Page 28 of The Marriage Game
Elizabeth thought the timing for a family dinner could not have been worse, but it could not be cancelled. She put on a bright dress and a bright smile to welcome her guests. The Gardiners arrived first, and were soon seated near the fire in the drawing room. They wanted to hear all about the Royal Tea, and Elizabeth suggested that they wait until all the guests arrived, as the story would just have to be told again.
The Bingleys and the Matlocks arrived not ten minutes later, and Elizabeth did her best to tell the story of the event, giving as much detail as anyone might wish.
“But where is the fair pianist?” Caroline enquired.
“She will be down shortly,” Mr. Darcy said, quickly. “She had a bit of a headache earlier today.”
“No doubt from nerves, poor creature!” Jane exclaimed.
“She was nervous, of course, but the moment she sat down at the instrument, her nerves vanished. And oh, you should have seen Her Majesty’s pianoforte; I have never seen the like!”
As Elizabeth spoke, Colonel Fitzwilliam glanced around the room and his gaze fastened on Caroline Bingley. She looked up at him and then quickly looked away. She wished he would not look at her; she would never dance with him again, and certainly she would not be required to make polite conversation with him!
But in that, she was quite wrong, for soon after Georgiana joined the company, dinner was announced and Caroline discovered that she had the Colonel on one side and Mr. Gardiner on the other. She glared at Elizabeth, but her hostess was too occupied to notice.
“An unexpected seating arrangement,” the Colonel observed softly, once he had politely helped Caroline into her chair.
“My thoughts exactly,” Caroline murmured in return. “I have no idea what Elizabeth was thinking.”
“I suspect this to be a plot on my mother’s part.”
“The Countess? But why?”
“She wishes to punish me further for my dreadful behaviour at the ball.”
Impossible, Caroline thought. Sitting next to her could never be construed as a punishment. So she immediately fastened on the second half of his statement. “So you admit your behaviour was dreadful?”
“I admitted it at the time; what more could you possibly want?”
Caroline thought about it. “Hmmm. Flowers every day for a week.”
“And that will absolve me of my crime?”
“Yes, but you will have to be very careful not to commit further crimes. You have an entire dinner to get through, so you must be very cautious.”
The Colonel laughed before catching himself. He did not want to find Miss Bingley at all amusing. He did have to admit that she was properly dressed tonight and was comporting herself well. This was certainly not the determined flirt that he had met in the past. What, he wondered, had happened to change her?
Georgiana received a good many compliments as the dinner progressed, and she accepted them graciously. If she was rather quiet, it was attributed to the headache she had apparently experienced that day.
The Countess said, “You have done extremely well, Georgiana. Truly, you have exceeded all of my expectations!”
Georgiana looked at her great-aunt levelly. “Did you think I would faint dead away, Aunt?”
“I thought you would at the presentation, let alone taking tea with Her Majesty and entertaining her!”
“I am not quite as weak as everyone seems to believe,” Georgiana replied.
The Countess felt as if she had somehow put a foot wrong, but she recovered herself quickly. “That has been made abundantly clear, Georgiana.”
Caroline was seated across from Georgiana, and she added her congratulations. “You are so very gifted, Miss Darcy, that I am certain Her Majesty could not help but be delighted.” She had devoutly hoped that she might be invited along to play a duet for the Queen, but she knew this to be pure fantasy on her part.
“Thank you, Miss Bingley. I believe you to be very gifted as well; it is a shame Her Majesty is unlikely to hear you.” Georgiana’s response was kind, but cool.
“You are, you know.” Caroline turned in astonishment at Colonel Fitzwilliam’s quiet statement.
“I do not believe you have heard me play, Colonel.”
“Quite wrong; you entertained the company briefly at the double wedding of your brother to Mrs. Bingley and Darcy to Elizabeth.”
Caroline thought back; she had been extremely unhappy at that particular event, and she might very well have taken her feelings to the instrument. “I cannot imagine that it was a happy tune,” she confessed.
The Colonel chuckled. “No, it was some sort of dirge.”
Caroline blushed painfully. Had she really played a dirge at her brother’s wedding? For shame, Caroline!
“I see that you regret it now,” the Colonel said, softly.
“I do; I am rather ashamed of it.”
“I am surprised to hear you say so.”
“I am surprised as well.”
“Have you reconciled yourself to these two marriages?”
She was silent.
