“Oh, yes. Forgive me – we shall speak of it later – but I am nearly resolved, Lizzy, if only you would bolster my nerves. I know what I must do.”
“Oh?”
Jane nodded her head, her posture straightening as she steeled herself for what must follow. “I must heed Mrs. Jennings’s advice.”
A snort of laughter bubbled out of Elizabeth, and her eyes went wide. “Good Lord, are you quite certain?”
“No – yes – oh, perhaps. I believe I am walking a fine line of foolishness and a queer sort of clarity. But you would never think less of me….”
“Never! Jane, whatever is the matter?”
“We have jested frequently of late, about how similar you and Marianne are.”
Elizabeth chortled. “Being both prone to accosting gentlemen in ballrooms, and choosing rebellion at every opportunity?”
“And you have always said I am more like Elinor, reserved and obliging,” Jane sighed. “You once advised me to be pricklier, like you. But what if I were more impetuous, more like Marianne?Verylike Marianne?”
“So long as you are not determined to break your own heart,” Elizabeth said, peering curiously at Jane.
“I hardly know,” Jane said. She looked around the room, her eyes darting between the viscount and Mr. Willoughby. The latter smiled at her as he deftly intercepted Miss Bingley from her path to Viscount Bellamy. He winked over his shoulder at Jane and she smiled tightly at him, certain that she must find some chance to tell him that Marianne had burned his letters.
But first, Jane stood and strode resolutely toward the viscount.
Chapter Nineteen
Hertfordshire
“No, no, no, Elinor! You must place the cardface down,” Julia Gardiner huffed.
At her side, Margaret Dashwood nodded emphatically. “That way nobody knows if you are lying or not.”
Elinor turned her card over and laid it on a growing pile of cards in the center of the table and screwed up her face at her youngest sister. Marianne surveyed them all with a steely gaze and then slid two cards onto the top of the pile. “Two kings.”
Kitty grinned devilishly. “Thunderation!”
“Bah!” Marianne flipped the two cards over, revealing an eight and a queen. “I thought for sure my bluff was convincing! How are you so good at this game? They only made it up an hour ago.”
Across the parlor, Mrs. Bennet harrumphed and shook her head at them. “Really, Meg, you are a beastly influence on Julia, giving all your games such rude names!”
“This one was my idea,” Julia cried, looking wounded at not getting credit for her brilliance.
Kitty sputtered with laughter as Marianne was obliged to take all the cards from the center of the table and add them to her hand. Kitty had been weeping that morning at Lydia’s departure for Hampshire, but her cousins were determined to cheer her, and after a few hours of their whimsical games, she had recovered her equanimity.
Mrs. Bennet had also been in near hysterics at parting with her youngest daughter, despite her absolute certainty that the Forsters would introduce Lydia to a great many handsome, single men of fortune. Mr. Bennet declared himself merely relieved that the house should be quieter with Lydia away on her adventure, and it would be quieter still when Kitty had recovered from the Forsters’ slight.
Mr. and Mrs. Bennet were playing a more sedate card game of their own with Mrs. Dashwood, who had been in low spirits since the news of John losing Norland. Elinor was glad that Mr. Bennet had troubled himself to leave his book room and offer his sister some comfort. Elinor might have given her mother some succor with the knowledge of who now held the deed to their former home, but she was not certain that this would be wise.
Marianne, to her sister’s surprise, had recovered from her own devastation at the news with astonishing good cheer. She and Elinor had spent many hours each day at Netherfield, planning the party with Lady Rebecca. Mr. Bingley occasionally joined them for an hour or two, and Elinor only wondered how offended Marianne would be if she pointed out that the gentleman’s company had worked magic on her sister’s recent despondency.
When they heard the sounds of a carriage outside, Elinor assumed it must be Lady Rebecca, who called around this time each day before whisking her two dearest friends away until dinner. Mrs. Bennet grimaced in anticipation. “Today, Kitty, Ishall insist you accompany your cousins to Netherfield! It has been three days since the gentlemen visited with her ladyship, and you ought to see them if you can!”
Marianne leaned in to whisper some encouragement to Mary, who sat up straighter as she spoke. “Mamma, the colonel has gone to London, and Mr. Bingley is occupied with his estate. Besides, three days is not so long. I fear we shall seem as desperate as the Lucases.”
Both Elinor and Marianne nodded approvingly at their cousin, who had become more outspoken in the absence of her older sisters. Mrs. Bennet tittered with indignation. “Well, I am surenobodycould be as bad as the Lucases! All of Meryton quite despises them! And I am determined to see all my girls settled before any of the Lucases!”
Mrs. Hill opened the parlor door and bobbed into a curtsey. “Lady Lucas and her daughter.”
Elinor and her mother exchanged a look of amusement as Mrs. Bennet recoiled in dismay and Mr. Bennet calmly declared he had won their card game. Kitty sprang up from her chair. “Maria?”
