Chapter 5
“Miss Elizabeth, good morning,” Mr. Darcy bowed. “I assume you are here to see your ailing sister?”
For a moment Elizabeth was dumbstruck. Mr. Darcy was being pleasant to her and did not seem the same haughty man who had insulted her twice. “Will you show me to her, please?” she responded curtly, somewhat confused by the contradiction which was Mr. Darcy.
Darcy gave her a quick nod and turned towards the house; Elizabeth followed him.
Unfortunately for Elizabeth, who hoped to reach her sister’s side without being seen, given the mud caked onto her boots, petticoats, and the hem of her dress; it was not to be so.
Miss Bingley had decided she and the rest of the household should wake earlier to be in Mr. Darcy’s company when he broke his fast, although this was much earlier than the Town hours they preferred to keep.
Hearing voices from the breakfast parlour, there was no polite way to enter the house without acknowledging the master and mistress of the estate. “Miss Eliza, what brings you to our doorstep so early?” Miss Bingley asked with a sneer.
“We received the note stating Jane is ill, so I am come to check on my sister and see if she needs anything,” Elizabeth responded after she greeted the diners.
“You need not have bothered to ride all of this way for a trifling cold,” was Miss Bingley’s snide comment. “By the looks of your clothing, the horse splashed in every mud puddle between Longbottom and here.”
“It is Longbourn, Miss Bingley,” Elizabeth returned firmly. “I walked; Nellie is here since Jane rode her to Netherfield Park yesterday.”
“Walked? How provincial, Miss Eliza! No wonder your petticoats are six inches deep with mud. Members of our social circle would never demean themselves thusly,” Miss Bingley asserted in her grating voice.
“Really, Miss Bingley? I am astounded you would say that; I have relatives in trade as your father was and brother is and I have seen them walk often,” Elizabeth responded innocently.
Darcy tried his best to stifle the guffaw which tried to surface. It took all of his vaunted self-control to not show the amusement he felt as he watched this slip of a young woman put Miss Bingley in her place without being vicious.
Miss Bingley took on a decidedly purple hue. Before Caroline could explode, Bingley summoned his housekeeper, who was standing just outside the breakfast parlour, and asked her to show Miss Elizabeth to her sister’s chambers.
“How dare she speak to her betters in such a way? Who does that lowborn hoyden think she is?” Miss Bingley blustered.
“Miss Elizabeth was perfectly polite and never said one word that was not true. You, sister dear, are the only one who was rude,” Bingley corrected. “Did they not teach you how guests in one’s house should be treated in that fancy seminary you are always going on about?”
Miss Bingley ignored her brother’s words; she had an enormous capacity for hearing and seeing only that which was convenient to her.
“Surely, Mr. Darcy, you would not allow dear Georgiana to speak to her betters in that way,” Miss Bingley tried to coo although the tension was very much evident in her voice.
“Surely your admiration for Miss Eliza’s fine eyes and pretty face have been diminished by her unmannered display here?
She was wearing more mud than fabric.” Miss Bingley tittered at her supposed witticism.
“First, Miss Bingley, neither I nor my sister have ever given you leave to address her so informally,” Darcy began his reply.
Miss Bingley sucked her cheeks in as her lips were pinched in a fashion which made one think of a fish.
“Second, your brother has the right of it. As I am sure you learnt at your seminary, the daughter of a gentleman is above the offspring of a tradesman, so Miss Elizabeth was not addressing one above her in society. Last, I thought the exercise only enhanced her eyes and looks.”
Miss Bingley was seething within but she knew she needed to control her reaction with Mr. Darcy looking on. “How can that be, Mr. Darcy? As much as it pains me to disagree with you, I have twenty thousand pounds for my dowry while that wild Miss Eliza has a pittance.”
“Money has nothing to do with it. Social order is set based on birth. Anyone born a gentleperson would know how vulgar it is to bring up one’s money,” Darcy stated—hoping, but not confident, the harpy would know he meant her.
“But the conceited independence she displayed! I am sure you would not allow dear… Miss Darcy to walk three miles unaccompanied,” Miss Bingley pressed.
“What I saw was concern and love for a sister. I encourage my sister to care more about others than her selfish feelings. If it were in the service of another as Miss Elizabeth’s mission was today, I would not object,” Darcy replied directly.
