“Miss Elizabeth. Miss Elizabeth—” Darcy turned to Mr. Bennet. “Mr. Bennet, I believe your daughter is in shock. Perhaps she ought to be sent to lie down.”
“No. No. No. I am well.” Elizabeth shook herself. Her mind half returned to the present moment. But there was a strong sense of unreality to it all.
Maybe this terrible thing was happening to another woman with a different sister. It wasn’therJane who had been blighted and blinded for life, but someone else. Perhaps not even someone real. Perhaps she wasn’t real. “Mr. Darcy, do forgive me, but I did not hear what you had asked me.”
“You have spent the most time with Miss Bennet, do you also concur that she could be brought home tomorrow morning?”
“Home. Longbourn… yes. That would be best.”
Papa sighed and pulled at his nose. “Yes, yes. I want her home. Doctor Thompson, we’ll start making those changes.”
“She should rest for several days longer, before she starts learning to walk without sight — above all: regular habits and quiet. The blind have sensitive hearing and things must be kept exactly the same so that they can navigate without sight. You will destroy her nerves if there is too much noise and you must teach the servants to not leave anything on the ground athwart the normal paths she walks, and you all must keep your voices down so that her nerves will not be constantly tormented by the situation.”
Papa had a wry expression. “That I dare say will be harder than the rest — but if we must, we must. I’ll away after seeing Jane quickly again, and then speak to Mrs. Bennet upon the matter. We’ll prepare things for her. The carriage will come tomorrow morning. Lizzy, I’ve missed you.”
Elizabeth nodded.
Papa came to her. He squeezed her shoulder and looked for a brief point of time as though he were on the verge of saying something else. But then with a shrug he shook his head and walked into the hallway.
Chapter Ten
Soon both Mr. Bennet and Mr. Thompson left. Elizabeth knew she should return to Jane’s room.
“Exceedingly unlikely” — how likely was exceedingly un?
Not very. Not likely at all — No, anyone but Jane. Was there hope? There was always hope.
Blind.
The day outside was decked in lovely golden late autumnal glory. During winter snow would come, decking the world in white. And then the green of spring.
All the books that Jane would never read. All the places she could never see. All the… should she and Bingley have children, Jane would never know the look of her child’s smile and eyes.
Why?
Elizabeth swallowed. She saw Darcy observing her. His eyes… the thought of how he had survived his own loss gave Elizabeth hope — hope that Jane should not despair… but Jane was perfect, fragile and…
“Anyone but Jane. I wish it had been me.”
Darcy put his hand on her arm. “You shall support her… That matters a great deal. I promise you. You… no one will be able to care better than you for them.”
A thought made both Elizabeth and Darcy turn towards Bingley.
He’d been steadily staring out the window, his face pale. He breathed heavily, the air hissing from his lungs. “Iwon’t. I won’t. I can’t.”
“Mr. Bingley…” Elizabeth said quietly, “I believe you have some feeling for Jane. This does not change—”
“No! Not like Mama again.”
Elizabeth felt something inside her start to burn. Bingley had seemed so attached to Jane. She had let him sit beside Jane and speak to her often as she recovered. Now what did he mean?
“I want her. I love her. I do — I do. But I can’t. Not if… it would be like it was with my mother.”
“Charles…” Miss Bingley pressed her hand into her mouth and gnawed at the knuckles. “I don’t — I never approved of your…” She glanced at Elizabeth. “Papa and Mama were happy. You can’t—”
“No! I won’t do it.” Bingley slammed his hand angrily again and again into the wood on the side of the windows.
Elizabeth’s eyes popped to see him acting in such a way.
