Page 56 of Miss Gardiner
“My cousin asked about Mr Bingley,” he explained to Mrs Collins who was familiar with the events of the past fall in Hertfordshire.
Mrs Collins hissed and motioned toward the bench beside her door, “Sit there and do not leave until I return.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam sat on the bench and Mr Darcy moved toward the bench he did not sit. Meanwhile, Mrs Collins disappeared into the house and the men heard her climb the stairs very quickly, the treads taking a beating.
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The door to Elizabeth’s bed chamber stood open and Charlotte swept in, finding her friend in tears, kneeling beside her open trunk with a pack of letters in her hand.
“Eliza, what has happened?”
“Bingley…he is coming to Rosings Park.”
“Charles Bingley? Coming here?” asked Charlotte with dismay in her tone.
“He is one of the candidates that Lady Catherine invited to visit, and Colonel Fitzwilliam asked my opinion. I told him that Bingley wrote Jane and proposed.”
Charlotte drew Elizabeth from the floor and directed her to a chair. “Oh, Eliza, how can you prove this?”
Holding up the packet of letters, Elizabeth explained, “Jane kept his letters. Charlotte, she loved him until the day she died. I could not burnthem after she died.”
“Will this prove to Colonel Fitzwilliam that Bingley wrote to your sister?”
“Yes,” Elizabeth replied.
“Then I shall hand them to Colonel Fitzwilliam and insist he return them once he has read them,” Charlotte said. “You remain here, and I shall return with tea and lunch.”
Too emotional to argue, Elizabeth nodded and watched the sunlight shining through the window as Charlotte disappeared down the stairs with the packet of letters. Elizabeth was lost in memories of her sister and the tiny babe with blue eyes who began to smile at her face before she left London.
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Outside the door, Colonel Fitzwilliam stood when Mrs Collins appeared with a packet of letters clutched in her hands. Before handing them to the man, she said, “Colonel Fitzwilliam, Elizabeth grants you permission to read and review these letters, but they must be returned without damage. They were precious to her sister.”
“They will be returned,” Colonel Fitzwilliam taking the letters.
Darcy stepped closer and asked, “Mrs Collins, how is Miss Elizabeth?”
Charlotte frowned and Mr Darcy was reminded of Mrs Banks when she was disappointed with him as a child. The woman said, “She will recover from this unpleasant episode in a day or two. Leave and do not return today.”
Shutting her front door against the two gentlemen, Charlotte hurried to the kitchen and ordered tea and a tray with luncheon for Elizabeth. She found Henry Jones seated at her table just completing a meal of beans and ham, so she drafted him to help her carry the items above stairs.
“Come along, Mr Jones. You may have tea and biscuits with Miss Elizabeth,” Charlotte told the boy.
In her room, Elizabeth was pleased when Charlotte brought the tea, food and company to help her recover. After eating a portion of Elizabeth’s lunch and all the biscuits on the tray, Henry asked, “Will you walk out tomorrow, Miss Elizabeth?”
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The two men spoke only in short phrases during the walk back to Rosings Park. The house was quiet in the late afternoon, and they avoided their relatives. Once they entered the library, Colonel Fitzwilliam handed the packet of letters to his cousin.
“You do not have to read them, but verify they are Bingley’s handwriting.”
Darcy looked over the blotted and jagged lettering on the front and back of the papers carefully, handed them back to Richard and said, “They were all written by Charles Bingley.”
Taking the letters from Darcy, the colonel sat in a chair near a window and began to read them. Walking to the door, Darcy summoned a footman and ordered tea. Now he watched as Richard skimmed through the many papers and set three aside. After looking at the last letter, Richard picked up and read the three separated letters for a second time. Then he rose from his chair and handed the three to Darcy.
“Read these,” he said before approaching the table where the tea service had been placed, Richard filled a cup with tea and plate with biscuits.
After reading the three letters, Darcy knew Charles proposed marriage more than once to Miss Jane Bennet, first he wrote of a Christmas wedding and then suggested a wedding in the middle of winter; but there was no doubt Bingley proposed marriage and Jane Bennet had reason to believe the man was intent on marrying her.
