Ch 36
The next morning, Elizabeth awoke in her parent's house wondering about the sequence of events from the previous day. Had she really been watching Darcy moments before everything began crumbing around her? Was Lydia alive? Dead? Fearing the worst, she checked her phone before pulling herself out of bed. Surely if there were new developments they would have woken her.
She pulled out some clothes from her vacation bag and dressed quickly, pulling her hair into a high ponytail. Intentionally avoiding the mirror, she wasn't about to waste time with makeup. As she headed downstairs, she heard voices coming from the front room.
Jane was talking on the phone.
"Well, thank you for letting us know. Keep us posted."
She hung up and turned to look at Elizabeth. Her tired eyes gave little hope to Elizabeth.
"What's happened?"
"Uncle G returned to London. He's met with father who is coming home today. They are still looking but have found no sign of either of them. He's going to keep asking around with the police, but they are completely stumped as where to even look. Oh, Lizzy," she said, starting to cry.
"No, no," she interrupted, "Don't cry. Everything's going to be alright."
She looked down as her phone buzzed in her hand. Collins.
"Hello?"
"Dearest cousin," he began, "I have heard the grave news about Lydia. Is this true?"
"What? Yes. How did you—"
"It is all over the grapevine. I want you to know that I offer my deepest condolences and hope that everything is made right. I can only hope that this is once and for all teach Lydia the dangers of the world and hope that she will one day—"
"David!" Elizabeth interrupted, "David, stop it! For god's sake we don't even know if she's dead or alive. We will keep you updated of anything that happens, that is, if you don't hear it from the grapevine first."
She hung up on him and stared at her sister in shock. Jane had surmised what the conversation had contained and didn't know what else to say. They sat down in silence and listened to the quiet house around them. Elizabeth could hear her mother upstairs loudly complaining about something. She could hear Mary listening to music in another room. They were all trying to handle the situation in the best way they knew how, but Elizabeth just sat and stared at the wall.
That afternoon, they heard the front door open. Elizabeth ran to the door to meet her father. He looked like he hadn't slept and grabbed her in a deep hug when he saw her.
"You were right," he said quietly in defeat. "You warned me this would happen. That I would lose her. You were right, Lizzy."
Elizabeth held her father as he crumbled before her. He was the strongest person she had ever met. He had never shown fear to her before, but now she watched him shrink as he was visibly gripped with terror. In his mind, he had already lost his daughter forever.
Pulling away, Elizabeth knew she needed to give him hope even if she knew it was nowhere to be found.
"Father," she started, "You are imagining the worst. She is fine. She is safe. She will come back to you."
He straightened at her voice and suddenly had command of himself. Nodding, he moved over to Jane to hug her as well.
Elizabeth watched him head upstairs to talk to his wife and she knew that he was right. She had tried to warn him. She had no idea that Lydia would get into this much trouble, but she had always known that such destructive behavior led from one thing to another. If Elizabeth's pride hadn't been so severe, perhaps she would have warned them all about Wickham. She imagined herself protecting Darcy when she omitted his true character, but she realized now that she had been too proud to admit that she was completely wrong about him. That was the real reason that she had kept her mouth shut. Elizabeth turned to the window and wondered what she could possibly do to repair the situation.