She did not even have her own lady’s maid! The traitorous girl served her cousin Angela and herself. Just because Caroline was not paying the girl’s wages should not have meant the girl should stab her in the back. As soon as she reached her majority and could leave this hellish prison, sacking the disloyal girl without a character would be the first thing she would do.
She lamented the fact that her majority was still two years and ten months away. September 1810 could not come fast enough for Caroline Bingley.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Now Karen, you must remember that you need to be diffident to these toffs. They like everyone to bow down and scrape before them. That, combined with your memorising everything you need to say to impress them with your experience, will ensure you get the position,” Wickham instructed.
“What if they ask me the names of my fictitious charges? They may have heard of the real names,” Karen Younge worried.
“You have nothing to concern yourself about. No one will ask you such a question. All they will care about is that you worked for their betters and you are willing to join their household. You will see. You have nothing about which to worry,” Wickham insisted. “The hackney will be here about a quarter after ten. It should take about a half hour to reach Holder House on Park Lane. If you get there too soon, take a little walk in the park, which is just across the street from their house. You do not want to seem too keen and arrive too early. Five to ten minutes before will be more than enough to show them you care about being punctual.”
Miss Younge calmed herself. George would not tell her the wrong thing. His plan was meticulous, and now, it rested on her shoulders to get the job. Yes, all would be well.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The Fitzwilliam and Darcy coaches arrived outside Holder House just before ten, each with the additional passenger or passengers, respectively. Additionally, the first conveyance to arrive carried Lady Elaine as well, and the next one also bore Lady Anne and Anna.
Fitzwilliam and William were already present as they had ridden out with the residents of the house that morning, something anyone watching would have noted was a perfectly normal occurrence.
Richard Fitzwilliam had decided to remain in Town for the Little Season. He made sure to be present at any ball he knew Jane would attend, and as much as he wanted to dance more than one set each time, after her coming out ball, he restricted himself to one, but always a significant set. Jamey, Andrew, or William always reserved the other two significant sets between them. Hence, no other man had her first, supper, or final sets. This was an arrangement for which Jane had said she was grateful. He had promised himself he would allow Jane to experience a season before declaring himself, and a season she would have. Fitzwilliam was very pleased to see that she showed no interest in any other man who danced with her. She was always polite and not distant, but nothing beyond the dictates of propriety.
Any ball Bingley attended that Jane was at, the young buck would make a beeline for her. Like she did with all the others who flocked to her, she was polite but nothing more and always apologised that all three significant sets were taken but offered the man any of her other open sets.
Bingley and the other men who fancied they would attract her notice soon realised they would never be the recipient of a significant set and that they had not ignited Lady Jane’s interest.
If there were men who thought to force the issue, they had not tried because of the combination of the men of the family and the guards and their unwavering vigilance. One fortune hunter, a man by the name of Willoughby, tried to lead Jane to a balcony against her wishes. With a swift stomp on his foot and elbow to his solar plexus, she freed herself without any fuss before Biggs and Johns arrived and escorted the man out of the ballroom. He was not seen in society for over a month thanks to the pummelling he had received. Since then, word circulated that a man would risk his person to attempt anything with Lady Jane Carrington-Bennet.
When his parents and the other men had entered the drawing room, Fitzwilliam had been sitting next to Jane. It was not surprising Andrew was absent. He was calling on his betrothed. Besides, he was not needed in this; there were more than enough men without him.
When one of the footmen watching the front of the house noted a hackney cab arriving and a woman climbing down, he reported the fact to the master.
“Gentlemen, we should retire to the study,” Holder suggested.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Wickham had shared the small carriage with his paramour from the boarding house on Edward Street. He had the man take Grosvenor Street toward Hyde Park and Park Lane. He had commanded the coachman to stop on the corner of Park Street and Grosvenor Street. It was a little bit of a walk to Park Lane, but Wickham did not want to chance one of Carrington’s men seeing him alight from the same hackney as Karen.
He sauntered towards Park Lane and the park beyond it. The mansion was on his right. As he walked, he made sure not to pay it any undue attention. When he reached the corner opposite Hyde Park, Wickham saw at least one footman near to the point where one end of the semi-circular drive touched the street.
As this was something he had seen multiple times before, it did not bother Wickham. All it meant was he would not stop here. Without paying any undue attention to Holder House, he simply walked across Park Lane as if it were what he had always intended to do. Wickham entered Hyde Park via the Grosvenor Gate and walked a little while. He found the bench he had used before; it was on a slight rise in the ground which afforded him a clear view of the façade of Holder House. As he watched, the hackney stopped, and Karen alighted.
Using his innate intelligence, Wickham hadborroweda wig with greying hair from a store which supplied those who performed on the boards of the various London theatres. With it, Karen looked much older, the age she would have been to have the experience she was supposed to have.
Karen Younge walked up to the huge double doors, a little slower than she would normally to give the impression she was older than she was. “Mrs Younge to meet with Lord Holder,” she told one of the footmen.
The footman was expecting the lady, so he knocked once on the left-hand door. Mr Fenster opened it without delay.
“Mrs Younge?” the butler verified.
“Indeed, I am she,” Karen Younge confirmed.
“May I take your coat?” Fenster asked. He took it and handed it to a nearby footman. “Please follow me.”
Miss Younge had never been inside of a mansion before and was awed at what she saw as she walked. It was not opulent, but everything was of the highest quality. They ascended a staircase with alternating black and white marble steps. Even the bannisters were marble. When they reached the first floor, she followed as the butler led her past several rooms; some had closed doors and others open. She thought she heard the hum of feminine voices as she passed a set of double doors, but she could not make out anything being said.
The butler stopped at a door at the end of the hallway and gave a single knock.
“Come,” Holder called out.
