“Hello, Carstairs,” she said as she entered the hall. “Shall we have snow soon, do you think?”
“Good day, Miss Bennet,” said the butler. “Might just be cold enough for that.”
“Has someone else arrived?” she asked pleasantly. “I thought I saw a coach as I drove up.”
Carstairs frowned. “Miss Bingley has come.”
Elizabeth stood still for a moment. “But she did not attend the wedding.”
“As you say, Miss.”
“Is she here to cause trouble?” Elizabeth’s question was spoken as much to herself as it was to Carstairs, but the butler answered anyway.
“I could not say.”
“Youwillnot say. Youcouldsay a great deal.”
Carstairs struggled not to smile, and Elizabeth congratulated herself. Mr. Hill was not half so stoic as Mr. Carstairs. “Yourroom has been prepared, and Mrs. Bingley has asked that you await her there.”
“Poor Jane,” Elizabeth said. “Battle lines drawn already. Have you heard anything from the Langstons?” she asked. Mr. Carstairs had been a fixture at Netherfield since she and Jane had been little girls, visiting the Langstons to play with Julia and Sophia.
“Miss Langston is lately married, just like Miss Bennet. Miss Sophia continues to enjoy the season.”
Elizabeth smiled. “I shall have to write to her. She has become a terrible correspondent this past year, no doubt caught up in the joys of town.”
They heard a high-pitched exclamation from the family wing.
Carstairs glanced upstairs at the sound. “If you do not mind my saying, Miss Bennet, it is good that you are here.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “Jane is firm when she knows herself to be in the right. You have no cause for distress on that point. But if it comes to it, I shall thwart Miss Bingley so that Jane will not have to.”
“As I said, Miss Bennet,” the butler replied, “your presence is fortuitous.”
Elizabeth nodded at him and then at Rebecca Kerr, who led the way to her chambers.
They heard Miss Bingley before they saw her, her demands echoing down the hall. Kerr stood to the side, her eyes darting about in search of a safe place to land.
“What do you mean I cannot enter? This has always been my room.”
“For the entire two months of your stay a year ago?” Elizabeth inquired cheerfully.
Miss Bingley’s head swung in Elizabeth’s direction. “What areyoudoing here?”
“Settling into my rooms, it seems,” Elizabeth replied, gliding past.
“These were my chambers first,” Miss Bingley insisted, attempting to enter. The footman who was carrying Elizabeth’s trunk brushed past Mr. Bingley’s sister, pausing in the doorway as he waited for instructions.
“Move, you big oaf!” Miss Bingley sputtered. “How dare you! Get out of my way or I will have you sent off! What is your name?”
Roberts straightened and turned in one motion, requiring Miss Bingley to duck so as not to be struck by the trunk he carried on his shoulder.
“My name is Roberts, madam,” the man said with a little nod of the head in place of a bow. “I was footman here last year, when you were mistress.”
Miss Bingley’s cheeks reddened at the reminder that she was the mistress no longer. “I insist that you put that trunk down this instant!” Miss Bingley exclaimed. “These aremyrooms!”
“Sorry, Miss Bingley.Mrs. Bingley says that Miss Bennet’s trunk is to be taken here, to Miss Bennet’s rooms.”
The red in Miss Bingley’s cheeks spread to the rest of her face.
