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Lizzy woke to someone shaking her gently the next morning, and she opened her eyes, feeling surprisingly rested. She must have slept without dreams, or if she had dreamt, they had not left an impression.
She rolled over and looked at Jane, frowning when she saw how pale her sister was, though with flushed cheeks and tears in her eyes. “Whatever has happened?” She braced herself for the worst, thinking Mr. Darcy must have died from his injuries. “Is Mr. Darcy well?”
Jane frowned, but she did not answer other than to say, “Servants are packing up Netherfield. They are all leaving.”
Lizzy frowned. “How do you know?”
“I heard it from a maid. Several of the servants saw them starting early this morning, so I asked Josephina to go keep watch. When she returned a few minutes ago, she told me they were all departing, including Mr. Bingley. All the guests were in the carriages, and they were laden with trunks. She estimated they had cleared out most of their possessions, so it seems they will not be returning to Netherfield.” Jane burst into tears again. “I have ruined everything with Mr. Bingley.”
Lizzy took her sister into her arms, hugging her though her thoughts were more centered on Mr. Darcy for a moment. She assumed that if he were well enough to travel, he’d certainly recovered from the injuries inflicted by the branch and then Wickham’s fist. “They might yet return.”
“No, they are leaving because Mr. Bingley believes I do not love him.” Jane sniffed. “I was so cold with him last night.”
Lizzy made a soothing sound. “You thought he was possibly engaged or about to be to someone else. You reacted in the proper way, and I am certain he will give you a chance to explain that the next time you see him.”
Jane wailed. “That will be never. If they do not come back—”
Lizzy pulled back long enough to make sure Jane was looking at her, using her thumbs to wipe her sister’s tears. “You shall simply go to London and stay with Aunt and Uncle Gardiner for a bit. You had planned to anyway, so instead of coming with me to Hunsford first, you are going on to London, and I will join you after I visit Charlotte. You know the Bingleys have a townhouse there, and you have a friendship established with Miss Caroline.”
She barely avoided a grimace as she said the other woman’s name in conjunction with the word friendship. She didn’t believe there was anything friendly about Caroline’s overtures, but she doubted Jane would listen, and right now, she needed to give her sister hope. “You will see Mr. Bingley in London, and everything will resolve itself as soon as he understands you were upset, thinking he was about to get engaged.”
Jane looked hopeful. “Do you truly think so, Lizzy?”
Projecting more confidence than she felt, Lizzy nodded as she said firmly, “I do. I do not believe all is lost yet. You will simply change the location of your courtship.”
Jane looked happier now, and though she was still obviously uncertain, at least she was no longer crying. “You are most sensible, Lizzy.” She frowned. “Still, they would not have left if I had not been so cold.”
Lizzy shook her head. “I suspect they left because of Georgiana’s abduction. Likely, the poor girl wanted to be away from this area where Wickham was, and she will most likely feel more comfortable either at their London townhouse or at Pemberley. I doubt it had anything to do with you, Jane.”
She wasn’t completely confident about that. Darcy had been determined to separate Bingley from Jane, and she wouldn’t be above suspecting he had used the situation to his advantage to do so, though of course he’d cared about his sister’s well-being as well.
He was still an impediment to Jane’s happiness, and she wouldn’t allow herself to forget that. She wondered if she would see him again when she was in London, and she assured herself she didn’t care.
That she felt a strange tug in her chest at the idea of not doing so was something she couldn’t easily disregard, just as she couldn’t suppress the swell of concern as she contemplated Mr. Darcy’s state of health. Reminding herself he was traveling, feeling well enough to enact his machinations to keep her sister from Bingley, helped her suppress regret about not seeing him once more, and she decided she would be happy if she never had to interact with the man again.