Chapter Nineteen
Thomas had spent fifteen minutes examining Jane Bennet that morning, and the next hour assuring every member of the household, separately and more than once, that she continued to improve.
Her fever had not returned, her pulse was stronger and she had managed a little breakfast without difficulty.
She required rest and freedom from the almost constant questioning of Charles Bingley, who appeared to believe that asking how she felt every few minutes might somehow hasten her recovery.
By the time Thomas left her room, Caroline was waiting for him at the end of the passage.
She had dressed simply in dark green wool, with her hair gathered into a loose arrangement at the back of her head and a pair of simple gold earbobs enhancing her creamy skin.
She looked so beautiful that it stole his breath.
At first glance she appeared entirely serene, but her hands betrayed her.
One worried at the seam of her glove while the other tightened around the folds of her skirt.
"How is Jane?" she asked.
"Much improved. She has eaten and her fever has not returned."
Relief passed over Caroline’s face. "And Charles?"
"Still convinced that his presence beside her chair is essential to her recovery."
"Then at least we know where to find him."
Thomas looked towards the door behind which her brother had disappeared only moments earlier. "We need not speak to him today if you would rather wait."
"No." Caroline drew a breath and released the seam of her glove. "If we wait, I shall spend the whole day imagining every objection he might make and by tomorrow they will have multiplied into several hundred."
Thomas offered his arm. "Then we shall face them before they have the opportunity to breed."
Caroline slipped her hand through his arm, and together they went towards the small sitting room beside Jane’s chamber. Thomas felt the pressure of her fingers through his coat and placed his hand over them briefly before opening the door.
Charles sat beside Jane’s chair near the fire.
A tray had been arranged between them, though most of its contents remained untouched because Charles was engaged in breaking a piece of toast into increasingly smaller fragments while asking whether Jane felt chilled.
Jane assured him that she did not, just as she had assured him several minutes earlier when Thomas was still in the room.
They both looked up as Thomas and Caroline entered. Charles’ gaze settled first upon his sister and then moved to her hand upon Thomas' arm. His expression became uncertain. "Caro," he said. "Dr Parodi."
"Charles." Caroline glanced towards Jane. "I hope we are not disturbing you."
"Not at all," Jane said before Charles could answer. She looked tired, but there was a quiet brightness in her face which had not been there the previous day. "Please come in."
Thomas led Caroline farther into the room before releasing her arm. She remained beside him, close enough that the sleeve of her gown brushed his coat.
Charles looked between them again, his gaze lingering upon Caroline’s hand where it rested against Thomas' sleeve. "Has something happened?"
Thomas had meant to approach the matter with greater delicacy, but the alarm already gathering in Charles’ face made any long introduction seem unkind. "I have come to ask for your blessing to court Caroline."
For several seconds, Charles said nothing and blinked rapidly. He looked first at Thomas, then at his sister, as though waiting for one of them to explain that he had misunderstood. When neither did, he drew a slow breath. "You wish to court my sister."
"Yes."
His gaze moved towards Caroline. "You wish this?"
"I do." She looked up at Thomas and a smile bloomed across her face. "Very much."
Thomas saw the moment recognition began to form in Charles’ expression, though it was accompanied by considerable confusion. "This is the gentleman from Scarborough," he said slowly.
Caroline’s chin lifted. "Yes."
"The attachment Papa mentioned."
"Papa called it a youthful romance. It was rather more than that."
Charles again lapsed into silence. His hand remained closed around the abandoned piece of toast until Jane gently removed it from his fingers and placed it upon the tray.
"I had understood that the young man from Scarborough was..." Charles hesitated. "I do not know precisely what I understood. Papa never told me your name or profession."
"He did not tell you very much at all," Caroline said. There was no sharpness in her voice, but Charles looked troubled by the answer. He pushed himself to his feet and moved a short distance from Jane’s chair, as though standing might make the situation easier to comprehend.
"You have not seen one another since Scarborough?"
"Not until he entered the downstairs hallway," Caroline replied. "Though I recognised him at once."
Charles ignored the jibe. "And after two days you are already speaking of courtship."
"After nearly five years," she corrected. "The two days are just the part you happened to witness."
Thomas felt the tension gathering between them and stepped in before Caroline’s temper could sharpen further.
"Nothing has been settled hastily. Caroline and I know that time has changed us both, which is precisely why I am asking for your blessing to court her rather than speaking of marriage.
She requires no permission from either of us, but you are her brother and she loves you.
I would rather begin with your goodwill than place her between us. "
Charles looked towards Caroline. "And if I said I could not give it?"
She met his gaze steadily. "I should be very sorry. But I am of age and will still receive Thomas."
Charles rubbed one hand across the back of his neck. His eyes moved towards Jane, then returned to Thomas. "You must understand that my father entrusted Caroline’s future to me. He made me promise that I would see her settled securely."
