Chapter 11
Elizabeth turned the handle of Jane's bedroom door and poked her head in. She had been looking for Mary all morning and so far she was not having any luck finding her. Their mother had been fretting all morning because Mr. Bingley had not returned from London and it was going on two weeks since his sisters and he quit Netherfield. Mr. Darcy, Mr. Lucas, and Colonel Fitzwilliam had visited a few times in the last two weeks, so her mother was at least happy to have some gentlemen callers.
Seeing Mary sitting on a chair beside Jane's bed, Elizabeth pushed the door open wider and exclaimed, "I have finally found you Mary!"
Both sister's turned their gazes to look at their sister and furrowed their brows. "Why are you looking for Mary?" Jane asked as she shifted her weight slightly on the bed.
Grabbing a chair, she pulled it next to Mary's and plopped down in it. Brushing a stray strand of hair out of her face, she let out a breath. "Mama has been in the parlor all morning with Lydia and Kitty. I was trying to read, but between Mama wailing about Mr. Bingley not returning and Lydia talking about the militia; I needed to find an escape. I was trying to find Mary and see if she wanted to visit Jane, but I see you are already here." Elizabeth explained with a slight chuckle.
Mary grinned and set her book on the side table. "When I walked by the parlor door I heard Lydia talking about the militia and all the handsome redcoats. Instead of walking in like I had planned, I quickly made my way up here so I did not have to listen to her." She rolled her eyes slightly and turned to Jane. "Colonel Fitzwilliam has been asking about you Jane. He seems to be quite taken with you."
Elizabeth and Mary watched in surprise when their elder sister blushed. Mr. Bingley had never made Jane blush when they talked about him after the assembly. "He saved me during a thunderstorm and brought me back here. He seems to be a very amiable gentleman and I would like to know him better," she said with confidence. "But I do not want Mama to be around," she muttered and all of them giggled.
"Lydia would be very jealous if you married a man that served in Her Majesty's army," Elizabeth pointed out and they nodded their heads in agreement.
Jane turned to her sister with a pointed look. "What about you're Mr. Lucas, Mary? He has paid you marked attention since the night of the Meryton assembly when he first came back home." Jane knew how Michael felt about Mary, but she wanted to see how her sister felt about Michael. She had been watching them closely over the last few weeks and Mary seemed to be warming up to him. "Do you like him?"
Mary blushed at her sister's question and stared down at her lap. Smoothing the invisible wrinkles out of her dress, she wondered how it bare her heart to her sisters'. They had become close confidents over the last few months. Raising her head again, she gave a small smile. "I like him very much Jane, but I do not know if I see if going past anything but friendship. His leave will be up soon and then he will be gone again for an unknown amount of time."
Reaching over, Jane gave Mary had a squeeze and smiled gently. "Let things work out for how they are supposed to. If you need to pray to the Lord and let him give you the guidance you need. When Mr. Bingley paid me marked attention at the assembly and for a short while after, I prayed about it and realized that he probably is not the man for me. He is very flighty," she said with a scrunch of her nose and shake of her head. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Elizabeth's surprised expression at her words. "Lizzy?"
Closing her mouth, Elizabeth looked at her sister with a thoughtful expression. "Jane what happened to you? You always used to see only the goodness in people and never had anything bad to say about anyone."
"Oh, Lizzy I still see the good in people, but after my accident and having a complete stranger rescue me, I have been thinking about myself and realizing that I may have been too nice to some people. Mainly the Bingley sisters. When they found out that I was injured and never made it to Netherfield, they did not come here and see how I was doing."
"Mr. Bingley came," Elizabeth pointed out and waited to see her sister's reaction.
"Yes Mr. Bingley did come and ask about my health, but he is also in London right now with his sisters probably never to return to Netherfield. I know everyone at the assembly saw Mama try to push me towards him, but I want to be able to choose my own husband."
Mary saw that her sister was getting tired of defending herself and turned her attention to Elizabeth who was still studying Jane like she was seeing her for the first time. "Elizabeth?"
Snapping her eyes away from Jane, Elizabeth focused on Mary. "Yes dear sister?"
A mischievous smile graced her lips as she asked, "Since we have already covered Mr. Lucas and Colonel Fitzwilliam, I believe it is time to talk about Mr. Darcy. I have seen him watching you when they call on us. He has also sought you out a few times."
Jane giggled as Mary asked her sister questions. It was Elizabeth's turn to sit there and squirm.
A small smile tugged at the corner of Elizabeth's mouth as she thought about Mr. Darcy and his intense blue eyes every time they landed on her. He was the most handsome man of her acquaintance and out of his circle of friends, she was the only one he had danced with at the assembly.
"Elizabeth stop daydreaming," Mary exclaimed as Jane chuckled. They had never seen their sister act like a young school girl in love.
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Elizabeth smiled at her sisters. "I do not want to say too much, but like both of you with your gentlemen, I find myself thinking about him a lot. We have the most interesting conversations even though most of them lead to disagreements, but they are still lively. We talk about books, music, and the countryside. He claims his library could fill all of Loughbourn," she stated with a laugh.
Mary gave a wishful sigh as she imagined that many books, while her other two sisters laughed. Grabbing a pillow of the bed where Jane rested, she threw it at her sister and chuckled when it hit its mark.
00000000
Michael grabbed the reins of his horse and quickly mounted. Settling into the saddle, he turned Juniper towards Netherfield Park. Kicking his horse into a trot he set off down the road from Lucas Lodge and gazed up at the sky. For the beginning of December it was pleasantly warm outside, but he knew that they would be in for snow within the next few weeks.
Darcy and Fitzwilliam had invited him to go hunting today and he could not pass up an opportunity to hunt for something other than the enemy. He had about six more weeks of leave left and he wanted to make the most of that time with his family and neighbors. Patting Juniper on the neck, images of the woman he wanted to marry flashed before his eyes and he smiled. It had been a week since he had paid a visit to Loughbourn, but duties at home had prevented him from paying a call.
Spurring Juniper in to a gallop, Michael let his horse run like the wind through the open meadow behind Netherfield. The wind whipped through his hair and he had to put a hand on his hat to keep it from flying off. Netherfield soon came into view and reluctantly slowed to a walk as he came up the drive. Dismounting, Michael handed the reins to a nearby stable boy, and turned at the sound of boots hitting the gravel.
Seeing Darcy and Fitzwilliam coming towards him, he smiled and held out his hand to both men. "Good afternoon Darcy, Fitzwilliam," he greeted.
Fitzwilliam smiled at his comrade and gestured towards Darcy. "Shall we get to it? It may be our last decent stretch of weather to go hunting."
Darcy gave Lucas a slight smile and a nod before they set off.
Author's Note: Well I'm not sure how many chapters I plan on making this story, but be warned that this is only the beginning. I have big plans for this tale, but it may take me awhile to get there. I hope to have this story completed before my wedding next summer. I hope you are still enjoying Three years later. Merry Christmas everyone! Let me know what you think.