The Colonel went on. “It was no secret that you thought your brother erred in marrying Jane Bennet; you thought her family beneath your own, though she comes from two hundred years of estate ownership and you come from trade. It was also no secret that you hoped to have my cousin for yourself.” He spoke very quietly; no one else could hear his words.
Caroline took a deep breath. “I was wrong about Jane Bennet. You are right; her social status was and is higher than my own. She is my brother’s perfect match in every way, and she is kinder to me than I deserve. As for your cousin and Elizabeth, I cannot be blamed for having hoped to become the mistress of Pemberley.”
“But that was the problem; do you not see it?”
Caroline shook her head in confusion.
“You wished to be the mistress of Pemberley; you did not wish to be Mrs. Darcy.”
Caroline bowed her head. This was an irrefutable fact.
The Colonel was not done. “You do not read books, you do not like the outdoors, you hate country life, you do not – well, you do not match his preferences in any way. How could you have imagined spending hours and hours with a man that you did not understand and did not really even like?”
Caroline did not raise her head. It was true, it was all true. She thought reading a book a great waste of time; being out of doors would ruin her very delicate white skin; and living out in Derbyshire – heavens, she would have run mad in a month!
“Am I wrong?” he asked.
She looked at him now. “No, you are right in every particular. Is that why you do not like me? Because I disapproved of Jane Bennet and because I wished to be the mistress of Pemberley?”
Now it was Richard’s turn to be silent. Finally, he said, “I suppose so. You seemed to be lacking in any true understanding of the people around you, and you always seemed desperate in some way. Yes, there was this aura of desperation coupled with an aggravated sense of self-worth…but I begin to understand that your sense of self-worth is actually quite low, and that is what caused you to project your illusion of high status, as well as that feeling of desperation.”
Caroline could bear no more. She could not leave the dinner table without causing a scene, so she turned from the Colonel without another word and spoke to Mr. Gardiner. “Mr. Gardiner, I believe you are the owner of the Gardiner Emporium; is that not right?”
Mr. Gardiner, surprised at being addressed by the oh-so-superior Miss Bingley, quickly swallowed his mouthful of wine and replied, “I am, yes.”
“My dressmaker buys her fabrics from you.” Miss Bingley actually beamed at him.
“I am delighted to hear it,” he replied. “If you come to me directly for your fabric, you will save a good deal of money on your clothing.”
“Truly?”
“Yes, of course; the dressmakers buy the fabric from me and then double the price for customers. That is one way that modistes make their money.”
“But that is – that is –“ Caroline was shocked.
Mr. Gardiner shrugged. “It is the way business is done.” He poured some wine into her goblet and then into his own. “One of my ships just docked last night; it will take us a few days to unpack her hold, but I expect there will be a great number of new fabrics to tempt you, Miss Bingley. If you will send me a note telling me when you are coming, I will make certain that you receive the family discount that I give to Jane and Lizzy.”
“That is very kind of you!”
He smiled at her, and then changed the subject. “I was fortunate enough to see MacBeth at Covent Garden last week; have you been to the theater of late?”
“Not yet; did you enjoy the play?”
“I generally prefer comedies, but I admit that it was very well done. The witches were quite terrifying!”
Caroline nodded. “I prefer comedies as well.”
They spoke about the theater, the opera, and the latest exhibition at the British Museum. Caroline was baffled. How had she ever thought this gentleman unworthy of her time? He was kind, well-spoken and very – well, very gentlemanly! Unlike certain other men at this table, who would not be mentioned.
Dinner was finally over; Caroline rose when Elizabeth did, and followed her hostess into the drawing room, nodding to Mr. Gardiner with a warm smile, but not bothering to give Colonel Fitzwilliam so much as a glance.
The Colonel had spent the past several minutes speaking to Mrs. Annesley, who was on his other side, but his mind was not on the conversation. Instead, he was wondering what it was about Miss Bingley that led him to behave so very, very badly. Had he actually said that her self-worth was low, and she used arrogance to compensate for it? He suspected that this was true, but to say such a thing to a lady at a dinner? What was the matter with him?
As Elizabeth led the ladies into the drawing room, she wondered what on earth was happening between Caroline and Richard? They seemed to be having a conversation that could only be described as intense, and then she had suddenly turned away from him and began to speak in a very friendly manner with Uncle Gardiner, of all people! To the best of Elizabeth’s knowledge, Caroline had never before bothered with so much as a good morning to either of the Gardiners, let alone a twenty minute conversation.
