January, 1812
Elizabeth Bennet stared out the frosted terrace doors of Netherfield Park searching for any movement on the road that led to the pebbled circular drive. She was awaiting the carriage carrying her eldest sister Jane home from her wedding trip with Mr. Bingley. They had been gone a little more than a month, and Elizabeth was eager to see her sister again.
Jane had written to say when they would return home and Elizabeth had gone to Netherfield Park to see that the home was ready to receive its master and mistress.
It was a terribly cold day in the last week of January and fires were laid in nearly every room downstairs. Even the ballroom enjoyed a blazing fire and Elizabeth recalled her sister’s wedding in this very room as she moved toward the fireplace.
It was now empty of seats, musicians, and flowers but still the floors gleamed in the light of the fire. It had been a lovely wedding, and Jane had been the perfect, blushing bride. Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst had played their parts well before hieing off to London as soon as Mr. and Mrs. Bingley’s carriage pulled away from Netherfield.
Elizabeth could not say she was sad at the fact of their departure for they were wicked ladies who cared only for fashion and making fun of Elizabeth’s country neighbors.
For a moment, her thoughts turned to Mr. Bingley’s friend, Mr. Darcy. He had dared to attend the wedding even though he had tried to turn Mr. Bingley away from his love of her sister Jane.
Jane had confided the story to Elizabeth as Mr. Bingley had relayed it to her after they were engaged. Jane had forgiven Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth thought she had never been angry with him at all. Jane was the most kind and loving person Elizabeth had ever known. She had merely thought Mr. Darcy protective of his dear friend.
Elizabeth had known better, but Jane would not be persuaded to think ill of Mr. Darcy.
There was a Mr. Wickham who had joined the militia at Meryton as a lieutenant and he told Elizabeth all about Mr. Darcy’s ill treatment and abuse. The elder Mr. Darcy had promised the young man a living but his son, the current Mr. Darcy, had denied the wishes of his father. Mr. Wickham said it was all out of jealousy and spite.
Elizabeth thought she might too be jealous of a steward’s son or daughter who had been treated as family, but she would never have gone against her father’s wishes in such a terrible manner.
That her aunt had cautioned her against Mr. Wickham, and his flirtatious manner that had led to his engagement to Miss King, rather than Elizabeth herself, did not change Elizabeth’s feelings about Mr. Darcy.
Forgetting the man and his vexation, Elizabeth left the ballroom. Once in the hallway, she did not tarry to retrieve her spencer for she heard the butler call out to the servants below stairs that the Bingleys had gained the driveway.
Pulling open the great double doors of Netherfield Park, Elizabeth rushed out to be the first to see her sister arrive home. As soon as Jane was free of the carriage, Elizabeth grabbed her and hugged her tightly. “Oh how I missed you, Janey! Come inside and tell me all about your trip.”
Jane laughed and pulled herself free of her sister’s loving embrace. “Let us have tea first, Lizzy! There is so much to tell that an afternoon is not nearly enough time to share everything.”
Charles Bingley stood by the carriage watching the sisters disappear inside the home. He called out and hurried to catch them up.
Later, when Elizabeth sat with Jane and Mr. Bingley in the drawing room, she smiled at the way their hands intertwined as they sat close together. Mr. Bingley teased them both with a surprise he had kept until this moment.
Elizabeth hoped that one day she might find the same felicity in marriage as her eldest and dearest sister. For now, she only wished to know what her new brother by marriage intended to spoil her sister with next. “Oh Charles, you make me mad with jealousy and curiosity!”
Mr. Bingley laughed with Jane and Elizabeth as he pulled something from his breast pocket. It was a legal paper and he handed it to Jane. “I know you wish to spend most of our time here in Hertfordshire, my love, but we will have a home in London for I cannot be too far from my business there.”
Jane’s hands trembled as she opened the papers and read swiftly through the long paragraphs. Her eyes flitted from the papers to her husband’s face. “Shall we call it Bingley House, then?”
Elizabeth went and knelt at her sister’s side. “Oh Jane, how wonderful it will be to visit you there! And Aunt and Uncle Gardiner will see you more often. What a capital idea!”
Mr. Bingley beamed with pride as the sisters hugged one another. He waited until they had regained their composure before he stood and made another pronouncement.
“Lizzy, if I may,” he paused and looked at her with an air of sincerity, “Jane and I would be most grateful if you were to come with us to London. There will be many decisions to be made and the interviewing of the servants. Jane will need your help.”
Elizabeth’s throat moved up and down as she swallowed. Never had she thought her sister’s husband might be anything other than the kindest man ever. “I would be honored to come whenever you wish and be a help to you and Jane.”
“Then you must go home and tell the good news, Lizzy. Have Hill pack a trunk and we may leave much sooner. I cannot wait to see Bingley House,” Jane said as she led Elizabeth to the entry of Netherfield Park.
Mr. Bingley had the carriage brought round to spirit Elizabeth to Longbourn to collect her trunks. When she entered her childhood home, Elizabeth heard the familiar cries of her youngest sisters arguing over some silly thing or other.
Mrs. Bennet looked up when she entered the parlor and inquired after Jane and Mr. Bingley. She was ill and not in good spirits since her cold had kept her from joining Elizabeth at Netherfield Park.
Elizabeth had never been her favorite daughter, but since she had refused Mr. Collins, her father’s cousin and heir to Longbourn, and his marriage proposal, Mrs. Bennet liked her second child even less.
“They are well, Mama. Mr. Bingley has purchased Jane a townhome in London and I am to go with them as soon as we may arrange it. I came home to have Hill pack my trunks. I may stay until the spring if you and Papa approve.”
Kitty and Lydia ceased their argument and began to whine that they too ought to be allowed to travel to London and stay in Jane’s new home. Elizabeth shook her head. “They are but newly wed and a house full of sisters is the last thing a romantic Mr. Bingley wishes to come between him and his wife, I should think.”
Mrs. Bennet, to Elizabeth’s great astonishment, agreed. She censured her two youngest daughters. “The both of you are too young to be let loose in London without me and I do not trust Lizzy to see that you are protected. Jane will be busy learning her place as the mistress of not one, but two homes. No, you must all stay here with me. We can spare Lizzy since she is too obstinate to obey her parents.”
Elizabeth did not care for the sleights her mother gave, but she would not argue since she had been given leave to join the Bingleys.
Kitty and Lydia glared at her and stomped their way from the parlor. Their footsteps seemed to gain volume as they went up the stairs together.
Elizabeth thanked her mother for giving permission for the trip to London. “I shall give your regards to Aunt and Uncle Gardiner, Mama.”
“See that you do, but it shall not make me think better of you, Lizzy. You ought to find a wealthy gentleman in London to marry so that you might help take care of me after your father passes. It is the least you might do after ruining things with Mr. Collins.”
Forcing herself not to become upset by her mother’s dramatic speech, Elizabeth quit the parlor to find Hill and help pack her own trunks.