Chapter 5 – Battles Won
About a week after leaving Hertfordshire, Bingley visited Darcy at his home, coming early enough in the morning to avoid having his sisters join him for the call.
"Darcy, good to see you," he greeted his friend with his usual jovial manners, "you and my sisters played a good trick on me by closing my house when I was only in town for a few days."
"Miss Bingley did not leave me a choice, you know." Replied Darcy coldly, "She stated she was closing the house, and that was it. I let her to pay the expected calls to neighbours, instruct the staff and all that needs to be done. I am afraid you will need to contact the housekeeper shortly, as some rumours have come to me about your sister not writing references for the staff let go, not paying them any notice salary either. I think you will need to check whether the merchants in town were paid, as you cannot be certain she did that either."
"But she told me she had done all that needed to be done, I swear Darcy, I did ask, I even thought about references, and she said it was taken care of." Bingley was nervously running his hand through his hair while talking. "Do you know whether she paid any calls to my neighbours? She said she did, but I would like confirmation."
Seeing his friend so upset, Darcy forced himself to calm down and tempered his manners: "No Bingley, I am afraid she did not. I believe the only courtesy she paid was to send a letter to Miss Bennet, and I understand it was not a nice letter. In fact, the reason the rumours came to me is that you sister stated an upcoming engagement between you and Georgiana."
Bingley gasped: "But your sister is barely sixteen, forgive me, she is absolutely lovely, but as a little sister, not a marriage prospect."
Darcy laughed at that: "Do not torture yourself, I am glad you agree Georgie is too young, as that is also my belief. Seriously though, this is a problem, and I cannot allow your sister to endanger her reputation. I am afraid that you need to inform Miss Bingley that due to this transgression she is no longer welcome in my company and will no longer be admitted into Darcy House or Pemberley under any circumstances. That way, any rumour she starts in future can be easily quashed as being the rambling of a bitter woman who did not manage to trap me and no longer has access to any of my connections. I expect your sister will deny all knowledge when you talk to her, but it will not change my mind. In fact, her lack of civility in Hertfordshire towards the community there and her poor treatment of the servants, which I witnessed countless times, had already prompted me to sever the relation between her and Georgiana, so this letter, which has now been destroyed thankfully, is but a small part of my decision. For now, I will give the Hursts the benefit of the doubt and will only cut them if Mrs Hurst chooses to support her sister."
Charles was shocked, and unsure how to approach Caroline to inform her of the cut she was being given. He could understand Darcy's decision, after all the weeks at Netherfield with her constant complaining and belittling of everyone were still very fresh in his memory, but he feared she would not bow down gracefully and would make his life very difficult.
"Perhaps I should go back to Hertfordshire for a time, and take her with me without the Hursts, so that she does not ruin the season for Louisa. I may even ask Gerald to ban her temporarily from his town house, so that she cannot simply run back here. I hope that I will not lose your friendship over this, though, I would like to still see you, at least at the club and maybe here as today? Can you forgive me for not controlling her behaviour towards you, the community in Meryton or the servants" Bingley was pleading, anxious, but ready to fight to keep his best friend.
"Charles, I may be as guilty as you are, as my behaviour in Hertfordshire was poor, and neither of us tried to prevent your sister's constant insults to your neighbours or to the house staff. We may need to restrict our meetings to the club for a while when we are both in town, and of course we will write when away from town as we have done in the past. Please understand that if Miss Bingley tries to impose on any of your visits, especially at Pemberley, I would need to cut her; I do not want to damage our friendship any more than you do, but I can no longer stand to be in her company." Darcy stated calmly.
"As for your return to Hertfordshire, that is totally your decision. I still believe the estate is good and could be profitable if you put the work in it, and your steward there will be a good guide as the man is sound. Regarding Miss Bennet, for you will be in company if you return, I will only caution you to take time, and not to commit to anything before you confirm her true nature. She is beautiful and calm, but I could not say what type of woman she really is. In my opinion, as the eldest, she should be heavily involved with her father's estate or in the community, as Georgie is at Pemberley, yet I believe her sister Miss Elizabeth and Miss Lucas take care of the tenants for the two estates while in recent years Miss Mary has been visiting the poor people in the parish; Miss Bennet did not seem involved in running the household, and I did not see her display any accomplishment either. After two months at Netherfield, and even though she was in residence for nearly a week, I would not be able to guess as to her daily employment except for a little embroidery as she does not appear to read any more than you do. Perhaps you have seen much more than I, in which case you should trust your own opinion."
"My sisters said she did not love me." A gloomy Bingley admitted to his friend.
