Note: This is a one-shot with no connection to the previous stories.

Chapter Seven – A Journey of a thousand miles...

Hugh Coachman never did like those uppity types, so when his brother asked for a small favor...

They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. In Hugh the Coachman's case, his journey truly began with the first wrong turn.

It happened like this:

Hugh had one brother, whose name was Tom. When they were boys, their Da worked as the personal coachman to Mr. Arthur Bingley. Mr. Bingley was a rising tradesman who seemed to have his hands in many things, though he focused predominantly on manufacturies. He began building these when he and Hugh's Da were both young. By the time that the boys were old enough to learn their Da's trade, he had factories scattered throughout the north of England and into Scotland.

When the boys were young they lived in Scarborough, but as they grew Mr. Bingley purchased a fine home in London and moved his family there. Naturally he still had to visit his enterprises, so Hugh, Tom, and their Da drove the man hundreds and hundreds of miles.

Their Da, whose name was Seth, was content to continue as the Bingley coachman. Hugh and Tom wanted more. What they were learning from watching Mr. Bingley was that the best way to get ahead was to be the one who owned the business. Servants and workers might save up enough over a lifetime to be comfortable in the final years, but little more. Tradesman who worked just as hard, but no harder could someday own homes, educate their children, and rise in the world.

When Da suddenly died from apoplexy during another business trip, Tom was there to grab the reigns and bring the carriage to a safe stop. There was nothing to be done for the man and their Ma had passed long before, so the two young men, with the financial assistance of kind Mr. Bingley, had their Da buried in the nearest town. Then they completed their journey with Tom as lead coachman and Hugh as his assistant.

When they returned to London, they learned that their Da had saved a small amount and had invested it under the advice of Mister Bingley. It was enough to purchase a hackney coach and a reasonably healthy nag. After much private discussion, the brothers decided that Hugh would begin their hackney cab business while Tom would continue to served the Bingley family. When they informed Arthur Bingley of their decision, he surprised them by offering to invest in their enterprise. This allowed Hugh to buy a smarter looking hackney and a more presentable horse.

So Hugh drove a hackney cab and Tom continued to drive Mr. Bingley and his family. Both young men followed their Da's example and handled their money very carefully. Mr. Bingley was their advisor in this, pointing them toward the best investments and, when they had saved enough, helping them to make the purchase of a well-sprung carriage. Now with two conveyances, Hugh expected his brother to join him in the business, but Tom chose to remain with Mr. Bingley as it provided a steady, reliable income which would offer security during any dry times for their business. Hugh had to hire his first employee to help with the business. By the time of the beginning of this tale, he owned three hackney cabs and the carriage.

Hugh always felt he chose the better end of the deal. True, he often had to deal with all levels of society, from the riff-raff to the occasional drunken lord, but he did not have to deal with Miss Caroline Bingley. Alfred Bingley had been a good man, but his frequent absences from home had left the raising of his children almost entirely in the hands of his wife. Penelope Bingley had been a pretty woman with striking features and even more striking red hair, but she was a greedy, grasping woman who taught her daughters to be exactly the same... or worse in Caroline Bingley's case. The Bingley ladies, mother and daughters alike, were sweet and cloying to their betters while being rude and insulting to anyone below them. They were also impossible to please. Whenever Tom would tell Hugh of his woes, Hugh would thank providence for his decision to leave.

Arthur Bingley had one son. He was nothing like his sisters. He was kind-hearted and soft spoken, though Hugh did think the young man to be a little puppyish. He had traveled often with his father and had become a good man under his example. Ironically, Arthur and Penelope died in a carriage accident, but thankfully for Hugh and Tom, it was in someone else's carriage. Young Mr. Bingley strove to follow in his father's footsteps, but not in his business. Arthur had wanted more for his offspring than a life in trade. In his will he stated that he wished his children to become gentle folk. This meant that Charles Bingley was supposed to use a portion of his rather large inheritance to purchase an estate, while his sisters were supposed to use their dowries to find husbands among the gentry.

Upon the advice of a friend, young Mr. Bingley began his journey into becoming landed gentry by leasing an estate not twenty-four miles from London. Tom Coachman naturally drove the young man to his destination and remained with him for many months. Mr. Bingley's sisters joined him. Tom remained with the Bingleys for the duration.

