Caroline shook her head. Louisa certainly was a little plumper, and though she wished it was due to some happy event, shesuspected it was due the quantity of cakes and sweets she consumed alongside her husband.
Mr Darcy had come farther into the room, though he still hovered near the door as if uncertain whether he had any right to remain. His eyes had not left Elizabeth since he entered, and when another shiver ran through her, his hands closed briefly at his sides.
"How is Jane?" Elizabeth asked, making no move to remove from the room.
"She is feverish and has slept very little," Caroline said. "Mr Jones does not believe there is any immediate danger, though I have asked him to return this afternoon."
"I should like to see her."
"Of course, later. Now, upstairs with you Miss Eliza, you will give Mr Hurst the fright of his life if he wanders in from his nap and sees you thus."
Elizabeth took a step towards the door, but the cold had left her unsteady and she faltered. Mr Darcy moved at once, though Caroline was nearer and caught her lightly by the arm.
"You may see her when you are dry, I promise." she said. "At present, you are more likely to alarm her than offer any comfort."
Elizabeth stiffened beneath her hand. "I have walked three miles to reach her. I mean to see my sister."
"And I have spent half the night trying to persuade her that she has not put anyone to any trouble with her illness. She asked for you before she fell asleep, and she will be relieved that you have come, but not if you arrive at her bedside shaking with cold."
For a moment Elizabeth looked as though she meant to argue. Then some of the resistance left her face. "Very well. But I shall just change and rest for a few minutes."
Martha appeared in the doorway just then and stopped when she saw Elizabeth. Her gaze travelled over the ruined gown before moving to Caroline. "Miss Caroline," she said with a quirk of an eyebrow that suggested she believed Caroline had some hand in this.
Caroline released Elizabeth’s arm and asked her maid to see that she was made comfortable before taking her to Jane. As they left the room, Elizabeth glanced back towards Mr Darcy. He inclined his head, recovering something of his usual formality, though he remained flushed from the cold and exertion.
"Well, that was quite an entrance, Mr Darcy," Caroline said mildly. Then, because she simply could not help herself, she added, "Though what Miss Eliza was thinking, scampering across half the countryside in such weather, I cannot imagine."
Mr Darcy’s expression hardened. "She was thinking of her sister, Miss Bingley. I should have thought that perfectly obvious."
Caroline folded herself elegantly into a chair and lifted a long-cold cup of tea to her lips to disguise her smile.
Chapter Ten
Darcy, October 1811, Netherfield, Hertfordshire
Darcy prepared for dinner after spending most of the afternoon at his writing desk. He had written to his uncle asking for the names of any London physicians he might recommend should Miss Bennet fail to improve. Then he wrote to his steward regarding a matter that could easily have waited, followed by his solicitor, his sister and finally two of his larger tenants. He had come very close to writing to his dragon of an aunt merely for the relief of composing something that would keep his mind distracted.
Anything was preferable to dwelling upon the fact that Elizabeth Bennet was in the house. Even the thought of her nearness made his chest constrict. She was somewhere beneath the same roof, tending to her sister, moving through the passages and rooms of Netherfield as gracefully as a forest nymph. He had heard footsteps outside his chamber several times that afternoon and found himself looking up each time, listening like a fool in the hope of recognising her voice.
He needed to pull himself together. A forest nymph indeed! He was the master of Pemberley and accustomed to holding his own among some of the most powerful men in England. What’s more, he spent a good portion of the year being hunted by the worst matchmaking mamas of the ton. He was not easily intimidated or overwhelmed, but even the thought of her—a woman of no birth or fortune at that—caused him to want to fall to his knees.
When he had seen her in the field that morning, caked in mud and shivering beneath her damp clothes, every sensible thought had deserted him. For one alarming moment, he had wanted to lift her onto his horse and carry her straight to the house, straight to his room and wrap himself around her until she was warm. She had looked pale with cold, but so beautiful that it had been painful to look at her. Her eyes were bright from the exercise, loose damp curls clung to her cheeks and her whole expression burned with fierce concern for her sister.
Then Caroline Bingley had begun sniping at her. Darcy had felt some sympathy for Miss Bingley when he overheard her quarrel with Bingley a few days earlier. He had heard enough to realise there was perhaps more beneath her disagreeable manner than he had previously understood. At that moment, however, he would gladly have carried her outside and thrown her into the duck pond.
He remained in his chamber until he could delay no longer, then rang for his valet and quickly changed for dinner before stepping into the passage.
Bingley was walking back and forth outside the bedchamber assigned to Miss Jane Bennet. He was decidedly not dressed for dinner. He looked a fright. His coat was missing, his waistcoat hung open and his cravat fell limply about his neck. His fair hair stood up on one side where he had plainly driven his fingers through it repeatedly. He paced from the window to the bedroom door, paused as though listening and then turned back again.
Darcy stopped several yards away. "Bingley," he said quietly.
His friend spun around so quickly that Darcy might have startled him from a guilty act. "There you are, Darcy. Have you seen Caroline?"
"Not since this morning, I’m afraid," Darcy said, taking in Bingley’s agitated appearance and trying to decide how best to calm him.
Bingley looked towards the closed door. "She is in there with Miss Bennet. Or she was. Miss Elizabeth is with her now, I think. No one tells me anything."
Darcy moved closer and placed a hand on Bingley’s shoulder to still his movements. "What has happened?"
