Hello my dears! Sorry it has been a while since my last update. Had a lot going on the last week or so. Thank you, as always, for all the wonderful comments and encouragement. I love you for it!
In this chapter, Lizzy is presented with some interesting news and Caroline gets her comeuppance.
Chapter Fifteen
Elizabeth and Mrs. Martin arrived at Grillon's at almost the exact moment Charles did.
"Fancy meeting you here, sir," the former teased her brother.
Charles smiled and offered her his arm. "And you, my dear sister. How do you do, Mrs. Martin?"
Mrs. Martin dipped her head. "I am well, Mr. Bingley. Thank you."
The three entered the building together and had started past the front desk when the young man behind it called out "Mr. Bingley!"
Pausing, Charles turned to look at him. "Yes?"
The clerk turned to the set of open boxes on the wall behind him and selected a folded piece of paper from one. "A note just come for you about a quarter of an hour ago, sir," he said as he held the paper out.
Charles moved over to retrieve it and thanked him, then returned to Elizabeth's side. "It is from my attorney," he said.
Elizabeth swallowed. "Has he already seen Caroline, do you think?"
Charles shook his head. "No. Their meeting is scheduled for two o'clock."
She did not ask anything more—the lobby was not the place to engage in discourse about family strife—and waited as her brother broke the seal of the letter and read it.
"Ah, some good news, Lizzy!" said he. "Smith writes that he has heard from the attorney managing the lease for Netherfield Park. We are welcome to come and view the estate on Monday if it is not inconvenient, and if it is, we are to write back with a time that works better for us."
Elizabeth smiled. "Oh, that is wonderful, Charles!" she cried softly. "I find I am very excited at the prospect. Do you think we can go on Monday?"
"I have no fixed engagements for that day; I do not see why not," Charles replied. "We'll have to go early, though, to arrive about midday."
"Yes, I think that would be best," Elizabeth agreed. "We can have a luncheon in Meryton after seeing the house and then return to town in time for dinner."
Charles tipped her chin playfully. "Now that sounds like a plan. Give me a few moments, if you will, to pen a reply. I shall have it sent express."
Elizabeth nodded; she and Mrs. Martin waited only a few minutes for him to carry out the task and ask the clerk to have his note taken to the post office for an express delivery. The clerk acknowledged the request and after Charles had tipped him a few coins, he went to a bellpull.
When the three reached their suite, Mrs. Martin excused herself to the room she shared with Elizabeth; Elizabeth knew it was intended to give them privacy rather than a desire to be alone. After she and Charles had divested themselves of their gloves and hats, and she had removed her light spencer, Elizabeth sat down on one end of the sofa and Charles sat in the chair adjacent.
"I can well believe you do not wish to relive the experience," she began slowly. "But… How did your meeting with our relations go?"
Charles drew a deep breath before recounting his call to Grosvenor Street. "I have no idea what they decided or how they explained things to Caroline," he said at length. "I did not wait to find out."
"Hmm…" murmured Elizabeth. "I can only imagine how difficult it was for you to take such a stance against our sisters, Charles. I am so very sorry to be the cause of it."
Her brother, who had been leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, sat sharply upright. "Elizabeth! My dear girl, you have nothing to apologize for—you've done no wrong."
"I know that is true, brother, but… Had Uncle Halsey not forced me to return home, none of this would be happening right now," she said.
Charles stood and moved to sit beside her, and taking her hands in his as he spoke, said, "Lizzy, do not blame yourself for any of this. What's happened is…"
He paused, sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "Given what I heard from Hiddleston at the club, a breach with Caroline was likely inevitable," he said resignedly.
"Mr. Hiddleston? What did he say to you?" Elizabeth asked.
"I went to my club after meeting with the Hursts," Charles began. "Rather early for a drink, I know, but I needed to settle my nerves. Anyway, Hiddleston was there, and we got to talking, and he claimed that—and I quote—'everyone knows what a harpy Miss Bingley is.'"
Elizabeth found herself wondering suddenly if Mr. Hiddleston had heard Caroline's comment after she had thanked him for being kind, prompting him to say that not all society daughters were harpies.
"I then asked him why anybody tolerated her, and he said it was because they like me," her brother went on.
She gave the hand that still held hers an affectionate squeeze. "But of course they do, Charles. You are everything that is charming and amiable in a gentleman."
Charles smiled. "Thank you, Lizzy. And you are everything charming and amiable in a lady. My friend Hiddleston certainly thinks so."
"Whatever do you mean, Charles?" Elizabeth countered.
Her brother arched an eyebrow. "Come now, dearest—you cannot have been entirely unaware of the admiration you received at his party, most notably from Hiddleston himself. He did, after all, ask you to open the ball with him."
Elizabeth scoffed. "Yes, after having forgotten that he'd already asked another."
"Yes, but think about it—he was so taken with your beauty that he forgot every other girl in the room," Charles teased.
Opening her lips to make a witty comment, Elizabeth instantly forgot it when she noted the seriousness of her brother's expression.
"Mr. Hiddleston really said that he admired me?" she asked.
Charles nodded. "He did. And he asked me to convey his wish of calling on you."
