Miss Bingley Requests

by Judy McCrosky

  * * *

  The day passed much as the day before had done. Louisa and Caroline spent much of the morning sitting with Jane, who slept less and had better colour in her face. She was still very weak, and her voice was softer than usual, but clearly she was improved. Caroline passed the time sewing, but she also found her eyes wandering to Elizabeth.

  Caroline knew that she and Louisa were as close as sisters could be, but surely neither of them would expect the constant attention and fawning attitude that Elizabeth bestowed on Jane. It seemed that Jane had no more than to think of something than Elizabeth had already fetched or done it. Elizabeth adjusted pillows, smoothed bedclothes, bathed her sister’s face, fed her broth with a spoon, exchanged a glass of water for a new one filled with cooler liquid, read poems, chatted about what had occurred during the Bennet visit earlier that day. She was never completely still, and yet she created a space of calm and serenity around all who were present.

  Caroline examined Elizabeth’s eyes surreptitiously. Try as she might to see why Mr Darcy called them ‘fine’, she could see nothing that suggested they were anything other than a pair of eyes. The brown colour was nothing out of the ordinary, and while Eliza had dark eyelashes and eyebrows, the lashes were no longer or shorter than those found on other faces, the eyebrows were no longer, thicker, or thinner either. The eyes were nicely shaped, slightly slanted, but that was currently out of fashion, and people much preferred eyes that were round and spaced further apart.

  No, it was a mystery. Louisa would probably say Caroline had wasted her time, for certainly no woman could begin to understand why a man said or felt the things he did. Understanding was unnecessary, for all a woman had to do was listen, and smile, and agree. And, after marriage, apparently participating in something that produced sounds more commonly associated with pigs, was added to this list.

  As Caroline thought back over the morning, it appeared that Mr Darcy enjoyed Eliza’s conversation, even when she disagreed with him. That was all Caroline could think of that was different from her own conversations with him. But why would a man wish to be mocked?—Especially Darcy, always conscious of his bearing and position in society.

  No, it was impossible to work out, and so there was no sense in continuing this fruitless inquiry.

  Caroline stood up and announced that while she was loath to tear herself away from Jane’s company, especially since she knew her presence offered solace to the sick woman, she had duties which simply could not be put off any longer. Jane, sweet thing that she was, was kind enough to point out that although Caroline’s presence did afford great comfort, she understood that there were many duties for the mistress of a house such as Netherfield, and she did not in the least take any offence from Caroline’s departure. Louisa chose to leave too, at this point, and they left with words of gratitude from both Bennet sisters.

  She did not so much as think a single thought about a Bennet during the rest of the day, until later that evening. Indeed, she’d almost managed to forget the visitors’ presence until then, for Eliza did not join the family for any meals, presumably preferring to have food brought to Jane’s room.

  They were not playing loo, for Charles and Mr Hurst had decided to play piquet; Louisa was watching them, and Darcy was writing a letter to his sister. Caroline, still somewhat perturbed by what he’d said about Miss Elizabeth, even though it was clearly just some joke he was having at Caroline’s expense, decided she must pay him more attention. Perhaps, in assuming everything was settled between the two of them, she had given him the impression she was no longer interested.

  His writing to Georgiana gave her much to share with him, for she loved the girl as if she truly was her own sister. Caroline made sure that her best wishes would be included in the letter, and also made many compliments to Darcy himself, to let him know her esteem of him was high indeed.

  Miss Elizabeth came in quietly, without disrupting anyone, and took up some sewing. Caroline, watching Mr Darcy carefully, was pleased to note that he paid no attention whatsoever to this addition to their party.

  ‘You write very well, Mr Darcy,’ she said. ‘I am all envy, for I cannot write in as beautiful a hand as you.’

  He said nothing.

  ‘And,’ she continued, ‘if Miss Darcy were to judge the extent of your affection for her by the frequency and length of your communications, she would be in no doubt at all as to its depth.’

  He looked up at that. ‘My sister does not need letters to understand my affection, nor do I to understand hers.’

  Caroline paused, then said, ‘How delighted she will be to receive such a letter as the one you are now composing.’

