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Miss Bingley spent some minutes suggesting a variety of increasingly implausible explanations, from Mrs. Gardiner telling a falsehood to the Hursts’ butler losing the note.

Eventually, Louisa had had enough and spoke over her in a voice that sounded very much like their mother’s.

“Oh enough, Caroline! We’ve both known you since you were born!

Do you really think that you can put such stupid lies past us? ”

The younger lady gaped like a fish until Louisa snapped, “What did you do with the invitation, Caroline?”

“I… I… dropped it in the fire.” She had the grace to look embarrassed, although her sister suspected that the emotion had more to do with being caug ht than the deed itself.

Charles stood abruptly and went to stare out the window, unconsciously mimicking Mr. Darcy. Louisa merely stared at Caroline, wondering how far her sister’s deceptions extended. Even Mr. Hurst seemed to have woken up and was eyeing Miss Bingley with even more distaste than usual.

Before anyone could speak, however, the Hursts’ butler knocked on the door and announced that dinner was ready to be served.

Charles turned back to the room and Louisa could see that he was about to announce his intention to leave.

She stood and moved to her younger brother with her hand held out.

“Please stay, Charles. Please—I’ve seen so little of you these last months, and I would very much like to hear more about your plans with Miss Bennet. ”

Bingley observed his elder sister carefully. Although he was furious with Caroline, he could not recall Louisa ever actively deceiving him or insulting the Bennets. She had not stood up to Caroline, but neither had he until recently.

With a tight smile, he nodded and offered Louisa his arm.

When Mr. Hurst immediately followed the pair out the door, Miss Bingley found herself left behind, quite alone.

It was several minutes before she followed, equal parts furious and baffled at how her influence over her siblings seemed to have evaporated in a single evening’s conversation.

Once seated at the table, Louisa managed to keep up an easy conversation with her brother.

After reassuring him that she and her husband, at least, would attend the Gardiners’ party, they talked a bit about the wedding.

She smiled indulgently when Charles shared his idea of taking Jane on a wedding trip to Paris as his parents had done, and sent a sharp look at their sister when Caroline snorted.

Upon hearing of his plan to host an engagement dinner at Netherfield before the wedding, Louisa quickly offered to act as hostess and her brother was happy to accept; Mr. Hurst even contributed that September would be an excellent time for some sport and offered to organize a hunting party for the gentlemen.

“Do you plan to remain at Netherfield? The sport there was excellent,” inquired Mr. Hurst gruffly, as if unaccustomed to participating in dinner conversations at his own table.

Buoyed by Louisa’s support, Charles actually smiled. “We’ve not yet decided if we want to settle there permanently, but I will be seeing the agent tomorrow to extend my lease for another year.”

There was a pause as the footmen set out the last dishes and were dismissed by their mistress.

Charles wrinkled his brow in thought and spoke as soon as the servants had departed.

“Actually, that was what I wanted to discuss with you tonight.” He eyed Caroline warily.

“I’ve ordered the Waverley Street house to be opened up so that Jane and I may live there when we are in London. ”

His concern proved well-founded as Caroline’s silver clattered to the table and she sputtered, “How dare you! You want to take that little strumpet to live at my mother’s house?!? You can’t do that! I won’t allow you to do it!”

Charles stood and stepped deliberately around the table until he towered over his sister, leaning forward so that she could not avoid his furious eyes. “You will not use such terms in reference to my fiancée again, Caroline, do you understand? Never again.”

When Miss Bingley pursed her lips, much like a small child about to throw a screaming tantrum, Charles leaned in further. Suddenly she was struck by the fact that her brother was a tall, fit young man who looked furious enough to strike out.

“Listen to me, Caroline, and listen well, for this is the last time I shall say it. I love Jane Bennet and I am marrying her on the fifteenth of September. My first allegiance is to her . Our father’s will places you in my care until your twenty-fifth birthday.

