Page 54 of The Sole Love

“Mr Bingley, your apology is five months late.” She avoided looking at him because she did not want to feel pity or accept his excuses. She stole a glance in his direction as they left the house, only to realise that David was taller and more handsome than Mr Bingley. But then, she had never seen David blush as the man beside her did. He might be on the verge of great excitement, but her heart told her it was too late. She searched for some trace of the feelings she had once had for the man who had occupied her mind for more than six months and transformed her life into sorrow and tears, but at that moment she could find none.

“I wanted many times to come and beg your forgiveness.”

“I was in town for at least three months after Christmas,” Jane said coldly.

“I did not know you were in London!” Bingley cried.

“Interesting. Miss Bingley, however, knew only too well, as she visited me at my uncle’s home in Cheapside.”

Again, the man sighed instead of speaking. He was devastated. His sisters had contributed shamefully to the situation. All his hesitations regarding Jane had been due to them…and Darcy. But his friend had finally apologised, while his sisters had merely hoped he had forgotten Jane Bennet.

“I also apologise for my sisters. They can be too protective.” From the expression on Jane’s face, he immediately realised he had said the wrong thing.

“They were protecting you from me?” she asked in an acid tone that was not characteristic of her.

“No…sorry…that was not what I meant.”

But he no longer knew what he meant. He was confused; he had dreamed about their meeting, and it was nothing like he had imagined. He had found a Jane who no longer loved him and, worse, was actually hostile. It was a tragedy. It had taken him some time to understand his feelings and assure himself that this was not merely the same attraction he had felt for other women in the past. When he received Darcy’s letter, it had been like a revelation. His friend had been wrong to advise him to give up Miss Bennet. Bingley, however, had been even more wrong to follow such advice, ignoring everything within him that told him Jane Bennet was the woman for him.

“Please, Miss Bennet, can you forgive me?”

“Yes, I forgive you!” she said.

It was the answer he had hoped for, but not the tone or attitude. She bent to smell the beautiful roses in the garden, more interested in them than in him, then climbed the steps back to the terrace and entered the drawing room, where everybody was waiting, hoping they had solved their problems.

“Nothing,” Bingley whispered to Darcy as they lagged behind the others. “She does not love me anymore.”

Darcy found that odd. Elizabeth had insisted that Jane and Bingley still had a future together, but the truth seemed very different. He looked at Elizabeth, who was speaking to Georgiana, and wondered how she could have been so wrong about her sister’s feelings. He tried to remember the gentleman from the ball, but could not.

“Nothing happened,” he informed Elizabeth as soon as she joined him.

But she already knew; it was not difficult for her to read Jane’s face.

Darcy began to wonder whether he might not have been wrong after all. Miss Bennet had apparently forgotten Bingley. He said nothing, however, unwilling to provoke a crisis in the midst of his own interminable proposals. He smiled at the absurdity of it. That was all that mattered; the rest was not important.

“What is really happening, Elizabeth?” he asked. “Why do you want Miss Bennet to marry Bingley when she does not desire it?”

“I thought she was only hiding her love for Mr Bingley to avoid further suffering.”

“If I recall, there was a gentleman in town…”

“Yes, Mr David Haskett, a fine gentleman but completely unsuitable for her. He is not yet one and twenty, not only younger than she is but also too young to marry. Meanwhile, Mr Bingley is such a fine man, determined to marry and have a family, and she had such strong feelings for him.”

“Is there anything we can do?” Darcy asked. He would have preferred not to interfere further, but he could see Elizabeth’s torment. He understood her reservations about Mr Haskett; at one and twenty, Darcy himself had thought only of attending parties and seeking amusement in London society.

“I do not know!” Elizabeth exclaimed. “Can you please tell him to speak to Papa when we return to Pemberley?”

Darcy looked at her to see whether she was serious, but the anxious expression on her face made him understand how important this was to her.

“Tell Bingley to speak to Mr Bennet about Miss Bennet?” he asked, still unsure.

“Yes…I do not know…Papa knows Jane better than anyone else, and they have a special relationship. Perhaps he can help Mr Bingley understand her.”

Darcy shook his head; he was far from liking the idea.

“Please, we need to go back, and just tell him to go to Papa as soon as they arrive. I swear we will not interfere anymore!”

On the spot, he decided that this was not a matter he would allow to come between Elizabeth and himself. He went to Bingley, drew him away from the group, and in a few words told him to speak to Mr Bennet the moment they arrived at Pemberley.