Chapter 11 #2
She put the book aside on the table, snuffed the shortest candle, which had begun to gutter, and stretched comfortably, relaxing against the back of the chair.
Once more she became aware of the ticking of the clock and glanced at it absently.
Her eyebrows twitched upward in surprise; though she had known it was late, she had entirely lost track of the time and now sat awake at nearly half an hour past midnight.
She ought, she supposed, to go to bed and to sleep, but the idea held little appeal.
This couch was well padded, and she was still relishing her thoughts on the ending of her book.
It was nice sitting here in solitary comfort, with no demands being made upon her time and attention.
Louisa’s thoughts drifted to her younger sister.
The two women had been close from the time they were quite young girls, and Louisa had always appreciated their deep connection.
Yet she had to admit to herself that Caroline’s forceful personality could be wearing at times.
Miss Bingley’s drive and ambition were admirable, but she could sometimes be a trifle over-enthusiastic in her pursuit of arranging all of life’s circumstances just to her liking.
Caroline was also perfectly capable of raising a dreadful fuss when she did not get her way.
It was pleasant to sit and relax without the threat of Caroline’s strident voice piercing the air and making demands.
The door opened with a click, and Mrs. Hurst turned.
“Caroline,” she said in surprise at her sister, who was dressed warmly in her own nightgown, robe, and cap, “whatever are you doing up at this hour? It is very late!”
“You are up as well,” Caroline pointed out, hurrying into the room and taking a seat across from her sister on a comfortable chair.
“I am, true. I was finishing this book, Robinson Crusoe. It is wonderful, and you would probably enjoy it.”
Caroline cast the book a cursory look and said, “Perhaps. But Louisa, I have been thinking a great deal about what Mr. Darcy told us tonight at dinner concerning the Bennets.”
Louisa blinked, frowned, and said, “The Bennets? Oh yes, that was quite interesting, was it not? I confess that I truly did not believe that they are closely related to the nobility, but if the Countess of Matlock says they are, it must be true!”
“Indeed,” Caroline said with a sharp nod. “The Bennets are far more desirable acquaintances that we could ever imagine. But there is a problem.”
“A problem?”
“Yes. Charles is pursuing Miss Bennet, but unlike the other ladies, she is not the granddaughter of a viscount, but of a solicitor! She is not nearly as eligible as her stepsister and half-sisters!”
Louisa blinked again and said, “I thought that you were determined that Charles marry Miss Georgiana!”
Caroline shrugged and said, “Yes, I was thinking that, but I have been contemplating the situation, and I am inclined to think it will not work out.”
“Why ever not?”
Caroline frowned. “Have you not been paying attention? Charles and Miss Georgiana speak very rarely to one another, and when they do, there is no hint of affection between them.”
Louisa closed her eyes and wished, profoundly, that she had gone to bed an hour earlier.
She opened them again and said, “That may be true, but when has affection mattered? I married Mr. Hurst because he is a gentleman with a fine estate. You wish to marry Darcy not because you love him, but because he is wealthy and very well connected. Have we not always assumed that Charles would marry for position, not love?”
Caroline shrugged and said, “Gentlemen are genuinely not as sensible as ladies. I am merely saying that it seems regrettably likely to me that Charles will not marry Miss Georgiana, and while the Bennets are far more eligible than we imagined, Miss Bennet is the least eligible of them all, so that relationship ought to be discouraged. If he must fall in love with a Bennet, it had better be any one of them but Jane.”
Louisa felt her jaw drop, and she closed it with a click and said, “Surely you do not imagine that Charles will just transfer his attention to one of the other girls.”
“Why not?”
Louisa shook her head in disbelief. “Why not? Because Charles is a man who loves blonde ladies, Caroline! Do you truly believe he will abandon Miss Bennet in favor of one of her far less handsome sisters?”
“The younger women are all very pretty,” Caroline argued. “Indeed, some gentlemen might consider Miss Mary the most beautiful of them all. She has such fine dark eyes, and her hair is such a lovely golden red!”
Louisa suppressed a moan. This was exactly the sort of thing that was tiresome about Caroline. She assumed that the people in her sphere would move like pawns on a chessboard.
“But Charles likes blonde ladies,” she said aloud, “and in addition, while the younger ladies are very good-looking, they do not have the classical beauty of the eldest.”
Caroline’s lower lip thrust forward in a little pout.
“Charles needs to think about the family name, Louisa. To marry the granddaughter of a viscount would be quite a feather in his cap. Wedding the stepdaughter of a viscount’s daughter is so far less impressive that it barely deserves mention at all. ”
Louisa considered arguing, but she was tired, and it was not as if an argument would do anything useful, anyway.
“I wish to sleep, Caroline,” she said, rising to her feet.
“I do see your point to some degree, but I think it unlikely that Charles will find the other Bennet girls of interest. Moreover, given that they are nearly related to the nobility, it may be that they will not care for a husband, no matter how wealthy, whose fortune was derived from trade.”
Caroline had also risen, and to Louisa’s relief, her expression seemed genuinely thoughtful.
“That is true enough,” she mused, “especially the younger three, who do not have a parent who is of the lower classes … I must think on this more. We can talk more tomorrow. Now, I really must go to bed now.”
She passed swiftly out of the room, and Louisa stared after her in exasperation. Why must Caroline be so tiresomely stubborn?