Page 35 of The Widower of Pemberley

“I know that he will die!” Mrs. Bennet exclaimed at hearing this. “It is only a matter of time! If only he would do it quickly and spare my nerves this torment. Oh, he always delighted in vexing me!” She collapsed on the sofa and sobbed.

Miss Bennet stood from her conversation with Bingley and put her arm around her mother, who then buried her face in her daughter’s shoulder and cried loudly in a way that both showed real feeling but which yet seemed odd to display so openly amongst company.

“She’s sad.” Emily pointed at Mrs. Bennet.

Miss Elizabeth picked up Emily and said, “She’s sad because my papa is likely to die. They are married, you know.”

“Like when Grandmama died? Georgie and Papa were very sad.”

“Yes, much like that.” Miss Elizabeth’s lips pressed together. Darcy could tell she was having some difficulty controlling her own tears.

Emily wrapped an arm around her neck. “Hug, hug, hug.”

She squeezed the child back, holding her tightly until Emily started to squirm and said, “Down.”

Miss Elizabeth put her down and kissed the top of her head. “Thank you.”

“I am being quiet!” Emily then exclaimed quite loudly. “I was told to be quiet!”

Miss Elizabeth laughed. It was a sad sound. “You are excellently quiet.”

The little girl preened and wrapped her arms around Miss Elizabeth’s skirts again. “Hug, hug!”

For a while Miss Elizabeth did play with Emily, but then she went up to attend to her father with Miss Bennet, and the Netherfield party took their leave.

On the return journey, Emily was full of conversation about Miss Lizzy, how sad she was, how Miss Lizzy had complimented her, and how Emilyalreadymissed Miss Lizzy and wished she could visit her every day.

When the little girl entered a temporary silence to admire a particularly ordinary cow in the field they were passing, Bingley said, “Poor Miss Elizabeth. Miss Bennet is most concerned about her sister. She thinks that Mr. Collins might make her an offer, and that out of duty due to the situation of the family, Miss Elizabeth might accept.”

“No, not him!” Georgiana exclaimed. “Lizzy could never marryhim! She is too sweet for such a man. Lord, the way he talks about Lady Catherine—as though she were both the king and a goddess. No, Lizzy would never want to marry him.”

“Desire has little to do with the matter,” Darcy replied solemnly. “Given the precarious situation of her family, if Mr. Collins makes an offer for her, it is her duty to accept. I cannot expect her to do anything else.”

“No, no. She would not! She could not love him.”

“He does not lack respectability,” Darcy said.

Bingley then spoke. “Jove, Darcy, the man is more like a toad than a prince. And he will not transform once kissed. No duty can require a woman such as Miss Elizabeth to marry sucha man. This is why Miss Bennet frets. She thinks that Miss Elizabeth might have a mistaken sense of duty. Miss Elizabeth tends to think Miss Bennet is more helpless than she is, but she is wholly able to distinguish night from day and whether there is a wall in front of her. Or where the fire is set.”

“No matter what she may say, it is Miss Elizabeth’s duty to secure the future and care of her family. Her parents have failed to take what action they ought to have, and now, sadly, the burden falls upon her.”

“No!” Georgiana exclaimed again. “No—we can help. I told Lizzy that I would help her in any way I might. Surely we could not let her marry such a man? We might promise to let her have a house or a place to stay. I have very much money, and—”

“No,” Darcy said stiffly, almost angrily. “That would not be proper. You know it would not be. Your head is filled with nonsense if you think such a thing is possible.”

And then Emily started to cry due to either the conversation or Darcy’s tone of voice.

She sobbed. “Like Miss Lizzy. Like Miss Lizzy.”

Unusually, the girl could not be quieted for a great deal of time, not even after they had arrived at Netherfield. It was only after Darcy carried her in circles around the house for half an hour that she fell asleep, still sobbing a little for some minutes after she had closed her eyes and seemed to be otherwise unconscious.

Chapter Nine

When Dr. Cliff visited Mr. Bennet on the third day following his apoplexy, his face had regained sufficient symmetry, and his slow and slurred speech was close enough to its usual tone that the doctor judged him ready to attempt to walk around the bed.

“I do not think that endless rest, as is often suggested, is best for recovery,” the physician said to Elizabeth, who was sitting with her father. “I have always had the notion that, beyond simple things such as the good effect of bleeding and a limited diet, we do not know what turns to good or ill in such cases.”

Mr. Bennet replied, “I hardly…am…believing the…usefulness of anything…”