While both Hugh and Tom could read and write, neither of the brothers were letter writers. Hugh knew nothing of what took place in the county of Hertfordshire until the day at the end of November when Mr. Bingley's sisters suddenly closed up the estate and followed their brother back to London. Tom told Hugh the tale:

"Mr. Bingley met a fine young lady there in Meryton, Hugh. Those sisters of his don't like it, No Sir! I think they mean to badger him out of goin' back and claimin' the girl." He went on to relate everything he knew about the situation, describing how beautiful this Miss Bennet was, how her next younger sister was a fine, spirited lady too, and how the rest of the family was not so genteel. "Still, I can't see as how Miss Bingley can think that she's any better for all that. I'd rather have a family with too much spirit than a spiteful, mean sister like that'n."

Mr. Bingley had left his estate to take care of business concerns. He went on to the far north to look over some problems with the manufactories and to meet with his uncle who saw to the day-to-day operations. Naturally, he took his carriage and Tom drove him. Unfortunately for Hugh, that meant that the Bingley sisters employed his company to drive them about. The one interesting aspect of this was that Hugh was able to catch a glimpse of young Mr. Bingley's lady love... and a finer creature Hugh had never seen.

It seemed that the lady had come to Town after Christmas to stay with a relative. They were tradesman, but they had a fine home. Miss Bingley somehow knew of this and paid a visit. From the self-satisfied look on her face when she ended her visit, Hugh suspected that she was up to no good.

Hugh had been courting a local girl for a few months and he decided that it was time to propose. She accepted, so Hugh was involved in his own affairs for the next few months and paid little notice to the Bingleys. He did know from Tom that Mr. Bingley was an unhappy man, but he never thought to mention about the visit to Miss Bennet.

When he finally did make mention of it, Tom cursed and said more than a few disparaging things about Miss Bingley... and then he went to speak to his Master. On the very next day a very sharply dressed Mr. Bingley boarded his freshly shined carriage and had Tom convey him to the address provided by Hugh. All must have gone well, because the trip was repeated faithfully for several more sevendays.

Then Tom came to Hugh and made an unusual request: "Hugh, I'm to be drivin' Mr. Bingley back to Netherfield. He's been wooin' his lady these past weeks and he means to finish the job now that she's back at her home. Thing is, those sisters of his will do all they can to stop his wooin'. Mr. Bingley'll have the carriage, so them sisters will be turnin' to your company to take them up north. If one r' both of them ask for a ride, then I need you to take the longest route you know to take them there. Bingley's a bit of a slowcoach about askin' fer her hand, so I want him to have as much time as possible."

Hugh was sitting down to breakfast with his pretty wife when a runner came from Bingley's town house requesting (demanding) a ride to Meryton. He finished off his kippers, wiped his mouth, and then kissed Bess before walking out to the carriage house. Prior to leaving his little home, he made a request of his wife that made her raise her eyebrows, but she did as he requested. Before he was ready to drive his team rig away, she stepped out and handed him the note he requested.

Miss Caroline Bingley was livid at his delay when he pulled up in front of the house, but she only barked out her orders and then climbed into his vehicle. From what Hugh had noticed, the woman must have stayed late at a soiree or dance, because she looked exhausted. This made Hugh grin as he waited from the footmen to secure the trunks and then slapped the reins. His coach had a speaker's window, so as soon as they had left the cobbled streets, he had his assistant peer through it to check on their passenger. As he expected, Miss Bingley and her maid were fast asleep.

He then turned his team west, towards Herefordshire. By the time Miss Bingley awoke, they were nearing Oxford. Hugh was worried that she might recognize the main thoroughfare, so he kept to the side roads as he passed that ancient city. Miss Bingley pounded the roof and demanded a stop at the next inn to refresh.

Hugh waited with bated breath while the lady took care of her needs and then enjoyed a fine cup of tea. Thankfully, none of the other people in the inn's dining room were worthy of her notice, so she never deigned to ask anyone about her current location. She re-boarded the carriage in blissful ignorance, then, bored, promptly fell back to sleep.

