Chapter 14: Road Trip
Jane looked up hopefully, as Elizabeth entered the kitchen. Jane being Jane however, managed to give priority to precautions before curiosity. "Is Charlotte still asleep?"
"I poked my head in, and she still seemed to be fast asleep. She'll wake up sooner than later though, I reckon. She's had no dinner, no breakfast, and probably no fluids that she actually needs."
"Any luck with Edward?"
Elizabeth slumped down into the armchair. "I hate it when other people make as much, or more sense than me."
"Oh no, what happened?"
"He asked me how he was supposed to intervene when Charlotte admitted to at least one of the thefts she's been accused of. Even if Edward could somehow tell the firm that Charlotte did what she did under some type of duress that she isn't able to make public, how can we explain the other accusation? Even if we were to assume that Caroline's word was equivalent to Charlotte's on a good day, we're now very, very far from a good day. Charlotte admitted to stealing."
"Caroline would have to take back exactly half of what she said," Jane said dully.
"Is it too early to start drinking?" Elizabeth asked. Tuesday had seen all three of them stay at home, and Elizabeth for one felt that the situation warranted day drinking.
"We need to do something," Jane said, ignoring Elizabeth's question.
"I told Edward that I'd likely be tendering my resignation."
"Lizzy. We need to do something other than standing firm on our morals. How does both of you losing your jobs help the situation?"
"Jane, come on. I'm not going to stay there while they treat Charlotte like this. I'll find another job. I'll take up waitressing. Bartending. Back to retail. Whatever. What's important is to show solidarity with Charlotte. Charlotte needs to know that I'm not going to be off furthering my career while she had to sacrifice hers because of me."
"Not because of you."
"A distinction without a difference."
Both sisters fell silent. Elizabeth watched listlessly as Jane went to start preparing lunch.
"We need to do something. I need to do something. I can't just…"
"Caroline."
Elizabeth looked at Jane blankly. "What about her?"
"If someone could convince Caroline to take back exactly half of her accusations, you and Charlotte could tell Edward the truth about the glasses. You wouldn't have to quit, and Charlotte would get her job back!"
"Jane…none of us are people Caroline would remotely consider listening to."
"She'd listen to her brother...maybe. It's worth a try. I just need to swallow my pride."
"Jane," Elizabeth said gently, "didn't you tell Charles that his sisters were 'toxic'? You can't really go and ask him to now call in a favour with Caroline, can you? And this is without even considering everything else between you and Charles."
"I know, but you're right. We need to do something."
"Jane, sweetie, I need to do something. After abusing his sisters to his face, how can you possibly go and ask Charles for help?"
Jane's shoulders fell. "I know, but…maybe if you spoke to Charles instead…"
"I don't think any of us speaking to Charles is going to help. Besides which, I'm not sure that Caroline would listen to Charles. Or to…" Elizabeth fell silent, as the vague outlines of an idea started to take place.
Jane no longer had the capacity to wait patiently. "Lizzy? Lizzy, what are you thinking? Elizabeth, talk to me!"
"Caroline would listen to Darcy. Of all the people on the planet, he is the one person to whom she would agree with, no questions asked."
Jane stared at her. "But…Lizzy…things between you…everything is so…"
"Messed up?"
"I was going for awkward."
"Well. Never let it be said that Elizabeth Bennett is not willing to try to fix things. I'm going to go call Darcy."
"You have his number?" Jane asked, surprised.
"No, because I'm not smart like that. I do, however, have his office number. Wish me luck!"
When Elizabeth re-entered the kitchen, she found Charlotte seated at the counter, nursing an orange juice.
"Hey, Charlotte, how are you feeling?"
Charlotte mumbled something before looking up. "Jane said you were calling Darcy," she said.
At the same time, Jane spoke. "What did he say? When are you seeing him?"
"I'm not. He's on vacation."
"What?!"
"Jane, please. My head. A little quieter, if you could," Charlotte grumbled. She looked at Elizabeth with more than a hint of sadness. "So, no Darcy then?"
Elizabeth wasn't sure how much Jane had told Charlotte; Elizabeth wasn't keen on giving Charlotte false hope. With Charlotte looking directly at her, Elizabeth was hardly in a position to be giving Jane any questioning looks. She decided to play it by ear.
"His wonderful assistant – Matthew - told me that Darcy was away on vacation."
"Oh no," Jane said, with genuine sadness. "I…I suppose what with all that has happened, he needed to take some time off. I'm so sorry Lizzy; I fully expected…well, it doesn't matter now. I suppose it's too late now for you to try and reach out to Darcy."
Charlotte laid her head down on the counter, mumbling something.
"Oh, but you're wrong, Jane. I haven't given up just yet."
Charlotte turned her head – still on the counter - to look at Elizabeth curiously, while Jane frowned.
"Matthew didn't exactly say that Darcy was on vacation. He said that Darcy was 'with his family, and not expected back for at least a week'. And, as far as I know, Darcy's family consists of the judge who hired Bill, and Darcy's sister."
"Lizzy…I'm not sure I follow."
