“Yes, my own atrocious handwriting notwithstanding, I am able to recognise writing in the hand of either of my sisters. To what does this pertain?”
“In due course, that will become clear.” Darcy extracted the offensive letter from his pocket and had it folded so that a few innocuous sentences could be seen. “Whose script is this?”
“That is Caroline’s. I would know her style of handwriting anywhere. I am confused.”
As sad as it was, Darcy felt that if he told Bingley all, he could not trust that Bingley would not warn his sister. Due to that fact, Darcy said not a word about the reasons behind his actions. “All will become clear. Unless your sisters and Hurst are otherwise engaged, please will the four of you call at Darcy House at four this afternoon?”
“Even if Caroline were scheduled to see the Queen, she would cancel to be in your presence. We will be there,” Bingley agreed.
The two friends discussed an inconsequential subject before parting ways.
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“Jane and Lizzy, welcome back to Gracechurch Street, and Mary and Kitty, we are happy to have you here for thefirst time,” Maddie said in greeting once her nieces entered the house. “Jane and Lizzy, you will share the one guest room, and Mary and Kitty, the other. You do not object to sharing, do you?”
Mary and Kitty looked at one another. “No, Aunt Maddie, we do not object,” Mary replied for both.
“Perfect. The housekeeper will show you to the chamber you will share.” Maddie nodded to the mentioned lady, who, with a smile, led the two younger Bennets to their chamber. “You two may go wash and change in a few moments. First, tell me how your parents are adjusting to the changes at Longbourn.”
“They are much closer. Mama calmed as soon as the announcement regarding the end of the entail was made. I would have thought that she would have reverted to her old, shrill utterances when the situation with Lydia came to light, but she remained calm, and she and Papa argued about which of them bore more blame for not checking Lyddie’s behaviour,” Jane reported.
“Lydia is not the brash, flirtatious girl she once was. I do not think she imagined that there would be any consequences to how she used to behave, because in her mind she was doing what Mama taught her,” Elizabeth added. “Although, Mama never taught her to give her virtue away to a man before wedlock.”
“It is done, and no amount of remonstrating with the girl will change what has occurred. Has she written from the convent yet and said anything about her courses?” Maddie wondered.
“As of our departure from Longbourn, there had not been an epistle from Lyddie,” Jane revealed.
“Go wash and change. We will speaklater,” Maddie instructed.
Jane and Elizabeth made their way up to the chamber they were to share. As they walked, Elizabeth wondered if she would see Mr Darcy in London, and if so, would he be pleased to see her?
Chapter 15
Caroline Bingley wanted to make sure she looked her best for the call at Darcy House. Based on the fact her brother had said that Mr Darcy had specifically invited her, she was sure that the reason for the summons was that Mr Darcy was finally ready to offer for her. In the past, she always accompanied Charles, even when her name had not been specified in the invitation. She would have much preferred to have been the mistress of Pemberley and Darcy House for a few years already, but it was better late than never.
She would demand an engagement ball to be hosted, of course, by none other than her future aunt, Lady Matlock. Being engaged to Mr Darcy and with an earl and countess as a future uncle and aunt, she would finally be able to put Miss Grantley, and all of those at the seminary who had looked down on her for her roots in trade, in their places. Now she would be a leader of theTon,and they would have to follow her.
She would agree to spend a month or two at Pemberley in the summer, but the rest of the time she would keep her husband in London. In her mind’s eye, she could already visualise the changes she would make to Darcy House and the mansion at Pemberley. To keep up with the current fashions, she would need to redecorate annually. Thanks to Mr Darcy’s wealth, that would not be a problem. Thinking of how rich he was, Miss Bingley allowed herself to imagine being able to order a new wardrobe three or four times a year. Yes, those same ones who had rejected her would beg to be connected toher.
As much as Miss Bingley would have wanted to be fashionably late and make an entrance, she was aware that one did not do that when calling at Darcy House. Once they were married, she would make sure Mr Darcy adopted her ideas about when one arrived. Hence, Miss Bingley sailed into the drawing room at Hurst House five minutes before the time her brother had said they needed to depart. She was wearing her latest orange creation. The modiste had assured her it was the height of fashion. She wore a wide bandeau on her head, orange to match her ensemble, with five dyed-to-match ostrich feathers inserted. It was tight to hold the feathers in place, but Miss Bingley was willing to suffer the pain to be fashionable.
The Hursts and Bingleys made their way out of the house to the Bingley coach waiting for them on Curzon Street. Bingley handed in his sister. As he had suspected they would, her feathers caught on the door, and three of the five broke.
“Charles, how can you be so clumsy? Now I need to go and change,” Miss Bingley huffed.
“I suppose if you want to be late arriving at Darcy House, then go ahead. We will wait here for you,” Bingley replied. “It was not me who wore feathers too long to enter the conveyance easily.”
Being late was not an option. Miss Bingley was caught between two desires: to look her best or arrive on time.
“Caroline, allow me to remove the broken feathers. You will still achieve the effect you desire with only two feathers,” Mrs Hurst placated. “Just be very careful when you alight at Darcy House.”
As the need to arrive on time was more pressing, Miss Bingley reluctantly agreed.
The men entered and sat on the rear-facing bench. As soon as the door was closed, Bingley struck the ceiling, and the coach was pulled into motion by the two sets of matched greys.
In the meanwhile, Mrs Hurst removed the broken feathers and repositioned the remaining two to the front of the bandeau. “Caro, I promise you that you look just as well with two feathers as you did with five,” Mrs Hurst assured her sister. As she could not stand up to Caroline, Louisa told Caroline what the younger Bingley wanted to hear, not the truth. In her opinion, Caroline was overdressed for an afternoon call, and rather than impress Mr Darcy, she suspected the opposite would be true. Another thing Louisa would never tell her sister was that she believed that not only would Mr Darcy never offer for Caroline, but he did not even enjoy her company.
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