Page 76 of Knowing Mr. Darcy
“Oh, no,” said the colonel, laughing. “You mistake me. I should not mind it a jot if he were to simply disappear, believe me. But you don’t seem to have any stake in this little drama.”
“Oh, and you do?” said Mr. Bingley. “What is Miss Bennet to you?”
“What is she to you?” said the colonel.
And now the men were glaring at each other.
Oh, dear.
This was rather strange, wasn’t it? Jane had never experienced anything like it in her life. It was awful, really, very terrible, and she should not enjoy or anything of that nature. She did not. Enjoy it, that is. She would open her mouth soon to condemn it. Very soon.
“Now, see here, I have been in Miss Bennet’s company every morning for the past several weeks,” said the colonel. “She and I have talked of all manner of things, have we not, Miss Bennet?” He turned to Jane.
She was not smiling. She really wasn’t. This was madness. How did something like this happen to her, little sweet and boring Jane Bennet?
“Well, I have known Miss Bennet for some time,” said Mr. Bingley. “She spent a number of nights in my house caring for her sick sister, and we had all manner of conversations about everything from the accomplishments of young ladies to moving house in a hurry.”
“Oh, yes, I heard about this,” said the colonel. “This was while you were making love to her sister.”
Mr. Bingley glared at the colonel. “I have found that my estimations of the two sisters were incorrect upon further consideration. The more I consider Miss Jane Bennet, the more I can’t seem to stop considering her.” He looked at her when he said this, and something about the look in his eye made her feel a jerk of something very pleasant. “As it happens, I have already asked for her hand in marriage.”
The colonel’s eyes widened, and he turned to look at Jane.
“Well, that wasn’t serious!” Jane was giggling.
“Icould marry you,” said the colonel to Jane.
Jane threw back her head and laughed in surprise and delight. What a day she was having! She was likely dreaming. Yes, that must be it. Soon, she’d wake up in the rectory at Hunsford and Mr. Wickham would never even have appeared.
To think, that in the span of so few hours, I have been proposed to thrice.
“I should say that I did propose to your sister,” said the colonel. “But she refused me, and it seems Bingley and I are both on equal footing in that regard, so I don’t see it should count against me.”
“Inever asked Miss Elizabeth to marry me,” said Bingley.
“Oh, you might as well have,” said the colonel. “Everyone thought you were going to.”
“But I didnot,” said Bingley. “As it happens, I have only ever proposed marriage to one woman on earth, and that is Jane Bennet.”
Jane was still laughing.
“You know, I find the fact that she seems to think this is all a jest rather troubling,” muttered the colonel.
“That’s your doing,” said Bingley. “She was not laughing earlier.”
“My apologies,” said Jane. “It’s only that it’s ludicrous, all of this.” She took a breath, calming herself. “I am to assume that Mr. Wickham is not dead?”
“Oh, of course,” said Bingley. “We don’t know where he is.”
“After you ran off, he left,” said the colonel. “We were able to ascertain that he had gone off on horseback, he was going roughly northeast, but otherwise, we don’t know anything.”
“Hertfordshire is northeast,” said Jane. “He is stationed there with the regiment. Perhaps he simply went home.”
The colonel and Bingley eyed each other.
She put her hands on her hips. “Don’t kill him.”
They turned to look at her.
