Chapter 6

When Mr Jones reappeared from upstairs, having looked at his patient, he appeared uncommonly grave.

"I fear there is not much I can do to help him," he said in a grave voice, which had everybody startle.

"Good God!" Bingley, who had been sitting with them in the parlour, cried out, quickly getting to his feet to run upstairs.

"No-no, that is not what I meant. I literally meant that it is I who cannot help him. You will need to send for a surgeon and quickly, I dare say, for his condition is a serious one, but nothing to despair off just yet. He is a strong fellow, he will make it through, I dare say," the apothecary replied calmly, the smile he usually bore on his good-natured round face returning to a degree.

At hearing that, Mr Bingley sat back down, next to Jane, with whom he had been talking all the while before the man's entrance. There he seemingly had found comfort and her complaisance and beauty were enough to ease his concern. Her mother, on the other hand, was still fretting about being so imposed upon by such an unpleasant man, who, after all, had slighted one of her daughters. That this daughter had obviously forgiven him utterly and completely did matter little to her. Mary as well had not ceased to lecture everyone who stayed long enough within earshot, about the fragility of female virtue and while Mr Bennet had shortly joined them, he had equally fast retreated to his library again. What her father's thoughts on the situation were, Elizabeth could not fathom, but then again, he was a pragmatic sort of person, who, though taking delight at laughing at his neighbours, would never refuse them any help should they need it. No, on his integrity she could rely upon.

Since her return Elizabeth had not yet been able to go upstairs, and the letter in her pocket burned as if it were on fire. Her impatience grew to be rid of the cursed thing, but wait she must. And it was the least she could do, considering all. It saddened her, that any human being could suffer so at the hands of another though she was not quite as ignorant as not to know that such darkness existed. It was just that she had as yet, always been sheltered from it. Her age of innocence was over.

"Well, he will be tolerated then, till he can be moved," Mrs Bennet, at last, remarked with a theatrical sigh. "Not that I like it very much. It is such an inconvenience, really. But what must that must, I suppose."

"Mother, please!" Elizabeth tried to stop Mrs Bennet from saying anymore that could offend not only Mr Darcy should he ever hear of it, but also his friend.

But as so often, every attempt to make her more courteous made Mrs Bennet more querulous instead.

"But it is true, Lizzy. He is such a proud sort of man, and no matter how rich he is, and how much of Derbyshire he owns, I declare I shall never like him! His treatment of you has been most abominable and had I been in your place, I would have left him where he was."

Casting a glance in Mr Bingley's direction, Elizabeth blushed to see how uneasy he looked, how taken aback and how flushed Jane's face was at hearing her mother's ungracious words.

"Mama, please, I know your nerves are all in a flutter, but you can hardly hold it against Mr Darcy that he has fallen ill, can you? How could I have just left him there all on his own?"

"Oh well. He should have taken better care of himself as to not fall ill. I presume he is a very negligent sort of man, is he not, Mr Bingley?"

"Actually, I hardly know a man who takes better care of himself, Madam," was Bingley's rather stuttered reply.

"Ah, so vain he is, too. Well, these young men nowadays are all so wrapped up in their own concerns, they can not be bothered to act with consideration towards another person, I declare," Mrs Bennet exclaimed with no little triumph of having discovered yet another dislikeable trait in the man she was determined to abhor as much as she possibly could, whether it be reasonable or not.

There Elizabeth could take it no longer.

Getting up from her seat, she stood before her mother and angrily exclaimed: "That is quite enough, Madam! Do you not see in what light you throw all of us? You, who speaks of her nerves and the lack of compassion for them from the people around you, show little compassion yourself when faced with other people's misery. I am most mortified by your ungenerous, ungracious speech and cannot even begin to express my deepest apologies to you, Mr Bingley. I am deeply ashamed."

Charles Bingley gaped at her, as did everybody else in the room and suddenly realising what she had just done, tears of an even greater mortification brimmed her eyes and she fled to her room, locking herself in, too ashamed to see anyone. How could she have forgotten herself so? How could she reprimand her mother in such a way and in front of not only two of her daughters but also two complete strangers to her family?

"Lizzy?" Jane's gentle voice sounded from behind the door a good while later. "Lizzy, please open the door."

"I am so sorry, Jane. I must have driven away Mr Bingley, I presume."

