by Ola Wegner
But still she could not believe it. She felt deep in her heart Mr. Darcy was not like that. He was perhaps unsociable, moody, conceited, proud and, most certainly, he should not have said that she was not handsome enough for him to dance with. However, since that ill spoken comment, he had been rather nice to her; delicate and tender. It had been she who had been rude to him. And last night he had complimented her looks, as if wanting to apologize for what he had said before. Charlotte was right on this. He looked a bit like a puppy when she had made him aware that she had overheard his comments at Meryton Assembly. Moreover, considering his behaviour in the music room, she could not believe that he was a rake. She had been alone there with him, unable to escape him had he tried to impose himself on her. Even if her foot had not been injured, and she had been in a state to move freely on her own, he was obviously too strong for her to protect herself. He had done nothing of the kind. The only liberty he had taken was when examining her foot, but she sensed he had been much too worried for her at that time to think about the propriety issues of seeing her unclothed leg. He had neither tried to touch her in an improper manner nor kiss her. He had done nothing which would have suggested he was a rake. Even when they had met in the hall at Netherfield, when she had thought him a ghost, his behaviour had been more playful than rakish.
Elizabeth sat on the bed abruptly, a thought crossed her mind. Or perhaps you are already so much infatuated with him you cannot see his real self? Like in a novel when a heroine is so much in love with a man she refuses to see his faults.
A soft knock at the door brought her back to reality. “Lizzy, are you asleep?” Jane’s quiet voice was heard and her blonde head appeared in a doorway.
“No, Jane. I have not been asleep for a while.” Elizabeth smiled at her sister. Jane looked lovely as always, her complexion glowing, though she probably had gone to bed no earlier than two or three o’clock in the morning.
“I thought we could have some coffee together, Sister.” Jane placed a tray on the bedside table. “How is your ankle?”
Elizabeth rose from the bed and impulsively hugged her sister. “Oh, Janie, what would I do without you?”
“Lizzy, it is really nothing,” Jane scolded her gently, laughing softly. “Let me go, or I will drop the pot and ruin the carpet.”
Elizabeth removed her hands from her sister and supported her back against the headboard. Jane poured the coffee into the cup, adding two sugars and a healthy amount of milk, and handed it to Elizabeth. Both sisters, like their father, preferred to take a strong coffee in the morning instead of tea.
“Now tell me why I heard of your being unwell from Mr. Bingley only when you were already on your way home?” Jane asked, looking pointedly at Elizabeth.
“I asked Father and Mr. Bingley not to inform you earlier. I knew you would insist on accompanying me, and it was not my intention to ruin your evening.”
“But, Lizzy, what happened with your foot? I did not notice anything happen to you.”
“Of course you did not notice, for you were too busy gazing into Mr. Bingley’s eyes.” Elizabeth teased, smiling happily at her blushing sister.
“Lizzy, be serious,” Jane huffed and approached the bed, lifting the covers aside. “Oh, Lizzy dear, it does not look well.” She touched lightly the bluish- violet skin of Elizabeth’s foot.
“It does not hurt,” Elizabeth ensured quickly. “Though I have not tried yet to stand on it since yesterday.”
Jane shook her head worriedly. “Lizzy, the doctor must see this. We cannot be sure that nothing is broken. Before retiring last night, Father told me he had arranged for Doctor Trenton to visit us early this afternoon, to see your foot.”
“I do not think that is it necessary; it is just a bruise, and will diminish in time.” Elizabeth glanced at the clock. “But, Jane, it is already after ten o’ clock. If the doctor is to come, I must make myself more presentable soon. When we have finished coffee, will you help me with washing and dressing.”
“Of course I will,” Jane ensured her, covering Elizabeth’s leg gently with the blankets. “But, Sister, you did not tell me how it happened.” Jane pulled herself a chair closer to Elizabeth and sat on it, holding her cup.
Elizabeth took a sip of her coffee before speaking. “Oh, Jane, it was Mr. Collins. You must have noticed the way he mistook the steps and figures constantly. You were dancing in the same set with Mr. Bingley. And at one moment he stomped on my foot with his entire weight, and you know how heavy he must be.”
