Darcy was pleased to see that Miss Elizabeth looked hopeful as she asked.
“You will.”
Darcy was supervising Bingley’s audit of the past year’s worth of records for Netherfield when there was a knock on the study door. “Come,” Bingley said.
Mr Evans stepped in, bowed, and said, “This note was delivered from Longbourn, sir.”
Bingley said, “Wait a moment, Mr Evans—let me see….” He swiftly opened the sealed note, read it, and addressed his butler once more. “Please send in Mrs Nicholls. Is there someone waiting for an answer?”
“Yes, sir. I have sent the servant to the kitchens, although his ride was short.”
“Very good.”
When Mrs Nicholls appeared, Bingley asked her to take the note up to the Bennet sisters.
He explained to Darcy that the note was from the ladies’ mother, asking if Miss Bennet was well enough to come downstairs for a visit.
“Come downstairs?” Darcy asked. “Surely she knows that she could visit her daughter in her room.”
“I was not certain what to make of the note, either, Darcy.”
It was not long before Mrs Nicholls returned and said, “Miss Elizabeth sends word that this is not a good time for a visit up or downstairs. She wrote a return note, sir, and I will be giving it to the messenger.”
“Thank you, Mrs Nicholls. Obviously, any of Miss Bennet’s family is welcome at any time, but do tell Mr Evans to let me know if someone comes, so that I might greet them.”
“I will, sir. Very good, sir.” Mrs Nicholls scurried off.
Darcy glanced down at the ledgers, feeling as if he could not care less about the lesson he and Bingley had been absorbed with just a few minutes before. He asked his friend, “Can you tell me about Longbourn? Is there some reason Miss Bennet’s mother would not come visit her daughter in her sick room?”
Bingley stood from his desk and paced before the fireplace. “Longbourn is quite chaotic in a way. As I told you before, there are five daughters. What I did not tell you is that Mrs Bennet is inclined to shriek and fret and exclaim her every emotion, whether positive or negative. Sitting in the parlour and attempting to speak on polite topics is definitely not the quiet, sedate experience that calling elsewhere typically is.”
Darcy nodded. He did not relish the sound of that. But he knew for certain that he would put up with it in order to furtherhis relationship with Elizabeth once she left Netherfield…if she consented to his calls.
A part of him hoped that Miss Bennet’s cough would linger for days, and that the two sisters might stay at Netherfield for the duration.
“As to Mr Bennet,” Bingley went on, “he strikes me as highly intelligent, but he is quite sarcastic. Honestly, he puzzles me. His wife seems desperate to marry off her daughters, in part because of the entail on the estate, but Mr Bennet seems to find the notion of men calling on, courting, and marrying his daughters both absurd—as if there was something lacking in the ladies—and also unfortunate—as if he cannot stand to see them leave home. His expressions and words and actions puzzle me, to be honest, since they seem inconsistent.”
“Lovely,” Darcy muttered. “You claim Miss Bennet has wonderful manners, and although Miss Elizabeth can speak very decidedly for someone her age, I marvel at the fact that she can maintain courtesy under…provocation.” He sent a fierce look to his friend, remembering that it was Bingley’s ill-mannered sister who had provided the provocation.
Bingley blushed. Darcy felt guilty—Bingley was, after all, attempting to help Darcy with his newly-found emotions.
“At any rate,” Darcy continued, “I wonder how Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth have developed civility if their parents have ill manners. Are the youngest three Bennet daughters as courteous and kind as the elder two?”
“No, they are not…. Both elder sisters speak of their aunt and uncle in London as their models for behaviour, and from what I have heard, they are the only two who have visited London. The younger girls only see those relations on their rare visits to Longbourn.”
Darcy excused himself, claiming a need for a walk and then a rest before changing for dinner.
“Mr Darcy!”
Happiness bloomed in Darcy’s chest as he heard a familiar voice, and he turned a bit to see that Miss Elizabeth was approaching on a branching path.
“Miss Elizabeth. May I enquire as to the health of your sister?”
“I thank you. She is coughing a bit less although she is still in the throes of several uncomfortable symptoms. Right now she is sleeping, so I wished to walk a while.”
“May I join you?”
“Please do.”