Miss Bingley decided it was time for her to stop speaking; it seemed each time she opened her mouth she offended the last person in the world she wanted to. If Mr. Darcy did not get to the point, sooner rather than later, she would be forced to compromise him. The more public, the better.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Lizzy,” Jane croaked as she opened her eyes and saw her sister sitting next to her. Elizabeth was holding her hand and, for once, Jane was genuinely happy her younger sister was with her.
“My poor, dear Jane,” Elizabeth said as she leaned forward and touched her sister’s forehead.
Jane was very hot. Elizabeth requested the maid find some ice she could place inside the cloth she was using to wipe Jane’s sweaty face.
She felt Jane needed something cold to bring her fever under control.
When the maid returned with a bowl containing chunks of ice, Elizabeth asked her to request the master meet her in the sitting room between the two bedchambers. Not many minutes later there was a knock on the door which led to the private sitting room.
When Elizabeth walked in, she had to school her features as Mr. Darcy was present alongside Mr. Bingley. What could he mean by accompanying his friend? Notwithstanding his seeming friendliness when she arrived, he was not someone she desired to see.
“How may I assist you, Miss Elizabeth?” Bingley asked.
“Jane’s fever seems worse to me. Would you please have Mr. Jones summoned?” Elizabeth requested.
“Should I ask my physician in London to come examine Miss Bennet as well.” Bingley enquired.
“No thank you, Sir. I believe Mr. Jones, who has attended us practically from birth, knows Jane and her maladies better than any other medical man,” Elizabeth averred.
“In that case, I will have a groom sent to request his presence forthwith,” Bingley promised.
“Are you sure there is nothing we can do to assist you, Miss Elizabeth?” Darcy asked.
“When I walk home, I will have a trunk with some of Jane’s clothing sent. I require nothing more, so thank you, Sir.” Elizabeth did not know what to think. The man sounded sincere.
“Miss Elizabeth, unless you have some prior engagements, please do not think about walking home. I believe it will comfort Miss Bennet to have her sister here to nurse her if you desire to do so,” Bingley offered.
“Thank you for your thoughtfulness. I own it will help me rest easier to be able to look after my sister myself,” Elizabeth replied thankfully.
She had no confidence that Miss Bingley would exert herself for her dearest sister’s care.
Mr. Bingley’s offer eased her mind allowing her to be able to provide the care her sister needed.
“If you could provide me with a quill and some parchment, I will write a note to my mother requesting trunks for each of us.”
“I have a travel escritoire in my chambers; it has everything you will need. I will fetch it for you,” Darcy offered.
Before Elizabeth could tell him not to bother, the man turned on his heel and departed. The more time she spent around the man, the more confused she became. It was hardly any time at all before he returned and placed the travel writing desk on the table in the shared sitting room.
For his part, Darcy knew he needed to apologise for his words at the assembly but he did not want to overwhelm the obviously worried Miss Elizabeth until her sister felt better. He had a niggling concern that perhaps she was the accomplice of her older sister in stalking rich prey.
Unless he was mistaken, however, he felt Miss Elizabeth bought into her sister’s persona shown to most of the world. He did not think Miss Elizabeth was a mercenary predator as her older sister was—well, he hoped not.
Elizabeth wrote the note and a groom was charged to take it with him to Longbourn. The young groom drove a cart to pick up the Bennet sisters’ trunks and bring them to Netherfield.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
When Fanny Bennet read the note from her second daughter, she was secretly pleased Elizabeth had taken it upon herself to stay with Jane.
She would never allow either of the two to know that.
She would not show any approval of her second daughter openly.
She had worked on Jane for so long to convince her Elizabeth was a problem and did not want what she had taught Jane to be questioned.
“Let us hope Miss Lizzy does not interfere with my Jane’s catching a rich husband,” Fanny stated to her husband.
“From what I read here, Jane is far more ill than she has been with colds in the past, so I believe it will be some days before Jane will see any of the gentlemen in residence at Netherfield Park,” Bennet opined.
“What is that letter you are staring at, Mr. Bennet?” Fanny demanded.
“We are to have a visitor next week, Mrs. Bennet.”
“Who would that be?” Fanny asked stridently.
“It is a man I have never met in the whole of my life, Mr. William Collins, the one who will inherit this estate on my passing from the mortal world into heaven.”