Page 15 of Mr. Darcy and the Mysterious “Miss B”

Elizabeth

E lizabeth’s hands shook as she stepped into the hallway, fury coursing through her veins. The drawing room door had closed behind Bingley with an ominous finality, and she had heard enough through the keyhole to understand exactly what had transpired.

“Mr Darcy!” She called his name like a battle cry.

He emerged from the study, eyebrows raised. “Miss Elizabeth.”

“Let us not trifle with formalities, you are a meddlesome, arrogant—” She stopped herself before the worst of her words could escape. “How dare you?”

Darcy’s jaw tightened. “I beg your pardon?”

“You know precisely what I mean. Your interference in Jane’s affairs. Your poisoning of Mr Bingley’s mind against her.” Her voice rose with each word. “You had no right!”

“I had every right to inform my friend of the truth.”

“The truth?” Elizabeth’s laugh held no humour. “The truth is that Jane does not want to marry James Morton. She is doing it because she is a good woman who wants the best for her family. She is sacrificing her own happiness to save us all from ruin, and you—you interfere in the proceedings!”

“Charles deserves to know she is promised to another.”

“Promised!” Elizabeth stepped closer, her eyes blazing. “She is trapped. Trapped by circumstances beyond her control. Jane adores Mr Bingley—anyone could see it. And I suspect he feels the same, does he not?”

Darcy’s silence spoke volumes.

“Answer me,” Elizabeth demanded. “Does Mr Bingley care for Jane?”

“Yes,” he admitted through gritted teeth. “He does.”

“Then you have ruined everything!” She threw her hands in the air. “Everything! If Jane could have what she wanted, Mr Bingley would pursue courtship. They could be happy together. But no—you could not allow that, could you? You had to interfere with your suspicions and your judgements.”

“I was protecting him from—”

“From what? From a woman who would make him the happiest man in England?” Elizabeth’s voice cracked with emotion. “You saw what you wanted to see, Mr Darcy. You decided Jane was duplicitous because it suited your narrative.”

Darcy’s composure wavered. “I thought—”

“You thought wrong.” Elizabeth turned on her heel. “Now if you will excuse me, I must see to my sister.”

She found Jane in the drawing room, tears streaming down her pale cheeks. Georgiana sat beside her, offering a handkerchief with gentle murmurs of comfort.

“Jane.” Elizabeth rushed to her sister’s side. “We are leaving. Now. Can you manage the carriage?”

Jane nodded, though fresh tears fell. “I must.”

“Miss Bennet,” Georgiana protested. “You are not well enough—”

“We are quite well enough, thank you.” Elizabeth’s tone brooked no argument.

***

The journey to Longbourn proved torturous. Jane’s ankle throbbed with each bump in the road, but the pain in her heart proved far worse. She wept openly, no longer caring about propriety.

“He was going to ask to court me tonight,” she said through her tears. “He told me so himself, just before… before he learned about James.”

Elizabeth’s heart clenched. “What exactly did he say?”

“He said he had been hoping for private conversation all evening. That he wished to speak with Uncle Morton… about his intentions.” Jane’s voice broke.

“But then Mr Darcy and his company appeared with their poison. They convinced him I was only interested because the Bingleys are wealthier than the Mortons.”

“Surely he did not believe such nonsense.”

“I assured him I was not after his money. I told him wealth meant nothing to me compared to genuine affection.” Jane dabbed at her eyes. “He wanted to believe me, Lizzy. I could see it in his eyes.”

Elizabeth cursed under her breath. “And then?”

“Then he said he could not in good conscience pursue a woman who was promised to another. That it would not be honourable.” Jane’s shoulders shook with suppressed sobs. “He wished me well in my marriage to James and said he hoped he would make me happy.”

“The devil take Mr Darcy and his interference!”

“Do not blame him entirely, Lizzy. Miss Bingley was just as instrumental in this disaster. As was Mrs Hurst.” Jane leaned her head against the carriage window. “Perhaps it is for the best. I cannot escape my duty to the family.”

“Jane Bennet, do not you dare speak such nonsense. You deserve happiness, not martyrdom.”

By the time they reached Longbourn, Jane could manage nothing more than to be helped to her chamber. Elizabeth remained behind to face their mother’s questions.

“I thought you were to return in the morrow?” Mrs Bennet appeared in the hall. “How does Jane? Has Mr Bingley declared himself?”

Elizabeth’s countenance must have revealed everything, for her mother’s face fell immediately.

“What has happened?” Mrs Bennet demanded.

