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She found a target for her irritation in the hall when the housekeeper caught her eye. “Barton! It’s about time someone attended to me! Why, I had begun to think that there were no servants left in the house!”

“Miss Caroline,” replied the grey-haired woman.

“I was just helping the new mistress settle in. Now, will you be staying the night, or returning to your sister’s?

” Mrs. Barton might be elderly, but she had spent the last week attempting to balance Miss Bingley’s inconsistent demands with the instructions left to her by young Master Charles’ lovely new wife.

Now that the new Mr. and Mrs. Bingley had returned and her master had taken her aside to reassure her with regards to his sister, Mrs. Burton had little patience left for the lady’s antics.

Thus, when Miss Bingley began to direct her with regards to dinner, the housekeeper merely waited for a pause and informed her, “Mrs. Bingley has already arranged trays for herself and the master in their suite. Shall you do the same, Miss Bingley, or do you wish to eat in the dining room again?” She did not actually say “alone,” but it was implied.

Furious, Caroline eventually snapped, “Oh, send it to my rooms,” before flouncing off to her apartment.

The next day, Mr. and Mrs. Bingley were up relatively early, eager to begin settling into the house that was to be their London home.

After going over the accumulated mail together and sending off notes where an immediate response was required, they parted ways for several hours.

Charles took himself off to his study to review his business correspondence while Jane worked with Mrs. Burton on the housekeeping.

Neither was the least perturbed that Miss Bingley did not deign to leave her rooms until after luncheon.

That lady had decided that her brother and his new wife would appreciate her more if she was unavailable for part of the day. Unfortunately, this gambit only allowed her relations to happily forget her existence until she forcibly reminded them late in the afternoon.

Miss Bingley had positioned herself in the front drawing room, studying the most recent issue of La Belle Assemblée , when she overheard her brother’s cheerful voice in the hall followed by Jane’s softer murmur.

To be honest, Caroline was lying in wait, having decided that before anything else, she must convince her brother to advance her allowance.

She was just running through her arguments in her head when she caught sight of the Bingley carriage pulling around to the front of the house. Which could only mean…

“Charles! Whatever are you doing?!? I was not informed that we had plans for tonight!” She shot a suspicious look at the former Miss Bennet but that lady only smiled serenely and turned to accept her pelisse from a maid.

As a result, Miss Bingley did not see her brother’s pained expression before he replaced it with a more neutral mien. “Ah Caroline… Jane and I will be dining out, so I fear that you are on your own tonight.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Charles! You shall have to wait while I change—I can’t possibly go anywhere in this dress! But where are we going?”

As Charles had turned away to retrieve a parcel from the maid, his sister did not see him roll his eyes. After receiving an encouraging smile from Jane to strengthen his resolve, however, he looked Caroline in the eye. “ We are going to dine with the Darcys. You were not invited.”

Miss Bingley’s face turned a rather unattractive shade of red as she began to sputter incoherently. Rather than wait for her to recover the power of speech, however, Charles guided Jane out the door and into the carriage, seeing the door close with not a little relief.

“I’m beginning to miss France already,” he commented dryly.

Jane laughed lightly and touched his arm. “Yes, but I don’t think either of us is ready to face another channel crossing. ”

Charles’ face turned slightly green at the mere thought. “Or ever!” He considered the situation for a moment longer. “Well, just a few weeks in London and then we will remove to Hertfordshire.”

Even as her husband began to look more optimistic, Jane stiffened. “And my mother.”

Young Mr. and Mrs. Bingley had come to know each other much better during their wedding trip, the conditions and privacy of which had been far more conducive to the free trade of confidences than their very public courtship.

Jane comprehended his aversion to conflict much better, and Charles had a clearer understanding of her life-long attempt to appease her nervous mother and capricious father.

Charles squeezed his wife’s hand and reminded her, “Only for a month. Then we go to Pemberley for Christmas.”

“With my mother,” rejoined Jane in an even more dejected tone.

Forced to admit that this was correct, Bingley was quiet for a few minutes before taking both of Jane’s hands in his own. He waited until she looked up at him. “Janie, angel, remember… Netherfield is only leased. We are in no way required to stay there forever.”

