Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Following the New Year celebration, the party at Pemberley planned to head south toward London and Hertfordshire.
The Matlocks needed to return to London to prepare for the upcoming session of Parliament and, of course, the London Season.
Likewise, the Gardiners needed to return home to their business, while the Bingleys were to return to Netherfield.
Bingley had discussed several options for estates with both Darcy and Lord Matlock over the course of the last week.
He knew he needed to remove himself and his wife from Netherfield, but they did need to return first to prepare to leave the home permanently once the lease was up.
For now, Bingley was considering staying in London or perhaps Bath.
On the day before they all departed, Jane and Elizabeth spoke one more time. Jane sought out her sister after she had met with Mrs. Reynolds that morning, and reluctantly, Elizabeth led her to the mistress’s study.
“When will you come to visit at Netherfield, Lizzy?” Jane asked. “Mama and Papa would like to see you, and you should come before Lydia’s trip to Ireland.”
“I am not, Jane,” Elizabeth stated calmly.
“I have no intention of ever stepping foot in Hertfordshire again, and my husband agrees. I intend to invite Mary if I can, and perhaps even Kitty, but I will not visit Longbourn or even Netherfield again. I will not go where I am regularly insulted. Nor do I believe I would be welcome in Longbourn, and I am not willing to risk my health or safety by attempting to do so.”
“But Lizzy …” Jane tried.
Elizabeth immediately interrupted. “No, Jane, there is nothing you can say that will make me subject myself to that home or that neighbourhood ever again.”
“Elizabeth!” Jane cried. “How can you be so unfeeling?”
“Seriously, Jane, you can call me unfeeling? At no point have you attempted to see or understand this from my point of view, nor are you willing to silence those who would continue to accuse me and my husband of vile behaviour. You believe these things of me, so, please, explain why I would even want to visit with you again after this … this … betrayal,” Elizabeth demanded.
“You accuse me of betrayal?” Jane cried.
Elizabeth looked at her, stunned. “In what way have I betrayed you, Jane? Is that not your implication?”
“I simply do not understand how you could have married Mr. Darcy after all that he has said and done,” Jane began.
“You hated him for so long. I know I am prettier than you; Mama has always said so. But you knew that by marrying him, you would finally be higher than me, and once you saw his estate, you decided to capture him for yourself. You just could not let me be happy with Charles; you had to do better than me by marrying the man you always hated. Mama and Caroline both said you must have tempted him beyond reason to make a marriage necessary.”
“We have spoken of this so many times, Jane. I told you when I returned from Kent all that had happened there, and I even spoke with you of how my opinion of him had changed,” Elizabeth said.
“And can you not see our happiness now? I married William because I grew to love him, not out of any misplaced idea about status or wealth. How can you even think that of me? Do you not remember when my husband threw Miss Bingley from our home in London after she imposed upon us? Do you recall what my husband said then?”
“Mama and Caroline Bingley have both said … “Jane started.
Elizabeth slashed her hand through the air, cutting Jane off before she could speak.
“You believed Caroline Bingley over me? Mrs. Bennet over me? We were not only sisters but friends our entire lives; you have known me since infancy. But you prefer to listen to a jealous shrew and a woman who has hated me since we met over your own sister? I cannot believe this of you, Jane; I truly thought you thought better of me than this. Do you truly believe that I would demean myself to trap a man I disliked into a marriage? We have often spoken of our intention to marry only for love. It matters not that he was wealthy or that marriage to him would put me ‘higher’ than you. I never considered any of that when I accepted William’s proposal.
I accepted because I realised I loved him and did not wish to live without him. ”
“You were jealous when you learned Charles would return to Meryton for me,” Jane insisted. “You went to Mr. Darcy’s room in the night and forced him to marry you; Caroline told me she saw you.”
“Everyone in the house that night saw Caroline being sent away after she attempted to do what she and you accuse me of,” Elizabeth stated forcefully.
