Chapter 14
Charles Bingley had been waiting for the assembly in Meryton with great anticipation.
He had used whatever excuses he could in the interim to visit Longmeadow, but as much as he wanted to, he could not entertain properly at home out of respect for his mother.
He had wanted to request sets ahead of time of Miss Long, but when he mentioned that to her father, he had requested that Bingley wait until the evening of the assembly.
He had added that as this was her first assembly out locally, he would not allow more than one dance with any individual man.
Bingley had been somewhat disappointed, but when he thought about it, he could understand that her father did not want her overwhelmed.
The good thing was that Long had made that restriction for the first assembly only.
After that, it would be up to his oldest daughter to make decisions about granting more than one dance to any particular man.
On the night of the dance, Bingley was one of the first to arrive, and he was warmly welcomed by Sir William Lucas as that man assumed his usual post of the host. He was discussing a farming issue with Franklin Lucas, who since his reformation, had become the pleasant young man all had known prior to his studying at Oxford.
Bingley was mid-sentence when the Longs arrived.
He saw Mr and Mrs Long enter, followed by Miss Long.
He excused himself and was the first to greet the Longs after Sir William.
“Mr Long, Mrs Long, Miss Long,” he intoned as he bowed to each in turn. “Miss Long, if your first set is available, may I have the honour of the dance?” he asked hopefully. Miss Long looked to her parents, and her mother gave a slight nod.
“Thank you, Mr Bingley, all my sets are open so I would be honoured to dance the first with you,” she agreed shyly.
“In that case, Mandy, I will claim the final set with you,” her father stated, a sly wink at Bingley telling him that he was willing to help him claim his daughter’s affections, if that was what she wanted by, taking the second most important dance as his own.
By the time the first set began, most of Miss Long’s sets were claimed. In Meryton, where there were always more ladies than men at an assembly, it was rare that a lady did not sit out at least one set.
When the music commenced for the quadrille which was the first dance of the set, Charles was most pleased that his partner was such an accomplished dancer.
Even though he had matured a lot since his father passed, some things were the same; he was still an affable young man who loved to dance.
They passed the set very pleasantly talking about inconsequential things.
At the end of the half-hour, which had passed too quickly for Bingley’s liking, he led Miss Long back to her parents, bowing to her as he thanked her for the dance.
He did not yet know if she would be the one that he would marry, but he knew that he wanted to find out.
He had given Mr Long his word that if his interest did reach that level, that he would not declare himself until after she was seventeen.
Her father had shared that his daughters would not have a London season, despite Jane’s offer to sponsor them.
It was too much of an expense for him to justify with his income, and he would not allow anyone else to pay for it while his daughters remained at home under his protection.
Franklin Lucas danced the fourth set with Miss Long.
He thought that she was pretty but felt no attraction to her besides that of a friend of the family.
He picked up that Bingley’s attention was tending toward the tender and had grown enough not to start a competition for the lady as there had been over Jane Bennet.
Other than wealth, the fact that he had been competing for her affections with another had given him a rush and stoked his competitive juices.
It had been about his desires only; what Jane wanted had never been a factor in that equation.
He had also noticed that the gaze Miss Long looked at Bingley with was brighter than the one she turned on him and hoped that he would one day see them happy as they deserved.
Since he had had his attitude adjusted by the good Colonel, he was a much happier person.
He had eschewed confronting his tormentors from Oxford, not because he was afraid, but he simply decided that they were not worth his time and effort.
He had moved on. And anytime he was tempted to stray off the righteous path, which was almost never, all he had to do was look in the mirror at the two teeth that had been bought to replace the two that had been justifiably knocked out his mouth.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Martha Bingley was being kept company by her mother, the Hursts, and the Bennets.
With no young men or ladies at home to attend, Thomas and Tammy Bennet had accepted an invitation to visit with their neighbours.
Bennet and Hurst were seated in the corner locked in an even battle of chess.
Like his opponent, Hurst had been roundly beaten in the games that he played against Lady Elizabeth while she had been in the neighbourhood.
“How is the board’s work progressing?” Martha asked. Tammy noted the progress as this was the first time that her friend had made such an inquiry since her husband’s sudden death.
“We have had an abundance of funds since Jane donated her dowry to the foundation and then the Darcy, Rhys-Davies, and Fitzwilliams each matched the amount so we have more than we will ever need,” Tammy explained.
“In fact, we have so much funding that we are thinking of looking at another location in our shire, even possibly adding ones in Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, or Middlesex. We will be deciding the next location at our meeting next month.”
“I would like to return to the committee,” Martha offered.
“You know you are welcome, Martha, but are you ready to do that?” Tammy enquired.
“I believe that I am, and as it is not a social event or a celebration, I will not be dishonouring my Oscar. In fact, I believe he would be pleased as he supported the committee’s work whole-heartedly.
” Martha was steadfast in her decision. Her mother and Louisa had both encouraged her to do so and were happy that she was ready to start living again, even in small measure.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Things were moving in the direction that she had deemed they should.
The last note that Mrs Fitzpatrick had received was to let her know that another quarter of the outriders had been let go.
They were on schedule to whittle down to two per vehicle by March, when the families were to depart for the Lake District.
According to her spy, they would meet at Pemberley and travel from there. He would have the departure date by Twelfth Night and she soon after, allowing her to finalise her plan which was sure to yield the results that she desired.
She had decided to not give Wickham the facts about the operation until a week before.
She had found a brigand by the name of Jamie McLamb.
He would do anything for money, and he had nine other men he was sure would work with him, and that they would know another nine who would do almost anything for one hundred pounds.
As the leader, he had demanded two hundred pounds, and it was something that she understood.
It took a lot to lead people by their noses, so she had put up an argument for argument’s sake, but in the end had agreed.
She would pay each man a quarter of his due before the job, the rest once it was completed to her liking. She was adamant that her plan would be followed to the letter or there would be no payment. McLamb had agreed to the stipulation—it was her money after all.
Wickham knew that the old bat was meeting with a man he had never seen before, but he could learn nothing about it.
Ever since Hodges had almost given him a permanent smile, he had been very wary about questioning any of her men too closely.
He knew that a footman was away for three days every fortnight, but there too he had no clue why or where he was going.
He was already spending the vast fortune that would be his once he married that little brat, Georgiana Darcy.
Once he had Pemberley, if she were not pleasing to him, he would just get rid of her and take another more willing wife.
He would be able to play in any game of chance, regardless of the limit on wagering, or lack thereof.
The dream of finally fulfilling his and his mother’s dreams let him sleep better than he had since he had been forced to live with the old woman in Packwood.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Jones believed that he was controlling Branch when the opposite was true.
There were four disguised guards in addition to Branch tasked with keeping an eye on Jones.
Even when he slept, secure in the knowledge that his secret was safe, there was a man watching.
As Branch carried and placed all of the missives for Jones, he was able to keep feeding Jones’ employer whatever information the master wanted known.
If Jones’ ‘brother’ sent a message to see him again, Jones would be incapacitated; Branch would take the meeting and be able to prove with ease that he was working with Jones.
So far, the employer must have been happy with what was being received because other than retrieving the notes, the man had not requested a meeting with Jones again.
George, and Will Darcy and the Fitzwilliam brothers had a solid plan in place.
As Richard trained men in military tactics, he was the one that planned the tactics which would be used to capture whoever was sent to cause mischief.
On a weekend that he had been off, Richard and Will had ridden the way that they would take to the lake district from Pemberley.