Page 16 of The Next Mrs Bennet
D arcy knew he could not renege on his offer to teach Bingley how to manage an estate, but he came close to sending one of his couriers to Hertfordshire to do just that.
The last thing he wanted was to have Miss Caroline Bingley’s cloying attentions directed at him in the close quarters of a house in which they were both residents. As much as he wanted to tell himself otherwise, Darcy was fully cognisant that Bingley would do nothing to check his sister. He was also relatively certain his friend had not told his younger sister there were no circumstances under which Darcy would marry her, not even a compromise.
As much as he enjoyed having Charles Bingley as a friend, Darcy was fully aware of his faults and foibles, the same ones which caused Richard to keep his distance from Bingley.
Thoughts of Richard reminded Darcy why he had come so close to breaking his word to Bingley. As he wrestled with his feelings of shame and guilt at almost having failed his precious sister, he was gutted at the recurring thought that his bruised ego over the conditional guardianship had so severely clouded his judgement. He had failed her; it was all his fault. Only Richard’s clear thinking and actions had saved her.
In recognition of his massive error, Darcy had willingly signed a document that gave his Uncle Reggie the power to remove him as one of Giana’s guardians with immediacy and irrevocably if such an error—or anything close to it—occurred ever again. He had had his solicitor draw up the papers as part of his commitment not to fight if he ever did anything that would necessitate his removal as Giana’s co-guardian.
His dark thoughts were interrupted when the dinner gong sounded. Giana and her new companion, Mrs Annesley, were at Darcy House for another two days until he departed for Hertfordshire; afterwards they would go across the street to Matlock House. Aunt Elaine had recommended Mrs Annesley along with two other possibilities. Both Richard and he had interviewed her and the others; all characters were vigorously verified, and in the end, they had selected Mrs Annesley together. His aunt, uncle, and Richard would arrive back in London on the morrow.
He schooled his features, as the last thing he wanted was for Giana to think his moods were in any way her fault.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Well?” Becca asked when Bennet returned from Netherfield Park.
Beth and the six Bennet siblings looked on expectantly, all just as keen to hear what impression meeting the new tenants of Tommy’s future estate had left on the master of Longbourn.
“If I may sit and drink some restorative tea before I make my report, I would appreciate the forbearance,” Bennet jested.
Becca poured her beloved a cup of tea, just the way he liked it, after he had seated himself on the settee next to her. He was graciously allowed time to drink his tea and enjoy a few of his favourite shortbread biscuits before the eight inquisitive faces looked at him, waiting for an answer. “I was shown into the primary drawing room, and no, Miss Bingley has not tried her hand at redecorating…”
Bennet found all four members of the Netherfield Park party seated in the drawing room. The four stood; the one he assumed was Miss Bingley did so reluctantly. He bowed, the two men returned it in like fashion, while the older sister curtsied correctly while her younger sister inclined her head as if she were a duchess. The investigator’s report had been accurate about her character, or its lack.
“I assume you are Mr Bingley,” Bennet had directed at the man with strawberry-blond hair. He had nodded. “I am Thomas Bennet, the master of Longbourn; will you introduce your party, please?”
“Certainly, I am Charles Bingley of Scarborough, Mr and Mrs Harold Hurst of Winsdale in Surrey, and my younger sister, Miss Caroline Bingley of Scarborough,” Bingley had responded ebulliently.
It was not missed by Bennet that Miss Bingley was about to make a comment about his temerity of requesting an introduction. She had stopped, and Bennet had not missed the calculating look in her countenance. He was sure that, being an inveterate social climber, she read all the society pages and gossip columns. He suspected that she had recognised the name Bennet from the papers. His suspicions were proved correct without delay.
“Do you have two daughters, Mr Bennet?” Miss Bingley had asked.
“In fact, I have four daughters and two sons,” Bennet had replied. He had turned to Bingley before the sister had had a chance to ask a further question. “I assume many men have called on you already, Mr Bingley; is that correct?”
“It is,” Bingley had replied. “First to arrive, yester-afternoon, was Sir William Lucas, who informed us of the Autumn Assembly on Friday. He issued an invitation, which I was happy to accept on behalf of my party, including one who will join us on the morrow. Mr Goulding was next, followed by Mr Long, and several more after them.”
“There are four and twenty landed families in and around Meryton; I am sure most, if not all, of them will have called by the end of calling hours today,” Bennet had opined.
“Will your daughters attend the assembly?” Miss Bingley had interrupted.
