Page 41 of Wickham Likes 'Em Young
Elizabeth pulled Darcy into the two chairs nearest them and whispered, “Pray, find your sister and I will save a seat for her, if you would.”
He moved away promptly, but his eyes looked uneasy, and she wondered if he had heard the same words.
Somehow, she felt certain that the chatter had been about Mr Bingley and Jane— definitely a leap of imagination, given the paucity of evidence. Still, in all of Hertfordshire, the words ‘never seen him upset before’ seemed only appropriate to Mr Bingley, and ‘she always smiles’ seemed only appropriate to Jane. Elizabeth looked around to see if she could spot their host or her elder sister, and she could see neither. Mr Goulding was wandering about, looking a bit concerned, as if he had mislaid his betrothed. Miss Bingley sat at the table at the front of the room, next to her sister and brother-in-law, and the seat next to her was empty.
When Georgiana and Darcy returned, Elizabeth gave her soon-to-be sister a hug and asked how she had enjoyed the ball. She was happy to see the girl’s eyes dance as she said how much she had enjoyed her father’s humour and her sister’s fashion sense.
“And I believe you are going to host Lydia upstairs after supper?” Elizabeth asked. “Do you suppose that either of you will get a few minutes of sleep?”
“Actually, we will be accompanied by my maid, and my companion will be sleeping in the next room, so I have a feeling that we will, in fact, sleep…but not, perhaps, right away.” She giggled again and said, “I feel so blessed that you have come into our lives, Elizabeth.”
As Georgiana addressed her food, Elizabeth leant towards Darcy. She whispered straight into his ear, “I am a bit concerned about some chatter I heard, and the absence of Mr Bingley and Jane. Have you noticed anything?”
“I have noticed exactly what you have noticed. But I suppose they are adults, and we should attempt to enjoy our evening rather than take on responsibility for search and rescue, yet again.”
Elizabeth could not prevent laughter from bubbling over. She said softly, “I suppose we do tend to take on more responsibility than we ought.”
“We both act the saviour, at times, to our credit, but we must allow others to make mistakes.”
“I wish you could kiss me right now.”
“Not as much asIwish I could kiss you.”
When people were done eating, the sound of so many conversations swelled in volume, and Elizabeth was relieved to see Mr Bingley enter the room and say, “I believe we are ready to resume dancing?”
Darcy and Elizabeth kissed Georgiana’s forehead and wished her good night, and Elizabeth squeezed Lydia in a tight hug, as well; Georgiana’s companion had come down to escort the girls upstairs.
Darcy said, “Miss Elizabeth, allow me to introduce you to Mrs Annesley, Georgiana’s companion. Mrs Annesley, this is my betrothed, Miss Elizabeth Bennet. “
The women smiled and curtseyed; as they uttered polite words of acknowledgement, their eyes met. Elizabeth felt very good about what she saw of the woman, who would, after all, soon be a part of her own household.
That thought took some time to process, but Elizabeth was whisked off by Mr Goulding for their promised dance, and she immediately forgot about Mrs Annesley when he asked her, “Do you know where Jane is?”
“Oh! I looked for her when the supper began, but I did not see her. I found myself so busy, I did not attempt to find her, but you must admit that the supper room was quite a crush.”
“It was,” he agreed. “I hope she is well. Might we interrupt our dance, and you could look in the retiring room for me?”
His expression was pinched with concern. Originally, Elizabeth’s thoughts about Jane being missing was that she might be arguing with Mr Bingley. But the host was back and dancing with Sarah Long, so she supposed that Jane might be in the retiring room.
“Certainly we can do that,” Elizabeth said. She allowed Mr Goulding to escort her out of the dance formation and, once they were in the hall, she said, “If you stay there, I will come right back to tell you if I found her.”
“Please do,” he said. Mr Goulding had never been a favourite of Elizabeth’s; when they were young playmates, he had been bossier than a child ought to be; and when they were older, he had remained more judgemental than she liked—there had been that time he called her a hoyden!—but she felt quite happy that he showed his concern for her sister.
Elizabeth hurried into the retiring room. Jane was indeed there, crouched over a basin, retching.
“Oh, Jane! Was it something you ate or drank?”
Sounding miserable, Jane said, “I fear it is. I hope nobody else becomes ill.”
“I left Mr Goulding out there, worried sick for you; I will tell him you are indisposed, and have him fetch Mama and Papa to take you home.”
“Thank you!”
Mr Goulding was grateful to Elizabeth and concerned for Jane, and he hurried off to find the Bennet parents and to arrange for their carriage to come. When Elizabeth told Darcy what had happened, he said, “Mr Bingley arranged a special surprise for us, for the last dance, so if you please, I should love you to remain until the end, with me, and then I will take you home to Longbourn in my carriage.”
Elizabeth felt a jolt of excitement, mostly for the possibility of having a bit of privacy with her intended during the carriage ride, but also for whatever the surprise might be.
CHAPTER 18
