Page 58 of Great Uncle Henry (Pride & Prejudice Vagary)

Collins turned purple with anger that a woman would talk to him so.

He was about to issue a setdown when he felt enormous hands clamp onto his shoulders.

He remembered the size and strength of those hands.

As much as he did not want to, he looked to see if it was them.

It was. As soon as he identified them, he lost control of his bladder.

“Biggs and Johns,” Richard spoke. “remove that disgusting, snivelling coward who soils himself from our midst. The gaol will be good until he can stand trial for heresy.”

Hearing those words was the last thing Collins did before he fainted dead away. The two enormous men dragged the insensible dullard from the room.

“How can you…” Bennet began to bluster.

“Now, it is your turn to be quiet and listen,” Henry barked.

“As you can see from the reactions of your former friends and neighbours, everything you attempted to orchestrate in pursuit of your amusement was known to us, from the receipt of the letter from that simpleton to your intention to have him compromise Lizzy. You disgust me! Your parents are, I am sure, rolling over in their graves at what you have become.”

“How could you…?” The words died in his mouth when he saw the Hills standing with his wife and daughters. “How dare you tell what I planned? You are both sacked with no references!” Bennet spat out peevishly.

“As they are employed by me, what you just said is wholly irrelevant,” Henry shot back. “You, who plotted to consign one of your daughters to that imbecile, should be worried about far more than the Hills. You could be arrested and tried for criminal offences.”

At that, Sir William, in his capacity as magistrate, turned around with a look of disgust in his eyes.

“Ha! I did nothing illegal,” Bennet insisted. He did not feel nearly as confident as he sounded.

“You mean aside from attempting to induce me to commit fraud and, in such, trying to defraud the rightful heir presumptive of his future property,” Phillips interjected.

“I did no such thing,” Bennet dissembled.

“You wrote out,” he lifted the page Bennet had scribed above his head, “what you wanted me to write into a contract which would have been fraudulent, and you intended to use it to convince others that the odiferous man who was dragged out of this hall was the rightful heir,” Phillips returned.

He had thought himself so intelligent, and he had walked into a trap without knowing it when Phillips had asked him to write out what he wanted in the document. “I told you that was only a joke.” Bennet was grasping at straws.

“Sir William, as the magistrate, can you see anywhere Mr Bennet wrote in his own hand that this was not a true contract?” Phillips asked as he handed the paper over.

“I see no such thing written here. Mr Bennet will be arrested for the intent to defraud. As it was an estate involved, he may swing for this,” Sir William stated.

“S-surely y-you w-w-would not d-do this t-to a f-f-friend?” Bennet stammered.

“Friend? You, Mr Bennet, are no friend of mine,” Sir William growled.

“No one I esteem would be as cruel as you have been to Mrs Bennet. No one with a conscience would attempt to harm one of their children as you have with Lizzy. No decent human being would not correct his youngest so that she could ruin the family just to entertain himself.” Sir William paused as he stared at his former friend, disdain dripping from every word he spat out at Bennet.

“Me in gaol! Surely not. How will my daughters manage without me?” Bennet was willing to say anything to escape his fate.

“Much better than with you,” Jane stated.

“For trying to interfere with my ability to inherit Longbourn and harm your family and mine for no other reason than your own caprice, you are very lucky that I agreed not to take you out back and give you a good slating,” Taylor growled.

He saw that his cousin did not know what that was.

“That is a word we use where I came from, which means I would have beaten you worse than you can imagine.”

Bennet blanched. What was to become of him? Would he hang?

“The fact remains that even if you were not on your way to prison, you have abrogated every agreement you ever signed with me, so your daughters are no longer your concern. I am their primary guardian, and Gardiner and Phillips are the secondary guardians in case I am no longer able to serve in that role,” Henry stated.

“You have one chance to be spared a trial and possible hanging. Before I go further, this is not open to negotiation.”

“What is it?” A defeated Bennet asked.

