Chapter Forty-Five
Mr. Bingley was in the midst of breakfast when Braddock came in, apologised for disturbing his master, and held out a silver salver with a message on it.
Mr. Bingley thanked him and took the message.
He opened it and began to read, teacup in his other hand.
Suddenly, he made a strange choking sound in his throat, and the tea spilt all over the tablecloth.
“Bingley?!” Mr. Darcy rose from his seat in concern, but Mr. Bingley waved him back down.
Mr. Bingley was red in the face by now, but he managed to say, “Blast it all, Caroline is on her way here!”
Georgiana, who had witnessed Mr. Bingley’s actions with considerable alarm, now felt even more alarmed. “Miss Bingley?” she gasped.
“Yes! I do not know how she found out that you are here, Darcy, but – well, read it for yourself!”
Mr. Darcy took the paper and read the note aloud.
Charles, I cannot believe that you kept Mr. Darcy’s presence at Netherfield a secret from me! How can you possibly entertain him properly without a hostess? I am on my way! Caroline
“Oh, Lord, Darcy, I am sorry,” Mr. Bingley looked like an errant schoolboy caught in some mischief.
“Hardly your fault, Bingley,” Mr. Darcy reassured his friend. “We will manage as best we can.”
“I cannot imagine what she will say about the Bennets,” Mr. Bingley went on.
“Can you not?” Mr. Darcy’s voice was humorous. “I certainly can.”
***
Miss Bingley arrived before luncheon.
“The Hursts did not accompany you?” Mr. Bingley asked, hopefully.
“No, they preferred to stay in Town.”
“Drinking up my wine cellar, no doubt,” Mr. Bingley muttered.
“But in any event, here I am!”
“Yes, here you are,” Mr. Bingley said. “But totally unnecessary, I assure you, Caroline. We have been doing just fine.”
“Why, how could you, given that – Georgiana! I had no idea! And you were here alone with two gentlemen!”
“One of whom is her brother, Caroline,” Mr. Bingley said, sternly. “Let us not make a fuss over nothing.”
“I have been approving the menus, Miss Bingley,” Georgiana said, tossing her curls. “So Netherfield has hardly been without a hostess.”
“But have you held any dinners for the neighbours? Ah, no, I thought not! Though doubtless the society here is something savage!”
Georgiana muttered something under her breath, but Miss Bingley did not hear it. “Charles, where is the housekeeper? I can scarce believe that she has not come to greet me at the door.”
“I am here, Miss Bingley,” Mrs. Hammond said, stepping forward. Both she and Braddock had been warned by Hastings as to what to expect from the master’s sister and they, in turn, had warned the other servants.
“And where is Nancy? Ah, there you are, girl. Mrs. Hammond, do show my maid to my room, wherever it may be. I do expect the best room, of course.”
“Of course, Miss Bingley,” Mrs. Hammond said, as she led Nancy up the stairs, followed by two footmen carrying three heavy trunks.
Georgiana’s eyes widened; was Miss Bingley planning to move in for the rest of her life?
Miss Bingley looked around. “But where is Mr. Darcy?”
As it happened, Mr. Darcy had escaped to his own room the moment Miss Bingley had arrived, and had spoken with his valet.
Hastings would sleep on a pallet just inside Mr. Darcy’s door for the duration of Miss Bingley’s stay.
Mr. Darcy would like to think that Miss Bingley would not stoop so low as to compromise him in his bedroom, but he was certainly not willing to take that chance.
***
It seemed that the carefree days of being able to go to Longbourn whenever they wished was over; that much was made clear at dinner that evening. Miss Bingley had a good deal to say as to what she had seen of Netherfield, its decoration, the room she had been given, and so on.
Upon learning that Miss Darcy was now great friends with the daughters of an insignificant country gentleman three miles away, Miss Bingley lifted an elegant eyebrow and said, “Well! There will be no more of that now that I am here, I assure you! Georgiana, you truly need to be careful of who you befriend!”
Georgiana could bear no more. The confidence she had gained during her stay at Rosings Park now became evident.
“I am Miss Darcy to you, Miss Bingley,” she said, in a voice so cold that her brother thought icicles were about to fall from her lips.
“And I shall see whomever I please, as long as my brother does not object.”
Miss Bingley gaped at her. “I intend no offense, Geor – Miss Darcy, I assure you!”
“And I intend no offense either, Miss Bingley. I merely wish to make it very clear that I am your brother’s guest, not yours, and it is my brother who is my guardian, not you.
I have found friends here, and I have no intention of being kept from them, simply because of your – your rather particular opinions. ”
Mr. Darcy sent his sister a look of such love and approval that Georgiana wriggled in her seat with pleasure.
Miss Bingley hardly knew where to look after that, and she was further discomposed when Mr. Bingley burst out laughing.
“Well done, Miss Darcy! And I am in full agreement; I have no intention of snubbing the Bennets, the Lucases, or any of our other friends and neighbours. You need not visit with them, of course, Caroline; that is entirely your choice.”
***
Later that night, Mr. Darcy had a moment of privacy in which to speak with his sister, and he whispered, “I am so very proud of you!”
“I could not let Miss Bingley keep me from my friends,” she replied, colouring.
“No, and I was about to say much the same, but you were faster. Good for you, Georgiana.” Gone, he knew, was the shy young girl who had traveled with him to Rosings; Georgiana now knew her own mind and was not afraid to speak it.