Jane let out the breath she had been holding. Mr. Darcy was much nicer than she had expected, and it was obvious that he cared deeply about her sister.
Well then. She had committed herself now. She felt giddy and nervous about it, with so much expectation riding on her explorations. It was impossible to say if she would succeed, but she had caught a glimpse of something uncommon the night she touched his hand. It may have born from feverish dreams, or it might be a false trail, but she was determined to follow it as far as she could go.
It took Jane three days for her magic threads to get beyond the turbulence that blocked them. Mr. Bingley was amazingly patient. He seemed perfectly content to sit on the bed with Jane holding his hand.
On the third day, she found what she was looking for.
Chapter 15
Lizzy was sitting atthe plain escritoire she had managed to acquire. She had set it up by the window, so she could look out onto the open fields whenever she took a break from reading. As she was gazing longingly towards Oakham Mount, wishing she could go there, Jane burst into the bedchamber.
Startled, Elizabeth turned quickly. Jane must be unusually agitated, if she was allowing Mr. Bingley to follow her into the bedchamber.
“I know what is wrong with Mr. Bingley, Lizzy.”
Elizabeth was not sure she had heard right, but her sister’s manner confirmed that she had some information to convey. She jumped up, knocking over one of the large books she had balanced on the edge of the desk.
Vexed with herself, she bent down and picked up the book, checking that the spine was not damaged.
“Tell me quickly, Jane.”
Jane sat on the bed with Mr. Bingley hovering next to her, as if he, too, wanted to hear her news. Elizabeth went and sat next to Jane.
“A few days ago, when I was in the sickroom, I reached out to Mr. Bingley to ascertain his condition. I touched his hand.” A blush spread out over her cheeks. “No, do not chide me, Lizzy. I know what I did was wrong, but it is beside the point. What I felt at the time was that there was an obstruction of sorts preventing me from reaching him.”
“You said nothing about it.”
“Because I was feverish at the time, and I might have been wrong. But I was not. There is an obstruction, Lizzy.”
Elizabeth felt disappointed. There was nothing new in this. It was just Jane’s way of saying the same thing. No one could reach Mr. Bingley to Heal him.
“I know, Jane,” she said gently. “That is more or less what the Healers have been saying.”
“No, you do not understand. My point is that there is an obstruction. It is not the result of being injured. The obstruction was deliberate.”
Elizabeth frowned, her heartbeat quickening. “What do you, mean, deliberate?”
