“W-why?” she asked, her heart beginning to beat rapidly.
“I wish to call on the Bennets. Even though it is not on my direct route to Romsley, it is an easy matter to go to Longbourn. I decided that would be better than simply writing to Mr Bennet. I do not like having left so abruptly when he, his family, and others in the neighbourhood were so welcoming. Between your concern for Mrs Hurst and distress regarding what you overheard at the ball, I understand why you did, but I have no such excuse.”
Caroline’s mind was spinning, desperately seeking the best way to keep him from going. His true purpose in calling at Longbourn was not lost on her, and it made her sick with loathing, to say nothing of being weary of having to work so hard to make him accept that he must marryher.
“And you wish to see Miss Elizabeth?” she asked, just to be certain she did not mistake the situation.
He regarded her steadily for perhaps ten seconds, a light dusting of pink on either side of his aquiline nose, before nodding.
The fool had thought his attraction to Miss Eliza was hidden from Caroline. How little he understood of her!
There is nothing for it. This is the moment to tell him,she thought.She should feel bad for causing him pain, but she did not. How often had his behaviour distressed her these last two months?
“You do not know, do you?”
“Know what?”
She did her best to look sympathetic. “Forgive me if I injure you with my news, but I only wish to save you disappointment. Go if you feel you must, but, well… Perhaps I am mistaken about your sentiments for a certain lady. I pray for your sake I am, that you have only ever thought of her as a friend. I received a letter from our housekeeper at Netherfield just yesterday. The banns have already been read, and Miss Elizabeth will be married to her cousin within the week. If you go to Longbourn, you will find them very busy with final preparations for her wedding and her and Mr Collins’s removal to their new home.”
Mr Darcy’s visage became ashen, and he swallowed heavily. He said nothing further, only stared at the wall past her shoulder or into his cup. Caroline struggled to keep a smile from her face as she imagined Miss Elizabeth confined to a parsonage, tending to the needs of the sorts of people who live in insignificant country parishes. It was better than she deserved, and Caroline’s second favourite daydream was Miss Elizabeth becoming a spinster, growing old and unwanted, poor and passed about from whichever family member agreed to offer her a bed for a month or two before becoming sick of her company and insisting she leave.
With Mr Darcy thus informed, Caroline decided to be magnanimous and permit him a few weeks over the Christmas season to recover from his infatuation. With her brother, Caroline would devise some scheme to encourage Mr Darcy to return to town in January, rather than remain in Derbyshire. Once they saw each other again, he would be prepared to do what he ought to have done months ago and make her his bride. After three years of working towards that goal, Caroline refused to give up on it. If she had to trick him into proposing, even somehow make him believe he had risked her reputation, then she would, such was her desperation after the failure of Netherfield. She excused such thoughts by telling herself he would be glad one day. Within a year of their wedding, he would realise what a treasure he had almost let slip through his fingers when he allowed himself to be distracted by Elizabeth Bennet.
Bingley chattered on about sport, and how superior it was in Derbyshire compared to Hertfordshire. No doubt, he hoped Mr Darcy would invite them to Pemberley. But Mr Darcy only made the odd noise interspersed with the occasional ‘yes’ or ‘no’, and soon took his despondent self away. Caroline was not sorry to see him go.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-EIGHT
They were well into December when, one morning, Mr Bennet presented Elizabeth with a letter. “I received it just today.”
They were in his book-room, quietly reading together after breakfast. For her part, she was also avoiding the rest of their family. She would never admit it, even should someone demand she explain why she spent so much time apart from them. If her father understood why she required his quiet company and more time alone than usual at present, he said nothing, and she loved him for offering his subtle sympathy. Possibly, he was afraid of the outcome of a frank conversation, and that, too, stilled his tongue.
Naturally, she was curious what the letter could be about, and who had authored it, and set aside her novel at once. The paper was elegant, and the hand that had written it even finer.
Berkeley Square,Mayfair
December 14, 1811
My dear sir,
I regret I did not have the opportunity to see you and your family to take my leave properly after our last meeting at Netherfield Park. Mr and Miss Bingley received unsettling news from their sister the night of the ball. It necessitated their immediate removal to town. I am pleased to report the matter appears to be resolved.
Please accept my best wishes for your and your family’s health and happiness.
Respectfully,
F Darcy
Elizabeth stared at the words for a long moment, not sure exactly what she felt. In truth, she seemed empty of any emotion, a sensation that had been growing every day for the last few weeks.
“That is the explanation, then, for why they crept away as they did,” her father said.
His voice startled her enough that her head jerked as she lifted it to look at him. She made a noise of agreement and folded the note, sliding it across the broad expanse of the oak desk towards her father.
“Do you believe him, or do you think there was more to it? Miss Bingley gave a different account of the business.”
“I cannot say, Papa. I find it difficult to believe Mr Darcy is a deceitful person, and my opinion of Mr and Miss Bingley has sunk to great depths. I never did like her very much, but I thought well of him.”
He slowly nodded. “Yet if he could treat Jane the way he did, I must hate him.”