"I remember your father," Thomas said. "I understand why security mattered so deeply to him."
Charles’ expression sharpened. "You met him?"
"Only briefly in Scarborough, though Dr Lawson knew him well enough. You may remember Dr Lawson. He attended your family when you lived there."
Recognition dawned. "Yes, of course. Papa thought very highly of him."
"He sponsored my studies in Edinburgh and has remained my mentor ever since. With his support, and that of a physician under whom I studied in Glasgow, I have recently established a practice in London."
Charles looked surprised. "You have already opened a practice?"
"Only recently. Dr Lawson has introduced me to several families who spend part of the year in town, and my former teacher has referred patients to me. It is a modest beginning, but a sound one, and I have already won some notable patrons—including Mr Darcy’s uncle, the Earl."
"And you believe it will support a wife?"
Thomas glanced towards Caroline. "Yes. I cannot offer her an estate or the style of life her fortune might command elsewhere, but I can provide a comfortable home and a respectable position.
More importantly, I would never expect her to surrender control of her own fortune or make any decision concerning our future without her. "
Caroline’s fingers brushed his, and he closed his hand around hers. Charles noticed. His expression was not hostile, but concern remained. "You speak as though marriage is already settled."
"It is not," Thomas said. "We have been apart for nearly five years. We love one another, but we must also learn who the other has become. A courtship would allow us to do that openly."
Jane looked towards Charles. "That seems both sensible and cautious to me.
If their feelings have survived so much time and separation, refusing them the opportunity to spend time together will not make those feelings disappear.
It will only force them back into secrecy, and I should think enough harm has already come from that. "
Charles looked towards her with some surprise. "Would you feel the same if one of your younger sisters came to you after two days and announced that she wished to attach herself to a man you scarcely knew?"
Jane considered this rather than dismissing it. "I should certainly ask questions."
Charles turned back to Thomas. "You are a physician, and I do not mean to speak disparagingly of the profession, but I know almost nothing of your family or circumstances. What was your father’s position?"
Thomas did not flinch. "He was a cabinetmaker."
Charles’ brows rose.
"A very fine one," Caroline said. "Though I cannot imagine the quality of his furniture has any great bearing upon Thomas' suitability to court me."
"Caroline, allow me to finish."
Thomas laid a quiet hand over hers before answering.
"My father worked with his hands all his life and supported his family honourably.
My mother was the daughter of a Yorkshire clergyman, and her father saw that I received a good education.
I am not ashamed of either side of my family, Mr Bingley. "
"Nor should you be," Charles said after a moment. "My own father began with very little and made his fortune in trade. I would be a hypocrite to object to honest work."
"Then what does trouble you?" Jane asked gently.
Charles glanced towards Caroline. "That they have found one another again after nearly five years and already speak of a life together. I should be concerned if any woman wished to bind herself to a man on the strength of feelings formed when she was seventeen."
"That is fair," Jane said. "But Dr Parodi is asking to court Caroline, not to carry her away this afternoon. A courtship would give you time to know him and Caroline the chance to discover whether the man he has become is still the man she wishes to marry."
Charles looked between them, plainly irritated by the reasonableness of the argument. "You make it sound remarkably simple."
"It need not be complicated merely because it is important." Jane paused, studying him with a quietness that made Charles’ expression grow wary. "Though perhaps I am not the best person to whom you might appeal for caution in matters of the heart."
"What do you mean?"
"Did you mean what you said to me while I was ill?"
The question seemed to empty every other thought from his face. "What did I say?"
Jane’s cheeks coloured, but she did not look away. "You said that you loved me and wished to marry me."
Charles stared at her. The colour rose so quickly in his face that Caroline feared, for one absurd moment, that they might require Thomas' services again.
"I thought you were asleep." He ran one hand through his hair, upsetting it further. "Jane, I did not mean to make an offer while you were feverish and scarcely knew where you were."
"So you did not mean it?"
His face had reddened so violently that he resembled a man being slowly boiled inside his cravat.
"Of course I meant it." The force of the answer seemed to surprise even him.
He took a step towards her, then stopped, apparently uncertain whether he ought to continue with Caroline and Thomas still standing nearby.
Jane saved him the difficulty. "Then I have decided that my answer shall be conditional upon your giving your blessing to this courtship."
Charles stared at her for several seconds. "You cannot make your answer conditional when I have not yet proposed properly."
"Then perhaps you ought to propose properly."
Beside Thomas, Caroline made a small strangled sound and turned it hastily into a cough. "I shall take that as your blessing, brother."
Charles dragged his gaze from Jane with visible difficulty. "Yes, yes, you have it. Now would you kindly go away, Caro, and take your doctor with you?"
Thomas offered Caroline his arm. "I believe we have been dismissed."
"With remarkable discourtesy," she said, placing her hand upon his sleeve with a sniff that held just a touch of her previous persona. "Though under the circumstances, I am prepared to forgive him."