"What is the matter, Kitty?" Elizabeth said as her three youngest sisters stood bickering together in the hall outside the sitting room. As soon as she appeared, they went mysteriously quiet.
Mary crossed her arms and said nothing, while Kitty gestured to something Lydia held.
"Lydia has my ribbons," she said.
"For goodness sake, Lydia. Give Kitty her ribbons."
"But they are so much better suited to my complexion."
"Lydia…"
"Fine," she tossed the tangle of ribbons back to her sister. "They shall be entirely wasted on her!"
Thank goodness they had a letter from Netherfield. Now Jane might have some good news, and hopefully, Mr. Darcy's rude visit could be forgotten.
She met Jane halfway up the stairs.
"Lizzy, what is the ruckus I hear from downstairs?"
Elizabeth sighed at her sister. "Lydia and Kitty warring over ribbons. But you have received a letter from Netherfield. Delivered just now by Mr. Darcy."
"Mr. Darcy brought a letter all this way?"
Jane's cheeks flushed prettily and Elizabeth thought again how inaccurate Charlotte Lucas's comments had been about Jane's lack of outward affection.
"I will sit with Mr. Collins and leave you to your letter," Elizabeth said, but Jane interrupted her.
"No, let's open now and read it, for I would not keep it from you anyway."
Elizabeth followed Jane to their room and closed the door. As Jane read its contents, her smile faded.
"It is from Caroline Bingley. They are quitting Netherfield and have no plans to return."
"That is what Darcy said. Caroline Bingley may not, but I'm sure that is not true of her brother."
"'She says so herself. Look here." Jane pointed to a line in the letter. Caroline's tight, neat script wrote that they followed her brother to London with no plans to return to Hertfordshire and she wished Jane Bennet a joyful Christmas.
"She also mentions Miss Darcy and how she may become her sister. Is that not clear enough for you?"
Elizabeth scanned the rest of the letter.
"I think she means to give you that impression, but what Caroline Bingley says and what may occur are two separate things."
Jane drifted to the window.
"Why did Darcy deliver it himself?"
"To humiliate me, no doubt. Jane, anyone who has seen you two together cannot doubt Bingley's affection for you."
Jane did not turn around when she answered. "I wish that were so, but I fear Miss Bingley is trying to gently dash my hopes."
Elizabeth laughed ruefully. "There is little gentleness about Caroline Bingley. But her brother shall return. Depend on it."
Still, Jane's mood had dampened.
Elizabeth could hardly blame her. They had both decided they need only tell their mother the Netherfield guests had returned to town, and still Mrs. Bennet moped and moaned excessively, undoubtedly making Jane feel worse.
"Mama, it is not a tragedy that the Netherfield party has left," Elizabeth said quietly when Jane was upstairs. "Perhaps complaining may hurt Jane's feelings. We all saw how he acted towards her and cannot, therefore, doubt his affections."
"Oh, but It is a tragedy to lose such an opportunity for Jane. Bingley is the best man to have come to Meryton in a year, and now it seems he's been plucked away. It is dreadful!"
"Dwelling on it may make Jane feel worse."
Mrs. Bennet frowned. "And what do you know about it, Miss? You ignore perfectly good proposals as if they are as common as sunrise in the morning."
Elizabeth bit her tongue and said nothing. Leave it to her Mama to somehow make her feel poorly about not wanting to marry her ridiculous cousin. Her mother would not rest until every last one of them was married, no matter how scoundrel or hunchbacked their husbands might be. At times she felt her mother could be deeply silly, and occasionally she wondered how it was possible she and Jane were related to her.
"If not you, maybe Mr. Collins will take Jane if Bingley disappoints her. She's an obedient girl who will do right by her family," Mrs. Bennet said pointedly.
A chill went down Elizabeth's spine. If pressured and disappointed by Bingley, Jane might indeed accept Mr. Collins for her family's sake.
No, Elizabeth decided, she could not allow that to happen.
Elizabeth found herself sincerely diverted by Mr. Darcy's visit. So much so, she nearly snapped uncharacteristically when Kitty asked about him.
