Chapter 22 #2
“No, she would not,” he sneered, “not that you deserve the loyalty. You are a sorry excuse for manhood. You may be ruled by your unbridled lusts and desires, to the exclusion of all else, but it does not follow that the rest of us behave thusly! I am made of sterner stuff, and Mrs. Bingley is a bulwark of constancy.”
“If you do not leave, I shall have you arrested for alienation of affection and interference of progeny!” he blustered.
“You? You will have the son of an earl arrested for following the direct orders of his employer?”
The door creaked open and a disheveled Jane appeared, pulling a wrap about the shoulders of her wrinkled gown in an attempt at modesty.
“What are you doing here, Mr. Bingley,” she demanded. “Attempting to interfere with my staff?”
Bingley winced at her frigid tone.
“Have you not done enough? You wish to see if you might finally break me completely by sending off my allies?” She stepped forward to face him more fully.
“You, sir, are no gentleman and I rue the day I ever laid eyes on you. If not for my Ellie, I should have not a single regret should it have never taken place.”
“Jane!” he gasped. “How can you say such a thing? You claimed to love me! Was my sister correct all along and you only accepted me for my fortune? You must be pleased now, as you have stolen it all and hidden it away with your uncles!”
Jane laughed bitterly, “You are sadly mistaken. I have stolen nothing. Through your own actions you have reimbursed me for your lack of discretion and respect. It is you, who obviously never truly loved me.”
Bingley was back-footed and scrambled for purchase by falling back to his usual ways and began wheedling. “I am sure you must think that I have behaved beastly,” he pouted, hoping that she would comfort him as she used to, but he was to be disappointed.
“Beastly? That is one word for it. Cowardly, spineless, ungentlemanly, weak? I am sure there are several more words to describe your lack of any honor, but I have only had a few hours sleep and my command of the English language is not at its best.”
Bingley nearly choked as each word she spoke filleted him further.
“I may someday forgive you your treatment of me. I may even find some last flicker of affection in the farthest, darkest reaches of my tattered heart, but I do not know if I shall ever be able to trust you again and I certainly will not be stupid enough to allow you to ever again neglect our welfare. If you are here hoping to have me sign away the security of myself, my daughter, our servants, and our tenants, you are going to be sadly disappointed. You have proven that you cannot be trusted with such precious burdens.”
“But it is embarrassing!” Bingley cried. “It is all over town that you have taken me for everything!”
“Neither I nor the Darcys has said a thing, and my uncle is bound by his client responsibilities, so how exactly was it discovered in town?” Jane asked, her raised brow uncomfortably reminiscent of her sister Elizabeth.
“Well, I was shocked and Caroline might have overheard my exclamation and of course we were forced to cut back on her— er, our spending. Do you realize how mortifying it was to be accosted by the tradesmen when their drafts were refused by the bank?”
Mr. Yates burned to point out his stupidity in not knowing his own financial situation, but he did not wish to take away the pleasure from Jane.
“Did you, or did you not, sign the marriage settlements listing the consequences for embarrassing me by taking up with someone else in an obvious manner?”
“er…”
“And did you, or did you not see the gossip published in multiple papers that you had abandoned me in the country in order to take up with a paramour who you were living with, squiring about town every night, and were caught in several scandalous positions at various functions?”
“It was just bad luck, honestly,” Bingley hastened to assure her. “I did not imagine that my doings would be of any interest to the Ton…”
Jane had no response to that inanity. “And what did you imagine my uncle would do when our family name was being drug through the mud?”
“Well, I did not mean to do that,” he whined, “I had no intention of flouting the usual expectations, but I suppose since you already were aware of the situation, it was somewhat exciting to think of other’s knowing how desirable Arabella was and that she was interested in me and you have no idea how alluring she—“
“Are you chuckleheaded?” Mr. Yates barked, stepping forward as if to shield Jane and drawing Bingley out of his fantasy. “I— I did not mean to—”
“This conversation is done!” Jane declared, her tone so wooden that it made him wince.
“I have given you an heir. You will never be welcome in my private chambers again. I suggest if you wish to live with Ellie and I here at Ivy Well, then you will need to find somewhere else to house your paramour, for you will never be allowed to invite anyone into my home. That includes your sisters. Caroline will never cross the threshold again.”
“You would prevent my sister from entering the family home?” Bingley gaped.
“Did you forget that she harmed your daughter? Purposefully! She could have been killed!”
“Caroline would never have harmed her in earnest,” Bingley cajoled, reaching for her, but she stepped back. “She was merely overly upset about the loss of our inheritance. Once she had calmed I am sure—”
“I do not believe we need to further discuss it,” Jane declared. “We will never agree. You may spend the night in the visitors wing and I shall have a footman posted to ensure that you do not go wandering during the night.”
“Do you expect me to harm my own child?” Bingley was so appalled that he felt his gorge rise.
“You certainly did nothing to prevent it,” Jane snapped as she stepped to the corner and rang the bell. “Tomorrow you will need to decide what you will be willing to live with.”
The call was answered by the housekeeper in her slippers and bedclothes.
She was appalled that the scullery maid had allowed Bingley to enter without informing her and hurried to wake two of the Nichols brothers to escort the man to a far room where Peter took up the post outside the door.
Bingley was displeased with the chilly room with only a newly laid fire to warm it, but the presence of the large, unwelcoming footman deterred him from finding someone to complain to.
He fought his way out of his clothes and fell into bed, but sleep was a long time coming as he attempted to wrap his mind around the cess pool his life had become.
No matter how may times he turned it over in his mind, he was finding it difficult to place the blame upon anyone but himself.