Page 202 of What Change Entails

Miss Bingley did not come down.

Elizabeth was glad of it.

She said goodbye to Georgiana once more, then to Bingley, then to Mrs. Hurst, who surprised her by pressing her hand and murmuring, “I am sorry for the haste.”

“So are we all,” Elizabeth replied.

Lydia clung to Georgiana until Mrs. Gardiner called her name twice. Breaking away, she untied the narrow blue ribbon from her bonnet and pressed it into Georgiana’s hand.

“It was meant for Brighton,” she said with a smile. “Instead, it became a Derbyshire ribbon. I think that much the better story.”

Georgiana curled her fingers around it. “Then I shall keep it until you return.”

Lydia smiled a watery smile. “You will write?”

“Yes.”

“Long letters.”

Georgiana chuckled. “Yes.”

“And if Miss Bingley says anything horrid, you will write that too.”

“Lydia,” Elizabeth said.

Georgiana lifted her chin a fraction. “I will write what I choose.”

Lydia stared at her for one stunned second, then beamed through fresh tears. “That was splendid.”

Elizabeth climbed into the carriage before she could lose all command of herself. Lydia followed, then Mrs. Gardiner. Mr. Gardiner gave the order.

The wheels began to turn.

Elizabeth looked toward the drive.

Empty.

No rider. No Mr. Darcy arriving early by some miracle fiction alone would permit.

The carriage moved down the long sweep from the house. Pemberley receded gradually behind them, windows catching the dull light of the unsettled sky.

Elizabeth watched it until trees intervened.

Only then did she draw back.

Lydia had begun crying into her handkerchief again. Mrs. Gardiner reached across to take Elizabeth’s hand. Outside, the road curved away from Derbyshire, carrying them toward Hertfordshire.

Elizabeth pressed her fingers together in her lap.

Come to me.

She had written the words.

Now she had to trust them.

And him.

Chapter Twenty-One