Free Trouble With Wickham by Olivia Kane

spacious, well kept room, noting the dressing table with large mirror, the marble mantle over a hearth that housed a crackling fire, a porcelain jug of fresh water, everywhere the clean fresh smell of lavender, which Georgiana loved. Her every need seemed to be accounted for.
    “No, thank you,” she said, with a warm smile.
    “Drinks will be served downstairs in the drawing room at six. Just head back down the stairs the way we came up to get there,” Charlotte said. “I will see you then.”
    As she said goodbye to Charlotte and closed the door behind her, a sweet feeling of satisfaction arose within Georgiana. Bennington Park was a large house and her brother could not possibly monitor her the entire stay. On one point he was right; she did like the young Mrs. Lancaster and the fact that Fitzwilliam did not even know where she was situated in this grand house was an added treat.
    She pulled off her bonnet and loosened her hair. Her silver plated hairbrush had been unpacked and laid carefully on the dressing table. She picked it up, and sat herself down on the window seat to brush her hair.
    So far, from what she had seen, Bennington Park was a simply delightful setting. All the room sizes were generous, the lighting plentiful, the views from the windows showcased endless grounds dotted with majestic old oak trees gnarled with age. The whole estate was taken care of so gloriously. There was a familiarity to Bennington Park that pleased Georgiana greatly, as if she had walked these halls in some long forgotten dream. Before tonight she had not thought that this horse party was anything more than a complete and total bore. But that was then, she admitted. At present, she found herself surprisingly glad to be there. 
    Loud shouts and the barreling of horse’s hooves echoed from outside. Georgiana looked to see two horses galloping down the lane toward the front of the house, each rider urging his horse forward with exhilarating shouts. The horses and riders flew past the front of the house at a breathtaking clip, disappearing around the corner toward the stables. Georgiana managed to catch only a brief profile of the riders—two young men with strong jaw lines and trim builds—their aristocratic forms and joie de vivre piqued her interest. Suddenly, she decided that a house party full of handsome strangers was exactly the tonic she needed.
    She wondered if Fitzwilliam would prevent her from interacting with unattached young men, were she to encounter them here? Eventually, she imagined, were she to form an attachment with a suitable young man, the truth about the incident with Wickham would have to come out—keeping the secret would seem disingenuous in such a circumstance. She shook her head and sighed. Keeping secrets was so much work. However, in regards to her past, it was the path that Fitzwilliam insisted they take.
    Georgiana had refused the offer of a ladies maid so when the time came to gather downstairs, she wiggled into her blue velvet gown with the pearl trim, piled her golden hair upon her head in the latest fashion, dabbed some rose water on her pulse points, and evaluated her look in the mirror from every angle, happy with the results. Then she hesitated.
    Should she, as expected, wait at the top of the stairs for her brother and Elizabeth, who would most certainly be exiting their rooms shortly, and descend together? Or, might she be bold and enter the drawing room independently?  Her heart beat at the idea of escaping her brother’s shadow. Yet she knew no one in the party beyond Charlotte and her parents and that introduction had been brief. By descending alone she could be exposing herself to social embarrassment, standing alone with no one to converse with. However, the opportunity to be presented as her own person and to socialize, albeit for only a few moments, out of her brother’s watchful glare was a temptation too great to resist. Quickly she decided to stage her own, mini-rebellion against