Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Mr Bingley and his party did not arrive before Elizabeth left with Mr and Miss Darcy, though they took possession of their cottage while Elizabeth and the others were gone.
By the time the sweet adventurers returned, having enjoyed tea, ices, candied ginger, and chocolate drops at the confectioner’s, the new family next door had begun to settle in somewhat.
Mr and Mrs Bennet were out in the lane when the Darcy carriage came to a stop in the crescent in front of the house.
Mr Bennet had found a well-used perambulator for sale by a wealthy family who had no more need of it, and hired a goat from a local farmer to pull it while they were in Ramsgate.
Charlotte was delighted by the luxury, and they were supervising a hall boy who was leading the goat up and down the lane with young Lucas Bennet inside.
“Eliza, just look at the lovely surprise your father has found for young Lucas.” Charlotte gestured to the contraption.
“You would not believe what Mr Keen was asking for it, but we came to an agreement that was mutually beneficial to both parties.” Mr Bennet was obviously proud of his accomplishment and the pleasure it brought to his wife, and hopefully, his son.
“This is not unlike the one stored in Pemberley’s attics, that my parents used for Georgiana and me.” Mr Darcy admired the construction. “And well-kept too. Congratulations on your good fortune. May it bring you and young Master Bennet much enjoyment, Mrs Bennet.”
“Did you enjoy your outing, Eliza?” Charlotte was obviously interested to know if Darcy was pursuing Elizabeth in earnest, or was only attempting to make amends for the bad behaviour on the day of his arrival.
“It was quite the lark, as Lydia would say. Where are Kitty and Lydia?” Elizabeth said in response.
“They are in the back garden. Kitty is sketching the verdure, and Lydia has decided to try her hand at sketching fashions,” Mr Bennet answered. “She found some sketching books in the library that interested her.”
“Has Bingley arrived?” Darcy inquired, looking over the hedges towards the cottage next door.
“Not ten minutes after you departed. Their servants have finished unloading their carriages and wagon, but I am certain that they have much settling in to do.” Mrs Bennet nodded.
“I promised him I would introduce him to his closest neighbours at the earliest opportunity,” Darcy informed them. “I must go and greet him. His family will expect it. I will return in only a few moments, Georgiana.”
The Bennets and Georgiana watched the charming infant gurgling happily as the hall boy led the goat about for his amusement for no more than five minutes before Darcy returned with a well-favoured young gentleman with strawberry hair and blue eyes.
He was not as tall as Darcy, but not lacking in height himself.
It was apparent from the moment Elizabeth laid eyes upon him that he was a good-natured person.
Elizabeth wondered if he could possibly distract Jane from Mr Lovett.
While that gentleman had nothing obvious wrong with him, and Jane enjoyed his company, Elizabeth did not believe he inspired the degree of love and affection for which she hoped her sister would marry.
It was clear to Elizabeth that while Jane accepted the man’s attention, she also had her doubts, but was determined to give him a chance.
Darcy conducted the introductions, and the young man was as ebullient as he seemed. He praised the cottage he had let for his family, the garden, the lane, and its proximity to the market town and Darcy Cottage.
As pleasantries were exchanged, a striking lady with auburn hair that clashed badly with the colour of her coquelicot silk gown emerged from the garden next door and approached them.
“Caroline! How good of you to come out and be introduced to our closest neighbours!” Mr Bingley exclaimed, then introduced everyone to his sister, Miss Bingley.
“Charles, you cannot mean to force us to stay so far away from everything. If we could not go to Brighton, you ought to have reserved a townhouse on the terrace. This backwater cottage is quite insufficient for our needs and station. Everybody who is anybody will have a townhouse on the terrace,” Miss Bingley complained without greeting anyone but Mr and Miss Darcy, who she obviously found well worth addressing warmly.
“The Darcys have a cottage, do you not, my friend?” Bingley asked Darcy.
“My father purchased it for my mother as a wedding present, for she loved the seaside.” Darcy nodded. “Our family has spent many happy summer holidays there. It is not quite a mile from here.”
