“But you didwritethose words, did you not, Miss Bingley? You remember the letter you wrote to Miss Bennet to discourage her pursuit of your brother, the one which was full of lies,” Darcy shot back.
“I never wrote such drivel,” Miss Bingley insisted as she attempted to salvage what she could from the situation.
“Before we proceed, Bingley, I owe you an apology. I should have never tried to divine Miss Bennet’s feelings, or lack thereof for you. I am also sorry I participated in subterfuge with your sister by inviting you to be hosted here so you would not see Miss Bennet when she called at Hurst House. You should know that in an intended slight, your sister waited four weeks before she returned Miss Bennet’s call,” Darcy revealed.
“I am shocked; it seems I will need to speak to my sisters later.” Bingley shook his head.
“That leads us to this.” Darcy pulled the letter Miss Bingley wrote from his pocket. “Miss Bingley, do you still want to deny you wrote the words contained within this missive?”
“That is a forgery!” Miss Bingley screeched.
“It is not, Caroline!” Bingley exclaimed. “Darcy did not show me the whole, but he showed me part of one page, and I was able to identify the writing as yours. How can you lie to everyone in this room so easily? Darcy has the right of it; you prevaricate as easily as breathing.”
In a last-ditch effort to save some face, Miss Bingley turned to her older sister. “Louisa, tell them I did not write that epistle.”
“No, Caroline, I will not dissemble for you any longer. I felt terrible telling Miss Bennet that her letters were notreceived when they were, and you consigned them to the fire,” Mrs Hurst said sadly. “You have made this bed, and now, you must lie in it. I tried to warn you of the danger of writing what you did, but as always, you knew better.”
Caroline Bingley was horrified. Her normally pliable siblings had both abandoned her. How could this be?
“As we are meeting, my mother and some of her friends—the patronesses of Almack’s and a host of duchesses among them—are making sure it is known that you are ruined in society,” Fitzwilliam announced. “Bingley, you can support this shrew and be ruined with her, or you can take a stand. The same goes for the Hursts.”
“Charles, you will not allow this to happen! I am your sister, and you are to take care of me!” Miss Bingley attempted to use guilt to sway her brother. It had always worked in the past.
“I am sorry, Caroline. No, I will not be saving you from yourself. It is not only this letter, but you lied to me, and I am sure when you called on Miss Bennet, you prevaricated to her as well. How could you?” It was just then that Bingley remembered something Darcy had said at White’s. “I should have gone back to discover her true feelings for myself. If I have lost her, I cannot blame anyone but myself.”
“I believe that your sisters knew that Miss Bennet loved you, but unlike your younger sister, she held to propriety and would not show her true feelings until you spoke,” Darcy opined.
“Lulu, is that true?” Bingley implored.
“I am so sorry, Charles, but yes, I supported Caroline no matter how wrong I knew it to be. Mr Darcy’s opinion is fact; she loved you,” Mrs Hurst owned.
“Is she still in London?I need to seek her out and apologise,” Bingley stated.
“The Bennet sisters returned to Longbourn some weeks ago,” Fitzwilliam shared.
“I apologised to Miss Bennet for my wrongheaded interference between you two. She was all kindness and forgave me, but she said she came to realise she did not love you like she thought she did, and you did not truly like her, but rather only her looks,” Darcy revealed. “Miss Bennet said if you loved her, then nothing would have stopped your return to Hertfordshire to discover the truth for yourself.”
“You see, I told you she did not love you,” Miss Bingley interjected. “I was trying to protect you, Charles.”
“Caroline, be quiet!” Bingley and Mrs Hurst chorused.
“The only things you ever care about are your own selfish desires. What a fool I have been to ever cater to you and your nonsense,” Bingley bit back. “Darcy, I think we need to depart. We have a great deal of family business we need to take care of.” After a nod from Darcy, Bingley was about to drag his younger sister out of the room.”
“Miss Bingley, if you want to be foolish enough to test the veracity of what I said about your ruin, I can promise you that you will not be happy with the results,” Fitzwilliam warned.
Hurst took one of the harpy’s elbows, Bingley the other, and they half walked, half carried the reeling woman out of the drawing room and, for the final time ever, out of Darcy House. Miss Bingley was unceremoniously handed into the Bingley coach, destroying her remaining feathers.
Once everyone was seated, she attempted to defend her actions, but her brother commanded her to be quiet, and this time he meant it.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Do you think Miss Bingley will be enough of a simpleton to try to show her face in society again?” Gigi asked after the overdressed virago had left.
“I do not know, but I have a feeling even she is not so delusional as to ignore Richard’s warning,” Darcy estimated. “I think I saw the beginnings of Bingley growing a spine. If that is true, then all is not lost for his family.”
“It is hard to imagine what Miss Bennet was like when you were first in Hertfordshire. The lady I met would not have tolerated Miss Bingley’s airs and graces,” Fitzwilliam observed. “It is a pity we do not suit.” He looked at his cousin. “What of you and Miss Elizabeth? Are you going to take the advice you dispensed to Bingley and return to Longbourn to see if she is open to you as a suitor?”
“I must, or it would make me a hypocrite,” Darcy replied.
