Darcy and Elizabeth What If? Collection 1 (26 page)

‘Yes, Jane must not be forgotten,’ said Mr Darcy. ‘She is the innocent party in all this and she must not be harmed. I will do as you say.’ His voice fell. ‘Though I fear it will kill me.’

Georgiana’s visit did indeed prove a distraction, but not in the way that Mr Darcy had hoped, for although Georgiana liked Jane, it was Elizabeth who made his sister smile.

Georgiana had withdrawn into herself after their father’s death, and Jane’s naturally serene temperament did nothing to pull her out into the world. But Elizabeth’s livelier spirits tempted Georgiana to try things she would not have otherwise tried. Georgiana decided she wanted to learn how to drive the phaeton and Mr Darcy was pleased to teach her. Apart from anything else, it gave him a good excuse for avoiding Elizabeth.

There was another person who was glad to see Mr Darcy busying himself with the estate, or attending to his sister when he was not with Jane, and that was Mrs Gardiner.

She said as much, one day the following week, when she was walking in the garden with Elizabeth. They had gone outdoors to enjoy a fine day in the midst of two or three rainy days. It was pleasant weather but the air was starting to become cooler as summer was over and autumn was on its way.

Elizabeth had just remarked that she hoped to tease Mr Darcy out of his sombre moods and bemoaned the fact that he was, yet again, engaged on estate business. Mrs Gardiner said, gently but firmly, ‘I think he is wise to avoid you, Lizzy. I have been watching you recently and I have seen you overcome your initial dislike of Mr Darcy and start to develop feelings for him.’

‘Yes, aunt, I have. I begin to think he will make a good brother-in-law if only he can learn to enjoy himself again, and if he can be teased out of his impossibly high standards for those around him.’

‘That is not what I meant. I meant that I have seen you developing romantic feelings for him.’

‘Romantic feelings!’ exclaimed Elizabeth in amazement. ‘What nonsense, aunt! Mr Darcy is the last man in the world I would ever think of in that way, even if he were not engaged to Jane. Why, we argue as often as not when we see each other, even though I have been making an effort to not to rise to his challenges. And as for wanting to tease him, it is only because he needs it and because I think he will make a better husband if he is not always so proud and haughty.’

‘But a better husband for whom?’

‘Aunt, what can you mean?’ asked Elizabeth in horror.

‘Attraction comes in all guises. It is not always a matter of hearts and flowers,’ said Mrs Gardiner, pulling her shawl more closely around her shoulders. ‘There can be pleasure in sparring as well as in agreeable conversation. I do not say that you are in love with him, only that you are in some danger of it, and so I think you should avoid him wherever possible without it being noticed.’

Elizabeth protested, but Mrs Gardiner would not be talked out of her opinion and the subject was at last abandoned.

Walking alone in the garden when Mrs Gardiner had left her, Elizabeth thought over what her aunt had said. Was it true? Was she developing tender feelings for Mr Darcy? She thought about their stimulating arguments and their many disagreements, but she also thought about the times she had seen through the haughty exterior to the man beneath, and she realised he had awakened feelings in her she had never felt before.

As her aunt said, she was not in love with him. But, to her consternation, she realised that, in the future, such an outcome was not impossible. Their conversations were sparkling, their disagreements were stimulating, and their ability to speak of deeper things had created a bond between them. Mr Darcy’s position in life was one which she thought any woman would be lucky to share, and his family was one that any woman would be lucky to join, for Georgiana was loveable and Colonel Fitzwilliam was a man who commanded respect.

But those feelings could never be allowed to develop. Mr Darcy was betrothed to Jane.

Elizabeth felt a sense of relief that her aunt had warned her, so that she could pull back from the precipice that was at her feet, and of which she had been unaware.

To hurt Jane was unthinkable. And it was not just the pain it would cause Jane if such a thing came to pass, it was the ridicule and pity. She could not expose her beloved sister to any such fate.

And so she decided to follow her aunt’s advice and avoid Mr Darcy wherever possible.