"That I cannot say, I saw her smiles – and you know I think she smiles too much – but I hardly spoke to her." Darcy suspected Miss Bennet felt little love for his friend but did not believe it was his place to make that call. "I wish for you to marry for love, but you also need to think about practicalities, and a wife does need to be able to cope with her responsibilities, especially if you do buy an estate."
"I will think about it, Darcy, thank you. I was already thinking of taking my time anyway, so your advice is welcome. I will return to Netherfield and concentrate on the estate for now. And hopefully I can still get you advice by post when I need." Bingley asked as he was getting ready to leave, "Also, if you have any further rumours come your way, regarding either Caroline, Netherfield or Miss Bennet, could you inform me? It could be useful, and I am not sure how to gain the trust of the community so that I can hear the rumours myself."
Darcy wished he could tell him about Elizabeth and all he had learned since leaving Meryton, but as Bingley was unable to keep anything secret, he could not risk going into details and only added: "I cannot give any proof of any wrongdoing, but it appeared to me that Miss Bennet was not as ready to support Miss Elizabeth as she should, after her sister walked three miles or more to Netherfield to be of use to her, she deserves some care in return. Yet when Mr Collins, I'm sure you remember the man, made some highly unwelcome advances towards Miss Elizabeth, Miss Bennet seems unwilling to go against their mother's wishes for the match, nor did she attempt to shield her sister. Neither of us have all the details, but if I were you, I would carefully assess Miss Bennet's behaviour towards the younger girls, it may show an indication on how she would behave towards any future children."
Not wanting to raise suspicions, Darcy then wished his friend the best of luck and fair travels and Bingley returned to the Hurst residence on Gloucester Place.
To say Miss Bingley was angry when her brother told her to choose between packing to return to Hertfordshire with him without Louisa and her husband a week later or establishing her own household without either of her siblings was an understatement. After a tantrum worthy of a spoiled toddler, and sufficient to get her brother to order her to pay out of her own allowance for all the broken ornaments she was throwing around in her anger, Caroline was left with no choice and ordered her maid to pack her trunks again. Charles wrote to the Netherfield housekeeper, apologising for the misunderstanding and asking her to recall the staff, with a Christmas bonus for all of them, re-open the house, and confirming that he would come alone with his sister as a guest and no hostess; Miss Bingley would have no authority in his house going forward.
After Caroline's reaction to going back to Hertfordshire, Charles decided to wait until a few weeks later to inform her that she was permanently cut from the Darcys, but he did inform her that he would no longer cover any additional bill from any dressmaker or milliner, which prevented her from spending her last week in London shopping as her allowance from the quarter was long spent. While he wanted to be more in control of his life, Charles Bingley was still the same person underneath and disliked conflict more than most; the battle with her sister when she discovered Darcy was cutting her completely was something he would have rather avoided.
Mr Gerald Hurst smiled and stayed sober that evening for the first time in many months; Charles had joined him in his study as soon as he came into the house a few hours earlier.
"Hurst, I need your help," Bingley had stated, "Caroline has gone too far and I do not know how to manager any longer. I just come back from Darcy's and that sister of mine has left rumours in Meryton of a potential engagement between me and Georgiana; Darcy is furious and will be cutting Caroline off completely."
"What about Louisa and I, are we cut too?" While not close friends, Hurst appreciated Darcy's company; the doors his name could open were them were welcome for a man in the lower circles of the Ton.
"Not for now, but I think you need to get Louisa away from Caroline and have a serious talk with her. In fact, that is what I need from you; I will take Caroline back to Hertfordshire, and if she somehow manages to come back to town on her own, you must ban her from your home and from Louisa's society." Bingley was pacing the study in his agitation.
Hurst had eagerly agreed to his brother-in-law's request. He would send Darcy a crate of his finest brandy, the one he normally kept for his father's visits. Hopefully, away from Caroline's influence, Louisa would go back to being the young lady he courted all these years ago while her sister was at school; perhaps he could have a good marriage with a pretty, lively, yet reasonable wife after all.
About two weeks after his return to London, Darcy and his sister had once more enjoyed supper at Adlington House. They were in the music room with the Bennet cousins, and Darcy was reflecting about the progress her had made in courting his Elizabeth, when they heard a commotion at the front door.
Asking her guests and Elizabeth to remain as silent as possible, Isabella went through the connecting door, leaving it slightly ajar, to the cosy sitting room she used in the evenings and asked a footman to direct the arriving visitors there and post footmen outside the room.
Mr and Mrs Bennet entered the room, accompanied by a man Isabella had never met who was announced as Mr Collins.
"Where is Lizzy?" shrieked Fanny Bennet without bothering with a greeting.
