Bennet had not thought he would see a letter from his simpleton of a cousin and heir presumptive again after the acrimonious epistles they had exchanged some years past.
Yet, just handed to him by Hill was a missive from William Collins. Bennet was of two minds—whether to read or destroy it. Like most of his daughters, he was inquisitive and decided to see what the man had to say for himself. After all, if the words were objectionable, he could always consign the paper to the fire and never reply.
He did decide to procrastinate, but just by an hour or two. It had been two days since the new tenant of Netherfield Park had taken up residence. Bennet judged that enough time had passed so he would not seem like one of the overeager denizens of the area hunting for a husband for one of his daughters.
He rang the bell for Hill. “Please have one of the grooms prepare Jupiter for me. I will need my riding boots, greatcoat, gloves, and a beaver,” Bennet instructed once Hill responded to the bell.
The butler bowed and left to carry out his master’s orders and collected the items Mr Bennet had mentioned.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Miss Caroline was not well pleased. Not only was she not the hostess of the estate, but none of the servants wouldfollow any orders until they were issued by her brother, Aunt Hildebrand, or Louisa! It was not to be borne that she, who had received the best education possible, was treated like she had no consequence.
Caroline was at a loss in case she needed to execute a compromise. The housekeeper refused to turn over any keys to her other than her own chamber’s keys. Even worse, the nobody told her aunt and brother, which had led to a berating as they demanded to know why she, who was not the mistress of the estate, thought she needed any other keys. She had refused to provide them with an answer. It had cost her one quarter’s allowance, but she still would not say. Her brother was such a cruel dictator!
Almost worse than that, Louisa sat in on calls from the neighbours, and without a veil! How embarrassed she felt, but Miss Caroline could not make her sentiments known because it would cost her another five thousand pounds from her dowry.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The day the Bingleys arrived at Netherfield Park
“Charles, when the neighbours begin making calls, I will absent myself,” Louisa said. “You need to establish yourself in the neighbourhood, and you do not need the callers being distracted by my birthmark.”
“No, Lulu, we will not hide you from the neighbours like some ugly stepsister. Anyone who insults you insults me as well,” Bingley insisted.
“I agree wholeheartedly with Charles,” Hildebrand added.
Both Bingley and his aunt looked at Caroline challengingly. She opened her mouth to say something, and they waited to see if she was about to risk another quarter of her dowry.
The words had been on the tip of her tongue when Miss Caroline noticed how her brother and aunt were looking at her. At that moment, she understood her dowry would become half of what it was originally if she spoke the truth. Not that she cared about the country mushrooms, but she was certain that they would become outcasts in the area once Louisa’s deformity was seen.
“Nothing to say on the subject, Caroline?” Bingley enquired.
Miss Caroline looked away, but she held her peace. As soon as she became Mrs Darcy, she would ensure that her husband cut ties with the Bingleys.
“Charles has the right of it. We will know by the reactions they display who is worth knowing and who is not,” Hildebrand opined. “I will wager that most people in this small part of the kingdom will be kind, unlike others who make judgements based on nonsensical criteria.” She was looking at her younger niece when she said the last.
It was not hard for Miss Caroline to understand about whom her aunt was speaking. She kept her outward façade calm all the while she was seething within. She could not wait until she rose above these people. She would show them.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Many in the neighbourhood had called over the first two days, and a few had either commented on or stared at Lulu derisively. Those men had been asked to leave and not to return.
When Sir William Lucas had called the previous day, he had stared on first seeing Louisa but had recovered admirably. Before leaving, he had issued an invitation for the whole of the party to attend the public assembly to be held in Meryton on the first Friday in October.
On this, the third day of the Bingleys’ residence at the estate, they thought that all of the gentlemen who were to call on them had already done so. Thankfully for the three older Bingleys, Caroline was spending the morning sequestered in her suite.
Hence, when Nichols announced Mr Thomas Bennet of Longbourn, the three Bingleys in the drawing room were surprised.
“Welcome, Mr Bennet. I am Charles Bingley. My aunt, who is the mistress of the estate, Miss Hildebrand Bingley, and my older sister, Miss Louisa Bingley. There is a younger sister, Miss Caroline, but she is following her own pursuits this morning,” Bingley said as he made the introductions.
Bennet’s eyes swept over the three before him before he bowed. “Mr Bingley, ladies, it is my pleasure to meet you. Welcome to our little corner of the realm.”
A bow and two curtsies were given in return. None of the Bingleys missed the fact that Mr Bennet’s eyes had not paused on seeing Louisa’s face. Even the men who had not been rude to her had all stared, if only a little.
“Please be seated,” Bingley invited. He waited until everyone was sitting before he sat. “You are Mr Phillips’s brother-in-law, are you not?”
“We still consider ourselves brothers-in-law even though my wife and his own first wife, who were sisters, went to their final rewards,” Bennet related. “As Phillips may have mentioned my five daughters, I am not bereft of female company.”
