Chapter 4
Elizabeth
The morning after Darcy left, Bingley’s carriage arrived at Longbourn with a note from Mr Bingley.
The footman who delivered the note indicated that he would wait for Elizabeth and Jane to prepare themselves to return with him to Netherfield, or for a note to be written saying that they could not come at this time.
Jane and Elizabeth looked at the outside of the note. Their names were written in a perfectly beautiful—-but unknown—hand. Who penned this? Elizabeth wondered as her sister opened the note.
Dear Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth,
Please come to Netherfield Park, if you can be spared at home, to help me plan a house party that will honour and perhaps help Darcy with the extraordinary pressures with which he is dealing. Miss Elizabeth, if you have any directions for Darcy’s friends, please bring them.
If you are too busy to come, I will call this afternoon, and we can make arrangements for a future visit.
Thank you, and I hope to see you very soon,
Yours, etc., C. Bingley
“I will be ready in five minutes, Jane. How about you?”
“I am dressed and have eaten; I suppose I am ready now. I will gather your things and wait here for you.”
Elizabeth had walked that morning—and of course had very much missed William as she had done so—and she now hurried to refresh herself, to re-pin her hair, and to smooth and inspect her skirts.
She found the list of names and directions William had made for her and her mother as they wrote invitations to their wedding breakfast, and then she reported back to Jane.
Before long, the Bennet sisters found themselves being courteously handed out of the carriage by a beaming Mr Bingley.
“You are both quite a sight for sore eyes! I have missed you dearly this se’nnight!”
“Good morning, Mr Bingley,” both ladies murmured. Elizabeth could not return his radiant smile, because she missed William and Georgiana—and worried for the colonel—but she was glad to see evidence of Mr Bingley’s continuing attachment to Jane.
Soon they were in the blue drawing room, greeting the Hursts and taking seats. Elizabeth said, “Having received a note from Netherfield, we were very surprised to actually be able to read it without a Rosetta Stone to help us crack the code.”
Mr Bingley blushed a little but laughed heartily. “I know, I know. But you must realise that all that is over; I have hired a secretary to organise my calendar, deal with my correspondence, and coordinate with the land steward and the butler.”
“You have chosen well, Mr Bingley,” Jane said.
He seemed very pleased with her praise, and Elizabeth again felt glad that their relationship apparently progressed.
Still, she highly respected William’s opinions, and she remembered that he had had some doubts, so she told herself not to become too intent on her own assumptions of felicity.
Oh! How she wished William was here.
“So tell us this idea you have for a house party,” Elizabeth said to Mr Bingley.
Having heard Mr Bingley’s overly enthusiastic plans, along with Mr Hurst’s thoughts, Elizabeth was hopeful that the proposed house party would not be a trial for William.
It seemed that, despite her hesitation to approve the plan, Mr Bingley was determined to carry on.
Soon Elizabeth’s list of directions was out of her hands and on the desk utilised by Mr Shaw, the secretary, who made a list of families to invite to Netherfield.
Elizabeth thought hard. If Richard should die—she longed to push away the thought!
—but she must think things through—either Darcy would have to postpone the wedding by a week or two, or they would be marrying very quietly, very privately.
Having his friends at Netherfield before the planned wedding date was unlikely to work well with either of those scenarios.
Still, she could imagine Viscount Wessex and Mr Wright, for example, giving William supportive hugs and then politely leaving, and it did seem as if such support might be welcome. And if Richard lived….
She nodded to herself. Given that William’s friends were wonderful people, it might just work well after all, no matter what happened.
It was so kind of Mr Hurst and Mr Bingley to offer to host William’s friends.
She went to the chairs where Mr Bingley and Jane sat, conversing about his trip north and the arrangements made for Caroline’s care.
Seeing joy in Jane’s eyes, and hoping that Mr Bingley might become her brother, Elizabeth gave his arm a brief squeeze.
“I thank you with all my heart, Mr Bingley, for taking these steps to support William. You are everything a gentleman should be.” She saw his cheery face light up with even more happiness before she went to the Hursts.
“Thank you so much, sir,” she addressed Mr Hurst, “for your part in this idea.”
His kindly eyes twinkled, and he grasped her hand and bowed over it.
She turned towards Mrs Hurst and asked, “How are you bearing up?” When the woman admitted to still feeling pangs of guilt as well as anguish in missing and worrying about her sister, Elizabeth opened her arms in a wordless invitation, and the two women embraced.
Mrs Hurst whispered, “I—I—must get out of here.”
Elizabeth held the lady’s arm as she quickly guided her to the door and out to the gardens, where they walked to a spot separated from the house by a high hedge.
There they embraced again, and Elizabeth breathed deeply while her friend sobbed.
Eventually, Mrs Hurst ran out of tears, and her breathing began to follow the pacing set by Elizabeth’s.
“Thank you, Elizabeth.” Mrs Hurst sighed and said. “Excuse my familiarity. But I would like it if you called me Louisa.”
“Of course. Please call me Elizabeth, or Lizzy.”
“Might we walk a bit as I regain my composure?”
“Of course. Please let me know if you wish for me to distract you with inane chatter or if you would rather ramble in silence.” Elizabeth was glad to see Louisa smile just a bit at her words.
“Your chatter is never inane, Elizabeth. I will be quite happy to call you sister someday, hopefully some day soon.”
“And I will be very happy to count you among my many, many sisters.” Elizabeth grinned, but a moment later her smile abandoned her, and she said, “As I said to your husband, I am very glad to see your family help William and Georgiana during this dark time.”
As they walked among the Michaelmas daisies and the hollyhocks, Elizabeth felt a gush of contentment with yet another confirmation that the relationship between Mr Bingley and Jane was flourishing.
When Elizabeth and Jane returned to Longbourn, Elizabeth was delighted to find that a letter from William had arrived.
She had so longed to hear from him, even though it had only been one day since he left.
She raced up to the room she shared with Jane, locked the door, and carefully lifted the seal.
Her eyes raced through his news: William was reasonably certain Richard would not die.
He had passed through a period of particular danger that one or more of his wounds would fester, and he was being nursed with continued devotion ever since his transport ship had been attacked, by a lady named Cordelia Garrett.
William wrote that Richard seemed to adore Miss Garrett, and she seemed very genteel and well educated.
He intended to take Georgiana to see Richard the next day, and if things went as well as he expected, he would likely return much sooner than they had originally assumed. He missed her….
The next portion of the letter detailed all the ways in which William missed her, and her breathing hitched as she read his amorous words.
She re-read his letter four or five times before carefully folding it and putting it amongst the pages of the book she was reading, returning the book to the bedside table.
She was certain she would re-read the letter one more time before she went to sleep that night.
One more time? As she refreshed herself and went downstairs to dinner, she knew full well that she would re-read William’s letter several more times that evening, as she wrote a reply, and again when she was in bed attempting to settle herself for sleep.