A Plethora of Peers

by sysa22

Mr Bennet married the daughter of an Earl with whom he had 3 children – twins James and Elizabeth, as well as Mary. His wife and her only brother die. Soon after, Bennet's older brother marries Fanny Gardiner just before his death. When Fanny delivers twin girls, Kitty and Lydia, Bennet inherits Longbourn. To keep James safe from Collins, Bennet's son is raised by his grandparents.

9. Chapter 9 - A rude awakening

Guest: The frequency of my posting depends on how fast I write… 😉

~~PoP~~

A rude awakening

Thanks to Sir William Lucas, prompted by Charlotte, and Bennet, prompted by his own observations, the Bingley carriage was the first in line when the assembly finished.

Bingley was still in full flight and would have spent another half an hour making his goodbyes when Bennet told him quietly, 'Your friend looks done in. He has not had any chance for a rest before you dragged him off to a dance.

Bingley looked around and noted the same signs of exhaustion which Bennet had mentioned. He was immediately concerned and apologetic. 'I am sorry, Darcy, in my excitement at meeting so many wonderful neighbours, I had not realised that you need to rest. What can I do? Just name it.'

'I would like a quiet ride back to Netherfield and as soon as we arrive, I wish to retire,' Darcy said quietly but firmly.

Hurst handed his wife into the waiting carriage, entering immediately after her. Bingley assisted his other sister, who attempted to sit opposite Louisa, but was pushed into the further corner seat next to her sister. Hurst then blocked Caroline until Darcy had taken the seat diagonally opposite. Since the only seat Bingley could reach was next to his sisters, he sighed but was grateful to have Louisa next to him.

Hurst collapsed into the seat next to Darcy with a grin. 'Being the stoutest in the family, I prefer to share a bench with only one person,' he declared, relaxing into his corner and stretching his legs across the centre, preventing Caroline from any accidental contact with Darcy.

Even though she was physically constrained from reaching Darcy, Caroline's tongue was unshackled, and she began her expected complaints about the evening.

She had barely started when Bingley saw the disgusted look on Darcy's face and remembered his promise. He cut across his sister's flow of words, 'Caroline… shut up.'

The brusque words stunned his sister momentarily into silence. 'How dare you speak to me like that and embarrass me in front of a guest,' she cried a moment later.

'Thanks to your machinations this guest was forced to ride on the box earlier. If you cannot maintain silence until we reach the house, I will make you ride on the box instead. And if that does not shut you up, I will have you walk.'

'You would not dare,' snarled Caroline, glaring at her brother.

'If you insist on fresh air,' Bingley said tiredly and raised his stick to tap the roof in a signal to stop.

'Oh, well,' Caroline capitulated. 'But we will speak about this when we get back.'

'No, we will speak in the morning… after breakfast.'

At last, the bickering stopped, allowing Darcy to relax into the squabs until they reached Netherfield.

Simon Baxter was on duty at the front door, and was pleased to pass on a message, 'Mr Parker asked me to tell you that his cot is set up in your chambers, Mr Darcy.'

Darcy smiled and nodded. 'Thank you for letting me know.'

Caroline could not resist asking, 'Who is Mr Parker? Why did not someone tell me we had another guest.'

Darcy sighed and headed for the stairs. 'Parker is my valet and always sleeps in my room when I am in a house with single females,' he said along the way. He turned back and politely bowed towards his hosts. 'Good night.'

~PoP~

'I wish to thank you for keeping your sister quiet on the way back last night,' Darcy said to Bingley when his friend came into the dining room for breakfast.

'There is no need to thank me. All of us, except Caroline of course, enjoyed the quiet. I am only sorry I did not realise how tired you were. When I saw you socialising and even dancing, I assumed you had recovered and were enjoying yourself.'

'You have exceedingly considerate neighbours. When they discovered that I was tired they ensured that I was able to rest as much as it is possible to do at a ball.'

'I too thought that they were most welcoming.' Bingley stared intently into his coffee cup as he said. 'I confess that I was a little concerned about your unwilling presence and I greatly appreciate your efforts to be sociable.' He looked up with a grateful smile at his last words.

Darcy gave his friend a rueful smile and said, 'Yes, well… I admit that I accidentally overheard a conversation which made me realise that my manners had become as bad as…. ah…'

'Caroline,' Bingley supplied when Darcy realised what he had been about to say. He thought for a moment. 'At least you had some excuse. You were tired and you are regularly hunted by matrimonially inclined ladies who only care about your station and wealth.'

'You are wealthy and yet you are pleasant to all,' Darcy protested.

'I may be rich but marrying the son of a tradesman does not have the same cachet as becoming the mistress of Pemberley. Ladies are therefore not as determined to catch my eye.'

'Speaking of catching your eye, I did notice that you only danced once with each lady. I am surprised that amongst all those lovely damsels you have not found yet another angel.'

'As it happens, I did ask Miss Mary Bennet for a second set, but she explained that due to the lack of dance partners she never danced more than once with any gentleman. I think she is most wonderfully considerate of her friends.'

Darcy chuckled. 'At least you got to dance with her once. I asked Miss Bennet for a dance, and she declined because she always sits out two sets at a ball and all her other dances were already spoken for.'

