GREEN

"Have a seat, Miss Bingley."

Elizabeth and Caroline had taken two hours after their chance meeting in Hyde Park to return home, change out of riding habits, and in Elizabeth's case, check on her husband, then wash thoroughly and put on fresh clothes. Mrs. Darcy had not actually gotten around to getting new clothing. She did not anticipate needing new clothing any time soon since she mostly dressed like her maids, but she reckoned she probably should get at least one new dress just to be prepared for emergencies.

For the present, she donned a day dress from her Elizabeth Bennet days. She was certain she could have made another raid on Miss Darcy's closet if necessary, but she was a gentlewoman, and she ruefully reflected that her old clothing had been good enough to snag the richest man she ever met, so it could not be all that terrible.

"Thank you, I shall," Miss Bingley said, with what seemed to Elizabeth like less confidence than usual.

Elizabeth had already asked for tea, and the butler wheeled it in a few minutes after they sat down, along with the usual assortment of biscuits and sweets. They managed a few minutes of the polite nothings involved in having tea, but before long, Elizabeth grew impatient. She was not anxious to do anything in particular. Her husband's condition was as it had been for days and would most likely be for several more days or weeks. The house was in order. There was nothing she needed to do, but she did not want to spend the afternoon in idle and pointless chatter either.

She said, "Miss Bingley, would you object if I made a slightly uncivil suggestion."

Caroline looked carefully, thought a few seconds. "I believe, Mrs. Darcy, you need not be overly scrupulous. Prior evidence suggests that I, at least, am capable of shocking bouts of incivility. You and your elder sister, on the other hand, have generally been the model of civility. You have no objection to bending the rules through cleverness, but still stay well within the lines. Your husband once asserted, 'you find great enjoyment in occasionally professing opinions which in fact are not your own', but you have never been truly unkind to anyone in my presence."

Elizabeth had to laugh at that, but she wondered at Miss Bingley's apparent change of heart, or at least her change of demeanor. What could it mean? Did the lady now consider Elizabeth her equal or superior? Had she once been jealous? Elizabeth was gently born while Caroline was rich, so they both had more social status than the other in certain ways. Was she worried about maintaining the friendship of the Darcys, which was not a given (at least with Mrs. Darcy)? What could it possibly mean?

Instead of beating the thought to death, Elizabeth shook her head, saying somewhat pensively, "At the time, my husband was far more correct than he knew, but he still did not have the slightest idea what my opinion actually was. He had no idea what I thought about much of anything at all, until after we were married," and then wondered why she had let out such a tasty personal morsel.

Caroline took another sip of her tea. "The Netherfield party was not the least bit subtle, were we?"

"No, you were not. I believed, correctly or incorrectly, that I knew just about every thought in your heads from your entry into that assembly until your exit after the ball."

Caroline sighed. "I do not know what you thought, but …" then she paused as if deciding what to say, and finally continued, "… if you made the most obvious conclusion from the evidence at hand, you would not be far wrong. You are not a simpleton."

Elizabeth laughed. "I am not certain I agree with that assessment. I had a man staring at me for six weeks, and I naturally concluded that he was searching to find more faults. You may want to revisit your simpleton theory."

Caroline laughed along with her, although Elizabeth could not tell if it was nervousness or shared humor. Neither lady seemed to quite know how they should proceed.

After a few moments of shared awkward silence, Caroline said, "You mentioned an 'uncivil suggestion'. Shall we presume the idea is acceptable?"

Elizabeth smiled. "I suppose. Here is my question. Before …" and she paused to think of how to phrase it correctly, then continued, "… before we knew where we fit into each other's lives; we were, if not enemies, at least antagonists. Whether I wanted what you wanted was immaterial. You could see me as an impediment to getting it, and I suspect, you took active steps to hinder my supposed cause while advancing your own. I, in the meantime, did have an agenda that I was pursuing. I considered Mr. Darcy as more of an obstacle than anything else. I wanted my sister to be happy. Although I was nowhere near willing to go to the lengths my mother was, I did encourage Jane and your brother in my own way."

Remembering that dark quarter – starting on the 29th of September when Mr. Bingley took the lease at Michaelmas and ending just short of three months later, on the 23rd of December with her wedding, usually made Elizabeth sad and nervous. While she could find no real fault with her actions, they had inevitably resulted in something that was turning out to be reasonably good for her; but it could just as well have turned out disastrous. Miss Bingley had been a minor player in the drama, but aside from being an unpleasant competitor, Elizabeth could not think of anything terrible the woman had perpetrated. Place Caroline Bingley and either of her parents on the two sides of the metaphorical scales of justice, and the Bennet side would sink like a rock. At least, Miss Bingley had never done anything dishonorable or dishonest, which was not a claim the Bennets could make.

