This Bud of Love: Part One

"There is such confusion in my powers."

May 4th

Valeria Jacobs, consort to Frederick I, created a large, public garden in Outer Verona, as it was then called, to compliment the Grand Garden at the Duke's castle. As the wealthy and noble built up Outer Verona, each of Valeria's successors felt the importance of the Gardens. It was an extension of the Court, where people of consequence could see and be seen in the midst of the flowering benevolence and care of their duchess. The Gardens were still a place of pride and assembly for Verona's elite many generations following the death of the last duchess, Alice Fitzwilliam.

Lately, it had become the second home of Fitzwilliam and Georgiana Darcy. Here, the former could 'accidentally' meet Juliette and the latter escape the guilt of disliking her mother's recent behavior. Georgiana was content to sit in a quiet spot with her sketchbook while her brother and friend enjoyed their company, but she was very pleased when her brother insisted he would first like to take a turn with her that afternoon. Deeply involved in discussing an unpleasant incident at breakfast, they lost all sense of time.

"Can we leave now?"

"You may go if you wish." Juliette had correctly guessed why the Darcys were late and was content with watching the clouds in the bright sky. "You weren't invited to begin with."

"You shouldn't go out alone."

Here was perhaps Juliette's only regret over her brother's return: his nasty habit of escorting her if she took two steps off the Capulet Manor grounds. "What, shall a serpent rise out of the stream and swallow me whole?" Tybalt grumbled something best not heard, shifted his position, and continued to sulk. Unfazed, Juliette sat down beside her brother. "He is here somewhere. The time will pass more quickly if you stop whining."

"It's not whining when it's a fact, Jule. The bastard's left you sitting here alone for at least half an hour."

"I've not been alone, Tybalt. I've been sitting here with you." She grinned at her brother triumphantly, pleased at how deftly she had outwitted him into silence. Often, she wondered why men liked to beat each other senseless so much; the unconscious and dead couldn't delight the victor with sputtering and grumbling.

Several minutes passed quietly. The sunken garden was in a lightly-traveled corner of the park. When the light squeal of a distant gate and then footfalls were heard, Juliette immediately perked up. "You see? Here he comes."

At the entrance to the sunken garden, Georgiana stopped to reassure her brother. "I do not mind it at all, truly. There are so many lovely views here; I could find new ones to sketch for a thousand afternoons."

"You are the best of sisters, dearest. All the same, this is coming to an end. It is only... well."

"You have to speak to Juliette first, of course. Come, no more sad thoughts, Fitzwilliam. This will be a happy day."

"What the hell is this!"

"What?"

"I'm going to snap his neck!"

"Tybalt!" Juliette had to dig her heels into the stone walkway to make any resistance at all to her brother's march. "Tybalt, stop it! What is the matter with you?"

"With me? He's with-"

"With his sister, you dolt" she hissed.

"His sister is a little girl!"

"She's seventeen!" She felt his chest uncoil under her hand. For the first time since Tybalt's outburst, Juliette took a breath. "Brother, it's just Georgiana." She laughed. "You think so well of yourself that you think time does not move without you? And look, you've scuffed my favorite boots!"

Puzzled by the silence, Juliette asked, "What is it now?" She followed his eyes. She studied them and the stupid expression on his face, and it was clear. Like perfect crystal in sunlight, it was brilliantly, astoundingly clear. For a kingdom, she couldn't have contained her giggling. "Oh my...!"

Fortunately for Tybalt, his face was recovered by the time the Darcys were close enough to see it. Fitzwilliam knew Tybalt a little and liked him enough as Juliette's favored brother, but nothing and no-one was good enough for Georgiana. He would have been alarmed by a glimmer of anything toward his sister from Tybalt.

Juliette called out to her friends and hurried down the path to meet them. Tybalt, torn between staring and seething, was dragged along. "We were just talking about you!"

"A pleasure to see you... both." Georgiana looked at her brother with a hint of disapproval. Juliette had been excited for weeks over her brother's return; it was only natural, when she knew no better, to bring him along for a routine walk in the Garden.

