“But Caroline, Charles said nothing to me before he went to bed about us closing the house and following him to London,” Mrs. Hurst protested weakly.
“Youare not the mistress,I am! Hence, he spoke to me,” Miss Bingley dissembled. “You do not want him to attach himself to that insipid Jane Bennet and tie us to that disgusting family any more than I do.”
“You have the right of it, I do not. But will Charles not be angry with us?” Mrs. Hurst worried. If her brother no longer allowed her and her husband entrée to his homes then her husband would be most put out at having to fund their lifestyle from his own money.
“Come now Louisa, you know how Charles is, and how easy it is for me to direct him to the right course, do you not?” Mrs. Hurst nodded without much enthusiasm. “Now that he is in Town, he will not want to leave it so soon. While he was here he seemed fixed, but he feels the same when he is in London. Let us face it, the society is far superior there.”
‘And Mr. Darcy will be away from a certain fine-eyed Miss Elizabeth,’ Mrs. Hurst told herself silently. Caroline thought she was being subtle, but Louisa was certain being away from the younger Bennet sister was a much higher priority than separating Charles from Miss Bennet.
“As you have readied the house to be closed, there is no choice now,” Mrs. Hurst said aloud. She made her way to see her husband and inform him of the change of plans.
While she was waiting for Mr. Darcy to return from his ride, Miss Bingley sat at the escritoire and scribed a letter to Miss Jane Bennet. Once it was satisfactory, she wrote a final copy, allowed it to dry, and then sealed it. As they would be away in an hour or two, Caroline saw no reason not to send a footman to deliver the missive right away.
When that was accomplished, she had a maid summon her sister. She needed to speak to Mr. Darcy and she was aware of how fastidious he was so Louisa had to be with her in order for him to enter the drawing room and speak with her.
She heard the sound of Mr. Darcy’s hessians on the marble of the entrance hall. “Mr. Darcy,” she cooed seductively from the doorway, “would you join my sister and me in the drawing room please Sir.”
Darcy could not politely refuse, and as the sister was present, he could not use being alone with the shrew as his excuse to demure.
“Mrs. Hurst, Miss Bingley,” Darcy gave a proper bow in greeting on following the woman into the room. He was much relieved she had not prevaricated about her sister being within. It was not something he would put past Miss Bingley. “How may I be of service?”
Miss Bingley decided not to beat about the bush. “The house is being closed up and we are following my brother to London,” Miss Bingley reported.
“Your brother said he will return in three to four days at the most. Is he aware of your plans and did he approve?” Darcy demanded.
“He did provide me his permission,” Miss Bingley replied dishonestly, “and in addition, it is what must be done to save him from himself.”
Darcy had a very good idea to what Miss Bingley referred. As much as he hated agreeing with the harpy about anything, her desire to separate Bingley from Miss Bennet aligned with his interests, even if it was for very different reasons. Darcy did feel a pang of guilt. His desire, just like Miss Bingley’s was driven more by self-interest than what was good for Bingley.
‘At least,’ he soothed himself silently, ‘this is ultimately for Bingley’s benefit.’ He decided he must at least pay lip service to his friend’s right to choose for himself.
“Surely as your brother is his own man, we should allow him to make his own determination,” Darcy stated weakly.
“Come now Mr. Darcy, you know how quickly Charles falls in and out of love,” Miss Bingley cried. “I—we—cannot allow him to connect himself to one from such a low family. They have no wealth, no class, and no connections.”
Darcy heard his own words he had used to himself to justify his not following his heart being repeated back to him by Miss Bingley and they rang as hollow now as they did when he said them to himself.
That was not the point. This was his chance to once and for all escape the hold Miss Elizabeth wielded over him. As she had said on the dance floor, who knew if they would ever be in company together again.
“I will assist you. Give me an hour or two to bathe, change, and pack and we will be away,” Darcy stated purposefully. It was done and done for the best.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
On arriving in London, Bingley’s first call was theTimes of London. He dropped off an announcement of his engagement with instructions to publish it in the upcoming Thursday morning edition.
From the newspaper office, he made for his solicitor to leave instructions for the marriage settlement to be prepared. Before he went to his house on Curzon Street, Bingley headed to his man of business to briefly discuss the pending issues with him. One of them Caroline would hate: the curtailment of her spending habits.
The sooner he completed everything, the sooner he would be back at his fiancée’s side.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The family was sitting and relaxing in the drawing room when Hill delivered the note from Netherfield Park addressed to Miss Bennet. Jane took it seeing the finely pressed light pink paper which led her to believe it was from Miss Bingley or Mrs. Hurst.
She opened it and began to read. Her family was taken aback as she began to laugh at the words on the page. “Allow me to read this work of fiction to you and you will understand my mirthful reaction,” Jane stated when she had brought her amusement under control.
After a nod from her father, she cleared her throat and began to read.
8 December 1810