Miss Bingley thought about what she said for some time while Elizabeth waited patiently.

"I suppose I am not shocking you by admitting that I did want what you have surmised I wanted, and I did consider you a competitor. Did you know that your husband developed an interest in you much sooner than you probably imagined?"

"How so?"

"In the beginning, he could hardly even admit you were pretty. I know you heard what he said at that first assembly. Later that night, after he had slighted you at the assembly, he said, 'She a beauty! – I should as soon call her mother a wit'"

Caroline looked carefully at Elizabeth for her reaction. When she saw her companion laugh slightly, she continued, "Afterward, you seem to have improved. When you played at Lucas Lodge, the same night Sir William tried to get Mr. Darcy to dance with you, was when he fired the first warning shot. I said something snide about my opinion of the evening, and would you like to know how he replied?"

"Yes, I believe I would."

Caroline looked somewhat embarrassed but said in a deep voice, "Your conjecture is totally wrong, I assure you. My mind was more agreeably engaged. I have been meditating on the very great pleasure which a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman can bestow."

Returning to her normal voice, she continued, "I, of course, hoped it was my fine eyes, but he set me straight. I must say, at the time I had no idea he was staking his claim, and to be honest, I doubt he knew either."

Elizabeth found the revelation stunning. To know that her husband eventually would make the best of his forced marriage was one thing. To know that he had been building up genuine admiration, or at least, a slight, thin sort of inclination, a month before the compromise, was something else entirely.

Caroline watched her taking in the information with interest. "You had no idea, did you?"

"I confess, I did not. I would have sworn our antagonism at the time was mutual. Do you think he would have ever acted on it without my mother's scheme?"

Caroline thought about the answer for quite some time as Elizabeth waited patiently.

Finally, she said ruefully. "It is hard to say. He would have resisted it for months, perhaps years, but it was the very first time I saw the slightest interest in any woman, and he was not getting any younger. A man like that has 'duty' pounded into his head practically from birth. To be honest, both of us are unsuitable based on his idea of what a proper wife should be. Neither of us has any connections of note. I at least had money but was not gently born."

Caroline paused again and decided to take a chance. "Of course, opposed to all that is the fact that he does desperately need an heir. There are only two Darcys of his line left in the world, which might incline him to be less selective. Nobody will ever know if he would have acted or not, I suppose."

"I think I know. He would not. He would have left the next morning, and I would never have seen him again. I feel certain of that."

Caroline shrugged, not really having any more to say on the subject.

Elizabeth said, "May I ask another impertinent question?"

"Why not?"

"What now?"

Looking perplexed, Caroline asked, "What do you mean?"

"What now? Were all your eggs in the Fitzwilliam Darcy basket? Do you have other prospects? Are you still searching for a husband, and if so, where and what kind of husband? Will you still strive to join the first circles, or become somewhat less selective? You are a beautiful, well-educated woman with, I assume, a large dowry, so there should be suitors aplenty if you give up on the first circles. Will you live with your brother or set up your own establishment? As I said, 'what now', even though it is none of my business and I will not fault you if you demur."

Caroline looked slightly befuddled by the barrage of questions, so Elizabeth continued, "Miss Bingley –"

"Caroline!"

Elizabeth was surprised by the fact that her companion just snapped out the instruction, almost as if making a correction or a desperate plea; but she was not put out by it. After all, Miss Bingley, Caroline, was her husband's closest friend's sister. Like it or not, they had a connection beyond indifferent acquaintances, that was very likely to go far into the future unless they took active steps to dislike or avoid each other. That would have sounded like a good plan a month earlier, but Elizabeth was beginning to find something interesting about the younger Miss Bingley – something compelling – fascinating even. She was getting the idea that there was something more to the young heiress' story than met the eye and found herself curious to try to learn what it was.

Not to be outdone, she said, "Elizabeth!"

Both ladies were somewhat rattled by the conversation, so she continued, "Caroline, we are likely to be acquaintances for a very long time. Is there any reason we should not strive to become friends?"

"That seems …" Caroline began, thought a moment, and finally said, "… generous, given our history."

Elizabeth quirked an eyebrow, and asked, "Suspiciously generous?"

"Yes, actually."

Elizabeth leaned forward a bit. "What bothers you? Is it the magnitude of the change or the rapidity?"

Caroline thought about it for a minute, and finally said, "I suppose it is both of those, but …" then she paused a bit more in thought while Elizabeth waited, and finally finished. "… perhaps it is the genuineness – if that is even a word."

Elizabeth laughed. "We can look it up later. I assure you that my library has a goodly supply of dictionaries. Either way, it is a genuine offer."

