Chapter 12

Charles and Caroline Bingley arrived at Netherfield Park in the early afternoon on the twentieth day of July 1808. Given his younger sister’s refusal to wake at what she had termed ‘that ungodly hour of seven o’clock in the morning, they had departed hours later than had been his intention.

Being sure Caroline would never be ready to depart at the time Charles had stated, Louisa and Harold Hurst left London in the morning in their own coach. That meant their journey would be peaceful without the youngest Bingley’s annoying habit of always having the conversation be about her and her own interests. Using their own conveyance had an additional benefit. If—when—living with Caroline in the same house became too much, they had the freedom to depart without relying on the use of another’s equipage.

As such, the Hursts met their brother’s coach when it eventually arrived at his leased estate. Miss Bingley sniffed disdainfully when she saw the house. She was sure it was nothing to the way she imagined Pemberley, Rosings Park, or any of the manor houses at the estates of the noble relatives she intended, and boasted to her friends, would be hers one day, sooner rather than later.

From outside one could tell the house was a five story dwelling of a good size, windows gleaming in summer’s afternoon sun. There were wide stone steps which led up to the veranda in front of the double front doors. The park which stretched out from the other side of the drive sported various paths to allow for those inclined to do so, to explore. To one side of the house were the formal gardens including a rather extensive and well cared for rose garden. There was a good variety of verdant trees in the park, some of them with benches next to them, which would be shaded by their branches and leaves. A few hundred yards from the house was a large pond upon which a number of waterfowl swam unmolested.

Ignoring their sister’s reaction to seeing the house, the Hursts led the two Bingleys up the stone steps to the veranda where a couple stood and waited for them just in front of the doors.

“Charles and Caroline, these are Mr. and Mrs. Nichols, the butler and housekeeper of Netherfield Park. Mr. and Mrs. Nichols, my brother Mr. Bingley, the master of this estate, and my sister, Miss Bingley, who will keep house for him,” Mrs. Hurst made the introductions regardless of how offended her sister looked at being introduced to those she considered mere servants. Louisa was certain her younger sister did not understand the difference between senior members of the staff and servants.

The Nichols were prepared for the disdainful looks Miss Bingley shot them. Mr. Philips had shared what the investigators had reported regarding the new lessee and his family. So far everything was in accord with what had been discovered about their characters.

Ignoring the butler and housekeeper standing right next to her Miss Bingley turned to her brother. “Why would we not bring the butler and housekeeper from our London home?” she asked not for the first time. “How am I…how are we to impress our noble guests if we do not have servants from London who are used to serving those of us in the first circles?”

“Caroline, I explained to you the lease precludes us from doing so,” Bingley furnished the same response he had at least twice during the coach ride into Hertfordshire.

“Then you should have leased an estate near Pemberley or Rosings Park like I told you to do,” Miss Bingley screeched.

“Actually sister, you demanded Bingley find and estate close to Town, which this one is,” Hurst interjected.

“Oh who asked you!” Miss Bingley bit back. “Louisa, show me to my chambers.”

Mrs. Hurst looked at the housekeeper apologetically for her sister’s display of her lack of good breeding and social graces. Mrs. Nichols smiled back at Mrs. Hurst to let her know she was not offended. ‘Wait until I see Martha and tell her about the woman who will be mistress here,’ Mrs. Nichols thought as she watched the residents make their way up the grand staircase. Martha Hill was the Bennets’ housekeeper, and Mrs. Nichols’s older sister.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~

“William, if we found a reason to remain in London, I would not complain,” Georgiana Darcy told her brother. She was sitting at the pianoforte with her companion looking on while she had been practicing a complicated piece of music when her brother had entered the room with Cousin Richard.

“I too would prefer not to reside in the same house as Miss Bingley, but both Richard and I gave our word we would assist Bingley,” William explained. “Also, you know that Jamey, Saul, and Philip will arrive on the morrow. And Giana, do not forget Emily, Sed, and little Julia will join us in about a sennight so you will not have to spend very much time with Miss Bingley,” William reminded his sister. “However, if you are set against being in her company to that degree, Richard and I,” Richard nodded his agreement, “will leave you here with Mrs. Annesley and then collect you when we leave Bingley’s estate.”

