Page 30 of Elizabeth’s Choice

Seeing that Jane was in deep sleep already, Elizabeth quietly left the room to walk downstairs to update the residents who were in the sitting room. “Thank you again for allowing my sister to recover here,” she began speaking to Mr. Bingley. “It is good to see you again, Mrs. Hurst, Miss Bingley,” she greeted only the two ladies, seeing that Mr. Hurst was dozing in the corner with an empty wineglass in hand. She gave a slight nod to Mr. Darcy and then took a seat next to Bingley on the sopha.

Bingley pleasantly enquired, “How does Miss Bennet fare? Is she improving after the apothecary visited?”

“Mr. Jones is absolutely the best and believes she will recover soon, but Jane has been coughing more than expected so we shall keep a close eye on her. She is resting now and I will return to her shortly,” Elizabeth observed the other residents while she answered. Mrs. Hurst was mindlessly paying with her bracelet while Miss Bingley was looking through a fashion magazine, and Elizabeth thought to herself that the lady was not so pretty now and had a shrewish look about her.

Elizabeth hung her head in shame for her unkind thoughts about the woman she hardly knew, when Darcy, who had been sitting at a small desk in the room, calmly asked, “Is there anything you require? Should we send for your own maid for your comfort?”

She smiled a little but shook her head, “I think not yet, Mr. Darcy. Thank you.”

Miss Bingley sharply remarked, “It cannot be too much trouble to care for your own sister. I am sure you are more than capable of looking after Miss Bennet without needing your maid. Speaking of sisters, I am thrilled to have dear Georgiana arrive tomorrow. Charles told us the good news that you invited her to join you here at Netherfield, Mr. Darcy!” She batted her eyes at him as she grinned broadly, proudly lifting up her nose a little at Elizabeth. “She must have been eager to visit the grandest house in Hertfordshire.”

Elizabeth could see Darcy’s ears turn red in anger but spoke before he could respond, “I am certain she has been very eager to visit Hertfordshire, Miss Bingley, and I am also eager to see her. We were to arrive together from Brighton but I departed alone rather urgently and her visit here had been delayed nearly a month, but she will finally be arriving tomorrow and would have stayed at Ashworth if not for Jane’s condition. It should only be one or two nights here and I will take both Jane and Miss Darcy with me to my home.”

Miss Bingley gasped as she ignored Elizabeth and spoke directly to Darcy, “She is not coming here to see you? How well does Georgiana know Miss Eliza that she would stay with her?” she spat out Elizabeth’s name as if it were filthy and glared at her. “Are you not aware of her circumstances, Mr. Darcy? We have friends in Brighton and know full well the secret no one here is talking about, and you know we would not want it to affect Georgiana’s and your reputations. For Jane Bennet’s sake, we will not say another word about it, but you should be careful who Georgiana befriends.” Mrs. Hurst quickly agreed as she nodded her head.

Elizabeth became distraught to hear that Miss Bingley seemed to be aware of her secret and worried for Jane who was already half in love with Mr. Bingley. Not wanting to make a scene, she stood, “I believe Miss Darcy is perfectly capable of making her own choices but the decision is ultimately up to Mr. Darcy, of course. Please excuse me. I must return to Jane,” and left the room immediately.

Miss Bingley huffed and exclaimed, “Such rudeness! I told you she is impertinent. No matter her undeserved wealth, she is a fallen woma…”

Darcy was about to erupt but Bingley shouted first, “You are the one that began the rumour and have no basis for the lies, Caroline, and you are just as guilty, Louisa! Who do you know in Brighton? What on earth were you speaking of? I warned you not to bring it up ever again. You will apologise to Miss Elizabeth and to Darcy! You offended him by questioning Miss Darcy’s choice of friends! I just might send you and Louisa off to York to our aunt if you do not apologise!”

Mr. Hurst, having awoken by the commotion, brusquely jumped up and yelled, “Louisa! Apologise now so that we are allowed to stay! I refuse to go back to York.”

Louisa promptly stated, “My apologies, Mr. Darcy. I did not mean to offend.”

Caroline added, “Of course, we would never say anything if we were not protecting dear Georgi…”

Darcy did not allow her to continue, “Miss Darcy is perfectly capable of choosing her friends and it is my job to protect my sister, not yours. I did not hear an apology there, Miss Bingley.”

Caroline begrudgingly replied, “My apologies, Mr. Darcy.”

“And you will apologise to Miss Elizabeth as well. Excuse me, I will be in the library,” Darcy stepped out so that he would not be tempted to strangle the fatuous harridan.

He had thought that Miss Bingley might have known the truth for a moment when she mentioned having friends in Brighton, but hearing that Bingley knew nothing about it, he grew angrier that Miss Bingley would treat Elizabeth so rudely and wondered what he could do to help his dear lady feel better. Looking outside the window, he saw a wide field as the day brightened and had a great idea, so he left quickly to search for the butler to check on the supplies. He prayed that his small effort would lift up Elizabeth’s spirits as well as please his sister who would arrive the next day.

~*~

Elizabeth lifted the short-bow and arrow to aim at the target and took a deep breath. Archery had always calmed her, and being outraged after her mother’s visit to Netherfield and unable to tolerate staying in the same room as Miss Bingley, she steadied her heartbeats to focus on her task instead.

Her mother and three younger sisters had arrived to check on Jane but the matron insisted that Jane was too ill to be moved and that she would need to stay for at least a full week. Mary quoted sermons while Kitty coughed incessantly, and Lydia crassly demanded a ball from Mr. Bingley, and Elizabeth could see Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst’s sneers directed at her family and she was mortified.

She knew her family was low but they were beyond hope, and as much as she attempted to change the topic of conversation, her mother was as vulgar as she could be, as she continued to remind Mr. Bingley how much his father wished for the match and how Jane would be an excellent mistress of Netherfield. That conversation reminded Elizabeth of William’s father’s wish and guessed that Mr. Darcy was thinking the same while he sat in the corner of the sitting room in silence.

She released the string and watched the first arrow fly, and then quickly placed another on the bow to shoot it, repeating every second to send twenty arrows in all to the target. She let out her breath and lowered her bow and smiled to herself, recalling how much she loved the sport and was grateful that William had arranged it for her. She turned around when she heard clapping, to see Mr. Darcy approaching her and grinned at him.

“Have you come to frighten me? You know I do not scare easily,” she quipped.

“No, never,” he replied. “I am always in awe of your talent and did not know you could send so many arrows in succession. What else can you do?”

She retorted, “Oh, but I did more than shoot off the arrows quickly. Come and see the target.”

He obliged and they walked together to the target, which was located fifty yards away, and he exclaimed, “How did you do this? I did not know it was possible!” He was in utter astonishment of her skills to see the arrows neatly lined up to make the letters ‘E’ and ‘B’.

She laughed as she began to pull out the arrows, “At fifty yards, it is not so difficult. With my best bow, I can make other designs at a hundred yards but at a slower pace. What I lack in embroidery, I can do with my arrows.”

Darcy helped her detach the arrows as well and placed them into her quiver, “You are amazing and are the most accomplished lady of my acquaintance. There is no one truly like you. Would you allow me to learn from you? I will never be your equal but would like to spend time with you this way.”

“Perhaps at Ashworth, William. I fear what anyone would say about us to be seen together often. I… I need to ask you about Miss Bingley,” she carefully composed her next words. “Do you believe you should give her another chance? Your father liked her for you and I know you found her beautiful. My mother’s visit reminded me once again that our stations are too vast…”