Jane considered this carefully. “But Mama would be so hurt if we moved away…”

Charles grinned mischievously. “Blame it on me! If we were to find an estate that we liked in the north, say, in Derbyshire or the next county, we could tell her that I wished to settle closer to my family in Yorkshire. And we would still have the house in London, which is barely a half day’s drive from Longbourn. ”

By the time the carriage came to a halt in front of Derwent House, Mr. and Mrs. Bingley looked quite as cheerful as newlyweds were expected to be.

“Jane!”

The greetings between the Darcys and Bingleys were just as warm as one might hope for between couples made up of close sisters and the best of friends.

While the former Miss Bennets embraced and even shed a few tears, their husbands shook hands and slapped each other’s shoulders with a level of sincere heartiness not often demonstrated among in-laws.

After the Bingleys were assured that the other dinner guests were not expected to arrive for some hours, the foursome retreated to the library to share stories of their recent travels over tea and biscuits.

It was not long, however, before Lizzy laughingly drew her sister away.

“Come Jane, you must see the ball gowns that Madame Lavoisier has created for us… I have kept yours with my own until you arrived to claim it. You gentlemen won’t mind, will you?

After all, I am sure that you will wish to have a bit of masculine conversation before dinner! ”

Darcy met her teasing look with a fond one. “I beg you, madam, please spare us from your tedious discussion of lace and frills.”

Thus, the ladies bid a temporary adieu to their spouses in the midst of much laughter. Moving toward the door, Elizabeth overheard her husband ask Bingley, “So, how have you been?”

That gentleman’s reply, “Very well, until we returned home to find Caroline settled in at Waverley Street, that is,” left Lizzy wide-eyed.

As they moved toward the stairs, she turned to Jane; “Is he serious? Miss Bingley moved into your house without permission while you were in France? With no relatives or even a companion present?”

Mrs. Bingley’s increased confidence showed when she merely shook her head.

“I believe that she still considers it to be her home, so the question of propriety never occurred to her. She did bring her lady’s maid with her, at least, thank heavens.

” Jane paused before adding softly, “Losing control of Charles’ household is not going to be easy for her, I fear. ”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, causing her sister to laugh aloud. “Oh Lizzy, I love Charles dearly, but it is very good to see you again.”

Mrs. Darcy gave her elder sister a quick hug before opening the door to her dressing room. “And I return those sentiments most ardently, dearest! Now, come see your gown!”

The ladies cooed over their new finery for some time before settling on a comfortable divan to chat. Elizabeth had just finished describing the Gardiners’ new baby when her sister’s happy expression transformed to one of self-reproach.

“Oh Lizzy, I fear that hosting our family shall be an imposition on our aunt at such a time. I feel terribly guilty that I did not invite our parents and sisters to stay with us during their visit to town for the ball.”

Although Elizabeth had been expecting something of the sort from her kind-hearted sibling, she could not resist teasing, “Oh, and I am certain that your new sister would love that! I can just hear her now; ‘What—are we to be invaded by every Bennet in the country?!?’”

The twinkle in Mrs. Bingley’s eye assured her sister that she appreciated the humor of the situation. However, her tone was still concerned. “But really, Lizzy…”

Elizabeth cut her off. “Jane, I felt much as you did.

So, last week, despite our mutual reservations, Fitzwilliam and I decided that good manners required us to make the offer.

We spoke with Aunt and Uncle Gardiner and their response was sensible enough to convince me that they were not merely being polite.

“They have rooms enough, as long as Mary and Kitty do not mind sharing, just as you and I always did. Mr. Darcy and I will be hosting the entire clan at Pemberley over Christmas, and you and Charles cannot possibly take in the family when you only arrived home yesterday and have not yet hired a full complement of servants.”

Jane was only partially convinced. “But still…”

Elizabeth sighed. “Jane, Papa still refuses to spend more than three days in London. The Gardiners believe (and I agree) that Mama’s nerves will be best… managed in a familiar setting.