While Darcy spoke, Bingley remembered his conversation with Mr Bennet. 'I just recalled their father claiming that they both consider themselves too young to marry. Perhaps that is why she refused me,' he said thoughtfully.

Before Darcy could respond, their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the rest of their party.

~PoP~

The sisters and Hurst helped themselves to food from the sideboard and joined the men at the table.

Having been denied a chance to complain the night before, Caroline immediately began to complain about the evening.

In between delicate sips of tea and small bites of toast, she was watching her figure after all, Miss Bingley said, 'Charles, last night confirmed my opinion of the neighbourhood. The locals are all country bumkins who have no fashion and no sense of style. I would have been ashamed to be seen in public in an outfit as drab as those mushrooms were wearing.'

'Some people have excellent taste,' was the sotto voce comment from Mr Hurst who was indulging in a large plate of devilled kidneys.

Caroline chose to regard that comment as a compliment to herself. She gave a smug smile as she addressed her brother, 'I was only pleased that you seemed to realise this and did not honour any lady with a second set.'

Bingley was fortunate that Caroline had to draw breath as it gave him the opportunity to interject, 'I did ask a lady for a second set but was denied.'

'Thank heavens for small mercies. At least the young woman knew that she was in a very different class from us.'

Hurst could not resist to point out, 'Indeed, as a gentlewoman the lady ranks significantly above the children of a tradesman. You were completely outclassed.'

Miss Bingley shot him a furious look as she disagreed. 'There is not a single person of consequence in this community. The were loud and obnoxious. There was not a single one who was worthy to be graced by our presence. Do you not agree, Mr Darcy?'

'I confess, I would have preferred a quiet evening.'

Before Darcy could continue, Caroline cooed, 'I quite agree, Mr Darcy. It would have been much more cosy if we could have stayed at the manor… just the two of us.'

That comment irritated Darcy, but as he had no wish to be rude, he looked at Bingley to deal with his sister.

Bingley caught that look and grimaced but decided to try to explain the situation to his sister. 'You misunderstand Darcy, Caroline. He would have preferred to remain at Netherfield… by himself. He only attended the assembly to avoid being potentially alone with you.'

Caroline chose to misinterpret the statement and turned to Darcy. 'Did you not trust yourself not to be carried away by your passions?'

Darcy sighed. He was getting tired of playing polite games and since Bingley had no success in disabusing his sister of her ridiculous notions that Darcy would ever offer for her, perhaps being blunt was the only option. He gave Bingley an apologetic look before he addressed Caroline. 'Miss Bingley, the only passion you raise in me is disgust. I have not the slightest interest in you, and I am tired of your fawning. I also have to tell you that the perfume you use so lavishly only serves to give me a headache. If you were not the sister of my friend, I would never deign to speak to you.'

Darcy saw the shocked expression on Miss Bingley's face, while the others wore expressions ranging from resignation to amusement.

'Charles, you cannot let him speak to me this way,' cried Caroline.

'Caroline, he is only saying exactly the same things I have been telling you for years. You refuse to listen to me. Perhaps you will believe it, coming from the horse's mouth, so to speak.'

'I would most certainly never offer for the daughter of a tradesman,' Darcy stated to drive home the point. 'Society has certain expectations of my family and one of them is to marry within our own sphere.'

'How dare you abuse our hospitality in such a fashion,' Caroline gasped.

Darcy sighed, rubbing his temples. 'I am only here as a favour to your brother. I would be delighted to leave and never suffer your company again.'

'Darcy, please do not leave. While I appreciate your help with the estate which you promised, I enjoy your company even more, which is more than I can say about my sister,' Bingley said sincerely. He turned to said sister. 'Caroline, since you appear not to have the slightest interest in learning about being the mistress of an estate, you are welcome to return to Scarborough to our relations. You know, the ones in trade.'

'You cannot send me away. You need a hostess,' protested Miss Bingley.

'Louisa, would you be so kind as to take on the duties of the mistress of Netherfield?' Bingley asked without regard to Caroline's protests.

'I would be pleased to do so, Charles.' As Mrs Hurst replied, inspiration struck her. 'Perhaps instead of sending Caroline to Aunt Mathilda, who does not deserve to have her peace disturbed, she could remain and learn the duties of the role.'

'I am perfectly capable of running a house,' huffed Caroline, furious that she was being thwarted by everyone.

'In town, yes, but you have no idea of how to deal with living in the country.' Louisa Hurst shook her head in disgust at her sister. 'You have been chasing Mr Darcy not for himself but for the position of being mistress of Pemberley. Yet you refuse to learn what that role entails. It has virtually nothing to do with fancy dinners, parties, or balls. Being mistress of an estate is mostly hard work… something which you have avoided all your life.'

Bingley's gaze moved between his sisters and a slow smile of appreciation spread across his features as he bowed to Mrs Hurst. 'Well said, Louisa. I shall leave Caroline in your charge.' He thought a moment before he added, 'And to ensure that Caroline heeds your lessons, I will quite happily reduce her allowance by ten percent each time she refused to comply.'

Miss Bingley's jaw dropped, and she stared at her family for several moments before she found her voice again. 'You cannot do this to me.'

'Since I am the head of this household, yes, I can,' Bingley said with finality.

~PoP~

~~PoP~~

A Plethora of Peers (working title) by Sydney Salier, Copyright © 2023