Elizabeth related the evening’s events, watching her mother’s face progress through shock, anger, and finally, fury.

“Mr Darcy did what?” Mrs Bennet’s voice rose to dangerous levels. “He interfered with Jane’s happiness? The presumptuous, nosy—”

“Mama, please. Jane needs quiet. She is heartbroken,” Elizabeth finished grimly.

Mrs Bennet paced the drawing room like a caged animal. “Something must be done. Jane cannot marry James Morton. She will be miserable for the rest of her life. Not now that she has had a glimpse of what might have been.”

“What choice do we have? If she does not marry him, we lose Longbourn.”

“There must be another way.” Mrs Bennet stopped her pacing. “Let me see to Jane first. We shall speak more when I return.”

Elizabeth sank into a chair as her mother disappeared upstairs. The weight of the evening pressed down upon her like a stone.

“Lizzy?” Mary appeared in the doorway, followed closely by Kitty.

“What happened at Netherfield?” Mary asked, settling herself on the sofa. “Mama looked ready to commit murder when she came upstairs.”

“And she was muttering about Mr Darcy,” Kitty added, perching on the arm of Mary’s chair. “Something about him being a meddlesome interferer.”

Elizabeth rubbed her temples. “Mr Darcy told Mr Bingley about Jane’s arrangement with James Morton. Mr Bingley has withdrawn his attentions as a result.”

“What?” Kitty gasped. “But Jane was so happy! She thought—we all thought—”

“We thought wrong, it seems.” Elizabeth’s voice came out flat with exhaustion.

“That is dreadful!” Mary’s usually composed demeanour cracked. “Poor Jane. She has been through so much already, and now this.”

Before Elizabeth could respond, Lydia burst into the room, her face flushed with indignation.

“I heard what that odious man did!” she declared, throwing herself dramatically onto the remaining chair. “Mama told me everything. How dare Mr Darcy ruin Jane’s chance at happiness? What right had he to interfere?”

“Lydia, please keep your voice down. Jane needs rest.”

“I do not care! He presented himself as an honourable man and now this? It was all a charade from the beginning.” Lydia’s eyes blazed with fury. “Someone must ring a right peel over his head.”

“I already did,” Elizabeth said.

“Good! I hope you told him exactly what you thought of his meddling ways.”

Mary leaned forward. “But surely Mr Bingley will come to his senses? If he truly cares for Jane—”

“He does care for her,” Elizabeth confirmed. “But Miss Bingley convinced him that Jane was only interested in his wealth, not his person. And once he learned of the arrangement with James, he felt he could not honourably pursue her.”

“Honourably?” Lydia snorted. “What is honourable about abandoning someone you care for based on gossip?”

“He does not see it as abandonment,” Elizabeth explained wearily. “He sees it as respecting her prior commitment.”

The sisters fell silent, each lost in their own thoughts about the disaster that had befallen their family’s hopes.

Mrs Bennet’s footsteps on the stairs announced her return, and she appeared in the doorway, arms crossed.

“Jane is resting, though she is still quite upset,” she reported. “But I have been thinking, and I may have a solution to our immediate difficulties.”

“What sort of solution?” Elizabeth asked warily.

“Your aunt and uncle Gardiner have written yesterday,” Mrs Bennet announced, producing a letter from her pocket. “They have invited us all to London for extended visits. I had quite forgotten to mention it.”

Elizabeth looked at her youngest sisters in surprise. “London?”

“They wrote asking for extended visits,” Lydia explained, suddenly brightening at the prospect. “Aunt Gardiner thinks the change of scene would do us good after… after Papa’s death.”

“You should all go,” Mrs Bennet decided. “Jane needs quiet to recover, and the rest of you could benefit from time away from this dreadful business.”

“What about Jane?”

“Once she is better, I will bring her with me when we join you. This will allow for some calm here and take all your minds of off all of this.” Mrs Bennet’s eyes held a determined glint that Elizabeth recognised with trepidation.

The day had been too much—Jane’s heartbreak, Darcy’s interference, the collapse of all their hopes.

“Very well,” she said at last. “But I will not leave Jane alone for long.”

“Of course not, my dear. Family must stick together in times like these. A fortnight perhaps and we will follow.”

As Elizabeth climbed the stairs to check on Jane, she could not shake the feeling that her mother was already plotting something. Mrs Bennet never accepted defeat gracefully, and Elizabeth suspected this situation would prove no different.

But for now, Jane needed her. Everything else would have to wait until morning.