An Unequalled Affection

Part 16

Jane's peace and tranquillity lasted only an hour or so before rumblings from elsewhere in the house disturbed her peace. At first, she thought it was merely her mother and sisters, and irritably wished she had demanded Mary take Lydia and Kitty with her to Longbourn. The thought of Mary being able to induce Lydia to do anything she did not personally wish to do was enough to make Jane smile and she rose, gathering her strength and thinking that she must descend the stairs at some point today and meet her family's questioning head-on. With one hand on the doorknob, she paused, stopped from turning it by a voice she did not recognise. She tilted her head to one side, straining to hear the low timbre, and snatched her hand back. It was a gentleman, that much was clear, and her mind raced, thinking of the two letters she had sent that morning and which of the two suitors she had dismissed had ignored her instruction, promptly coming to see if he could change her mind. Easing the door open a crack, she held her breath, trying once again to listen and discern who had come to call.

"It is quite improper, Elizabeth," Mrs Bennet muttered, her voice rising as if to indicate she was moving along the corridor. "You might have warned us that Mr Darcy would be accompanying you -"

Letting go her breath, Jane eased her bedroom door closed again and leaned against it. Then she was safe. Neither Mr Bingley nor Colonel Fitzwilliam had come seeking her, but Mr Darcy had come with Elizabeth. She smiled to herself, thinking of the happy news his visit must pre-empt, either now or later, then recalled that she was supposed to be angry with that particular sister and stalked towards the bed, sinking heavily onto it and arranging her features into a frown. The trouble was, now that some time had passed, she did not quite feel angry anymore.

I ought to be, she counselled herself, frowning all the more ferociously, as if by sheer force of will, she could work herself into a temper. It was a skill she had seen expertly demonstrated by Lydia and mimicked by Kitty but she, Jane, had always possessed to placid a nature to be so easily disturbed.

The sound of heavy footsteps ascending the stairs reached Jane's ears and she straightened, watching the shadows at the base of her door as somebody paused on the other side of it. She held her breath again, naively wondering if her thoughts had somehow conjured Lizzy, but the tread had been too heavy for her sister's, surely? Before she could ponder more there was a light tap at the door, and a whisper, a low, droll voice that sounded almost desperate.

"Ah, Jane? Are you - are you quite well?"

Papa?

Jane could not remember the last time Mr Bennet had hovered outside her room, and surprise propelled her to leap from the bed and pull the door open before he knocked a second time.

"I do not disturb you, I hope?" he asked, smiling a little to see her looking rather less harmed than he had anticipated. A peal of Mrs Bennet's high-pitched laughter reached them from the parlour and they both flinched. "I wonder if I might come inside?" Mr Bennet glanced furtively over his shoulder. "I fear neither of us is quite safe with the door open."

Smiling at her father's attitude, Jane beckoned him into the room and closed the door firmly behind him. He hovered awkwardly, rarely deigning to visit any of his daughters in their room and certainly not when she was as upset as Jane was rumoured to be.

"Sit down, Papa," Jane said, at last, almost shoving him into a chair in her eagerness to put him - and herself - at ease. "Was that Mr Darcy's voice I heard?"

"Hmm?" He looked up at her in surprise, then realised that it would serve him ill to attempt any degree of artifice in this instance. He nodded. "Yes, Mr Darcy. He has brought Lizzy home from - from Meryton, I believe."

"From Meryton?" Jane frowned. She had assumed they had come from Netherfield, if from anywhere.

"Yes." Mr Bennet nodded. "They had been to call at the barracks, on - Mr Darcy's cousin."