Her heart missed a beat. “Has anything happened?”
“No. Your sister is the same. I think we can consider that a good sign.”
“We can only hope so.”
“Is this for me?” he asked, grabbing a sausage from the plate.
“It is not. I brought it for Bingley. Is he still with my sister?”
Darcy nodded. “He is. Miss King is in there as well. And Mrs. Jenkinson. She claims she will not budge as long as Bingley is there. She has made her point, but he does not care in the least what Lady Catherine thinks. I have entreated him to rest, but he will not leave Jane’s side.”
“It is perfectly understandable.”
Darcy came closer to her. “Listen, Elizabeth. I am sorry my aunt’s treatment has been so shabby. I did not expect her to be quite as unyielding.”
Elizabeth sighed. “I should have expected it. You told me Lady Catherine was angry, and that she has washed her hands off you. It is hardly surprising that she would behave this way.”
“She had no right to deal with you that way.”
“Angry people are rarely wise,” said Elizabeth. “In any case, you do not have to apologize for your aunt's behavior. You are not responsible for it.”
“What I failed to mention before is that she is a friend of Lady Alice Enright’s, who has caused us so much distress. Who knows what that harridan may have told her?”
“Lady Alice?” Elizabeth’s eyes darkened. “Well that accounts for it.”
“Accounts for what?”
Elizabeth told him about the morning’s events.
Darcy scowled. “I wonder why I did not receive the same treatment. Or perhaps I was supposed to, but the servants know me well, and they simply disobeyed her. I feel very privileged to have taken a hot bath and slept in a warm room.” He frowned. “Though there is something I do not understand. The temperature last night was not cold enough for the water to be icy.”
Now that he had pointed it out, having ice in the bedchamber made no sense. Though the weather was damp, it was still the month of September, and it was not cold enough to need a fire. She had been too worried about Jane to give it much thought. The ice must have been created with magic. Her vexation increased, particularly since Jane’s room had been cold as well.
“I will have to confront her again,” said Elizabeth. “She can take her revenge onme, but to take out her spleen on Jane and risk making her condition worse is too much.”
“She should not be taking out her spleen on anyone other than me. Her quarrel is withme.” Darcy ground out the words. His eyes were blazing. “I will talk to her at once.”
“It would be a good idea to do so. But first, I do have two pieces of good news. Thankfully, your cousin Anne is not of the same mind. She and I have spoken, and we have made our peace.”
“Well, that is one good thing at least.” He was only partially mollified. Elizabeth could see he was rearing to go.
“And also – your cousin Richard is here, and your uncle is on his way.”
“Good. But before I talk to Richard, I need to deal with my aunt.”
Elizabeth could not help admiring his fine figure as he strode off, determined to make things right.
Colonel Fitzwilliam made good use of Lady Catherine’s footmen to send out in different directions to find a Healing circle. However, by noon, no one had yet made an appearance, and Jane had developed a fever.
“I could send one of my men to Founder’s Hall for help, but they wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow.”
No one said it, but the silence that followed indicated that they were all wondering if tomorrow would be too late.
“There is nothing to be done but set up a Healing Circle ourselves,” said Bingley. “What choice do we have?”
Elizabeth turned to Darcy. “I agree. I have been thinking about it, and perhaps there is a way for us to use your and Papa’s skills to extract the spike. We will need more mages, though. Do you know if your aunt or cousin has any Healing ability?”
“My cousin does, but—”
