Page 80 of Regrets

Jane shook her head. “Even if it could be cleaned and mended, I do not think she will ever wish to see it again. I have already burned her other clothing, so give the pelisse to me.”

“I must see my sister,” Mr. Darcy said.

He began to climb the stairs, but Mrs. Bennet met him halfway. “I hope you will wait,” she said. “Your sister is finally asleep, and that is the best thing for her just now.”

“I must know what happened,” he insisted.

“Perhaps it will be enough if I tell you what did not happen,” Mrs. Bennet said. She looked at him meaningfully, and he understood at once.

“Are you certain?” he asked.

“I am, yes.”

He sat down abruptly, right there on the staircase, as if his legs had suddenly refused to hold him upright. “Thank God,” he whispered.

“Indeed. Now, then, you must go back to Netherfield Park and say, with a smile on your face, that Georgiana is to spend the night with her friends at Longbourn.”

Chapter Sixty-Nine

Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy returned to Netherfield. Mr. Darcy instructed a maid to pack an overnight bag for Georgiana, a footman delivered it to Longbourn, and Mr. Darcy finally sank down onto a sofa.

Mr. Bingley sat beside him. “It is over, Darcy,” he murmured.

“What about the body?” Mr. Darcy said.

“Just leave it where it is,” Mr. Bingley said. “His absence will be noted by his commanding officer in the morning, and it will be assumed that he deserted. The body will eventually be discovered, probably long after the militia has left, and by then it may not even be recognisable.”

Mr. Darcy could only nod. His mind was still in some sort of haze; he could not think clearly.

Mr. Bingley looked at his friend in concern. It was not at all like Mr. Darcy to rely on someone else for such advice. “Darcy, you have been through a good deal today. Would you prefer to have a tray in your room, rather than sitting through dinner?”

Mr. Darcy shook his head. “No; I think it best that I continue on as if nothing was amiss. Though I may drink more of your wine than is my custom.”

“You are welcome to it,” Mr. Bingley assured him.

“I must write to my aunt to thank her,” Mr. Darcy recalled. “I will see you at dinner, Bingley.”

Dear Aunt Catherine,

Your warning was timely indeed. I will not write any details here, but I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Darcy

He also wrote a brief letter to Mrs. Reynolds. Then he summoned Braddock and asked that both be sent by messenger.

***

At Longbourn, Georgiana drifted in and out of sleep. She was never unaccompanied; the Bennet women took it in turns to be with her, so that she might not be alone when she awoke, however briefly.

At one point, she was evidently in the grip of a nightmare. She thrashed about, crying out, and Mrs. Bennet, who was on duty just then, soothed her. “He is gone now, Georgiana. There is nothing to fear.” Georgiana relaxed.

Chapter Seventy

Georgiana awoke the next morning and found Lydia stretched out on the bed beside her. She was briefly puzzled and then recalled that she was at Longbourn. She poked Lydia, who opened one eye and then rolled over on her side to face her.

“You are awake; good.”

“Yes,” Georgiana whispered. “But I cannot believe how stupid I was, to allow him to convince me that he loved me!” Tears gathered in her eyes. “And then to actually be alone with him!”