10. Chapter 10
A fter delivering the ladies safely back to Longbourn, Darcy returned to Netherfield with his sister and Bingley. Georgiana excused herself and went to her bedchamber.
"Mr. Bingley, may I ask if you were able to locate the Miss Bennets?" Mr. Oliver inquired.
"Yes, we located them and assisted them home. They are well," Bingley replied.
"I am glad to hear it," Mr. Oliver said.
Bingley and Darcy went to the drawing room and walked to a window.
"Shall I order tea, sir?"
"Yes, thank you."
Mr. Oliver responded with a nod, then left the room.
“I am glad you thought to go looking for the ladies, Darcy," Bingley said, turning to look out the window. “The weather seems to have even worsened since we made it back to Netherfield.”
“Yes, I am relieved we found them. I would hate for them to still be out there in this,” Darcy said, his gaze still focused outside.
“It is unfortunate that Mr. Bennet is in London, and the ladies are on their own.”
“Yes, it is. Fortunately, they are sensible women, and they seem to have a capable staff. Though I wonder how long it would have taken before the butler or the stable master assembled a search party today,” Darcy said, raising his brows at Bingley.
“Good point,” Bingley replied, looking at Darcy.
“I told Miss Elizabeth to send word if they needed us for anything at all.”
“Good.” Bingley nodded and returned his gaze to the window. “After this weather event passes, I suppose I should check on the tenants to assess if there are any needs or emergencies.”
Darcy smiled. “Bingley, my friend, now you are thinking like a landowner.”
For the rest of the afternoon, Elizabeth tried to occupy herself with other things, but she mostly just looked out the window.
She watched as the wind blew the trees and bushes back and forth.
She watched as the sun disappeared, and the sky became overcast. Elizabeth finally left her perch by the window and went downstairs when it was time for dinner.
After dinner, she and her sisters sat in the drawing room. They each had a book they were attempting to read.
Elizabeth looked over to the window and noticed the curtains were pulled.
“I instructed the servants to close all the curtains, just in case the wind speed increases before we are aware of it or have already gone to bed,” Jane said.
Elizabeth smiled. “I am sure that was wise.”
Almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth, they heard a loud boom of thunder, the sound deafening.
It was so sudden and so intense, they screamed.
They looked at one another, each with a hand to the chest, trying to calm down.
There were several more claps of thunder, then it began to rain, and the wind picked up.
Soon, all they could hear was pouring rain and howling wind.
Every so often, they would hear a sudden bang on one of the windows.
Mrs. Hill came into the room. “Are you girls well?”
“Yes, we are. Thank you, Mrs. Hill,” Jane said.
“This storm is dreadful. I hope it will pass soon. Can I get you girls anything?”
“No, thank you.”
Mrs. Hill nodded and left the room.
Elizabeth tried to focus on her book. She succeeded for about five minutes, then became distracted again.
This went on for an hour. She noticed her sisters seemed to be having the same problem.
Then, she realized the wind was now quieter.
In fact, she could not hear it at all. She turned her head to the window and listened.
“What is it?” Mary asked.
“I just realized the wind has gone quiet. When did that happen?”
Jane looked at Elizabeth with a wrinkled brow. “I am not sure.”
“Hmm . . . ” Elizabeth looked toward the window again.
All of a sudden, they heard an extremely loud, continuous roar and a piercing, screeching sound.
They screamed and ran to each other. Elizabeth moved them as far away from the windows as possible, afraid something would crash through at any moment.
She kept her eyes on the windows until the sound had passed. Then she looked at her sisters.
“Are you both well?” Elizabeth asked, her voice shaking.
“I . . . yes . . . I think so,” Jane managed to say.
Mary had both hands on either side of her forehead. She was focused on the floor, just staring.
Elizabeth touched her younger sister’s shoulder. “Mary?”
Mary closed her eyes and nodded. Then, she looked at Jane. “Jane, you did tell Mr. and Mrs. Hill what Mr. Darcy warned us about, did you not?”
“I did. They said they would alert the rest of the servants.”
They all looked at each other and turned to go check on the servants. Mr. and Mrs. Hill met them outside the drawing room.
“Are you well?” Elizabeth asked them.
“Yes, Miss Lizzy. We are well. We were just coming to check on you ladies,” Mr. Hill said.
“We are fine. How are the servants? Is everyone accounted for?”
