“I need to go, Jane. That is all.”
Jane’s hand closed around Elizabeth’s arm, her grip uncharacteristically firm. “No, that is not all. Elizabeth, please—tell me what has happened. Why would you abandon us now, when we need you most?”
Elizabeth turned, her face impassive but her heart aching at the sight of Jane’s wounded expression. “Jane, what could you possibly need me for? Everything is going exactly as you hoped, is it not? The party is planned, Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley are doing their part, and the town is warming to the idea. It is a triumph. What use am I?”
“Is it Mr. Darcy?”
Elizabeth stiffened, and she could feel the blood draining from her cheeks. “Mr. Darcy…”
“You love him, Lizzy. You love him and you’re terrified to admit it.”
“I…” Her mouth worked. “Wh… why would I be terrified? When have Ieverbeen ‘terrified’ to confess anything?”
“You said it yourself a few nights ago. You thought he was miles beyond the reach of… well, someone like us. He could crook his finger and have all the wealthiest and most beautiful girls in the country swooning at his feet.”
“Well…” Elizabeth turned away to reach for her second-best bonnet on the hook. She did not need another winter bonnet for London, but she could not look Jane in the eye just now. “They are welcome to him.”
“They have no chance with him, and you know it. He has set his eyes on you, Lizzy, and that terrifies you, because you know exactly what sort of man he is. He would make you mistress over a vast estate, not to mention a fortune worthy of nobility… an empire, nearly.”
Elizabeth popped open the lid of her trunk and tried to find a spot to cram that poor bonnet. “You are imagining things, Jane. If Mr. Darcy proposed right now—and I promise you, he never would—I would refuse him.”
Jane’s mouth dropped open. “Lizzy, you cannot mean that! I see the way you look at him, the way—”
“It is over, Jane.” Elizabeth dropped onto her bed and stared at her hands. “There never was anything between us that I did not imagine myself. Now, I am going to go to London for a month, where I shall not be likely to become fancy’s fool.”
Jane hesitated, her lips parting as if searching for the right words. And was that a strange sheen over her eyes? Indeed, it was. Jane was trying to choke back tears. “Lizzy, there…” she stammered, her voice cracking. “There… there is something you do not know. M… Mr. Bingley has asked me for a f-formal courtship. He means to speak to Papa this afternoon.”
Elizabeth’s heart dropped like a stone into her shoes. She stared at her sister, stunned. “Jane, that… why, that is wonderful. Why did you not tell me sooner?”
“I—” Jane flushed, her composure faltering. “I wanted to be sure, but now… now I need you here, Lizzy. I want you by my side in my happiness, just as you have always been. Youmuststay.”
Elizabeth stepped back, shaking her head as she tried to summon a smile. “Jane, you have everything you need. You have Mr. Bingley, you will have Papa’s approval, and Mama’s delight will surely follow. What more could you possibly require of me?”
Jane’s eyes glistened, her grip tightening. “I need you to help manage Mama, to soothe her excitement. I need you to keep Papa from saying something he should not. I needyou, Lizzy. Please, do not go.”
Elizabeth pulled away gently but firmly. “No, Jane. I cannot manage anyone anymore—not Mama, not Papa, not Mr. Darcy, or Mr. Bingley, or Sir Thomas, or any of it. Look where my meddling has got me. I have no wish to repeat the mistake.”
Jane frowned, her brow furrowing in confusion. “What mistake? What are you talking about?”
Elizabeth turned back to her trunk, her throat tight as she tried to flatten the contents enough that the lid would close. “Nothing, Jane. Nothing that matters now.”
“Itdoesmatter,” Jane insisted, her voice rising slightly. “Elizabeth, please—what mistake? What has happened to you?”
Elizabeth shook her head, refusing to meet her sister’s gaze. “It does not matter. I am leaving in the morning, Jane. That is all there is to say.”
Jane stood there, her hands clenching at her sides. “Elizabeth, I do not understand you. I cannot—” She broke off, her voice trembling with frustration. “How can you walk away from everything we have worked for? From me?”
Elizabeth paused, her hands resting on the edge of the trunk. She closed her eyes briefly before turning to face her sister one last time.
“Because, Jane,” she said softly, “I know all will be well. You do not need me anymore.”
Jane’s expression crumpled, but Elizabeth stepped forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek.
“I wish you all the happiness in the world,” she said, her voice trembling despite herself. “Truly, I do.”
Without waiting for a response, Elizabeth turned back to her trunk, her movements deliberate as she folded the last of her things. She could not let Jane see the tears threatening to spill, nor the way her heart ached at the thought of leaving her sister behind. But she could not stay. Not when the truth shattered her faith in the one man she had thought above reproach.
Twenty-One