  He did not respond.

  ‘You write uncommonly fast.’

  Without looking up, or even slowing his writing, he said, ‘You are mistaken. I write rather slowly.’

  ‘How many letters you must have occasion to write in the course of a year! Letters of business too! How odious I should think them.’ There, she thought, that shows him that I am observant and considerate.

  ‘It is fortunate, then,’ he said, ‘that they fall to my lot instead of to yours.’

  ‘Pray tell your sister that I long to see her.’

  ‘I have already told her so once, by your desire.’

  His tone was somewhat reproving, Caroline thought. Clearly he did not wish her to repeat things when she conversed. ‘I am afraid you do not like your pen. Let me mend it for you. I mend pens remarkably well.’ There. That showed concern and that she could be of assistance to him. As mistress of Pemberley, she could ease his burdens.

  ‘Thank you, but I always mend my own.’

  He was considerate also, and did not wish her to distress herself for his sake. Truly, their marriage would be a meeting of equals, each playing their own role in perfect balance with the other.

  For the first time, Caroline was distracted by Elizabeth’s presence. She had put down her sewing and was making no pretence of not listening to the conversation.

  Well, she could listen all she wished, Caroline was unashamed of anything she said to Mr Darcy. ‘Tell your sister I am delighted to hear of her improvement on the harp; and pray let her know I am quite in raptures with her beautiful little design for a table.’

  He put down his pen at that, and even turned to face her. ‘Will you give me leave to defer your raptures till I write again? At present I have not room to do them justice.’

  She was pleased to see how important he knew her thoughts would be to his sister. ‘Oh! It is of no consequence. I shall see her in January.’

  Mr Darcy continued writing his letter.

  When he finished it, he turned to Caroline and Elizabeth. ‘Would you be so kind as to indulge me with some music?’

  Caroline leapt up, eager to entertain him, and to be the focus of his attention, but her manners recalled to her that Eliza was a guest, no matter how unwanted she might be. ‘Please,’ Caroline said, holding out a hand towards the pianoforte, ‘would you grace us with a performance?’

  ‘I thank you,’ Elizabeth said, equally politely, ‘I am certain my gifts in music are much inferior to yours. I would much prefer to listen at first, so that I may be better inspired later.’

  Caroline seated herself on the piano bench, and Louisa joined her, wishing to sing as Caroline played. The songs they used were well known to both sisters, and so Caroline was able to observe her audience, without needing to look every moment at the sheets of music. At times Mr Darcy did indeed regard her, and she was certain he appreciated the pretty picture she made, sitting at the dark wooden instrument, her pale green gown spread out behind her to fall gracefully down the back of the bench. Her sister stood at her shoulder, and with her lighter hair and yellow gown, the two surely presented an image of feminine beauty and superior accomplishment.

  Caroline gradually grew tenser, however, for it seemed that at first Mr Darcy looked upon her at least every other time she paid attention to him, but soon he looked at her only
one in three times, or even one in four. Her hands faltered on the keys, Louisa sang a line more loudly to permit her to recover, but it was difficult to return her concentration to what she was doing. Why did Mr Darcy gaze upon Elizabeth rather than on her?

  Caroline had been playing some of Louisa’s favourite Italian songs, but her fingers now felt clumsy. Rather than relinquish the instrument, though, she switched to a Scotch air, which although livelier, was less demanding. She became concerned as she played, for Mr Darcy stood up and approached Miss Elizabeth, bending his head to speak to her. She smiled, but made him no response, and instead of moving away at this incidence of incivility, he leaned even closer to her and apparently repeated his words.

  They spoke for some minutes, while Caroline’s fingers danced across the piano keys and her mind whirled. The music sped up, reflecting her increasing tension, and Louisa experienced no little difficulty in fitting each line’s words into the shorter time allotted her. At last Caroline played the final chords.

  She stood, passed Louisa without a word, and made her way towards Mr Darcy and Eliza. ‘I am very glad to see, Miss Elizabeth,’ she said, ‘that your sister does so well that you can leave her entirely alone for an entire evening. You must be content indeed to see such happy effects of your nursing skills.’