“I am quite certain that your cottage must be all that is elegant and charming, Mr Darcy, but this place is appalling!” Miss Bingley objected. “I cannot see how I am to entertain here, even if there is anyone in this barbaric military harbour worth knowing.”
Elizabeth and Charlotte regarded Miss Bingley with uncertainty, knowing instantly that she would not make a charming neighbour at all. Georgiana seemed to be doing her best to hide behind her brother.
Suddenly, there was a calamity from the far end of the lane. The party turned to see two phaetons racing toward them at great speed, the ladies in each holding on as if their lives depended upon it, and the gentlemen whipping their horses for even more speed.
Charlotte and Georgiana were close enough to the gate to be missed entirely.
Mr Bingley shoved his sister out of the way.
Charlotte was screaming for the safety of her son, and Mr Bennet was already rushing with all speed to the babe in the perambulator, scooping the child out as fast as he could as the hall boy dragged the contraption and the attached goat out of the lane.
The men pulled up their horses too quickly in front of the Bennet’s cottage.
The phaeton driven by Mr Painswick, and carrying Mary somehow managed to stop without turning over.
The phaeton driven by Mr Lovett and carrying Jane was not so lucky, nor was Elizabeth for being directly in its path.
Darcy dove in Elizabeth’s direction, pushing her out of the way, bringing them both to the ground… hard.
The force of their fall knocked the breath out of Elizabeth, and she landed so hard upon her back with Darcy atop of her that she saw stars.
The carriage had missed them by inches, and for a brief instant, she had been certain that she would be run down and killed.
When her vision cleared and as her breath slowly returned, she gazed up into Darcy’s eyes and saw terror and obvious relief in them.
She struggled to regain control of her panicked breathing as her heart pounded in her ears. There was a moment when the two of them could do nothing but stare into each other’s eyes as they accustomed themselves to the idea that they were both alive.
“Are you hurt?” Darcy rasped, pushing himself up and looking her over in a panic. “Elizabeth, please…tell me you are unharmed…do you need a physician?”
Blushing at his unintended familiarity, she took his hand and sat up in a daze. “I believe I am unharmed. Oh! Where is Jane?”
Spying the overturned phaeton which was twenty feet away, she struggled to her feet with Darcy’s help. “Jane! Oh, Jane…where is she? Is she all right? Mr Darcy, please help her!”
Darcy grasped both of her hands and thanked God aloud for her safety before turning away and joining the other men who were running to the overturned phaeton.
They were all shouting for Jane, who had been thrown into a hedge another ten feet away.
Thankfully, the hedge had broken her fall, and she seemed mostly unhurt.
Jane was sobbing in terror, as was Mary, who was being comforted by the Bennet’s gate by Georgiana.
Charlotte held her son, who had been thrust into her arms by Mr Bennet.
As she did her best to calm Mary, Charlotte also sobbed in terror for what could have happened to Lucas, and to all of the young ladies.
Darcy’s two grooms came running from his carriage and went to assist Mr Lovett’s horse as Kitty and Lydia emerged from the garden, drawn by the commotion.
“Are you both entirely mad?” Mr Bennet roared, dragging Mr Lovett away from his phaeton and shaking him vigorously. “What the devil were you about?”
“What possessed you?” Darcy roared as he dragged Mr Painswick over to Mr Bennet and Mr Lovett to be dealt with. “You call yourselves gentlemen? How dare you!”
“How could you be so reckless?” Charlotte cried, displaying all the wrath of a mother who has just seen not only her family but also her infant nearly killed.
“You could have killed my child! You endangered almost our entire family! Driving like lunatics with ladies in your contraptions, our daughters, whose safety you were entrusted with! Explain yourselves, sirs!”
Lucas wailed in her arms as she shouted at the men in a terrible rage. Kitty rushed to her and took the babe, disappearing into the house with Lydia to calm him in the nursery.
Elizabeth cared for nothing but Jane, who was now being supported towards the cottage by Mr Bingley.
“Jane! Jane, are you hurt?” she cried as she threw her arms around her sister, whose sobbing was beginning to subside.
“Miss Elizabeth, is this your sister?” Mr Bingley inquired as he led Jane to a soft patch of grass where she could sit for a moment and collect herself.
