Chapter 3
Nothing had gone as Martha Bennet, formerly Bingley, had imagined.
When she had attempted to go to her husband, a footman would not allow her to pass, and when her shouting woke him, Bennet had exited his bedchamber and told her, in no uncertain terms what he thought of her charms. That was three years ago, and she never made a second attempt.
She and her daughters had food and a place to live, but no more.
If they wanted new dresses, they had to use some of their pittance of an allowance.
At least Charles was in his second year at Eton, his expenses paid from the trust the officious Mr. Gardiner controlled.
No matter how she ranted at him, the man looked at her as if she were offensive and adamantly refused to release a penny more than her and her children’s allowances.
Martha was pleased Charles would be home from Eton in a few days.
He would be able to report on his success at ingratiating himself with sons in the first circles.
Martha could not understand how, with her perfect instructions, her son had not succeeded in making any high-born friends as of his last term break.
One of her greatest vexations was her husband and his daughters, who at fourteen and eleven, had grown even more beautiful, especially as the older had begun to show womanly curves, and would travel at Easter, Christmastide, and for the whole of the summer, never telling her where they were going and never inviting her or any of her children to join them.
While the Bennet daughters had been educated by their governess and masters from Town, her daughters had received no training, as she could not afford to spend her meagre resources on educating her daughters on anything except the art of the compromise.
When her daughters pointed out that their mother’s compromise had not garnered much success, or as much as she had expected, Martha Bennet could not argue the point. Nothing had been as she had wished it to be.
She had tried to charge items to her husband’s accounts in Meryton and had been roundly refused, and the only time she had gained a little extra was one time when the owner of the haberdashery gave into his lust and exchanged her, services, for some ribbons.
It was the first and last time anyone in Meryton had been interested in trading services.
The servants were polite but accepted no orders from her or her children. If Martha could go back six years, she would not compromise her miserly husband. On the other side of the house, the Bennets were as happy as could be expected.
The only time they would see the interloping Bingleys was when they shared dinner.
The Bennets were up with the sunrise, while Martha and her children usually ambled down at noon after taking a tray in their chambers.
For the first few months they had expected warm, fresh food waiting for them when they deigned to rise from their beds.
Bennet had disabused them of the notion with alacrity—hence the trays.
As their father promised, each Christmastide and summer had been spent with their cousins and Tommy. After the first year of them being at Longbourn, Easter became a time to hie to Holder Heights as well.
Since Charles Bingley had begun at Eton, their summer trip north would normally commence a few days before his expected arrival, as neither Bennet sister felt comfortable with the way that he stared at them, especially Jane.
This year, they were delayed a few days as their father had to take care of an issue on the estate that would not wait for three months.
Charles Bingley arrived home, and, as was his wont, leered at Jane Bennet.
No amount of spying on his sisters could come close to the lust he felt when viewing Jane, and that was when she was fully clothed.
In his imagination, he had undressed her so many times from so many different dresses there was a veritable mountain of cast-off dresses in the room his mind had created for them.
The day before their scheduled departure from Longbourn, Jane escaped the house to walk in the little wilderness on one side of the park.
Charles Bingley saw her leave but did not follow her right away.
Luckily, when he followed Jane, Elizabeth noticed, and asked one of the footmen to follow her outside.
Before Jane saw him, she felt a presence behind her and whirled around just as Charles Bingley attempted to grab her with one hand and place his other hand over her mouth.
Thanks to her sudden movement, his hand went into her mouth instead of over it and she bit down onto the offending limb with all her might.
Charles Bingley let out a scream like a stuck pig, and soon he saw blood running from his injured right hand.
Like the coward he was, he lifted his left arm to strike a blow to the chit who injured him.
Had his mother not told them to always take what they wanted?
Did she not say it was their right? Then why did this girl bite him? He would make her rue the day.
As his hand began its arc down towards Jane, and she, being close to him thanks to his attempt to detain her, remembered what her father had told her about sensitive areas on a man.
