Darcy and Elizabeth What If? Collection 3 Read Free

Collins. He told his wife and guest all about it as they took tea before dressing for their dinner engagement at Rosings. ‘I am sure you will be pleased to see the painting, Miss Bennet,’ he said, attempting a clumsy compliment, ‘for with your discernment you will be able to see that Miss Darcy’s painting is most superior.’
    ‘It was kind of Mr Bingley to bring it,’ said Charlotte, to forestall any more stupidity on her husband’s part.
    ‘What will a lover not do for his beloved?’ asked Mr Collins, putting his cup down in his saucer with a self-satisfied smile.
    ‘A lover?’ enquired Elizabeth, the colour rising in her cheeks.
    She could not hear Mr Bingley mentioned without thinking of her beloved sister, Jane, whose heart had been broken when Mr Bingley left the Meryton. And to hear him described as the lover of Miss Darcy was too much for her to bear. It was Jane that Mr Bingley loved, not Miss Darcy.
    ‘It is well known that Mr Darcy intends his friend to marry his sister,’ said Mr Collins. ‘I am sure there will be an engagement there before long.’
    A sensitive man would have noticed Charlotte’s meaningful looks, which were intended to silence him, and he would have seen how unhappy his conversation was making Elizabeth. But Mr Collins was not a sensitive man. Alas for Charlotte, he was a fool. And so he blundered on, without realising the subject was not welcome to the ladies.
    At last Elizabeth could bear it no longer.
    ‘And what of Mr Bingley?’ she demanded. ‘Does he have no say in the matter? Is he to marry Miss Darcy just because Mr Darcy wants it?’
    ‘My Bingley is honoured to be thought worthy of Miss Darcy,’ said Mr Collins smugly.
    ‘And is love to have no place in the arrangement?’ asked Elizabeth hotly.
    ‘Who could fail to love Miss Darcy? She is everything that is exquisite and good,’ said Mr Collins. ‘Why, I have heard Lady Catherine say that Miss Darcy has no equal. She is the most accomplished pianist, the most gifted artist and she has the sweetest disposition . . . ’
    Elizabeth could listen to no more. She rose swiftly and said that she must beg to be excused, for she had a headache.
    Then she left the room.
    It was too painful for her to hear Miss Darcy praised, when her own beloved sister, Jane, was just as sweet and lovely.
    ‘If only I could have seen Mr Bingley! If only I had noticed his carriage, or known of his visit sooner, before he went on his way,’ she said under her breath as she ran upstairs. ‘Then I could have spoken to him and reminded him of all his happy days in Meryton, for I am sure that he loves Jane. A few minutes would have done it, I am sure.’
    She went into her bedroom and closed the door. Then she went over to the washstand and bathed her temples in lavender-scented water. She was angry with Mr Bingley for quitting Netherfield and leaving her sister heartbroken. She was disgusted with Miss Bingley for humiliating Jane in London by refusing to return her letters, and then returning her call in such a rude manner that Jane had been forced to realise all friendship was at an end. And she hated – yes, she positively hated – Mr Darcy, for the part he had played in her sister’s unhappiness.
    She sank down on the bed. Oh, if only she could see her sister! If only she could spend an hour in her company, how happy that would make her. But her sister was in London and Elizabeth was in Kent, where she was bound to stay for the next few weeks.
    She had not intended to visit so soon, in fact she had not intended to visit until Easter, but when Charlotte had caught measles, Elizabeth had offered to nurse her because she had already had the disease. In truth, it had been no sacrifice for Elizabeth because her home had not been agreeable to her. Jane, her favourite sister, had gone to London to visit their aunt, leaving Elizabeth with the rest of her irritating family. Mrs Bennet complained constantly of her nerves, Mary spent all day