"I'm going to go find Darcy. Wherever he is," Elizabeth stated, with new-found determination.
Jane stared at her, mouth agape. "Excuse me?"
"This conversation is way too loud for my liking, and yet I'm hooked," Charlotte said, slowly siting up.
Elizabeth smiled grimly. "Oh, you know the know story about going to the mountain if it won't come to you. George," Elizabeth grimaced just mentioning his name, "had said that Darcy was from Pemberley. I looked it up; Pemberley is an estate in Derbyshire that's a three-hour train ride from here. It's his family home, I think, since his parents' names came up as well. A simple phone call to Bill will let me know if Darcy is anywhere near his aunt…so I'm going to go find Darcy."
"But…what about your job?"
"Well, firstly summer is over, so I'm down to being part-time…and Edward said I could take two weeks off, especially since I worked right through summer. Secondly, if the firm has a problem, screw 'em. There's always retail! Thirdly, somethings are just more important than a job. Especially this job."
"What about class?"
"It's just a week…or less. The class recordings are uploaded within 24 hours, so I'm just going have to buckle down and study remotely. It's just a week or less," Elizabeth repeated.
"I'm coming with you," Charlotte declared, sitting up, and now fully alert.
"Wait, what?" Elizabeth asked, not at all expecting this.
Charlotte shrugged. "I have neither job nor classes to attend. I'll come with you. Road trip. Side-kick. Sounding board."
Jane continued stare.
"Uh-huh," Elizabeth said. She couldn't as well refuse Charlotte. "Okay then. I'm going to go call mother, get Bill's number, and then find out if Darcy is there. First available train, we're off."
Charlotte clambered off her chair. "Why don't I call Bill? He'll be more open to giving me answers."
"Probably a good idea," Elizabeth said. "What did you tell her?" she whispered to Jane, as soon as Charlotte was safely back in her room.
"Only that you wanted to talk to Darcy to 'fix' things. I didn't tell her that it was actually about getting her job back."
"Oh."
"Lizzy, do you really think this is a good idea? What if Darcy isn't even there?"
"I have to do something, Jane. If Darcy isn't there, then…I'll come up with something then."
"Why don't you just email him? You do have his email."
"Because if he's understandably furious with me, he just won't reply and then I can't beg for help."
"I doubt very much that he's furious with you," Jane said dubiously.
Elizabeth scoffed. "I would be, if I were him. If nothing else, Charlotte will get a change of scenery."
"And if your plan works, she'll get her job back."
"Darcy, I'm counting on you to be reasonable!" Elizabeth said out loud.
"He's not with his aunt. Next train to Derbyshire leaves in little over two hours," Charlotte announced, walking back into the kitchen.
"I'll help you guys pack," Jane said.
"I found us a nice B&B," Charlotte said, typing away on her laptop.
Elizabeth nodded. "Charlotte. Charlotte," she repeated, until Charlotte looked up at her. "I'm sorry."
"For what? I want to come on this road trip!"
"Not that, Char. You got fired because of me. My idiocy, and George, and the glasses, and…everything was going so well for you…and…I ruined it. I mean, okay, Caroline did, but you would never, ever, have been put in that position if not for me. Charlotte, I can't articulate how sorry I am. You've been my best friend for as long as I can remember, and you're such an amazing person. You deserved better from everyone, but especially from me. I promise you, I'm going to make things okay for you. Somehow. I don't know how yet, but somehow."
"Elizabeth, you know I don't blame you. I'm…I had this coming. Using you to say the things I never had the guts to say. Making you put Caroline in her place because I didn't have the balls to. Being a damn wuss was going to come and bite me in the ass one day. I knew that. I just never thought it would be like this. But it's not your fault. None of this is your fault. Caroline. George. They're the ones to blame."
"Charlotte, do not put yourself down like that! You're not a wuss! You've always been mature and helpful and diplomatic. Not being brash like me is a good thing."
"But had I been more honest, and worn a mask less often, Caroline would have respected me more, and feared me more. She wouldn't have accused me of being a thief if she ever worried that I would turn around and bite back. She took the risk because she knew I'd roll over and play dead. Which I did, true to script."
"Charlotte…"
"It's okay. Maybe this is what I needed. To become a better version of myself. Or something like that. If we weren't inside a train, I'd go and get drunk again."
Elizabeth reached over to hug Charlotte. It was awkward positioning, but Charlotte hugged her back with all the strength she had.
"I imagine Caroline growing old, fifteen cats to her name, Botox, bright red lipstick, and a hoarder. Because she won't have any humans around her," Charlotte said, smiling at her.
Elizabeth smiled back. "As punishment, I want half her cats."
"And half her hoard!" Charlotte added.
Elizabeth grinned. "And I'm not talking one out of every two. I mean half, King Solomon style. One half of whatever she is hoarding. And one half of each of her cats."
"Gruesome! I love it!" Charlotte said, laughing.
Even though she still hadn't come up with any sort of plan on how to find Darcy or what to tell him, for the first time since the gala, Elizabeth began to feel some hope.