Caroline laughed, feeling a bit lighter.

Elizabeth continued, "I can see where my extending the hand of trust may seem odd, but I have had a lot of changes in my life in a very short time. I have had people I knew all my life, whom I thought I loved, and I thought I understood and trusted; betray me in the worst way. Then I have also been forced into a marriage that I hated – I presume this is not news to you?"

"No, that is not news, but your willingness to discuss it is."

Elizabeth wondered about that herself, but she was disinclined to change course. She could not say precisely why she had chosen that path. Was she just evolving into a gossip like her mother? Did she need someone to call a friend in this new life? Did she see some sort of possible camaraderie between herself and Miss Bingley? It seemed more instinctive than logical, but she was willing to ride the horse a few more miles.

"My husband and I had a bit of a row on the wedding day, and out of that, we forged a bond – a true meeting of the minds. I began to comprehend that he was exactly the man who, in disposition and talents, would most suit me. It was most disconcerting, I can assure you, but it did happen. My entire world was upended and turned around in less than twelve hours."

Caroline was just shaking her head in confusion. "So, you learned your husband is a good man, but I fail to see the connection to your treatment of me, Mrs. Darcy."

"Elizabeth! You see, Caroline, I could not receive my husband's friendship, trust and so forth until I extended my own. Well, that is not quite true. I had to lay down the law first. I had to go out on a limb and tell him the limits of what I would tolerate. I had to take an enormous chance and stake my own claim on my future. It was frightening. Husbands have enormous power over us, and I was taking a chance of making an implacable enemy for life, but I decided that someone must start. Someone is required to take the chance. I cannot say why I am willing to extend the hand of friendship to you, but it seems right. Considering how badly I do in analysis, I thought I would just take my instinct and run with it."

Caroline felt somewhat out of sorts with the declaration but sat up straighter. "I will not let you down."

Elizabeth smiled. "Excellent! I believe we will be good for each other, in ways neither of us can possibly anticipate. If nothing else, when I enter London society, you might warn me about women I should befriend and those I should not. My husband can take care of the men, but I doubt he has the vaguest idea of how women comport themselves outside of his hearing. I assume it is a jungle out there."

"I can assure you of that. I will be happy to provide that service, and I must admit that being friends with you, or even just being recognized, would be helpful to me."

Elizabeth laughed. "We sound like a couple of mercenaries."

Both ladies laughed for some time, feeling the tension of the moment dissipating. Elizabeth, after a few moments, put their dirty teacups aside and poured two more cups since the pot was still middling hot and took a good handful of biscuits. She had diligently tried coffee a few times as her husband suggested, but she still felt like spitting it out or feeding it to Omega.

After a few minutes of tea-drinking, Elizabeth said, "Now that is over, let us return to the original question. What comes next?"

Caroline looked confused, so Elizabeth continued, "Let us do a thought experiment, Caroline. Examine this room. You can see that it is about fifteen paces wide from the doorway to the edge. Let us imagine that is the length of our adult lives, from coming out to death."

"All right," Caroline agreed somewhat skeptically.

"On that scale, both of us have barely cleared the doorway. We have made perhaps one step, and the entire rest of the room is available to us. Unless something bad happens, we both have forty to fifty years to live. In my case, the path is already chosen, I am already in the room I will stay in for the rest of my life – but you are not."

Caroline laughed a bit. "I suppose that is true. I never thought about it."

Elizabeth leaned forward. "I suggest you think about it now! In this analogy, my mother threw me at the closed door from a couple of paces. I crashed through and found myself laying just inside the doorway in a heap covered in splinters. Then, much to my surprise, mostly by luck, I found my husband willing to help me up, toss the broken door aside and dust me off. In the end, I happened to quite like the room I found myself in."

Caroline let out a good laugh at that image. "Shall I swoon with the pure romanticism of this story?" and then laughed a bit more, but suddenly stopped, worrying that she was being uncouth.

Elizabeth laughed to match her. "None of that! All my true friends are quite impertinent, so I will ask the same of you."

"Are you certain you want me for a friend," Caroline asked, then looked quite pensive, and added, "I very much appreciate it, but do not understand it."

"It is an act of faith. My instinct says that if I give you my trust, you will return it. I have no evidence to back it up, but then again …"

Caroline put her teacup down and asked gently, "… then again?"

"Then again, most couples, when they say their vows, know very little about their marriage partner. My former friend, Miss Lucas would say, 'it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life'. I do not subscribe to her philosophy, but I will admit that courtship does not encourage deep understanding. It is an act of ultimate faith. With friendships, the stakes are nowhere near as high. We could both decide we hate each other until the end of time, and society would continue without a blink."

