Chapter Twenty-one
THERE WAS A dinner held at Pemberley that evening.
Elizabeth attended, and so did the Bingley sisters, who had made it known, however, that they would be leaving the following morning. Miss Darcy was there as well, and her brother presided over everything.
For the beginning of the meal, no one said anything except a bit of polite discussion of the tenderness the meat and the weather and things of that nature.
But then, Caroline spoke up. “I do not mean to be uncouth, but I think that Miss Darcy must agree with me, truly, and we must think of propriety, Mr. Darcy. Forcing us all to dine with your mistress is simply not done, sir. We cannot but be offended, is that not right, Louisa?”
Mrs. Hurst looked at Elizabeth and then at Mr. Darcy and finally at Miss Darcy. She shook her head, saying nothing.
“I have to say that I am quite in agreement,” said Miss Darcy, not looking at Elizabeth, who felt betrayed, even though she and Miss Darcy hadn’t had much in the way of interaction, she supposed.
Even so, she had done nothing to harm Mr. Darcy’s sister.
Why must she say such a thing? Miss Darcy addressed her brother.
“I know that you have intentions to marry her, and if that has been done, then things will be different. But at this juncture, having her here, it is… not proper.”
Mr. Darcy glared out at the table. “All right, I see what you are about, Miss Bingley.” He looked at his sister. “And I know you are displeased with me as well, Georgiana. I own that you have every right to be. But there is no reason to go after Elizabeth. Your anger is with me, take it out on me.”
Miss Darcy shrugged. “Well, you are too busy treating her far better than you would treat anyone else in the same circumstances, I suppose.”
“Yes, just so,” said Caroline. “What is it about this woman? You have professed to me, on a number of occasions, to dislike women who are like her, who behave the way she does, so what is it about her that makes you abandon all your scruples?”
Elizabeth got up. “You know, I can just leave the table, actually, if it would be easier.”
“Sit down, Elizabeth,” said Mr. Darcy in a voice that brooked no argument.
She sat down.
Mr. Darcy fixed Caroline with a look. “You asked something similar before, but I think you wished to know what she has that you do not have?” He leaned back in his chair.
“She is prettier than you are, Caroline. There is little that is striking about your countenance when one looks upon it, but Elizabeth has this very expressive mouth, and when she speaks, it’s hard to look away.
That’s to say nothing of the fact that when she does speak, she does not speak about insignificant trifles.
She does not waste her time on foolish small talk, but speaks of things that she has opinions about, and her opinions are interesting and unique and her own.
They’re indicative of the fact she has given all manner of things some thought and come up with something interesting to say, whereas everything out of your mouth seems to be something you parroted from someone else.
Caroline, you don’t seem to have an original thought in your head.
Finally, you are petty and you are vindictive and you hold a grudge and you wish to harm others to make yourself rise, and Elizabeth would never do that.
When I think of all that she has endured, much of it at your own hands, I feel as if she has the disposition of a saint.
And she would not be my mistress, even now, if it were up to her.
She has been put in a very difficult situation.
Any indiscretions were my responsibility, not her own.
I am the one who is to blame, so I shall not have anyone punishing her. ”
Elizabeth was not sure what to say in the wake of this.
It was mostly a cutting speech, designed to hurt Caroline’s feelings, but there were enough genuine compliments for her woven through it that she felt warmed by his words and also embarrassed and also worried that she would not be able to live up to what he thought of her.
Caroline’s nostrils flared. “Now you are simply glorying in being cruel to me, Mr. Darcy.”
“Caroline, perhaps it would be wise to be silent now,” said Louisa tentatively.
“But he knows that I have it in my power to make certain that everyone knows what sort of a sham this marriage is,” said Caroline.
“And I told you that if you did so, I would no longer associate with anyone in your family,” said Mr. Darcy.
“Caroline!” gasped Louisa.
“And would it matter?” said Caroline. “For by the time I am done with you, you will be some sad, pathetic man who has debased himself for a woman unworthy of him, who is claiming a child not his own. I shall drag the Darcy name through the mud, and there will be little benefit in having an association with it anyway, by the time I am done.”
“Well,” spoke up Miss Darcy, “I don’t know what I think of Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst taking their leave of us if this is what Miss Bingley intends to do.”