“That is horrible,” Jane gasped. “Did he apologize at least? Did he assist you somehow?”
“No, Jane, he did not. He pretended as if nothing wrong happened.”
Jane’s delicately drawn eyebrows creased. “He did not mention you at all later, nor did he ask about you.”
Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders. “Perhaps he really did not think himself having done anything wrong.”
Jane reached for her sister’s hand. “But why did you not tell me about this?”
“Oh, Jane, I was so mortified with this entire situation. There is nothing worse during a ball than to get injured due to your partner’s clumsiness. It was not my intention to make a spectacle of myself. It did not hurt so much at first. I was just dizzy and hot, so I removed myself from the ballroom into the corridor next to the library. There I noticed my foot was beginning to swell. I saw Mr. Brooke and Mr. … Mr. Darcy and asked them to fetch our father from the library.” Elizabeth hesitated when mentioning Mr. Darcy. She decided not to say anything about their meeting in the music room for the time being.
“Did you inform Papa about what Mr. Collins had done?”
“No, I just said I had simply misstepped during the dance, and he did not ask more. Furthermore, your Mr. Bingley was there, and Mr. Brooke as well, and I was too embarrassed to explain the whole situation in front of them.”
“Lizzy, how many times must I tell you that he is not my Mr. Bingley?” Jane tried to sound angry, but there was a smile caving in her blue eyes.
“Not yours? Truly? And pray tell me, how many times did he dance with you yesterday? Ten?”
“No, not ten. Only four,” Jane murmured bashfully.
“Only four, you say.” Elizabeth grinned at her, cocking her eyebrow. “If that is so, I see he neglected you shockingly.”
Jane shook her head smilingly and, standing, took the empty cup from her sister’s hands. “You said something about washing and dressing?”
Half an hour later, Elizabeth, already dressed in one of her morning gowns, was sitting in front of her vanity, her sister pinning up her thick hair.
“Lizzy,” Jane murmured, concentrating her attentions on securing long silver pin in her sister’s heavy tresses. “You must tell Papa about what Mr. Collins did. If you will not do so, I shall. Perhaps after hearing this, Papa will remove Mr. Collins from our home.”
Elizabeth turned abruptly, looking up at her sister’s calm face with astonishment. “Jane! I cannot believe you said such a thing. It is so unlike you. You always speak so well about everyone.”
Jane turned Elizabeth’s head back to its previous position, securing the last pin. “I stop being nice when someone hurts one of my sisters,” she said firmly. “No, it is done.”
Elizabeth stood up from the stool slowly. Jane helped her to wobble to the sofa without putting pressure on her injured foot.
“Now, tell me, how was the ball after I left? I want to know everything,” Elizabeth spoke, settling herself comfortably, her foot arranged on the cushioned chair, which Jane had placed strategically opposite the sofa. She reached over and took a plate with chocolate cookies Jane had brought with the coffee.
“Oh, Lizzy, I would wish to say that all went well, but I cannot.” Elizabeth noticed her sister blush in embarrassment, the distressed expression on her pretty face. “After father left with you, Mama and our sisters, especially Lydia, they….,” Jane stopped uneasily.
“Completely and utterly embarrassed us in fr
ont of the whole neighbourhood,” Elizabeth finished calmly. “Tell me, dearest. I want to know the worst.”
Jane sighed miserably before speaking. “First, Mary started to play the pianoforte.” Elizabeth cringed involuntarily. “I know her intentions are the good, but I do not think that an opera aria is the best choice with her voice.”
“But that is not all, is it?” Elizabeth bit another cookie.
Jane covered her face with her hands, murmuring. “Lydia… she somehow managed to take off Captain Denny's sword. She was running around the ballroom with it, crying she was the sultan’s captive and she would protect her virtue with it.”
Elizabeth’s mouth dropped wide open. “No,” she breathed.
