“Because I am as proud and as prejudiced as he is. We both believed it was our duty to guide others, but it was nothing but vanity. I see that now. It was Mr Bingley’s happiness, and yours; whether he listened to advice or not was entirely his own choice. No one could truly influence you, and no one needed to be protected from life.”
Jane inclined her head sadly. She had thought only of her own feelings. “We all have our faults, but I am grieved that we should have contributed in any way to your suffering.”
“No, my dear, you had no share in it—it was entirely my own doing. I did not think clearly. Instead of being silent and reflecting upon what he said, I…refused him, and in such a manner that he can never forget it. But tell me—tell me of his wedding.”
Jane hesitated.
“I shall be well. It is over—it belongs to the past.”
“Then…the wedding was simple, but very elegant. You would scarcely believe how well the bride looked. She wore a pale yellow gown and a beautiful silk pelisse when they left the church. Yes—she appeared shy and unaffected—a true lady; that is all I can say.”
“And…” Elizabeth could not pronounce his name, but Jane understood.
“He was serious, as he always is, and scarcely smiled during the breakfast that followed. We remained long after the bride and bridegroom had departed, and the breakfast extended almost into dinner.”
“And where did they go?”
“They left directly for Pemberley.”
“At once?”
“Yes. We all took leave of them on the steps of Matlock House. There was an older lady with them.”
“An older lady? Lady Catherine?” Elizabeth asked, suddenly attentive.
“No, Lady Catherine stayed only a short time and then returned home. It was Mrs Darcy’s companion, I believe.”
Elizabeth lowered her eyes. It was painful to hear of “Mrs Darcy,” yet that was what Anne de Bourgh now was—Darcy’s wife.
“It must have been Mrs Jenkinson.”
“Yes—now I remember. Charles introduced us. You must know that everyone was exceedingly kind to me. It was a most agreeable surprise. And we are all to go to London for the Season. I am quite certain you will meet someone suitable and be married before June.”
Most likely I shall, Elizabeth thought, with quiet sadness.
But for the present, she must find some means of forgetting him.
“Will you remain with me and assist me in all my new duties?” Jane asked, hoping her sister might be happier at Netherfield than at Longbourn. “We expect some friends to stay with us for a week, and afterwards we shall return to London.”
“Yes, I will stay with you,” Elizabeth replied.
She resolved, if she could, to forget the past and to turn her thoughts only towards the future.
Chapter 17
Pemberley had a powerful effect on Darcy, most of all the library, with its silence and its memories of his parents and his childhood. He was sad, but not as much as he had expected. The next day, he intended to ride over the estate, to look into the works in progress, and to begin to think seriously of what was to come.
Only one thing troubled him—the coming night, and his first hours with Anne. He had urged her to rest, to sleep, and to take everything at her own pace.
Mrs Jenkinson had been settled in rooms not far from Anne’s, and that closeness, he hoped, would comfort her.
A knock at the door pulled him from his thoughts. His butler stood there with an unexpected message.
“Mrs Darcy wishes to see you, sir. Shall I bring her here, or to the little parlour?”
The little parlour was near the library, a room his mother had loved, where she would read or receive her closest friends.
“To the little parlour, Miller.”
