She complied.
“I love you more than you can imagine. I think of you constantly. I imagine you at the breakfast table, at tea, at the dinner table, at –“ he stopped. He could not say that he imagined her in his bed, true though it was. “All the time,” he amended. “It hasbeen difficult; I am a man accustomed to being in control of his feelings, of being motivated entirely by rationality, not by emotion. This is an entirely new experience for me, so I beg you to forgive my clumsiness! But, Miss Elizabeth, I must know. Do you think of me, as I do of you? Could you come to care for me?”
Her glorious eyes were opened wide. “I do,” she whispered. “I think of you, I care for you, I –“ she stopped. She could not tell him that she loved him, not here in the garden where anyone might hear them.
“That is all I need to know,” he replied, now grinning enormously. “I have already spoken with your father.”
“With Papa! But he said nothing to me of it!”
“Nonetheless, I have done so. I told him that I understood the family was in mourning, and I would wait the required six months.”
“Are you proposing to me, Mr. Darcy?” Her voice was a tapestry of emotions – hope, fear, disbelief.
“You deserve a real proposal,” he said. “Particularly after the mess I made of the first one!”
She laughed – yes, she actually laughed! – and turned her shining eyes to his.
Jane had seen Elizabeth stop walking and she stopped as well, so as not to intrude on her sister’s privacy. She and Mr. Bingley had spoken very little up to that time, but when she stopped, he did as well, and immediately said, “I have made it clear to my sisters that if their behaviour to you does not improve, they will have to live elsewhere.”
“Truly?”
“I can hardly ask you to be my wife if your acceptance would force you to live with two ladies who treat you so very poorly.”
Jane looked at Mr. Bingley with surprise and hope. “That is very good of you, Mr. Bingley. But it is my sincere desire that they will learn to like me.”
“Miss Bennet,” Mr. Bingley began, and then stopped.
“Yes, Mr. Bingley?”
“Have you forgiven me?” he blurted out. “Not that I deserve your forgiveness after the terrible way you have been treated! That letter from Caroline – I had no idea in the world –“
“I have forgiven you, Mr. Bingley, and would be happy to resume our relationship as it was before your unexpected departure last winter.”
“Oh, Miss Bennet! I have never been so happy in all my life!” His face, open and guileless, was indeed the very picture of joy. He began to laugh for happiness and a moment later, Jane began to laugh with him.
***
Elizabeth and Jane had much to whisper about after the walk in Longbourn’s gardens with Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley. Mr. Darcy had as good as proposed to Elizabeth, and Jane now felt reasonably certain of Mr. Bingley; both girls now felt that their futures werealmostsecure.Almostwas a key word here, as both feared that Lydia’s misstep could still cause difficulties for them, despite both gentlemen protesting that their affections would survive such an event.
And even if they did marry their beloveds, what of Mary and Kitty?
“Sometimes I think I will go mad, just sitting and doing nothing to help Lydia,” Jane said.
“I feel much the same; Kitty made those drawings, so she has assisted in the effort, but you and I must simply sit and wait,” her sister agreed. “This is the fate of women, is it not?”
***
A large package arrived from Brighton the next day. Jane opened it and discovered it to be the clothing Lydia had left behind when she had left the Forsters. She and Mrs. Hill carried the package to the attic.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The next morning, Miss Bingley cornered her sister. “Louisa, there must be something we can do.”
“I will not speak about it, Caroline.”
“But you must! If Charles marries Jane Bennet, what becomes of my own marriage chances?”
“You have had your chances, Caroline, and none of the gentlemen who offered for you were, evidently, good enough for you.”
