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Darcy read the first page. Vale had distinguished between work necessary for safety and improvements which could be deferred. The recommendations were specific, the estimates less so. Until the damaged wood was uncovered, neither the extent nor the cost could be certain.
“What has the owner agreed to?” he asked.
“To obtain estimates for the repairs and answer me before I commit myself. I told the agent I would not take the house upon his assurance that a little attention would put it right.”
“Good.”
Charles looked relieved by the word. Darcy regretted that he had not said it sooner.
“The situation pleases me,” Charles continued, addressing Jane. “I believe the house might suit us very well when it is repaired. But I should not have brought the plans for you to choose rooms if I thought you must put up with the work about you.”
“When does Mr. Vale expect it to be finished?”
“He would not promise before January. February, if they find more damage or the weather interferes.”
Jane looked down at the little word her husband had written upon the plan.
Darcy disliked the disappointment in her face. Bingley had spent a fortnight travelling between agents and properties, each journey undertaken partly in the hope of relieving Darcy of his household. That had never been necessary. Darcy had said so before, but not in terms that settled what happened if the autumn search failed.
“There is no reason to hurry possession,” he said. “You will remain here until the house is ready.”
Charles began to thank him.
“I mean all of you,” Darcy added, before his friend could produce another scheme. “Through the winter, if necessary. These rooms will be at your disposal for as long as you require them.”
Jane looked up. “You are very kind. But it may be a much longer stay than you intended.”
“I invited you to make use of Pemberley. I did not attach a date upon which it would cease to be useful.”
Miss Bennet’s eyes met his over the plans. He could not read her expression. She had laughed with him freely enough over Houndsmere and the cushion two days earlier, but there were still moments when she withdrew as soon as their conversation grew easy.
“You must choose the house because it suits you,” he told Jane, “not because you believe your welcome here is wearing out.”
Jane reached for Charles’s hand.
“Then I should like to wait for this one, if the owner will repair it properly. I do not want you riding out to examine every house in three counties because you fear we shall trouble Mr. Darcy.”
Charles bent his head toward hers. “I had begun to think there might be a very good house in the fourth.”
“You may leave it to somebody else.”
The decision restored his spirits. He turned the plan toward Caroline and asked whether she could discover a place for the linen cupboard. She did so almost at once, pointing to a room close enough to the nursery to be convenient without depriving Jane of her chosen arrangement. Jane thanked her, and Caroline accepted the thanks with rather more satisfaction than the small matter warranted.
Miss Bennet drew her chair back from the table.
“January,” she said softly.
Darcy heard her because he stood nearest. “Does that present a particular difficulty?”
She looked up. “Only that I must acquaint my father with the alteration before he fills my room with books.”
“He would not put them elsewhere when you returned?”
“He might consider that I had abandoned my claim. I had thought, if Jane was comfortably settled after the birth, that I might see Longbourn again in December.”
Jane turned toward her. “You need not stay on my account after you wish to go, Lizzy.”
“I shall stay until you no longer need me. We agreed that before we left home.” Elizabeth reached for the edge of the plan to prevent it curling over. “And I wish to see you settled. I am only discovering that wishing to be in one place does not prevent my missing another.”
