Swipe Left on Mr. Darcy — Left on Read, Page 7
By Suha · Published
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Transcript
Scene: The cool minimalist cafe. Caroline Bingley rises to leave, already turning away, sliding a delicate designer handbag onto her shoulder with a dismissive thin polite smile, glancing at her wristwatch. Caroline: 'We should do this again sometime.'
Image description
Caroline rises to leave the cafe, sliding a designer bag onto her shoulder and glancing at her watch with a dismissive smile.
About this chapter
Jane can't quite let Bingley go, so when a trip to the city puts her in his orbit she takes her one shot — she reaches out to Caroline, telling herself that if Charles knew she was there, he'd want to see her. Lizzie warns her not to, but lets her go. In the cool, sleek city that belongs to the Bingley-Darcy world, Caroline agrees to a chilly cafe meeting and delivers the brush-off as a series of polished little knives: Charles is 'so busy,' he's 'focusing on himself now,' they all think it's for the best. She never once offers to tell him Jane is in town — and leaves with an empty 'we should do this again.' Alone at the table, Jane realizes the cruelest part: Charles never even knew she was there. She comes home composed and brave, is met by her mother wailing only about the lost fortune, and finally, quietly, with Lizzie holding her hand, lets the hope go: she's done waiting. But where Jane finds peace, Lizzie finds fury. The pieces click — Caroline didn't decide this, and this was never really about Caroline. Two charges now fuse into one cold certainty as Lizzie stands guard over her sleeping sister, resolved that Darcy does not get to win.