Chapter 2

Elizabeth was enraged with her mother for sending Jane on horseback, knowing it was going to rain. Also, she was disappointed with her father for never stepping in and letting her mother do such things. She had walked for more than three miles in the middle of the field and had her boots, and her petticoat was muddy. But she did not regret it, because she would not have been calm at home waiting for news from Jane, she had to make sure that her sister as well.

Before entering the house, she cleaned herself as best she could, and she fixed her hair a bit. When the butler announced her and entered the drawing-room, she immediately saw the scornful face the Bingley sisters wore and the censure in the arrogant Mr. Darcy's gaze. Mr. Bingley was surprised, but he was kind, and Mr. Hurst simply ignored her. There was a very elegant lady in the room whom she did not know. At least, this person was looking at her only curiously. If she was friends with Miss Bingley and her sister, there was no doubt that she would be a proud and arrogant woman.

"Miss Elizabeth, please come in. How nice that you were able to come. Mr. Bingley said kindly as he invited Elizabeth to come in."

"Did you come alone? We didn't feel any carriage approaching," Miss Bingley added scornfully.

"I came alone and not by carriage but walking," Elizabeth explained briefly as Mr. Bingley's sisters asked her all kinds of impertinent questions. She responded in the most courteous way she could.

For his part, Mr. Darcy was practically frozen. Elizabeth was prettier than she ever was, with her cheeks flushed and her eyes glowing from exercise. At that moment, he wondered how he could ever think that Elizabeth was a simply tolerable woman. The only thing he hoped was for her to leave as soon as possible so that he could be at peace.

Elizabeth, a little exasperated by so many questions, only limited herself to say, "It would be possible to see my sister. I am very worried about her."

After the impasse, she greeted everyone present, and Mr. Bingley introduced her to Lady Campbell. Caroline and Louisa offered to accompany her to Jane's room. She was observing everything very closely and intrigued.

The three men went hunting, and Eleanor was left alone thinking about everything that had happened in the last hour. The girl she knew as a child was sick resting in a room. Elizabeth was probably the one in Fanny's womb when she had that horrible accident and left Longbourn. Elizabeth was, without a doubt, a lovely and independent woman. With a bit of luck, maybe she could get to know her better.

Eleanor didn't know what Thomas had told the girls about her. Before she revealed her identity, she had to speak to Thomas. But she felt that she was not ready for that yet. Perhaps later in the day, she might have a chance to converse with Elizabeth and find out how much they knew about her. When they told her that her room was ready, she decided to retire to rest and think well what she would do.

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After resting for a few hours, Eleanor decided to go back to the drawing-room to share with her hostess. The men had already returned, and they were all gathered together talking, except for Mr. Darcy. He was concentrating on reading a book.

At first, the sisters did not realize that Eleanor had entered the room. So, they were giving vent to all her poisonous comments about Elizabeth, her physical appearance, the fact that she had walked three miles, and how wild she was. "Mr. Darcy, I hope that didn't affect your admiration for her fine eyes," Caroline said mockingly to Mr. Darcy.

Without looking up from his book, he only added, "Not at all. They were brightened by the exercise."

Eleanor was curious about everything she had heard. It was clear that Miss Bingley was interested in Mr. Darcy, and for some reason, she saw Elizabeth as a rival.

Mr. Bingley's sisters continued to make derogatory remarks against Elizabeth and her family. They especially made fun of the fact that one uncle was a country attorney and the other was in trade and lived near Cheapside. Mr. Bingley felt a little embarrassed at the attitude of his sisters and said, "If they had uncles enough to fill -all- Cheapside, it would not make them one jot less agreeable. "

"But it must very materially lessen their chance of marrying men of any consideration in the world," replied Mr. Darcy.

Eleanor was stunned. Never in her life had she heard such arrogance in so few minutes. Mr. Bingley's sisters and Mr. Darcy were undoubtedly arrogant and believed themselves superior. She concluded that the uncle who lived in Cheapside that the sisters were making fun of must be her old friend Eddie Gardiner. She wanted very much to know how he was doing. He was a little over a year younger than her, and they had always been good friends. Edward was smart and very dedicated, so different from his older and younger sisters.

Caroline, noticing the presence of Lady Campbell, said, "I'm sorry, my Lady, but in this place, the people are not sophisticated, and some are even a bit wild. They are ordinary people, not like the ones we are used to socializing in London."