Surprise and happiness fluttered through Elizabeth as the realization hit her that she was admired. It was a good feeling that made her smile, but…
It was not the same feeling she got whenever Mr. Darcy smiled at her.
Stop it, Elizabeth! she chastised herself. Have you not already determined that Mr. Darcy would be too high a reach for you even if you were interested in marriage?
"Lizzy?" Charles prompted. "What say you?"
Elizabeth did not wish to give his friend any false hopes, but nor could she ignore the possibility of making a match with him. Perhaps she and Mr. Hiddleston would get on very well—plenty of successful marriages were based on friendship and mutual respect. And although the gentleman was not as striking as Darcy, he was still very nice to look at.
Drawing a breath, she smiled and said, "Allow me to ask you this, Charles… How well do you know him? Is Mr. Hiddleston someone you could imagine as your brother?"
Charles cocked his head thoughtfully. "Well now, let me see… I've known him a little longer than I have Darcy—he's the one who introduced us, you may remember. Hiddles—that's what his friends call him—is a capital fellow. Very smart, very witty… The ladies like him—"
"Or they like his fortune," Elizabeth interjected.
Her brother chuckled. "Yes, that is certainly possible—Brooksbank, his estate, brings him a clear six thousand per annum. And then there's his horse breeding venture."
"Does he sell horses only to his connexions in the ton?"
"The ton is his main clientele, yes, but I do know he has bred horses for the tenants on his estate as well, and has advised them about breeding their own stock," Charles said. "And yes, Lizzy, I would be proud and honoured to call such a man my brother. But of course, no one is asking you to consider marrying the man anytime soon. Hiddleston merely wishes to get to know you better, to see if there could be something between you worth pursuing."
He bumped her shoulder with his and grinned. "He thinks you are a beauty with a beguiling smile."
Elizabeth laughed. "He did not say that!"
"Indeed, he did!" Charles declared. "He liked you, Lizzy. Hiddles and I both want more than just a pretty wife—we wish to find someone with whom we can enjoy genuine conversation."
Elizabeth raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Really? You and Mr. Hiddleston both want a wife with her own ideas and opinions?"
Charles scoffed. "You know, Lizzy, there are men in this world who value an intelligent woman. We like to be challenged every once in a while by a bright mind just as much as we appreciate the company of a lively, amiable character."
"Not to mention beauty and beguiling smiles."
Laughing, Charles replied, "Well, of course we appreciate beauty as well. But even that is not everything. Take our sister, for instance. Caroline is a handsome girl on the outside, but inside she is… Unpleasant."
"That is putting it mildly, Charles," Elizabeth said. "Our sister, for some unexplainable reason, has developed into a mean, spiteful, jealous, hateful shrew."
Slipping an arm around her shoulders, Charles quipped, "Tell me how you really feel about Caroline, Lizzy."
Elizabeth sniffed as she fought the unwelcome sting of tears behind her eyes. "I love her, Charles," she said quietly. "She is my family—I cannot help but love her. But heavens, I am so very, very disappointed in her. I had hoped that the last four years would have changed her for the better, but they have not."
"Indeed, they have not," Charles agreed. "As you said, it's not our parents' fault, it's not my fault… And even if the girls at your school were cruel with their taunts, it's not entirely their fault, either. Caroline chooses to be mean-spirited. And for that she will lose a great deal more than she will gain."
"Including Mr. Darcy," Elizabeth said with a chuckle.
Charles barked a laugh. "Oh, she never had a chance with him," he said. "Darcy has an aversion to women throwing themselves at him; it is one reason he's uncomfortable in public gatherings, where fortunes are discussed as openly as the latest fashions and ladies are not too subtle about what they're after. Like Hiddleston and I, he wants a wife who likes him for himself, not his money and connexions. All the girls he's met so far, that's all they see—the chance to be connected to nobility, to be mistress of a fabulous house, and to have more money than they could ever spend."
Elizabeth snorted. "Caroline could spend it," she quipped.
Laughing, Charles said, "Yes, I daresay she could. Poor Darcy would end up bankrupt within five years."
He chuckled a moment more, then sighed. "We really should not speak so unkindly about our sister, even if she has been unkind to us."
"She has been unkind to me, Charles," Elizbeth pointed out. "She has not attacked you or tried to sink your character."
"Not yet," Charles replied. "But once Louisa and Hurst have spoken to her, I do not doubt that she will."
-...-
Caroline sauntered down from her room wearing a fabulous blue silk gown that flattered her figure and enhanced her eyes. It was time she recovered from her sudden malady and returned to ruling the roost, even if the house she lived in was not hers.
Oh, how easy it was. All she had ever had to do was throw a fit, and she got her way. It had worked on her parents, it worked on Louisa, and until recently, it had worked on Charles. Who knew what had prompted her weak-willed brother to begin restricting her spending—had it not begun before Elizabeth's return, she could have easily suspected it was her fault.
Elizabeth, she thought snidely. The baby girl who came unexpectedly after her parents had been told that they would have no more children following a difficult lying-in after Caroline's birth. "Our miracle child," she had heard her parents say more than once. The precocious, green-eyed "Lizzy" who never wanted for anything, who was showered with attention and gifts, leading Caroline to feel as though she did not exist.
