“When I descended the stairs, I noticed Bingley’s coach was still in the drive. Did they just exit the house?” Darcy wondered.
“No indeed, they should have been on their way by now,” Bennet declared as he stood. “Is that them? Do I hear the sounds of a conveyance?” Bennet strode towards the door with Darcy, Devonshire, Hartington, and Granville following him.
The ladies moved to the windows, which looked out onto a portion of the park. They could not see anyone from their vantage point.
When the men poured out of the wide front door, they saw the Matlock coach being drawn to a halt under the portico. The Bingley conveyance was further along the drive, waiting but certainly not moving.
“To what do we owe this illustrious welcoming committee?” Matlock jested when he saw the five men. “Were you aware that Andrew has come back to us?”
“No Matlock, as welcome as you all are, and we are more than pleased to see Hilldale again; we are seeking the occupants of that carriage,” Bennet cocked his head to the equipage on the opposite side of the circular drive. “It belongs to the Bingleys who were asked to leave the house not many minutes past.”
“Andy, I am well pleased you are here, but we need to run. I am afraid Miss Bingley has cooked up a scheme to compromise Cousins Jane and Henry.” Darcy inclined his head towards the park.
Andrew, Richard, and Darcy broke into a run towards the park, while the older men followed at a more sedate pace. Lady Elaine and Giana entered the house.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Elizabeth and Rosemarie put themselves between Mr Bingley and his obvious target—Jane. Mary, Felicity, Harriet, and Ellie joined them in short order. Tommy, Will the younger,and Ian all stood in front of Henry. The latter joined them, not wishing to remain behind his brother and cousins.
Caroline Bingley was pleased to see that the one she was aiming for was not hiding behind the other men. Now all she had to do was throw herself into his arms.
Bingley faltered. He knew what Caroline commanded him to do, but he had not bargained on having to push ladies out of the way to achieve his aim. In his concentration, Bingley had not noticed the enormous men moving towards him or the three men running at him from behind.
As soon as she saw who was leading the charge towards her, Jane’s face lit up with absolute pleasure. Elizabeth had also seen the three men rapidly gaining on Mr Bingley. She looked to the guards, shook her head, and looked at Miss Bingley.
Seeing Miss Bennet’s face light up, Bingley assumed she was pleased to see him, and he surged forward intent on kissing her before she changed her mind, the other ladies in his way be damned. He was not far away from his target when Lady Luck smiled on him and the other ladies moved to the side. He was imagining kissing Miss Bennet when he received a sharp blow to his back, which caused him to fall flat, face first, onto the dry, brown grass.
Andrew had reached Bingley first and did what he needed to so the man was brought down to the ground.
Miss Bingley was close to her prey when all of a sudden, a thick arm closed around her waist and lifted her at least a foot clear of the ground. “Unhand me, you brute!” she screamed. She attempted to kick the man holding her, but a binding was tied around her legs. She began screeching profanities until a gag was unceremoniously stuffed into her mouth. She felt herself being lowered to the ground, and her arms were bound behind her.
Bingley rolled over to determine what had felled him. He looked up into the faces of many angry and disgusted men, not the least of whom was Darcy. One man who was furious beyond anything Bingley saw on the faces of the other men looked behind where he was lying. He saw an enormous man lean over him and lift him to his feet as if he weighed nothing. He remembered seeing the Bennets’ giant footman when he had visited Mr Bennet, and he felt a wave of abject fear traverse his body.
Jane came and stood next to her beloved Andrew. “Had you managed to reach me, do you truly think there would have ever been anything that would have induced me to accept a capricious, shallow, spineless man like yourself? Even had I not been in love with the best man in the world,” Jane turned a beatific smile on Andrew, “who is to propose to me this very day, and who I will accept without delay, you would never have been a choice for me. No, Mr Bingley, it is not your roots in trade, but the fact that you are an empty vessel who sees nothing beyond a woman’s outward façade.”
Hearing what Jane said lightened Andrew’s heart to such an extent he thought he could possibly take flight. It did not reduce the anger he felt for the man who had dared to attempt an entrapment of the lady he loved beyond all reason. “We have not been introduced,” Andrew growled as he put his face inches away from Bingley’s. “But I am Lord Andrew Fitzwilliam, Viscount Hilldale, and soon to bear the best title in the world—Jane’s fiancé. You are very lucky that duels are illegal, or I would call you out without hesitation.”
Bingley would have shrunk back from the furious man if the enormous man holding him had allowed it. He knew he was in a world of trouble, so he looked at Darcy plaintively.
“Do not look to me to save you from yourself,” Darcy barked. “If you had ever grown a backbone and taken your sister in hand rather than placating her, you would not be looking at the total ruin of the Bingley name. The fact you are about to be evicted from Netherfield Park and the money you paid on the lease forfeit will be theleastof your problems. Your dishonourable behaviour aimed against two of my cousins has resulted in an irrevocable break between us. My good opinion once lost, is lost forever.”
Darcy’s final declaration was like a hammer blow to Bingley. Then he comprehended what had been said about being evicted. “B-but I-I have d-done n-nothing to the l-landlord,” Bingley stammered.
“You attempted to compromise the landlord’s eldest daughter!” Bennet declared. “Not only are you spineless, but you do not have much intelligence. Why you did not follow Mr and Mrs Hurst’s example and return to London before it was too late, I know not.”
“You know that Louisa and Hurst departed?” Bingley managed.
“The staff and servants at Netherfield Park are employed by us. It is our estate. We know all relevant things which occur there,” Bennet returned. He turned to Miss Bingley, who was glaring with hatred as she remained bound and gagged. “Even had you and your brother reached my eldest daughter and son, your compromise would not have been gratified. Before I married my wife, the love of my life, I learnt the hard way what hell it is to live with one who compromises you. Hence, I will never allow any of my children to suffer in that fashion.” Bennet glared at Miss Bingley. “You wanted to meet some of our relatives. Behind me are his Grace, the Duke of Devonshire, the Marquess of Hartington, the Earl of Matlock, and the Earlof Granville. Those who are not my children are offspring of the various family members and their wives, who have no desire to be in your company.”
Devonshire stepped forward. “Mr and Miss Bingley, if I were you, I would leave the Kingdom. Her Grace, along with the wives of the other men here, as well as many of their friends, will make sure you will both be ruined in the length and breadth of the realm. As a duke, I suppose I could have you both transported. Hear me well! If either of you ever attempt anything dishonourable again, that is exactly what I will do. If that occurs, you will serve fourteen years of hard labour,” he threatened.
Bingley knew that had the giant man not been holding him up, he would have collapsed, seeing that his legs felt like jelly. He had not looked at his sister since he had been knocked to the ground. He did so now and saw how ashen she appeared.
Not only would she never be accepted into the first circles, but she was about to be ruined to the extent that she and Charles would have to escape England. How she wished she had never heard of Hertfordshire, the Bennets, or Netherfield Park. She should have kept up her campaign to marry Mr Darcy, even if she had had to compromise him. Now Mr Darcy had abandoned them, just like Louisa and Hurst had. It had been such a good plan; how could everything have gone so very wrong? It was not her fault; it was Charles’s failure! If only he had been more effective in following her orders!
As humiliating as it was, with only the rope around her ankles released, she was roughly marched towards, and placed into, the Bingley coach. The men did not bother to untie her hands or remove the gag. She watched as her brother was pushed inside.
“By this time tomorrow you will have vacated Netherfield Park. If you are late foranyreason, you will be arrested for trespassing,” Bennet barked before he stepped back and allowed a footman to close the door. He and the rest of those who had been outside stood and watched as the Bingley conveyance made its way towards the end of the drive.
