The two horses were in the drive before the house and within a half hour after arriving back at the estate, the two riders were away. There was no need for a valise because Hurst would sleep at Hurst House, where he had as much clothing and other items as he needed.
As soon as Louisa entered the house after farewelling her husband and before they went up to the first floor to the drawingroom, Bingley told her about their sister’s behaviour while they had been away.
“Does Caroline really think that an insincere apology will make us all blind again? She is showing us who she really is.” Louisa turned to Mr Nichols. “Please inform Biggs and Johns that I would like to see them.” Once the butler had bowed and left to execute her orders, Louisa turned to her brother and his friend. “The twosmallfootmen-guards.”
Both men nodded their understanding.
The wait for the two to report to the mistress was not long. Louisa told them that she expected trouble with her sister and instructed them and the four men under their command to be posted in the house, and one of them, as a precaution, near the nursery.
Thankfully the Hurst children were all comfortable with the big men and used to seeing them around, so seeing one near the nursery would not be anything out of the ordinary for them.
“Mr Darcy, perhaps you can take a ride to Longbourn. It may not be pleasant here,” Louisa suggested.
Darcy agreed with alacrity. As soon as he changed, he was off.
With Johns and Charles accompanying her, Louisa made her way up the stairs to her sister’s bedchamber. “Brian, wait right here and listen. You will know if you are needed. Charles, you and I should enter, but be prepared; do not forget that Caroline unleashed a tantrum in here and broke what she could.”
“Our sister is three and twenty, and yet she behaves as if she is a young girl without manners.” Bingley could only shakehis head in disgust at his younger sister’s antics. “Allow me to speak to her first.”
Louisa agreed with her brother. Then, taking a deep breath to try to give herself patience with what they were about to deal with, she turned the doorhandle and entered. The devastation was as bad as, if not worse than, reported. Charles followed her, and she could see his look of disgust only deepened. She almost felt sorry for their sister, except Louisa knew all the coming pain was self-inflicted.
Miss Bingley was lying on her bed, belly down, kicking the covers and pounding her fists into the pillows to try and release her frustration. She had no idea how long she had been lying there. It had been since after she humiliated herself before the butler.
Seeing the mess on the floor, Louisa placed a restraining hand on Charles’s arm. “Why is your floor still full of broken porcelain?” she asked.
“You would not send a maid to clean it!” Caroline spat as she sat up.
“Why would I? The maids have more than enough work to do without cleaning up the results of a tantrum thrown by a child of three and twenty. If you want this cleaned up, then you will do it yourself,” Louisa stated firmly.
Miss Bingley glared at her sister. Her brother spoke before she could retort.
“Caroline, what is going on here? How could you behave like a termagant while we were away?” Bingley demanded.
“Me? The butler manhandled me. He needs to be sacked!” Miss Bingley screeched. “How could you go out without me? Atleast, you could have left Mr Darcy here so we could begin our courtship.”
“You tried to slap the butler, and he defended himself, just like I told him to do,” Bingley barked back. “Before you attempt to prevaricate, there were three other footmen who saw what occurred and their accounts match MrNichols, notNackle,as you called him. Knowing how easily you dissemble, even had there not been witnesses, I would have believed the butler, in fact anyone, over you.” Bingley stopped there, glaring at his younger sister, daring her to lie. She looked away. “You are delusional and perhaps rather than send you north, it should be Bedlam! Please tell me why Darcy, who cannot stand the sight of you, would want to remain here alone with you, especially as he was on his way to see the woman he haschosento court?”
Miss Bingley was about to accuse her brother of lying about Mr Darcy courting another when it was she he would marry. She held her peace when her brother held up his hand and shot her a warning glare.
“Your more than two-year act has been for nothing. We all know the truth of who you are, and I will tell you one more time: even were Darcy not courting Miss Bennet, he wouldneveroffer for you, including if you attempted to compromise him. The only thing you will achieve if you attempt to entrap him will be your own ruin. Do you think we are not aware that in your twisted mind you thought that if Miss Darcy and I married, it would increase your chances of marrying Darcy? Miss Darcy is not out, and I see her as no more than a younger sister. If only the one I have who is related by blood were as well-behaved and pleasant as Miss Darcy. Part of the reason she is not here is that she has no desire to meet you, having heard about you from her brother and cousins. Aunt Hildebrand and Uncle John tried tomake you see reality, but you are so lost in your delusions that no one has been able to help you.
“Caroline, you arenot now, nor will you ever be, a member of the first circles. You are not a gentlewoman; you are the daughter of a tradesman. Unless you change your ways you will end up alone as you have done everything possible to alienate your family and you have no friends. Not only that, but you will never be more than a bitter spinster,” Bingley concluded.
The shock of her brother’s words were so great that for once in her life, Caroline Bingley was able to see reality, and there was no comparison to her imagined future at the very summit of the first circles. She saw a bleak, dark future, one where she would always be on the outside looking in.
“What will happen to me now?” Miss Bingley asked quietly.
It was evident to her siblings that for the first time in her life Caroline had seen, and was now acknowledging, just how bleak her future could be.
“There are two options. One is that you go to live with Aunt Hildebrand and Uncle John and genuinely try to learn to behave like a person others want to be around. The second is that your dowry, what is left after any damages are paid for, will be released to you, and you will be on your own. If you chuse that option, then you will need to set up your own establishment and employ a companion and whatever servants you need. If you waste your principal, you will receive not a penny more and have nothing to live on, leaving you to go into service, or worse,” Bingley laid out.
‘If she takes the second, Harold will have to have her watched at all times in case she decides she needs to exact revenge,’ Louisa thought. “Consider your choice well, Sister. Whatever you chuse will affect the rest of your life.”
“May I have some time to cogitate and make a decision?” Miss Bingley requested.
“You may. However, you will remain in your chambers until you do,” Bingley responded. “All of your meals will be delivered to you here. I do not trust you to be in company with anyone at this point. If you think you will leave before I allow it, there will be footmen in the hall and servants’ corridor at all times. While you clean up the mess you made in your chamber, contemplate what your life will be like in service, if you chuse to go out on your own and have to go into service when you fritter your dowry away.”
“Is that really necessary?” Miss Bingley enquired.