“Yes.” Jane nodded her head sadly. “But the worst of all was Mama. She… Lizzy, I thought I would die of shame. She said at the top of her voice in front of all these people that she expected Mr. Bingley to propose to me any moment and what changes she would advise me to introduce at Netherfield.” Jane met Elizabeth’s gaze with her own now teary eyes. “Lizzy, he heard everything. What must he think about me now?” Two large tears ran down Jane’s smooth cheeks.
Elizabeth’s arms went instantly around her sister. “He thinks nothing wrong, dearest.” She pulled the handkerchief out of the pocket of her dress and dabbed Jane’s wet cheeks. “He knows you are not like this. He has feelings for you, and I am sure they are strong enough to overlook certain, let us just say, idiosyncrasies of our family.”
“I hope so.” Jane managed a small smile.
At that moment, the door to the room opened abruptly with a loud bang, making both sisters jump in place. Mrs. Bennet stood in the opening, still in her nightclothes, her hair sticking wildly in all directions.
“Heavens to be thankful, you are dressed,” she exclaimed. “Go quickly downstairs, they are here!”
“Who?” the sisters cried in unison.
“Mr. Bingley, of course! He brought Doctor Trenton with himself to examine your foot, Lizzy. And he brought Mr. Darcy as well, though I cannot understand whatever for.”
They stared at their mother, neither speaking nor moving. “What are you doing, looking like this at me? Both of you, go downstairs!” Mrs. Bennet ordered, but seeing no visible movement from her daughters cried more firmly. “Now!”
“Mama, Lizzy cannot walk,” Jane interjected.
“So you, Jane, you must go immediately to the drawing room. I am sure Mr. Bingley has come to propose to you.”
“But Mama…” Jane tried to protest, but her mother was already pulling her by the hand to the door.
“Lizzy, you stay here. The doctor will come to see you soon.” Mrs. Bennet exclaimed, shutting the door after herself and Jane.
Elizabeth stared numbly at the door. There was only one thought tumbling through her head at that moment: he was here.
Chapter Seven
Jane opened the door to the drawing room to see three gentlemen there. Doctor Trenton was seated comfortably in the armchair, Mr. Bingley stood leisurely, supporting himself against the mantelpiece, and Mr. Darcy was pacing the length of the room in a rather restless manner.
The attention of the men was directed immediately to her the moment she entered.
“Miss Bennet!” Mr. Bingley spoke first with feeling, approaching her instantly. “I cannot express how sorry I am for the accident which happened to Miss Elizabeth under my roof.”
Jane smiled at the concerned, sincere face of the man in front of her. “It was not your fault at all, Mr. Bingley, not in the least. You did everything you could to see to my sister’s comfort yesterday; she told me so her herself. We thank you for that.”
“Well, Miss Bennet.” Doctor Trenton rose slowly from his place and walked to Jane. “What did this adventurous sister of yours get herself into this time? Has she fallen from the tree again? Or perhaps she jumped into the pond?”
Jane blushed instantly at the older man’s words. Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy might have thought that Elizabeth was some wild creature from such a description. “It was not her fault this time, Doctor…” Jane hesitated whether to divulge all which had happened yesterday in front of the gentlemen. “It was a mere accident while dancing, but I am afraid that her foot is not in the best condition. You see, she cannot stand on it at all, and there is some heavy bruising on her skin.”
Doctor just raised his grey bushy brow. “Well, we shall see, shall we?” He gathered his bag and directed himself to the door. Jane made a move to follow him, but he stopped her.
“I can find my way.” Doctor patted Jane’s hand. “You have guests to entertain.” He looked at the younger men with an amused expression in his eyes and closed the door after himself quietly.
Jane turned to the gentleman and gave them her most engaging smile. Mr. Bingley beamed back at her, while Mr. Darcy looked at her seriously, his forehead furrowed, his expression sullen.
“I thank you for bringing Doctor Trenton,” she said at last in the direction of both men.
“Oh, that is nothing, Miss Bennet. At least this we could do.” Mr. Bingley exclaimed while Mr. Darcy still said nothing.
Jane sat, indicating to the gentlemen to take a seat as well. “Would you care for a cup of tea?”
Mr. Bingley looked at Darcy for a moment and shook his head. “No, we thank you, Miss Bennet. We would wish to wait for the doctor’s return to make sure your sister is well.”
