Collins did not want to believe ill of his father, but then again, Mr Davidson had never before prevaricated to him. He was very confused.
Chapter 8
Scarborough 1802
Caroline Bingley could not believe that her mother was no longer in the mortal world. It was dashed inconvenient for Mother to get ill and die before she had seen her family rise beyond their roots.
That had been Caroline’s aim in life since she had been a little girl. But what would happen now? Her mother had made sure Caroline did not have to spend time with Louisa whose face had been marked by the devil. Her mother was no longer there to protect Caroline from catching whatever it was Louisa had that disfigured her so. At least as she would be sixteen in February of the coming year, she would be at the exclusive seminary, Miss Hathaway’s School for Young Ladies. Louisa would be three and twenty in October.
Charles did not take her side; it had only been Mother. He refused to treat Louisa as if there was something wrong with her. Even worse, no matter what stratagems Caroline tried, she could not bend him to her will. Because Father had said otherwise, he had refused to follow their late mother’s orders to not spend time with Louisa, or as he and Father called her, Lulu. It was very annoying that neither Father nor Charles would indulge her the way Mother had.
Charles had not made any useful friends during his three years at Eton. His time there had concluded at the end of May. Caroline and Mother had berated him for befriending the son of a steward and not any boys from a higher society. At thetime when the Bingley matriarch had ordered him to drop the acquaintance, Charles had gone to Father who had given his permission to not do so.
For some reason, by the end of his first year at Eton, he was thankfully no longer friends with the son of a steward. Charles never spoke about why he had broken with that Wickham fellow, but Caroline and Mother had not cared why, as long as he was not associated with that lowborn nothing any longer.
As Charles had turned eighteen in May past, in September, he would be attending Cambridge. Mother was no longer here to push Charles to make useful contacts, so it would all be up to Caroline. He had to meet men from the first circles so she would be able to select one to be her husband. Once she had been to the seminary, combined with her dowry of twenty thousand pounds—it was so unfair that her father refused to add Louisa’s dowry to her own—Caroline was certain she would be irresistible to men at the heights of society.
She sneered when she thought of the man Louisa had met at the carriage works in York when Father had taken her with him. His name was Mr Harold Hurst, the heir to an insignificant, small estate, named Winsdale near York. He had seen Louisa from hergoodside and when he heard what her dowry was, he had become very interested in her. He had approached Father and requested permission to call on Miss Bingley. Father had allowed it, as long as his daughter agreed.
When he had approached Louisa, he had seenallof her face. Evidently, he had almost cast up his accounts and had left the carriage works as fast as he was able. It seemed that twenty thousand pounds was not enough to ameliorate the blemish on Louisa’s cheek.
It was when she had heard about the incident that Caroline had made her request regarding the dowry. She wasaware her father had always refused Mother’s entreaties to either cede Louisa’s dowry to her or to increase her own. However, Caroline was certain she would succeed where her mother failed.
She had not. In fact, her father had threatened to transfer half of her own dowry to Louisa each time Caroline repeated the request. Understanding the danger, Caroline never spoke of it again.
Her time at the seminary in London could not come quickly enough.
At least, Father had not rescinded his permission for Caroline to attend Miss Hatheway’s. He had given Mother his word when she was on her deathbed, so he meant to stand by what he had promised.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Despite that superficial Mr Hurst running away from her when he saw her port-wine stain, Louisa was perfectly happy. Other than her late mother and Caroline, she was treated very well by everyone in the extended Bingley family, especially father’s unmarried sister, Aunt Hildebrand.
Her aunt disliked the airs and graces Mother used to put on as well as those Caroline still did. If either made a derogatory comment about her within Aunt Hildebrand’s earshot, she would ring a peal over their heads. The result was that while Mother was alive, she did not visit her sister-in-law unless there was no choice. Their aunt was one of the few people Caroline feared; hence, when Aunt Hildebrand was present, Louisa’s younger sister behaved properly.
In many ways, Louisa received the love of a mother from her aunt. That, along with the protection and love from Father and Charles, made Louisa a lot less self-conscious.
She cared not that she did not have a sisterlyrelationship with Caroline. Life was too short to waste it worrying about someone who was not, in Louisa’s opinion, a very good person. Besides, she had her books, the pianoforte, her languages, and now the harp as well. Who cared if Caroline thought her knowledge of Greek and Latin unladylike.
Louisa missed Charles when he was at school. He was such a good brother to her. He had brought a few friends home in the three years during his time at Eton. It was obvious he had warned the young men about the birthmark because none of them stared or drew back in her company. It seemed he only came home with friends who had sworn they would not react to the mark on Louisa’s cheek. Her late mother and Caroline’s reactions to the friends’ non-reactions to the port-wine birthmark had amused Louisa. They would have their heads together whispering, trying to fathom how Charles’s friends were not disgusted by Louisa.
Louisa had become a very good chess player, but Charles did not excel at the game and neither did Father. Louisa had read in the paper that there was an address in London one could write to and for three pounds a quarter, a player could play others without ever knowing the name of their opponent. All moves were sent via London and not directly from one player to another, preserving the anonymity of all participants.
With Father’s approval, Louisa joined the group as Lewis Brentwood, because it was for men only. The opposing players only sent and received initials, so she was LB, which after all, were her true initials.
She had been matched against two players who were easy to vanquish, so she had her father write in and request a more challenging opponent. The next one who she opposed was a much tougher player. She was in the third game and was still to win against TB. One game had been a draw, and she was confident that the current game would be hers.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Charles Bingley was an affable young man, but as George Wickham had learnt, he would not allow anyone to push him around or play him for a fool.
At first when Charles met the charming young man who began his studies at Eton the same year as he had, he had thought he had found a friend. He did not care that Wickham was the son of a steward, and Wickham did not seem to count being the son of a tradesman against Charles.
By the second half of the school year, Charles began to see that Wickham liked to play on other’s sympathies by making out that he was a hard-done-by victim. His mother was no longer alive, and Wickham said he was the godson of the master of the estate of Pemberley in Derbyshire. From what he told everyone; the Darcy son and heir was jealous of Wickham’s relationship with Mr Darcy and made trouble for him. He reported that on more than one occasion the Darcy son stole his allowance leaving him skint. Even though the story did not ring true, Bingley had loaned Wickham some coin to tide him over.
A month or so later, Wickham borrowed more coin, without ever paying back the first amount he had borrowed. When the same was attempted a third time, Bingley had refused. Not only that, but he had also demanded that Wickham take him to this Darcy who stole from him. He knew he had been played for a fool when Wickham turned white with fear and tried to make every excuse he could not to comply.
Charles refused to loan Wickham anything more until he paid what he owed. Spewing invectives in which he said that Bingley was jealous of him and some such made up nonsense, Wickham left, but not before, he attempted to remove Charles’s purse which was on the table. Charlesknocked Wickham down and away from the purse. After some empty threats, Wickham left. Thankfully after he saw that Charles was skilled with the foil and his fists, Wickham kept his distance.
