Chapter 12
Longbourn
One Hour Later
The Christmas season was a joyous but undeniably busy time.
It started on Christmas Eve, with the decoration of the house with greenery, and then had come Christmas Day, with church and dinner and gifts, followed by Boxing Day, when the Bennets had delivered presents to servants and tenant families.
The addition to the household of the Gardiners had meant more willing hands to put up evergreen boughs and to carry boxes to tenants and servants, but it had also meant more noise, more places at dinner, and every moment spent in company with dearly beloved relatives who would soon be departing for their own home in Cheapside.
Elizabeth had cherished her time with her relatives, but she had also taken time that morning to go on a long, brisk ramble across the old familiar paths, taking deep breaths of cold air and enjoying the silence and peace.
She had returned to the house rejuvenated to find her mother, uncle and aunt comfortably ensconced in the drawing room, with Jane and Mary quietly working on their sewing as they listened.
Elizabeth had claimed her own workbasket and joined her sisters, asking softly after Kitty and Lydia.
Jane had responded that they were upstairs in the old nursery, which had been reopened and dusted and prepared for the habitation of the four Gardiner children.
Elizabeth smiled fondly as she threaded a needle. The last days with the Gardiners had been as pleasurable as anticipated, for both of the parents were sensible and kind and wise, and their children were full of energy and affection.
The door of the drawing room opened abruptly, and Elizabeth looked up as their butler stepped through, followed by a veritable crowd of guests.
“Mrs. Bingley, Miss Bingley, Mr. Darcy, and Colonel Fitzwilliam,” the butler announced, and everyone in the room rose at the sight of the visitors.
“Good morning, good morning!” Mrs. Bennet cried out eagerly.
“Please do sit down by the fire, and I will order tea. Such a chilly day, is it not? Though at least there has not been too much snow of yet. Not that I mind a little snow, of course, but when it comes down in great heaps, it is so inconvenient! Elizabeth, stir up the fire, will you not, and I will speak with Hill about tea. Hill! Hill!”
The lady of the house bustled off energetically, and Elizabeth, while slightly embarrassed at such garrulousness, was pleased to observe that none of her visitors looked disdainful.
She waited until the visitors had distributed themselves in chairs around the room and then took her own seat across from the couch where Mr. Darcy and Caroline had arranged themselves, while Georgiana was seated next to Mary and opposite the Gardiners, and Colonel Fitzwilliam, as expected, sat near Jane.
“I hope you are both well today,” Elizabeth said with a smile at the betrothed couple.
Caroline Bingley smiled back at her and said, “We are well, but we have news which, I suspect, will spread rapidly throughout the area, and we wished for your family to hear it first.”
Elizabeth tilted her head curiously. “News?”
“Yes,” she responded and heaved out a big breath before she continued, “I turned one and twenty yesterday, which means that I am now in control of my fortune.”
“Oh!” Elizabeth said. “A very happy birthday to you, Caroline.”
“Thank you. Because I have gained control over my own fortune, I am free from … well, let me speak directly. Mr. Darcy and I are no longer engaged to be married.”
Elizabeth felt her teeth part in her shock, and she could not help but turn to look at Mr. Darcy, who was, as was common when they were in company, staring at her gravely.
“Oh, erm, that is,” she stammered. “I am … sorry?”
Caroline laughed and shook her head. “Do not be sorry, please. Our betrothal was a family arrangement, and while Fitzwilliam felt obliged by honor to offer for me and I was obliged to accept, it was entirely a matter of duty on both our parts. Lady Bingley is not pleased about the breaking of the engagement, but I care for Fitzwilliam as a brother, not a husband, and I assure you I am very relieved.”
Elizabeth glanced at Darcy again and was comforted to observe no distress on that handsome face.
“Well, in that case, I congratulate you both on the end of your engagement,” she said gaily, and with sufficient volume that Mrs. Bennet, who had approached after calling for tea, overheard her.
“What is this?” she demanded, looking in amazement at the pair on the couch. “Your engagement is at an end?”
