Chapter 9: Unexpected
Miss Bingley had watched him like a hawk. She saw the same haughty expression on his face. Who cares if he would be tough to live with, if he has an estate like Pemberley? She thought.
She had bribed a maid she had brought along from London, to help her with the plan.
Her plan was simple.
She would somehow get Darcy out of the ballroom into the dark hallway outside. She planned to wait in the darkness and make him slip and fall on her. She had instructed the maid to follow Darcy when he left the ballroom and shout that they were compromised.
"You need to mention his name as loudly as possible. "Mr Darcy", that is his name. You need to make sure all the people hear is name. Do you understand?"
"Yes...Yes, Miss Bingley." The maid stammered. She had worked in Miss Bingley's house in London and owed her some money.
"Dorothy, I am counting on you. You have one job to do. Remember, I will waive all your debts. I will also give you an additional amount to help your mother. If you mess this up, you won't be working in any household ever. And you will end up begging on the streets of London. Do you understand?" She said in a ruthless tune.
"Yes, Miss Bingley."
The maid was guilty about the whole scheme, but she had no choice. She had to help her aging mother and had agreed to the plan.
Miss Bingley was excited. Tonight is my night. All my dreams are going to come true.
She had come up with a reason to draw Darcy out of the ballroom. He loves his horse. And that horse is going to help me accomplish my plan.
She watched Elizabeth and Darcy with disgust as they danced together. This is ridiculous. The master of Pemberley dancing with a peasant? Huh!
Once the dance ended, she nodded her head at Dorothy. The maid knew what to do. She said something to the footman and moved away.
Miss Bingley's heart raced when she saw Darcy heading towards the door that led to the corridor outside.
She swiftly circled back and reached the corridor and stood near the door, waiting for it to be opened by Darcy anytime.
She opened the bottle of peppermint oil she had, and threw it on the floor. Well, if this is the only way you will fall for me, so be it.
She stood there in anticipation of his arrival, and she almost felt her heartbeat.
Darcy enjoyed his dance with Elizabeth. She is a lovely dancer. I can see a lot of pain in her eyes. He thought.
He had heard from Mr Bingley, that Elizabeth's family were to move out of their homes.
He had never experienced poverty, but he could understand how it would be to fall into dark waters all of a sudden. He pitied her. He was surprised to get a message from the stables.
"Mr Darcy, I have a message from the stables about your stallion. Your horse seems to be in distress. They require your assistance, Sir."
Spartan! What is wrong with him?
Darcy loved his horse. He was worried about his stallion. He headed to the door that led to the outer corridor. But as he moved closer, he saw Mr Lucas waiting for him there with a wide grin on his face.
Oh no! Not now, Mr Lucas. He wanted to avoid him; his mind was agitated with thoughts about his horse in distress.
He changed his direction and moved towards the other end of the room. He found the door which led to the outer corridor. He wished he had brought a candle as it was dark. He walked towards the balcony and knew he could get to the lower floor from there.
He was baffled when a woman came out of nowhere and collided with him.
Both of them lost balance and toppled.
Dorothy was used to following instructions without questioning them, especially from Miss Bingley. Her instruction had been to follow Mr Darcy to the corridor and yell about the compromise as soon as she saw them fall.
She saw him head towards the first door and then suddenly move to the opposite side of the room. Her mind did not question his action or consequence. She mentally replayed every word she had to say once her time came to perform.
She followed him out and stayed behind him. Within minutes she saw him fall along with another woman. She moved close to one of the doors and yelled at the top of her voice.
"Compromise! Mr Darcy compromised her. They are compromised."
She heard the hustle inside the ballroom and saw a lot of people open doors and come out.
She wanted to help her mistress get up and looked at the woman on the floor. At first, she did not see her face properly. But in the light of the candles, she was horrified to see that the woman with Darcy was not her Mistress.
0h! God! This is the sister of Miss Bennet! Oh! No! Where is Miss Bingley? I am dead.
Dorothy did not understand how and why the confusion happened. But one thing was clear to her, she had made the biggest mistake of her life and she had only one way out.
I have to run.
And she did. She moved away from the crowd and ran into the night. She hoped to catch the first coach to London in the morning and never come in the vicinity of her mistress, ever.