Chapter 12

Elizabeth arrived outside Longbourn after having changed her mind on the way to Brambling Hall. Stopping for very long had not been in her plans, but there was nothing for it if she wished to be rid of the odd couple from the inn.

The sudden sight of her girlhood home caused her to weep after her ordeal at Rosings. The driver stopped and the footman walked with her to the front door of Longbourn. She knocked, but there was no answer. She waited and tried again. Hill came, her hair flying about, disheveled in a manner Elizabeth had never seen in all her life. “Hill, what has happened?”

“Miss Elizabeth, your family is at Netherfield. They have not been home since the night of the ball.”

Elizabeth did not wait to hear more and hurried to her post-chaise. “We shall stop at Netherfield before going on to London.”

The driver followed her direction and soon they came to the circular drive of Netherfield Park. Jane was on the terrace when she arrived and Elizabeth could see her sister was not well. The babe! Of course, with the Bennets at Netherfield and her own morning illness, coupled with her worry for Elizabeth, Jane was likely overwhelmed by it all.

Elizabeth ran to her across the gardens and up the great stone steps. “Jane, dear, why are you out here alone?”

Jane grabbed her sister and held her tightly, the tears flowing freely at the miracle of her arrival. It was moments before she could speak. “It seems to be the only place in all this grand estate to have a moment to myself, lately. But Lizzy, how have you come to be home in Hertfordshire? Charles sent for the Darcys to save you from those horrible people in Kent, yet you are alone.”

Elizabeth helped Jane inside and sat her by the fireplace in the parlor. “I escaped with the assistance of one Miss Anne de Bough of Rosings Park. I rode here through the night, meeting a very strange couple who claim to know the Darcys. I shall not stay, for I must be off to Brambling Hall. I do not think Mr. Collins would travel so far to find me.”

Jane nodded and wrapped her arms around her favorite sister once more. “When I received your letter, I wanted to come save you but Charles wouldn’t have it. Blasted man! He did send an express to the Darcys. I am surprised you did not see them at Rosings.”

Elizabeth shook her head. “There was no time to wait, Jane. And I could not be certain you would receive my letter. Lady Catherine decided we were to marry in her parlor last evening after Miss Anne tried sending an express to London.”

Elizabeth trembled at the memory and sent for tea. “Thank goodness for Charles’s good sense to keep you here. You are in no shape to travel my dear. You look terrible, though it pains me to say. How is the babe?”

Jane sighed and accepted her tea from the maid. “Tis not the babe,” she said, her hand lovingly upon her middle, “tis our family upstairs. I fear they will never go home, Lizzy. I cannot bear to think of it.”

Elizabeth frowned, hoping Jane did not mean to say their family was now living at Netherfield. “How has this come to be Jane?”

“Father fell ill the night you were taken away and mother will not leave his side, of course, not to mention her own maladies that change and worsen daily.”

Elizabeth placed a gloved hand over her mouth and shook her head. Tears formed in her eyes. Her father must have regretted his decision to have her removed to Rosings.

Jane poured her sister a cup of tea. “You must not be afraid here, Lizzy. Drink this for courage. Charles and I will return to Brambling soon, you must wait and go with us.”

Elizabeth sipped her tea, the familiar note of one of her father’s favorite wines meeting her lips instead. Jane did indeed wish her courage. “I cannot stay Jane. I would be too angry with father and mother, though they could not have known the horrible man they meant for me to marry.”

Jane moved closer to Elizabeth and tried to reason with her, the roads were not safe for a young woman alone, she must stay.

But Elizabeth had been freed when Miss de Bourgh slipped that purse into her hand. “No Jane, I must not wait here. My presence would alarm mother and she will declare to father I must return at once to our cousin.”

Elizabeth stood and walked quietly to the parlor door. “I am safe now, Jane. I shall take a carriage from Netherfield with a footman and driver, and perhaps a young maid.”

Elizabeth slipped into the hall and bade the butler to ready a carriage without alerting her family of her presence. She stepped outside and spoke to the driver of the post-chaise and thanked him for his effort. She watched the conveyance disappear from the drive and turned to step back inside to visit with Jane as long as she might.

In less than a half hour, she was ready to leave Netherfield with the trusted driver and footman, and one maid by the name of Eleanor. A generous basket of food was supplied by the Cook.

Elizabeth was pleased to find her sister truly well, except for the events their family had caused beginning the night of the ball. Jane stood with her before the waiting carriage and promised she and Charles would be home as soon as they might. Jane wished to welcome their first child at Brambling.

The conveyance pulled away from Netherfield and Elizabeth was relieved to have left without seeing the rest of her family. Had they been in residence at Longbourn, she might have made her mother and father know the character of Mr. Collins. As they were now, her presence would only make a terrible situation worse for her dear Jane.

George Wickham and Sally Younge wandered about town after a meager lunch. He spied the post-chaise that had carried them last evening. Leaving Miss Younge standing before a milliner’s shoppe, he approached the driver and tipped his hat to the young man.

“I say, is this not the same conveyance we rode in with Miss Bennet last evening?”

The driver nodded and turned away to ready himself for the next couple climbing into the post-chaise.

Wickham had to find whether the young lady had remained or taken another carriage on her way to Derbyshire. “Sir, has the young woman hired another carriage to take her where she wishes to go?”

The footman passed by and upon hearing the question, stopped and offered his remarks upon the situation. “The young lady you met last evening has made arrangements at Netherfield Park to continue her trip to Derbyshire.”

George Wickham thanked the men and found the road that led away from Meryton toward London. He then retrieved Sally from the milliner’s shop and hurried down that same road with her dragging her feet. “George, must we rush about the town? And are we to walk to London, now?”

Wickham silenced her and continued their trek for miles down the road. He stopped and ripped at his own coat and then tore Sally’s clothing, rubbing handfuls of dirt across her dress. She slapped at him and called him a string of the vilest names she could manage. He stepped out of her reach and soothed her with his plan.

“Patience, dear Sally, for Miss Bennet may be along any time now. She stopped long enough to change her transportation and visit her family, I daresay. We must wait here upon the road.”

Not an hour later, a grand carriage appeared in the distance and Wickham pulled his partner in crime away from the road. They would be seen soon enough. “The story we tell will be that we were attacked by bandits as we walked upon the road. You may hold your head in your hands and feign injury to impress our terrible situation upon Miss Bennet.”

Sally Younge sneered at him as he turned away. Why must he always chase after this one and that one when he had her in his bed? They could live the rest of their lives on the thievery and lies they easily performed. But Wickham always wished to align himself with the wealthy, or one of their circle, of which he most certainly was not.

They looked up and the carriage stopped near to their patch of ground. Elizabeth glanced out her window to find the man and woman she’d met earlier standing upon the road, clothing torn here and there and the dust of the road dulling their charm.

“We did not expect to see you again so soon, miss. Were you not on your way to Derbyshire?” The man asked innocently as the woman gazed steadily in her direction, a hand across her forehead.

Elizabeth found herself speechless before them. What did they mean standing in the road as they were? She was about to urge the driver on when the man stepped away from his lady companion and spoke to Elizabeth with a tremble in his voice. “I must see her to London, miss. We have been robbed. I was hoping we might see you again. Tis a blessing you have come this way.”