“They are young, and perhaps this is their way of hiding the pain.” Jane confessed to similar feelings regarding Kitty and Lydia’s thoughtlessness.
“They have never cared for Lizzy. They are heartless.”
Jane used her handkerchief to wipe away Mary’s tears.
“I know that you love Lizzy very much, and I know that you are worried about her. What they say or do is not important. What matters is the relationship you have with her. I think it is easy for us to take each other for granted. When Lizzy gets back, you can tell her how much you love her.”
* * * * *
DURING HIS VISIT WITH THE young woman, Darcy resolved that something must be done, and hoping that someone in the country would know of a missing girl, he determined that he would go out on horseback in search of her friends and relations.
Darcy rejoined Bingley and his sister in the breakfast room and made known to them his intentions.
“Darcy, however will you do that? We have lived in the neighborhood but one day. We have visited no one, and no one has been to see us. We do not even know where the principal houses in the district are located. I have been to Meryton once, and you, never. Where do you intend to go?” Bingley was incredulous.
“This is reckless, man!” cried Bingley, not letting him answer. “You are as likely to become lost yourself as find anyone connected with the young woman. Certainly you cannot be serious!”
“Mr. Darcy, you must not go. Please, do not think of entertaining such a risk,” seconded Miss Bingley.
“Bingley,” Darcy replied patiently, ignoring Miss Bingley, “I believe that if she is from Meryton, someone would have come inquiring after her by this time, so I am going to assume she is from a place in the opposite direction. I shall ride out and begin inquiries at any cottage I come upon or with anyone I meet. She is all alone, and her family must be afraid for her. I must do something to help.”
Darcy had been acting strangely, thought Bingley. He had attributed this behavior to his becoming accustomed to a new neighborhood and a new house, but as he reflected upon it, he realized that Darcy had always shown quite an interest in their unfortunate visitor. Bingley was aware of Darcy visiting her room at least twice since they brought her to Netherfield.
“Why do you care so much, Mr. Darcy?” asked Miss Bingley.
“I . . . I just care.”
Bingley looked at him thoughtfully. “You are determined to go?”
“I am.”
“Well, then I shall accompany you.”
* * * * *
MRS. BENNET HAD NOT LEFT her room all day, and as usual, Jane was both disappointed and relieved — disappointed that her mother could not think of anyone beyond herself in a time of crisis and relieved that, if she must behave poorly, she did so closeted in her own room.
Jane was restless, and indeed, how could she rest when her sister had been missing for a full four and twenty hours? At any minute, she was expecting to hear the worst.
Lizzy must have been abducted, injured, or worse, for her not to return home. Jane dared not speculate further. Lizzy had spent her whole childhood wandering the neighborhood for miles in each direction. Many of those miles they had walked together, but usually Lizzy ventured out on her own. No, Lizzy was not lost. Something had happened to her.
Jane moved from the drawing room out of doors to the lawn, somehow feeling she would be closer to Lizzy if she were outside. The air was fresh and filled with the fragrance of the countryside. It was just the sort of weather Lizzy loved. She could not be contained within doors when the air was as pleasant as it was today, and that was what drew her outside yesterday. Instead of being beautiful, the day filled Jane only with pain, as everything reminded her of her missing sister.
* * * * *
IN THE LATE AFTERNOON, DAVID appeared before Jane once again.
“Yes, David?” Jane looked at him hopefully but was immediately downcast when she saw no look of encouragement on his face.
“Colonel Forster has sent me to report that nothing new is known of Miss Elizabeth’s whereabouts.” David could not look Jane in the eyes. “I am sorry, Miss Bennet.”
“Have they looked everywhere?” Jane felt immediately ashamed. “No, I am sorry. Of course, they have. Thank you for telling me.”
David hesitated for a moment then turned without a word, and Jane watched him walk slowly back down the road towards Meryton.
