“I know, Miss Bingley,” Elizabeth only wanted to keep the peace. “But yes, I must be here for my sister. We are very close and I would not wish her to think I did not come to her aid when she needed me the most.”
“After dinner, we should all take a walk in the garden. The torches will be lit and the light plays fantastically with the surface of the water in the pond.”
Elizabeth thought that was the first good idea she had heard from the haughty Miss Bingley. It made her smile. “That sounds like a lovely idea!” she replied.
Miss Bingley shot her a look she did not quite understand. She could not tell whether it was an appreciative look or one of disdain. Either way it was fleeting and the woman turned away to leave the parlor. “I must go freshen up.”
She stopped just a few feet from the door and froze in place. The rest of the group looked at her when she did so. After only a moment or two, she spun around, her eyes falling on Elizabeth. “Would you like to come with me, Miss Bennet?”
Elizabeth stared at her for a moment, unsure how to respond. It was like being asked by a snake if it could bite you. She swallowed and nodded, unable to say a word. She did not want to be impolite. She was asked by her host to accompany her to freshen up. As much as she regretted the decision, she decided to stand by her moral values and do what she felt was right.
She looked at Darcy helplessly as she passed him by to follow Miss Bingley through the door and upstairs to the young woman’s chambers.
“I do not believe you have ever been in here before, have you, Miss Bennet?”
Elizabeth shook her head. “No, I have not. These are your private quarters. Why would I have ever been here before?”
Miss Bingley fluttered her eyelashes and waved away the sensible question. “It is quite lovely is not it? Charles let me decorate it however I wanted. He gave me my own bank account and I bought anything I wanted.” She looked at Elizabeth pointedly. “I do not suppose you have ever been able to do anything like that, have you, Miss Bennet?” Without waiting for an answer, Miss Bingley shook her head and sighed. “I feel sorry for you, dearie. I really do. Not having any money to buy the pretty things, always having to rely on someone else.”
Elizabeth did not point out that Miss Bingley did not make her own money and was, indeed, relying on someone else to support her. She wanted to say that she had gone on a shopping spree at some point in her life. She wanted to tell Miss Bingley a long fable about how frivolously she herself spent when shopping. But she quashed the urge to lie, knowing it was an immature way to think. She tried to smile, but there was no way she could do so genuinely.
“It’s quite all right. You do not need to feel sorry for me. I have everything I want and need. I am looking to marry for love, not money.”
Miss Bingley snorted in an unladylike way and turned to walk to her dressing table. Suddenly Elizabeth wanted to turn and flee from the room. She chided herself for being too polite and not simply saying she wanted to go sit with her sister. She could have put it in very tactful terms. She had put herself in the snake pit and now did not know how to get out of it without getting bitten.
She watched Miss Bingley begin unpinning her hair after she sat down in the chair of her dressing table and she wondered why she had not waited for her ladies maid.
She looked at Elizabeth in the mirror. “Come over here, Miss Bennet. Hold my hair while I put it up again.”
Elizabeth felt a streak of fury pass through her. From the look on Miss Bingley’s face when she spun around in her chair, Elizabeth knew the woman had seen it. “I…I must go sit with my sister, Miss Bingley. I… You… I shall see you at dinner.”
Elizabeth turned on her heel and went back out the door, closing it gently behind her. On the other side, she breathed a sigh of relief and hurried down the stairs to find Darcy.
He was standing at the bottom of the stairs, a worried look on his face. When he saw her, the relief she saw matched the way she felt and she tried not to burst out laughing. She took the stairs quickly and he caught her at the bottom, releasing her immediately and looking around to see if any of the servants had seen it. The help had busy mouths and rumors would spread quickly.
He helped her stand up straight. “That was a funny experience to you?”
She shook her head, smiling up at him. “You would have had to see it from my perspective.”
She smoothed her skirts down the best she could and attempted to move around him. He stepped in her way long enough to draw her eyes up to his, so she could slowly drown in the deep brown pools of his eyes.
Chapter 17
At the end of dinner, Elizabeth sent a note back to the Bennet household with David, informing them of Jane’s illness, though she fibbed a little and claimed that they had been out riding when Jane had fallen ill and that the Bingley’s had been driving by at the time and offered shelter. David had promised to hold his tongue and not reveal what had truly happened for a pound note.
Her parents were not well pleased, but sent David back with their traveling bags to keep an eye upon them and report if anything untoward occurred.
It was a week before Jane could hold a conversation with anyone.
Elizabeth spent most of her time in Jane’s room, reading, tending to her during feverish delusions, and watching the world through the window, sitting on the bench in front it with her legs up inside her long dress. She noticed Miss Bingley rarely came in the room. Darcy came in to see her more often than Miss Bingley checked in on Jane. Charles Bingley was a regular visitor, however. His gentle demeanor and kind ways made Elizabeth look forward to his visits. If Jane was asleep, he would sit with her and talk for a while about the weather, Jane’s recovery, and events happening locally around Hertfordshire.
The night before Jane’s fever finally broke, Darcy asked Elizabeth at dinner to accompany him for a walk in the garden. There was something he urgently wanted to speak with her about.
