“Will you receive our visitors, Jane? I must stop Mama from coming down.”
Jane’s eyes widened in horror. “Do you think they know?”
“I hope not, but we cannot take the risk.”
Elizabeth hurried to Mama’s bedchamber just as she tugged at the bellpull.
“Oh, where is Hill? I need her at once! We must invite Mr. Bingley for dinner—I must tell Cook—”
“Mama, Hill is answering the door. You must listen to me. You cannot go down. Think what will happen if Mr. Collins comes in to find you sitting with your guests.”
Lydia jumped up. “Oh, that would be dreadful! Then he may propose to Lizzy again. We cannot allow that.”
“Where is the dratted Mr. Collins anyway?” Mrs. Bennet said peevishly.
Elizabeth mustered all the patience she had. It was Mama who had created this situation to start with, and now she was the one who had to deal with the consequences.
“You know very well that Mr. Collins went to the village to summon the apothecary.Youwanted him to go, Mama.Yousent him.”
“Well, if he had returned as quickly as he should, we could have told him I was much improved,” said Mrs. Bennet, “and we would have been finished with the whole thing.”
“Then Lizzy would have married him.” Lydia pouted. “And it would all have been for nothing.”
There was an obvious way to resolve the whole debacle. “I have already told you. I have no intention of marrying Mr. Collins.”
Lydia and Mama stared at Elizabeth as if she had sprouted horns, then decided she did not mean it. Choosing to ignore her, they went back to arguing.
“I mean it.” Elizabeth said, louder this time.
The words fell on deaf ears. Mama was twisting her lace handkerchief around her thumb – a sign that she was about to have an attack of the nerves – and Lydia was chewing her nails.
By now Elizabeth was growing very anxious, conscious of the two gentlemen who had been admitted into the parlor downstairs, and worried that Mama’s voice would carry.
In the end, it was Lydia who clinched the matter. “If you go downstairs, Mama, I will never talk to you again!”
She burst into tears.
That was enough to convince Mama, who plumped up her pillows irritably and settled back into her bed, prepared to be fussed over.
“Very well, then, I will stay here. But you must have Cook make my favorite jam tarts. Oh, and tell her I would like some Mulligatawny soup. It is a pity that Mr. Bennet is away and cannot bring me rabbit. I do think it will improve my health.”
To Elizabeth’s intense relief, by the time Mrs. Hill came up to announce the gentlemen’s arrival, Mrs. Bennet had half-convinced herself she was an invalid and needed to be cossetted. Elizabeth left the room and shut the door, only to find Jane hovering outside, too shy to go downstairs alone.
Elizabeth pulled at Jane’s sleeve, and together they descended the stairs.
And so, with her conscience snapping at her heels, Elizabeth descended to face the consequences, crossing her fingers that Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley knew nothing.
***
DARCY DID NOT LIKEMrs. Bennet, and he had the feeling it was mutual. Nevertheless, he could not forget that Mrs. Bennet was Elizabeth’s mother. Having himself lost a mother at a tender age, he knew the pain and sorrow that accompanied such a situation. He did not hold out much hope that Mrs. Bennet would recover. Apoplexy was almost always fatal, and if it was not, the consequences were severe. Some victims lost their physical functions, others their speech. He had even heard of family members who were placed in asylums because their relatives believed they had gone mad.
It was difficult to imagine Mrs. Bennet stripped of her ability to speak, considering how loud her voice usually was. The possibility that her speech might be affected saddened him, somehow, even if he had disliked her shrill way of talking.
The housekeeper had asked them to sit down, but Darcy was too worried to do anything but pace up and down the small parlor. As soon as Elizabeth and Miss Bennet entered the room, he hastened over to them. Once he reached them, however, he realized he did not know quite what to do.
Seeking refuge in civility, he took up Elizabeth’s hand and bowed. Then, because she looked at him with such confusion, he was overcome with a wave of tenderness. His heart ached for her. Unable to hold back, he covered her hand with his and pressed her fingers gently, hoping to reassure her.
“We came as soon as we were able,” he said. “I hope the apothecary has good news.”