* * * * *
DARCY AND BINGLEY RODE SILENTLY back to Netherfield. It had not been a successful search. The young woman could not have come from the area in which they had looked, for there was nothing but farms and cottages on that side of Netherfield. Darcy had asked some farmers if they knew of a girl who was missing, but no one had heard a thing. It was as if she had dropped in from nowhere.
* * * * *
The Netherfield party was sitting quietly in the drawing room that evening after dinner. Darcy was trying to distract himself with a book, Bingley was similarly employed, but his sister was bored and eager for conversation.
“Mr. Darcy, you have been very quiet tonight.” Miss Bingley’s tone was frustrated. Her efforts to engage Mr. Darcy’s attention had thus far been futile.
“Pardon?” Darcy looked up from his book with a startled expression on his face. “What did you say, Miss Bingley?”
“I said that you have been very quiet tonight, sir. You hardly spoke a word at dinner. What could you be thinking of all this time, I wonder?”
“I was thinking about what is expected of me.”
“And just what is expected of you?” She was pleased at having drawn him into conversation.
Darcy laughed to himself. “To increase the importance and value of the Pemberley estate, to marry a woman of wealth and status, and to seek a good match for my sister. Of course, I must attend plays and balls during the season in London and enjoy the country as a gentleman should.” His words were laced with sarcasm.
Darcy closed his book and walked over to stir the fire, astonished at having made such an admission of what he thought to be a weakness.
“You do not sound happy with those prospects.”
“I should be. Is that not what society expects of me? Is that not what a gentleman of wealth and property is supposed to do?” Darcy returned to his seat. “But little does society care about what my wishes might be or what it is that I want.”
This was a surprising revelation from a man Bingley always considered as knowing his own mind and determining his own future. “Darcy, just what is it that you want?”
Darcy grew pensive and was silent for a moment. Then with an air of gravity, he began to explain. “I want to hire a manager to run Pemberley, allowing me more time to spend with my future wife and our children, to allow Georgiana to marry whomsoever she will by settling her fortune on her now so that she can make that choice without my interference, to remain at Pemberley and avoid London altogether, and to live quietly and in retirement with my family and amongst my friends.”
Darcy was unaware that the others in the room were listening. He watched the coals burn in the center of the fire, felt a stirring in his heart, and struggled against the impulse to join the young woman upstairs the way a dying leaf struggles against the wind on an autumn day.
* * * * *
IT WAS NOW DARK OUTSIDE. It would be Lizzy’s second night out alone. At any minute, Jane was expecting David to return with more news. Instead, it was Colonel Forster who was shown into the drawing room.
She arose at his entrance, searching his face for any sign of hope. She found none.
“Miss Bennet, I am sorry,” began Colonel Forster, confirming what she had already gathered from the expression on his face. “We have searched all the roads and paths around Meryton, Longbourn and Oakham Mount, and your sister is nowhere to be found. I do not know what more we can do. It is growing dark. I have sent the men back to their quarters and have asked Sir William to do the same with his servants.” He spoke as gently as he could. Th
ere was much sympathy in his voice.
“Unfortunately,” he continued, “General Delford is coming tomorrow to inspect the regiment, so we will be unable to continue the search.”
“Thank you for your help, Colonel,” she said tearfully as she fell back into her seat. All of her hope had been pinned on the efforts of the regiment. If they could not find Elizabeth, who could?
“I wish we could have done more.” He met her gaze with moist eyes, and then looked away, unable to endure the agony chiseled onto her features.
“I will find my way out. Good evening, Miss Bennet.”
Jane was stunned — absolutely shocked! The full realization of what Colonel Forster had said began to dawn on her. The hunt for Elizabeth was over. She would not be discovered, and she would be forever missing.
She could not stop the tears that were pouring from her eyes. As weak and as overwhelmed as she felt, she knew she had to be the strong one. She had to be the one upon whom her family could depend. It was certain now that Lizzy would not be coming back. Neither would they ever know what had happened to her.
