Chapter 3
William was not sure what to do. He leaned forward, placed his hand on Lizzy’s forehead and felt the heat; she had a fever.
Luckily, Mr Finch was in residence that evening so he sent the maid to summon the surgeon and the Earl and Countess.
Finch was the closest to the room, so he was tending to his patient within less than a minute.
Not long after, a very worried Uncle Reggie and Aunt Elaine almost ran through the door.
“She has a fever,” Finch confirmed, “but it is not so remarkably high as to make me concerned enough to take drastic action like dousing her with very cold water. Under normal circumstances I would recommend submerging her in an ice bath but moving her would cause too much damage to her bones, which I suspect have not knitted properly yet.”
“What should we do in the meanwhile?” Elaine asked as she took her daughter’s good hand.
“I have asked the maid to bring some ice. I recommend that you apply chilled cloths to as much of her body as you can to help her fight the fever,” Finch recommended.
“Reggie, please get Anne and Mrs Reynolds. We will apply the cold cloths to Lizzy as the doctor says and we will call you back in when she is covered once again.” Richard and Andrew, who had arrived just after their parents and William, left the room for the adjacent parlour.
They met George and Anne Darcy in the hallway and informed them what had occurred.
While Anne went directly to the sickroom, George joined his son and nephews.
After sending a footman to summon Mrs Reynolds, Reggie joined them in the parlour.
Elizabeth felt very strange; it was as if she were seeing a vision, an exceptionally beautiful one that looked like a blond angel, but she could not make out the angel’s face.
She felt like she should know who the angelic girl was, but she could not place her.
She felt like she was in danger and then suddenly she started calling out to the indistinct girl: “Help me ‘aney, help me.” The girl reached out to her, but they could not reach one another; something was keeping them apart and Elizabeth felt like if she could not reach her, that she would never see her again.
Just when she was starting to despair, she saw a pair of warm and friendly faces that she could make out.
It was her mama and papa, and next to them she saw Andrew and Itch.
Next, she turned and saw the five Darcys standing and looking at her with warmth, love, and acceptance clearly written on their countenances.
When she looked back at her mama and papa, she saw Cousin Anne standing between them, and suddenly Gigi was holding Anne’s hand.
Both of them were talking to her and, at first, she could not make out what they were saying and then she heard: “Please stay Lizzy, we love you and need you with us, please stay!”
Elizabeth could sense the love that was radiating toward her from all of her family and just then she saw the angelic girl wave to her with a smile on her face, as if she knew that Elizabeth would be well.
Lizzy waved back and the girl faded into the mist. She knew that she needed to get back to her family, that they needed her as much as she needed them.
After applying cloths to Lizzy for hours, Elaine saw her daughter still and then her breathing steadied and she slept normally.
She touched the back of her hand to Lizzy’s forehead, and it was as close to a normal warmth as she had felt since before the fever took hold of her daughter.
After four that morning, the fever had broken, a fact that was confirmed by a tired but pleased Mr Finch.
None of the men had allowed themselves to sleep and there was much hugging and backslapping when Anne told her husband the news, and he passed it onto the rest.
Over one hundred miles to the south, Jane Bennet had been having one of her repeated nightmares when suddenly the girl who she could not make out fully and assumed was Lizzy smiled and waved to her.
Jane waved back and fell into a restful sleep somehow knowing that her sister, where ever she was, would be well.
It was the final night Jane experienced that nightmare.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The two footmen in the trailing carriage had been warned to keep a close watch on Miss Caroline in case she noticed the name on the arch in large brass letters at the entrance to the estate.
Caroline had been determined not to miss the name of the estate and when she saw the arch over the gates, she proudly read her future home’s name: “Dark Hollow School for Girls.”
It took a few seconds for her to assimilate what she had read, and then she made a mad dive for the door, but her way was blocked by a footman. The same was true for the other side’s door. “Let me by you big oaf; I demand you move!” she screeched as she tried to scratch the man’s eyes.
