Page 29 of Timing Is Everything

“I don’t understand,” Bingley replied.

“Are you always so easily led, or do you make decisions on your own?” Jane asked.

“What do you want me to say?” Bingley asked.

“If I were to answer your future question in the affirmative, would you be committed to our life together, or would our lives be ever subject to the changing opinions of those around you?”

“Your opinion would be the only one that mattered to me,” Bingley answered. “I would answer to you.”

“I do not know if I am ready to shoulder that weight,” Jane replied calmly.

“What weight?”

“The weight of being responsible for all decisions in our life,” Jane explained. “I need you to be your own man.”

“I can be my own man,” Bingley asserted.

They walked on in silence for a while longer.

“I think my advice to you would be to renew the lease on Netherfield Park, but do not make a purchase offer, yet,” Jane stated.

“Will there come a day that I should purchase the estate?” Bingley asked.

“I do not know the answer to that question. I think the answer will become clearer as you make more decisions on your own,” Jane replied. “I dearly hope that I will be a part of that decision when the time comes, but I know it is better to be heartbroken for a time than to spend a lifetime of misery.”

“You believe that a lifetime with me would be miserable?” Bingley asked.

“Only if you persist in placing the opinions of others above your own,” Jane clarified. “Become your own man, for both our sakes.”

“I will. I promise,” Bingley answered, bringing Jane’s hand to his mouth for a quick kiss.

As they walked around the bend in the path, they were both startled by the sight of Darcy and Elizabeth caught in a world of their own. Bingley was inclined to turn the other direction and leave them to their privacy. Jane, on the other hand, instinctively called out Elizabeth’s name. Darcy and Elizabeth broke apart immediately.

“I think it is time to head back to the house,” Jane stated. Getting a better look at her sister, she added, “Perhaps we should first make a stop by your room to, well, fix things.”

Blushing, Elizabeth agreed to the scheme, promising to meet Darcy in the drawing room within a few minutes.

When Elizabeth joined Darcy in the drawing room, there were no visible signs of their earlier encounter. She was surprisingly pleased that he had chosen a seat on a settee instead of a chair. As he had risen when she entered the room, they were together as they claimed their seats. With both of them attempting to sit a little closer than they had in the past, they inadvertently bumped hips in the process of sitting. As Darcy was much larger than Elizabeth, the little bump was not quite so little. Acting quickly, Darcy caught her before she could fall. The snort coming from Lydia was the only indication that anyone noticed.

Once they were settled, comfortably seated with only the barest of space in between them, Darcy leaned over to whisper to Elizabeth.

“One of these days, I will be able to kiss you without having you blush and run away.”

“One of these days,” Elizabeth agreed. “When the timing is right.”

Chapter 17

Mr. Bingley continued to join Darcy on his visits to Longbourn. In trying to determine the best way to court Miss Bennet, he decided that each day he would tell her a decision he had made since the last time he saw her. When he was shown into the drawing room on the first day after their discussion on his indecisiveness he announced, quite loudly (and without explanation), that he had chosen his own clothes that morning. When Jane blushed, and Lydia and Kitty burst into giggles, he realized he should probably not have announced it quite so loudly. His visit to Longbourn that day was rather short, but he did not give up.

The next day, after being shown into the drawing room he sat down close to Miss Bennet.

“I will show you that I can be my own man,” he said quietly. “Every day, I will tell you about a decision that I have made.”

“That is not necessary,” Jane asserted. “I hope to be able to see by your actions that you are more decisive.”

“Nevertheless, I am determined,” Bingley said. “And today, I want to share with you that I have signed the papers to renew the lease on Netherfield Park.”

“You are certain that is what you want?” Jane asked in reply. “Right now, I cannot guarantee that you will be successful.”