Chapter 7

Sir William Lucas, their local knight, was to have a musical evening at Lucas Lodge and of course all the inhabitants of Longbourn and Netherfield were to be invited. As much as Miss Bingley absolutely did not want to go, she felt that she did not dare allow Mr. Darcy to be in company with Eliza Bennet without her there to protect him from the country miss. She thought the country mouse would attempt to steal her fiance, as Miss Bingley thought of Mr. Darcy in her head. Their engagement was all but announced in her mind.

As soon as they arrived, Mr. Darcy mentioned that he wished to spend some time speaking to Miss Elizabeth further about what she thought his sister should study beside the usual ladies accomplishments. Miss Bingley was not about to let that happen. She grabbed Mr. Darcy's arm as soon as their outerwear was removed and she was not about to let go of it for the entire evening.

He greeted his new friends politely. Mr. Bingley wandered away with Miss Bennet on his arm and Hurst wandered off to find the punch bowl. Every time Mr. Darcy asked Miss Elizabeth a question, Miss Bingley would interrupt with some remark about how a true lady did not spend her time learning about ledgers or farming. At every turn, Miss Elizabeth was able to turn Miss Bingley's ill formed arguments on their head.

Mr. Darcy agreed with everything Miss Elizabeth said. He thought it would be useful for his sister to know a bit about ledgers and at least have a slight knowledge about running an estate. He was getting quite tired of Miss Bingley talking over Miss Elizabeth and he looked around for her brother. Once he caught Bingley's attention, he subtly motioned for him to draw near. He wanted his friend to hear the way his sister was speaking to Miss Elizabeth. Bingley excused himself from Mrs. and Miss Bennet and was standing behind his sister when she made another rude comment to Miss Elizabeth and that was all he would permit.

"Caroline!" he hissed in her ear. "Come with me!" He then grabbed her arm and said to the rest of the group, "Excuse us for a moment." He led his sister to the entryway and said sternly to her, "Caroline what are you doing? You were abominably rude to Miss Elizabeth."

"She is attempting to steal Mr. Darcy from me! Surely you can see how she fawns over him and agrees with everything he says to draw him in. His little infatuation has gone on long enough."

"Caroline! Whatever are you talking about? Darcy has said he will never offer for you. Never. You are not helping anything with this behavior. We are leaving and you are going back to London tomorrow. Get your cloak. I will make your excuses; I will tell them you have a headache."

"No! We can not leave. She will sink her claws into him. He is not safe from her machinations!"

"Caroline. Cease this now! Get your cloak, now!" and he left her side to make their apologies to his friends.

"Caroline is not feeling well. I will take her to Netherfield and send the coach back for you. Miss Elizabeth, please make my excuses to your sis…, er, to your family. Enjoy your evening," he said with a bow.

Mrs. Hurst quickly offered to come along, but Bingley declined. He did not want anyone to hear the ridiculous things Caroline was saying. Really, he wondered if she had hit her head.

Once they were in the coach, Caroline apologized for her outburst, vaguely blaming it on 'ladies problems'. Once she realized that her brother really meant to send her to London tomorrow she knew she had said too much. She needed to convince him not to send her away and if he thought she was not serious in her declarations, he might rescind his decree and allow her to stay. There was no way she would be able to get rid of that Eliza Bennet if she was trapped in London.

His character being one that never wished to deal with arguments or unpleasant business, Charles was happy to accept her explanation and told her he hoped she felt better in a day or two; she could then apologize to Miss Elizabeth and hopefully all would be forgiven. Caroline bit her lip, having to agree to such nonsense, but she was willing to do anything necessary to remain at Netherfield. She would bide her time and play their game for the time being.

The remainder of the group at Lucas Lodge had an enjoyable evening. As usual, Charlotte required Elizabeth to play several songs. Mr. Darcy enjoyed them immensely and was sure to tell Miss Elizabeth so. After the musical portion of the evening had ended, Mr. Darcy tried to apologize for Miss Bingley's rude behavior, but she would not hear of it. He had no share of the blame for Miss Bingley's poor behavior, she said, and she actually had had quite a bit of fun playing with her time and time again.

As soon as the Bingleys arrived at Netherfield, Caroline excused herself, claiming fatigue and went straight to her rooms. She called for her maid and as she was readied for sleep she tasked her maid with finding out everything she could about the Bennet family and Miss Elizabeth in particular. She just knew there had to be some scandal in that family that she could use to her advantage. That would be so much easier than having to create a scandal herself. It could not just be a little innuendo; no she needed a full blown scandal to ruin these Bennets and to make her Darcy rue the day he had met Miss Eliza Bennet.