"Yes, thank you."
Mr. Oliver responded with a nod, then left the room.
“I am glad you thought to go looking for the ladies, Darcy," Bingley said, turning to look out the window. “The weather seems to have even worsened since we made it back to Netherfield.”
“Yes, I am relieved we found them. I would hate for them to still be out there in this,” Darcy said, his gaze still focused outside.
“It is unfortunate that Mr. Bennet is in London, and the ladies are on their own.”
“Yes, it is. Fortunately, they are sensible women, and they seem to have a capable staff. Though I wonder how long it would have taken before the butler or the stable master assembled a search party today,” Darcy said, raising his brows at Bingley.
“Good point,” Bingley replied, looking at Darcy.
“I told Miss Elizabeth to send word if they needed us for anything at all.”
“Good.” Bingley nodded and returned his gaze to the window. “After this weather event passes, I suppose I should check on the tenants to assess if there are any needs or emergencies.”
Darcy smiled. “Bingley, my friend, now you are thinking like a landowner.”
For the rest of the afternoon, Elizabeth tried to occupy herself with other things, but she mostly just looked out the window. She watched as the wind blew the trees and bushes back and forth. She watched as the sun disappeared, and the sky became overcast. Elizabeth finally left her perch by the window and went downstairs when it was time for dinner.
After dinner, she and her sisters sat in the drawing room. They each had a book they were attempting to read.
Elizabeth looked over to the window and noticed the curtains were pulled.
“I instructed the servants to close all the curtains, just in case the wind speed increases before we are aware of it or have already gone to bed,” Jane said.
Elizabeth smiled. “I am sure that was wise.”
Almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth, they heard a loud boom of thunder, the sound deafening. It was so sudden and so intense, they screamed. They looked at one another, each with a hand to the chest, trying to calm down. There were several more claps of thunder, then it began to rain, and the wind picked up. Soon, all they could hear was pouring rain and howling wind. Every so often, they would hear a sudden bang on one of the windows.
Mrs. Hill came into the room. “Are you girls well?”
“Yes, we are. Thank you, Mrs. Hill,” Jane said.
“This storm is dreadful. I hope it will pass soon. Can I get you girls anything?”
“No, thank you.”
Mrs. Hill nodded and left the room.
Elizabeth tried to focus on her book. She succeeded for about five minutes, then became distracted again. This went on for an hour. She noticed her sisters seemed to be having the same problem. Then, she realized the wind was now quieter. In fact, she could not hear it at all. She turned her head to the window and listened.
“What is it?” Mary asked.
“I just realized the wind has gone quiet. When did that happen?”
Jane looked at Elizabeth with a wrinkled brow. “I am not sure.”
“Hmm . . . ” Elizabeth looked toward the window again.
All of a sudden, they heard an extremely loud, continuous roar and a piercing, screeching sound. They screamed and ran to each other. Elizabeth moved them as far away from the windows as possible, afraid something would crash through at any moment. She kept her eyes on the windows until the sound had passed. Then she looked at her sisters.
“Are you both well?” Elizabeth asked, her voice shaking.
“I . . . yes . . . I think so,” Jane managed to say.
Mary had both hands on either side of her forehead. She was focused on the floor, just staring.
