friends. It was to Georgi that Lizzy confessed her fears about never being as beautiful or as good as her elder sister, and it was to Lizzy that Georgi poured out her heart when her father died. Georgi showed a great deal of insight when she suggested that Kitty was only suffering from a lack of attention, being neither the favourite of either her parents. Lizzy found that on spending more time with Kitty that this was true, and the sisters became a lot closer as a result, with Kitty becoming less insipid by the day.Lizzy became Georgi?s mentor as the girl had no mother or elder sisters only a constant stream of Governesses, and then once she reached fifteen, companions. It was Lizzy who explained to her that marriage for love was the ideal, and it was Lizzy that sent the express that fateful summer at Ramsgate advising Georgi not to elope with Wickham. That if he truly loved her he would not be afraid to be married with her brother present. Georgi knew by Mr Wickham?s reaction when she told him that she wanted to marry with her family present that all he was really after was her money.Fitzwilliam Darcy was aware that Georgi had a friend who she regularly corresponded with from Hertfordshire, but when he heard that it was Lizzy who saved his sister from such a terrible fate he felt eternally grateful to the woman who had befriended his little sister. His sister only referred to her friend as Lizzy however and since Fitzwilliam never thought himself likely to venture into Hertfordshire he never enquired as to her full name.Chapter 2Posted on Monday, 15 November 2004The spring of 1813 had two significant events, firstly it contained the twentieth birthday of Miss Elizabeth Bennet and secondly it was in London that autumn that Lizzy and Georgi met for the first time. Georgi was still slightly subdued from her Ramsgate experience and so to cheer her up Fitzwilliam had decided to take her for two months to town so her aunt could take her shopping and he could take her to the theatre and to music recitals. It so happened that unexpectedly that spring Lizzy?s Aunt Gardiner asked Lizzy to come and stay as Mrs Gardiner?s friend was sick and so that she could spend time with her friend she asked Lizzy to come and help look after the children. Both the trips were unexpected so each girl sent a letter to the others home before they left and neither letter arrived in time.In the third and final week of Lizzy?s stay, her Aunt?s friend had made a miraculous recovery so for the first time she was able to venture out to the shops. Stepping into a jewelers to buy something trivial for Lydia and Kitty, h...
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