She agreed, curious and excited at the same time.
That evening, while Jane lay sleeping fitfully, tossing and turning and moaning, Elizabeth slipped out the door. She peeked back at Jane, whose legs were moving in her sleep, with a worried look on her face. She vowed not to stay out long.
“I’ll be right back, Jane,” she whispered. She closed the door quietly and made her way down the stairs. Darcy was waiting for her by the front door, looking dashing in a pair of dark breeches and a crisp white shirt and dark jacket. His boots were shiny, as if he had just got done polishing them.
She looked up at him, wondering if he had, indeed, gone to such lengths to look good for a simple walk in the garden. She smiled.
“Shall we?” Darcy asked, holding open the door and letting her go through before him.
“I am very interested in learning what it is you need to speak with me about,” she said, folding her hands in front of her, clutching her shawl around her shoulders in the middle of her chest. “You have me quite curious.”
“I appreciate you taking the time out to speak with me,” Darcy replied.
She looked up at him. “You do not think this will be looked on as inappropriate by the Bingleys?”
Darcy snorted. “Everything is looked upon with disapproval by the lovely Miss Bingley. Charles will not mind and the servants are in their quarters and cannot see us.”
“You have a disdain for the servants?” Elizabeth raised her eyebrows.
“No more than any other master who has had servants betray them. I suppose I trust them as much as I should. I know their type.”
Elizabeth felt her temper bristle, but held it in. She did not come from the same stock as Darcy. She would be remiss not to remember that.
“And what type is that?” she asked gently, looking away from him. The spread of yellow, white, pink, red, and purple around her was highlighted in the moonlight and the glow from the torches. The colors looked different from daytime.
“Busybodies. I am not saying all of them are like that. I am just pointin
g out that they must lead very boring lives for themselves if they must always be chattering about what their masters and mistresses are doing.”
“I am sure they find the lifestyles of those who are wealthier quite fascinating. There is so much happening and they do not understand why having money does not stop that from happening. Servants do not necessarily have boring lives, they are just interested in the people they work for.”
Darcy shook his head. “I do not understand what you are saying.”
She sighed but gave him a smile. “You probably never will. Now tell me what it is you wish to speak to me about? I am very anxious to know.”
“I will tell you,” Darcy teased. “When I am ready.”
She let out a sharp breath. “But that is why you asked me to walk with you! Please, Darcy, I do not want to be away from Jane for long. This seems to be a difficult night for her. I pray when the morning sun rises and comes through her window, she will be awake and able to enjoy its warmth.”
“I did not think about that, Miss Bennet, allow me to apologize.” He took off his hat and swept in down in front of her, bowing elegantly. “I will speak to you about it now. It is not…it is not something so terribly urgent that it could not have waited. I wanted to talk to you about the feud between our families. I wondered if you and I might hatch a plot to end the feud somehow.”
Getting married will not end the feud, Elizabeth thought. But I would be willing to give it a try.
She smiled at her thoughts.
“You have an idea?” Darcy said, misunderstanding her smile.
She turned her eyes to meet his. “I just had a funny thought, sir,” she responded. “Actually, I had a plan, however when Jane fell ill, everything was cancelled. Do you have a plan?”
“Do you have any influence on your father when it comes to this feud?”
Elizabeth stared at him for a moment, dumbfounded. “My dear man, what kind of influence could I possibly have in that regard?”
Darcy shrugged, placing his hands behind his back and walking with a straight spine. “I was merely thinking that if you used your daughterly influence – if you have any – to convince your father to meet me, he might see that I am indeed an upstanding individual and that I would not swindle anyone out of money. I do not need to do that. Why he would think I do is something that will forever puzzle me.”
Elizabeth thought about what he said for a moment. “Well, that was indeed my plan, to have him meet you, and Mr. Bingley of course. However, I am not sure when that will be arranged now. Perhaps I might urge Papa to invest in a plight of some sort? Something that you too are invested in?”
Darcy nodded. “Yes. That could work. What are your causes? Do you have any particular political affiliations?”
She grunted. “I do not see the need to include myself in such things. My voice has no say or meaning in this man’s world.”
Darcy lowered his head. “All right, how about religion? Are there any churches about to fall down that need to be rebuilt? Orphanages? We must be able to think of something.”
Elizabeth’s eyes darted up to his face. “Orphanage? Is there an orphanage that needs to be renovated? I would speak to my father on behalf of a venture that helps children in need.”
Darcy nodded. “Somehow I expected that from you, my dear lady. Shall I see what I can do to get this project started?”
“Oh yes, definitely.”
“And I can count on your full support?”
She smiled. “Of course you can. I must warn you, however, that I may not have as much influence as you might think. You cannot count on my father doing something just because I ask him to. I may even resort to begging, in a way, but that is still no guarantee.”
“I understand that, Miss Bennet. I do think this will be a good way to mend the fences between our families.”
“It would be nice. I do not… I do not understand, nor do I want to understand the mindset of anyone who judges a person based on the actions of their ancestors.” She lifted one hand and fanned herself. “We should go back. I want to make sure Jane is still sleeping. She was so fitful before I left. I fear she will have a bad night tonight.”
