“I do, very much! And he asked if he might call on me here at Bingley House!” Caroline was positively glowing with satisfaction.
“What do we know about him, Charles?” Jane asked.
Her husband shrugged. “I have never met the man, but he looked gentlemanly enough. If Caroline likes him, well and good.”
***
Later that afternoon, Lady Alicia, Miss Taylor, Miss Davies and Miss Johnson came to visit Bingley House. They revisited every last detail about the ball: the clothing, the dance partners, the food, even the design chalked on the floor. Caroline was happy to be able to inform them that the design was Pemberley.
“You have been there?” Miss Taylor asked in some astonishment.
“I have, yes, and a more delightful establishment cannot be imagined!”
“And you are related by marriage to Mr. Darcy – how wonderful!” Miss Johnson exclaimed.
Jane was in the drawing room as well; she managed not to smile, recalling how very much Caroline Bingley had wanted to be far more closely related to Mr. Darcy.
“Lord Russell took you to supper; that is most promising,” Miss Johnson went on.
But Lady Alicia frowned. “I am not so certain.”
“What do you mean?” Caroline cried. “He is a Baron!”
“My brother saw you with him and shook his head; when I asked him what was wrong, he said that the man had suffered some significant gambling losses and doubtless needs to marry a young lady of fortune.”
Caroline chewed her lip for a minute. The man had spent a good deal of time boasting of his properties; was that not one of the things Mrs. Annesley had warned her against? She then recalled that Mr. Lindsay had asked her for the supper dance, and she had told him that it was promised to Lord Russell. Mr. Lindsay’s comments about Lord Russell had doubtless been born of jealousy; she would pay it no mind.
Seeing that Caroline Bingley was determined not to listen to any ill tidings, Lady Alicia adroitly changed the subject. “Will Miss Darcy and Lord Fane make a match of it, do you think?”
And that topic engrossed the ladies for the next half hour.
***
Lord Russell came to call on Caroline not long after her friends had departed. He was very complimentary, telling Caroline how much he had enjoyed their time together at the ball. Would she consider driving out with him that afternoon? He had a fine new pair of horses that were exquisitely matched, he informed her. Almost incoherent with delight at the thought that a title was in her future, Caroline immediately agreed and ran upstairs to change while His Lordship waited.
***
The following morning saw a letter from Meryton waiting for Elizabeth at breakfast.
Lizzy,
Lady Lucas reads the Morning Post, as I am certain you recall, and she wasted not a minute in showing me the article about Miss Darcy’s ball! I cannot believe that you did not invite me, Mary, and Kitty! The girls would have loved to be in attendance, and you know I would have been a good deal of help to you in making the arrangements!
Lady Lucas went on and on about how Charlotte would never have been so ungrateful a daughter – as if Charlotte was ever going to host a ball in London! I told Lady Lucas that, and she stormed off in rather a state.
You see the trouble you have caused, Lizzy? Ungrateful girl!
Your disappointed parent,
Mama
P.S. Had it been Jane hosting the ball, we would surely have been included!
The endless battle between her mother and Lady Lucas! But there was another letter from Meryton. Already irritated, she tore it open.
Dear Lizzy,
Thank you for not inviting us to the ball. It would have been no end of trouble, not to mention the expense of outfitting all of us for such a grand occasion.
