Chapter 12 #2
He had expected Miss Bennet to follow his sister, but she lingered in the hallway, and Darcy wondered whether to take his own leave or remain with her.
If she wished to order a hot drink before bed, or fetch a book from the library, he would not want to be in her way.
Nor would it look well before the servants for them to spend time alone together so late at night.
As Darcy readied himself to bid her goodnight, Miss Bennet suddenly turned on him.
“How could you, Mr Darcy?” she said, her voice kept carefully low, but full of feeling. “How could you hide Jane’s presence in London from Mr Bingley, when it has made both of them so very unhappy? It was disloyal to your friend and cruel to my sister.”
He was too astonished by this attack to defend himself for the first few seconds.
“Jane has been pining for months, and it seems that Mr Bingley has been equally out of spirits. Yet you could have prevented both with only a few words. You knew we were in London. I know you saw us in the park soon after we arrived, although we did not speak. Why did you not tell him then?”
“When I saw you in the park, I had no inkling that your visit was a long one. How could I have known?” he retorted. “As you say, we saw one another at a distance and did not speak.”
“But later, you did know. You knew that Miss Bingley had called on Jane, did you not?”
“Yes,” Darcy admitted with some irritation. “Miss Bingley told me of that, although I took no great interest and did not wish to be involved in her schemes. It was Caroline Bingley’s responsibility to tell her brother of her call on your sister, not mine.”
Elizabeth Bennet gave an angry exhalation of breath at this assertion, and Darcy himself felt slightly ashamed of making a claim that now sounded both childish and selfish to his own ears.
“Is that your excuse?” she demanded. “It is hardly a compelling explanation.”
“It is not your place to criticise my decisions, Miss Bennet,” Darcy responded crossly, his temper rising.
“You do not think my sister good enough for your friend,” Elizabeth Bennet accused him.
“You think our lack of fortune and connections makes her a poor match, regardless of the real feeling that exists on both sides. You have no regard for our family’s station, although you have deigned to appoint me as companion to your sister. How little you must think of us!”
“You make your assumptions on very little evidence and with even less fairness,” snapped Darcy. “You can have no idea what I think of you, Miss Bennet.”
“Really? I think that —”
“Oh, please do not argue!” Georgiana cried out in distress. “I cannot bear it.”
Both Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet’s eyes were instantly drawn to the girlish figure rushing down the stairs towards them, with anguish on her face and tears in her eyes. Their voices must have been too loud and carried upstairs before Georgiana reached her bedroom.
“Georgiana,” Darcy began as she flung her arms around him and let out a sob.
“I don’t want Miss Bennet to leave, Fitzwilliam. Please!”
“Who said anything about Miss Bennet leaving?” Darcy asked in confusion.
“If you argue like that, then either you will send Miss Bennet away, or she will give notice,” wept Georgiana. “Please don’t.”
“I am sorry, Georgiana. We did not mean to distress you,” he tried to reassure her, and cautiously looked to Elizabeth Bennet, perceiving some of his own concern and guilt in her expression.
“I am not going anywhere, Miss Darcy,” Miss Bennet spoke up, one of her eyebrows raised slightly in an unspoken question to Darcy.
“Miss Bennet is not going anywhere,” Darcy repeated her words in confirmation, patting his sister’s back. “It was not so serious an argument as that, Georgiana. Sometimes people disagree without any malice or ill-intention. I am sorry that we disturbed you.”
“What your brother says is true,” Elizabeth Bennet agreed soberly. “Disagreement between reasonable people need not lead to the worst consequences.”
“But why were you shouting at each other?” Georgiana asked, wiping her eyes now but still looking confused. “You sounded so angry and looked at one another with such strong feeling that it frightened me.”
Darcy had barely noticed that either of them had raised their voices. He did not like to think how he might have looked at Elizabeth Bennet at the moment that he told her she had no idea what he thought of her.
“We should not have shouted, and it will not happen again,” said Elizabeth Bennet firmly. “I apologise to you, Miss Darcy. I have been unprofessional tonight, and I will ensure that I am always moderate in my speech with Mr Darcy in the future.”
Seeming to accept what both of them were saying, Georgiana calmed herself and sighed.
“How silly you must think me, to make such a fuss,” she said.
“Not at all,” demurred the young companion. “The fault was on our side and you are very tired. Now, would you like me to brush your hair before bed, Miss Darcy? I often do that for my sisters when they cannot sleep, and they find it very relaxing.”
As Georgiana signalled her agreement, Elizabeth Bennet took her arm, and the two young women turned towards the stairs.
“Goodnight, Mr Darcy,” she said stiffly with a rather formal bow of her head.
“Goodnight, Miss Bennet,” Darcy returned with equal coolness and correctness.
That night, he did not sleep well, haunted by the vision of a pair of passionate hazel eyes in a lovely face.