At Elizabeth’s nod and garbled introduction, he continued. “Miss Bennet, do you feel pain anywhere?”
Jane nodded and raised her left hand only to yelp in pain. Mr Bingley felt her wrist and her hand thoroughly.
“I am no physician, but it seems you have sprained your wrist at the very least, Miss Bennet,” he said. He then shouted, attempting to be heard over the noise of the others. “Miss Bennet needs a physician!”
Charlotte left off her enraged chastisement and rushed to Jane’s side. “Jane, can you walk into the house? Where are you hurt?”
“Her wrist is most certainly sprained, if not broken, Mrs Bennet.” Mr Bingley explained.
Georgiana called her brother’s grooms and began to give them orders. “You must go into town directly and fetch the physician for Miss Bennet at once!”
Darcy left the other men and approached. “Both of you go. Take the carriage. Bring the physician back with you. Harry, you find the physician. John, you find an ice house. Bring the physician and ice for Miss Bennet’s injury back with you.”
“And the magistrate!” Mr Bennet called from several feet away, where he still ranted and raved at the two young men. “This wilful recklessness cannot be overlooked!”
“Go to the home of the magistrate and inform him that he is needed at the Bennets’ cottage without delay,” Darcy instructed the Bennet’s hall boy, who tore off as if it were his own mother who was injured.
Elizabeth accompanied her sisters and Charlotte inside, where they assisted Jane in removing her clothes, checked her for unseen injuries, then dressed her in a nightgown and dressing gown, while doing their best not to cause pain to her injured arm.
The physician arrived not long before the magistrate.
Kitty and the nurse had calmed the babe.
Lydia and Georgiana were assisting Mary in her bedroom.
Elizabeth left Jane with Charlotte and the doctor and went downstairs to see what was happening outside.
Miss Bingley, who had said little to nothing during the ordeal, seemed to have returned to her cottage.
Mr Bennet was pacing back and forth in front of the gentlemen, still raving in fury. “My wife and I entrusted our daughters to your care. You have repaid us with a degree of stupidity that I would be reluctant to believe if more than half of my family had not nearly been killed by it.”
“We humbly beg your pardon, sir, but no real harm was done,” Mr Painswick objected.
“Indeed, these things happen when a gentleman is attempting to impress a lady,” Mr Lovett agreed.
Mr Bennet lunged at the men as Darcy restrained him.
Mr Bingley was incensed. “Miss Bennet was injured due to your abominable arrogance and recklessness!”
The magistrate arrived a moment later, and the matter was explained by the gentlemen present, all of whom would write a signed statement about what they had witnessed.
“Even if the ladies had not been obviously terrified and held in your carriages against their will at such speeds, such gross irresponsibility displays an abominable criminal negligence. At least six ladies and three gentlemen were endangered, to say nothing of the risk to an infant child. And injury to at least one lady, to say nothing of the risk of your horses.” The magistrate tutted in grave disappointment.
“You young bucks are not only disgraced, you are in trouble. I am sending for the constable, who will take you both into custody. You will be dealt with by the courts in Sandwich. The constable will transport you there on Saturday. We do not tolerate such recklessness in Ramsgate. There are too many visitors to allow such endangerment to the public.”
One of the magistrate’s servants was sent for the constable. The men were soon taken into his custody.
Mr Bennet returned to his house to see to the welfare of his family. Mr Bingley returned to his cottage, promising to call upon them the next morning to learn of Miss Bennet’s condition, while Darcy stole a moment alone with Elizabeth after handing his sister into his carriage.
“Are you certain you are unhurt?” His voice was deep and laced with concern.
“I am.” Elizabeth smiled shyly. “Thanks to you, sir.”
He took her hand, an intimate gesture that spoke volumes. “I do not believe that I will soon recover from seeing you come so close to harm.”
He shook his head in an obvious attempt to remove the images from his mind. “May we call upon you tomorrow? I will not assume you wish to leave your sister for sweets so soon after what happened.”
“You are very kind. A call would be most welcome.” She coloured, suddenly feeling quite shy.
He saw her to the door of the cottage, then boarded his carriage with his sister and left her.