Bennet had decided she was like a dog with a bone. She thought she was on the path to finding those to fawn over in order to advance herself in society. Intruding in the middle of a conversation between others would not stop her. “Only my son and daughters who have entered society will attend.” Bennet turned back to Bingley before his sister could interpose again. “My wife and I will accompany our children who will attend; I look forward to seeing you there. It has been fifteen minutes, so I will make way for your next caller.” Bennet had stood, and after a bow, he had exited the drawing room. He approached the butler, who was waiting for the next caller. “Make sure Mr Bingley is aware that on his first call it is he and he alone who makes it.” Nichols had nodded, and Bennet had made his way to the drive where a groom was holding his horse.
“It seems that we forgot to account for the fact that one such as Miss Bingley would know the social gossip and news like most of us know the Bible,” Becca shook her head.
“If she puzzles out who you are, and who our family members are, she will throw herself in your company as much as she is able,” Beth observed.
“Do not concern yourself, Grandmama Beth,” Jane assured her, “we well know how to deal with false friends. I for one will not prejudge her; let us see how she behaves at the assembly.”
“That is sensible, Janey,” Elizabeth agreed. “You, Henry, Mary, and I will form our opinions of her, and the rest in their party based on how they act and not on the investigator’s report. Mayhap Mr Bingley has matured since then, and Miss Bingley will not be quite as bad as we suspect she will be.”
Even though she had not yet been presented and had her ball in London, as Mary was eighteen, she was out locally, so she would be attending her first assembly on Friday. She was pleased to do so, but Mary knew she would have been much happier had Richard been present, like he would be at her coming out.
“As one who has met them, I think the report was accurate, but your mother and I have raised you to think for yourselves, so each of you can decide for herself or himself,” Bennet stated.
“I for one am not sorry I will not be attending the assembly,” Tommy, who was not seventeen yet stated.
“And the same for me,” Ellie insisted. “Tommy and I will play chess.”
All of the Bennet offspring were proficient at the game; however, Ellie was a prodigy. By the age of seven, she was routinely beating everyone in the family, including her papa, Uncle Will, and even Lizzy.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
No sooner had Mr Bennet departed than Caroline Bingley crowed with pleasure. “We need to discover more about these Bennets,” she sang.
“Did you not say none of the bumpkins, as you called them, are worth our time?” Mrs Hurst asked confusedly. “What about Mr Bennet changed that and has ignited your interest? And what were the questions about his daughters?”
“If the two eldest are named Jane and Elizabeth, then the chances are they are the Duke of Devonshire’s granddaughters, and their mother is no less than Lady Rebecca Cavendish, as was,” Miss Bingley enthused. “Do you not remember I told you when I read the announcements of their coming out balls at Devonshire House?”
“I do, but there are more than one family named Bennet in the realm, so these may not be them,” Mrs Hurst warned.
“Do you think me a simpleton? That is why I need to discover more about the family. If it is them and Charles manages to marry a Bennet daughter, do you not see what that will do for my…our social standing? It would be far better than him marrying Georgiana Darcy,” Miss Bingley gushed.
“Then I suppose you will attend the assembly?” Bingley enquired. When Sir William had mentioned it the previous day and he had accepted, Caroline had been none too pleased with him. Now it seemed her opinions had shifted, and his acceptance had become a good thing.
“Of course I will,” Miss Bingley stated assuredly.
Before she could say more, the butler announced the next caller, a Mr Smithington. Miss Bingley lost interest in the caller and went back to speaking to her sister and ignoring the country mushroom.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“What do you mean I may not accompany you to Longbourn to return Mr Bennet’s call?” Miss Bingley screeched when her brother broke the unwelcome news to her.
The butler had mentioned in passing that it was bad form to return the initial call with anyone besides the master of the estate. As sure as he was Caroline would not be happy, Bingley thought she would not want to do anything to cause the Bennets to think badly of her, just in case they were the family she thought they were.
“Caroline, I am told that is the way of the gentry, and Hurst confirmed it. You do not want to alienate the family of a duke before you even meet them, do you?” Bingley queried innocently.
“If that is how it must be, I suppose I will wait for the assembly to meet the Miss Bennets.” Miss Bingley huffed but alighted from the coach without argument.
It did not take Bingley long to discover which was the largest estate in the area. It was Longbourn. It was about a mile from the gateposts through an expansive park, to the house, which, to his untrained eye, looked to be at least two to three times the size of Netherfield Park’s manor house. It seemed the house had been renovated or added onto at some point based on the difference in the growth of ivy that climbed the walls.
A footman had the step ready, and the door opened almost before the carriage came to a complete halt. Bingley alighted and was about to raise the knocker when the door was opened by a man, he assumed was the butler. He handed the retainer his card.
“Please wait here,” Hill indicated the entrance hall. “I will see if the master is accepting callers.” It was a brief time before the butler returned and guided the caller to the study.
Bingley heard voices—which sounded feminine—from a door they passed, but it was closed, so he had no idea who was within. So far, he had not seen any daughters, which was disappointing. He reminded himself that in another day he would meet them at the assembly.
