“Miss Elizabeth, would you like me to send for my personal physician in London?” Darcy volunteered.
“It is a most gracious offer, but no thank you, Mr. Darcy. I am confident in Mr. Jones’s capabilities, and he has the added advantage of knowing Jane since birth,” Elizabeth declined kindly.
About an hour later Mr. Jones was shown in to find a thrashing, rather delirious Jane burning up with fever. He felt her forehead and was alarmed at the intensity of her fever. He stuck his head out of Miss Bennet’s door and commanded the footman to tell Mr. Bingley he needed plenty of ice and cold water.
Footmen were soon bringing ice which Mr. Jones directed be placed in the bathtub in the suite’s bathing room. Cold water was added and then with the help of two footmen, Jane Bennet—wrapped in a blanket to preserve her modesty—was lowered into the bathtub.
Seeing Jane convulsing from the fever had driven Elizabeth to tears of concern which started to recede as she watched the ice cold water work its magic on her beloved sister. Jane stopped thrashing about and soon enough her fever was reduced to a level which allowed Mr. Jones to have his patient removed from the ice bath and returned to her bed.
As soon as the door was closed, Elizabeth and two maids stripped Miss Bennet and thoroughly dried her. Once she was dry, she was dressed in a clean, and more importantly, dry night rail.
Jones pulled Elizabeth aside as soon as they noted Jane was sleeping relatively calmly. “Miss Lizzy, if your sister’s fever should intensify to, or near to, the levels it was before I placed her in the ice bath, please repeat the process. However, never more than five minutes at any one time.”
“The instructions are understood,” Elizabeth acknowledged. “All I can do is pray it will not be necessary to repeat the treatment.”
“That would be my preference as well,” Jones admitted. “Please have me summoned if things take a turn for the worse at any point during the night.”
‘Mama and Papa look what your actions, or in Papa’s case, inactions, have purchased us. My Janey is teetering on the edge. If she is taken from us, I will never be able to forgive either of you regardless of what the commandment says,’ Elizabeth told herself silently.
As he did earlier in the day, Mr. Jones reported the goings on to Mr. Bingley who was accompanied by Mr. Darcy.
“This is what my sister called aslightcold and fever,” Bingley stated looking at nothing in particular. “I do not know about you, but I have no desire to return to the drawing room and listen to my sister’s inanities.”
“I am in agreement with you,” Darcy averred.
Bingley splashed some cognac into two snifters and the friends drank to Miss Bennet’s health and a rapid recovery.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
When Elizabeth woke, she was not sure where she was for the first few moments. Suddenly, she remembered she was at Netherfield Park nursing the dearest person in the whole of the world to her.
She was sitting in a chair next to Jane’s bed, holding her hand. A maid was sitting in a chair in the corner working on some sewing. Yesternight came rushing back to Elizabeth and she stood and placed her hand on her sister’s forehead. Much to her delight, she felt only a very low fever.
Tears of relief ran down Elizabeth’s cheeks as she sat back down, refusing to relinquish the hold on Jane’s hand. She felt her sister stir a little bit and watched as her eyes fluttered open.
“Water,” Jane croaked out.
Before the maid could move, Elizabeth was up and poured Jane some water from the pitcher on the dresser. By now the maid was standing across the bed from where Elizabeth’s chair was and together they assisted Jane so she could sit up.
Very gingerly, Elizabeth held the glass to her sister’s lips and slowly allowed some water to be dripped into Jane’s mouth. This was repeated four or five times until Jane indicated she wanted to lie back down.
According to the clock on the mantlepiece, it was after eight in the morning and the new day’s weak rays of sunlight were invading the cracks in the curtains over the east facing windows.
Over the next hour, Jane asked for more water and was able to drink some bone broth to at least give her some much needed nutrients. Just before nine, Mr. Jones came to see his patient.
Based on the progress he was seeing, there was no need to feign good cheer to bolster Miss Lizzy’s spirits. The fever had broken during the night and Miss Bennet was on the road to recovery. It would take her some days before she would be allowed out of bed to go downstairs, but it was a good start.
Feeling buoyed by the news, Elizabeth decided to take a walk in the park in celebration. As soon as the new maid arrived to replace the one who had sat with Jane through the night, Elizabeth made her way into the park for a pre-breakfast walk.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
From the window in his chamber, Darcy observed Miss Elizabeth and her pleasing figure skip down the stairs. ‘Her sister must have begun to improve,’ he told himself as he watched her and thejoie de vivreshe was displaying.
As tempting as it was to make his way down and join her in the park, Darcy refused to allow himself to give into his heart choosing rather to listen to his head and all of the reasons why Miss Elizabeth was an impossible choice of wife for him.
If Miss Bennet was on the mend that meant the days the Bennet sisters were to remain at Netherfield Park were numbered. He only had to maintain his iron control for a few more days.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