"Good evening, Uncle Thomas," Isabella said calmly, ignoring his wife for now, "this is not an acceptable hour for visits, or for bringing unknown guests, so please explain your presence in my home tonight."
"Good evening, Isabella," he replied with a smirk, "I am sure you know exactly why we are here. This young man is our cousin, Mr Collins, who will inherit the estate when I am dead, and he is here with us to retrieve Lizzy so they can be married by common licence tomorrow morning at Longbourn church." This was blunt, but Thomas was hoping to unsettle his niece. Unfortunately, for him at least, years of living under Mrs Bennet's disapproval had rendered her close to unflappable, and her five years of independence had given her a confidence he never expected to see.
"Be that as it may, it still does not give you the right to enter my home and be less than civil, Mr Bennet, especially after neglecting to answer any letter I sent you for many years. If you were careless enough to misplace one of your daughters, that is no concern of mine." She smiled sweetly, her eye sparkling in a manner reminiscent of her cousin.
"Mr Collins, while we have not met before today, may I ask why you would want to marry a woman who despises you enough to leave her home rather than wed you? It seems to me that you would do better choosing another one of my cousins, perhaps one who is prettier and more docile."
All three occupants of the music room had to cover their mouth at this obvious reference to Jane to avoid giggles or snorts escaping.
Isabella was not finished however, and did not give Mr Collins any time to reply: "In fact, Mrs Bennet, can I ask why you are insisting on this marriage? You are not stupid enough to ignore the fact that should Lizzy ever be mistress of Longbourn, she would instantly throw you out for forcing her to marry where she does not wish. While I understand your husband probably sees this as a good joke on all of you, I would think you would realise that you have everything to lose and will be severely punished should you succeed."
In the silence that followed, both Mr Collins and Fanny Bennet were speechless and the later had turned pale. Mr Collins was pondering the possibility of shifting his affections to the stunningly beautiful Jane Bennet as his bride, for he had not missed the oblique reference to the blond goddess, while Mrs Bennet was wondering whether Isabella was right.
Unseen by them, tears were running down Elizabeth's cheeks; she instinctively knew Isabella was right, and her father was sacrificing her happiness for the fun of bringing misery to his wife after his death, as well as the appearance of securing a home for the daughters he did not really care about; a fine joke indeed.
Without words, Darcy walked closer to Elizabeth and opened his arms; she rushed into them and silently cried on his shoulder while Georgiana gently rubbed her back.
Thomas Bennet was getting angry and started threatening to get a magistrate to remove his daughter from the house.
"Please, feel free to call a magistrate, one only lives a few hundred yards away, on Grosvenor square. My cousin is no longer in the house so you will be wasting his time, which he might not appreciate." Isabella knew that her uncle was all bluster and no action, "for myself, I will be leaving tomorrow to spend Christmas with friends in the countryside, so if you wish to discuss any of this further, please send a note to my butler who will arrange an appointment when I am back in February or March. Although I would point out that you have no hope of finding Lizzy before her birthday, nor would you manage to get her to marry if you did. Your application to me was misguided and doomed to fail."
At this point, she had nothing more to say to any of them and had no intention of giving her cynical uncle a platform to display the scorn he felt for his own family. "You can leave now, and do not try and come in uninvited ever again. Mr Collins, I sincerely advise you to find a wife who accepts your suit on first try rather than force an unwilling bride to join you, this will not make for a happy home if you do. Mr Bennet, Mrs Bennet, I believe it would be better for all of us if you did not attempt further contact with your second daughter or myself. I have ensured that your side of the family will never be able to extort even a penny from me or my estate and my solicitors are aware of my wishes in that regard. Goodbye."
She signalled the footman at the door, who opened it and, with help from a few of his colleagues, ushered the Bennets and Mr Collins out.
As soon as the front door closed, Isabella rushed to the music room. "Well, that could have gone better, I suppose." She stated after seeing Elizabeth's tear strained face as she stepped slightly away from Darcy's embrace, "I believe that for tonight we are safe, but Thomas may well manage to persuade both your mother and cousin to demand the marriage again by tomorrow morning. We will leave in the morning, and you, and Annie as they know her too, cannot be seen until the carriage is well out of Mayfair."
"We have a few more tasks to complete in London," Darcy spoke softly, still holding Elizabeth's arm gently, "and I would like to be here to welcome my cousin Richard, Colonel Fitzwilliam, at last back from the Peninsula. We received news of his arrival in Portsmouth yesterday, so it will not be long now. If that is agreeable, we will be joining you a few days hence. Will you be well, Elizabeth?" the three ladies noticed the use of her name, even though Darcy did not.