"Don't worry, Miss Bingley, in this respect, I think very similar to Mr. Bingley. I judge people for who they are, not for their family."

Caroline did not like the Baroness's answer. Still, she was not going to contradict a woman of higher social rank in front of Mr. Darcy. Fortunately, Elizabeth entered the room at that moment to tell them that she was leaving and to thank them for their hospitality. Mr. Bingley, knowing that Jane had not improved, invited Elizabeth to stay to take care of her if she so desired. Elizabeth thanked him. A note was sent to Longbourn to notify her family that Elizabeth would be staying as a guest at Netherfield and requesting clothes. Elizabeth thanked Mr. Bingley again and went to take care of Jane.

Mr. Darcy was a little uncomfortable with the new situation. But, he told himself that deep down, it did not matter if Miss Elizabeth stayed as a guest because he planned to ignore her.

Eleanor didn't miss the way Mr. Darcy looked at Elizabeth and began to understand why Miss Bingley's animosity. But she did not like at all that a man who openly despised her niece, when he believed that no one was seeing him, looked at her with admiring eyes. She did not know Mr. Darcy or Elizabeth. It was clear that if he tried to seduce her, he was not intending to make her his wife but something much less honorable.

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Elizabeth saw that Jane was asleep and decided to join the rest of the party in the drawing-room. Dinner had not been enjoyable. Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurts had made all sorts of offensive remarks, and Mr. Darcy, as always, had just looked at her disapprovingly. Fortunately, Lady Campbell had been pleasant enough in what little they had been able to share. At least in the group, there were two friendly people with whom she could converse.

When she got to the room, Lady Campbell was not there, so she sat down to read a book that was on one of the tables. Although she tried not to interfere with the other occupants of the room or their conversation, Miss Bingley could not help but start attacking her. Mr. Darcy joined Miss Bingley immediately. In their own way, both wanted to make her feel that she was not an accomplished woman, and she could not care less about their opinion.

Just at that moment, Lady Campbell entered. Even though she managed to hear just part of what was being said, she imagined that Miss Bingley was, once again, trying to attack Elizabeth to gain the attention of the Derbyshire gentleman. Eleanor took the opportunity to sit next to her niece and begin a subtle interrogation. After asking about Jane's health, she began inquiring about the rest of the family. "Do you have any more siblings, Miss Elizabeth?"

"Yes, I have four sisters. Jane is the oldest, and I am the second daughter," Elizabeth said.

At that instant, Eleanor felt devastated. Her irresponsible brother and the nervous and stupid Fanny had had five daughters, and they had not managed to produce an heir. Indeed these poor girls didn't even have a dowry. At least Elizabeth was beautiful and apparently intelligent, but her chances of finding a husband were still limited. At that moment, she thought that perhaps her return to England would allow her to help her nieces somehow. "Miss Elizabeth, tomorrow before I go, I would like to meet your sister. Do you think it is possible?"

"Of course, as you know, it is very boring to be in bed all day, and your visit will help Jane to have some distraction." Elizabeth was content and very grateful to Lady Campbell for all her attentions and for taking the trouble to talk to her when the rest of the party ignored her.

Eleanor had noticed that while they were talking, Mr. Darcy did not take his eyes off Elizabeth, and it seemed that she did not care. Moreover, it appeared that she was uncomfortable with the gentleman's attention. It made her feel more at ease, knowing that the attraction was unrequited. At least Elizabeth was safe. She didn't want any of her nieces to make the grave mistake she made so many years ago.

That night, it rained a lot, and the next day Mr. Bingley informed Eleanor that the roads were in bad condition. So, he recommended that she stay at least one more day. She accepted and appreciated the hospitality.

After breakfast, Lady Campbell accompanied Elizabeth to Jane's room to meet her. When she saw her beautiful niece, she felt excitement and nostalgia. They had been very close until she had to practically fled away from Longbourn.

"Jane, this is Lady Campbell," Elizabeth told her sister. She was struck by how the Lady looked at Jane. She even believed that Lady Campbell's eyes had watered with emotion.

Eleanor took a deep breath and moved closer to Jane to get a better look at her. "Nice to meet you, Miss Bennet. Your sister told me so much about you that I couldn't help but be curious to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine, my Lady. Thank you for taking the trouble to visit me," replied Jane sheepishly.

