At Darcy’s inquisitive look, Bingley relayed all of the drama from earlier in the afternoon. It need not be said that Darcy was anything less than astonished. “I wonder why Richard did not mention my uncle’s friend, Thomas Bennet, lives here. Maybe he did and I forgot,” Darcy mused aloud.
“I owe him a call in return. Would you like to come with me in the morning and meet him?” Bingley offered hopefully.
“Yes, thank you, Bingley; I would very much like to meet Mr. Thomas Bennet. By the way, he is a very good, if not the best, friend of my uncle’s family; they have stayed at each other’s estates many times. Unfortunately, those visits never coincided with a visit of mine, so I never met his family,” Darcy informed Bingley. “However, I have heard Richard’s family talk very warmly about the Bennets. Mr. Bennet was correct; one word from him to my Aunt Elaine and Cousin Marie and your sister would be done in society forever.
“As an aside, from what Richard and Andrew both told me, the Bennet daughters are all beautiful and highly accomplished. The eldest three were sponsored for their curtsey before the Queen by Aunt Elaine. They consider the Bennets’ offspring as nieces and nephews.”
“Darce, I have a favour to ask of you: If Caroline is stupid enough not to heed the warnings she is been given, do not say anything. She has to learn, and the hard way may be the only way she ever will,” Bingley requested with a pained look. “All I can hope is the whole family will not be ruined by association. This afternoon I had to apologise to Mr. Bennet. He was gracious and told us he did not hold the rest of us responsible for Caroline’s despicable behaviour. I was shamed by the foul language she spewed. Even Louisa took her to task after her embarrassing performance. If Caroline refuses to listen, she will feel the repercussions.”
Darcy made for his chambers to change for dinner and wash the dust of the road from his person. He descended to the drawing room a little while before the meal. As soon as he entered, Caroline Bingley latched onto his arm again, conveniently forgetting his reaction when he arrived and ignoring the look of disgust on his countenance as he tensed at her touch. Even through his clothing, she made his skin crawl.
“My dear Mr. Darcy,” she cooed, “you will not believe the lies a pretentious country nobody told today. He claimed a connection with your esteemed uncle and aunt, the Earl and Countess of Matlock. How preposterous!” she continued, not noticing the look of disgust on the faces of everyone, especially Darcy’s. “As if your noble relations would ever suffer the degradation of connecting themselves to a mere country bumpkin without fortune.” She simpered, thinking that she had his ear and believing she was showing her superior knowledge of all he held dear.
Darcy was having a hard time keeping his word to Bingley already. He practically threw Caroline’s hand from his arm and glowered at her when she tried to reclaim it. “I have never given you leave to be so familiar with me, Madame. You are the sister of my friend, naught more!” Darcy said through clenched teeth.
Miss Bingley gaped at him as if she could not comprehend what Mr. Darcy was saying. More than that, she did not understand how he was saying it. “But, Mr. Darcy,” she stammered, “we have always been best of friends. We do not associate with those below our circle...”
She got no further. “Our circle?” Darcy cut her off. “What circle is that, or is it you believe you belong to mine?” He turned to Bingley and said, “I am sorry, Bingley.” Bingley gave him a nod, granting permission for him to continue. “Do you, Miss Bingley, think that, like you, I am the offspring of a tradesman?” She paled but did not reply. “Miss Bingley, let me speak plainly. I have only tolerated your presence for the sake of my friendship with your brother, no more than that. You have never been my friend, nor will you ever be more than my friend’s sister—an acquaintance tolerated at best!”
Caroline Bingley felt her dream crashing down around her as everyone in the room looked at her with scorn, even her brother-in-law, Harold Hurst, who normally showed no interest in anything but food and drink. Even more shocking was the look of disgust, and rejection that she saw on Louisa’s face!
She could always manipulate Louisa, could she not? For the first time since she had begun, at twelve, to take on the airs and graces of those at the seminary, Miss Bingley suspected she would not get what she wanted this time. With this insight, for the second time this day, Caroline left the drawing room red as a beet, but unfortunately for those in her family, no wiser.
After reaching her room and slamming her door so it sounded like a clap of thunder, she let out a screech a harpy would envy. What followed thereafter was a tantrum of epic proportions. She hurled every piece of bric-a-brac in her room into the fireplace; the sounds of breaking porcelain reverberated throughout the house.
Had she known the landlord was the very Mr. Bennet she had so soundly denigrated, she might have destroyed even more in her fit of pique. When her anger lessened, she rationalised her brother would pay for the breakages. She could always manipulate him into doing so in the past.
Once she calmed down, she filtered what Mr. Darcy had said through her delusional mind, and discarded whatever did not fit with the narrative she continued to tell herself; it was as if he had never said it.
In the world she had created for herself, there was only one reality, one where she would be given whatever she wanted. She wanted Pemberley and the status that went along with being the mistress of one of the largest estates in the country.
Dinner at Netherfield Park that night was pleasant because it lacked the company of the hostess.
Chapter 5
The next morning, as soon as it was an acceptable hour for making calls, both Darcy and Bingley mounted their horses and rode toward Longbourn, only three miles distant.
As they approached the house, which was larger than Netherfield Park’s manor house, Darcy knew it housed a family of considerable means.
The house was in excellent repair, and he could see there had been extensive, well-built additions to the original house. The park was well-maintained, and nothing seemed to counteract nature or be ostentatious, unlike the estate of a certain aunt of his from Kent and its gaudy and vulgar displays of wealth.
Darcy noticed an extensive stable on one side of the house, at least as large as his stables at Pemberley. Beyond that stood a number of very fine horses sunning themselves or grazing in paddocks. As he looked, he recalled his uncle and cousins had spoken about the famed Longbourn stables and the quality of the horses bred there. They told him the demand for Longbourn’s horses were so great among the ton there was a waiting list for them.
Darcy could not have known that Bennet had more than tripled the size of Longbourn by adding two wings to it. He also had no idea that Bennet had recovered land gambled away in the past by dissolute members of his family, quadrupling the size of the park. He could see many signs of wealth but, like most in the area, had no idea of just how wealthy the Bennets were.
They were met in front of the house by two smartly-dressed grooms. Once the gentlemen dismounted, the grooms led their horses toward the stables. One nodded to the gentlemen, vowing to care for their horses as they did the Bennets’. Darcy noticed their gentle touch with his mount and was impressed.
When the two friends offered coins to them in thanks, their astonishment deepened when both grooms politely refused them, saying they were merely just doing their duty and they were more than well compensated by the master.
Just as they reached the oak front door it was opened by the butler, Mr. Hill. Both men handed him their cards and requested to meet with the master of the house. Hill took their outerwear and left them standing in the entrance hall, admiring the quality of what they saw.
Hill walked down a hall and they heard him knocking on a door. When bade enter, he complied with an easy manner, one Darcy knew only occurred when the master and mistress of a household respected their servants and treated them with fairness. “The master will see you now. Follow me, please,” Hill stated as he returned to the visitors after but a moment’s delay.
As they walked toward the study, they could hear the dulcet tones of female voices in one of the drawing rooms. Normally, Darcy would be far less eager to pay his respects to the ladies of the house than Bingley. However, having heard of the Bennet ladies almost all of their lives, he was even more eager than Bingley to be introduced.
They followed Hill into Bennet’s study. As they entered, he announced them to his master, who was standing in front of his desk. The gentlemen bowed to each other. A moment later, they heard the door click behind them as it closed almost silently.
Darcy surveyed the room. It was a well-used study with a substantial number of books, many of which he knew he had in Pemberley’s library. Mr. Bennet looked to be an intelligent man in his late forties or early fifties.