Caroline turned to the other woman. “Miss Darcy, I am sorry. I would not draw you into this, but I have been utterly humiliated and treated with such scorn—”
“All I have done,” said Mr. Darcy, “is refuse to marry you, Caroline.”
“Well, Fitzwilliam,” Caroline said, “since we are all speaking to each other with such familiarity, you might have thought about being the least bit polite when you spoke to me—”
“And you might have thought about the way you were treating my future wife and my unborn child when you locked her away and refused to feed her!”
“Have we not been over this?” exploded Caroline. “She has forgiven me. And anyway, that is not your child. That is Mr. Wickham’s child, as everyone knows and everyone will know.”
“You would not,” said Miss Darcy, clearly horrified. “I see I have misjudged you, Miss Bingley. I had not realized how absolutely wicked you could be.”
Elizabeth spoke up. “Since Mr. Wickham is still alive, Miss Bingley, I do wonder if you might think to keep your counsel. Why would you let that be common knowledge? That man will use the information to terrorize everyone. And I do not wish the babe to be burdened with knowing such things about his or her origins, not until I feel the child is grown enough to understand.”
“Perhaps not even then,” said Mr. Darcy. “Ideally.”
“Why would I do anything to make things more comfortable for you?” said Caroline. “You have not taken such considerations for me.”
“In all truth, you have been far less considerate to me than I have been to you,” said Elizabeth.
“You said you forgave me.”
“Yes, well, since I said that, it’s all been erased,” said Elizabeth sarcastically.
“You did not forgive me, I see,” said Caroline.
“And the truth is, Miss Bennet, that if I had not done all that I did for you here, you would have had no solution for that illegitimate babe in your belly. Even now, your own parents do not know, and that could have remained the case. Indeed, it still can. Convince Mr. Darcy to marry me and I shall keep my mouth shut.”
Louisa let out a guffaw. “You would marry him after he said all those things to you, Caroline? Are you quite, quite mad? Or are you simply stupid? He loathes you.”
Caroline glared at her sister. “And even you are not here to support me. I am truly all on my own.”
Louisa addressed the table. “This is not a proper dinner conversation.”
“Your sister started it,” said Miss Darcy primly.
“Granted,” said Louisa. She turned to Caroline. “There must be something else you want.”
Caroline furrowed her brow. “What are you saying?”
Louisa turned to Mr. Darcy. “There must be something else you can think to offer her. I know my sister quite well, and you will not frighten her off from her attempts to ruin you. Neither will you appeal to her good nature or to reason. If you give her something she wants, however, if she is sufficiently satisfied, she may retreat.”
“No,” said Miss Darcy. “She does not deserve our bribery.”
“I’ll find you another husband,” said Mr. Darcy. “How about that?”
“I don’t need you to find me a husband,” said Caroline.
“How could you do that?” said Louisa. “Caroline has chased off all her likely prospects. She is four and twenty, and she is not getting any younger—”
“For heaven’s sake, Louisa, I am but one and twenty,” said Caroline, her voice a squeak.
Louisa rolled her eyes. “I can’t think that you are an expert in finding women husbands, that is all, Mr. Darcy.”
Mr. Darcy considered. “Perhaps not. But I could make introductions, and I could put in a good word here and there, and I could—”
“Not enough,” said Caroline.
“What do you want, then?” said Mr. Darcy. “Do you want money?”
“I am not in dire financial circumstances!” Caroline was affronted.
“No,” said Mr. Darcy, “not money. It’s status you require, some connection to a respectable and sufficiently old family. That is what you cannot get on your own.”
“And you cannot provide it for me,” said Caroline.
“Honestly, I don’t wish to,” said Mr. Darcy.
“I wish to make plans, go to Scotland, marry the love of my life, and take my chances with whatever scandal it is you think you can stir up, Caroline. Good luck with it.” He tossed his napkin on his plate.
“Now, if you’ll all excuse me? I seem to have lost my appetite. ”
Elizabeth watched him go.
Caroline got up with a huff. “We shall most certainly be leaving in the morning. And when I get back to London, you mark my words, I shall ruin everyone associated with the Darcy name.” She stalked out.
Miss Darcy shook her head, quite worried.