Elizabeth
A week had elapsed at Longbourn with several significant events occurring in succession. Chief among them was Mr. Collins's proposal to Mary, which she declined instantly, and his subsequent proposal to Charlotte Lucas, which Charlotte accepted. That Mr. Collins would propose to a woman he had barely known four days was ridiculous enough. That Charlotte would accept was, to most of Longbourn, considerably more surprising.
Mrs. Bennet announced her opinion on the matter loudly and without particular charity. A woman of seven-and-twenty, she declared, accepted such a proposal out of desperation and nothing else. Elizabeth understood her mother's meaning well enough, even if she did not share her manner of expressing it. Charlotte was practical. Charlotte had always been practical. Elizabeth could not fault her for it, even if she wished the circumstances had been different.
Mr. Collins departed Longbourn that same afternoon in high spirits, announcing the necessity of obtaining a licence in order to hasten the marriage with the greatest possible speed. The house was considerably quieter without him, which everyone agreed was an improvement.
None of these events surprised Elizabeth as much as they perhaps ought to have. She had too much else occupying her mind.
Mr. Darcy and Georgiana had not come to Longbourn. They had not written. They had not sent word of any kind. Mr. Bingley had called twice since the last time Elizabeth had seen Darcy, but on both occasions he had come alone. When Elizabeth enquired after the Darcys, he offered only that they were at Netherfield and that he would pass along her regards. He said it pleasantly and without apparent discomfort, which suggested either that he knew nothing or that he had been asked to say nothing. Elizabeth could not determine which.
Every morning that the weather permitted, she walked to Oakham Mount hoping to see Mr. Darcy. She was thoroughly disappointed each time.
Lydia brought news of Wickham's arrest within the week. He had been removed to a debtor's prison, according to Mr. Denny. Lydia found this enormously diverting. Elizabeth found it interesting for entirely different reasons. She could not prove a connection between Wickham's arrest and the expression she had seen upon Darcy's face that morning in the high street, but she could not dismiss the notion either. The two men had known one another. That much had been plain. And now Wickham was gone and Darcy had withdrawn. Elizabeth had no information, too many questions, and no one she could ask without revealing more than she wished to.
It troubled her more than she cared to admit.
A day after Mr. Collins's departure, an invitation arrived for a ball at Lucas Lodge to celebrate Charlotte's engagement. Elizabeth looked forward to it for reasons rather different from those of the rest of the household. The Netherfield party would be there. They would have to be. It was the sort of occasion that did not permit absence without remark.
On the evening of the ball, she dressed with more care than usual and told herself it was out of respect for Charlotte.
When they arrived, she spent the first half hour watching the door while paying only half attention to Charlotte, who came to speak to her again of her happiness and approaching marriage.
Mr. Bingley arrived with his sisters and Mr. Hurst soon enough. Elizabeth looked past them as they entered, and past the next group after them, before it became apparent that no one else was coming from Netherfield.
Later, when Bingley came to claim Jane for a set and they were standing together at the edge of the floor, Elizabeth approached him and asked the question she had been asking herself all week.
"Mr. Bingley." She kept her voice pleasant. "I had hoped to see Mr. Darcy and Miss Darcy this evening."
Bingley's smile did not falter, but something behind it shifted.
"He had business to attend to this evening."
It was all he offered.
"And Miss Darcy?"
After a brief pause, which Elizabeth suspected was spent considering the safest answer, he replied that, "She was not feeling quite herself. I believe she remained at Netherfield for that reason."
Elizabeth looked at him for a moment.
He did not meet her gaze.
She thanked him and moved away.
So that was that.
It was not business. It was not illness. For whatever reason, and she had none, could account for none, could discover no explanation that satisfied her, Mr. Darcy and Georgiana were withdrawing from her.
Deliberately and without explanation.
She was still standing with that thought when Caroline Bingley approached her. The smile upon her face sent an uncomfortable sensation down Elizabeth's spine.
"Miss Eliza." Her voice was warm. "You appear to have been expecting someone this evening."
"I had hoped to see Miss Darcy," Elizabeth replied.
The words were pleasant enough, though they emerged more slowly than usual, her surprise at her own disappointment still lingering.
