Darcy nodded as if he accepted such an explanation and said, “Even sleepwalkers have goals. Can you tell me of your dream?”
Caroline floundered and then mumbled, “I do not remember.”
Bingley stared at his sister in horror. Her blush, her change in manner, her suggestion of sleepwalking—was his little sister Lady Macbeth, after all, a ruthless schemer who would do anything to reach her aim ?
Of course, he still had no idea of her goal, but he firmed his voice and said, “I remember last night much better than you suppose, Caroline. You did not leave my study at half past eight, you deliberately recreated a situation we had shared many times when we were young, and you talked a long time with me, and I am fairly certain you must have given me countless refills in a deliberate attempt to see me foxed. What could motivate such, other than to make my servants whisper about me and lose respect for me?”
“You are both outrageous and cruel,” Caroline gasped. She had remained standing during all of Darcy’s questions, and now she rushed out the door.
“That went poorly, but I will say that your sister lies very well.”
“You told a lie, as well, Darcy, and I was deeply shocked.”
“If it is any consolation, I hated doing so. But I wish we had found out what really happened, and what she wished had happened. Forewarned is forearmed.”
As he said those words, Darcy’s face changed a bit. Bingley, curious, kept his eyes on his friend’s eyes, and Darcy finally added, “…At least to some extent.”
Bingley ordered some tea and, waiting for it, did some thinking. He said, “I believe I should have Hurst remove my sisters.”
Darcy nodded. It was obvious that he had been doing some thinking as well, but he said, “I believe you may be correct. It is hard to be certain, of course, without knowing what exactly has happened, and Miss Bingley’s motivations.”
With Darcy’s tentative agreement, however, Bingley called for Mrs Nicholls to locate and send Hurst to the study, and soon orders were given for Hurst, Louisa, Caroline, and their personal servants to pack up and travel to London.
Ten
Elizabeth heard of the rumours shortly before Fitzwilliam and Mr Bingley were expected to visit. Her mother rushed into the parlour, after visiting with her sister in Meryton, and she gasped, “We are all, all ruined.”
“What has happened, Mama?” Jane asked with her most soothing manner.
“People are talking about Lizzy!”
“Oh!” Jane’s eyes widened, and her face paled.
“What has been said?” Elizabeth asked.
“That you are wild,” her mother shrieked, her hands flapping as if attempting to demonstrate the level of wildness. She gulped and cried out, “That you have been in a secret and—” Elizabeth watched with some alarm as her mother seemed incapable of forcing words out of her mouth—“andintimaterelationship with Mr Darcy from age fifteen!” Mrs Bennet made her hands into fists and shook them in front of her, panting, “And, and that you were flirting with another, uh, another man,alsoa lover, from the militia. Andthenyou turned one man against the other, wishing for them to fight over you, andthatis why Mr Darcy had that soldier arrested.”
“Where on earth did Aunt Philips hear all these untrue stories?” Elizabeth asked.
“She says that everyone in Meryton is whispering these tales.”
At that moment, Mrs Hill announced the gentlemen.
Elizabeth gladly turned from her almost hysterical mother to her intended. “There are some awful tales about me afoot, apparently, and they have upset my mother most dreadfully. I am not certain what may be done.”
Of course, Fitzwilliam looked thunderous as she quietly told him everything her mother had just loudly wailed for the entire household to hear.
“I imagine that Miss Bingley must be behind these sudden rumours,” he said. Tapping his lips with one finger, he mused, “She might have sent her abigail out to the shops to spread lies and then to take the post to rejoin her in London.” Then he explained about Mr and Miss Bingley’s experiences the night before and that morning, and the sisters’ sudden departure. “I want you to know,” he emphasised, “that Bingley acted quite strongly, quite decisively, yet fairly, in regards to his sister and that, in my opinion, it was the best thing he could have done under the circumstances.”
“But if Miss Bingley has started rumours in retribution, is there something that can be done about that?”
“What we need is a council of war. Please ask your father if we can use his study. Of course I hope he will wish to participate.”
A quarter hour later, Elizabeth, her father, Mr Bingley, and Fitzwilliam sat together in the study, and Elizabeth once again clearly stated the charges being passed around the town. Darcy and Elizabeth, together, briefly outlined the truth about the arrest of Mr Wickham, and then Darcy addressed the charge that he and Elizabeth had been in a relationship since she wasfifteen. He simply laid out the truth of what had occurred when they met in Ramsgate, in 1806, mentioned the correspondence between his sister and two Bennet ladies, and then said, “Although I had heard a little bit about Elizabeth’s life, with Georgiana sharing her letters with me, I never wrote to her nor received messages from her, and I only saw her again, for the first time in five years, at the Meryton assembly.”
“So,” Mr Bennet said, “the whole story is the most scurrilous untruth.”
“It is,” Elizabeth said with quiet dignity. “But I am not sure how to let people know of its falsehood. And I am even less convinced that people will care. Surely anyone who knows me and our family would not believe either story, but would they still happily spread it, laugh at it, instead of refuting it?”
