After Bingley cleared the receiving line, he made his way over to where he saw Hadlock, Fitzwilliam, and Darcy standing and speaking.
“Welcome, Bingley,” Hadlock stated warmly as he extended his hand to their friend. “Did Miss Bingley’s exclusion tonight cause you many problems at home? I am sure she was not well pleased.”
“No, she was not,” Bingley responded after greeting his friends. “However, I made sure she was aware that the consequences for her would be severe should she try to gain entry.”
“How is it she is so very different from you and Mrs Hurst?” William enquired.
“That is a mystery to all of us,” Bingley replied. “Neither my late mother nor my late father put this nonsense about climbing the social ladder into her head. As you know from meeting my older sister, it did not come from that quarter. From the time she was eight Caroline began to feel disgusted with trade and began to spout nonsense about raising herself to the heights of society.”
“Bingley, I know that beautiful, willowy, blonde, blue-eyed ladies are what you prefer. My eldest sister, Lady Jane, is such a woman. She only has one set open, and I will not see you make a cake of yourself with my sister, will I?” Hadlock prompted. “If you forget, I am sure that one of her cousins will remind you.”
Bingley knew he needed to be on his best behaviour when he saw the looks from Fitzwilliam, Darcy, and then Viscount Hilldale as well. He would always behave properly, but he had to admit that women like the one Hadlock described, the same one he had seen in Hyde Park that day but had not been introduced to, always attracted his notice. His thoughts were interrupted when the crowd stilled and all heads looked towards the stairs at one end of the ballroom. Bingley hardly heard the butler’s announcement when his eyes locked on the beauty on Lord Holder’s arm. He had to fight to make sure that his mouth did not fall open.
Knowing Lady Jane only had one set available and seeing the crush of men wanting to be introduced, Bingley kept back. He could tell by the one smug and many disappointed men that Lady Jane’s final open set had been awarded to someone.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Miss Bingley had her hackney carriage arrive at Holder House an hour after the ball began. She was sure that as there was no longer a receiving line, there would be no one to stop her slipping into the ball. Once inside, the earl and countess would not want a disturbance at their so-called daughter’s ball, so she would be allowed to remain.
On alighting, Miss Bingley paid the driver and dismissed him. She made sure her gown was displaying her assets in a most alluring way and made her way towards the broad stone steps leading from the drive to the enormous front doors. Much to her chagrin, there were two footmen near the closed door.
Thinking they would not stop her, she tried to look as if she belonged. It did not work.
“Invitation,” Biggs demanded.
Up close Miss Bingley saw how large and intimidating the man was. “Out of my way, do not question your betters,” she said with her nose in the air. Rather than move aside, the men stood firm.
“The butler told me everyone invited is ‘ere. No invitation, no entry,” Biggs reiterated. “Mistress says to look out for a Miss Bingley trying to enter without an invitation. Is that your name?”
Seeing that the men would not move and allow her entry, Caroline Bingley did all she could do. She stamped her foot and turned away to go seek a hackney cab.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Jane enjoyed herself at her ball from start to finish. The highlight for her was dancing with Richard for the supper and the final sets. She hoped he felt about her like she felt about him, and if so, he would not make her wait too long before declaring himself.
Chapter 23
“Caroline, where did you go yester-night?” Bingley asked nonchalantly the morning after Lady Jane’s coming out ball. Even though he had not danced with the stunning beauty, he had met her thanks to his friendship with Hadlock.
“Go out? I never left the house,” Miss Bingley prevaricated. “Why would you think I went out?”
“If I had not made the decision already, you sitting here and looking me in the eye and dissembling as if it were nothing would have done so for me,” Bingley returned calmly. “While you were outside trying to convince that huge footman to allow you entry to Holder House, another footman notified me. I watched you from inside the house, so do not dare sit here and lie to me!”
Miss Bingley looked away. She was not upset she had prevaricated; she was only disturbed that she had been caught.
“You will be departing London today, and you will be returned to Scarborough, where you will remain with Aunt Hildebrand and Uncle John until you reach your majority.Ifby then you have learnt to moderate your offensive behaviour, thenperhapsI will allow you back into my home. The alternative is that what is left of your dowry will be released to you, and you will have to set up your own establishment somewhere. If that happens, you will have to pay rent and for any servants you employ from the interest on your dowry. Until you are married or five and twenty, the principal may not be accessed.” Bingley sat back, his fingers interlaced over his belly.
“You cannot banish me to Scarborough! I will be living with a tradesman and his wife. What will people say?” Miss Bingley screeched.
“I know it is an inconvenient truth; however, your father was a tradesman, and you live with a man who derives his income from trade. If you abhor trade so much, you should give up the remainder of your dowry; after all, it was all earned by our late father being in trade,” Bingley replied evenly.
It was time to change tactics. “Please, Charles, I have learnt my lesson; I promise you I will behave. How am I to come to know Viscount Hadlock if I am not in London?” Miss Bingley asked as diffidently as she could.
Bingley let loose a bark of derisive laughter. “Do you think me a gullible simpleton? You have not changed, but you think I am unintelligent and will fall for your farce. No, Caroline, I do not trust you at all, so you will be on your way north within the hour.” He paused as he looked at his sister’s pinched face, which did not help her case. “By the time you return, Hadlock will be married. He has found the woman he intends to make his viscountess, and it is not you! Before you make the disgusting assertion that it is one of his sisters, it is not. Even though there is no blood relationship, he only sees them as close family members and nothing more.”
“This is all your fault,” Miss Bingley shrieked. “If you had introduced them to me, I would have captured him for myself!”
“That, sisterdearest,is where you are wrong. My friends, Hadlock included, all refused to have you introduced to them. They had heard too much about your social climbing and fortune-hunting tendencies,” Bingley explained. “They value character, something you sorely lack. Go pack, Caroline. You have less than an hour to make sure everything you want with you is packed.”