As we all know, that hallowed event shall occur this February, after which I am no longer legally responsible for you. ”

Seeing the understanding flash though her eyes, Bingley stood and returned to his own chair.

After seating himself, he looked at her again and felt barely a flicker of affection.

“Upon your birthday, I shall arrange for you to have full access to your inheritance. Your actions and attitudes between now and then will determine whether I dump you on the curb to fend for yourself or if I allow you to continue residing as a guest in my house… and continue sponsoring you in Society.”

Even after all that his sister had done and said, it still saddened Charles to see that it was only this final threat that seemed to affect her. Turning to Louisa, he saw his pain reflected and took heart from her understanding look.

With a small nod at Charles, Louisa asked, “So, you said that you plan to open up the Waverley Street house?”

After noting that Caroline was biting her lip and appeared likely to remain silent for the present, Bingley replied evenly, “Yes—I wrote to the Bartons from Hertfordshire informing them of my plans. I shall take Jane and her family to meet them and tour the house on Friday. I have every hope that Mr. and Mrs. Barton will agree to stay on as butler and housekeeper, but it will take some time to fill out the remainder of the staff.”

Louisa nodded, her eyes far away. “I am afraid I didn’t pay much attention at the time. Were the other servants let go after the accident?”

Charles reached out a hand and they shared a moment of grief. “Yes; I must thank you and Hurst again for allowing us to stay here. The house seemed so empty with only Caroline and myself there. ”

Louisa squeezed her brother’s hand and even Mr. Hurst nodded at the younger man. “Not at all, no problem at all.”

His wife added even more softly, “We all needed each other.”

After some minutes of silence, Bingley brought himself back to the present. “I have many fond memories of that house when we were growing up, and I hope that Jane and I shall make more in the future with our own family.”

He chose to ignore the sniff from Caroline’s direction and remained focused on Louisa.

“Although the house and all its contents came to me as part of our father’s estate, I thought that there might be some furniture or mementos that you might wish to have.

Would you be able to visit this week? We can go through the house together.

” This time he included Caroline in his invitation.

Mrs. Hurst arranged for them to spend some hours at their childhood home in two days’ time and, though the look on Miss Bingley’s face was poisonous, at least she refrained from voicing her opinions aloud.

In truth, Caroline was furious, but she also suspected that her brother’s threats were not idle and with Louisa supporting him.

.. well, it was better to remain silent and bide her time.

Surely this newfound willfulness of Charles’ would not last. When he calmed, she would be at his side to take the reins again.

The remainder of the meal was carried on pleasantly enough between Charles and Louisa with occasional contributions from Mr. Hurst. Though they resolutely ignored Caroline’s silence, the company’s mood lightened considerably when she claimed a headache and retired immediately after the meal.

Miss Bingley did not sleep much that night.

Her maid was shaken awake at two in the morning and sent running for fresh pens and ink.

Caroline poured out her anger in her diary, leaving blots and slashes in the paper from her furious detailing of the stupidity of her relations and various acquaintances.

By three, her anger had subsided enough that she began plotting.

If some of those plans were less than practical—having her maid find a way to loosen the stitching on Jane and Eliza’s gowns so that the seams unraveled during their engagement party, for one—imagining them did give her a great deal of solace.

It was near dawn when she concluded that poisoning Mr. Hurst’s port might cause more problems than it was worth and finally succumbed to sleep.

Caroline slept most of the day away but managed to appear, properly (if ostentatiously) attired, in time to accompany her sister and brother-in-law to Gracechurch Street.

If her sour face did not display the usual emotions that might be expected of a loving sister at such an event, at least she remained silent.

When the Hursts and Miss Bingley were welcomed into the Gardiners’ home, three very different women found themselves facing one another in the receiving line.

The events surrounding Miss Bingley’s visit to that same house the previous winter were recalled by Mrs. Gardiner, Miss Bennet, and Miss Bingley, although in strikingly different ways.