Page 7 of Bitten By Mr. Darcy
His love affair with her had ended abruptly. She had been angry with him about it for years. They had come to some kind of peace between them, eventually, but he knew that she still harbored some feelings towards him. Whether they were tender or murderous depended on her mood, he supposed.
It was easier all around, however, if they all simply pretended that this wasn’t the case.
“Yes, tired of it, indeed,” he said, nodding at her, accepting what she said on the face of it, knowing she was lying to both of them and perhaps lying to herself.
“I still think you should go back to London,” said Bingley, resuming his pacing.
“We could all go back,” said Caroline.
“You two go if you like,” said Darcy, with a little smile.
Bingley turned and glared at him. “I tell you, I do not wish to do anything with Caroline.”
“Neither,” said Darcy, “do I.” He took a long drink of port.
“Leave Darcy’s sirensong be,” said Bingley to Caroline.
“Oh, are you ordering me about now?” said Caroline.
“Perhaps you should find some plaything,” said Bingley. “Something to occupy yourself.”
“What if I want to play with your toys?” said Caroline, shrugging, smiling. “Won’t you boys share?”
“Play how?” said Bingley, taking a drink of wine.
ELIZABETH’S SISTER JANEhad been invited to dine at Netherfield one evening. It had been a rather strange invitation, such a late invite, and for Jane alone, no one else. But Jane was to dine with the two Bingley women. The gentlemen were apparently dining elsewhere in town.
Mrs. Bennet, Elizabeth’s mother, forced Jane to go on horseback, for it seemed likely to rain, and she wished Jane to be stuck at the house with no way home in the rain.
But the Bingley sisters simply sent Jane home in their carriage that night, in the rain, and Jane came back quite tired. She had little to say about the dinner or anything that had occurred, only that she’d had a lovely time, and that she wished she hadn’t had to leave.
That night, after the rain ended, Jane sat straight up in bed sometime after midnight.
Elizabeth and Jane shared a bed, so it woke Elizabeth right away.
Jane got out of bed, wordless, and began to dress herself.
“Jane, what are you doing?” said Elizabeth, but Jane made no answer. She hummed to herself, doing her best to lace her own stays.
Elizabeth got up out of bed and took her sister by the shoulders. “Jane, please, listen to me.”
“Shh, Lizzy, it’s a secret,” said Jane, smiling dreamily at her. “Tell no one.”
“Jane, dearest Jane, I would keep any of your secrets, but why are you getting dressed in the midst of the night?”
Except Jane would not say. She left the room and crept down the stairs, and Elizabeth was obliged to get dressed as well and to follow Jane down the stairs and out of their house, Longbourn.
The rain had stopped, but the air was still wet and the ground was still wet.
Elizabeth could see that Jane was halfway across the lawn, walking off into the night, the hem of her dress getting quite wet, and Elizabeth debated about going and waking her father, who would certainly stop this.
However, this was her sister Jane, her favorite person in all the world, and Jane had asked her not to tell anyone. Elizabeth did not wish to betray her sister.
So, she scampered off after Jane.
But after catching up with her sister, she began to think that Jane was, in fact, sleepwalking or something. She would not answer any of Elizabeth’s queries about what was going on, and she only hummed a great deal and said, “Tell no one,” again and again.
By this time, however, they had walked too far in the darkness and over the wet grass and the mud for Elizabeth to feel as if she could leave Jane by herself. Why, she might get herself very lost or very hurt.