It was her fault that Lizzy was not coming home. It was her fault because she had not gone with Lizzy on her walk. She had not been there to prevent whatever tragedy had befallen her sister. Now it was too late, and there was nothing she could do.
* * * * *
TO ESCAPE THE CONFINEMENT OF the drawing room, and perhaps to relieve the slight embarrassment he felt because of his confession to Miss Bingley, Darcy decided to retire early. As he ascended the staircase, however, his progress slowed. By the time he reached the top, he had not the energy to take himself anywhere but to her room. He knocked on the door.
“Come in, Mr. Darcy.”
He smiled at the playful display of impertinence and opened the door.
“Hello, Anne. How did you know it was me?”
“We have been anticipating your visit for some time now,” said Anne with a knowing smile.
“We?”
“Well . . . I have been expecting you. Our young lady has not yet awakened, though she has begun to stir a little in her sleep.”
“I am very glad to hear it.”
Darcy walked over to her bedside. She looked so fragile surrounded by all the pillows and blankets. Color had returned to her cheeks, though, which made her look healthy and vibrant. In his mind, she had gone from merely pretty to breathtakingly beautiful.
He knew it was foolish to think himself in danger of falling in love with someone who had neither looked at nor spoken to him. He could only imagine what her voice sounded like, but he felt himself succumbing. She radiated liveliness and playfulness, and he felt his spirit refreshed just by being around her.
“Good evening,” Darcy said to her. “Bingley and I rode out today looking for your family, but we met with no success, I am sorry to say. I will try again tomorrow.”
Darcy wanted to hold her hand. He did not know if it were she who needed the comfort, or if he did. He knew that if he were ever allowed to touch her, it would be a day he would never forget.
“You look well today. Anne is taking very good care of you.”
“Thank you, sir,” said Anne. She had carefully dressed the young woman’s hair, knowing that Mr. Darcy’s visits were becoming quite regular.
Darcy bent down closer to her face, tempted by her lips.
“Please,” he whispered to her, “if you can hear me, please know that I am doing everything in my power to take care of you. Please trust me.” He gazed at her face, willing her eyes to open. “Please, come back.”
* * * * *
JANE DISMISSED THE SERVANTS, WHO quietly left the room. Sleep was out of the question. She had to resign herself to the fact that Lizzy was not coming home. If she had been hurt, this was her second night outside exposed to the elements. If she had been taken by someone . . . well, Jane did not even want to think of that.
Her tears would not stop. Mary had sat with her for a while, but Jane had sent her to bed. She felt the responsibility for all her family on her shoulders. She felt guilty for Lizzy’s loss and knew she could not face any of it while in her bedchamber. For the second night, there would be no Lizzy to come and visit her there.
In what seemed like only a moment or two, Jane woke with a start. She had fallen asleep sitting up on the sofa. It was pitch black. Her candle had gone out, and there was no moon.
“Oh, Lizzy!” she cried as she sank back down on the couch.
* * * * *
MRS. THOMAS DECIDED TO GO to the butcher’s in Meryton herself rather than send a servant. Wanting to acquaint herself with the town, she left her carriage at the end of the street and walked to the shop.
“Good day! I am Mrs. Thomas, the housekeeper at Netherfield,” she said to the butcher as she walked into his shop.
“Hello, ma’am, my name is Evan. What can I do for you today?”
“It is nice to meet you, Evan. This is my first visit to Meryton. You have a lovely town.”
“Not too lovely of late, ma’am.”
“Why not?”
“One of the popular young ladies of the country has gone missing these past three days. Everyone has been searching for her, but it is as if she vanished.”
“Oh, that is awful. What is her name?” she asked, quietly rejoicing at this news.
“Miss Elizabeth Bennet, of Longbourn.”
For an instant, she wanted to tell him, to tell everyone, that she knew where Miss Bennet was, but thought better of it. There would no doubt be a chaotic rush to Netherfield to claim her, and no telling how her family would take the news of their missing daughter being in the home of strangers. No, she would quickly return to Netherfield to tell the gentlemen and allow them to restore Miss Bennet to her loved ones.
