Chapter 62 Vengeance
The Darcys spent the day at Longbourn with the Bennets and the Beaumonts.
It was a pleasant day. The sisters devoted two hours to inoculating family members, tenants, and several neighbors with the cowpox matter.
The neighbors stayed to visit afterward, and many made the acquaintance of Mary's twin boys and the husbands of the two eldest Bennet sisters.
After dinner that evening, they said their farewells and traveled back to Netherfield. The ladies went directly upstairs to begin packing what they could, as they intended to leave immediately after the memorial service the following day.
Darcy went downstairs to spend a few hours with his friend.
"Darcy, I need not tell you that Caroline is very put out that you are leaving tomorrow. She expected to have you here for two weeks, and now she is behaving like a child whose sweetmeats have been taken away."
Darcy winced.
"To all outward appearances, Charles, that is exactly what has happened to her. When all is said and done, it is best that we leave tomorrow. Reeves will pack the second carriage and join us at Longbourn at two o'clock, and we shall depart from there."
"It was good to see you again, Darcy. And I congratulate you on your wife. She is a lovely, kind woman. You will be very happy."
Darcy smiled broadly.
"I am very happy, Charles."
The two men remained in conversation until nearly eleven o'clock, and then Darcy retired for the night. He changed in his own room and then used the connecting door to join Elizabeth in hers.
Meanwhile, Reeves packed his master's clothing and then prepared himself for bed. He climbed into the narrow cot set up between the door and the bed and was soon sound asleep.
Caroline Bingley waited in her bedchamber in the family wing until ten o'clock. She knew Mr. Darcy would not remain long with Charles, for the Darcys planned to leave early, take breakfast at Longbourn, and return to London directly after the memorial service.
At ten o'clock, she made her way to the guest wing and let herself into the chamber directly across from Mr. Darcy's. She moved a chair near the door and sat down to wait. Leaving the door slightly ajar, she positioned herself so she could hear when he returned.
She began to plan his seduction. Perhaps she should wait until he had sufficient time to retire.
After further consideration, she wondered if she ought to wait until he was asleep, for it was well known that he was a deep sleeper.
She considered the idea and dismissed it. No, she wanted him awake. She wanted him to see what he was choosing to forgo for the rest of his life.
His wife was an attractive woman, but not like herself. Caroline considered herself a woman of striking beauty, and with ample breasts, she had long believed those advantages would one day secure Mr. Darcy's regard.
And so was her derrière. She had received many compliments on her ample figure, which was much admired in fashionable society. She felt certain that once he saw her in all her natural beauty, he would not be able to resist her charms.
And so, she waited, hardly able to contain herself, planning all that she would say and do once she had him alone.
At eleven o'clock, she heard the footfalls she had come to know so well.
She watched him pass silently down the corridor and enter his room. She did not hear the turn of a key. The door remained unlocked.
She removed the heavy cloak she was wearing and draped it over a nearby sofa. Then she untied the ribbon that secured the transparent wrap at her waist. She shoved the ribbon into the pocket of the flimsy garment and crept into the hall.
Standing outside his door, she listened. There was no sound. He must already be in bed.
Had he chosen to spend the night with his wife, all of this would have been for naught. But this morning, she had looked into his room before the maids cleaned it.
He had slept in his own bed the previous night.
He would sleep in it again, for had not that perfect little wife of his gone to bed at nine? She would be sound asleep and never know what her husband was about on the other side of the connecting door.
Or perhaps she would hear them and come to investigate, only to find him with his Enamorata.
Caroline almost laughed aloud before catching herself.
She opened the door with great care and slipped into the room.
It was dark. The drapes were tightly drawn, and there was not even a fire banked in the hearth.
She stretched out a hand in the darkness, hoping not to collide with one of the bedposts.
Instead, she struck her leg against something hard and shrieked in pain.
Down she went.
Her shoulder crashed against a wooden rail, and her knee landed on something soft.
A startled cry rang out.
