Page 38 of Mr. Darcy and the Mysterious "Miss B"
“We thought wrong, it seems.” Elizabeth’s voice came out flat with exhaustion.
“That is dreadful!” Mary’s usually composed demeanour cracked. “Poor Jane. She has been through so much already, and now this.”
Before Elizabeth could respond, Lydia burst into the room, her face flushed with indignation.
“I heard what that odious man did!” she declared, throwing herself dramatically onto the remaining chair. “Mama told me everything. How dare Mr Darcy ruin Jane’s chance at happiness? What right had he to interfere?”
“Lydia, please keep your voice down. Jane needs rest.”
“I do not care! He presented himself as an honourable man and now this? It was all a charade from the beginning.” Lydia’s eyes blazed with fury. “Someone must ring a right peel over his head.”
“I already did,” Elizabeth said.
“Good! I hope you told him exactly what you thought of his meddling ways.”
Mary leaned forward. “But surely Mr Bingley will come to his senses? If he truly cares for Jane—”
“He does care for her,” Elizabeth confirmed. “But Miss Bingley convinced him that Jane was only interested in his wealth, not his person. And once he learned of the arrangement with James, he felt he could not honourably pursue her.”
“Honourably?” Lydia snorted. “What is honourable about abandoning someone you care for based on gossip?”
“He does not see it as abandonment,” Elizabeth explained wearily. “He sees it as respecting her prior commitment.”
The sisters fell silent, each lost in their own thoughts about the disaster that had befallen their family’s hopes.
Mrs Bennet’s footsteps on the stairs announced her return, and she appeared in the doorway, arms crossed.
“Jane is resting, though she is still quite upset,” she reported. “But I have been thinking, and I may have a solution to our immediate difficulties.”
“What sort of solution?” Elizabeth asked warily.
“Your aunt and uncle Gardiner have written yesterday,” Mrs Bennet announced, producing a letter from her pocket. “They have invited us all to London for extended visits. I had quite forgotten to mention it.”
Elizabeth looked at her youngest sisters in surprise. “London?”
“They wrote asking for extended visits,” Lydia explained, suddenly brightening at the prospect. “Aunt Gardiner thinks the change of scene would do us good after… after Papa’s death.”
“You should all go,” Mrs Bennet decided. “Jane needs quiet to recover, and the rest of you could benefit from time away from this dreadful business.”
“What about Jane?”
“Once she is better, I will bring her with me when we join you. This will allow for some calm here and take all your minds of off all of this.” Mrs Bennet’s eyes held a determined glint that Elizabeth recognised with trepidation.
The day had been too much—Jane’s heartbreak, Darcy’s interference, the collapse of all their hopes.
“Very well,” she said at last. “But I will not leave Jane alone for long.”
“Of course not, my dear. Family must stick together in times like these. A fortnight perhaps and we will follow.”
As Elizabeth climbed the stairs to check on Jane, she could not shake the feeling that her mother was already plotting something. Mrs Bennet never accepted defeat gracefully, and Elizabeth suspected this situation would prove no different.
But for now, Jane needed her. Everything else would have to wait until morning.
Chapter 14
Darcy
20th April 1811
