“If you wish it, of course.”
“They were…” she trailed off.
“Kind?” he supplied.
“Yes, and they seemed to like me!” She sounded surprised. But her voice dropped to a whisper as she added, “But they would not like me if they knew – if they knew what I have done.”
“Georgiana.”
She raised her eyes to his.
“Do not think on that. Instead, let us both consider this time a healing period for us both. We have been through a difficult time, and it is far from over. But God has given us this respite, this brief time away from our troubles, in order to recover our spirits.” How wise you sound, he mocked himself. But if it helped Georgiana, he would spout all the nonsense and platitudes he could think of.
She nodded. “Thank you, Brother. You are right.” She smiled at him and slipped out the door.
***
The next day, as if by unspoken mutual agreement, Mr. Bingley and the Darcys prepared to enter the Darcy carriage to call on Longbourn. But they were not fast enough, for Miss Bingley stopped them in the entryway. “Where are you off to?” she demanded.
“Longbourn,” her brother said, succinctly. “And you are not invited.”
“Am I not? And why am I not?”
Mr. Bingley could not immediately think of a reason, and he looked at Mr. Darcy in some desperation.
Mr. Darcy rose to the occasion. “They are a simple country family,” he said, quickly. “You would be bored within ten minutes.”
“Likely less,” she snipped. “Nonetheless, there is little to do here at Netherfield, as Louisa has taken over everything. I will accompany you. Give me a moment to collect my things.” She moved into the drawing room and rang the bell; she issued her orders to the maid who answered it. “My green cloak, green gloves, and a hat. Lawson will know what I need.”
Mr. Bingley rolled his eyes at Mr. Darcy, who simply shrugged. He well knew that once Miss Bingley decided on a course of action, there was nothing to do but to get out of the way.
Lawson, the maid the two sisters shared, came downstairs herself in five minutes with the requested items. “There!” Miss Bingley said, once she had been helped into her outerwear. “I am ready, as promised.”
The four of them climbed into the waiting carriage.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Longbourn
Icannot believe that I missed them.” Lydia was not at all happy that she had been sent on errands to Meryton by her mother and so had missed their callers the day before.
“If I am not much mistaken, they will be here again today,” Elizabeth said.
“Do you think so?” Lydia asked, eagerly.
“If you had seen the way Mr. Bingley looked at Jane, you would not doubt me,” Elizabeth replied, laughing at her blushing elder sister.
“Oh, it is true!” Mrs. Bennet crowed. “I have never seen a man so smitten!”
“Well, then, I will watch for them,” Kitty said, jumping up from her place at the breakfast table and heading for the front parlour.
“You might be there for a while, Kitty, it is too early for visitors,” Mrs. Bennet called after her.
But Kitty was undeterred. She was the Bennet sister who was most often to be found sitting in the window seat of the parlour. She claimed to enjoy the view, despite the cold coming through the window, but her sisters suspected that what shereallyenjoyed was being able to announce visitors before they actually came inside the house. Indeed, not half an hour later, Kitty called out, triumphantly, “A fancy carriage!”
The four girls still at the table looked at one another in alarm. They were not yet dressed for callers, and so all but ran into one another in their haste to get to their rooms and change their gowns. It took Kitty but a moment to understand the reason for the panic, and then she was right behind them.
When five sisters work together, nothing is impossible; a mere quarter of an hour later, all five of them were in the parlour with Mrs. Bennet, accepting introductions and greeting their guests.
