AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her uncle grinned. “And naturally, you wish to show your father that you will take your place in the neighbourhood, with or without his blessing. I understand it.”
“Better than myself, I think,” she murmured, for she had not considered, in the morass of emotions vying for expression, that defiance was one of them.
But before her uncle could lift the knocker, the door flew open. “Sister!” Jane cried, throwing her arms about Lizzy. “Oh, you are home! I am so glad! Tell me you have come to stay!”
In that hug, Lizzy found a welcome she had not quite expected and a love she had once longed for. She relished it with a deep sense of gratitude, and only a small part of her remained a bit detached, unable to feel it as strongly as she once would have. “I will, if Mr Bingley agrees I might, but now you must meet someone. Jane, do you remember him? You would have been quite young upon his last visit, but here is Mr Edward Gardiner of Highview House in London, Mama’s brother and our kind and good uncle.”
Jane’s brows rose in astonishment, and she looked from Lizzy to Mr Gardiner. “Uncle? Oh…oh. You know, I think I do! At least…how familiar you seem! Oh, Lizzy! How many questions I have for you!”
Thankfully, she asked none of them, as Mr Bingley joined his wife at the entry. In his welcome, she saw a man as besotted as ever with his bride, shaking Mr Gardiner’s hand and immediately agreeing with Jane that of course Lizzy must stay with them at Netherfield. In Mr Gardiner, he could obviously see a relation of whom he need never be ashamed—not only was her uncle outwardly prosperous, but he was in every word and manner of expression thoroughly gentlemanlike.
“Enter, enter,” Mr Bingley cried, shepherding them towards the largest front parlour. “You are so welcome! Mr Gardiner, it is very good to meet you—I believe Darcy has mentioned you before. And now to discover we are family! And how is our mutual friend?”
“Apparently, much improved,” Mr Gardiner replied. “I am very happy to meet you, too, Mr Bingley, and to meet you again after so many years, Mrs Bingley. You must plan a lengthy visit to Highview House and come to know your aunt and cousins.”
“They are wonderful, Jane, all of them,” Lizzy asserted as they entered the fine parlour.
“Or you must bring them all here for a country holiday, and as soon as may be,” Mr Bingley invited. He paused as another figure appeared in the doorway. “Ah, Miss Darcy, come in, come in, for we have visitors to become acquainted with. Or do you already know Mr Gardiner?” He carefully shut the door behind Georgiana, Lizzy saw.
But Georgiana, quite heedless of genteel behaviour, ran to Lizzy and threw herself into Lizzy’s arms with a more joyous greeting than even Jane’s. At this, Lizzy’s heart wrenched with feeling—their shared experiences of terror and love having created their own sisterhood, of a sort.
“Lizzy, Lizzy,” was all she said.
Lizzy hugged her tightly for a moment before releasing her and addressing the others; Bingley’s sisters remained nowhere in sight. Here, in this room, was everyone who knew the secret of her sojourn with Mr Darcy. It was vital to her peace of mind that she try to make them understand why. “We should all talk whilst we have a moment of privacy.”
All eyes turned to her—her uncle encouraging, Jane slightly bewildered, Georgiana tearful, Mr Bingley suddenly sombre.
“Please, sit, all of you,” he offered.
“Jane, I am sorry for not writing,” Lizzy began once all were seated. “It could not be helped. You are aware that Mr Darcy was ill and that the earl of Matlock held designs upon his future. I tell you now, he was not simply ill, but as close to death as ever I have seen a man who yet survived. After the tortures—for they were nothing less—that Lady Catherine’s doctor inflicted, a fever nearly took him to his grave. For a time, I wondered if he could possibly recover. The servants speculated openly that he would not.” She took Georgiana’s hand in hers and gripped it tightly.
“Thankfully, and because he is the strongest, most determined man any of us will ever meet, he has recovered much of what he lost at Donavan’s hands and is now progressing daily. But his strength alone did not see him through.” She took a deep breath. “I did. I saw to his care hour after hour, sometimes with teas and with poultices and with herbs and—when I felt him slipping from me despite whatever I know of nursing—with my pleadings for him to stay. I did not heal him. But neither is it an exaggeration to believe that—had I not been so devoted to his care—he might not have survived. There was, simply, no one else to do it.”
Jane’s mouth was an ‘o’ of astonishment.
Bingley’s brows were raised. “I suppose it was not quite the thing—” he began, but Georgiana spoke over him.
“None of you saw him,” she said, low-voiced. “I did. I witnessed first-hand the burned, torn, and bleeding flesh upon his back and shoulders as I helped him from his bed to escape the next onslaught of Donavan’s torment. He was hanging onto consciousness by a thread that last day. And I truly believed it might be the last time I ever saw him alive.”
“But Fitzwilliam had arrived,” Bingley said. “Had you waited a few hours, the colonel—”
“Would do what, precisely?” Georgiana interrupted, and Lizzy was proud to see she neither faltered nor trembled. “Deliver my brother back to the earl, who had already put him at the mercy of those whom I know for a fact are villains? And even if not the earl, Richard planned to be on a ship in less than a week. How much attention and devotion could he give my brother? More hired servants who could not care less whether he lived or died? Another specious doctor? Lizzy is a heroine, and if you cannot see it, why—”
But it was Mr Gardiner’s turn to interrupt. “I am certain none of us wish for any blame to fall upon Miss Bennet,” he said calmly. “In fact, I believe we in this room would all be best served if we make it known that she spent her weeks away from Hertfordshire in my home, with my wife and children, as her parents previously intended. She did, in fact, visit us, and we are eager for a repetition. I am equally certain that we each understand the danger of speaking to any others of this very private family matter.” He met the gazes of every person; in his eyes, Lizzy saw confidence and authority.
“Of course, of course,” Mr Bingley was quick to agree. “We none of us have mentioned a word of her whereabouts to this point. The important thing is that she is home now, and the past is all to be forgot. Dearest, shall you ask Mrs Nicholls to bring tea?”
Jane—smiling with relief at her husband and plainly wishing to discover nothing else regarding Lizzy’s absence—stood. “Of course. Lizzy, I will tell her to ready your room at once. I shall put you in the blue room, with its view of the garden, which you shall love. Uncle Gardiner, one shall be prepared for you as well. We would love to have you.”
“I had thought to be returned to Highview by dusk, but I find myself anxious to at least stay the night and to renew my family’s acquaintance,” he agreed.
There were a few moments of awkward silence after Jane’s departure to see to rooms, then Mr Gardiner asked Mr Bingley regarding Netherfield’s farms, quickly sparking a conversation, and so she turned to Georgiana.
“You have been well?” Lizzy asked quietly.
“As well as I could be, what with my worry. He is truly improved?”
“Every day better. I know he will come to you as soon as he can, for he misses you dreadfully.”
