Page 26 of The Sole Love

“No, Papa, please. You do not understand.” And because the silence persisted, she continued, deciding to tell him the truth and hoping he would renounce his plan when he heard her plea.

“When I was in Kent, Mr Darcy proposed to me.”

Elizabeth placed a hand on her heart to calm its painful beating. If it were possible, Mr Bennet looked even more destroyed than a moment before. Her aunt was the only one encouraging her to talk.

“I refused him because he contributed to Jane’s unhappiness. It was he and Mr Bingley’s sisters who advised him not to return to Netherfield. I did not even think about my feelings because I was angered by what he had done and by his opinion of our family.”

“What opinion?” Mr Bennet asked.

Elizabeth could feel the seriousness of the situation. She had never seen her father so disturbed, yet she could not agree to his demand.

She was at a delicate point in her relationship with Mr Darcy, and they needed to be cautious and take small steps towards normal behaviour. They could not now uncover the past they both wanted to forget. And Mr Bingley and Jane were part of that past.

“Mr Darcy believed that Jane did not love his friend but was only trying to marry a rich man…encouraged by Mama.”

“But how could anyone think such a preposterous thing?” Mr Bennet gazed at his daughter in amazement.

Elizabeth did not want to answer, but Aunt Gardiner was beside her.

“It seems that Jenny discussed a possible marriage between Jane and Mr Bingley with Sir William at the Netherfield ball.”

Mr Bennet placed his head in his hand and mumbled, “That woman again…”

There was so much contempt and sadness in his voice that Elizabeth approached and knelt in front of him.

“Papa, please tell me what is happening.”

“It is simple, my dear: Jane cannot marry that man. We need to prevent such a tragedy!”

“Did Mama say something about them too?”

But then she stood and looked at them. “No, you have just arrived. She has not had time…it is something else!”

“This time it is much more than that,” Mr Gardiner said. His wife merely nodded, but the sadness on her face made Elizabeth understand how serious the situation was.

“What happened? How can you oppose such a pleasant relationship? They are like two angels, both fair and curly-haired, with those angelic faces…”

And as she spoke, she had a horrible epiphany. It was not possible. A voice in her head seemed to shout the words. She sat beside her aunt, who in the last weeks had been her only support.

“No, it is not possible!” she finally said aloud.

But she remembered Jane beside David Haskett—the same smile, the same eyes. She had laughed at the ball, thinking how well they were matched: the pair from heaven.

Tears began to fall. “They look alike, my God…like they are…brother and sister!”

Nobody said a word, but the truth dwelt among them, unveiled by their despair and her keen sense of observation. Elizabeth covered her face with her hands. Her first thought was of Jane. After everything her sister had suffered over Mr Bingley, she had finally allowed herself to be happy again. And now even that happiness had become something from which they had to protect her.

“I should have known we could not hide the truth from her,” Mr Bennet said. “My Lizzy is too intelligent for such an obvious secret!”

He felt sorry for all of them but mostly for Lizzy, who had to carry such a burden on her young shoulders.

“We decided to spare Jane from such mortifying news,” Mr Gardiner said.

“It is impossible, Papa. What could convince her to renounce Mr Haskett—except the truth?”

“We thought the arrival of Mr Bingley could at least offer her a new perspective on an old love.”

“We must distance ourselves from London—today.” Elizabeth’s words were met with approval.