“Please, do not allow me to disturb your enjoyment of the library, Miss Jane. If I can help you find something, please ask.” Darcy turned back to Elizabeth and said dismissively, “Are you leaving for your exercise?”
Shocking!Jane thought indignantly as Miss Bennet blushed scarlet, then stammered a goodbye and left them. When Jane had finished watching Miss Bennet leave, she turned back to findDarcy making his way to take a seat facing a window with his book on the other side of the room.
What. A. Beast!Jane stared at the man as she steamed, eyes boring holes into the back of his head. How on earth was Elizabeth Bennet meant to fall in love with this boorish wretch! Certainly, Jane herself had made him that way, but he was meant to have amended his behaviour by now! Then, considering Miss Bennet’s strained appearance and reaction to the man’s unexpected arrival, she was obviously already well in love with the gentleman.And considering his refusal to look at her after the first time he addressed her, I would say he is in love with her too. That makes my task abundantly easier.
Jane observed the complicated man with sideways glances as she explored the volumes on the shelves with interest. Her amusement was piqued. The man had acted as if he could not care less about Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Yet now he was neglecting his book as he stared out the window at her walking away from the house across the fields. Half an hour later, he had not even glanced at the tome in his hand, as he stared transfixed in the direction that Miss Bennet had gone, obviously waiting for her to return.
Jane smiled to herself. Whatever it was that had gone wrong between Elizabeth and Mr Darcy, surely it was incumbent upon her–the author–to fix it.
An hour later, Mrs Bingley found Jane in the library after Darcy quit the room, and accompanied her to the breakfast room. Jane was both apprehensive and excited. She was all anticipation to meet more of her characters, but she worried about the nastiness of Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst. Jane was equal to managing them, but her acerbic tongue was often deemed impertinent. Though she longed to verbally spar with all of her characters, she was acutely aware that while she was the creator of all of this, she was still Mrs Bingley’s guest, and must show the proper respect for her kind-hearted and most generous hosts. Particularly since she had no notion of how long she would be here.
When Mrs Bingley had introduced her to the room, Jane took a seatbetween Miss Bennet and Miss Kitty, and told the footman what she would eat as he went to the sideboard to make her plate. Mr Bingley served his wife, and Miss Bingley sat with her nose in the air as Captain Arundle made her plate. Darcy sat near Mrs Bingley; his sister between him and his cousin.
Jane’s breakfast companions were as curious about her as she was about them. “I say, Miss Jane, is it true that you have no idea at all what happened to you?” asked Mr Hurst’s younger brother Mr Rupert Hurst. Mr Hurst the younger was an unmarried parson, aged twenty-nine, with a new living in Keswick, in the Lake District.
“I am afraid it is,” Jane informed him. “I regret to say that I have no idea how I was found alone and injured in Hertfordshire.”
“How convenient,” Miss Bingley drawled. “To find yourself injured within a short distance of such a large manor as Netherfield Park, and not in a completely isolated location, or among the poor on the other side of the village, where those who found you would certainly have put you in the workhouse.”
Jane stared at Miss Bingley’s rudeness. This was precisely what she had been nervous about. Miss Bingley would speak to her thus very few times before Jane snapped and said something everyone would remember.
“I do not know if it was convenient, but I am certainly grateful to Miss Bennet and her sisters for finding help, and to Mr and Mrs Bingley for their kindness and generosity.” Jane eyed the younger woman evenly and sipped her chocolate in contemplation.
“Convenient is the only thing it can be called, but certainly, I imagine you must be very grateful.” Captain Arundel smirked.
“I am not remotely concerned about the convenience, only that there is a possibility that highwaymen and kidnapping are involved in our area.” Bingley was cutting into a sausage at the head of the table. “Sir William, Mr Bennet, and I have written a series of advertisements, and we mean to send them to several newspapers. St Albans, Ware, Hatfield, London, and the primary papers for a few counties around Hertfordshire. Someone will certainly come looking for Miss Jane, and if that brings no results within three weeks, we shall do it again in every county in the kingdom. And Darcy and ColonelFitzwilliam have contacts in London. They will be helping investigate too.”
Mrs Bingley cleared her throat. “In the meantime, we have plenty of room to spare. Mr Bingley and I agree that Miss Jane is quite welcome to stay as long as necessary. It is obvious that she is a gentlewoman, likely of good family. We cannot allow her to face hardship or fear for her circumstances as she recovers her memory and her family is found.”
“Hear, hear. You are a good chap, Bingley. I commend you for having found a wife who shares your good nature and kindness,” Colonel Fitzwilliam added to the conversation. “I shall be writing letters to some contacts I have in London, and Darcy is sounding out the runners and his most trusted investigators. If anyone is looking for you, Miss Jane, we shall find them.”
“But what if there isno onelooking, Charles?” Miss Bingley insisted. “You could very well find yourself keeping a perfect stranger for heaven knows how long!”
“Caroline, will you be silent!” Bingley laid down his fork and glared at his sister. “Your direction of conversation is unhelpful.”
“Andentirelyunnecessary,” Elizabeth added, glaring at Caroline.
“Caroline is only stating what everyone is thinking, Charles,” Mrs Hurst objected.
“Louisa,” her husband suddenly bit out rather sharply. His wife reddened.
“I can only repine that Arundel allowed her to wait for months in order to be a June bride in London,” Bingley grumbled. “For I might have sooner heard less of my youngest sister’s fascinating reports on whatshebelieveseveryoneis thinking. Caroline is about to marry, and be the mistress of her own household. Since Netherfield has a mistress who has matters in hand here, it is not necessary for Caroline to lodge an opinion.”
Jane’s eyebrows shot up at Bingley’s uncharacteristic–in her opinion–and she was of a mind that hers was the only one that counted–open rebuke of his sister.
“Miss Bingley fought my poor sister on every possible matter of household when Jane married Charles,” Miss Kitty whispered from her left side. “Even things that she did not change, Miss Bingley foundreasons to quarrel about. The rows were terrible, and eventually Charles was obliged to send her to London, which is when she met Captain Arundel. Now she has mostly given up on attempting to run her brother’s house. She is too busy planning her wedding and feeling superior, for soon she will outrank Charles and Jane. Lizzy loathes her, and the feeling is mutual.”
Conversation eventually turned to more pleasant subjects and Jane watched each of the people around the table carefully. She marveled at how rich in depth all of these characters were. Surely when she returned to her own life, this adventure would have given her a great deal of inspiration for Mansfield Park.
Chapter Five
After breakfast,Elizabeth accompanied Jane on a walk in the garden, warmly attired in a blue pelisse loaned by Mrs Bingley, who insisted that Miss Jane should consider it and the other clothes in her her dressing room as her own until she returned home, and to please not feel awkward or uncomfortable about the matter at all.
“Are you certain you wish to go out again? I should hate to drag you out of doors if you have other things to do,” Jane asked in concern as they headed towards the gardens.
“On the contrary, I feel more at peace out of doors. I confess I am particularly driven to seek the benefits of fresh air this morning.” Elizabeth lifted her face up to the bright sunshine and breathed deeply. “Allow me to show you Netherfield’s folly. It is not too far for you to walk today, I think, as long as you are still feeling well.”
“Miss Bennet, I must admit that I saw your reaction to Mr Darcy and his subsequent behaviour to you. Is this what disturbs your peace and your rest?” Jane invited encouragingly. “I am unknown to all of you, perhaps I could be an unconcerned party.”