“We ‘ave instruc’uns from master,” the man said as he clamped her arms in his hands while the second footman bound her wrists.
“How dare you…” Whatever else Caroline was about to screech was lost as, per the master’s instructions, she was gagged.
Oscar Bingley had chosen this particular school for a number of reasons: Mrs Gilbert specialised in correcting challenging girls; it was over three miles from the manor house that was used for the school to the road, it was another twenty miles to the nearest town, and the nearest estate was almost ten miles distant.
To date, there had been many attempts to escape the school, with none making it more than a hundred yards as the complex was guarded constantly.
Mrs Gilbert was waiting for them under the portico.
She looked like a serious lady with her grey hair pulled back in a severe bun as she stood and waited for the Bingleys to alight.
None of the members of the family conveyance were surprised when a footman led Caroline out with her hands bound and her mouth gagged.
Martha Bingley simply shook her head, as she was starting to accept that there may be extraordinarily little that could be done to put Caroline on a better path.
If looks could kill, the rest of the Bingleys would have dropped dead where they stood with the look of pure unadulterated hatred that Caroline was shooting at them.
“I see that Miss Caroline is not here of her own volition,” said the headmistress.
“It is of no matter, as most of the young ladies here did not choose to join us.” She nodded to the footman to remove the gag and binding.
After his master nodded, the man did as she bade him.
“What am I doing in this damned place?” Caroline spat out. Luckily for him, the footman was out of her range as she had been planning to claw his eyes out. “You will take me…” Whatever she was about to say next died on her lips as she felt something hard connect with her left hand.
Mrs Gilbert placed her wooden ruler back in her pocket. “If you refuse to behave as a young lady, I will not treat you as one! Do I make myself clear Miss Caroline?”
Caroline felt the tears forcing their way out no matter how much she did not want to show the old crone had hurt her.
She looked around and saw that her family was watching and could see no sympathy in their looks.
She was about to unleash some more vitriol when she saw the crone’s hand slide toward her pocket, and Caroline knew what was secreted there, so she clenched her jaw and just stared daggers at the woman.
They were all led inside the building to the headmistress’ office.
Two footmen had followed closely behind Caroline just in case she decided to attempt to bolt.
She had thought about it but did not miss the fact that avenue of escape was not open to her.
Charles and Louisa sat on a settee while the Bingley parents sat in two chairs facing Mrs Gilbert’s wide oak desk.
Caroline was left to stand to the right of her father.
“I received your signed contract along with the first year’s payment, thank you Mr Bingley.
All is in order. Do either yourself or Mrs Bingley have any questions for me?
” Both parents shook their heads. A school footman knocked and when bade to enter nodded his head and left without a word.
“Miss Caroline’s trunk is in her chamber that she will be sharing with Miss Helen Jacobson from Surrey, who has been here longer than a year and has made particularly good progress.
We always pair new inductees with more senior girls to help them find their way. ”
She turned and looked directly at a very sullen Caroline.
“We operate on a system of rewards and punishment. Do what is expected of you and you will earn rewards, but you will earn punishment for the opposite behaviour. You have no privileges granted until you earn them. You will find the rules, schedule, and punishments for various infractions on your bed. Do you want to say a private goodbye to your family?”
Caroline shook her head without looking at those she hated. The Bingleys thanked Mrs Gilbert and departed. There was another knock at the door and a girl that Caroline judged to be close to her age entered when she was invited in.
“Miss Helen Jacobson, meet Miss Caroline Bingley. She will be sharing your bedchamber.” Miss Jacobson inclined her head to Caroline who looked steadfastly at the wall thinking about how soon she could escape this horrendous place.
She silently followed Miss Jacobson out of the office and up the stairs to her sparse bedchamber.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Tammy Bennet could not but notice that her daughter looked as if she were sleeping properly again. “I assume that your nightmares are no more, Jane,” she asked as they sat in the dining parlour breaking their fasts.
“What nightmares?” Bennet asked. His three older sons looked on in interest.