Chapter 13. Colonel Fitzwilliam’s Argument #2
“Well paid and well fed!” Colonel Fitzwilliam declared.
During the walk, the colonel told the young boy about battles and cannon fire.
The highlight of Henry’s day came when the man allowed Henry to wave his sword about at the duck pond.
Richard laughed along with the sword-wielding boy as the flock flew away.
“They always come back,” Henry informed the colonel as Elizabeth and Darcy walked nearby.
“But we must stop scaring them,” Richard said. “Otherwise, this fall when a gentlemen comes to shoot some to eat, they will fly away before his gun is ready.”
Henry’s attention turned to the prospect of lunch as the party reached the edge of the park and turned to begin tracing their route back to the parsonage. Colonel Fitzwilliam moved closer to the right side of Miss Elizabeth and began his inquiry.
“Miss Elizabeth, last night my cousin and I discussed several of the candidates selected by Lady Catherine to be her daughter’s husband. Darcy informed me that you would have a strong opinion about one of the gentlemen that my aunt invited to visit.”
“Richard, I do not think this is the time or place to discuss this!” Darcy declared but Colonel Fitzwilliam ignored his cousin.
Glancing at Darcy and then at the colonel, Elizabeth stopped walking and dropped Darcy’s arm as she asked, “How could that be? I know so few gentlemen in society.”
“The gentleman in question is named Charles Bingley.”
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For a moment that could have been an eternity, Elizabeth stood absolutely still; she had not thought of that man in many days.
The excitement of the trip, the journey, seeing Charlotte and then finding Mr Darcy in the same neighbourhood led her mind away from Jane’s death and memories of the man responsible.
‘No, not fully responsible, but Charles Bingley took advantage of Jane before he vanished and the result was that Father cast my sister from her home,’ Elizabeth admitted to herself.
Then the young woman lifted her head and stared at the two men, the fire in her eyes visible to both as she asked, “Bingley? Charles Bingley?”
Richard explained, “My aunt’s attorney believes the man to be flush. His purse can restore Rosings and support Anne in the style she is accustomed to once Lady Catherine passes.”
“Mr Darcy, did you explain Mr Bingley’s foolish leasing of Netherfield?”
“Foolish? How foolish, Miss Bennet?” Richard inquired.
Taking a deep breath, Elizabeth explained.
“The man signed a three-year lease, an obligation of funds for three years that he can only recover by acting as the master of an estate. Netherfield is situated next to my father’s estate in Hertfordshire and as I am aware of the amount of my father’s income from Longbourn, I imagine that Bingley could collect substantially more than my father’s the income–if he took an active interest in the estate to become involved with the tenants and crops. ”
Frowning dismissively, Elizabeth continued, “But Bingley remained a mere three months, last fall and quit the estate at Christmas. Unless he has returned this summer, Netherfield’s steward is directing the farmers as best he can, but the man will not have a purse with enough coin to pay labourers to harvest the corn this summer. It may have rotted in the fields.”
Darcy commented, “I believe Bingley remained in London this summer until the end of July. I am not aware of his current abode.”
Now Elizabeth took a deep breath and with a tremor in her voice, explained further, “Colonel Fitzwilliam, last fall Charles Bingley courted my sister Jane, the sweetest, most amiable creature in God’s creation.
He broke her heart when he deserted her, and everyone turned on her… our father cast her from the house.”
“I am sorry to hear this sad story, Miss Elizabeth,” Colonel Fitzwilliam said. “There are too many cases where a young woman is seduced by a young man’s words, but many men are not honourable enough to…”
Now the anger was ignited in Elizabeth’s voice when she replied, just short of a shout, saying, “He proposed marriage! Jane expected to be married at Christmas!”
Nodding his head and sighing, Colonel Fitzwilliam said, “Her words against his words are not…”
“Not so,” Elizabeth retorted. “Bingley wrote her letters that professed his love…letters that proposed marriage!”
“Letters?” asked Darcy. “How did Charles send Miss Bennet letters?”
“My parents were lax chaperones without doubt, and he gave her letters when they met. My sister kept each letter, and I have them,” Elizabeth said with a frown.
“My sister loved Charles Bingley, cad that he was, until the day she died. With her dying words, she professed her love and cried because he had deserted her.”
Suddenly lost in her thoughts, Elizabeth worried that her parents were not properly chaperoning her other sisters. She imagined Lydia without proper supervision dancing with officers of the militia and slipping away in the shadows; something Jane alluded to last winter.
“May I see them?” asked Colonel Fitzwilliam though Elizabeth did not response.
