Darcy remained standing where she had left him.
If Miss Bennet had indeed been led to expect Mr. Bingley’s departure, the fault might not lie entirely with her imagination. He shook his head slightly. Miss Bingley appeared to have thought of everything – except his unwillingness to leave. It occurred to him, not without some uneasiness, that only a few days earlier he might very well have gone with them.
“A message from Mr. Bingley!” Mrs. Bennet cried. “Well! That is very obliging indeed. Lizzy was right. My Jane was distraught. What got into Miss Bingley to frighten her so?”
Mrs. Bennet continued to express her astonishment at Miss Bingley’s conduct, but Darcy scarcely attended to her words. His thoughts remained fixed on what Elizabeth had just said.
Miss Bennet had believed herself abandoned. His coming then was even more important than simply letting her know about the delay.
He did not want to consider what else Miss Bingley must have written.
Footsteps sounded in the passage. A moment later, the door opened. Elizabeth entered first, and Jane Bennet followed her. Darcy rose immediately.
Miss Bennet looked pale, though her gentle composure remained unchanged. Her manner was perfectly calm, but there was a softness in her expression which suggested she had not passed a happy morning.
“My dear Jane!” Mrs. Bennet exclaimed at once. “Mr. Darcy has something to tell you. A message from Mr. Bingley!”
Jane looked quickly from her mother to Darcy, and then briefly to Elizabeth, as if seeking some quiet reassurance.
Darcy bowed.
“Miss Bennet, I am glad to see you this morning. Indeed, I have come because Mr. Bingley asked me to assure you that he will return to Netherfield within a few days. He sent a message from London saying that he will be delayed because his partner in the business venture still needs to sign the papers. He wrote that he would be back next Wednesday or so.”
Jane did not answer immediately.
Darcy continued, “He wished it to be understood that his absence is only temporary.”
Jane’s composure faltered for the briefest instant. “He intends to return?”
“Yes.”
A faint colour rose in her cheeks. “I am very glad to hear it,” she said softly. “Thank you for conveying the message, Mr. Darcy.”
Mrs. Bennet clasped her hands with renewed enthusiasm.
“Well! I always said there must be some misunderstanding. My poor Jane was quite distressed yesterday. Miss Bingley frightened her most unnecessarily.”
Jane attempted a small smile. “I am sure Miss Bingley did not intend to alarm me, Mama.”
Miss Elizabeth said nothing, though the slight movement of her brows suggested that she did not entirely share her sister’s charitable interpretation.
Darcy observed the exchange in silence. Jane Bennet’s sweetness of temper was evident even in disappointment, and her immediate willingness to excuse Miss Bingley did her honour. Yet he could not help suspecting that Miss Bingley’s intentions had been considerably less innocent.
Elizabeth, meanwhile, was watching her sister closely. Only when she saw that Jane’s colour had returned slightly, and that her voice had regained its usual steadiness, did the anxious tension leave her expression.
Mrs. Bennet had already begun speaking again with renewed animation. “Well! You see my darling. Everything is as it should be. We were worried about nothing.”
Jane attempted to quiet her mother. “Mr. Bingley is free to come and go as he pleases. I do not want to make it seem that he owes me any explanation.” She looked at Darcy. “It is of no consequence, Mama.”
Elizabeth said nothing. She had risen quietly and moved toward the window, where the sun could now be seen in the middle of the sky before it began to descend.
For a few moments she stood there in silence. Then she turned slightly. “Mr. Darcy, might I trouble you for a moment?”
Darcy rose at once and joined her.
She spoke in a lower voice. “There is something I think you ought to know.”
Darcy inclined his head.