Bennet was standing behind his desk when Hill announced his caller. The two men bowed to one another. Bennet indicated one of the chairs before his desk, and he took his seat behind it.
Looking around, Bingley could see the room was much larger than the study in his leased home. He saw many books on the shelves, which reminded him about how well stocked the library at his estate was. He cared not for books, but he was sure Darcy would be happy to find a decent collection of books to peruse.
There was no missing the younger man’s disappointment that he had met no one else, which was Bennet’s intention. His other family members meeting Mr Bingley at the assembly was soon enough.
The fifteen minutes passed quickly, and thereafter; Bingley was being shown out by the butler. On his way out, he noticed the largest footman he had ever seen—the man made Darcy’s man, Thompson, look small, and he was anything but—stationed in front of the door where he had heard female voices. Even if he had desired to take a wrong turn and enter the room, Bingley was sure the huge man would not allow him to do so.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
So that he would not arrive at Bingley’s leased estate too early, Darcy would depart London a little before midday after delivering Giana and Mrs Annesley to Matlock House, and taking some time to greet his relatives. His aunt and uncle had mentioned they were to see some family members in a sennight or so.
Knowing they would always watch over Giana, Darcy did not question when, who, or where. He had seen a cryptic grin on Richard’s face but thought no more of it as he began his journey.
As had been his wont since the disaster he had almost caused, his thoughts went to dark places again once he was on his way to Hertfordshire. He was not alone because his valet, Carstens, was seated in the corner of the rear-facing bench. As he usually did, his man made it seem as if he was asleep, leaving it up to his master to speak or not.
There was a stop to rest the horses about two hours out of London. Although he did not eat at the inn, Darcy used the privy and checked on Zeus, his stallion, who was tethered to the coach and was led behind as they travelled. At that moment, the Darcy House groom, who had been sitting on the box with the coachman was making certain the horse was well and giving him some water. Darcy was not concerned the stallion was tired as the coachman, was keeping a steady pace of around five miles an hour so there would be no need to change the team. Soon enough, they were on their way for the less than two hours to their destination.
After the inn, Darcy must have dropped off, because the next thing he knew was feeling his coach slow and make a turn. He saw the gateposts with the name of the estate on them, which meant they had turned onto the drive of the estate his friend had leased.
Even though he had expected it would be thus, Darcy had to school his features to hide his anger at seeing the shrew waiting next to her brother to welcome him. She would not be well pleased because one of the many things he decided was that he was doing her no favours by not making his opinions of her clearly known. One could argue that in a manner of speaking he was leading her on.
Instead of his footman, Bingley opened the door once the step was in place. “Welcome to Netherfield Park, Darce,” Bingley stated excitedly.
Before Miss Bingley could say anything or grasp his arm, Darcy addressed Bingley. “May we defer the greetings until I have warmed myself in my chamber? I will wash and change and then join you,” he stated.
As much as Miss Bingley wanted to grasp her Mr Darcy’s arm, she did not want to anger him. She could tell he was not in the best of moods, so she regulated her behaviour. He would see what a good hostess she was. “If you prefer, I will show you to your suite, which is on the family floor,” Miss Bingley cooed.
“That is against protocol, and, as I am not a member of your family, I will not feel easy in a family chamber. If you can instruct the housekeeper to direct me to a guest suite, I would be grateful,” Darcy said evenly.
Not wanting to argue with him, Miss Bingley agreed with Mr Darcy at once. “I told you, Charles,” she prevaricated.
There was no missing the look of surprise on Bingley’s countenance. Darcy was certain the opposite was true. “There are guest suites prepared; Mrs Nichols will show you to one,” Bingley stated.
The housekeeper told the footmen where to bring Mr Darcy’s trunks.
“Bingley, will you come to my suite in about twenty minutes?” Darcy requested.
Bingley nodded. He hoped Darcy was not angry with him because Caroline had tried to place him in family rooms. Once he nodded, the housekeeper led the guest to where he would be residing, on the guest floor.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Darce, you know I did not attempt to have you placed in a family suite, do you not?” Bingley asked nervously.
“I know who orchestrated that. It is not the reason I asked you to join me here, but it is related…” Darcy told Bingley how he would make sure Miss Bingley had no illusions about his lack of interest.
All Bingley could hope was that his sister became distracted with the family of the Duke of Devonshire, if that was who the Bennets were, and would not be too angry about the way Darcy planned to act. “Before I forget, I accepted an invitation to the local assembly on the morrow so we will be able to meet many of my neighbours,” Bingley revealed.
His first instinct was to take Bingley to task for committing him to such a provincial event. However, Darcy stopped himself. If he was to put his lessons in humility into practice, this was the ideal place to do so. He agreed to attend.