As it is said, angry people seldom make good decisions, and so it was with Caroline Bingley, who was not rational at the best of times.
She crossed the street and made for where the Bennets were standing and not moving. As she got close, Miss Bingley ripped the black ribbon off the nearest store. “This is all your fault!” she screamed at Miss Eliza. “If you had not turned everyone against me…”
It had taken Elizabeth some moments to realise that Miss Bingley was standing before her berating her. When she noted the way the shrew had disrespected Janey by tearing a black ribbon from the door post of the seamstress’s shop, she became infuriated and did something she had wanted to since hearing of the way the woman had treated Janey. Elizabeth pulled her arm back, and with all of her might, she slapped Miss Bingley’s cheek.
One second Miss Bingley had been castigating Miss Eliza, the next her cheek was stinging, burning, very sore, and she was sitting on the ground.
Elizabeth had not thought the power of her slap would knock the virago to the ground, but she could not repine the result. With hands balled up in fists she advanced on the shocked woman. She did not see them, but a large crowd was gathering and watching the goings on.
“How dare you speak to me. You are not worthyof walking on the same ground on which my sister used to walk,” Elizabeth spat at the reeling woman. “Thanks to your mistreatment of my late sister, forcing her to stand in wet clothing, not allowing her to be put in a warm bath immediately, giving her a summer day dress when she finally was able to have a bath and dry off, making sure she had to wear her wet footwear, and then demanding she attend you for dinner after she begged to remain in bed, more than likely contributed to her death. You are very lucky we are not men as I would have called you out without a second thought.”
The more those in the crowd heard Miss Bennet speak and relate how the Bingley woman had treated her late sister, the more the angry and disgusted looks were directed at the woman. The fact her cheek was already showing a handprint in red where she had been struck was heartily approved of by the crowd. She deserved that and so very much more! The seamstress stepped forward, pulled the black ribbon from Miss Bingley’s hand, and handed it to her husband. He proceeded to place it back where it belonged.
Caroline Bingley was not so deficient of sense she could not see the crowd did not support her in the least, so rather than rebuke Miss Eliza for slapping her, she held her peace. She did not move as the Bennet sisters, first cut her, and then walked towards the bookseller’s store; heads held high.
As she scurried back to the inn, she was cut by anyone who saw her. In addition, if looks had the power to kill, Caroline Bingley would have been a dead woman.
Chapter 12
23 October 1810, Oakham Mount
The question of what to do about her parents, who between them had been the major cause for her beloved sister’s death, one through actions, and the other with inaction, was not one to which Elizabeth had divined an answer.
Yes, she had made certain promises to Janey just before her soul was carried home to God, but one promise she did not make was to withhold her anger from their parents. Not long before she had breathed her last, Janey had asked she not be angry at Mother and Father, but Elizabeth had never answered. Among the other promises she made, one was to not mourn beyond one year. She had committed to that promise easily. The second promise she made to her sister was that she would open her heart to love. With that promise came the unbidden image into her mind of a certain tall, dark, and excessively handsome man from Derbyshire.
She reached into her pocket and found the handkerchief Mr Darcy had given her that day at Netherfield Park. For some unknown reason, rubbing her fingers over the monogram of his initials surrounded by the Sweet Williams brought her a measure of comfort. Her thoughts returned to what she and Janey had discussed before her death.
The reason she had not responded to the promise Jane asked of her about their parents was simple. Elizabeth refused to lie to her beloved sister at the best of times, and she certainly would not lie to her on her deathbed. Yes, their father seemedto be taking a firm hand with the two youngest Bennets, and she prayed it would continue, but that did not mitigate his abdication of his parental duties in the past.
Their mother was either just blind to her own faults, or she saw them and refused to acknowledge them. It was one of the main reasons she had escaped the house. Until this terrible day when Janey’s mortal remains were being consigned to the earth, their mother had remained hidden in her chamber. Today, this day of finality, she had joined the family just before the men left for the church and the female condolers began to arrive.
No sooner had Mother arrived in the drawing room than she started drawing attention to herself, casting blame everywhere except where it belonged—to the person she saw in her mirror. Knowing by what a thin thread her equanimity was hanging, Elizabeth had escaped the house. Not even the thought of her mother discovering in what low esteem she was now held by the neighbourhood had tethered her to the house. Unlike her escape at Netherfield Park, this time she had taken her outerwear, even if she had removed her jacket, bonnet, and gloves when she had seated herself onherboulder.
Thoughts of that prior flight again conjured the image of Mr Darcy, and how tenderly he had treated her when he had brought her outerwear to her. Her hand unconsciously found the handkerchief again. Even had Janey not corrected her thinking about him after his thoughtless words at the assembly, the compassionate way he had behaved towards Janey and her, especially to herself, would have shown her how wrong her initial thoughts of him were. Whether or not there could ever be more than the friendship they had established was a question for later. If and when they met once her mourning was completed, then theymayconsider that question. She looked down towards the graveyard knowing Mr Darcy was one of the men there to remember and honour her beloved, departed sister.
So too was Jane’s fiancé, even if it had only been an engagement of some hours, Elizabeth would be eternally grateful to Mr Bingley for letting Jane know she had won his love before her life in the mortal world ended. Not only that, but Mr Bingley was resolved to mourn Janey for a year complete as he would have had they been married. If not for that ill-fated ride, they would be engaged even now as Mr Bingley had shared it had been his intention to propose the day after the dinner with the officers.
Once again, her mother’s machinations, as they always had in the past, had achieved the exact opposite of what she had desired.
Elizabeth watched as the men began to disperse. She looked away again before the labourers began to shovel dirt on top of the coffin. Looking out over the desolate countryside below her, Elizabeth felt a little solace seeing nature was sad too at Janey’s passing.
She heard voices telling her that at least two people were approaching the summit. Elizabeth’s first inclination was to scale the branches of the oak tree, and hide, like she used to in her younger days, but then she realised it would be futile. No leaves remained so she would be seen without any effort.
When Elizabeth saw the two heads appear as they walked up to the top, she was greatly relieved it was Charlotte and Mary .
“I told you Eliza would come here,” Charlotte told Mary.
“I did not disagree with you,” Mary responded pertly. As soon as she reached her older sister, Mary took her hands in her own. “Are you well, Lizzy? I do not doubt how hard this day must be for you.” As Mary spoke Charlotte looked on concernedly.
Since the day she had returned home from Netherfield Park, and had begun sleeping in Mary’s bedchamber, Elizabeth had started to discover how much more there was to Marythan sermons and moralising. The more she came to know Mary, the more she discovered the depths of her sister’s compassion and understanding, the closer the two had become.
Between them they had decided they would not touch Janey’s possessions until after the interment. It would be difficult, but on the morrow, they would begin. Kitty and Lydia had promised to assist, and not just to evaluate what of Janey’s things they would acquire.
“When I saw Mother enter the drawing room, I had the same feelings of repulsion I had at Netherfield Park, and I needed to escape again,” Elizabeth explained. “I know what the fifth commandment says, but after what they caused, I find my reservoir of respect for our parents is dry.”
“By the time Mrs Long arrived, and she was the fifth one, Mrs Bennet flew back up the stairs to her bedchamber,” Charlotte revealed. “The ladies, my mother and Mrs Phillips included, did not hold back in letting your mother know how much they disapprove of what she did.” Charlotte smiled at the remembrance .
“She was almost as speedy in her escape as you were,” Mary added. “The condolers only began to leave a little while ago, which freed Charlotte and me to come find you.” Mary noted the coat and gloves lying near to Lizzy. “Are you not cold?”