“I can find a dozen witnesses to counter what Miss Bingley has said to you. I do not understand why, after the mean way she treated you in London last winter, you would take her word over mine in anything. And by the way, we were already engaged when she attempted that.”
Elizabeth took in a deep breath before continuing. “It is a good thing that everyone is leaving tomorrow. Otherwise, I would be tempted to throw you from our home right now. I think it is best if you develop a headache tonight and do not come to dinner.”
“You would truly exclude me from a family dinner? On the last night of our stay?” Jane asked, incredulous.
“You have chosen to trust Caroline Bingley’s and Mrs. Bennet’s words over mine,” Elizabeth said, her voice quiet and tense.
“If you truly believe so ill of me, I cannot imagine you wanting to be in my company any more than you must. Please leave this room now.” She stood and held open the door, allowing her guest to leave ahead of her.
As soon as the door was shut, she used the side door that led directly into the master’s study. She saw William sitting at his desk, obviously tense, but in front of him sat Charles, who looked nearly as shocked as Elizabeth felt after the confrontation.
Elizabeth winced. “How much could you hear?” she asked the gentlemen.
“Enough,” Charles said. “We were leaving in the morning, but I will see about leaving earlier. Neither Jane nor I will be down for dinner; my wife and I need to speak.”
“I am sorry, Charles, I did not know you were in here,” Elizabeth apologised. “I brought Jane to my study because I intended for William to hear what I knew would be yet another confrontation, but I did not consider that anyone else might be here with him.”
“It is fine, Elizabeth,” Charles told her.
“It is probably best that I heard what she had to say. Obviously, banishment has not stopped Caroline’s tongue or pen, and being in continued proximity to Longbourn is not good for Jane either.
I apologise on her behalf, although I know that is nowhere near enough.
Perhaps, in time, Jane can be made to see reason. ”
“I do hope so, Charles, for your sake, but there will be no visits between our homes as long as your wife holds mine in such contempt as she has demonstrated here,” William said solemnly.
“I hope to see you at the club when we are in town, but you must know that my wife is my priority.” At a nod from Elizabeth, he shared their news. “Plus, we have our child to think of.”
Charles looked between the two. “A child? Truly?”
Elizabeth smiled serenely. “Yes, we believe that he or she will come in June. We have only told a select few, and, as you can imagine, Jane is unaware of my condition. And for those inclined to count, that is more than nine months after our wedding, so we hope that those who choose to believe the worst of, well, mostly me.” The last came out as bitter as Elizabeth felt about the topic.
“Elizabeth,” William said gently, pulling his wife into his arms. “Some will always choose to believe the worst, but we cannot dwell on that.”
She sighed. “I do know that, William, I do, but my sister, who I thought was my best friend, has chosen to believe that I have married you for mercenary reasons and believes I did so deliberately to raise my status above hers. She has chosen to believe a bitter shrew who has been denied her prize, you, and a woman who has always hated me and constantly belittled me my entire life over me, whom she always claimed such a great affection for. Her choosing to believe this of me is a far worse betrayal than what Miss Bingley or Mrs. Bennet have done. It will take me some time to grieve for what I have lost there.”
“I do understand your feelings, my love,” he whispered in her ear.
“Congratulations, Darcy, Elizabeth,” Charles said.
“I will keep this news to myself and not let Jane nor the residents of Longbourn know. I will go to my wife now and see if there is any sense to be found and if she will believe my story of your engagement and the events that followed once we arrived at Pemberley this past summer. We will leave early tomorrow morning, so please do not worry about seeing us off. It would appear Jane does not deserve it anyway.”
“Thank you, Charles,” Elizabeth whispered.
She stood embraced in her husband’s arms until they heard the door click shut.
That sound was the catalyst for Elizabeth’s tears to finally begin, and she turned her face into William’s chest and cried.
After a moment, he scooped her up into his arms and sat down on the settee in front of the fire, bringing her down onto his lap with him.