"Yes, that is true, but it is an outcome I would prefer to avoid."

"So, then – Friends, with all that implies – honesty, trust, amity?" Elizabeth said, somewhat surprised by the offer, but something about it felt right. In practical terms, there was not very much risk. Both women could damage the other in society, but it was not as if they were both going to become privy to each other's deepest darkest secrets.

"Friends," Caroline said emphatically, with a surprisingly big smile.

Elizabeth realized that there had always been some sort of tension between them. In the beginning, Caroline was in a place she obviously hated, and Elizabeth was belatedly concluding she was there because her brother insisted that she attend him and act as his hostess. She saw it as an opportunity to get in Mr. Darcy's good graces, and soon found out she had a competitor that she could not quite shake. It must have been unnerving.

For the next hour, the two new friends talked about their respective pasts and gradually got to know each other. The time for a proper call came and went three or four times, but since they were now intimate acquaintances, the normal rules could be discarded. Molly came in every half hour to report on her husband's condition, and Elizabeth did not feel any great need to check on him personally. It was not as if he was likely to go anywhere or change his condition without her learning of it within minutes.

Elizabeth learned that Miss Bingley's upbringing was in many ways as bad as her husband's. Say what you will about her parents, at least they were there in the same house for her entire life. Caroline's father's ambition drove every single decision for both her and her brother, even though he was home so seldom she was not certain he could pick her out from a group of five random women. Her ambition to succeed and move up to the gentry was just about all she ever had to strive for.

After another hour and a couple of breaks to refresh themselves, Elizabeth saw it was about time for dinner, so she extended the invitation, with the caveat that she never ate formally, and mostly had whatever happened to be on offer from the kitchen. Caroline accepted under the caveat that she did not have the clothing to change for dinner, so it would be an informal affair.

Dinner was the simple meal Elizabeth preferred, and she was surprised when Caroline observed that it was nice to not have to worry about all the usual things that went along with making a decent dinner, so they could just concentrate on eating and talking.

Caroline surprised Elizabeth by saying, "I do not think I ever answered your first question, Elizabeth."

"No harm done, since I cannot even remember what it was."

"What comes next?"

Elizabeth leaned forward curiously, wondering what was coming. "You know of course that I will help you any way I can."

"I do now, thought I would have thought it impossible this morning," Caroline said somewhat emotionally, and continued, "Should I return to your analogy?"

"Of course."

"In your analogy, your mother threw you at a locked door from the hall. I had been pounding on the door for years and had just moved aside to drink a shot of whiskey and bandage my fists for another try."

Elizabeth laughed along with her friend, happy that the Formidable Miss Bingley had a sense of humor she was willing to show.

Caroline became pensive. "As of this morning, I was standing outside the door, watching you climbing back to your feet and taking your first fledgling steps into the room, while I was stuck in the hall, alone, angry and frustrated."

Elizabeth sighed. "It pains me to hear that."

Caroline slid over from her seat into the one closer to Elizabeth. They had set themselves up with Elizabeth at the head of the table and Caroline a couple of chairs down to maintain their distance, but she decided this was important.

She looked carefully at Elizabeth, took her hand. "Ah, but that was this morning. After our conversation, I am still standing in the corridor, but do you know what I am thinking?"

"Dying to know," Elizabeth said with real feeling, believing this was important.

"After our conversation, I looked around and thought to myself, 'Nice corridor – lots of doors – maybe I should knock on some of them.'"

Elizabeth laughed and squeezed Caroline's hand, thinking that something truly important and good would happen.

She smiled and said, "You have almost every choice in the world, Caroline. You have more choice than the vast majority of women. You have a brother that would like to no longer be responsible for you, and he would do just about anything to make that come about. Think big! You could still marry into the first circles if you really want to. You could marry a tradesman, go to the Continent or America. I tried to run away and live on my own with less than £100. For you, the world is full of possibilities. If your eyes are open to them, I am very happy for you."

"You sound almost jealous."

Elizabeth shrugged. "Things change, Caroline. Two months ago, I was trying to claw my way back through the door my mother threw me through. Now, I quite like the room I ended up in! I still hate the fact that I did not get to choose it, but I will admit that I was very-very lucky. I have a husband that I esteem, and I may even love someday. I have a good, secure position. My children will be well set for life. My husband is a good and honorable man. I am content and expect to be truly happy one day. I would wish the same for you."

With that, she gave her hand a good squeeze, and a smile. Things looked like they might be working out well.

They were both wondering what to say next when Mr. Jennings, the butler entered and bowed.

Elizabeth nodded for him to continue, so he made his announcement.

"Mr. Baker wonders if he might have a word, Mrs. Darcy."