“Awkward? Awkward? Oh, Jane, you have no idea! You do not know!”
“What do I not know? You are not making any sense, Lizzy.”
Elizabeth then told her incredulous sister about Mr. Darcy’s proposal and her immediate rejection of it. Rising from her bed, she went to a drawer and pulled out a letter. “And then he gave me this.”
“You received a letter from Mr. Darcy? But –“
“Yes, everything improper, I know, Jane, but read it. Wait, I will light a candle.” Elizabeth did so, and held the candle as Jane read. Elizabeth watched as Jane’s face registered surprise, then dismay, and then her eyes grew teary.
“He loved you, Lizzy, he really did!”
“I know.”
Jane stared at her sister’s face for a long minute. “And you love him,” she concluded, softly.
“I do. I did not then, but now I understand him better, and I think he must be the best man I have ever met.”
“But he helped separate me from Mr. Bingley, just as we suspected.” Jane’s voice shook as she spoke.
“He did, Jane, but he did it from concern for his friend.”
“And now all hope is gone, thanks to Lydia. Oh, Lizzy! You and I swore to marry for love, but it has eluded us both. How can life be so very unfair?”
Elizabeth blew out the candle, set it down, and climbed back into bed. Then Elizabeth whispered, “Jane, what has happened to Mary?”
“It is quite the oddest thing, Lizzy,” Jane whispered back. “When we learnt of Lydia’s elopement, followed almost immediately by Mama’s death, something changed in Mary. She stopped reading her Bible entirely; she spent long hours staring out the window, and her speech has – as you heard – become most unforgiving. I have tried to speak to her, but she only turns away. Perhaps you will have better luck.”
“I will try,” Elizabeth said.
***
The next morning, as they were helping each other dress, Jane had more questions. “You said last night that you saw Mr. Bingley. How did that happen? We never did finish the conversation.”
“Oh! Well, I told you that Mr. Darcy was there when we went to Pemberley.”
“Yes, and how did he act when he saw you?”
“He was everything amiable, Jane. He spoke with the Gardiners, and then invited us for tea.”
“And you accepted, I hope?”
“Yes, and we met his sister, Miss Darcy. Mr. Wickham said she was proud, but she is nothing of the sort; she is only very shy.”
“Everything Mr. Wickham says is a lie.”
“Yes, that is clear now. Mr. Darcy told us that the Bingleys and the Hursts were coming to Pemberley the next day, and that Mr. Darcy would call on us, along with anyone else who wanted to come. We made certain to be at the inn, of course, and Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley arrived mid-afternoon. Evidently Miss Bingley chose not to come, which was no surprise.”
“Did he…” Jane faltered.
“Aunt Gardiner said that you were sorry not to have seen him while you were in Town, and he was as surprised as anything to learn that you had been there! Jane, he could not have feigned it; he truly did not know you were in London.”
“Did he say anything else?”
“He began to say something about what he would have done had he known you were in Town, but then there was a knock on the door and he was not able to finish the sentence. I am certain he was about to say that he would have visited you.”
“And the knock?”
“Your two letters arrived and the maid came to deliver them. I excused myself to read them, just to assure myself that all was well, as your handwriting was so very odd.”