  As she’d hoped, Eliza instantly showed signs of guilt over having abandoned Jane. ‘Indeed, she is much improved, but you are correct, even though she was sleeping well when I left her, she might awaken and want me.’ Making a polite excuse to Mr Darcy, she left the room to return upstairs.

  Caroline sank into the seat she’d just vacated, suddenly overcome by weariness.

  * * *

  The next day, Caroline spent only a couple of hours with Jane, who was feeling so much better that Elizabeth suggested she might come downstairs for a while later, to see something different and even spend some time with the others present in the house. Caroline encouraged this, knowing that if Jane were present, Elizabeth would have no opportunity to work her wiles on Mr Darcy. Caroline didn’t want to admit how badly frightened she was by the way Mr Darcy paid Eliza so much attention. Caroline hadn’t even spoken to Louisa of her thoughts, for she didn’t want to appear foolish, like an aging spinster seeing her last chance of a life drifting away.

  Still, why on earth would Mr Darcy be interested in Elizabeth? She represented everything he most despised, and even if she had possessed some attributes that won his admiration, her family connections made any attraction he might feel impossible. Why, he himself had said, after they’d first met the Bennets, that the sisters were unlikely to marry well.

  Perhaps he was merely toying with Miss Elizabeth for his own amusement. Caroline found the woman amusing, at least whenever she was not attempting to steal Darcy’s attention. Darcy’s wit was often dry, Caroline knew, and perhaps he enjoyed causing Eliza to say outrageous things. Yes, surely that must be it.

  Shortly after the midday meal, she encountered Mr Darcy and he suggested they go for a walk, as it was most pleasant outside. She assented immediately, cheered to discover that he still sought her company.

  As they walked through the gardens, she could not get Elizabeth out of her mind, even though the sun was warm on her face and the air sweetly scented by the flowers they passed. Darcy was unusually silent, even for him, and somehow whatever Caroline said, Elizabeth pushed her way into the conversation.

  ‘I thought Miss Elizabeth looked remarkably ill yesterday evening,’ she said. ‘She cannot be faulted for her devotion to her sister, but surely she should be able to find some time to attend to her person.’

  ‘I thought she appeared remarkably well,’ he replied.

  Her hand rested on his arm, and now she pressed on it a little to indicate she wished to stop. Bending over a particularly large specimen of a red rose bush, she thought of what to say next. Clearly, pointing out Eliza’s physical defects would not induce him to see that lady in a worse light. The relations, though, never failed.

  ‘I hope,’ she said as they resumed walking, ‘that you will give your mother-in-law a few hints, when this desirable event takes place, as to the advantage of holding her tongue; and if you can, do cure the younger girls of running after the officers. And, if I may mention so delicate a subject, endeavour to check that little something, bordering on conceit and impertinence, which your lady possesses.’

  He smiled at her, and the warmth in his eyes sent a blush into her cheeks. She ducked her head slightly, knowing how alluring a lady could appear thusly, both shy and inviting. ‘Have you,’ he asked, ‘anything else to propose for my domestic felicity?’

  ‘Oh! yes.’ She gave him a sidelong glance and then looked up again, trying out the bewitching smile she’d practised in her mirror. ‘Do let the portraits of your aunt and uncle Phillips get placed in the gallery at Pemberley. Put them next to your great-uncle the judge. They are in the same profession, you know, only in different lines. As for your Elizabeth’s picture, you must not attempt to have it taken, for what painter could do justice to those fine eyes?’

  Darcy looked up at that, and following his glance, Caroline saw a bird flitting not far overhead. ‘It would not be easy, indeed,’ he said slowly, as if musing, ‘to catch their expression, but their colour and shape, and the eyelashes, so remarkably fine, might be copied.’

  Caroline stopped dead at this, unable in her shock to move, but it took him time to notice. By the time he did observe that her hand was no longer through his arm, he’d walked a full two steps ahead. He immediately came back to her, apologising and asking if she had tripped or had a stone in her shoe. She shook her head no and once again placed her arm though his.

