Page 95 of The Crown’s Gift

Bingley followed his gaze. "Perhaps none of us deserves it in advance."

Darcy smiled. "You have become wise."

"Jane explained it."

The carriage rolled away. Elizabeth came to Darcy and slipped her hand through his arm.

"She is gone."

"She will return."

"I know."

He covered her hand. Together they followed the family back into Longbourn, where one daughter's new life had begun and another's waited close behind.

Caroline and the Hursts remained at Longbourn for the night after the wedding. They returned to London the following afternoon, so the house would be quiet for Jane and Bingley after the newlyweds' seaside journey.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

After the Carriage

Longbourn felt altered after Jane's departure, though every chair remained in place.

Lady Bennet walked through the rooms collecting evidence that her daughter had truly gone: a ribbon left beside the mirror, a book on the bedside table, one glove beneath a chair. She carried each object to Netherfield and placed it in Jane's old room there as if constructing a small shrine.

Sir Thomas watched without teasing.

"The house is too quiet," she said that night.

This was objectively false. Lydia and Kitty argued in the corridor, Mary practiced below, and servants carried wedding remnants from room to room.

"It is missing one voice," he answered.

Lady Bennet sat beside him. "Soon Lizzy will go. Then Mary. Kitty. Even Lydia, though heaven knows who will take her."

"Someone with durable hearing."

She struck his sleeve and then leaned against it. "What shall we do?"

Ten years earlier Thomas might have said he looked forward to peace. Sir Thomas thought of breakfast without daughters, walks without reports, a library no one entered without knocking.

"We shall miss them," he said. "Visit too often. Become troublesome grandparents if they permit us. And perhaps discover whether we like one another without five girls to discuss."

Lady Bennet looked up. "I have always liked you, Mr Bennet. Even when you were impossible."

"Your taste remains your greatest mystery."

She kissed his cheek.

Jane and Bingley returned to Longbourn after their wedding journey. Their first dinner at Netherfield as husband and wife produced no visible transformation, yet Elizabeth noticed small differences. Bingley looked toward Jane before accepting an invitation. Jane touched his wrist when he spoke too quickly. Their ease had become private without excluding anyone.

"Is marriage very different?" Lydia asked over dessert.

Every adult paused.

Jane answered calmly. "Yes. And not in a manner suitable for dessert conversation."

Lydia looked delighted rather than discouraged.