Elizabeth suspected Hannah had a more than professional relationship with one of the footmen, Mr McKean. Hannah left Elizabeth, ensured nobody observed them, and pulled him in for his professional opinion. The man was not a doctor, but he had been an assistant surgeon in the army and knew his way around a head wound. He enjoyed his work as Miss de Bourgh’s footman immensely. Both young ladies he cared for were amiable and pleasant, and in service, hardly anybody ever shot at him.
Mr McKean examined the wound carefully, gave Miss Bennet some laudanum he kept convenient for emergencies, then produced a small needle and thread he had liberated from the army on his discharge, and set about the disagreeable task of putting a few stitches in her head. He found it fortunate that the wound was in her hair. It was inconvenient for stitching, but the stitches would be covered and would not require a bandage, which would help prevent Miss de Bourgh from panicking. Miss Bennet was tough enough to endure it, and all would be well.
The stitching done, he wrapped her head with a good bandage, agreed to return with Hannah in the morning to check the wound and make it as invisible as possible, and went to his own bed while Hannah helped Miss Bennet into hers.
~~~
Jane Bennet went to bed the happiest she had ever been. The unpleasantness with the colonel was entirely forgotten, and she could not wait to write Lizzy. She was unhappy that her dear sister could not stand up with her but otherwise very satisfied with the day’s activities.
Her last thought before sleep was to wonder if all brides felt that way on their first kiss, and if so, how on earth all the wives of the world kept the information from the maidens? She was astounded by the vastness of the conspiracy, and quite looked forward to being on the other side of the divide on the morrow.
~~~
Darcy went to bed with such a conflicted heart that he knew not where to turn. He had always considered himself, his cousin, and Bingley as something of a triumvirate. Now one of them was to leave the other two behind in their bachelor state, and Darcy was for the first time in his life jealous of another man. Darcy had money, status, a great estate, and all a man could want in life. He also had great responsibilities, a broken cousin, and little chance for marital happiness… unless… unless?
Other thoughts were much more satisfying than dwelling on his jealousy of Bingley, his anger at his cousin, and his frustration with the situation. He just might have a solution, but it would take time and effort.
It was time to start making plans, and Darcy went to sleep with a surprisingly light heart, given the events of the week.
~~~
Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam went to bed in profound shame. His entire week had been one degradation upon another. As if his previous conduct were not sufficiently wretched, he had proved so poor a soldier that he could not even dispatch a single unarmed and unresisting victim. He had longed to join the scores, perhaps hundreds, of men he had sent from this life in years past; instead, he remained a disgraced man, regarded only as an invalid.
Sleep was slow to come, and no happy thought arose to break the gloom. Eventually, exhaustion and injury prevailed, and he sank into a slumber plagued by nightmares.That night, they were worse than usual.
Play No Evil(Free Indirect Discourse)
“Elizabeth Bennet, what in the world happened to your head!”
The young lady in question wished she could have kept the more heavily bruised side of her face away from her companion for at least a few minutes, but it was obviously a fool’s errand when she had no reasonable way to determine if there even was a good side. She was only happy that according to her excellent surgeon, the stitches should be mostly invisible. The man was correct. In fact, for a footman, he was genius. The stitches fooled Anne de Bourgh for almost the ten seconds it took her to walk two paces closer. When Anne obtained a clear view of the cut accompanying the bruises, she flew into a passion that could almost have passed for one of her mother’s.
“Elizabeth Rose Bennet! Answer me this instant!You will explain to meexactlywhen this happened, andpreciselywhy you did not send someone to fetch me at once, and then you may elect to continue with why you allowed me to go to sleep unaware of what happened under my own roof. Were you not attended last night?”
Elizabeth knew this confrontation had been coming, but that did not make it any more pleasant. However, she knew she must stand her ground. Even if she had acted ridiculous the previous evening, it was essential to her overall happiness and self-respect that she defend her right to her own stupidity.
“Anne! Please!You maynotblame the servants for any of this. It was all my own doing. I went to great effort to be alone and enjoy the silence of my own thoughts for the first time since the crow’s nest. It was my right to do so, and you maynotblame anybody but me for my own doings. It may have turned out badly, but it wasmy choice.”
Still halfway between incensed and alarmed, Anne asked, “And what lofty thoughts were you thinking that resulted in such damage to your person?”
Not one to be intimidated, Elizabeth replied with heat.
“They were not quite so lofty, and in fact they were somewhat silly, butthey were my thoughts and I am entitled to them.”
“And how did these grandiose thoughts manifest themselves?”
“I had difficulty getting them out of my head, so I tried beating them out using the pianoforte.”
Naturally, that tirade left the two ladies breathing hard and staring at each other—well, one staring and the other pointing in more or less the correct direction—with matching frown and resolute expressions.
Anne could no longer maintain her displeasure and let out a good-natured laugh, which immediately broke the tension. She never managed to keep any kind of temper with her companion, and if Elizabeth could joke about the injuries, they could not be too terrible. Anne knew Elizabeth was blind, stubborn, and independent—not necessarily in that order—so this was not her first serious injury. In fact, Anne was amazed it was the first one on her watch.
“I concede defeat, Elizabeth. Not only am Inotgoing to worry about your head, but I will specifically instruct the household to ignore it. In fact, you got what you deserve, and my feelings are now as light as a feather, as I am happy you got your comeuppance. I intend to spend the next week at least thoroughly enjoying your misery and poking fun at your bullheadedness at every single opportunity!”
Elizabeth joined her in laughter, quite satisfied that an entirely pointless quarrel was not to intrude on their relationship. In truth, it was not the first time she had been injured in Anne’s company. It was just the worst example.
“Whilst the manner of my lessons was not entirely to my liking, Ididlearn something.”
“Pray enlighten me!”
