Jane had just stepped out into the garden for a breath of fresh air and to escape the crush in the room when she beheld a most unexpected sight. A coach stopped in front of the house from which Mr Bingley jumped before it had stopped moving completely. As he rushed for the front door, he spied the lady and hurried to greet her.
'Miss Bennet, it must be fate that you are the first person I see upon my arrival. For months I have been unable to get you out of my mind. And when I received Darcy's letter in which he confessed that he had been wrong about your feelings for me and that he had conspired with my sisters to keep the knowledge of your presence in London from me, I had to instantly hurry to see you.'
Jane was stunned at the flood of words streaming from Mr Bingley, but before she could gather her wits to respond in any way, he grasped her hand, dropped to one knee and exclaimed, 'Miss Bennet, you must allow me to tell you how ardently I love and admire you. Will you do me the honour of accepting my hand in marriage?'
'Are you here after all this time because Mr Darcy at last gave you permission to propose?' gasped Jane, trying to prevent her tongue from running away with expressing her feelings freely. Seeing the gentleman fidget and refusing to meet her eyes, she quietly told him, 'Mr Bingley, if you had asked me this question just before you ran away without a word, I would have welcomed your addresses with all my heart. But after all this time without a word, I am afraid that you are too late. I have had time to consider, and several months ago I came to the conclusion that I cannot marry you.'
As Bingley rose to his feet, they could hear a scream from the carriage, 'Charles, what do you think you are doing. Stop this at once.'
Bingley ignored his sister's screeching and asked, 'Why?'
Jane glanced towards the coach from which Caroline Bingley exited in such haste that she stumbled and would have fallen if the footman, who assisted her, had not caught her. Jane looked back at Bingley and asked, 'Why would any woman with the least amount of self-respect marry an inconstant boy who allows himself to be controlled by a pair of pernicious lying harpies?'
'But…'
She shook her head and pulled her hand out of his grasp. 'And worse, have you ever considered why any woman would want those same harpies as her sisters?
Caroline had approached close enough to hear Jane's question and was arrested by those words as her jaw dropped. She could not possibly have heard correctly. Did that mushroom just reject her brother because she did not want to be related to herself. While she was pleased that her brother would not be marrying into that ghastly family and spoil her chances at a brilliant match, it was unthinkable that any woman would reject her brother for that reason. Caroline thought the nerve of that chit… but worse was to come when her brother spoke.
'We will never have to see my sisters–'
'How dare you insult me, you uncouth country nobody,' snarled Caroline interrupting her brother.
Jane's lips quirked in a sardonic smile, reminiscent of her sister. 'You just proved my point,' she said mildly.
Bingley whirled and growled at his sister, 'Caroline, for once in your life, shut up.' He turned back to Jane and asked, 'What can I do to change your mind?'
'Nothing,' Jane replied. 'You see there is something you should know–'
Before she could explain, she was interrupted by a male voice.
'Bingley, what the devil do you think you are doing?' called Colonel Fitzwilliam as he hurried out of the house to join the fray. He was followed by a large group of people who had been alerted to the situation by Miss Bingley's penetrating voice.
'Stay out of this, Fitzwilliam,' Bingley replied absently as he focused on Jane. 'I am trying to convince Miss Bennet to marry me.'
The Colonel chuckled derisively as he stepped up to Jane and put an arm possessively around her shoulders. 'I am afraid that as of two hours ago, the new Mrs Fitzwilliam is unavailable.'
~50~
50 ways to reject a proposal (working title) by Sydney Salier, Copyright © 2023