“And nobody knows where she is?”
“No, ma’am. The regiment was out searching for her yesterday and all the farmers looked on their land. Everybody has kept their eyes open for her, but she has disappeared.”
“That must be terrible for her family.”
“Her elder sister, Miss Jane Bennet, who is the head of the family, is struggling to keep up the appearance of composure, but there is no doubt that everyone is suffering greatly. Such goings-on as these just do not happen around here. We are not accustomed to tragedy and loss.”
“Evan, I have just remembered something I must be about. I will send a servant by later for some venison. Goodbye.” So saying, Mrs. Thomas quickly left the store.
Mrs. Thomas’s heart was gladdened by what she had heard. This was the first news they had received of the young woman. Mr. Darcy would be very pleased to know something of her.
* * * * *
JANE WAS IN LIZZY’S ROOM curled up on her bed when she heard her mother calling for her. Lizzy’s scent was everywhere, and while consoling in some ways, it was agony in others. She was wrapped up in her sister’s quilts, remembering one of their many conversations in that room, on that bed, wrapped up together under that same cover. Without warning, she was once again struck with the overwhelming conviction that she would never see Lizzy again, and she started to cry.
Her mother called out to her once more. Making an effort to compose herself, Jane answered Mrs. Bennet’s summons. Her mother began to speak to her as soon as she entered the room.
“Oh, Jane, I do not think the regiment searched as well as they ought. I think there was some gross mismanagement on their part that caused them to overlook where Lizzy was to be found, and now she is dead.”
“Mama, the men made every effort to find Lizzy. We may never know . . . ” The spoken truth was more awful.
“What do you mean ‘never know?’” cried Mrs. Bennet, panic filling her voice.
“Oh, Mama, I do not believe we shall see Lizzy ever again.”
“Jane!” screamed Mrs. Bennet. “I cannot endure this! Please . . . I am growing faint! . . . Oh, Lizzy, what have you done?”
She could not comfort her mother, for Jane’s feelings ran in
the same vein, and she had not the strength to support the spirits of anyone else.
* * * * *
MRS. HILL HAD BEEN ABOVE stairs when she heard Mrs. Bennet’s cry, and she shook her head in agreement. She had been part of the household since the year before Miss Elizabeth was born, and she felt her loss exceedingly. The nature of her position at Longbourn, however, prevented the display of emotion that relieved the grief of the sufferer.
She was descending the stairs when there was a knock at the door and she frowned at the inconvenience of callers when the family was in such a state of mourning. Nevertheless, propriety and good manners called upon her to open the door.
Before her were two gentlemen whom she had never before seen. The young man standing closest to her, and who seemed about to speak, was of medium height, with light hair and pleasant blue eyes. Of the other man, the only word that would describe his looks and his air was dark. She invited them into the hall.
“May I help you, sir?” Mrs. Hill addressed herself to the first gentleman.
“We need to speak with a member of the family. We have news concerning Miss Elizabeth Bennet.” He spoke with a sense of urgency.
Hill paled. Forgetting herself, she cried, “Oh!” and then hurried upstairs, leaving the gentlemen standing in the entryway. She entered Mrs. Bennet’s bedchamber in haste, neglecting to knock.
“Miss Jane, there are two gentleman to see you. They say they have news of Miss Elizabeth. They are —”
Jane ran down the stairs and into the hall, leaving Hill with Mrs. Bennet, who was calling for her salts.
As Jane was making her way to the drawing room, she saw two men standing in the entryway.
She ran up to them and breathlessly said, “Gentlemen, I am Jane Bennet. Do you have news about Elizabeth? Do you know where my sister is?”
The fairer man spoke. “Yes. She is safe at Netherfield Park.”
The color drained from Jane’s face, and she raised one hand to her head and stretched the other out in front of her. The gentleman saw her knees begin to give way, rushed to her, and held her in his arms.
Rocks in the Stream Page 3
