Chapter 12
Tea with Charlotte
They were not able to get to the letter that night. Not from lack of trying, though.
It was the oddest thing.
One moment, Elizabeth was standing next to Mr. Darcy in front of the mirror, staring at the astonishing fact that she too could not see him in the mirror. And the next—she had turned her face towards him, catching his eyes, surprised at how close they were…
…when he abruptly disappeared.
Elizabeth had looked about the room, unsure if he was truly gone. But Mr. Darcy was nowhere to be found.
So she had waited for him to appear for another hour before sleep had claimed her naturally.
Elizabeth did the next best thing when she woke up the morning—she stuffed some loose pages and a pencil in her reticule and took it with her on her morning ramble.
But Mr. Darcy did not show up anywhere.
Not in the avenue of cherry trees.
Or in the chestnut copse.
Or anywhere else.
Feeling defeated, Elizabeth finally returned to the parsonage after some hours. And there she almost collided with Maria Lucas on her way inside.
“Goodness, Lizzy! Will you watch where you are going?”
“Oh!”
Elizabeth clutched a hand to her chest.
“Maria! Is that Eliza?” Charlotte’s voice rang out from within the morning parlour.
“Yes, it is!” Maria answered back. And then she stepped around Elizabeth. “Who were you talking to yesterday night?”
Elizabeth froze, and then quickly fixed a quizzical look on the girl. “Talking?”
“Yes,” Maria said, a small frown appearing on her lips. “I heard you speaking to someone for quite a while. I thought it was Charlotte, but she said it was not.”
“Oh…”
“Eliza! Can you come in here for a moment before you go upstairs?” Charlotte’s voice rang out again from the parlour.
“Yes!” she called back. Then she looked at Maria. “I do not know what you mean. Perhaps you were dreaming.”
Maria raised an eyebrow that reminded Elizabeth of her second-youngest sister, Kitty, before she walked out of the gate. Elizabeth shrugged and entered the parlour.
“There you are, Eliza,” Charlotte said, smiling at her. “Would you like to have some tea?”
“Yes, that would be lovely,” she said, setting her reticule aside before taking a seat near the windows.
The day was coming along quite pleasantly with warm sunlight painting the view outside a soft pastel green. Charlotte settled down beside her.
“Did you enjoy your walk?”
Elizabeth took the teacup from her friend with a smile.
“Yes, I did. Though I apologize for missing breakfast. The paths here are so beautiful, I could not bear coming back any sooner.”
Charlotte smiled at her and then sipped her tea.
“I am glad to hear that. I was worried you would find our life in Hunsford unvaried and dull.”
“Not at all, my dear Charlotte,” Elizabeth said, and grinned. “If anything, I am glad to escape all three hours of Mary practising her piano every morning.”
Charlotte laughed.
The two friends spoke of mundane things for a while and all the developments in Meryton since Charlotte’s departure from her childhood home. All the things they had not had a chance to talk about until then. But soon, the conversation turned elsewhere.
“Well, Eliza, you must know I want to talk about what happened yesterday at Rosings.”
Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. Did she mean Lady Catherine’s unrelenting verbal assault on everyone?
“Of course.”
“I do not wish there to be any ill feelings between us because of anything Lady Catherine may have said.”
Elizabeth grimaced.
“Charlotte, there are no ill feelings between us. And I spoke truly. You have done the station of Mrs. Collins far more good than I ever could have. Everything here is so beautiful and well-managed.”
“Oh Eliza, that is very kind of you to say!”
Charlotte drew her into an impulsive hug. Elizabeth hugged her back, surprised.
“I was worried you were offended by what Mr. Collins said yesterday at dinner,” Charlotte continued once they pulled apart. “You do not usually stay outside for so long, so I was wondering if it was because you wished to avoid him.”
An incredulous—and slightly strained—laugh burst out of Elizabeth. If only they knew!
“Dear Charlotte, forgive me for saying this about your husband, but you know how much I love absurdity. It would take a lot more than what Mr. Collins said yesterday for me to be offended by him.”
Then she grew sober.
“I just hope Mr. Collins has not been giving you a hard time.” She searched Charlotte’s face. “I was more offended by how he and Lady Catherine were speaking of the circumstances around his marriage while you were right across the table!”
Charlotte rolled her eyes.
“Eliza, you know I am not a romantic. I wanted my own home and now I have one. And Mr. Collins is harmless.”
She laughed seeing the skeptical look on Elizabeth’s face.
“No, truly! I shall tell you my secret to a happy marriage,” she added. “I just give Mr. Collins more things to talk about and nod my head whenever he looks my way.”
Elizabeth burst out into true laughter, and then covered her mouth with a hand.
“Oh, Charlotte! I have to be honest with you,” she said. “I was in despair since your wedding day. But now I shall set it aside and trust your superior wisdom.”
“You must, Eliza, you absolutely must!” Charlotte said with a grin. Then she added, “And you may call Mr. Collins as absurd as you wish when it is just the two of us.”
“I shall hold you to it.”