“In that case, if you go the night with no increase in your fever, then I see no reason why you cannot spend the day downstairs on the morrow,” Elizabeth mused.
There was a knock on the door leading from the hallway into the sitting room. Elizabeth nodded to the maid who went and answered the door.
“It be the master and ‘is friend,” the maid reported when she returned.
“Sit here with Miss Bennet, I will see what the gentlemen need,” Elizabeth instructed. She made her way into the sitting room, pulling the door to Jane’s bedchamber closed behind her.
“We came to check on Miss Bennet’s progress but also to make sure you are well, Miss Elizabeth,” Bingley stated once they entered the sitting room, with the door to the hallway left wide open for proprieties sake.
It was hard to miss the intense way Mr. Darcy was looking at her. Before he apologised, she believed he looked to find fault, now Elizabeth no longer knew why he would stare at her so intently. Surely Charlotte and Jane could not be correct in their assertions he was enamoured with her.
“On behalf of my sister and myself I thank you for your solicitude,” Elizabeth inclined her head to the men from her seat opposite where the two had seated themselves on the settee. “Jane is vastly improved, so much so I am almost certain we will return home to Longbourn the day after the morrow.” She paused remembering he had asked about her health as well. “I am perfectly well; I just felt the need to remain with Jane and celebrate her vast improvement with her being able to eat a full meal again.”
“Remember what I said when your mother was here, your and Miss Bennet’s residence at Netherfield Park is not an imposition, so please do not allow your sister to leave before she is ready. I would hate for her to have a relapse,” Bingley stated.
“Your sentiments are appreciated, Sir,” Elizabeth averred. “I assure you; we will not depart before Jane is ready to do so safely.”
Darcy was sure Miss Elizabeth had, at least in part, decided to remain with her sister to avoid Miss Bingley’s acerbic tongue. He did not doubt, even for the smallest measure of time Miss Elizabeth’s ability to tie Miss Bingley in verbal knots. He understood, unlike the aforementioned harpy, Miss Elizabeth was too well mannered to put the woman in her place in her own house.
As if he had heard his friend’s thoughts, Bingley spoke. “Miss Elizabeth, please tell me you have not been driven away from the dining parlour and our company due to my sisters’ inhospitable behaviour.”
“Do not make yourself uneasy, Mr. Bingley,” Elizabeth assured her host. “It would take far more to scare me; in fact, my courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate me. The truth is I would rather not be the cause of any unpleasantness in your drawing room. Before you say it, I know I am not at fault, but I see no reason to provoke anyone with my presence, thereby making it uncomfortable for everyone else.”
Her sensibilities impressed Darcy. Yes, if she chose to, Miss Elizabeth could put Miss Bingley in her place and then some. Rather, she was choosing the comfort of all and not gratifying herself by issuing Miss Bingley a well-deserved setdown.
What a great pity it was he could not consider her for his wife because she had all of the attributes he wanted in the woman he would marry, not to mention he had gone and fallen in love with Miss Elizabeth.
He could not think of another woman he knew of in theTonwho would put the feelings of others ahead of her own self-gratification. If only…
“Please allow me to apologise on behalf of my family,” Bingley requested contritely.
“As much as I appreciate the sentiment, you have done nothing for which to beg my pardon,” Elizabeth granted.
“As the master of this estate and head of the Bingley family, I beg to differ,” Bingley asserted. “All I can tell you is that I will not allow such behaviour in my homes in the future.”
“Are you sure you would not like to come down to the drawing room for some time?” Darcy asked before his head could tell his mouth to close.
“Thank you, but no,” Elizabeth demurred. “I am quite happy here with my sister.”
Darcy felt a great deal of relief at Miss Elizabeth’s refusal. He did not want to raise expectations that would never be met and he knew if he was in her company much more, he may forget himself and propose to her in a fit of passion-driven haze.
The two men stood, bowed to Elizabeth, and then after Mr. Bingley asked—not for the first time—to be remembered to Jane, they took their leave.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The reason Darcy had jumped at the chance to escort his friend to enquire about his current angel’s wellbeing was simple. Since they had gone into dinner, he had not a moment’s peace.
All through dinner Miss Bingley had prattled on about who knew what. Much to Darcy’s chagrin, with Miss Elizabeth’s absence the shrew had doubled the amount of attention she lavished on his person.
If that had not been bad enough, in order to create some distance from Miss Bingley, Darcy had sat at the escritoire in the one corner of the drawing room and begun to write to Giana. That had not dissuaded Miss Bingley. She did not give him any peace which caused him to abandon his letter half done.
He had lost count of how many times she had asked to pass her raptures of how she longed to see his sister on to her in his letter—he had not done so; all he had written was how frustrating Miss Bingley was while he tried to concentrate.
The brazen woman had been openly suggestive, telling him how well she could mend his pen more than once. She trilled on the subject of the speed of his writing—he wrote slowly, how tedious it was to have to scribe so many letters of business.
In short, the woman had done anything and everything she could imagine to capture his attention. Hence, when Bingley mentioned he was about to go check on Miss Bennet, Darcy had taken his half-written letter and followed his friend with alacrity before Miss Bingley was able to say a word in opposition.
“Bingley you return to the drawing room, I will turn in early. There is a letter I desire tofinallycomplete to my sister,” Darcy stated when he snapped himself out of his ruminations.