There Jane smiled and shook her head.

"No, he is still here and presently sitting at his friend's bedside. A doctor has been sent for and should be here by tomorrow morning, and in the meantime, Mr Bingley will stay here, should Mr Darcy get any worse. We sent someone over to get Mr Darcy's things and Miss Bingley is to write a letter to Miss Darcy to inform her about her brother's sickness. Perhaps bringing her here will be of some comfort."

At seeing the situation getting more and more out of hand, Elizabeth had some difficulty in clearing her head. How would Miss Darcy react to such news? And how could she be brought here? Oh dear, what an impossible situation this impossible man was in!

"How is he?" she, at last, asked, trying to look as composed as she possibly could.

"Mr Jones says he is still half-unconscious, but once the wound is cleaned up properly, he should be fine. Lizzy, do you know what happened to him?"

"No, but I have an idea as to what might have. But as it is nothing but an assumption, I might do great injustice in sharing my suspicions and I rather not voice them as yet. Perhaps I am wrong and from what I have heard and seen this far, I fear I could do great damage if I say any of what I presume."

With that Jane was content, as always.

"How is mama? Is she very angry?" Elizabeth asked after a few moments of complete but not uncomfortable silence.

"Yes. Yes, mama is very angry at you, Elizabeth, and from what I have heard, she is thinking of sending you away to London. – Well, as always when you are in discord with her, so I would not think any of it just yet," Jane replied, a lopsided grin on her face. "While I cannot condone what you have done, I have to admit, however, that I agree with the sentiment of what you have said. I was quite mortified at her ungracious words and that Mr Bingley should hear them all made it all ten times worse."

"But you were more mortified by my reprimand of her," Elizabeth smiled wryly, at this point unsure whether a banishment to London would not be preferable to staying here at any rate.

"Naturally," Jane replied with a gentle smile, reaching out to wipe away her sister's tears.

Elizabeth would have much preferred to pass dinner, but to hide away indefinitely would not do and so instead she braced herself for whatever was in store for her. Her entrance into the dining room was, much as she had expected, greeted with icy coldness from her mother, an indignant frown from Mary, a complaisant smile from Jane and a curious look from her two youngest sisters, while her father did nothing but frown slightly. Mr Bingley still had not come down again, which later was explained by the fact that even though Mr Jones had said that he could not really do anything in regards to his friend's wound, he still decided to cut it open to relieve the pressure of the considerable swelling and thus had required the man's help to hold down his patient.

This was just as well, for, after a moment of uncomfortable silence following her entrance, her father addressed her: "Now Lizzy, is there anything you have to say to your mother?"

"I am sorry, mama. I should not have said what I did," she mumbled.

"Ah, I thought so. However, Mrs Bennet, I have to say, as ashamed as I am of my dear Lizzy, you deserved to be humbled."

Open-mouthed his children and wife stared at him.

"Oh, Mr Bennet!" his wife, at last, exclaimed, once more in a high-dudgeon.

"No, I had quite enough of it, my dear," Mr Bennet carried on undeterred by her whining tone of voice, he was so used to interrupting what surely would have ended in a tirade. "We ought to set a good example and I fear we have done little in this way until now. From now on, I will see to my daughters become worthy of being called young ladies, meaning that I will hire a lady to educate you all properly. - No, Lydia, I will not argue about it, I have quite made up my mind. I will ask your Uncle Gardiner to find a suitable person for such an undertaking and that is the end of it. As for your going to London, Lizzy, as your mother insists, I dare say a little change of scenery will do you good, and your aunt always likes to have you there anyway. And considering that they will visit at Christmas, I dare say the little more than six weeks until then, will be a rather welcome break."

"But Mr Darcy?" Elizabeth protested.

Raising a questioning eyebrow her father looked at her before answering with a slight smile: "Ah, he will be taken care of, I am sure."

"But when am I to go?"

"I think everything should be arranged for in a week."

A week...

The rest of the meal passed in unusual silence. The younger Miss Bennets fretted over their most unlucky fate of finally getting a governess, while the older ones greatly approved. Mrs Bennet was too offended still, and claiming a headache left the table half-way through dinner and retired to her room from where her wails, as she complained to Hill of all the injustice that had been done to her, sounded throughout Longbourn House.