Chapter 17 #2
Although she regarded her niece thoughtfully, Mrs Gardiner nodded.
Much to Elizabeth’s relief, she did not press her on what Jane might already have confided, at least for now.
“Very well, Lizzy. See what you can do and what help Jane needs, but do persuade her to at least see a physician. It is better to nip these things in the bud quickly, lest they turn into a serious decline.”
That was a frightening thought indeed, especially as Elizabeth was conscious that Jane’s present state of imperfect wellbeing was of longer standing than their aunt realised.
Though she went back into the bedroom with her fears weighing on her heart like a lead weight, Elizabeth did her best to smile soothingly at her sister.
It would not do to make Jane feel any worse than she already did.
Jane smiled back, but only weakly. “I told Aunt Gardiner not to worry about me. I am only so very tired,” she said.
“To be so tired is a sign of ill-health,” replied Elizabeth, sitting down on the edge of the bed and smoothing Jane’s pillow. “Aunt Gardiner wishes you to see the physician, and she may be right.”
Jane shook her head listlessly. “There is no point, Lizzy. I do not know what is wrong with me, but it is nothing that a physician or apothecary can fix, I suspect.”
“If you are still so tired tomorrow, may we call the physician?” Elizabeth pressed, even while supposing that Jane’s assessment of her own condition was correct. “It would be best, Jane, and it might set Aunt Gardiners’s mind to rest. She is worried about you now, and so am I.”
Jane closed her eyes, her expression unhappy. “I do not want to cause anyone bother or distress,” she sighed. “You must do as you think best, Lizzy. I cannot understand what ails me, never mind how to fix it.”
Elizabeth kissed Jane’s forehead and rose to her feet. “Aunt asked me about Lord Grantchester,” she warned her sister. “She has noticed his absence this week. What would you have me say?”
The question seemed to make Jane more miserable and indecisive than ever. At last, she opened her eyes and looked back at Elizabeth. “I wrote back to him, Lizzy,” she admitted softly. “It took me almost three days, and for such a short message. The letter was sent yesterday.”
“What did you say?” Elizabeth asked, but Jane had already closed her eyes and turned her face away on the pillow.
It was only too clear that Jane did not wish to, or perhaps could not bear to answer. Though practicality might have suggested demanding an answer, her sister was too weak and dispirited to be pressed. Elizabeth decided to pursue the matter later.
All the same, she would have given a great deal to read that letter. Jane had replied to Lord Grantchester, and it had been a short message, but what had she said?
∞∞∞
Elizabeth paced the upper landing at Gracechurch Street. Jane had now been in bed for two full days, and Mr and Mrs Gardiner had called in their physician, Dr Groves, regardless of Jane’s protestations that she was only tired and would be well again soon.
In their letters back to Longbourn this week, Elizabeth and her aunt had both felt bound to mention Jane’s indisposition. Still, Elizabeth had taken care not to raise any unnecessary alarm and had stated a confidence that Jane would rally again soon that she did not really feel.
Would it be better for Jane to remain in London in hope of a reconciliation with Lord Grantchester, or to remove herself from either hoping or stumbling into distressing chance meetings?
At this stage, it was hard to tell. Once the engagement’s break was publicly known, Jane would likely be better in the countryside, but for now, Elizabeth supposed Jane saw such removal as too drastic a step.
Dr Groves was presently in the bedroom examining Jane, accompanied by their aunt.
Elizabeth had been sharing a bedroom with her eldest niece so that Jane need not be disturbed.
Though the examination did not last long, it seemed like hours before the portly old man emerged from the room, black bag in hand and deep in conversation with Mrs Gardiner.
Their grave faces struck fresh fear into Elizabeth’s heart.
“How is my sister?” Elizabeth asked immediately. “Do you know what is wrong?”
Dr Groves looked sympathetically at Elizabeth and smiled.
“I do not believe there is anything wrong with Miss Bennet in body. It is a tiredness of spirit that ails her and communicates itself to the world through corporeal means. As I was just telling Mrs Gardiner, my recommendation is that your sister should have clean air, wholesome food, and no excitement for some weeks.”
“I do think it best if Jane returns to Longbourn,” Mrs Gardiner put in regretfully. “It is not that it is any inconvenience to nurse her here in Gracechurch Street, but the air is cleaner and the atmosphere more peaceful in Hertfordshire.”
“Yes, do persuade your niece, Mrs Gardiner. The countryside would be much better for her at present, however much she protests.”