Giana cogitated on the option to remain in London. “Mama and Papa gave me permission to join you because we will be together,” she stated. “As such, I do not think they would have allowed me to depart Pemberley had they known I would remain in London while you are not here.”

“Good decision, Sprite,” Richard grinned at his young cousin. “I agree that Aunt and Uncle Darcy would not be well pleased if you remained here without us.” Richard paused. “I did mention there may be young ladies close to your age in the area, did I not?”

“That would depend on their social stand…” William closed his mouth when he saw the scowl from his cousin.

“Giana dear, continue practising, we will return anon. I just remembered something William and I need to discuss rather urgently,” Richard dissembled. He gripped William by his elbow not allowing him time to protest before they had left the music room and entered the parlour opposite.

“Richard!” William exclaimed as he ripped his elbow from his cousin’s grip.

“William, are you addlepated? What is this arrogance and improper pride which comes to the fore from time to time? It is little wonder your parents charged me with being the arbiter of who is and is not an appropriate friend for Giana,” Richard shook his head.

“Of what do you speak?” William demanded.

Richard withdrew a folded sheet from his waistcoat pocket. “Read,” was the succinct instruction.

It was the work of seconds to open and smooth the sheet.

7 July 1808

William, our son,

If you are reading this page we sent to Richard then he has judged that you need to see it.

Mother and I love you and could not be more proud of you, but at times your judgement of others is harsh and not based on the values we prize. As such, as long as Richard is with you, it is he, and not you, who will decide with whom Giana may or may not associate.

As much…

William recognised his father’s writing, but without reading the rest, his eyes dropped to where his father had signed the letter and his mother had done so as well. He balled the note up and threw it into the grate which, given the fact it was summer, had no fire in it to hungrily consume the page.

“I will honour my parents’ wishes,” William stated in clipped tones. All he was trying to do was uphold the honour of the Darcy name.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~

After changing into an ensemble which would have been more fitting to be worn to a London soiree attended by peers of the realm, Miss Bingley descended the stairs and made her way into the drawing room Louisa had indicated earlier.

“Charles this will not do,” Miss Bingley stated as soon as she took a seat after looking around the room cursorily. “Although I hesitate to call it such, what will our guests say when they see the rustic décor in this house. Just look at this room! It is not at all fashionable. I will plan to redecorate the whole of the house! That way the men will know how I am attentive to their comfort and be able to see my skills as a hostess.”

Mrs. Hurst waited for her brother to respond in the negative to their sister. Rather, he looked anywhere except at her or Harold. She would have to deliver the news to Caroline. “You may not change anything in the house,” she stated.

“What do you know Louisa! Who would not want me to redecorate their house in the latest fashion?” Miss Bingley demanded.

“Caroline, would you ring for tea and refreshments?” Bingley suggested in order to divert his younger sister’s attention. The tactic worked for the immediate present.

Miss Bingley rang the bell and when a maid entered the room, after berating the poor girl for not arriving sooner, she ordered tea and refreshments. As soon as the maid exited the room she turned to her brother. “What is this nonsense Louisa spoke?”

“Just because you do not want to hear it, does not make it nonsense,” Mrs. Hurst responded. “As for our brother, he showed Harold the lease and he and I actually read it. Not only are you prohibited from redecorating anything, but you may not add, sack, berate, be rude to, or otherwise abuse the staff or servants. Other than your personal servant you have no power over those who are employed in this house or on the estate.”

Bingley was saved by the housekeeper’s arrival as she supervised a maid who placed the tray which held the tea service and treats on a table near Miss Bingley. A footman had been carrying the tray until that point. No sooner had the door been pulled closed than the expected explosion occurred.

“CHARLES! Tell me Louisa is wrong!” Miss Bingley screamed.

“Caroline you may want to keep your voice to a dull roar. You do not want the staff and servants to think the mistress screams like a fishmonger’s wife hawking her wares in the market, do you?” Mrs. Hurst asked as she fought to keep a straight face.

“What do I care what those lowborn nothings think, if they are even capable of thought,” Miss Bingley sneered. She turned to her brother. “Charles, tell me the truth, NOW!”

“What Lulu told you is accurate,” Bingley owned. “It is a restrictive lease.”

“Then we will break the terms,” Miss Bingley insisted.

