Hello!
In this chapter we get to see Bingley putting his foot down with Caroline. It's another chapter based more on the interactions between characters than pushing the plot forward, but hopefully you all enjoy that as much as I do. I think it's really important at this stage of the story to show how the characters are being changed by their experiences, but I also know it can be frustrating to go so long with no ExD interaction. I promise Elizabeth will make it to London eventually, although admittedly not for another few chapters yet.
The people who responded to my question about character pairings wanted to know in advance, but I'm curious as to how far this stretches. It is unlikely that I will post a story that is not ExD HEA and I would definitely warn readers if that wasn't the case, but some of my ideas don't end with Jane and Bingley together. In this case, would it be acceptable to just say they don't end up together, or would you want to know who they were going to be paired with before reading? Thanks for helping me work this out.
Enjoy!
Jane could hardly wait for the dinner party that was to come the following Tuesday. She planned to wear a gown that her Aunt had helped her to buy in the first few weeks of her stay in London in the hopes of improving her spirits. It was a beautiful deep blue, cut in the latest fashion and by far the finest thing that she had ever owned.
At the time it had merely served to remind her that she had no one to admire her in it, but she now eagerly anticipated the appreciation that it would surely gain from Mr Bingley. In this dress, she would no longer have to feel embarrassed at appearing less stylish than the women he was used to being in company with.
Laughing to herself, she shook her head at her own vanity. What on earth would Lizzy think if she were here? She was behaving just as her younger sisters often did, pining over a handsome gentleman.
Besides being in the company of that gentleman once more, she also looked forward to continuing her budding friendship with Miss Darcy. After a difficult start overcoming her shyness, the two had proved to get on exceedingly well. Both were of a gentle, forgiving nature, eager to please and take joy in every event where it may be found. It had given Jane much pleasure to speak of her beloved sisters to such a willing audience and satisfied her need to see the good in everyone hearing the taciturn Mr Darcy spoken of as a much-loved brother in return.
The younger woman's reception of Miss Bingley had also reassured her that they were not dear friends, despite what that lady may claim, and her letter had been deceitful in its allegations. She reminded herself that Miss Bingley deserved her pity rather than her censure for this, but found that with her heart engaged in the matter even she was incapable of completely pardoning the offence.
How much she looked forward to being reunited with her dear Lizzy so that they may talk over all these matters as they usually would. It was selfish of her, however, to wish that her sister would come to town earlier than planned. She hoped for her sister to enjoy the full amount of time that she could spend with her friend at Hunsford, as well as having a respite from the company of Mr Darcy who she disliked so.
For a moment Jane felt guilty that her attachment to Mr Bingley and now her friendship with Miss Darcy would likely force Elizabeth to suffer the presence of Mr Darcy much more in the future. She brushed this feeling aside, for despite what her sister claimed at least in Mr Darcy's company she was rarely bored. The strange gentleman was one of their few acquaintances who could match her lively sister for wits and understand her literary or philosophical references. Besides, Lizzy would be able to content herself to ignore or avoid him as often as she wished.
Across town, Bingley was also caught in eager anticipation for the gathering to come. The two times that he had met Miss Bennet recently, he had been encouraged enough by her pleasing reception of his attention to hope that she still held him in the same regard that she once had. If events proceeded as smoothly as they had begun then he intended to ask for her hand in the course of the evening.
There only existed one remaining barrier to his dearest wish: the opposition of his sisters. This he intended to deal with promptly, aware that his hesitance on the matter might already have cost him his future happiness had he not chosen the kindest and most forgiving angel in the world on whom to bestow his affections.
Sighing as he thought through the best way to go about this, he decided to implement one of the good Colonel Fitzwilliam's favourite strategies: divide and conquer. With this in mind, he summoned Caroline to the little-used study which Hurst had given him free rein of. He may as well start with the trickier of the two.
He was well aware that he should have curbed her unpleasant behaviour years ago and could only put his failure to do so down to youth and a deep-seated hatred of conflict. For quite some time he had noticed her becoming more cruel, more demanding and more difficult to be around. Early on he had found some humour in her desperate pursuit of his friend and had enjoyed the opportunity it brought to tease Darcy but lately she had been taking it much too far.
Darcy would never have allowed his sister to act as Caroline does. Bingley thought, his great natural modesty causing him to contemplate as he often did how poorly put together he was compared to his older and wiser friend. His admiration of his friend was such to make him sure that when Darcy fell in love with a woman he would be capable of securing her hand immediately without any of the fuss that he himself had managed to cause in his pursuit of Miss Jane Bennet.
At this moment his thoughts were interrupted by the entrance of his sister. She did not knock but rather swooped in with her usual air of self-importance.
'What do you want Charles? I am rather busy.' She looked down her nose at him, ensuring that she communicated her full displeasure at being summoned in such an undignified manner.
She had already been seething from his deliberate attempts to embarrass her at Darcy house earlier and this had only worsened her mood. At least in their hasty departure she had not noticed him showing any particular attention to Miss Bennet, so perhaps he had forgotten his inclination in that quarter.
'Sit down Caroline.' He told her resignedly, unwilling to deal with her foul behaviour but knowing he must before she took something so far that her reputation was damaged. Already she had devoted so much time to chasing after Darcy that her marriage prospects had lessened considerably.
Surprisingly, Caroline obeyed and took a seat. She was unused to her genial brother taking a commanding tone with her and when he did he seemed to grow in resemblance to their father, of whom she had always been somewhat afraid. For a moment he just looked at her, before deciding that the best approach was a direct one.