Before his hand reached her, her knee, with as much force as she could muster, connected with his most sensitive area.
His previous scream was nothing to his caterwauling after he got his breath back. “Jane, are you well?” Elizabeth and the footman ran up to her. They had witnessed the whole of the attack but had been too far away to stop it.
“Oh, Lizzy,” Jane fell into her younger sister’s arms as the fight went out of her and she realised how close she had come to something distasteful in the extreme. Jane burst into tears as the tension was released from her body.
Bennet arrived with his wife in tow, the two of them followed by her two daughters. “What have you done to my brother?” Caroline, who was twelve, screeched.
“Your lecherous brother tried to attack my sister, and she defended herself,” Elizabeth bristled.
“You lie,” Caroline retorted, and would have said more if not for the footman, who stepped towards her threateningly. By now, Jane had ceased crying and was sniffling into her father’s chest.
“Jane, my dear, can you tell us what happened?” Bennet asked softly as he rubbed his daughter’s back.
“He,” Jane pointed at the still writhing Charles Bingley, “tried to grab me and cover my mouth at the same time. I bit him, then he was going to strike me, so I put my knee into the spot you showed me, Papa.”
“I am sure Charles was just trying to play a prank on his step-sister,” said Martha, trying to defend her son.
“Does he play a prank when he spies on his sisters as they change and bathe?” Bennet thundered. Young Bingley blanched as he was trying to stand up.
Louisa and Caroline turned to their brother and yelled in unison, “CHARLES!”, while Martha did not dispute what was said. She had caught him in the act a few years back, and he swore to her it was the only time and he would never do it again.
“He is to leave my home on the morrow and never return,” Bennet stated, brooking no dissent.
“Where will he go?” Martha pleaded.
“I care not. He can apply to Gardiner for some of the interest for rent, or he can go to his uncle in Scarborough. Where he goes is his problem. If he approaches any member of my family again, I will see him in gaol, and you will find yourself and your daughters thrown out of my house. Do I make myself clear?” Bennet demanded.
Charles Bingley held his peace, but as he stared at Bennet sullenly, he swore to himself that he would avenge himself on the man he hated. He would also have to find a way to pay back the chit who injured and humiliated him.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
That night, when their packing was complete, Bennet called his two daughters into his study.
A footman was posted outside because either Martha, or her youngest daughter, had been caught trying to eavesdrop at the study door on more than one occasion.
Although the door was of heavy oak construction, Bennet preferred to be careful, nonetheless.
“Jane and Lizzy, I want you to remain with my cousins when I return to Longbourn. The less you are around these interlopers, the happier I will be,” Bennet informed his daughters.
Unlike the last time he had talked about living with their cousins, Jane did not object.
Of course, Elizabeth was another story. “I will remain with Jane and Tommy until after Twelfth Night, but I will return home with you in January, Papa. I will not allow these people to chase me from our house!” Elizabeth insisted.
“We will talk again when I return for Christmastide, Lizzy,” Bennet told his second daughter, who sat with her arms akimbo and a determined look on her face.
“Time for bed, you two. In case you are worried about that disgusting young man, there will be a footman outside his door all night and two in the hall outside our chambers. I promise you, he will never be in this house with us again.” Bennet kissed both his daughters on their cheeks and then walked them back to their chambers, acknowledging the two footmen on duty.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The next morning, a sullen Charles Bingley was escorted to the post and placed on the stage to London.
The men watched until the coach was out of view.
Charles Bingley would get funds from Mr. Gardiner and then take the post to Scarborough to be with his father’s younger brother until school began again.
Bennet had sent an express to Gardiner the previous afternoon apprising him of why the young man was never allowed to return to Longbourn.
Unbeknownst to Martha, Bennet also changed his will to state that even should he die, that Charles Bingley being allowed back into Longbourn would be grounds for himself, his mother, and his sisters to be permanently removed from Bennet lands.