Elizabeth glanced out the window of the coach, remembering the first and only time she had made the long journey to Kent, nearly nine months before. Last March, all these gardens were in flower and the trees were clothed in various shades of green. It was so beautiful.
The second week of December, however, displayed a severely altered landscape.
My heart is changed as well, and not for the better. In fact, I fear it is broken beyond repair.
The lady shivered in the cold. She sighed and stared at her gloved hands folded primly in her lap.
Feeling a soft touch on her arm, Elizabeth looked up to see her young friend gazing at her with open curiosity.
I must remember people are watching me. I should not burden them with my despondent mood.
“Yes, Maria?”
Maria’s blue eyes were filled with concern. “Are you unwell? You seem to be in low spirits. I thought you would be eager to see my sister again.”
Elizabeth forced a smile, patting her companion’s hand. “I am most content, dear, for I long to see our dear Charlotte.”
And very pleased to be away from Longbourn for Christmas, she thought. Listening to her mother’s constant laments regarding her unmarried state was not conducive to a peaceful mind.
Elizabeth, the second eldest of the five Bennet sisters, had refused marriage proposals from more than one eligible bachelor in the past year, and her obstinance regarding the issue had driven Mrs. Bennet to distraction. Fortunately, the eldest daughter, Jane, had married the previous day, giving Elizabeth a short reprieve.
Very short.
Nearly as soon as the marriage breakfast had ended and Jane was on her way to London with her handsome Mr. Bingley, Mrs. Bennet turned on her once more, berating her for her failure to secure a comfortable life for them all by marrying.
Had her mother known of a third gentleman’s offer for her hand during her previous visit to Kent, Elizabeth would never have known a moment’s peace. Her life, already quite bleak without her dearest Jane, would have been considerably worse.
Yes, she was most pleased to be on her way to the comfortable parsonage abutting the grand estate of Rosings Park, even if she would again be obliged to see one of her rejected suitors – Charlotte’s husband and her own cousin, the proud parson of Hunsford, Mr. William Collins.
The thought that she might be of assistance to her friend gave her a purpose which far outweighed her discomfort at seeing her cousin, and she dearly needed to be useful.
It was her fond wish that in travelling fifty miles from her home to help Charlotte through the last month before the arrival of her baby, she would find a measure of comfort.
The time had come to accept her error in judgment and create a meaningful life for herself, for her blind prejudice had led her to refuse the only man who could have made her happy in matrimony. When that gentleman and Mr. Bingley had visited Longbourn in September, he had quit Hertfordshire within a few days and not returned until his friend’s wedding, leaving again immediately after the wedding breakfast.
She sighed quietly as she remembered, recalling his solemn, handsome face at Longbourn’s dinner table.
He barely spoke to me, though we sat side by side when the gentlemen dined with us. How he must despise me now, especially since the unfortunate episode with Lydia. I wish I had never confided in him at Pemberley. How he must congratulate himself on his escape, for who would want to sully his family name with such a scandal? I cannot blame him for seeking to protect his sister from an association of that sort.
Elizabeth shook her head, her heart wrenching within her. She had made up her mind. Her course was decided. He would not offer again, and she would marry no other.
Squaring her jaw, she turned her face to gaze at the scenery.
I must learn to be of use, she thought, for one day soon I shall have to earn my living.
~~oo~~
Elizabeth was pleased to see a radiant Charlotte waiting for them when they pulled up at the door. As a footman unloaded their luggage, she and Maria followed the lady of the house into the parsonage hallway where a maidservant waited to help them out of their pelisses and bonnets.
“It is so good to see you both,” said Charlotte, smiling broadly. “Betsy will take your things. I have put you in the same rooms you occupied on your last visit. Come into the house. I have ordered tea with your favourite sandwiches, Lizzy, and there are biscuits for you, Maria.”
Elizabeth embraced her friend. “You look well. I am pleased to see you in such blooming good health.”
Charlotte placed her hand on her stomach. “I anticipate greeting our child in a month or so. With you and Maria here, the time will pass much more pleasantly.”
She led them to the parlour and served tea before continuing the conversation.
After taking a sip, Charlotte groaned quietly.
Elizabeth leaned forward. “Are you in pain?”
She grimaced. “No, my dear. However, I am uncomfortable. My feet are beginning to swell. Tomorrow, if you are in agreement, I should like to visit Rosings. Soon, I shall be unable to go anywhere, and I would like a visit with Lady Catherine and Miss de Bourgh before my confinement. They have been most solicitous of me, and when I told them you were coming to Hunsford, they were quite anxious to reacquaint themselves with you and Maria.”
Though Elizabeth rather doubted that Lady Catherine would wish to visit with her, she kept her thoughts to herself. She had visited Rosings several times during her visit in March, and the lady had glared at her on more than one occasion.
I must try not to be so outspoken.
Elizabeth nodded her acceptance of the plan. She would do whatever Charlotte wished. “I seem to remember your writing to me that Lady Catherine had been ill. Is she well now?”
“She is better than she was in October, though she has never fully recovered the vigour she enjoyed previously. Lady Catherine is almost entirely housebound now. Very sad in such an active person. I cannot remember whether or not I told you of her plan to visit Hertfordshire on her way to London.”
Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. “No, I never heard of anything like that. Why would she visit Hertfordshire?”
“Mr. Collins told Lady Catherine of Jane’s engagement to Mr. Bingley, and she wished to convey her congratulations in person. She was quite adamant about it.”
Elizabeth remembered a letter her father had received from Mr. Collins around that time, congratulating him on Jane’s betrothal and hinting at a coming engagement between her and Mr. Darcy, Lady Catherine’s nephew. She had put no stock in it, for she never thought the gentleman would renew his addresses to her. Her father had been most amused, but Elizabeth could take no joy in it. Perhaps Lady Catherine had believed the tale and wished to come in person to forbid it?
“I am all astonishment. I cannot imagine that she would travel so far for a person she has never before met.”
Charlotte smiled. “Lady Catherine has never met Jane, but she is acquainted with you, and you are both cousins to her parson. She was on her way to London to meet the Darcys, and Hertfordshire is between here and London. She did not mean to stay – only to stop at Longbourn to offer her best wishes, though I thought at the time she did not seem very pleased at the news of Jane’s engagement. It is of no import, for she was not able to make the trip as the pain came upon her quite suddenly.”
Elizabeth knit her brows. “The pain?”
“Yes, my dear. She was wholly incapacitated by some malady in her chest. Her physician came all the way from London, as the local apothecary feared it was beyond his capabilities.”
“And what did the physician say?”
“Mr. Hough said it was a problem with her heart and told her to rest. He also adjusted her diet somewhat, though she said quite plainly that his suggestions were balderdash. She still eats whatever she likes.”
Elizabeth smiled. “Yes, that sounds just like her.”
Charlotte laughed and nodded.
It was agreed to everyone’s satisfaction that the party would call on Lady Catherine the following morning, and with that settled, the few hours remaining in the day were spent most pleasantly.