“Yes, everyone is accounted for, and there are no injuries,” Mr. Hill said.
“That is a relief,” Jane said.
“What a day it has been! Especially for you. You girls must be exhausted,” Mrs. Hill said.
“I do feel tired, but I could not sleep right now,” Mary said.
“I hate to sound like Mama, but my nerves would never allow me to sleep now either,” Elizabeth said. “Besides, I feel like I need to stay awake for a while and make sure this is truly over.”
“I understand. I think we could use some brandy with tea to calm all our nerves this night,” Mrs. Hill said. “How about you girls go up, change, and get comfortable? I will bring tea shortly.”
Jane, Elizabeth, and Mary looked at each other. They managed shaky smiles for Mrs. Hill’s sake.
“Thank you, Mrs. Hill. That sounds lovely,” Jane said.
It all happened so fast. One moment, Georgiana was asking him if he thought it was safe for her to retire to her bedchamber.
The next moment, the roaring tornado was upon them.
Darcy grabbed his sister and ran toward the servants' stairs.
He looked behind him to see Bingley hurrying Mrs. Annesley after them.
They took the servants' stairs down to the ground floor.
Servants were running and screaming. The entire house seemed to shake from the force of the storm.
The sound of the roaring winds got louder and louder, and there was a deafening whining sound, too.
Georgiana screamed, and Darcy held her closer.
They could hear things crashing and breaking on the floor above them.
Then—it was over. The storm appeared to leave just as quickly as it had come. Darcy sighed in relief.
He looked at his sister. “Are you well? Are you injured?”
“No, I am not injured,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes. “Is it over, William?”
“I believe so, but we will remain cautious,” Darcy said. “Mrs. Annesley, Bingley, are you both well?”
“Yes, sir, I am well,” Mrs. Annesley replied.
“I am well, Darcy. Are you and Miss Darcy both well?” Bingley asked.
“Yes, we are . . . Bingley, even though the ground floor was most definitely the safest level from the storm, I do not know that it is still the safest place to be now that the storm has passed. This house was put under immense pressure from the tornado. It is possible the structure has been compromised.”
“You are right. The integrity of the house will need to be assessed. There is no guarantee we are even safe here for the night,” Bingley said.
“Exactly.”
Bingley turned away from them and called out loudly, “May I have your attention, please!”
As Bingley prepared to address the servants, Darcy began walking around the room, gathering oil lamps and candlesticks.
“Is everyone well? Are there any injuries?” Bingley asked.
The servants shook their heads. Mr. Oliver stepped forward and said, “Everyone is accounted for, and there are no injuries, Mr. Bingley.”
“Good, very good. I would like all of you to follow us up to the first floor now.”
Darcy had already given Georgiana and Mrs. Annesley candlesticks and an oil lamp. He now handed Bingley an oil lamp and also kept one for himself. Then they headed upstairs.
What they found was astonishing. Bed linens were scattered across the stairs and the railing.
Artwork, candelabras, and cushions were littering the floor.
Not one piece of furniture was standing where it should have been.
Some pieces were not standing at all. And every window they came across was shattered.
Darcy and Bingley looked at one another with grim expressions. Once the staff had all assembled, Bingley addressed them again.
“Some of you may have noticed the house seemed to shake when the storm passed over us. I felt it, too. As my good friend Mr. Darcy has pointed out, it means there is a distinct possibility that the structure of the house has been compromised. That being the case, the ground floor is now potentially the most dangerous floor in the house to be on. I would ask that no one go down there without express permission from Mr. Oliver. He will coordinate any efforts needed to acquire necessary items from the ground floor. We also do not know how sound the upper floors are. So, unless you have been asked to help upstairs, do not go up there. Please keep to this area. That way, if something happens, you will be able to run out the front door. For now, I would like for you all to think about where you can go for the night. Do you have friends or family nearby who can take you in? For those of you who have no options, we will do our best to find somewhere for you to go. Whatever your situation, please inform Mr. or Mrs. Oliver of it. Thank you.”
Bingley walked over to Darcy.
“Well done, Bingley.”
“Thank you. We three need accommodations as well. I have an idea of where we could go, but I do not know how you will feel about it.”
Darcy looked at him closely. “I have also given thought to where we could go, and I feel like we probably have the same idea.”
“Longbourn?” Bingley asked.