She knew she was not a good person. Caroline Bingley could be conniving and shallow and scornful but she tried to protect her brother and, therefore, his friend. By pretending she had an understanding with the man, which he abhored, she kept many tries to compromise him at bay. Mr Darcy approached her once about it.
"Why do you keep insisting that we are an item of sorts, Miss Bingley? I've never been interested in you."
She sniffed disdainfully as she replied, "Because then you have less plans of compromise to foil. I hear a lot of things, including how many people would risk scandal to have you in their family. And, for your information, I'm not interested in you either. You are my brother's friend, so I care about you by proxy and I want no whiff of scandal touching my brother."
She turned and left in a huff. Caroline Bingley never wanted to marry as she wanted to write novels and was very successful with the two she'd already published, each featuring women who were not good but tried to make the world around them slightly better.
When Mr Darcy fell in love with a Miss Elizabeth Bennet in Hertfordshire, she was good at reading if people liked her brother's friend and, in her own way, tried to bring Miss Eliza around. She'd be good for him and he'd be good for her, from what Miss Bingley could tell. So she asked leading questions to get Mr Darcy to talk about his estate and his sister, about the library in particular.
Miss Eliza was always honest although she would omit some of her thoughts if she thought it wouldn't be proper to speak them so Caroline asked if Miss Bennet truly liked her brother during the Ball.
"I want him to be happy. For as snooty as I act, I do not want him in a marriage where his wife will use him for his money but will be married for him above all."
Miss Eliza looked at her with a shrewd glance that was often seen on Mr Bennet's and, sometimes, Mr Darcy's face.
"Well, from what Jane has said, she really likes him and it's not influenced by Mama's insisting. From what I can tell, she'd be heartbroken should he leave and not return."
Well put, Miss Eliza.
"Thank you Miss Eliza. Now about this Mr Wickham fellow, I would be wary. From what Mr Darcy has told us, and from my own investigations, he leaves a lot of debt and scandal in his wake. A lot of children without fathers."
Raising her brow, Miss Eliza asked how she came about that information so Miss Bingley gave her the sources.
"Thank you for answering my questions and listening to me, Miss Eliza."
"You are not as shallow as you seem Miss Bingley," Miss Eliza said, out of the blue. "It seems my first impression of you is wrong and, if I'm not mistaken, it was you who wrote Sense and Sensibility and Emma."
Miss Bingley was shocked. She told no one who she was and even published the book anonymously.
"How do you know?"
"You are a woman who tries to do well by the people around you but you make grievous errors along the way. Have a good rest of your night, Miss Bingley, and thank you for hosting a lovely ball."
Miss Eliza left and the night wore on and when all the guests left, Miss Bingley thought on what Miss Eliza, Elizabeth, had said and how she had said it. She considered the woman's unease in dancing with her cousin and her barely hidden anger at Mr Darcy and her wit and quick mind in unraveling the mystery of Caroline Bingley. Mr Darcy would be well taken care of with Miss Elizabeth.
Two days after the Ball, Caroline invited Elizabeth over for tea. (As you can see, the party does not leave Netherfield.) The discussion was excellent, now that walls and barriers and masks were down. Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy passed by the sitting room and had to look twice to make sure they were seeing right. Miss Bingley and Miss Elizabeth were gently smiling and laughing at a childhood story Miss Elizabeth was telling. However did this woman get past Miss Bingley's walls and barriers? And when did they lay down their weapons and bond?
They were bonding over ideas for a new book. Miss Bingley had the details and what she wanted to happen and Elizabeth had the story. The story would be written rather quickly because when Caroline Bingley and Elizabeth Bennet team up, they could do anything. After a month and a proposal from Mr Bingley to Jane Bennet, there was a first draft waiting to be sent to Caroline's editor. The story is that of a young woman who judges too quickly and a man who looks down on everyone he meets, their conflict, their growth, and their resolution. Pride and Prejudice, written by Two Ladies, is a hit in England by the time Caroline's plan comes to fruition and Elizabeth and Mr Darcy marry.
This Elizabeth realized her own character flaws through the writing of the book and she started to notice that Mr Darcy's attentions were genuine. With the help of Miss Bingley, Mr Darcy repented of his own pride and first impressions. After they cleared up their differences, the two got along swimmingly and Caroline congratulated herself on her success.
It was at Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy's wedding (for the two sisters married at different times. Jane had a rather short engagement and Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam had a longer one.) where Caroline Bingley met Colonel Fitzwilliam and, well, the idea for a book she would later name Persuasion was born. The two would end up marrying within 3 months of meeting and, although Caroline Bingley would never loose her sharp edges, she taught her children what it meant to help others and do good in the world around them. The three children they had were happy and healthy and decently well behaved. None were good, not like Charles and Jane's children, but they would use their abilities to help others and that's all Mrs Caroline Bingley Fitzwilliam could ask for.
Maybe in another life she would be cruel and actually try to marry Mr Darcy, try to scorn Elizabeth to Mr Darcy's face and try everything in her power to keep her angry with him. Maybe she would have even tried to exacerbate her dislike of Mr Darcy. But the key in this story is that she cared for her brother more than she cared for her ability to marry for money. She had enough money herself, especially with how much she was making off her books and that, dear readers, sets a good person apart from a bad one and Caroline Fitzwilliam, nee Bingley, was a good person for this very reason. She cared for someone more than she cared for herself and that made all the difference.