The decision left her feeling low, and this lowness of spirits made her realise just how much Mr Darcy was coming to mean to her.

Colonel Fitzwilliam and Mrs Gardiner were as good as their words. They both helped to entertain Elizabeth, so that she was kept well away from Mr Darcy. To begin with, Elizabeth thought it was just the natural way the groups fell, but after a time she realised that Colonel Fitzwilliam, too, saw the danger.

As for Mr Darcy, he spoke barely two words to Elizabeth for the rest of her visit. If she entered a room, he waited for perhaps five minutes and then decided he had business elsewhere. Sometimes it was estate business that needed seeing to, sometimes he remembered that he had promised to show Mrs Gardiner a particularly interesting plant in the garden, or he invited Colonel Fitzwilliam to play billiards. And if he did not leave the room, then he attended to Jane or his sister, so that Elizabeth was – without being rude – ignored.

Elizabeth followed his lead. She felt her heart skip a beat whenever he entered the room, but she did not always put the responsibility of leaving on his shoulders. She, too, would invent excuses to be elsewhere. Sometimes she would invite her aunt to go for a walk, or she would ask Colonel Fitzwilliam to continue teaching her to drive the phaeton – something he had offered to do. Or she would busy herself with Georgiana, which was no hardship, as she was quickly becoming very attached to the lovely young lady, and they would play duets or sing together at the piano.

And so the rest of the visit passed. Elizabeth was surprised at how much she missed Mr Darcy’s company, but she hid her disappointment under a friendly and cheerful façade.

Mr Darcy, too, returned to the man he had been in the early part of the visit: haughty and aloof, but always polite and an excellent host. The warmer man Elizabeth had glimpsed underneath disappeared, never to emerge again.

So it was that Elizabeth was heartily glad when the visit was over, for it was placing a strain on her. Once she was back at Longbourn, and Mr Darcy was staying in a separate house at Netherfield Park, things would become much easier.

Or so she hoped.

The journey back to Longbourn was more sombre than the journey to Pemberley had been, partly because Mr Darcy escorted them and partly because each of the three ladies was lost in her own thoughts. Elizabeth made a conscious effort not to look at Mr Darcy, and spent most of the time looking out of the window.

Again, they travelled in one of Mr Darcy’s carriages, so that the journey was swift and comfortable. They stopped at regular intervals for refreshments, and to escape the confines of the carriage for an hour or two, and then they were on their way again.

Mrs Gardiner was to stay overnight at Longbourn, to break her journey, but then she was to continue on her way to London. She had been away from her family for many weeks and she was longing to see them all again.

As she neared home, Elizabeth’s thoughts went to the house it had used to be, when her parents were still alive. Her arrivals, then, had been marked by a lot of fussing on the part of her mother – who always enquired if she had met any interesting gentlemen – and quieter, but genuine interest, from her father.

At the thought of him, Elizabeth’s eyes filled with tears. It was almost a year since her parents had been taken from her and she missed them. She loved her aunts and uncles, but they could not take the place of her parents. She felt how comforting it would have been to find them still at home, familiar and welcoming, instead of returning to a house without them.

The carriage turned in at the drive and Elizabeth collected her thoughts as the carriage rolled to a halt.

Four faces peered out of the window: her three sisters and her aunt Philips.

Elizabeth smiled. Things might not be what they once had been, but it was still good to be home.

Mr Darcy’s footman climbed down from the box at the front of the carriage and opened the carriage door. He unfolded the step that had been stored inside the carriage so that they could descend in comfort, and Mr Darcy climbed out. He handed each lady out of the carriage in turn then took his leave of them so that he could travel on to Netherfield Park to stay with Mr Bingley.

Elizabeth felt relieved when he climbed back into the carriage and it rolled away. It had been hard to be so close to him and yet to have to ignore him, when she had wanted to talk to him on any number of engaging topics. But she had done her duty and now she could relax.

She had no time for further thoughts about any subject, for the front door flew open and Lydia hurtled out.