She sent an enquiring glance to Jane, who was walking beside her, and Jane replied with an almost invisible shrug. Evidently Jane was equally baffled.
The ladies arranged themselves on the various chairs and sofas in the drawing room, and then waited politely for the highest ranked lady – the Countess – to speak first.
“Dinner was delicious, Elizabeth,” she said. “And I thank you for complying with my seating arrangement request.”
Aha, Caroline thought, so the Colonel had been right; it was his mother’s doing. But this meant that the Countess thought that sitting beside Caroline was a punishment! Caroline felt like weeping, but of course controlled herself.
“Georgiana, would you entertain us?” Elizabeth asked.
“Of course,” Georgiana replied, and then looked at Caroline. “Would you care to play a duet with me, Miss Bingley?”
Caroline rose. She and Georgiana had indeed practiced some duets together, and they had a respectable repertoire. And anything would be better than sitting here, wondering what she had done that was so very, very wrong!
The Countess watched Georgiana and Miss Bingley sit down together, and play. Why, the music was delightful! No one had told her that Miss Bingley was so accomplished at the instrument. And now that the Countess looked, she could see that Miss Bingley was – for once! – properly dressed for the occasion. Was it possible that the girl had truly changed? When the piece was finished, the Countess rose and complimented both young ladies on the performance.
***
Taggart arrived with a fine bottle of brandy, and the gentlemen were soon enveloped in a pleasant alcoholic haze, complementing the haze of smoke from their cigars.
“I say, Bingley,” Mr. Darcy began.
“Yes, Darcy?”
“Is your sister seeing that Lord Russell?”
Lord Russell? Mr. Bingley was momentarily blank before recollecting what Jane had told him. “Oh, yes, I believe he visited Caroline and they went for a drive. Yes, that is right, a drive. Caroline said something about matched horses.” He shrugged.
“He is known to be a gambler,” Mr. Darcy observed.
The Earl, who had been staring into his empty brandy glass, wondering if he should ask for more, looked up. “The man is deep in debt; it is no secret that he looks to marry a young lady with a dowry.”
Mr. Bingley considered that. “Would Caroline’s twenty thousand pounds not set him right? She is itching to be a Baroness, you know.”
“Are you listening, Bingley?” Mr. Darcy asked, in some exasperation. “He is a gambler; he will run through her money, and then what?”
“Might be worth it, you know,” Mr. Bingley said. “Caroline would be a Baroness and out of the house. She would be happy, Jane would be happy, and thus I would be happy.”
“I would not allow Georgiana to marry a gambler,” Mr. Darcy said, irritated at his friend’s response.
The Colonel spoke for the first time. “You are comparing Georgiana and Miss Bingley? I intend no offense, of course, Mr. Bingley.”
“No, you are quite right, Colonel! Impossible to compare Miss Darcy and Caroline!” Mr. Bingley replied with heat, at least some of which was fueled by his drink. “You have no idea what Jane has been through these past few years. I am not going to be fussy about any man who wishes to take her off my hands.”
Mr. Darcy knew that Netherfield could not be a calm refuge, not with Caroline in residence and – Lord! – with Mrs. Bennet a mere three miles away. “You are right, Bingley. I know you will do what is right for you and your wife.”
Mr. Bingley nodded his thanks, and added, “There was a Mr. Lindsay visiting as well, but he is merely the second son of an Earl, and could not give Caroline a title. I liked the chap, though.”
The Colonel, also the second son of an Earl, asked, “Is the title the only thing she is interested in?” For some reason, this thought disturbed him.
Mr. Bingley shrugged. “I no longer know, Colonel. She used to talk a good deal about showing up her classmates, but a good many of those classmates now appear to be good friends. I do not pretend to understand what goes on in her mind.”
Mr. Gardiner listened to the conversation in silence, thinking that Miss Bingley deserved better than a gambler, no matter what title he possessed.
Soon after, the gentlemen joined the ladies in the drawing room. Caroline, seeing the Colonel enter the room, whispered to Georgiana, and the two of them launched into the happiest, most joyful piece in their repertoire.
The Colonel understood immediately that this was to show him that she could play something other than a dirge! He chuckled to himself but then stopped, recalling how very badly he had insulted her. She had demanded flowers for a week for insulting her at the ball; what would it take to gain her forgiveness for his latest crime?