  Just as they began to move ahead together, they sighted Louisa and Elizabeth, walking together and coming towards them. They had just come around a corner not six steps ahead, and Caroline felt her face blanch. Could the two women have overheard her conversation with Mr Darcy?

  As soon as they took another step closer, she said, ‘I did not know that you intended to walk.’

  ‘You used us abominably ill,’ Louisa said, but her tone was light, and Caroline sighed in relief, ‘running away without telling us that you were coming out.’ She then gave Caroline the smallest of winks, and came up on Mr Darcy’s other side. Caroline smiled inwardly. How she loved her sister! Louisa took Darcy’s other arm so the three could walk abreast. The path was only just wide enough for them, and Eliza had to walk alone behind.

  She and Louisa took a step ahead, but Mr Darcy held them back. ‘This path is not wide enough for our party. We had better go into the avenue.’

  Caroline tightened her fingers on his arm. He was always so considerate, but she had no intention of permitting Elizabeth to continue through the gardens with them.

  Fortunately, in one of her few moments of manners, Elizabeth realised she was not welcome. ‘No, no; stay where you are. You are charmingly grouped, and appear to uncommon advantage. The picturesque would be spoiled by admitting a fourth. Goodbye.’

  Darcy opened his mouth, no doubt to protest, but Caroline pulled on his arm as she stepped forward and before he could say anything, Elizabeth had run off towards the house, while Caroline and Louisa moved further into the garden with Mr Darcy between them.

  * * *

  That evening after dinner, when the ladies left the gentlemen to their port, Elizabeth quickly excused herself and left the drawing room. Caroline breathed a sigh of relief, and turned to her sister. ‘I declare, has the air suddenly become fresher and less stifling? Even with her sister so ill, Eliza is always about where we are, especially when Darcy is around. She can scarcely allow the poor man to breathe, always at him with her impertinence and her “fine eyes”.’

  ‘Guests,’ Louisa agreed, ‘should know when they are welcomed and when they are not. Fortunately, dear Jane is recovering well and should soon be able to return to Longbourn.’

  ‘That moment cannot come too soon for me—’ But before Caroline could conti
nue her thought, Elizabeth reappeared, and holding the door open, she offered her arm in support of—Jane!

  Caroline and Louisa both leapt to their feet, exclaiming their joy at seeing their friend up and about. Elizabeth made certain Jane was comfortably seated by the fire, a blanket over her knees, before turning to the others. ‘As you see, she is much improved.’

  Jane smiled and held out her hand to Caroline. ‘I thank you for all you and your brother have done for me. And it does me good to discover that you are not yet wearied of my presence.’

  ‘Wearied!’ Caroline cried. ‘Dear Jane, Louisa and I treasure every moment we can spend in your company. Can I fetch you something, a cup of tea, a bowl of broth?’

  ‘Thank you,’ Jane said again, smiling, ‘but I have just dined upstairs. Your servants have shown me every courtesy. They are to be commended for their attentions, and you also deserve respect, for you are their mistress.’

  Caroline smiled and pulled a chair so she could sit close to Jane. Louisa too, drew nearer, so as better to converse. ‘It does me a world of good,’ Caroline mused, ‘to see you once again restored to us.’

  ‘Restored?’ Eliza asked. ‘In what way had Jane been removed from you? It seems to me that she has been closer than ever to your presence, since she has resided in your house for some days now.’

  Caroline glared at her, but upon seeing Jane smile at her sister’s comment, she smoothed her countenance and said, ‘Restored to us in both spirit and body, of course. While you, dear Jane, suffered so terribly, I often feared that you were not wholly with us, but on a different plane, fighting against the illness. But now you are the picture of health, and so I am happy.’

  Jane smiled and reached out to take Caroline’s hands. ‘You are so good.’

  ‘I merely attempt to match your goodness.’ Caroline squeezed Jane’s hands. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Miss Elizabeth make a wry face; and had she been so rude as to roll her eyes? Caroline turned sharply to see, but Eliza gave her only a gentle and affectionate smile. Removing her hands from Jane’s, Caroline sat back and gazed into the fire.