'You concealed Miss Bennet's presence in town from me.' He accused.
'I did no such thing, Charles! It must have just slipped my mind, I am sure I must have mentioned that I had called upon her.' Caroline protested, feigning affront, but her usually docile brother would have none of it today.
'It was a statement, not a question Caroline. I know you did conceal it because Darcy informed me of that and of his part in the deception three days ago.'
'Well - I - I -' She spluttered, unable to believe that Darcy had betrayed her when she had been so certain that they were working towards the same aim.
'His motive was to protect me from becoming attached to a fortune hunter, and he has sincerely apologised for the interference now that he realises he was mistaken in his evaluation. I should like to know yours.' Bingley continued firmly, knowing that if he gave his sister an inch she would take a mile.
'I too was trying to protect you, Charles! You remember the awful, fortune-hunting Bennet family, why, catching you as a rich husband was all the mother ever talked of! I do not know what has brought on Mr Darcy's change of mind but I strongly believe that an alliance with the Bennet family is not desirable for any party involved.'
'Is that so?' He looked at her disbelievingly. 'Having taken this into account, I have none the less decided that I shall propose to Miss Bennet as I feel it will bring me personal happiness.'
'No! Charles, you cannot. What will Mr Darcy think? What will society think? No dowry...Connections in trade...Oh lord!' Caroline was horrified. 'There are plenty of other pretty girls who are much better situated than Jane Bennet and you have your pick of them! Choose someone else. Do you not like Miss Darcy? She would be most appropriate.'
'Caroline!' Bingley shouted over her ramblings. 'How dare you react in this vile, unseemly way? You presume to tell me what my private affairs should be. Well, I will not have it anymore. You are going to sit and listen to some plain facts.
'First, Mr Darcy has already assured me that he will be exceedingly happy to see me settled in a loving marriage with a woman whom I can respect. As he pointed out to me, I shall be marrying above my station for Miss Bennet is the daughter of a gentleman. It is we who have connections in trade Caroline; it is where our fortune which you seem to enjoy spending so much of came from!
'Second, I do not wish to marry Miss Bennet because she has a pretty face, I wish it because she is the most generous-hearted, caring, selfless creature I have ever known. This you might have realised yourself had you cared for anything other than the size of her dowry and the professions of her relations.
'Third, if Mr Darcy ever thought that I was pursuing his sister, who I might remind you is not even out in society yet, I am certain he would be anything but pleased. Our friendship is one based on mutual trust and respect, not an attempt on my part to grasp at a higher rung of society than I occupy. If this was in any doubt, he would likely drop the connection with our family all together.
'And finally, you must stop your ridiculous scheme to try to make Darcy marry you because I can assure you he will not. Ever. Even ignoring the fact that he will most likely marry a woman from a far higher circle of society than ours, your behaviour towards him has ensured that he would never consider you. Do not waste your chance at marriage by trying to reach too far above your station and thereby showing yourself in a bad light to those you may have a chance with.' Bingley ended his speech breathing heavily, having done his best to communicate a severe warning to his sister. He did not wish Caroline's behaviour now to ruin the chances of her achieving happiness in the future.
His authority as her brother and a close friend of Darcy should have been enough to convince her that a change was necessary but, from the look on Caroline's face, it seemed she was still willing to ignore any circumstances that did not fit in with her plans. This would probably not be the last battle he had with her over her behaviour but he hoped it would at least encourage her to be more restrained for a while.
After an awkward pause in which it became clear that his sullen sister was not going to respond, Bingley dismissed her tiredly. He rolled his shoulders and neck, rubbing his face with his hands to try to reduce the tension that had built up there. Conflict of any kind did not sit well with him, jovial as he was in nature, but he knew that if he wished to become a good master of an estate he would need to be adept at resolving the issues of his tenants. While this was not quite the same as confronting his sister, if it was even half as stressful then it was no wonder that Darcy was so uptight. At least if more of this lay ahead of him he might now dare to hope that he could face it with a wonderful lady at his side.
After his confrontation with Caroline, Bingley hoped that Louisa would not be so difficult to deal with. Growing up she had always been the more reasonable of his two sisters, although she was impressionable and had often followed where Caroline led. At least she was married now and so was not his responsibility any more if she did decide to follow her sister's lead.
Unlike Caroline, she did knock and wait to be invited in before entering his study. This gave him some hope that at least one of his siblings was capable of showing good manners and that the very expensive finishing school they had attended had not been a complete waste of time and money.
'I will be frank with you Louisa; I have heard far too much from Caroline on this already and only wish to give you the facts, you are a married woman so after that you may do what you please. I know of Miss Bennet's presence in London and have met her twice now. It is my intention to ask for her hand in marriage.' He braced himself to hear another backlash but none came. Louisa sat in contemplation for a moment before speaking.
'Do you love her, brother?' She asked sincerely, eyes locked on his in a penetrating gaze.
'Yes.' He replied without hesitation.
'Do you really love her, for who she is, not just an infatuation with her good looks?'
'Yes.' His answer came immediately once more. His sister rose and walked around the desk, taking his face gently in her hands and placing a soft kiss on his head.
'Then I am very happy for you Charles. I believe she will make you a fine wife.' She turned and made to leave the room, then thought the better of it, staying to add. 'I could not bear it if you lived to regret your marriage as I regret mine, Charles. You do not deserve that. You are far too good a man.' A few lonely tears streaked down her face as she said this and then she was gone before her brother had a chance to respond. He was left to think sombrely on this wise advice and remind himself that despite her flaws Louisa was on occasion a most excellent sister.
©Isabelle Lowe, 2018