He repeated his request, “Miss Bennet, may I see these letters Bingley wrote to your sister?”
Her attention returned to the pathway in the park, Elizabeth was very aware of Mr Darcy’s presence near to her and she dared not look at him presently.
So, she glared at Colonel Fitzwilliam for making such a request. But the colonel with many battles in his past, threw the glare aside and explained, “With such proof, I shall give Mr Bingley a proper set down and send him on his way when he arrives at Rosings Park.”
Still unhappy, Elizabeth nodded once. Colonel Fitzwilliam turned to Darcy and asked, “Will you recognize Bingley’s penmanship?”
“Yes, Bingley’s penmanship is unique and messy,” Darcy replied.
Her desire to walk any further in the company of the two gentlemen ended for the day, Elizabeth refused to speak again and allowed Henry Jones to lead her back to the parsonage.
“I fear I have stirred a cauldron of hurt for Miss Elizabeth,” Colonel Fitzwilliam admitted as they followed behind the young woman walking so quickly, she threatened to leave the men behind.
Henry ran about and caught Elizabeth once when she almost tripped over a rabbit hole in the last meadow before the parsonage.
“I do not know how to proceed,” Darcy admitted, seeing the lady distressed.
At the parsonage, Elizabeth disappeared into the house and Henry waited at the door until Mrs Collins appeared and sent him through into the kitchen. She turned to the two men and demanded, “What has occurred to dismay Elizabeth?”
“We spoke of a gentleman from Jane Bennet’s past,” the colonel said, and the lady’s face turned to Darcy.
“My cousin asked about Mr Bingley,” he explained to Mrs Collins who was familiar with the events of the past fall in Hertfordshire.
Mrs Collins hissed and motioned toward the bench beside her door, “Sit there and do not leave until I return.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam sat on the bench and Mr Darcy moved toward the bench he did not sit. Meanwhile, Mrs Collins disappeared into the house and the men heard her climb the stairs very quickly, the treads taking a beating.
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The door to Elizabeth’s bed chamber stood open and Charlotte swept in, finding her friend in tears, kneeling beside her open trunk with a pack of letters in her hand.
“Eliza, what has happened?”
“Bingley…he is coming to Rosings Park.”
“Charles Bingley? Coming here?” asked Charlotte with dismay in her tone.
“He is one of the candidates that Lady Catherine invited to visit, and Colonel Fitzwilliam asked my opinion. I told him that Bingley wrote Jane and proposed.”
Charlotte drew Elizabeth from the floor and directed her to a chair. “Oh, Eliza, how can you prove this?”
Holding up the packet of letters, Elizabeth explained, “Jane kept his letters. Charlotte, she loved him until the day she died. I could not burn them after she died.”
“Will this prove to Colonel Fitzwilliam that Bingley wrote to your sister?”
“Yes,” Elizabeth replied.
“Then I shall hand them to Colonel Fitzwilliam and insist he return them once he has read them,” Charlotte said. “You remain here, and I shall return with tea and lunch.”
Too emotional to argue, Elizabeth nodded and watched the sunlight shining through the window as Charlotte disappeared down the stairs with the packet of letters. Elizabeth was lost in memories of her sister and the tiny babe with blue eyes who began to smile at her face before she left London.
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Outside the door, Colonel Fitzwilliam stood when Mrs Collins appeared with a packet of letters clutched in her hands.
Before handing them to the man, she said, “Colonel Fitzwilliam, Elizabeth grants you permission to read and review these letters, but they must be returned without damage. They were precious to her sister.”
“They will be returned,” Colonel Fitzwilliam taking the letters.
Darcy stepped closer and asked, “Mrs Collins, how is Miss Elizabeth?”
Charlotte frowned and Mr Darcy was reminded of Mrs Banks when she was disappointed with him as a child. The woman said, “She will recover from this unpleasant episode in a day or two. Leave and do not return today.”
Shutting her front door against the two gentlemen, Charlotte hurried to the kitchen and ordered tea and a tray with luncheon for Elizabeth. She found Henry Jones seated at her table just completing a meal of beans and ham, so she drafted him to help her carry the items above stairs.
“Come along, Mr Jones. You may have tea and biscuits with Miss Elizabeth,” Charlotte told the boy.
In her room, Elizabeth was pleased when Charlotte brought the tea, food and company to help her recover. After eating a portion of Elizabeth’s lunch and all the biscuits on the tray, Henry asked, “Will you walk out tomorrow, Miss Elizabeth?”
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