The three women began to talk, and after a few minutes, she had grown in confidence. Eleanor was in awe with her two nieces. In addition to being beautiful, both were intelligent, cultured, and very refined. She thought that maybe, this time, her cowardly brother had done something right. Perhaps after she left, he was forced to mature and changed.

Eleanor stayed almost two hours in Jane's room, and if it hadn't been because Jane had to rest, she would have stayed even longer. She couldn't wait to meet the rest of her nieces. She planned to talk to her brother before returning to London to arrange when she would be officially introduced to the Bennet family as Aunt Eleanor.

Mr. Darcy looked out the window as Elizabeth walked through the garden. If he could do whatever he wanted, if he wasn't Pemberley's master, and the man full of responsibilities that he was, he would go out into the garden. He could probably walk for hours listening to Elizabeth's witty comments and impertinent opinions. He was so distracted looking at Elizabeth that he hardly realized that a carriage had arrived with Mrs. Bennet and her two younger daughters.

Eleanor was in the drawing-room listening to Caroline and Louisa's silly comments. She could not recall meeting two more brainless and vain women as Mr. Bingley's sisters. He also seemed a fairly simple man, but he compensated all of that with such spontaneous sympathy and a good heart, unlike his sisters. Suddenly Mrs. Bennet and two of her daughters came in with Elizabeth.

Elizabeth introduced Eleanor to her mother and her sisters. Fanny was more concerned with flattering Mr. Bingley and inspecting the house than meeting someone, so she hardly noticed her. Lady Campbell was stunned; Fanny was even more stupid and vulgar than she remembered. The two youngest daughters behaved very similarly to her mother, especially the youngest, who was even more brazen than her mother at the same age. Those two girls did look like the daughters of Thomas and Fanny. She wondered what miracle had happened to make the two older ones so different. She was sad to see how Fanny and her two younger daughters embarrassed Elizabeth. Especially when seeing how Caroline and Louisa practically laughed in the face of her sister-in-law for the atrocities she said.

Once Fanny left, Eleanor immediately went to her room. She spoke with her secretary, Mr. Taylor. She asked him to go to Longbourn to deliver a message to her brother. She needed to talk to him urgently. Thomas and Fanny were hopeless, but she would do her best to help her nieces. Maybe that way she could reconcile with her past and finally be able to forget and leave behind so much pain.

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Mr. Bennet was happy enjoying the books he had recently purchased and the peace he felt at home when his wife and his two younger daughters were away. That's why he was surprised when the butler knocked on the door.

"Sir, this message arrived for you. The person who brought it said that you needed to read it immediately." Mr. Hill explained as he handed him the note.

Hill withdrew, and Mr. Bennet opened the note and began to read it. When he finished, he was pale with shock and could only say out loud. "Eleanor?"

The next day, at the agreed place, Mr. Bennet arrived to meet his sister. She was waiting for him.

"Before we talk about the past and clarify some things, I want you to tell me what your family knows about me. I have asked you directly, and I want an answer just as direct. Eleanor stared defiantly at her brother.

"For the whole family, you died twenty years ago. Ella, after so many years without knowing anything about you, I also came to think that you had died."

Lady Campbell could hardly contain her rage and said, "You never responded to any of my letters; that's why I stopped writing. I need to go to the north of the country to resolve some business, but I will be back in a month. I want you to introduce me to your daughters. I do not know what you will say to them or how you will explain my presence. But you will introduce me as Lady Campbell, their Aunt".

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Thanks to everyone who leaves comments, I read them, and I appreciate them very much.

I want to tell you about something that happened to me on Sunday night. When I was going to publish chapter two, I realized that I had lost the file. I was so angry that I decided to either abandon the story or continue it in chapter three. So I apologize for this poorly written chapter. At some point, when I reconcile with myself for my stupidity, I think I can rewrite it more like the original I lost.

I am still very unmotivated, but I will try to complete the story and publish chapters frequently.

In the next chapter, we will go back twenty years to learn about a part of Eleanor's past and why she had to leave Longbourn.

See you soon!

Gracias por los comentarios de apoyo, no quiero repetir lo que ya dije en inglés porque me acuerdo y me da rabia conmigo misma jajaja. Pero estoy súper desmotivada con lo que pasó así que sean buenitos en los comentarios por favor.

¡Nos vemos pronto!