It was obvious that Bingley was pining for Miss Bennet, which made Darcy feel some momentary guilt. He pushed the feeling aside, remembering that she had no love for Bingley and also, if they were together, he would be in Miss Elizabeth’s company far too much. He had never seen any fortune-hunting tendencies in Miss Bennet, unlike the woman looking at him coquettishly. He would not say that to Miss Bingley because, although for different reasons, their aims aligned at that moment.
“I will invite Bingley to be hosted at Darcy House. Do not mention the lady’s name to him,” Darcy decided. He was protecting Bingley and, at the same time, himself.
Miss Bingley was disappointed when, after extending the invitation to her brother, rather than spend more time in her company, Mr Darcy and Charles departed after her brother ordered his valet to pack his trunk. The Bingley coach would convey the valet and trunk later in the day.
Chapter 2
By the end of her second week in London, Jane began to accept that there would be no response to the note she sent to Miss Bingley announcing her residence in the capital.
As she refused to ascribe a nefarious reason for the lack of responses to any of her missives, Jane just accepted there had been nothing from Hurst House on Curzon Street; hence, being the polite woman she was, she had to make a call on them. As she was a gentlewoman, they, who were born the daughters of a tradesman, should have called on Jane first. However, as she wanted to see Mr Bingley, she would ignore precedence and go see them.
Most afternoons Jane, with the governess and a nursemaid, would accompany her cousins, Lilly, Eddy, Peter, and May, twelve, ten, seven, and five, respectively, to the park to feed the few hardy ducks who had not yet moved on before the pond in the park froze over completely. Thanks to the snow which had been falling for the last two days, there had been no outdoor activities. Uncle Edward was at the office in his warehouse; Jane and Aunt Maddie were seated in the drawing room, working on some embroidery.
Having seen Jane’s sense of melancholy grow with each passing day that nothing arrived from Miss Bingley, Maddie was concerned for her niece. On the one hand, she attempted to show the same serene mask she always did, but it could not be easy for Jane to reconcile her view of the world with the treatment she was receiving from Miss Bingley. She alwayswanted to see the best in everyone.
“Janey dear, another week has passed,” Maddie pointed out gently. “Do you want to call at Hurst House, or would you prefer to drop the acquaintanceship?”
“If it does not conflict with something you need to do, may we call on Hurst House on Monday at eleven?” Jane requested. “I am sure we will discover that it has all been one big misunderstanding. It must be that my letters were somehow misdirected; mayhap I wrote the direction very ill.”
“I am available to join you then,” Maddie responded. She kept the scepticism she felt at Jane’s attempt to excuse the sisters’ callous treatment of her from her voice.
“As Lizzy wrote to me earlier this week, I am a letter in arrears to her. Will you please excuse me, Aunt Maddie, while I go reply to her?” Jane asked.
“Of course, you go and write to Lizzy. Send her our regards,” Maddie agreed.
After climbing the stairs to the first floor, Jane sat at theescritoirein her bedchamber. She took a sheet from the stack of paper, dipped her quill, shook it off, allowed any extraneous drops to drip onto the blotter, and then began to write to her sister and best friend in one.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Although she liked snow and the way it looked when the ground was blanketed with a fresh covering, making it look like someone had covered the earth with a crisp white sheet for as far as the eye could see, Elizabeth did not enjoy the fact that her morning constitutionals had been curtailed.
It was a Saturday, and at least the snow seemed to be coming to an end, but it was too cold, and there had been too much snow for her to walk out. However, it must be that thepost was still being delivered because Hill had handed her a letter from Jane, which the butler and her father’s valet in one person had said had just been delivered.
As keen as she was to read Jane’s words, Elizabeth was worried her sister was still sad. Jane had tried her best to make her letters appear like they always did, but Elizabeth could tell she was melancholy from the tone of the missives.
Like she had been when she had attempted to convince Papa to take an active role in superintending his two youngest daughters, Elizabeth had been disappointed when she had discussed her concerns over Jane with their sire. He had dismissed her worries with some inane statement about how it was good for girls to be crossed in love from time to time. That reply had convinced Elizabeth that she could not speak on this subject to either of her parents.
Mama would not listen to her. If she was not berating her about refusing Mr Collins, then Elizabeth was certain Mama would find a way to make it all about herself.
Rather than guess, Elizabeth knew she needed to read Jane’s letter. Thanks to Mary reading Fordyce’s sermons, the music room was unoccupied, so Elizabeth proceeded to the silent room, which was very peaceful without Mary’s pedantic playing. She sat on the settee facing the upright pianoforte and broke the seal.
20 January 1812
23 Gracechurch Street
London
Lizzy, my dearest sister,
I too miss you, Dearest. Before I forget, Aunt Maddie, Uncle Edward, and our cousins all send their warmest regards.
No, Lizzy, I have notheard from Miss Bingley yet, but I am sure there is a good explanation for the lack of communication. I know you disagree, but Caroline and Louisa were good friends to me while they were in Hertfordshire.
“You believe that if it makes you happy,” Elizabeth scoffed aloud. “No friend would write the lie-filled letter thatdearMiss Caro sent you.” With what Mr Wickham told her about both Darcys, Elizabeth was certain that with the pride they both had that neither of them would agree to have the son of a tradesman as a husband or brother-in-law. “Poor Janey, she will not see what is before her.” Elizabeth returned to the missive after speaking aloud.
Aunt Maddie will accompany me to call at Hurst House on Monday morning, and I am sure as soon as I see my friends any misunderstandings will be cleared up.
I have been thinking about what Caroline wrote in the letter about Miss Darcy. The more I do, the more I become convinced that although Caroline believed what she wrote, she did not understand her brother’s intentions towards me.
