The Beginning of Hope

Part 21

The carriage that took the Netherfield party home was cramped and crowded, somehow more so than it had been on the way to Trenholme.

Bingley, it seemed to him, was the only one entirely satisfied with their evening. He did not talk much, which was a blessing, for his personal contentment would be sure to spark disagreement with either of his sisters who, for their own reasons, nursed scowls.

Mrs Hurst was annoyed with her husband, who had drunk more than his share of brandy, and become loud and belligerent as the evening progressed. He had not said anything so very dreadful, although Darcy had cringed in distaste at his poor judgment. Mrs Hurst had borne his behaviour as a personal insult and resorted to glaring at him all the way home. Mr Hurst, for his part, had promptly fallen asleep, which action Darcy almost admired, for the carriage journey was not a smooth one.

He leaned back in his seat, stretching out his legs and accidentally knocked his toes against Caroline's. He was not quick enough to look away, though, for she lifted her gaze to his, evidently thinking the gesture had been intentional. She smiled, reading some invitation in the features Darcy deliberately kept impassive and began to speak.

"Did Darcy tell you of our plans, Charles?"

Bingley, who had been staring out into the darkness and nursing a smile, glanced up at this address, looking from Darcy to his sister and back again as if expecting some joke.

"Plans?" he prompted, when no answer was forthcoming. "Well, Darcy, do not hold me in suspense!"

"It is nothing that cannot wait until morning," Darcy began, feeling a sudden reluctance to have the conversation Caroline intended to begin at that very moment. Why not allow his friend a few more hours of happiness? Must they speak now and ruin things?

"On the contrary," Caroline interposed, with an arch look in Darcy's direction. "We ought not to delay the conversation longer, for that will only delay our journey."

"Your journey?" Bingley's smile faltered a little and he blinked first at Darcy and then at Caroline, bemused and waiting for some imagined punchline. "What journey?"

Nobody said anything for a moment, for even Mrs Hurst had been jolted out of her private frustrations to observe this discussion. Mr Hurst remained oblivious, dozing quietly in the corner.

"We are to go to London!" Caroline announced, with a triumphant grin. "And you are to come with us, Charles," she put in, when her brother did not immediately say anything.

"To London?" Bingley frowned. "Why?"

"Why?" Caroline laughed, but the sound was brittle and she glanced desperately at Darcy, seeking help that was not forthcoming. "He asks us why! Mr Darcy, I will defer to you to explain, for you do it so much better than I..."

Darcy's features had fallen into a scowl he did his best to order away.

"I received some news -"

"It was not bad, I hope?" This was Mrs Hurst, who sensed gossip and was enlivened by it, poised with an elbow in place to wake her husband at a moment's notice, if the news should be worth sharing.

"No," Darcy said, swiftly. "Not bad. But it requires...that is, I have decided it best..." He raked a hand through his hair, regretting for the first time in his life the inability to lie. If I am to envy Wickham anything it is this, the ability to think quickly on his feet. Even given time to plan and plot out a speech to memorise, Darcy should have struggled to deliver it to his friend. He was lying, after all, and if there was one thing Darcy was not it was dishonest, particularly where friends were concerned. Better to remain scant on details and speak only of the planned journey, not fluff up some cause. "I have decided to return to London, briefly. Miss Bingley suggested that you both would eagerly accompany me, and so I thought we might make a party of it." He glanced at Mrs Hurst, wondering if extending the invitation would solidify his cause. "You are most welcome to join us, Mrs Hurst, as is your husband."

"Oh!" Mrs Hurst glanced at the sleeping form beside her, evidently reluctant to commit either for or against a removal to London without her husband there to consult. It mattered not, for Bingley was next to speak.

"You wish to go to London...now?" A frown creased his forehead and Darcy regretted being the cause of it. A moment earlier, his friend's youthful face was free of any expression bar a smile, and he could trace no sign of that now.

"Not right this moment, of course!" Caroline laughed, the same brittle, pained laughter that set Darcy's nerves on edge. "But tomorrow."

"Or the day after," Darcy hedged, seeing Bingley's expression drop further. "Soon. But not necessarily immediately."

Bingley sighed, considering this, and Darcy was unable to resist offering one last word or two that might settle the concerns that sank his friend's shoulders.

"And not before we have paid a visit to our friends and neighbours giving word of our absence."

There was a sharp intake of breath from Caroline that Darcy would not dignify by looking at her. No doubt she thought this an unnecessary concession, surely one that stood in direct opposition to the purpose of their flight to separate Charles from Jane Bennet. Darcy had no such agenda, though, and thus felt free to permit his friend the chance of a proper goodbye.

Such an opportunity was once denied me, by chance or by choice, and I will not be responsible for leaving another with the same fate.

He kept his eyes fixed on Bingley, taking in the depth and ferocity of his frown, and offered one last olive branch, conscious of the sacrifice it was to himself and thinking it the very least he deserved, for being so personally responsible for the destruction of his friend's current happiness.

"Perhaps we might ride over to Longbourn tomorrow morning, you and I, and offer our farewells in person." His lips quirked. "I will have an apology of my own to deliver, for I made some overtures to them in promise of an outing which must now be cancelled, if we are for London. It is only right they should hear of it from my lips."

Caroline sniffed loudly and pointedly but still, Darcy would not look at her.

I have done as you directed, Miss Bingley, and acted to separate two people you do not wish to see joined. I shall go no further in thrusting my friend - your brother! - into misery.

His own heart lifted at the thought of seeing Elizabeth one last time before leaving Hertfordshire, and whilst he knew he ought to squash the sentiment, he could not. He did not. It was only right, surely, after being reunited again so suddenly that they be afforded the chance of a proper goodbye.

If it is indeed goodbye...

He sighed, recalling two pertinent details he had striven, unsuccessfully, to suppress. Firstly, the notion of travelling to London had already been opened up to Mary Bennet, and by his own lips! That was to Egerton's benefit, not to mine. Yet surely if it was well for Mary to travel it would only be too easy for Jane to accompany her. He glanced at Bingley, thinking he would keep this particular thought a secret, and trust to fate.

His second thought was worse, and one he bore entirely to himself. If his suspicions were accurate and Elizabeth was poised to wed Mr Collins, this would not be goodbye forever. How long would it be before they were pressed into acquaintance once more, this time in the company of his aunt?

That is a concern for the future, he thought, wearily adjusting his cuffs as their carriage turned into the Netherfield drive. I shall think of it no more tonight. This was a hollow promise. He knew only too well that he would think of little else until the first rays of dawn light awakened him to the day.