Hugh was worried about how far he could push this farce. Miss Caroline Bingley was not a person whose wrath he wished to endure. She did not remember him as the son of her father's coachman. She probably did not see him at all. He remembered her, though. She had been a terrible, spoiled, mean-spirited brat for as long as he remembered. Still, he liked Charles Bingley and wanted to give the man every chance to win his lady's hand. Resolved, he kept his team headed west.

Caroline Bingley woke in a daze several hours later. She looked out of the window and saw nothing that she could recognize. She thought that this journey should have been over by now, but was unsure. The previous times she had talked, gossiped, or complained the entire time. While riding with Mr. Darcy her entire focus had been on him. Riding back to London with her sister she had either slept or complained about Meryton and the Bennets. But still... hadn't they left in the morning? Surely it should not be dusky outside already?

Everyone in Gloucester must have heard Caroline Bingley's screams of rage when she learned that she was on the road bound for Herefordshire, not Hertfordshire. Hugh had feared this moment, but now he found it actually quite amusing. Who knew that Miss Bingley even knew such words? Or that she would voice them so publicly within the hearing of people who might recognize her?

When she accused him of deliberately taking the wrong road to increase his fare, he produced the note that his Bess had written for him. It was a copy of Caroline Bingley's note, written close enough to look like her hand, requesting conveyance to "Herefordshire." Bess was not only well educated, but she was an artist with an eye for detail. She had demonstrated more than once that she could copy any person's handwriting, though she had never used her skill for any illegal purposes.

Miss Bingley tried to take the note, but Hugh wisely refused. "I won' have you tryin' to destroy this and makin' a case agin me in court. If you wrote this wrong, I will take you to where you meant to go. But I won' have you claimin' that I'm at fault."

Caroline had stayed until the final dance the previous evening, had only returned in the wee morning, and had drunk a healthy libation to aid in her sleep before her sister woke her to tell of Charles' departure for Netherfield. She had been so tired that she could not state for an absolute certainty that she had not written the wrong county. Of course she would never admit that to this stupid coachman! "Just... just get me to Meryton, Hertfordshire!"

"Certainly, Ma'am. Only, it is too late to travel any further tonight. Highwaymen and all, you see. You'll have to put up at an inn and then we'll begin again tomorrow."

After several more minutes of raging, Caroline had the idiot take her to the nicest inn. Irritated and on edge, she drank again.

It was late morning before Miss Bingley finally boarded the carriage and Hugh turned his team towards their new destination... which was not exactly the quickest or shortest route to their destination. In fact, they took quite a scenic route through beautiful country and Hugh enjoyed his day quite thoroughly. He chose not to push his luck, however, and did keep his rig pointed in the general direction of Meryton. By the time they arrived, it was late evening. While Miss Bingley rushed inside to confront her brother, Hugh had a quiet talk with Tom. "Well, did the boy do it?"

Tom beamed, "He most certainly did. As a matter of fact, he just returned from a celebration dinner in his honor." Hugh was pleased to know that his journey was not in vain. Instead of staying there for the night, however, he chose to take his vehicle to the White Horse Inn. After he heard Caroline Bingley screaming at her brother he decided it would be safer to pay for a room. Tom had mentioned his brother's ruse to Mr. Bingley, so Hugh received a pleasantly heavy little purse of coins to take home with him on the following day.

He took the direct route this time and made it in time to enjoy lunch with his wife.

oOo

Because of her sister's engagement and impending nuptuals, Lydia Bennet was not allowed to go to Brighton. After the wedding, Elizabeth was allowed to travel with the Gardiners to Derbyshire. With her sister's heartbreak resolved Elizabeth felt much more charitably inclined when she met Mr. Darcy again. They were engaged before her return home.

As for Hugh and Tom, Tom continued to work for Mr. Bingley and his beautiful wife for another year, but when the happy couple relocated to Derbyshire, he tendered his resignation. Mr. Bingley, aware and grateful for the part that the brothers played in his marital happiness, became a silent partner for their company. The brothers continued to grow their business, eventually owning a company which offered transportation near and wide, throughout London and far beyond. Their sons and grandsons continued to grow and run the business for many generations.

Of course Caroline Bingley refused to ever use their company again. The brothers considered that to be a blessing.

Author's Note: Once again, thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, etc. I have been under the weather for several days, so I'm hoping that this and the previous story were lucid. It isn't Covid, just allergy season.