Chapter Eleven

Jane watched as they drew closer to Pemberley and could not but help feel that it had been an age and a half since she had seen the estate. Had it only been a fortnight? It had seemed longer.

She had dealt with death and celebrated life. Jane had even let Charles into her heart the way she should have long ago. She would have thought that having someone take a place in her heart would have felt heavy, but it was nothing like that.

While it had been a struggle to let go enough to give Charles a place in her heart, doing so had been a release of sorts. Instead of feeling burdened, she found that having another person to love lifted her spirits and made her feel buoyant.

Glancing over, Jane could see Charles as he rode beside the wagon. As if feeling her eyes on him, he glanced up and smiled. "Are you happy to be making your way back home?"

Smiling back, she said, "Yes, I will be happy to see my sisters. I know they will have worried for me this whole time."

His earnest blue eyes scanned her as she sat next to the driver, then he said, "I will be happy when you can get a full night's sleep without waking up to care for others. You need to care only for yourself for a time."

Jane wrinkled her nose. She was not that tired. "I am hardier than I look, Charles. I am well enough."

"You may be well enough for you, but not for me, nor would I guess your mother and sisters." Allowing his horse its head, he locked gazes with her and said, "I love your determination, but you are drooping. Your eyes seem bruised, and your hands are cracked from so much time spent washing them with the strong soap. Most of all, your heart still aches from losing four of the McGregors. I know that saving Grace and Allen doesn't erase that pain for you. You need rest and the comfort your mother and sisters will provide. If you want to appear tolerable at our wedding, it"s important that you rest beforehand."

Jane's mind went back to the morning that felt so long ago when she made the leap to tell him that she did not like being called beautiful. He had asked if he should call her tolerable instead. Knowing that he was thinking of that time as well made her smile. He was not wrong, of course, but she playfully added, "You could see all that."

She watched him carefully and, in doing so, she saw how hard he was trying to keep a straight face. He was not very convincing, because his lips kept twitching at the corners. "Yes," he responded.

"Tolerable indeed," Jane managed to say without laughing, though she did give in and rolled her eyes.

Elizabeth rushed through the house, excited to know that her sister would be returning home. Though she knew her sister was well enough, she still desperately wanted to lay eyes on Jane herself.

Being separated from Jane at such a time had cut like a knife. Not only did she want to talk about her impending motherhood with her, but she suspected that Jane would have her own stories to tell. She and Bingley had been getting closer to the point of something before everything started going bad. As close as they had been working together, Elizabeth was almost certain they would have come to an understanding by now.

She grumbled at herself as she hurried down the last hall and towards the front windows. She had every intention of rising early and seeing to everything so that she could greet Jane when she arrived, but she had again slept late. William refused to wake her and had told her lady's maid to let her sleep. He insisted she must need the extra rest and was not about to disturb that and risk hurting her or the baby.

The dear man was always looking out for her, and she loved him for it, but still it was frustrating. At least she was not ill, as were some of the expectant mothers she had encountered. That was a blessing. She rather detested being sick. She would take sleepy over nauseous any day.

Skidding to a halt, Elizabeth narrowly missed running into Lydia. Elizabeth and Lydia locked gazes, and in an instant, the hall was filled with their joyous laughter. Linking arms with her younger but recently taller sister, Elizabeth managed to contain her giggles as long as she did not look Lydia in the eye. They were most alike of all their sisters. Only Elizabeth normally contained herself a little more than Lydia, though sometimes her wit and humor shone through.

Moving in unison, they continued at a more leisurely pace. They eagerly anticipated the arrival of their absent sister. Elizabeth sobered slightly, realizing that she had been so focused on the stress of caring for Pemberley and everything else that she had not thought at all about how worried Lydia must have been. She had been so wrapped up in concern for the tenants and her pregnancy that she had spared little thought to how her sisters had been bearing up under their own worries.

"Did you sleep in again?" Lydia asked, a playful edge in her lyrical voice. Elizabeth relaxed slightly, knowing that her sister held nothing against her.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at her new sleep habit. She had always been one to wake early enough to greet the sun, but that had changed with her pregnancy. Grumbling slightly, Elizabeth said, "Yes, and that silly husband of mine insisted I must need the extra rest, or else I would have woken up on my own. He does not have to rush around seeing to things in less time than before. I had a system to my day, you know!"

Squeezing her sister's arm as they walked, Lydia said, "The nerve of him wanting the best for you and your growing child!"

Elizabeth huffed and then tilted her nose into an air, assuming the air of injured dignity. "Indeed!" At that point, Elizabeth and Lydia made the mistake of catching each other's glance again, and both dissolved into peals of laughter.