“One of my old friends is the Earl of Matlock.” Henry cocked his head to where he knew Matlock stood.

“He will allow you to accept voluntary transportation to New South Wales in New Holland. You will agree to never attempt to return to the United Kingdom, you will sign a document stating your wife is free to live her life without your control, and you will receive five hundred pounds when you arrive. You may choose five books from the study at Longbourn, and none of them to be valuable ones. Under this agreement, you will leave the estate today,” Henry laid out.

“Today? It is night already,” Bennet managed.

“You will spend the night in the town gaol and depart at first light on the morrow. You have a choice; you may choose not to sign, and then you will be tried, in which case, you will more than likely be hanged.” Henry nodded towards where he had heard Phillips’s voice emanate.

Documents were placed on a small table, along with a quill, ink, and blotter.

Without further word, Bennet signed all of the copies.

After signing as witness, Sir William nodded to some men who came to take the disgraced man to the gaol.

He would be taken to the estate before first light to choose his books.

As the men began to lead him away, those who had not already, which included his family, turned their backs on him as well.

As he was led out of the assembly hall, it hit Bennet like a runaway cart that he had vastly overestimated his own intelligence while doing the opposite regarding those who he had intended to harm.

Bennet could no longer tell himself the lie that all he had wanted was fun.

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

At just before eight, Miss Bingley judged herself ready to impress. She intended to accomplish two goals with the new signature burnt-orange outfit she was wearing. This, she was sure, would make Mr de Bourgh take note of her as his future wife and punish Mr Darcy to show him what he was missing.

After gliding down the stairs, she sailed into the drawing room. She stopped dead when she did not see any of the men she was hosting. How could this be? “Where are the men?” Miss Bingley demanded, her voice rising to a high pitch.

“They chose not to wait until you decided you were ready,” Hurst replied when he saw Bingley was not able to give a coherent response.

“ WHAT ?” Miss Bingley screamed. She turned to her cowering brother. “How could you allow them to leave before I was ready? They are my guests. This is not to be borne.”

“That does not mean they are captive here,” Hurst returned. “They are men who value punctuality, and you do not know the meaning of the word.”

“Who asked you? Go back to your bottle. What do you know?” Miss Bingley screeched.

“Actually, Caroline, Harold is right,” Mrs Hurst responded.

“As their hostess, you should have been ready when they wanted to depart. You did not even ask them when they desired to leave the house. You assumed they like being late and making an entrance . How long have you known Mr Darcy? Has he not always decried the practice of being fashionably late?”

“While we are being honest with Caroline, Bingley, tell her what all three of the men said about ever offering for her,” Hurst prodded.

Bingley turned away. How he hated confrontations.

“What did they say?” Miss Bingley demanded. All she could do was hope it was better than what Mr Darcy had previously said. As she listened to what her brother reluctantly told her, Miss Bingley realised it was, in fact, far worse.

As much as he did not want to, Bingley related what all three men had said about an alliance with Caroline, and he told her it had been many times that Darcy and Fitzwilliam had said the same thing. He also told his sister in pointed terms that de Bourgh had no interest in her whatsoever.

Miss Bingley was reeling. Why did none of them want her?

She was a handsome woman, fashionable, educated at the best seminary, and owner of a dowry in the amount of twenty thousand pounds.

Surely, she was the ideal woman for one, any, of the men.

As she sat there in shock, she searched her memories for any encouragement she had received from Mr Darcy over the years.

She could not find one instance. In fact, if she were honest, there had only been discouragement.

As far as Bingley was concerned, this was the calm before the storm. Surely, Caroline would explode with a tantrum for the ages at any second.

“I need to return to London,” Miss Bingley stated.

“My lessons have not begun; I must remain here,” Bingley replied. “The whole point is for me to learn.”

Mrs Hurst looked at her husband, who nodded. “Harold and I will escort Caroline to London. I will be available to act as her chaperone if our sister wants to go into society.”

It was decided; the Hursts and Miss Bingley would depart early on the morrow.