“Yes, Mamma,” Elizabeth said in a careful tone. “Mr. Darcy and Caroline have decided that they did not suit and have ended their engagement.”
“Oh, what a pity,” Mrs. Bennet returned, “though truly, it is wise of you to break it off if you are not happy, although I confess to being surprised, Miss Bingley. Ten thousand pounds a year and a large estate in Derbyshire is a strong draw to many a lady…”
Elizabeth winced at these words, but Caroline merely smiled at her reassuringly, just as the maids entered with tea and marzipan cookies.
Once food and drink had been distributed, Mrs. Gardiner managed to direct the discussion to plays and music, and the rest of the visit, which lasted longer than usual, was entirely congenial.
Elizabeth did her part to keep the conversation light and pleasing, but inwardly, she was aware of a strange thrill in her heart.
Mr. Darcy was no longer engaged, and while it seemed most unlikely that he, with his money and connections, would be interested in the impecunious daughter of a country squire, well, she could not help but be at least a little hopeful.
***
Lady Bingley’s Bedchamber
Netherfield Hall
Noon
Lady Aurelia Bingley was in a foul mood.
She had decided that she needed to think before confronting her younger daughter and thus had ordered breakfast to her room.
The dishes were spread across the tray set on a small table beside the fire, and Lady Bingley was comfortably seated in the velvet upholstered wingback before it.
She had finished her repast and now sat scowling into the fire, slowly tilting back and forth the cup in her hand.
The dregs of her hot chocolate sloshed, which only added to her bad temper.
She had scarcely even noticed drinking it, and she adored hot chocolate!
She was almost never so absentminded, but disbelief and fury were driving her to distraction.
An indifferent night had led to a late awakening, heightening her indignation and awareness of ill-usage.
How dare Caroline be so selfish and ungrateful!
Any woman would be thrilled to be engaged to Mr. Darcy!
Any woman with any sense, anyway; Caroline had displayed a deplorable lack of that very attribute in spurning her betrothal.
It was preposterous! As though Lady Bingley would ever permit the refusal of such an alliance. No, Caroline was young, and selfish, and stupid, but her misguided romanticism would not be allowed to ruin the family’s fortunes. She would be marrying Mr. Darcy whether she liked it or not.
Lady Bingley ground her teeth at the memory of the argument the previous evening.
It was baffling how Caroline had remained obstinate even after her mother had pointed out all that Sir John had done to bring about the union.
He had been such a brave and honorable man, who had wanted nothing more than to see his family well established in the world.
Yet when he had seen others, mere strangers, in danger, he had not hesitated to risk life and limb riding to their rescue.
It was only right that Mr. Darcy should marry Sir John’s daughter, for without Sir John, Mr. Darcy might not even be alive!
It was an essential marriage for the Bingleys, absolutely essential!
It was well and good that Charles had performed his duty and wed dear Georgiana, but that union was not as important as the one between Caroline and Fitzwilliam.
It was, after all, their eldest son who would inherit Pemberley and the Darcy fortune.
Ten thousand pounds a year! It quite cast the Bingley fortune in the shade.
Caroline was a fool to try to throw away such wealth and status!
She would be brought to the realization of her own folly before much longer.
Lady Bingley had been so incredulous the previous evening that she had not been able to marshal her best arguments, but now that she had had time to sleep and think and break her fast, she was ready to sit down with her undutiful daughter and set the ridiculous girl straight.
It would not take Caroline long after the wedding to recognize her own foolishness and be appropriately grateful to her mother for insisting she go through with the marriage.
Darcy’s own protests were easily dismissed.
The man prized his honor more than anything else and was well aware that he owed his very life to Caroline’s dear departed father.
He would raise no objections to taking Caroline back as soon as she stopped her obstreperous insistence on trying to end the engagement.
Lady Bingley drained the dregs of her cup, set it aside on the small table, and resolutely stood up. It was time for Caroline to learn that she would not be permitted to set aside an incredibly eligible match in favor of her own immature desires!