“If Bingley allows you to do that, the penalties are great,” Hurst interjected. “Would you be willing to pay a good portion of your much vaunted dowry for the privilege of turning this house into the garish mess like you have done at Bingley’s leased London home.”

As her brother had not refuted a word of what the Hursts had said, Caroline Bingley realised it was nothing but the truth. In her anger she stood, hooked her hands under the tray on which sat the tea service and refreshments, and lifted it at an angle, then she heaved it as hard as she was able, venting all of her frustration.

The tray flew one way, while everything which had been on it went a different direction, and smashed as it fell. The three tiered stand with the pastries and slices of cake landed at Bingley’s feet before the porcelain broke. The tea service was shattered. Miss Bingley stood, fury evident in her every breath and her rigid stance for some moments before she stomped out of the drawing room, up the stairs, and into her chambers where the slamming of her door reverberated throughout the house. Not long after the door slammed, the sound of breakage was heard from Miss Bingley’s chambers.

“Charles, you know the cost of everything she has already broken, and is now destroying will be paid by you, do you not?” Mrs. Hurst reminded her brother. “You do her no favours by placating Caroline rather than checking her.”

“Bingley, with the men who will be here starting on the morrow, have you told our sister none of them will offer for her even if she debases herself by attempting a compromise?” Hurst asked. “If she does that, she will ruin herself and you with her. We will not allow her to include us in her ruin. Louisa and I will cut all ties if she is foolish enough to do that.”

Hurst’s speech reminded Bingley of the conversation he had had with Caroline in the coach on the way to Netherfield Park.

“Charles, I have waited long enough. I will be engaged by the time we all leave this wild place to which you are dragging us,” Miss Bingley had asserted.

“Caro, why would you think Fitzwilliam or Darcy will offer for you now when they have not shown any inclination before?” He had responded. “Mayhap it is time to set your sights a little lower. A man at Hurst’s level of society would take a wife with your dowry and our roots.”

Miss Bingley had slapped her brother. “Do not mention our antecedents within my hearing again,” she had screeched. “I will do what I have to do, even if that means forcing the matter. I will not be embarrassed before Miss Grantly again! I told her I will return to London engaged, so engaged I will be, one way or the other!”

Bingley had debated whether he should tell her what Fitzwilliam and Darcy both had told him regarding a compromise which included how their cousin the Viscount would act, but the sting of his cheek had convinced him of the folly of his telling Caroline those facts.

“Caroline, I am sure one of them will offer for you so you will not have to compromise anybody,” Bingley had stated, knowing of the lie of his words as they crossed his lips. Now his quandary was whether to warn his friends. He had decided against saying anything, clinging to the hope Caroline would not attempt to entrap one of them. Getting rid of her in marriage would make his life infinitely better, which was another reason he would not divert her if that is what it came to. If she did, he would have to rely on one of his friends’ honour that they would marry her and not leave her to suffer ruin.

Neither Bingley sibling had paid attention to Miss Bingley’s lady’s maid who was seated on the rear facing bench.

Bingley was snapped out of his reverie when Hurst repeated his question regarding whether Caroline had been informed regarding what his friends had told him about their reaction to an attempted entrapment.

Seeing that her brother would not answer the question, Mrs. Hurst could only shake her head. “Charles, do not be surprised if Caroline ruins both of you and costs you the friendships you value so highly,” she stated sadly. “Why can you not see the error in your ways with regards to how you treat Caroline? I finally woke up to the facts, but you ignore them and continue to give her what she wants. What will you need to lose before you are able to see and acknowledge the truth?”

Rather than aver, Bingley turned his head away from his sister and her husband.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~

By the time she joined her brothers and sister in the drawing room prior to some calls from their new neighbours, Miss Bingley acted as if there had been no issues earlier in the afternoon. She did not repeat her demands to redecorate, but neither did she mention the scene earlier in the day.

It was as if she had erased that which did not fit her desires and plans from her memory. Louisa Hurst gave her husband a knowing look. She had told him Caroline would act as if earlier had not occurred. Her sister had the ability to change events in her memories to fit that which she decided they should be. It was one of the many reasons Louisa Hurst worried about her sister’s mental wellbeing.

At least Caroline had not been present when a few gentlemen from the neighbourhood called that afternoon. There was no doubt she would have been rude and condescending to them.