Lydia's interactions with her were a balm of sorts. Elizabeth didn't begrudge her sisters the eventual life and love that she knew they would all find. Every one of them deserved to find a love as wonderful as what she had with William. She was slightly sad because in the center of her being, Elizabeth knew she would soon lose Jane to her own life and love. Smiling, Elizabeth pulled Lydia a little closer to her side. It was nice to know she still had several years with Lydia before she lost her, as well.

Sliding off his horse, Bingley hurried to Jane's side to help her down from the wagon. He had thought of arranging for her to ride back to Pemberley in a carriage, but Jane had balked at the idea, insisting that the wagon was bringing back supplies and Susan, anyway. Why should she require a second conveyance?

Who was he to say otherwise? So here he was, escorting her back to her family. Her all-consuming smile told him how much she was eagerly anticipating seeing her mother and sisters. It was her genuine smile, not her mask. Bingley freely admitted to himself that he would do anything to keep that lovely smile on her face.

He had already crossed off all but the closest estates that he had looked at. He knew Jane could never live very far from her sisters and mother. The estate he had visited a while back on the other side of Kympton might meet with approval. It was not Pemberley's equal, but neither he nor Jane cared for extravagance.

Bingley clasped Jane around the waist and lifted her to the ground without kissing her, but it was a near thing. It did not help that the way Jane wrapped her arm around his offered elbow and leaned into him as they walked up the path to the house was unmistakably possessive, not to mention distracting.

They were within fifteen feet of the side door when the squealing started. Giving her arm one last squeeze before stepping back, he watched as Jane was enveloped by a plethora of dress-clad bodies.

For a moment, Bingley could not decipher all the overlapping conversations, but eventually he heard Mrs. Bennet say, "Stand back and let me get a look at you." Mrs. Bennet took her daughter by the shoulders, studying her as only a mother could. She clucked under her breath when she noticed what Bingley had already seen. It had been a long, hard week for Jane. "You are going to take the next few days to rest, young lady. Good food, naps, and time with us all is what you need."

When Jane seemed about to protest, Elizabeth linked arms with her and guided her in the direction of the house, saying. "Do not fret, Jane, you can join me. I have no energy lately and keep sleeping in." All the sisters closed rank around the two, fluttering around like so many butterflies.

Moving to follow them into the house, a hand on his elbow stopped Bingley. Looking down, he saw Mrs. Bennet standing there. She was mostly composed, but upon seeing the moisture in her eyes, he asked, "Mrs. Bennet, are you well?"

Fanny Bennet studied the man who she knew had taken hold of her oldest daughter's heart. She had long known that it would take a special man to see through her daughter's hard-earned defenses and find a way in. She had worried Jane might never open herself to anyone besides her trusted sisters.

Mr. Bingley had been a support to her and her girls for a while now. He had been there when they attained their freedom from her wretched husband. He had helped his friend William during the recent distress with all the sick tenants, willingly risking his health to assist others. It was clear that he was a man quite unlike many others.

Most important to Fanny was the way he looked at her daughter, as if she was his next breath, as if he could not breathe if he could not see her. Above all else, she wanted that for her girls. That kind of love would see them through nearly anything. Oh, there would be problems, but if they worked together, they could make it through the problems the world was sure to throw at them.

When it seemed that Mr. Bingley was confused by her stare, his eyebrows having crawled up into his hairline, Fanny finally said, "Thank you for watching out for my girl. I know my daughter. She would have easily pushed herself straight past exhaustion without someone there to rein her in."

Nodding, the young man pursed his lips and then drew closer, enveloping her in a hug as he whispered, "Always. I will always watch out for her." Then, after a heartbeat, he said, "And all those that she loves. You and your daughters will always have a place with us should you need it."

Fanny's throat was too clogged with emotion to say anything for a moment. She could only look at the dear man with love in his eyes. Jane had chosen well. Taking a deep breath, she pushed back her maudlin thoughts and asked, "So, have you set a date yet?"

Laughing out loud, he paused to catch his breath before saying, "Mothers always know," with a smile on his face. Offering her his arm, he began walking with her into the grand house that was Pemberley. Patting her hand where it rested on his arm, he added, "We have not."

Smiling at him, she replied, "It will only take three weeks to read the banns, and I find that I am quite fond of the idea of lots of grandchildren."

The laugh that she elicited with her comment made everyone stare at him as they entered the morning room.

Offering the group an unapologetic look, he pointed at his future mother-in-law and said, "Your mother has given me her blessing and has requested a lot of grandchildren."

While Jane looked slightly mortified, it was Lydia who laughed, saying, "Mother! You have five daughters. I am sure between us you will have plenty of babies to coddle. Do not make Jane think she has to have all of them!"

Smiling at her youngest, Fanny tilted her head, and with her best mother"s voice said, "Yes dear, I am sure that if your sisters lag behind, you will shore up the numbers." Lydia's huff set everyone laughing.