Page 10 of When Elizabeth Said Yes

Sir William Lucas and his younger daughter Maria were also visiting Hunsford to see Charlotte, and so Elizabeth travelled with them.

She did not think she made very good company.

Dressed all in black, her heart heavy, she could scarcely summon conversation.

Jane had gone to London to work with their uncle on securing a house – and, their mother hoped, perchance to run into Mr Bingley.

But Elizabeth did not hold out great hopes on that matter.

Not because she doubted her sister's loveliness or ability to make a man fall in love with her, but because the fact that Mr Bingley had disappeared when he knew of their circumstances, when he surely imagined what the future might hold, well, it said a great deal about his character.

But also, she was not sure she could even judge him for it.

Would she wish to be saddled with her mother and all her sisters to support if they were not her blood relatives?

She was not sure she could claim to be so selfless.

But they were her blood relatives, and so she would do anything to secure their futures.

If only she had accepted Mr Collins's proposal.

Except...

Except she knew she could not be happy with such a man.

A man she could not respect.

A man she could not love.

Yes, perhaps she could have secured their comfort, and she did feel guilty at robbing her younger sisters of the opportunity to make good matches.

But she was not sure anything could have induced her to accept such a man.

"How is your mother, Elizabeth?" Sir William Lucas asked as the coach began the long journey. "Lady Lucas called to see her the other day, but she was sadly unavailable."

Elizabeth nodded. "Grief has hit her hard, Sir William. She keeps herself upstairs most of the time, I am afraid. It was very kind of Lady Lucas to call upon her."

"Not at all, not at all. You know, if there is anything we can do to help..."

He trailed off, and Elizabeth thanked him.

They were, of course, all very aware that it was his daughter who would be the mistress of Longbourn before too long. And although they were not the authors of the Bennets' downfall, they were certainly key players in it.

Not that it was really their fault.

It was the law, after all, that the entail could not be broken.

"Do you think Lady Catherine de Bourgh will be as terrifying as she sounds?" Maria asked.

Elizabeth smiled at her youthful concern.

"Oh, I wish you could come and dine at Rosings with us, Elizabeth, for I should be much less afraid if you were there."

"You will do very well without me, I am sure," Elizabeth said. "But while it is kind of your sister and Mr Collins to invite me, I am, of course, still in mourning. It would not be appropriate for me to visit Rosings Park as much as I might wish to."

The truth of the matter was that she had no wish to meet Lady Catherine or hear her opinions, which she imagined were vast on every subject, from what she had heard of the lady.

It was rather fortunate that the woman viewed the rules of propriety so strictly.