Free Netherfield Park Revisited by Rebecca Ann Collins Page B

they would talk again tomorrow and decide what was best to be done. She hoped that a good night’s sleep would help.
    In truth, it seemed to have hardened Anne-Marie’s resolve.
    At breakfast the following morning, she announced that she had decided she would go immediately to Kent to speak with her mother.
    â€œEliza, I must persuade her to stay, I must ,” she declared in a determined voice.
    Eliza’s husband had gone North on business, which meant she was free to travel with her friend to Kent.
    â€œI cannot let you go alone, Anne-Marie. I know John would want me to go with you,” she said and would not be persuaded otherwise.
    On reaching Rosings Park, they went first to Hunsford Parsonage to see Anne-Marie’s aunt, Mrs Harrison.
    Hearing from her that Miss Bingley and Mrs Watkins had spent most of the previous day at the Dower House with her mother, and that the housekeeper had said Mrs Watkins was helping Mrs Bingley pack a trunk, Anne-Marie was desperate to be gone.
    â€œThat insufferable woman! What right has she to interfere?” she cried and, despite the efforts of her aunt and her friend, she would not rest, but determined to go directly to the Dower House and confront them.
    Eliza had a great fear of confrontation and prayed they would be spared any unpleasantness.
    Whether her prayers had been heard and duly answered, they would never know, but when they reached the house, the birds had flown!
    Only the kitchen staff and the manservant remained, since Mrs Bingley’s maids had gone with her, and all they knew was that the three ladies had left for London. They had heard nothing of any plans to go on to Bath. They had understood that the party would be spending some time at the Bingleys’ house in Grosvenor Street.
    Determined that they would be stopped, if it were at all possible, Anne-Marie sent an express communication to her father, who she knew to be visiting Longbourn, informing him of all that had transpired in the last few days and urging him to return to London.
    She then decided to travel the relatively short distance to Standish Park and acquaint her father’s sister, Mrs Wilson, with what had taken place.
    Eliza Harwood, who was, by now, quite convinced of the seriousness of the situation, even though she did not understand all its complexities, decided to accompany her friend to Standish Park.
    Although the drive from Rosings Park to the Wilsons’ estate took them through the picturesque Kentish countryside, so tense and distressed were the two young women that they hardly noticed their surroundings. The short journey seemed interminable, so keen were they to reach their destination.
    It was almost dark when they arrived at the house, and even Emma Wilson, who was accustomed to late callers for her husband, was surprised to see them at so late an hour.
    Fearful they had brought bad news, she cried out, “Has something happened to Jonathan?”
    Eliza Harwood hastened to reassure her that Mr Bingley was not the object of their concern, but his wife.
    â€œWhy? Has she been taken ill?” she asked, bewildered by this information.
    â€œIndeed she has, very ill; in the head!” said Anne-Marie, before she collapsed into Emma’s arms.
    In the next few minutes, amidst confusion and panic, Emma Wilson—practical and thoughtful as ever—had her niece carried upstairs, revived, and comfortably tucked into bed. It was clear that Anne-Marie was exhausted.
    Emma then sat down with Eliza and tried to discover what had brought about their extraordinary journey and her niece’s state of extreme agitation.
    Eliza, in whom her friend had confided, had to decide how much to reveal.
    At first she was reluctant to speak out without her friend’s authority. But soon, realising that if Anne-Marie’s mother was to be prevented from embarking upon a hazardous and totally ill-advised course of action, a responsible family member had to be