Page 14 of A Most Beloved Sister
“But it looks like it might rain, Mama,” protested Elizabeth. “Besides, Jane can’t go by herself. You know she’ll get lost.”
“Nonsense,” Mrs. Bennet sniffed. “I daresay Jane can manage the road to Netherfield. It’s not that far, after all.”
“And the rain?” she inquired with a raised eyebrow.
“Why, she’ll have to stay the night, of course!”
Even Lydia and Kitty gasped at the idea before giggling. “Imagine, staying the night in the house of a single gentleman!” cried Lydia.
“Nonsense,” Mrs. Bennet said again. “Mrs. Hurst is there, so the situation would be entirely respectable.”
“Let me go too!” Lydia cried. “I want to see Mr. Darcy!”
“But you weren’t invited!” Elizabeth exclaimed, horrified. “It would be a serious breach of etiquette!”
Mrs. Bennet looked at her youngest daughter, torn between propriety and matchmaking.
“Mr. Bingley’s sisters might get a poor impression of us,” added Elizabeth hopefully.
For once, reason prevailed, and Mrs. Bennet shook her head. “I’m sorry, Lydia, dearest.”
Lydia let out an angry screech. “I hate you, Lizzy!” she screamed, stomping her foot. She then ran up the stairs and slammed the door to her room, her sobs echoing through the hallway.
Her absence was hardly noticed as Elizabeth turned her attention back to her mother.
“Mama, I still don’t think it’s a good idea—”
Elizabeth’s words were cut off when Jane said, “But I want to see Mr. Bingley, Lizzy.”
The stubborn look on Jane’s face caused Elizabeth to sigh slightly. With Mrs. Bennet’s approval and Jane’s simple obstinacy, Elizabeth knew she would be wasting her breath.
Jane would go to Netherfield. On horseback. Alone.
What could go wrong?
Elizabeth dashed out of the room and down to the stables, where she found Jamie watching the stable boy saddling Nellie, the old mare the Bennet girls occasionally rode when the mood struck them.
“Jamie, Mama is determined that Jane should ride to Netherfield alone,” she panted, bending over and placing her hands on her knees to catch her breath.
Jamie frowned. “Does Jane even know how to get there on her own?”
Elizabeth shrugged helplessly.
“Don’t worry, Miss Lizzy. I’ll escort Jane there myself,” he promised.
“Are you sure you’ll be able to walk that far on your leg?”
Jamie looked down at his twisted leg. “It’s aching something fierce—must be a storm coming in—but it’ll hold till I can get her there. Don’t you fret.”
True to Jamie’s prediction—and Mrs. Bennet’s delight—a hard rain fell not long after Jane was to have arrived at Netherfield. The rain continued throughout the evening without stopping, and it was clear that the eldest Bennet daughter would be unable to return.
“What a lucky idea I had!” Mrs. Bennet was heard crowing repeatedly throughout the evening, as if she were taking the credit of making it rain.
“Yes, my dear,” said Mr. Bennet drolly at dinner when he heard his wife’s boasts. “Your matchmaking skills are quite supernatural indeed.”
Her husband had at first been quite angry when he returned home from visiting tenants to discover Jane had been sent off with only Jamie to accompany her. As there was nothing that could be done, however, his natural tendency towards indolence allowed him to convince himself that all would be well with his eldest daughter.
Unfortunately, breakfast had scarcely ended the next morning when a liveried servant arrived from Netherfield with a note for Elizabeth, which she read aloud.
