Chapter 11 #2
Abruptly, Caroline stopped, feeling herself to be absurdly near tears.
She felt certain she knew what Elizabeth would tell her, and wished and dreaded it in equal measure.
Surely Elizabeth, who refused Mr Collins when it would have guaranteed her a home and Mr Darcy when he had offered her a fortune without real understanding, would tell her to choose love.
And then Caroline would have the choice made for her.
It would no longer be her fault, or her responsibility.
Having come to respect Elizabeth’s insight above anyone’s, naturally she must follow her advice.
But Caroline was due to be surprised.
“If you had asked me this when I was a girl of nineteen,” Elizabeth began, “I certainly would have advised you to marry Mr Northville.”
Caroline’s mouth dropped open. “Then — you would not now advise me to do so?”
“I have learned a great deal since then,” Elizabeth remarked thoughtfully.
“I have told you of my friend Mrs Charlotte Collins, who married my cousin. At the time, I thought the decision so wrong-headed that it affected my respect for her. But I have learned a great deal since then. I have learned that there is not only one way to be happy. Mrs Collins is prodigiously happy now, Caroline. She has a lovely home, and a beautiful daughter, and if I myself would not have paid the price of being married to Mr Collins to gain these things, who am I to say she should not? I cannot decide for you, Caroline. The things I value are not more important than the things you value, and you are not wrong to think of society’s rules, the rules we must all live by, in making your decision. ”
“Then — you will not tell me what I ought to do?” Caroline stammered.
Elizabeth laughed fondly at her. “Certainly not. But then, I do not think I need to. I saw your face when you thought I was telling you to marry the viscount, Caroline. In your heart of hearts, I think you know what you really want.”
Caroline sat down limply, rather dazed. “I — suppose I do, at that.”
Elizabeth said nothing, but only smiled at her.
Caroline was grateful for the quiet, for she did not think she could have said anything more.
The certainty of love was surging all through her.
All at once, it seemed absurd that she could have considered marrying the viscount.
He was a good man, and would make some lucky girl a good husband, but he was not hers.
Not like Thom. Caroline did not know how she would bear to wait until the next time they might meet.
And then, of course, there would be the difficulty of convincing him that he must marry her, whatever his hesitations about appearing to marry a woman for her money, and about not making her happy, which was utterly ridiculous.
But that she would certainly do, as soon as she could be near him.
She would confess her heart to him; she would hold nothing back; she would make him see that he must marry her, for the sake of both their happiness —
“Oh!” Elizabeth exclaimed.
Caroline looked over, intending to apologise for her distraction and inquire what had caused her to cry out, but all the apologies and questions died on her lips in an instant. From the way Elizabeth held her hand clasped over her stomach, it could be only one thing.
“Heavens! Elizabeth, is it the baby?”
“Yes,” Elizabeth replied through gritted teeth.
“This is just what Nurse Rooke told me to expect. I must ask you for some help, Caroline. Please inform the housekeeper, and have her send messengers to Darcy and to Jane at once. They shall never forgive me if I allow them to keep away out of ignorance.”
“Elizabeth!” Caroline exclaimed. “And your nurse, too, surely?”
“And Nurse Rooke, too,” she confirmed.
With a quick pat of Elizabeth’s shoulder, Caroline leapt up and ran to the door. “Mrs Averly!” she called out.
The housekeeper appeared at a run. “Yes, Miss Bingley?”
“Mrs Darcy’s time has come,” she told her. “She requests that you have Mr Darcy, Mrs Bingley, and Nurse Rooke informed without delay.”
“Of course, miss!” Mrs Averly exclaimed. Summoning a nearby footman, she began to give him his instructions, but Caroline did not wait to hear her. She hurried back into the drawing room, kneeling beside the sofa and taking Elizabeth’s hand.
“Mrs Averly will take care of it straight away,” Caroline told her dear friend. “Oh, Lizzy, I am so sorry! You ought to have had Jane here. In my selfishness, I asked her to let me come to you alone today. I so badly wanted to hear your advice in confidence. I am very, very sorry.”
A pain seemed to hit Elizabeth then, for she gripped Caroline’s hand with all her strength, and her breathing grew fast and harsh. When it at last passed, she looked at Caroline with a smile. “You called me Lizzy,” she replied.
Caroline was surprised into a laugh. “I suppose I did. I have heard Jane say it any number of times.”
Elizabeth nodded. “It is what all my sisters call me,” she said, with an emphasis that made Caroline squeeze her hand.
At that moment, Mrs Averly came rushing into the room with several sturdy-looking maids in tow. With prodigious gentleness, they helped Elizabeth to her bedchamber.
It was not until they reached it, and Caroline settled herself by the bed, where she might continue holding Elizabeth’s hand, that Mrs Averly seemed to notice her.
“Oh, Miss Bingley, you must go now!” she exclaimed. “This is no place for an unmarried woman to be. It is quite unsuitable.”
“I shall remain just a little longer,” Caroline told her mildly, but with unshakable firmness. “Mrs Bingley will be here soon, and when she arrives, I will go out, for I know you are quite right. But until then, I shall remain with my sister.”