‘We were not expecting you for another hour!’ cried Lydia, running towards them.

She took Elizabeth’s arm, then Jane’s arm, and steered both her sisters towards the door.

‘In point of fact, the journey could have been completed in less time and our sisters could have reached Longbourn two hours ago,’ said Mary.

‘Did you buy any bonnets?’ asked Kitty, as she trailed in Lydia’s wake.

Talking and laughing, the party went into the house.

The three travellers refreshed themselves in their rooms after their journey, then joined the others in the sitting-room for tea. After several cups of tea and freshly baked cakes, during which time Jane told them all about Mr Darcy and Pemberley, they all retired to the sofas in the drawing-room.

‘We have been having such a time since you left!’ said Lydia. ‘To begin with, we had lottery tickets nearly every night at aunt Philips’s house. But then, what do you think? The new tenant for Netherfield Park arrived. His name is Mr Bingley and I am sure he will marry me by and by. He danced with me at the Meryton assembly and he promised to give a ball in my honour.’

‘Only because you teased him until you embarrassed him into saying yes,’ said Kitty petulantly.

‘The ball is not to be held in your honour,’ said Mary. ‘It is to celebrate his arrival in Meryton.’

‘Oh, la!’ said Lydia impatiently. ‘I am sure he will open the dancing with me, and my Aunt Philips is certain he will propose before Christmas. We will be meeting him again at the Lucases the day after tomorrow. They have invited us to supper with dancing afterwards, and Mr Bingley will be there, too.’

‘He has two very fine sisters,’ said Kitty. ‘They both wear silk gowns in the daytime. I have seen them!’

‘Such finery is unnecessary in a small village,’ said Mary prosily.

‘Oh, Mary!’ said Lydia.

Then she launched into an account of all the Meryton news, and did not stop until every detail of the last few weeks had been told.

‘I am looking forward to meeting Mr Bingley,’ said Jane to Elizabeth that night, when the two sisters were finally dressing for bed. ‘I have heard so much about him. I hope he likes me.’

‘How could he not?’ asked Elizabeth, giving her sister a hug.

Jane returned the hug.

‘As he is Mr Darcy’s particular friend, I mean to get to know him, for I am sure that he and his sisters will be frequent visitors at Pemberley.’

‘If Lydia has her way, he will soon be your brother-in-law!’ said Elizabeth with a laugh.

Jane smiled, too.

‘Lydia is very young; too young to be thinking of marriage. But I am glad her spirits have returned to their usual boisterous level. There was a time when I thought they would never recover.’

The two young ladies were silent for a moment.

Then Elizabeth said, ‘What do you think of this news that the militia are now stationed in Meryton? When Lydia was not talking about Mr Bingley, she was talking about Mr Denny and his friend, Mr Wickham.’

‘I think it will be good to have some new gentlemen in the town,’ said Jane. ‘But I hope Lydia will heed our advice about not becoming too familiar with them, too soon.’

‘I fear it is already too late for that. But you need not worry, Jane. I will watch over Lydia and make sure she does nothing to disgrace you.’

‘I was thinking of Lydia’s happiness and not mine,’ said Jane.

‘I know,’ said Elizabeth, giving her another hug. ‘And that is what makes you so special, dear Jane. You are always thinking of others and never thinking of yourself.’

‘I am not alone in that,’ said Jane. ‘You have spent most of your time in recent weeks helping Georgiana and entertaining Colonel Fitzwilliam, so that I might spend more time with Mr Darcy.’

‘Oh, that is nothing,’ said Elizabeth. She changed the subject. ‘I am looking forward to seeing Charlotte again.’

‘So am I,’ said Jane.

Charlotte Lucas was their greatest friend in Meryton. Although she was a few years older than Jane and Elizabeth, the three young ladies were very close, and everything that happened in Meryton was always talked over between them.

‘We will hear a much more rational account of everything that has happened in our absence from Charlotte,’ said Elizabeth. ‘There will be more talk of the characters of our new neighbours, and less talk of balls and red coats!’