Chapter 59
“It is Lydia.” Elizabeth snapped the second she and Jane were alone, “I know it is Lydia. Something happened, and she knows what it was. You saw how she was at breakfast.”
“She did look unhappy.” Jane agreed softly. “They are not yet returned from town. When they do…”
Elizabeth nodded brusquely and quickly kissed her sister’s cheek.
The soft scent of bergamot soothed her, as it always had.
Jane was the only one who wore that particular scent, and Lizzie breathed it in like oxygen.
She had no idea how she would have helped Georgiana on her own.
Jane was the angel, not she. Love and health seemed to flow from her gentle embraces into Georgiana’s very soul.
Neither of the ladies ate luncheon that day.
Their appetites were in wretched knots from their painful morning.
Darcy and Fitzwilliam sat with Georgiana all afternoon, giving the ladies a chance to go to their own rooms and gather their thoughts.
Elizabeth’s head was pounding so badly that she closed the curtains and laid down on the bed.
The sound of the carriage returning woke her up.
Eyes flying open, she jumped out of bed and straightened her clothes as best she could.
Strangely, there was no bright laughter or shrieks of joy, which usually signalled the end of a shopping trip for her younger sisters.
Elizabeth twitched the curtain open and saw Kitty climbing out of the carriage with a sour look on her face.
Lydia was a blur of one flapping cloak and two running feet as she sped into the house.
Elizabeth made it to the top of the staircase when Lydia arrived at the base.
“Lizzie!” the younger girl cried, “Oh, Lizzie, I have to speak with you.”
Lizzie’s heart pounded. She had not expected this; she had been anticipating a long string of denials and excuses.
Her sister looked almost as wretched as Georgiana had.
She beckoned and her sister flew up the stairs.
They stared at each other for a moment, Lydia panting and pale, and then Elizabeth caught her sister’s arm and marched her into her bedroom.
“It’s about Miss Darcy.” Lydia gasped, throwing herself down onto the bed.
“Yes, I know.” Elizabeth growled, “Lydia, what did you do?”
“I? I! I did nothing! Nothing! It was… ugh, why do you look at me with such poison, Lizzie? I’ve been torturing myself all day trying to think of how to tell you, and you’re going to scold me before I even start!”
“Miss Darcy spent the day sobbing her eyes out.” Elizabeth snapped. Lydia bit her lip and then nodded.
“I… I did try to stop it, Lizzie. I told Miss Bingley to be nicer, but she shouted at me. She threatened me, the old shrew! She said that people would hate me, and that I was a child, and that I should play with my dolls. Dolls! Can you believe that, Lizzie? I haven’t so much as looked at a doll for these eighteen months at least! ”
“I shall not talk to you of dolls, Lydia. Will you tell me what happened, or should my husband ask you instead?”
Lydia’s eyes widened and she let out a nervous giggle. “No! You cannot tell him, Lizzie.”
“You do not think he will want to know that you hurt his sister?”
“I? But I did not! I told you, it was Miss Bingley.”
With that protestation still fresh on her tongue, Lydia launched into her version of last night’s events.
Elizabeth knew her sister well enough to recognise her exaggerations.
She was horrified to find out that, in this instance, none were required.
The story was awful enough without them.
Nor did Lydia recite her speech with her usual elaborate gestures and pantomime of expressions.
She was not enjoying this story, nor repeating it for the sake of gossip. She was genuinely ashamed.
Lydia stopped speaking abruptly. Elizabeth could not fill the silence; she honestly had nothing to say. Speechless, she stared at her younger sister in utter outrage.
It wasn’t Lydia’s fault. It was Caroline. All Caroline. Yet, her anger bubbled up regardless.
“Why did you keep this a secret?” Lizzie demanded, “You pranced off into town and left without saying a word!”
“I did not know how to tell you.” Lydia protested.
Her voice was hoarse from her long story, but her eyes were lucid and sincere, “Lizzie, I wanted to… I promise. I was just so confused, and then after Miss Bingley left I was going to tell you, but you were late for breakfast and then Kitty rushed me off, and… oh Lizzie, you must believe me. I tried.”
“You tried a little.” Elizabeth conceded, “Not enough.”
“Would you rather I had held my tongue altogether?” Lydia demanded, her temper snapping, “I didn’t have to confess anything to you!
I could have stayed in town for hours and hours, and never minded a bit that your precious Miss Darcy is upset.
But I came back, didn’t I? With Kitty whining in my ear and hardly a shilling spent, rattling along in that blistering sun…
and for what? So my high-and-mighty sister could tell me off? ”
“No. No, I…” Elizabeth sighed and shook her head, feeling suddenly exhausted. “I am sorry, Lydia. I am glad you came to me. It could have been sooner, but… but it is better than nothing.”
“Much better,” Lydia sniffed, “Since you know that it was all Miss Bingley. She has gone to Chesterfield to find out what happened here. Her maid is a tricky one, always listening and whispering, and Miss Bingley thinks she can find out the truth.”
“In Chesterfield?” Elizabeth asked, surprised, “Nobody there knows anything about Georgiana. We have kept her condition a secret, as well as the cause of it.”
“Not very well, if you don’t mind me saying so. Well, I shall say it even if you do mind! Your servants aren’t all as loyal as that old housekeeper of yours, and there are lots of other people who know the estate. One of them must know…”
“They won’t.” Elizabeth interrupted, her cheeks going pink. “Nobody knows the whole story except Mrs. Reynolds and Mr. Darcy, and they would never…”
“Nobody?” Lydia interrupted, “Not even you?”
There was a protracted silence. Lizzie could not look her sister in the eye, and Lydia was almost swooning with the staggering implication she had unearthed. It was inconceivable that Elizabeth didn’t know the truth.