"As he was at the ball and assembly, he displayed arrogance," she said more sharply than she meant as she pulled a thread through her needlework.
"Odd that he had come so early," Kitty said.
Elizabeth forced a polite smile. "I believe it was because they were heading out to town early."
"Perhaps he knows Lizzy likes to walk in the morning, and he hoped he would come upon her alone," Lydia said and giggled. "He did ask her to dance, after all. Maybe he's not arrogant, but rather bacon-brained with love."
For some reason, Elizabeth's face grew hot.
Though Elizabeth ignored her, her heart thudded again. "More likely he wished to avoid seeing anyone in the family."
She looked up to see Jane frown.
"Because he is so rude, not because he wishes to imply rudeness from the Bingleys." She hoped Jane understood her meaning, but her expression seemed like she did not.
Mary came down the stairs slowly, causing Jane and Elizabeth to both look up at her.
"What is it?" Jane asked.
Mary looked downcast before she answered. "Mr. Collins is not well."
The butler knocked on their sitting room door. "Dr. Taylor has apprived again, Miss."
Jane stood up. "Yes, do show him in. Dr. Taylor, so good to see you again."
Dr. Taylor nodded, his face flushed and slightly out of breath, as he had hurried to Longbourn upon receiving their summons.
"Of course. I would like to see the patient as soon as possible," he said and Mr. Bennet nodded and took him upstairs.
"See now, Lizzy? Mr. Collins might pass—God rest his soul—and you will have missed the chance to be mistress of Longbourn," Mrs. Bennet hissed into her ear.
"Mama," Jane said. "Let us see how he is doing before we announce his death." Elizabeth sent her a thankful half-smile, for she knew Jane was trying to help despite Bingley's leaving.
Mrs. Bennet said nothing but fluttered her handkerchief to her face.
"He was a good man–our cousin, Mr. Collins–and he might have made Jane or Lizzy an excellent husband and saved our family."
Lydia glanced from her Mama to the others, confused. "We all complained about Mr. Collins, and now that he's ill, you're talking as if he were a good man!"
Elizabeth's heart squeezed. She still did not like Mr. Collins, but she knew dire illness was no small matter. She wished him to get well so that he might go home and not bother them again.
She sat down next to Lydia and took her hand.
"I think it best to say nothing in circumstances like this."
The next quarter of an hour stretched slowly upon the inhabitants of Longbourn, particularly the women who sat docile in the drawing room, waiting for Mr. Bennet and the doctor to come back down. Then, finally–they heard the door open upstairs, and footsteps started to sound above them.
Mrs. Bennet's handkerchief began to flutter anew. "Oh, he is gone. I know it!"
"Will Longbourn be haunted if Mr. Collins dies here?" Kitty asked.
"Kitty–shush."
Mr. Bennet and Dr. Taylor came down the stairs, their faces long and serious, and Elizabeth had the same notion as her mother. Mr. Collins had passed.
"Do tell us, Papa!" Kitty cried. "Has Mr. Collins passed from the earthly realm?"
Elizabeth wondered where she had learned such language, perhaps she had been paying attention while at church after all.
Mr. Bennet smiled sadly. "No, Mr. Collins is still with us—for now."
"Mr. Collin's throat has gotten worse and developed an infection. He cannot swallow and so can barely take in water or food," Dr. Taylor said. "I am sorry to bring such poor news. There is nothing more I can do here." He lowered his eyes. "You must prepare yourselves." He held up a letter. "He has bid me have a clergyman come to him."
Jane exchanged glances with Elizabeth. Mrs. Bennet pulled out her handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes. "What will become of us?" she whispered to herself as she did. Elizabeth inhaled sharply at her mother's poor manners. A man might lose his life, and her mother worried only about herself. Perhaps Mr. Darcy had been right about her family. She cared not for Collins, but she hoped her family might at least acknowledge the dignity of a man's death. Or were they so poorly mannered they were beyond society?
Elizabeth stood. "I will sit with him." Mr. Bennet's lips parted with surprise. Elizabeth rose and pulled a shawl around her shoulders as she looked at her parent's faces. "Someone should be there."