Page 157 of A Most Unwelcome Acquaintance

Bingley pulled the bell. “Then I shall finish it.”

Caroline entered the morning room ten minutes later in a traveling dress she had not worn since London. Her maid followed with a shawl, but Bingley dismissed the woman before Caroline crossed the carpet. Louisa did not rise.

“I see you have decided on my sentence.”

“I have.” Bingley pointed to the chair beside the table. “You will leave Netherfield with Louisa and Hurst this afternoon and remain with them until I decide what follows.”

Caroline did not sit. “You remove me because a dog barked and Elizabeth Bennet chose to imagine scandal.”

“No. I remove you because you sent a false message in my steward’s name, instructed my servants to mislead my guests, and tried to force Darcy into an appearance he did not choose.”

“You talk as if I meant him harm.”

“You meant to deprive him of the right to refuse you,” Georgiana said.

Caroline turned toward her. “You understand nothing of the pressure placed upon a woman who must secure her future.”

“I understand that my brother’s future belongs to him.”

Darcy’s silence gave Georgiana the last word.

Caroline faced Bingley again. “Everything I have done at Netherfield has served you. I managed this house when you would have welcomed every tradesman, officer, and country cousin through the door without distinction, and protected your consequence when you had no thought for it.”

“You treated my friends as ornaments or threats according to their usefulness to you.”

“I prevented them from imposing on you.”

“You imposed upon me.” Bingley set the note down, “and I will not allow you to define my friendships, my courtship, or my household again.”

Caroline’s eyes narrowed at the word courtship. “Then this is Jane Bennet’s victory.”

“This has nothing to do with Miss Bennet.”

“It has everything to do with her. You mean to place a country gentlewoman above your own sister.”

“I mean to marry the woman I love, and you will not insult her in my house.”

Caroline looked toward Louisa. “You permit this?”

Louisa rose at last. “Charles does not require my permission.”

“You choose them over me.”

“No. You made every person in this house a piece to move, then blamed us when we refused our places.” Louisa’s voice held no heat, so Caroline found the judgment harder to resist. “I excused too much because I called it ambition and believed ambition harmless when it wore good manners. I will not call yesterday an accident to spare you shame.”

Caroline drew a breath through her nose. “And your husband agrees with this family tribunal?”

Hurst stood and adjusted his coat. “You spent weeks refusing every graceful exit offered. I cannot pretend surprise because this one comes with consequences.”

Her eyes flashed, but no answer came. For the first time since she entered, Caroline seemed to understand that no argument would restore her authority.

Bingley crossed to the door. “Take what you need for tonight. Your trunks will follow.”

“You would send me away under the servants’ eyes?”

“The servants know that you used them. I will not ask them to act blind for your comfort.”

Caroline lifted her chin. “Mr. Darcy, will you allow him to punish me for trying to protect you from an unsuitable connection?”