“We will work on her, won’t we, Lizzy?” replied Mrs Gardiner, with a glance to Elizabeth. “I think the main problem is that her betrothed remains in London.”
“Ah,” Dr Groves acknowledged with a knowing smile. “I see how it is. Yes, do persuade Miss Bennet to remove herself, even if her young man remains here. A few weeks or months apart is a small price to pay for good health.”
“It is. Do you think Lord Grantchester could be convinced to go back to Hertfordshire before the end of the Season, Lizzy? That might make it easier to bring Jane around, might it not?”
“Lord Grantchester has many social commitments,” Elizabeth demurred, not meeting her aunt’s eye. “It would be hard for him to leave right now. I do not think a brief separation should make any real difference right now.”
“Ah well, it was only a thought. Thank you, Dr Groves. We will take your advice, and hopefully my niece will let herself be persuaded. Now, may I offer you some tea before you leave? Edward passes on his regards, by the way, and bids me tell you he is doing well and minding his diet…”
Mrs Gardiner and Dr Groves descended the stairs together, slipping into a discussion of an attack of indigestion suffered by Mr Gardiner after a surfeit of veal last year.
As their voices trailed away, Elizabeth slipped into Jane’s bedroom, alarmed to find her sister weeping silently into her pillow.
“Jane, what is the matter? Dr Groves told me that he could find nothing wrong with you that could not be remedied by a change of scenery and air.”
“Dr Groves and Aunt Gardiner want me to leave London, but I cannot. I don’t know why, but I feel my heart will break if I go.”
“Because of Lord Grantchester?” Elizabeth suggested sympathetically, but Jane only wept harder.
“No, not at all. Lord Grantchester does not matter now. He cannot matter. I do not want to tell Mother everything that has happened, but I will have to, and I know she will be so angry.”
“I will do it,” Elizabeth declared. “Tell me what I should say, and Mother may rail at me instead of you. I will not even let her into the bedroom until you are well again.”
Jane was unconsoled by this offer and seemed unusually fretful and impulsive. “I don’t know why, but I must stay in London, Lizzy. You must help me stay. Do speak to Aunt Gardiner and tell her there is no need to send me home.”
“I do not know, Jane,” Elizabeth replied, unable to mask her doubt. “I am inclined to agree that it might be best, even if only for a short time. When your health improves, you could come back again.”
“I do not think my health will improve if I leave now,” Jane returned dully. “I do not know why any of this is happening or how to stop it.”
Even in the depths of her concern for Jane, Elizabeth could not help but think with renewed fury of Mr Darcy.
He was the reason that Lord Grantchester was seeking to break his engagement and why Jane was now so ill with worry and unhappiness.
It was all his fault, and she wished she could charge him with his wrongdoings to his face.
However, that had not done any good on previous occasions, had it? It might only prompt Mr Darcy to propose to her more definitely next time. That was not to be borne. The very thought of it caused butterflies in her stomach and a rushing of her blood.
“Are you very angry with me?” Jane asked timidly. “Your face looks so fierce all of a sudden, Lizzy.”
Immediately changing her expression, Elizabeth shook her head. She could not share any of her present inner thoughts with her sister, or anyone else. “I am not angry at you at all, Jane, although I admit I am furious at certain other people.”
“Do not blame Lord Grantchester,” Jane urged, leaping to the conclusion that he was the object of Elizabeth’s ire. “He has not done anything so very wrong, you know. You have seen his letter. He believes he is acting for the best.”
“I will try, for your sake,” Elizabeth promised.
∞∞∞
“You have a letter, Lizzy,” Mrs Gardiner called from the drawing room as Elizabeth returned from a walk in a nearby park the following morning. “It is in the hall.”
Thanking her aunt, Elizabeth went to the tray on the sideboard and smiled with pleasure to see Charlotte’s handwriting.
A nice, cosy letter from a good friend was just what she needed to distract her mind from Jane’s present difficulties, and Elizabeth hoped it would contain plenty of entertaining news and gossip.
She broke the seal and began reading the letter as she walked through to join Mrs Gardiner.
“Oh, my!” Elizabeth gasped almost as soon as she entered the room. She sank into the nearest chair, lightheaded with shock at what she had read.
“What is it, Lizzy?” asked Mrs Gardiner, immediately jumping up and coming to her side, with another letter in her hand. “Is there bad news from Longbourn? Your mother mentions nothing of concern in her latest letter to me. What has happened?”