“Yes, of course,” Jane said, looking slightly dumbfounded at the gentlemen. Mr. Darcy had not said a word so far. It seemed as if his friend was here to speak for him. She started to understand why the tall gentleman evoked such mixed and contradictory emotions in her younger sister.
There was a long moment of awkward silence, interrupted, much to Jane’s relief, by the arrival of her father.
“Mr. Bingley, Mr. Darcy.” Mr. Bennet shook the younger men’s hands. “I did not expect you so very soon in the morning after such a late night last evening.”
“We have been concerned for Miss Elizabeth’s welfare,” Darcy spoke at last.
Jane noticed her father to stiffen and look sharply at Mr. Darcy. “I see,” was all Mr. Bennet said.
Jane’s eyes moved from Mr. Darcy to her father, and she noticed that Mr. Bingley’s gaze followed the same route.
“I am so sorry that such an unfortunate accident happened to Miss Elizabeth under my roof, Mr. Bennet,” Mr. Bingley said, drawing the attention of Mr. Bennet at last.
“Do not fret yourself so much, my friend.” Mr. Bennet smiled at the other man. “There was no fault of yours for certain, and you did everything to see to my daughter’s comfort.”
“We are truly very grateful, Mr. Bingley,” Jane added shyly, lowering her eyes. Bingley grinned happily at her, causing Mr. Bennet to roll his eyes. Mr. Darcy, noticing the older man’s reaction, lowered his eyes to the floor, but something resembling a tiny smile seemed to play in the corner of his lips.
Nothing more was said because the door opened abruptly, and Mrs. Bennet stood there, with Mr. Collins following closely at her heel.
“My dear, dear Mr. Bingley.” Mrs. Bennet opened her arms wide and approached the young man hastily, almost trotting down her husband and eldest daughter in the meantime. “Such a joy to greet you here, sir. You must forgive me for not welcoming you first, but I had to see to some things.” She put her hand to her lacy cap as if checking whether it was in place. “If you understand what I mean.”
Mr. Bingley took a small step back. “Perfectly so, madam. We should apologize for calling so early, but we were concerned for Miss Elizabeth’s state.”
Mrs. Bennet waved her hand dismissively. “I am sure she will be quite all right. The doctor is with her.” She looked at the nearby small side table. “Jane, child, why have you not offered refreshments to our guests?” she hissed in the direction of her daughter.
“I have, Mama, but they refused.” Jane spoke softly.
Mrs. Bennet started trying to convince Mr. Bingley that he w
as surely in need of the cup of strong tea so early in the morning, after all, when the door opened again and Doctor Trenton entered.
Before he managed to close the door after himself, Jane was at his side asking about Elizabeth’s condition.
“All is well, Miss Bennet.” The doctor smiled reassuringly. “It does look rather bad, but thankfully no bones are broken. She should not put the weight on that foot for the next two weeks, at least. I can only imagine how hard it will be to detain her at home for such a long time.”
“I will see to it, Doctor,” Jane said in a firm voice.
“I must only say that I was very much surprised when I saw the condition of Miss Elizabeth’s foot,” Doctor continued. “When you told me that she had had an accident while dancing, I thought her ankle was simply twisted. But it looks as if someone or something put too much pressure on it. When I interrogated her on the subject, she admitted that the gentleman she was dancing with stepped on it. That man should not be allowed into the ballroom in the first place. He could seriously hurt his next partner.”
“Jane, do you know with whom Elizabeth was dancing the last dance before her foot was injured,” Mr. Bennet asked sharply.
All eyes were directed at Jane. She looked at her father, then glanced quickly at Mr. Collins, whose complexion turned instantly pale. After a moment, she lifted her face higher and said in a steady voice.
“Elizabeth said that it had happened during the dance with Mr. Collins. She did not manage to dance with anybody else last night, Papa.”
“Oh, Jane, that is not true, you know that,” Mrs. Bennet cried energetically, winking at Jane and shaking her head at her at the same time. “Our dear Mr. Collins could not possibly do anything like that. Elizabeth must be mistaken,” she stressed.
