Page 32 of Caroline Bingley's Grand Plan

"I should like that very much."

Charles pushed back his chair, looking from one to the other with mounting frustration. "This is absurd. I invited a respectable gentleman to dinner. I did not attempt to force anyone down the aisle. Should I leave you to live your life stuck in the past? Or perhaps a nunnery would be more to your liking?" He raked both hands through his hair in frustration.

Louisa turned towards him. "Charlie, please stop. This is not the time or the place."

"I will not. She speaks as though I have done something monstrous when all I asked was that she give someone a chance and stop behaving like a wilful child whenever she does not get her own way."

Caroline flinched. Louisa told him sharply that he had said enough, but Charles was flushed now, hurt and defensive, and seemed unable to stop himself. "I am only saying that you cannotspend the rest of your life waiting for a man who may never return. You are my sister. I am trying to protect you. It was all Papa asked of me. He did not care how I spent his fortune or what I chose to pursue as a career. He asked only that I see you safe and settled with a gentleman, and I gave him my word."

Caroline’s voice rose to a shout. "By choosing for me, just as Papa did, all you will do is hurt me further and I promise you, dear brother, that I have endured enough pain for many, many lifetimes. How would you feel if I told you to walk away from Miss Bennet, that you could make a better match elsewhere?"

Charles went pale. Jane said his name softly, but no one paid her any mind.

"I am not Papa," he said.

"Then stop behaving as though his promise gave you ownership of my future."

Jane spoke again, louder this time. "Charles."

He turned at last and the anger left his face at once. Jane had gone deathly pale, one hand gripping the edge of the table while the other pressed against her chest. Caroline was already rushing to her when Jane attempted to rise, but she had barely pushed herself from the chair before her knees gave way beneath her.

Charles caught her with a cry as Elizabeth rushed around the table. Louisa called for Mrs Nicholls, Mr Darcy began directing the servants to clear the chairs and Mr Hurst rose so quickly that his glass overturned, sending blood-red wine spreading across the white tablecloth.

"Jane!" Charles said, trying to hold her upright as her head fell limply against his shoulder.

Caroline reached them and pressed her fingers to Jane’s cheek. The heat of her skin made her recoil.

"Send for Mr Jones," she ordered the footman standing frozen beside the door. "Tell him Miss Bennet has collapsed and that it cannot wait until morning."

Chapter Fifteen

Caroline, October 1811, Netherfield, Hertfordshire

Caroline stood beside Elizabeth at the window while Mr Jones examined Jane. Neither had spoken since the apothecary entered the room. Elizabeth held the edge of the curtain so tightly that her fingers had gone white, while Caroline stared out across the dark drive and waited for the sound of wheels.

Behind them, Jane lay unmoving beneath the bedclothes. Her fair hair had come loose during the confusion downstairs and spread across the pillow, while the fever burned two bright patches into her otherwise colourless face. Mr Jones had spoken her name several times and shaken her gently, but she had not stirred. Now he held his fingers against her wrist, his face sombre.

Charles stood on the other side of the bed. His coat and waistcoat had been discarded somewhere between the dining room and the stairs, and his cravat hung loose at his throat. He watched the apothecary’s every movement with such desperate hope that Caroline could scarcely bear to look at him. He shouldnot be in the bedchamber of course, but no one had the heart to tell him to leave.

Mr Jones bent over Jane once more, placing his ear close to her mouth before drawing the blankets higher around her. When he straightened, the gravity in his face caused Elizabeth to release the curtain and turn fully towards him. "Her fever has returned with considerable force," he said. "Her pulse is very rapid, and I do not like the sound of her breathing. Has she regained consciousness at all since she collapsed?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "Not even for a moment."

Charles came closer to the bed. "But she was recovering. You said yourself this morning that she might leave her room."

"She appeared much improved when I last saw her," Mr Jones replied carefully. "Sometimes a patient rallies before the illness takes a more serious turn. I cannot tell you why it has happened, Mr Bingley, only that I am concerned that the illness has spread to her lungs."

Elizabeth let out a cry and Caroline reached for her hand, holding it tightly between both of her own in a desperate attempt to offer some comfort.

The apothecary’s final word seemed to hollow Charles out. He sank into the chair beside the bed limply, like a marionettewhose strings had been cut. He reached for Jane’s hand, rubbing it gently as though he might warm her back to consciousness.

Mr Jones looked towards Elizabeth. "You should send for your parents, Miss Elizabeth. I do not wish to alarm you unnecessarily, but they ought to be here."

For several seconds, Elizabeth did not answer. Caroline felt her sway slightly beside her and caught her arm before she could lose her balance.

Charles looked up quickly. "The carriage has already left for Longbourn. I hope her mother and father shall be here before too long."

His voice broke, and he turned back towards Jane before anyone could respond. Caroline felt guilt settle across her shoulders like a heavy blanket. She had invited Jane to Netherfield and caused her to be caught in the rain. Even tonight, she had watched her grow pale over dinner and noticed that she scarcely ate, but had allowed herself to be consumed by her quarrel with Charles. Even when Jane coughed, Caroline had accepted her assurance that it was nothing because it had been easier than abandoning the argument. She ought never to have allowed her downstairs at all.