Page 4 of Eavesdroppers Never Hear
Caroline, looking incensed at not having any part of the conversation, chimed in. “Perhaps horseback and feet are good enough for simple country folk, but pray, allow us to return you properly. Think how it would look for our party to fail to return you in a genteel fashion as our stations demand.”
Elizabeth and Jane stared at the lady, and even Darcy’s and Bingley’s mouths hung open. Their astonishment was so great that Elizabeth could not even manage a reply, while none of the supposed gentlemen seemed capable of answering her incivility at all.
Jane eyed her sister; afraid she might say something she could not retract. She even took hold of Elizabeth’s armand squeezed, indicating it was her turn to close out the conversation.
Jane said in a rather cloying voice mimicking the Netherfield party, “Whose status are you worried about, Miss Bingley?”
“Ours, of course,” Caroline snapped, unable to help herself.
Jane replied in a voice like two stones rubbing together. “Do not make yourself uneasy, madam.Since our relatives very materially lessen our chances of marrying men of any consideration in the world… we find it best to return to our own sphere.”
Everyone in the Netherfield party gulped in recognition of the phrase. Mr Darcy looked particularly chagrined, while Miss Bingley simply looked angry. Jane could see the slowly dawning realisation that if she were privy to that winner of a phrase, she was most likely privy to the rest.
Jane saw the moment when Caroline started looking around at the servants with an evil eye, but before she could say anything, Elizabeth beat her to the punch.
“Pray, do not go looking for servants to scapegoat, madam. I heard the conversation from the corridor with my own ears when I came searching for my reticule—though, to be fair—I should warn you that your voice carries. I suspect the stable hands heard the whole thing as well.”
Jane gulped at the last, feeling it was a touch on the mean-spirited side, though not by much.
She decided to get the miserable chore over with. “Once again, we thank you for your hospitality. It is time for us to return to our relatives in trade, andyou can return to yours.”
She elegantly turned Elizabeth around, and they marched out of the parlour like two queens.
3.Departure
Charles Bingley jumped from his seat and walked beside his good friend, Fitzwilliam Darcy, to follow the ladies from the parlour. He was gradually working out that Miss Elizabeth must have overheard their conversation earlier. Even though he did not listen to his sisters half the time, he had to admit any reasonable person who tried to do so would run mad after an hour. Even though he did not remember exactly what his sisters said (or even half for that matter), what he did remember was not auspicious for a courting man.
Darcy said, “This is on us, Bingley.”
He sighed in frustration. “Much as I would like to point out that your quote was the only one that we could tease out of the gentlest lady I ever met, you know full well what preceded it was far-far worse.”
The ladies were not exactly running, but their preferences were clear, so the men followed two paces behind.
Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth walked down the front steps, looking neither right nor left, and marched over to the broken-down nag the elder sister had ridden to Netherfield the previous evening.
As they approached the mounting block, Bingley rushed ahead to offer, “May I assist, Miss Bennet?” as politely as he could.
“No need, sir,” she said softly. “I have known Simon for many years.”
Bingley saw Miss Elizabeth frown at him as if daring him to punish Simon in some petty way, and he had to sheepishly admit it would be his responsibility to ensure his sister did not. The fact that he had to worry about such an untoward possibility; and the nagging feeling that Miss Elizabeth could read the thoughts going through his head like a book, was disconcerting. He lookedfrom Miss Elizabeth to Darcy, saw him frowning, and suspected the same thoughts were going through his friend’s mind.
What an unholy mess!
As Miss Bennet mounted the horse, and Simon checked carefully to ensure she was mounted properly, Darcy walked up to her sister. “Miss Elizabeth, may I offer my apologies.”
Bingley was quick to add, “And mine as well, Miss Elizabeth… Miss Bennet.”
Elizabeth frowned at both men. “For what?”
They heard Jane snort, but thought silence the better part of valour.
“I said some unkind things,” Darcy said.
“Which time?” Elizabeth said, but Jane said, “Liiiizzzzzzzzy!” in a half-threatening tone which distracted from the question.
Darcy scrunched his face trying to work out exactly what she meant, then watched as Bingley leaned over to pinch the bridge of his nose in remembrance. He assumed his friend would tell him later.
Bingley said, “Miss Bennet, I feel as if this visit has gone amiss, and it is my fault… or my responsibility at the very least. Is there aught I can do to make amends?”
