Page 29 of An Accidental Meeting
“Darcy,” Bingley snapped, “you know as well as I that I have been dragged through one horrible house party after another. Hurst drinks, plays cards, is up all night, and absents himself all day. Louisa and Caroline are constantly nattering on about the accomplishments of their well-placed friends. I am fortunate it is summer, for if I could not escape out of doors, I would have thrown myself in front of a runaway carriage.” He stopped to take a breath. “What has any of this to do with Miss Bennet?”
Darcy had not realised the strain on Bingley was so great, but he ought to have. He felt the same way about Elizabeth. “I wished to speak to you privately, Bingley. It was not a conversation I could attempt with you while your sisters were about, and I did not know where to send a letter.” Darcy took a deep breath. “While I was at Rosings, I met with Miss Elizabeth Bennet.”
Bingley’s brows pinched together. “Why was Miss Elizabeth at Rosings?”
“She was not at Rosings itself.” Darcy quickly explained Elizabeth’s connection to his aunt’s parson.
The only response was a blank expression. “And?”
“And during a rather heated conversation—"
Bingley chuckled at that. “Do you two have any other kind?”
“Bingley. . .” Darcy pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Go on, then.”
“She revealed to me that her sister had been expecting your addresses.”
His friend was unmoved. “My sisters said the same but added that Miss Bennet’s mother was the one who truly wished for my proposals, not Miss Bennet. They warned me that Mrs. Bennet would force her to accept me.”
“Bingley,” Darcy said, exasperated. “You are not taking my meaning. Miss Elizabeth told me that her sister was heartbroken when you left and never returned.”
Elizabeth had neversaidthe word heartbroken. She would never reveal her sister’s sentiments so directly. But Darcy needed to get through to Bingley, and he did not believe his description was far off.
“What?” Bingley’s complexion paled as white as the clouds that drifted overhead. “Do you mean to say she wished for me to return, and I never did? That she came to London to put herselfback in my path in the hopes that I was not a scoundrel who had played with her affections?”
Darcy thoughtscoundrelwas perhaps doing it too brown. “She did, but you are not entirely to blame for not returning. Some significant pieces of information were withheld from you. Had you been aware she was in London, I am certain you would have called on her and all of this might have been resolved. I am sorry, Bingley.”
“I abandoned her.” Bingley’s breathing was laboured, and for one horrifying moment, Darcy believed he might cast up his accounts. But his friend finally linked his hands behind his head, looked up at the sky, and took a deep, controlled breath.
“Why are you telling me this now?”
“Because,” Darcy said guiltily, “Miss Bennet’s uncle is here.”
“Here?” Bingley nearly squeaked. “Where?”
Darcy pointed at two figures on the bank of the stream who were fortunately facing in the other direction from the house. “There.”
Bingley’s gaze fell upon the two men, and there was trepidation in his eyes. “Do you know, Darcy, whether Miss Bennet cares for me still?”
“I do not. I daresay even Miss Elizabeth cannot know for certain, having been from home some weeks.”
Bingley turned to glare at him. “Miss Elizabeth?”
“Yes. She is also here, as is her aunt.” Darcy held up his hands to quell Bingley’s vexation. “They were travelling, and happened to be taking a tour of the house when I arrived yesterday.”
His friend shook his head. “I have been your friend for years, Darcy, and you have never once surprised me. I must say, you seem to have been saving it all for this moment.”
“It was a surprise to me as well, Bingley. I met Miss Elizabeth because there was an accident in the house just as I arrived.”
This distracted Bingley from his own woes. “Mrs. Reynolds? I say, Darcy, that is terrible news. Is she well?”
“She is. Dashedly difficult to convince to follow the physician’s instructions, but well.”
“I do not suppose this place would function at all without her. But how did that lead you to Miss Elizabeth?”
“It was Miss Elizabeth's cry for assistance that led me to them, and after her help with Mrs. Reynolds, I invited them all to Pemberley for the remainder of their stay in the area.”
