Chapter 9

Mr. Bingley took decisive action for possibly the first time in his life. He ensured that all the staff knew that his sister was unwell and that she was to have no visitors, other than her maid, Sarah. All correspondence to and from his sister were to be shown to him and she was not to leave her room. Her meals would be served there and any requests from his sister were to be made known to him or the housekeeper before they were obeyed.

His sister routinely tried to circumvent his orders, but his staff was loyal to him. Her attempts to send letters to her acquaintances in London, containing entirely baseless accusations against the Bennets were fruitless; his staff were loyal and Caroline's bribes could not get them to falter in their allegiance to Mr. Bingley.

Meanwhile, Charles was awaiting an express from his aunt in Scarborough, hoping that she would agree to take his sister, a maid and a footman for the time being until he could find a better solution.

There had been little discourse between Longbourn and Netherfield during this time. The weather had been too cold and too rainy for any long rambles. Miss Bennet had sent a note, hoping to hear that Miss Bingley was feeling better. Charles had his sister Louisa return a note stating that Caroline was not very unwell, but was still not feeling up to visitors. She promised that they would all get together again soon. Once Charles had told Louisa all that Caroline had said, she agreed with his plan to send her into seclusion.

Charles finally received a letter from his aunt accepting Caroline for a few months and promising to keep him apprised of her progress. Sarah agreed, for a generous increase in her salary, to accompany her mistress to the wilds of Yorkshire. His most trusted footman, Joseph, was to accompany them and act as his confidant in situ. The nice increase in his pay would not be unappreciated.

The day of his sister's departure approached. He had not ventured to discuss her future with her, his character not liking to deal with the angst and arguments likely to arise from that discussion any earlier than necessary. He asked Sarah to finish packing his sister's belongings once he called his sister down to his study to deliver the news of her fate.

As expected, as soon as she was told of her impending trip to Scarborough, she started screaming about her fiance, about how she had ruined Miss Eliza with her letters to her friends, about how Mr. Darcy would come through the door any moment to claim her hand.

Charles held up the handful of letters she had attempted to send. "Do you mean these letters, Caroline?" She lunged at the letters and he threw them in the fire. "Your attempts to ruin the Bennets have come to naught. I will not allow you to sully the Bennets name. They are good, gentlefolk and they do not deserve your derision. I will be lucky if they will accept me into their family as we are not of their class, despite our father's rise in fortune." He was not about to listen to his sister's expected rant now that he informed her of his intention to woo Miss Bennet.

"You will spend the next six months with Aunt Sally in Scarborough. Do not make me restrict you further. Your schemes to ruin the Bennets, including the woman I love, have come to naught. Darcy will never offer for you. Indeed, after your foolhardy attempts at ruining Miss Elizabeth, he likely hates you. You are, and have ever been, nothing to him. Accept your fate and move on dear sister. I wish for you health and happiness, but you need to move on from this madness to obtain them."

He nodded to Joseph and his sister was escorted from the room and into the coach without delay. Once her coach left the property, Mr. Darcy felt it was safe to let himself be seen again and he found his friend in his study pacing agitatedly.

"Well, I believe it is time for us to make our presence known at Longbourn, friend," intoned Darcy.

"I believe you are correct sir," replied Bingley. "It has been a trying week, and I could do with a little diversion." With that, the gentlemen turned towards the stables to have their horses saddled for the short trip to Longbourn, where they hoped to find their favorite Bennet sister awaiting them.

The gentlemen arrived during visiting hours and were disappointed to be introduced into a room full of visitors. Charlotte and Maria Lucas, as well as the Bennet's Aunt Phillips were all ensconced in the parlor and all talk ceased as they were announced. Mrs. Bennet was the first to loudly welcome them and to ask after Miss Bingley.

"My sister is well but has decided to visit our aunt in Scarborough for a while. Mrs. Hurst will take over as hostess for me." As Miss Bingley's rude remarks to Miss Elizabeth at the Lucas's musical evening were heard by several of the ladies present, no one thought of this as undesirable.

Charlotte immediately understood the reason for the gentlemen's visit and thought it would be best for the three visitors to leave so they would have a chance to visit with the elder Miss Bennets. After a few minutes of talking, Charlotte rose and said, "Maria and I must be going. Mrs. Phillips, were you wanting that recipe for liniment from my mother? We could walk back to town with you and have her write it out for you."

"Oh yes dear, thank you. It would be of so much use to Mr. Phillips. Yes, let us go. Sister, I will see you at services on Sunday. Shall we go?" and with that the three visitors went towards the front hall to gather their cloaks and bonnets. Mrs. Bennet followed her sister, all the while talking about Mr. Phillips' aches and pains.

Miss Bennet took over as hostess and invited the gentlemen to sit and join them for tea. She rang for the maid to bring in a fresh pot of tea and a plate of biscuits. Mr. Bingley settled on the chair nearest Miss Bennet and Mr. Darcy found his way to a chair facing Miss Elizabeth. They were just far enough away from the others to speak quietly between themselves without being understood by the others. They could not hear what his friend and her sister were discussing, but it seemed a comfortable tête-à-tête.

"So, Miss Bingley has decided to go traveling?" Miss Elizabeth began with her eyebrow raised.

"Yes, she has an Aunt in Scarborough who she is mad to see again," Mr. Darcy replied. The look on his face gave away his double entendre.

"Yes, she seemed quite mad last time I saw her," quipped Elizabeth. "And do not attempt to apologize for her again sir. I know you were going to." He nodded. "Whatever shall you do without MIss Bingley attempting to marshall your every thought?"

"Enjoy myself immensely," was all he replied as he settled a big smile on his face.

Tea was served and each couple settled into a comfortable conversation as Mrs. Bennet had not returned and the younger sisters were busy at the work table refreshing bonnets and giggling about the gentlemen callers.

Mr. Darcy continued, "I have missed our lively conversations Miss Elizabeth. I hope we will get some better weather for rambling before winter settles in." He smiled at her, hoping she would understand his unspoken connotations.

"We should have nice weather tomorrow, according to our old groom. He is rarely wrong; he feels it in his bones," Miss Elizabeth replied.

"Well, I hope he is correct, for I would dearly love to see the sights from the top of Oakham Mount again." Darcy replied.

"Cook has said she will be making scones tomorrow morning," and Elizabeth let the topic drop before their conversation passed from the potential of a chance meeting to arranging a clandestine meeting.

One of the younger sisters piped up, "Mr. Bingley, you said you were going to throw a ball. With your sister gone, will you still be able to do so? We do so love to dance," and the younger two made a charade of bowing, curtsying and breaking into an exaggerated dance.

"I dearly hope I will. I will talk to my sister Louisa to see if she is able to manage such a task," Mr. Bingley said.

"Oh, we would love to help!" cried one of the younger sisters. "We are very good at making decorations."

"And mixing punch!" the other sister added. The shushing from their oldest sister hinted that the punch to be mixed might not be the best idea; she would nip that intention in the bud. Darcy assumed there was a story to be told here, but said nothing.

At last the gentlemen felt they must take their leave. As they were waiting in the front hall for their horses to be brought around, Mr. Darcy was able to place himself near Miss Elizabeth and turned his back to the others and quietly said, "I will dream of good weather and warm scones, Miss Elizabeth." He quickly took her hand and raised it to his lips before he turned to leave with his friend.