"My brother wanted to punish you for being late, but I am more generous."

He reached for his watch. "Are we late? I had no idea..."

"It doesn't matter. As you see, I had company, inferior as it was. Oh, and I'm so glad to see you, Georgiana." Warmly, Juliette embraced her while the men made their own greeting.

Fitzwilliam offered Tybalt as civil a greeting as he could manage under the despair of seeing him. If Juliette wished to include her brother in their party, so it would be. His stomach-twisting anxiety, as well as the destruction of a perfectly good breakfast and perhaps his relationship with his mother, would be for nothing. "Did you take the history prize again? I thought Juliette had said so."

"Yes." Annoyed, Tybalt glanced at his sister.

She punished him immediately. "And brother, you remember Fitzwilliam's sister, Georgiana, don't you?"

"Uh..."

Georgiana empathized with Tybalt, assuming a grown man had better things to remember. She too would be embarrassed to be so on the spot. "It has been a long time, of course. I think he pulled my kite from a tree when we last met."

"Are you certain he didn't put it there?" When Georgiana laughed, Juliette pushed on. "Tybalt used to hide Hermia's dolls in the tall trees and charge her to bring them down."

Fitzwilliam cocked an eyebrow. "I can't see Hermia letting him get away with that."

"After she broke her ankle trying to do the job herself, she had to for an entire summer."

Of all causes of death, embarrassment was among the least honorable. Yet, death was infinitely preferable to the quivering weakness that had taken hold of Tybalt. He didn't know what to do with his hands, where to place his eyes, or how long he could go without rubbing his face raw to scrape off the spots he could feel brewing. He was fifteen all over again, and he had nothing to distract him this time. He wondered how long he would linger if he impaled himself on the fence.

Eagerly, Juliette suggested the four take a turn together. Both men had to swallow their anxiety, for neither could give it voice. It was left to Georgiana, who braved speaking for her brother's sake, to save them. "Will you forgive me, Juliette? There is a lovely, fresh bloom of flowers by the stream, and I've already set down my sketchbook."

"But I am always stealing your brother. I'm starting to feel quite guilty."

"You mustn't. Truly, you only borrow him." Georgiana looked at her brother in admiration, hoping he would be pleased with her assistance. "You are welcome to him for the afternoon, for I have him at home."

"Then at least let me return the favor and lend you my brother." Shock, suspicion, and dread gripped Juliette's companions in turns. Too pleased to be turned off of the idea, she pushed on. "You are at liberty to punish him if he steals your pencils or pulls your hair."

While Georgiana blushed, Fitzwilliam laughed despite himself. He could not imagine his sister successfully punishing anyone, much less Tybalt Capulet. It was a convenient solution to his need to speak to Juliette alone, but Fitzwilliam wouldn't subject his beloved sister to such agony. "Why don't we all walk you over, dearest, and then leave you in peace?"

"I know my way, brother. Indeed, I should go now, before someone picks up my sketchbook." She wished everyone a good afternoon, her besotted brother most especially, and turned to leave.

He was not so wholly oblivious that he didn't notice Tybalt was uncomfortable about something, but Fitzwilliam missed the mark by a mile. "If you have business elsewhere, Georgiana and I can bring Juliette home."

"If would just tell me what time to meet you, I'll do it myself." Humiliated or not, Tybalt would look after his sister. He agreed to return in two hours to collect Juliette and made a hasty exit.

The tide had turned too quickly on Juliette. She had lost what she thought would be her primary occupation for the afternoon in an instant. Georgiana had gone after her sketchbook, and Tybalt was off to brood in some shady corner. There would be no chance to exploit the stunning failure of her brother's composure or to make out what, if anything, Georgiana thought of Tybalt. If two people could connect over a single characteristic, Georgiana and Tybalt could be shackled together nicely. Given privacy and such time as two hours, both would compose their thoughts and actions too well for anybody to know their minds.

This obsession over the opportunity lost left Juliette quite oblivious to the one ready to blossom right before her eyes.

To be continued...

Next Post: "You have bereft me of all words"