While she grumbled, Anne did not hesitate, following Elizabeth and matching her pace for the moment. As unaccustomed to exercise as she was, Elizabeth considered the possibility that her strength might flag during their journey. Should that happen, she might run on ahead and arrange for the wagon to retrieve her. Then again, Anne would no doubt protest that her dignity would not survive a brief ride on such an unfashionable conveyance.
At that moment, Elizabeth saw a familiar face, as Jane approached, her direction suggesting she had been speaking with some ladies of the neighborhood.
“Lizzy!” said she in greeting, taking in Anne’s presence with no little curiosity. “Good day, Miss,” added she to Anne. “I was notaware you had found an acquaintance in Meryton, Lizzy.”
“There is no time to explain,” replied Elizabeth, feeling the urgency of the situation. “Anne, this is my eldest sister, Jane Bennet. Jane, Anne de Bourgh, the daughter of Mr. Collins’s patroness.”
Jane gasped as she caught the reference, though her manners never slipped. She curtseyed and regarded Anne with some alarm. “If you will pardon me, I never expected to find one known to Mr. Collins in Meryton.”
“Nor did Elizabeth, I should say,” said Anne, her wry gaze finding Elizabeth.
“I will own it without disguise.” Elizabeth motioned for her sister to join them and set the pace leading out of town, the edge of which they had reached. “With Anne’s permission, we will tell you as we walk, for we must leave Meryton and reach Longbourn as soon as we may.”
“Your sister appears trustworthy,” said Anne. “If you suggest we inform her, I have no objection.”
Elizabeth smiled at her new friend, though a little bemused at the way Anne had changed from pleasant, to demanding, to now trusting in so short a time. “There is no one I would trust more, Anne.”
“Then let us be away,” said Anne. “I wish to put as much distance between myself and Mr. Wickham as I can contrive.”
“Mr. Wickham?” gasped Jane again.
“Yes, Mr. Wickham,” replied Elizabeth. “Come Jane, and I shall share accounts that will convince you thereisevil in the world.”
It was an old jest between them, born of Jane’s propensity to look for the best in others. Jane was not deficient, for she was capable of seeing evil tendencies, but she almost always trusted upon first acquaintance. It might be a danger in one so exquisite, but Jane was unmoved by pretty words, her angelicways not allowing her to contemplate any action against her moral compass.
As they had finally reached the road to the north, the ladies stepped forward spritely, reaching the trees beyond the town in a matter of moments. As they passed from the sight of any potential watchers in Meryton, Elizabeth heaved a sigh of relief, hopeful they had evaded Mr. Wickham. With no notion of where Anne had gone, perhaps he would grow frustrated and depart, understanding his schemes had no chance of being realized. Then they could take thought for how to alert Mr. Darcy or Lady Catherine as to her daughter’s location at Longbourn.
Unfortunately for Elizabeth, their escape was not the clean break she had hoped, for someone observed as they left the town behind.
“I must own, Darcy, that I am rather shocked by your aunt.”
Darcy turned a grin at his close friend. “As I recall, you made that observation already, Bingley.”
Bingley considered his response, his amusement showing Darcy that he had not forgotten it. “That is what I find so curious. Every minute that passes us by, I find myself astonished anew.”
Darcy wished Lady Catherine could astonish him, for at least it would amuse him while they waited for word. At the moment, they could speak freely, for the lady had departed the room a moment earlier. In time she would return, then the frustration would begin anew, for she had never found a silence she did not wish to fill with the sound of her voice.
“Do you speak of Lady Catherine so secretively?” asked Fitzwilliam as he approached them. “For shame.”
Then he winked and added: “Please, include me, for I should like to hear your observations.”
“We were just speaking about how Aunt Catherine hasastonished my friend, Fitzwilliam,” supplied Darcy.
“‘Shocked,’ Darcy,” corrected Bingley. “Do try to be accurate in accounting for my comments to you.”
“There are a hundred different adjectives to describe our aunt,” said Fitzwilliam. “I must suppose that to one who is not familiar with her ways, there are even more. What, in particular, has ‘shocked’ you about how Lady Catherine has behaved?”
“That is difficult to pinpoint, Fitzwilliam,” replied Bingley. “There are so many levels from which to choose that I hardly think I can focus on just one.”
“Sheisrather ridiculous, is she not?” said Fitzwilliam. “You should be glad we are not at your house, or she might, even now, be instructing you on how to manage it, how to operate your business interests, or any number of other subjects about which she has no knowledge.”
Bingley looked to Darcy, some hint of incredulity in his gaze, but Darcy could only shrug. “Lady Catherine loves to be of use, and to her, being of use is giving out useless instructions that betray no knowledge of the subject at hand, or at worst lacking in even basic sense.”
“Hmm,” mused Bingley. “Then perhaps it is for the best that we are not at my house. Caroline has long wished to make the acquaintance of your highborn relations, but she would not take kindly to such instruction, even if your auntisthe daughter of an earl.”
“Trust me, Bingley,” said Fitzwilliam with a theatrical shudder, “you would not wish to witness such a thing for it would be even worse than you can imagine. Along with Aunt Catherine’s need to insert her overly ample facial feature into your sister’s business, considering your descent, she would find it necessary to inform her exactly where she has gone wrong.”
Fitzwilliam projected a fair imitation of Aunt Catherine’s haughtiness, as he added in a high-pitched voice: “Thedistinction of rank must be preserved, and how better to do so than to ensure those beneath you understand their inadequacy in every way?”
