The man next to her jumped out of the bed as if scalded by hot water. Next, rather than the door being thrown open to discover her in Mr. Darcy’s bed, came the sound of derisive laughter. Candles were lit and there sitting across from the bed, all fully clothed, and laughing uproariously at her were her brother, Mr. Fitzwilliam, and Mr. Darcy.
Darcy turned to his dressed, scandalised valet who was standing where he had landed on springing out of the bed. “Well Carstens, it seems you have been compromised, do you want to marry Miss Bingley?”
“No Sir! I most certainly do not,” Carstens shot back indignantly.
“Not even her dowry of around fifteen thousand pounds is an inducement?” Bingley enquired amusedly.
Miss Bingley wished she could disappear into thin air. Here she was lying naked in a bed with four men in the room, and the one she had pressed her nude body against was a servant! All her brother and his friends could do was laugh while they tried to convince a servant to have her.
“I am afraid not Mr. Bingley, I would rather remain in service than attach myself to such a termagant.” There was no missing the look of disdain on the valet’s face.
“It seems Caroline, even Darcy’s valet wants nothing to do with you, That is as close as you would have ever come to being connected to Darcy,” Bingley shook his head. His mien became rather stern as he looked at his sister. He was devoid of mirth when he barked at her. “What part of ‘even a compromise will not induce me to marry you’ did you not understand?”
“Did you think I did not mean what I said when I stated…” Darcy stopped as the crazed woman tossed the covers aside and made to charge at him.
Before Miss Bingley was halfway across the room towards her intended target, she was knocked to the floor by Mr. Darcy’s valet. Carstens pulled the coverlet from the bed and covered the lady’s nakedness with it.
“Unhand me! I must reach my fiancé,” Miss Bingley yelled at the top of her voice.
By now the elder Miss Bingley, wrapped in her robe, had entered the chamber. She shook her head sadly at the sight of her screeching niece, now being held down by two footmen who had entered the suite, and relieved Carstens of his need to restrain the insane woman.
“Charles, you have no choice now. You allowed her the rope she needed to hang herself, and she took it, and then some,” Aunt Hildebrand stated sadly.
“As much as I wish it was otherwise, I know you have the right of it, Aunt,” Bingley shook his head sorrowfully.
His younger sister used to be a sweet girl until she beganto fill her head with gaining a fortune and the need to reach the pinnacle of English society. He had tried to counsel his late father that no good would come of sending his sisters to a seminary to rub shoulders with daughters of theTon, but his late mother had insisted.
His sisters had taken the way they were treated by others as a way to treat those they felt below them. The way Caroline had been derided at the seminary had lit the flame of her desire to rise above all her naysayers. Now her delusion, which had taken over her life, would end with her committed to an asylum for the rest of her days.
Some time ago he had made enquiries and found an asylum on the Isle of Arran off the west coast of Scotland. Those committed to the institution were treated with kindness and dignity. Bingley knew he should not feel guilty since he had given his sister every chance to reform and change her course. She had either chosen not to, or she was incapable of doing so.
A footman looked to the master who nodded. The man applied a gag to cut off the stream of invective and expletives issuing forth from his youngest sister’s mouth. Once it was securely in place, making sure she was covered for modesty’s sake, the two men lifted the squirming Caroline Bingley to return her to her chamber and a maid who would dress her. Their aunt followed her niece back to her chamber. For her protection, a straightjacket would be placed on her after she was once again decently dressed.
“This is one time I wish I had been wrong Bingley,” Richard stated mournfully. “I think you made the correct decision to allow things to go where she desired. That way you know you were left with no more choices.”
All Bingley could do was nod his agreement. “My aunt and I will transport her to London to be evaluated by a doctor later this morning. Once she is committed, I will have her on the first ship headed to the Isle of Arran,” Bingley informedhis friends. “Will you two be sanguine remaining here with no hostess?”
“We will, you do what you need to do,” Richard stated. Darcy nodded his agreement. “Do not forget, my mother and new sister will both arrive in the neighbourhood on Tuesday upcoming, so we will not long be without a hostess. As far as meals go, we are to dine at Longbourn on the morrow, and I am sure, we will be able to survive for a few days shifting for ourselves.”
“Your mother will not object to filling the role of hostess until my aunt and I return, will she?” Bingley verified.
Richard confirmed it would not be any trouble for her. Not long after, the men made for their bedchambers. This time Darcy headed to his actual suite.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
In the morning, Miss Bingley was gagged once again and placed in the coach with her aunt and brother.
It was painfully obvious even a night spent in the straightjacket had not dimmed the delusions. As soon as she saw the two cousins waiting to say farewell, she tried to break free from the footmen and run to where Darcy was standing.
He had no need to fend off the insane woman thanks to the footmen being more than able to restrain her. Whatever she attempted to scream would never be known by any who watched her placed in the coach on the front facing bench. One of the footmen sat next to her to make sure she behaved in the conveyance while the other took up station on the rear facing bench. As soon as he was sure his sister was secure, Bingley approached his friends.
“It is time for my aunt and me to be on our way. I have sent a letter to Louisa…Mrs. Hurst…by courier to inform her of the happenings here,” Bingley told his friends.
Both men shook Bingley’s hand and said nothing. What could one say in such a situation? They bowed to his aunt.
Following his aunt, Bingley entered the carriage; a footman closed the door and slid the step into place. Richard and Darcy stood and watched until the coach made a turn taking it from their field of vision.
Richard looked up and saw a groom had led Zeus to stand a few yards from where he and Darcy stood. “You did not invite me to ride with you,” Richard observed.