But what does it matter now? she thought with a shake of her head and a shrug of her shoulders. The little interloper is gone. I'm sure Charles will see what her presence has done to this family and set her up somewhere quiet and out of the way, then he will return to help me secure an offer from Mr. Darcy.
Bivens, the butler, stepped up to her when she reached the ground floor landing. "Begging your pardon, Miss Bingley," said he. "Mr. and Mrs. Hurst are awaiting you in the drawing room."
Caroline arched an eyebrow as she moved past the man without replying. It pleased her that they were waiting for her, but why send a servant to tell her so?
She breezed through the door into the drawing room to find Hurst standing stone-faced before the fireplace, with Louisa sitting in a chair to his right with a worried expression on her face, and… was that guilt she saw in her eyes?
Stopping a few feet away from them, Caroline said, "You both look dreadful. Has something happened I should be aware of?"
"You might say that," said Hurst. "Perhaps you should sit down, Caroline."
Caroline's eyebrow shot up again and she crossed her arms. She hated it when someone told her to sit down, as it usually meant she would not like what they were about to say—and it made it more difficult to stomp her feet if she did not.
"I think I'll stand," she retorted. "Just tell me what has happened."
"Suit yourself," Hurst muttered, then he drew a deep breath. "Your brother has made us aware of your inappropriate conduct at the Hiddleston ball, as well as your heretofore unknown wish that Miss Elizabeth had never been born."
Caroline scoffed and drew breath to speak, but Hurst silenced her before she could utter a word with a sharp glare. "Furthermore, in response to your behavior toward your younger sister, your attempt to sink her character, and your expressed hatred of her, Charles and Elizabeth have both elected to sever ties with you."
Shock coursed through her, but Caroline would not allow them to see how affected she was. "Oh, do be serious, Hurst," said she. "Charles would never—"
"At two o'clock today, his attorney will call with papers for you to sign," Hurst went on. "Control of your fortune is to be yours, as he no longer intends to continue support of you."
Caroline scoffed, and she glanced down at her sister. "Louisa, tell him how foolish he sounds. Charles would never abandon me—he might be a little angry, but he would never cut me. Imagine the affect it would have on the family's reputation!"
"We have imagined it, Caro," Louisa said haltingly; it was suddenly obvious that she was attempting not to cry. "In fact, it was Charles who implored us to consider what impact our continuing to support you would have on our standing in society. It has forced me to take a long, hard look at how I have treated our sister because of you."
"Oh, please. You despise Eliza just as much as I do," Caroline said, ignoring the alarm that was beginning to weaken her knees.
"I have despised her because you do—because you told me I should," Louisa retorted. She then laughed mirthlessly. "I do not even know why you have always disliked her so, or why I have always followed your lead. I should have been the leader—I am five years older than you."
"Between now and two o'clock when the attorney arrives, you will have your maid pack your belongings," said Hurst, his words finally eliciting a gasp from Caroline. "I have already made arrangements for a hired carriage to convey you to whatever destination you wish. You cannot stay here."
"You're casting me out?!" Caroline screeched. "You can't do that!"
"I can. This is my house," Hurst said.
Once more, Caroline looked at Louisa to garner her support. "Louisa, say something! Tell your husband he cannot just toss your sister out onto the street!"
"I support Reginald's decision, Caroline," Louisa said. "You cannot stay with us any longer. I am sorry—truly, I am—that it must be this way."
Hurst stepped forward. "You brought this on yourself, Caroline, by your own design. However much you may dislike Elizabeth, had you elected to tolerate her presence rather than seeking to destroy her respectability almost from the moment she returned, it would not have come to this. You attacked your sister's character in a public setting with no regard for the honour and credit of the rest of your family, as though blind to the fact that her ruin is your ruin. You embarrassed us all, and in order to protect ourselves from your destructive influence, you have to go."
"This is ridiculous!" Caroline cried with a stomp of her foot. "You cannot do this to me, I am family!"
"Not anymore," Hurst replied evenly. "I have to think of my family's reputation, Miss Bingley, and a person with your vicious propensities will only serve to bring us down, not help us rise further. Now, I suggest you return to your room and pack. You should also think about where you're going to go—I would suggest another city, quite frankly, because once word gets out that the family has cut you, no one in town will want you in their home."
He turned and held his hand out to Louisa. She took it and stood, and wrapped both her hands around his arm as he began to lead her from the room.
"Where are you going?!" Caroline said, screeching again. "You can't tell me you're throwing me out and then just walk away!"
They could. They did. Unseen by Caroline, tears began to fall down Louisa's face and her grip on her husband's arm tightened, but she went with him. She loved Caroline in spite of her faults, but she had to think of herself. It was nothing short of a miracle that Charles had made the acquaintance of powerful men like Mr. Hiddleston and Mr. Darcy—doing so had suddenly made the Bingleys more welcome in the ton than the Hurst family's modest fortune and respectable reputation. More than the fortune her father had bestowed upon his son and daughters.
To join the first circle of society, sacrifices had to be made. Today, that sacrifice was family.