“All right.” Darcy stopped and turned to go back in the other direction. “I, too, do not wish for our families to continue this feud. It has gone on long enough.”
“I should be grateful to you, Mr. Darcy, for being the one to open your heart about this. Why do you feel such a need to mend relations between our families?”
He smiled, looking up at the moon. “I have my reasons. And they will remain my own for the time being. But you will be the first to know, I promise. I will tell you before I tell anyone else.”
Elizabeth was quiet until they were almost back to the house. “Please keep me informed about this new venture of yours.”
“I will. Have a good night, Miss Bennet. I will be praying for Jane to have a peaceful night.”
“Thank you.”
Elizabeth went up the stairs to Jane’s room, holding up her skirt with both hands so she would not trip. She stopped in the room the Bingley’s had given her and changed into a long, cotton night dress. The fabric was soft against her skin and kept her warm. After putting on her dressing gown and slippers, she went into Jane’s room and quietly pulled a chair closer to her sister’s bed. She sat and watched as Jane writhed in pain, getting up every so often to dampen a cloth in the water basin and dab at Jane’s sweaty face.
Jane murmured soft words in her delusion, swatting at nothing in the air, turning over from one side to the other. Elizabeth hummed a tune, sang softly, and talked to Jane until the early hours of the morning.
Just before sunrise, Jane took a deep breath and sighed. Elizabeth stared at her and said her name, softly. Jane turned over to face her, her eyes still closed, sighed again and settled into a deep, comfortable sleep.
Her fever had broken. Elizabeth let soft tears slide down her cheeks. She went to her room, fell across her bed and was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Chapter 18
The sun was burning bright overhead when Elizabeth finally woke up the next day. Her first thought was to wonder why no one had woken her sooner. It had to be past mid-day already. She remembered that she had stayed in Jane’s room very late. Someone must have told the servants not to wake her.
She slid out of bed and into her robe and slippers. She splashed water on her face from the basin and dried it with a towel. She brushed her hair and pinned it back up so that only a few wisps would escape and annoy her cheeks all day.
Glancing in the mirror, she wondered if she should get dressed before checking in on Jane. She decided she wanted to find out about her sister’s welfare before getting dressed, so she left the room and went to Jane’s.
The door was cracked open and she could hear voices on the other side. She stopped, fearing that she would interrupt something. As she listened, she became more and more uncomfortable that she had come at that particular point in time.
“Jane, you know how I feel about you,” Charles was saying. “But things are complicated in my life and I must answer to people other than myself when it comes to matters like this.”
“I do understand, Charles. I truly do.”
“I have spoken to your father about this. Did you know that?”
“I did not know that, no.”
“I went to see him shortly after you took ill. I wanted to inform him that you and your sister were staying here for the duration of your illness, though he already knew. Your sister made sure your parents were aware that the two of you were out riding when you took ill. I made sure to keep to that story as well. I do not wish to harm either of your reputations.” Charles paused, his voice going softer and Elizabeth had to strain to hear what he said next. “He asked me my intentions toward you.”
“What did you tell him?”
Elizabeth found herself leaning forward a little, listening closely for Charles’ answer.
“I told
him that I bore no ill will against you or anyone in the family. I told him that Darcy’s presence here was not an indication that our families were enemies in any way.”
“But you know that is not what he was talking about.” Jane’s voice sounded matter-of-fact. Elizabeth silently praised her. “He was talking about me. You and me.”
The way she said “you and me” made Elizabeth’s heart ache. She knew Jane had fallen in love with Charles Bingley, but if she had not known, hearing Jane say “you and me” in that tone of voice would have convinced her of it.
“I know he was, Jane,” Bingley replied. There was a moment of silence before he continued. “Jane, you are the most beautiful woman I have seen in a very long time. You know I desire to be with you, that I think of you night and day. It’s just… I must take things slowly. I know you are anxious. But I must beg you to be patient with me while I sort things out in my life. Then, I will be free to pursue your hand and we will be happy together.”
“I have been so patient, Charles. I want to be confident about my future. But you barely acknowledge that you are interested in me. In fact, you have denied it to our friends and to acquaintances.”
“It is no one’s business what I am doing or who I am interested in.”
“But it is everyone’s business, Charles. You are highly respected and well-known. I fear your denials are an indication that you do not truly love me or want to be with me. You seem afraid to let anyone know how you feel about me.”
“That is not true, Jane. You must know this. You are a well-respected woman…”
“From a less wealthy family,” Jane interjected. “Do not forget to add that part.”
“Please do not be angry with me, Jane. I adore you too much for that. Please be patient with me. Please do not give up on me.”
“I… You know I do not want to. You know how I feel about you.”
Elizabeth closed her eyes. Her poor sister. She wanted so much to believe in Mr. Bingley. And here he was leading her on a leash like a dog. She shook her head and stepped back to hide behind a large plant while Bingley left Jane’s room.
Elizabeth and Darcy: A Romeo and Juliet Twist: A Pride & Prejudice Regency Variation Page 9