She had kneed a man.
Mr. Darcy?
But what was he doing sleeping on a cot?
She struggled to rise, but her shoulder pained her, and she remained sprawled atop the unfortunate occupant.
Meanwhile, the man beneath her was attempting to sit up, shouting the entire time.
Next door, Darcy bolted upright in bed.
"Elizabeth, remain here. Something has happened to Reeves."
He grabbed his robe from the chair and shrugged into it as he jumped out of bed.
Elizabeth seized her own wrapper and had it on by the time Darcy lit the bedside candle and opened the connecting door.
Holding the candle aloft, he found a tangle of arms and legs upon the small cot set up just inside the room.
"Reeves, are you injured?"
Then Elizabeth saw what had injured the faithful servant.
Miss Bingley lay sprawled atop him, naked as the day she was born. Her bare skin gleamed in the candlelight.
Elizabeth immediately took her husband by the arm and swung him around.
"Sir, I would prefer that you not see this shocking sight. Lower that candle."
"I beg your pardon, Elizabeth. For one startling moment, I could not make sense of what I was seeing. But perhaps you should not see it either."
"She is a woman, sir. She possesses nothing I have not seen before. But I do expect you to return to our bedchamber. Go out that door and fetch your friend so that he may deal with this disgraceful situation. I shall remain here to chaperone your faithful Reeves."
Caroline had injured her shoulder and could not push herself up with that arm. She was forced to roll over and use her other arm for leverage.
Elizabeth heard Reeves groan as Caroline rolled across his legs.
The woman managed to push herself upright, but then sank back onto the cot.
"Oh, my leg." She began to weep.
Fortunately, Reeves had already drawn up his legs and was able to slip from the cot on the far side.
Elizabeth went into the adjoining room and lit another candle from the banked fire. She carried it back and held it near the leg Caroline was clutching with her uninjured arm.
Caroline was moaning in pain.
A large blue swelling had already risen beneath her knee.
Elizabeth had seen enough.
Leaving the woman in the darkness, she returned to her bedchamber and pulled the sheet from her bed. She carried it back and wrapped it around Caroline's shoulders.
Caroline drew it tightly about herself as best she could with her injured shoulder.
She was weeping in earnest now.
Elizabeth stood nearby while Reeves remained at the entrance to the dressing room.
"Sir," Elizabeth asked, "are you much injured?"
"No, Mrs. Darcy. She struck the cot near the center. I believe she hit the iron hinge that joins the wooden frame and then fell against the hinge on the other side." I shall have a bruise or two, but nothing serious."
At last, after what felt like hours, though it could only have been a quarter of an hour, the door opened, and Mr. Bingley entered. He was still dressed in his trousers, but wore a banyan tied about his waist.
Elizabeth stepped away from the cot as Mr. Bingley approached his sister.
"Caroline, have you been injured?"
She continued to weep.
He turned to Elizabeth.
"Sir, from what Mr. Reeves was able to ascertain, she struck her leg against the iron hinge, and when she fell, she landed shoulder-first on the hinge on the opposite side. A terrible knot has risen on her leg, and I suspect there is a similar injury to her shoulder. She is unable to use that arm."
"Caroline, I must take you to your room. I shall support you on your good side, but you must stand and help me."
She did not cease weeping, but she did struggle to her feet.
The Darcys watched as she limped from the room on her brother's arm.
When they were gone, Darcy turned to his valet.
"Reeves, did you suffer any harm?"
"She fell on me, sir, but most of her weight landed on the frame. I shall have some bruises, but I have suffered no serious injury."
Elizabeth said, "Sir, I wrapped Caroline in our sheet."
Darcy turned to his valet. "Reeves, you may return to your room. Mrs. Darcy and I shall remain here."
Reeves replied, "Sir, help me move this cot against the wall, lest you forget about it and come crashing into it yourself in the morning."
Darcy chuckled. "Very good, Reeves. I appreciate your good sense."