“Doesn’t Mr. Darcy trust you?” she blurted out. Elizabeth gave her a savage glare.
“Did you feel good, Lydia, when you were telling me your awful story? No? I am sure you felt almost as miserable and pathetic as you were last night, when all of it happened to you. Why would I ask my husband to relive the most painful day of his life? There is no benefit to me in it. My love for Miss Darcy will be unchanged whether I know the truth or not. I have no reason to cause such pain to the man I love, for the sake of my own curiosity.”
“But you must wonder!”
“That is enough. I must talk to my husband, Lydia. Is there anything else you need to tell me about last night before I go?”
Mute, Lydia shook her head. Elizabeth nodded at her as she stood up. It was nowhere near a sisterly smile, but it was as close as either of them ever managed after an argument.
Half an hour later, unaware that anything untoward had happened, Bingley was summoned to the study.
He followed the servant curiously, wondering at such a formality.
He was accustomed to wandering around the estate when Miss Bennet was too busy to see him and today had been both lonely and unsatisfying.
Perhaps there was a head cold going around, for both Miss Bennet and Mrs. Darcy had spent most of the day in solitude.
Mrs. Darcy was in the study when he arrived.
Bingley gave her a relieved smile when he bowed and made a pretty speech about her health.
When he straightened up, she looked bewildered.
Beside her, Darcy had not even looked around.
He was staring into the fire, holding the mantelpiece with one hand.
Now that he was looking closely, Bingley could see that his friend’s knuckles were blue and white even in the golden summer sunlight, so tightly was he gripping the ledge.
“What has happened?” Bingley asked. “Darcy, turn around. It’s hard to talk to the back of your head. Has something happened?”
“You tell him.” Darcy rumbled, not looking around. Elizabeth flinched, then drew a deep breath and began.
The story was short, stilted, and utterly abhorrent. By the end of it, Bingley had his head in his hands.
“Oh, Georgie.” he groaned, twisting his fingernails into his hair. “My poor little…”
“She isn’t your anything.” Darcy snapped, finally looking around. “You only have a claim to one woman here, Bingley - that damnable sister of yours. What do you propose to do about this?”
“Before you answer,” Elizabeth interrupted softly, with a glance at her husband, “You must know that Miss Bingley will not be allowed to return to the house. She will not even make it as far as the driveway before she is turned away. There will be no excuses or apologies, no mediation or… or attempts to be cordial. I know that it is your nature to forgive, Mr. Bingley, but your sister has… her behaviour towards Georgiana was…”
“No, I shall not defend her.” Bingley said softly, “I am so ashamed.”
“We did not ask you here to shame you, sir. But we have banished your sister from our home, and we owe you an explanation.”
“Banishment is not punishment enough.” Darcy interrupted again, “Bingley, you must do something. For years, every time she has overstepped, you have moved the line. This is a beast of your own making, and the time has come to muzzle it. I cannot; you must.”
Bingley nodded and sighed, “I need a drink.” he said without thinking, and then groaned aloud, “Oh Darcy, I apologise. I only meant…”
“If I was inclined to be upset by honesty, Bingley, I should not have invited you through the door. It is a rather unavoidable trait of yours.” Darcy retorted, and then let out a harsh laugh, “I need a drink, too. Elizabeth, ring for some tea. Perhaps if we ask Mrs. Reynolds nicely enough she will let the leaves stew.”
Elizabeth did so, and for a while they sat in silence.
The few ideas they had for Miss Bingley were discussed briefly, considered or discarded, and then drowned in mouthfuls of over-sweetened tea.
Bingley agreed that banishment was a good initial step - indeed, he insisted that it would be far more effective than Darcy imagined.
Caroline, he explained, had been obsessed with the estate for years and had been ecstatic to finally have an invitation.
Casting her out would be a savage and very satisfying blow.
As to her spite and cruelty towards Miss Darcy, they needed to be subtle.
They could not expose Miss Bingley without also revealing Georgiana’s delicate condition to the world, but nor could they let her treatment go unnoticed.
Bingley offered to reduce his sister’s allowance significantly, and to forbid her from using any of the family properties save for their house in London.
Bingley did not say how Caroline would fare there, stuck in London when the season was over, with barely enough money to maintain a fashionable wardrobe and no brother to act as chaperone. No speculation on that point was necessary. They all knew how furious Caroline would be.
“She will not go down without a fight.” Bingley warned, “She may very well reveal what she saw here. Miss Lydia did say as much. I am sorry, Darcy.”
“No. The fault is mine.” Darcy replied evenly. “Had I set more guards, or been more vigilant, then perhaps she would not have found Georgiana - but eventually, the story was bound to come out. We must take ownership of it, I think, before Miss Bingley can turn it against us.”
“What do you mean?” Elizabeth asked, already fearing the worst. Her husband confirmed it, with a look that allowed no argument:
“Georgiana must be seen. We should show the world that she is here, safe and loved.”
“You want her to go to the ball.” Elizabeth finished in a low voice, “Darcy…”
“Ask her.” Darcy said, “Explain that we know what happened - and why. If she sees that it will make Miss Bingley furious then she may well agree.”
“Georgie always was a vengeful little thing.” Bingley agreed, “She once put a spider in my tea because I ate the last biscuit.”
“I could never decide which of you was more childish.” Darcy retorted, “My good friend, or the actual child you saw fit to compete with.”
“I shall ask her.” Elizabeth promised, “She will be relieved, at least, to hear that we know the truth. As to the rest, sir… I cannot promise anything. I will not make her do anything that makes her feel uncomfortable.”
“Ask her.” Darcy repeated firmly, and smiled savagely, “She is stronger than you know.”