“No, Mama. Mr. Bingley is pleasant enough.”
“Pleasant! I should say so! Well-mannered, handsome – and rich!”
“Yes, Mama, he is all of those things.”
“And he invited you to call at Netherfield!”
“Well, yes, to discuss the responsibilities involved with the tenants.”
“Excellent. Do not go tomorrow; it will appear too forward.”
“I thought to go on Monday, and to bring Mary with me.”
“Mary? Whatever for?”
“She shares those responsibilities with me, Mama, and it would look better than if I were to go alone.”
“I suppose it cannot hurt,” Mrs. Bennet conceded.
“And Mr. Bingley might not even participate in the discussion, Mama. It is for Mrs. Hurst and the younger sister to assume the tenant responsibilities, not Mr. Bingley.”
Mrs. Bennet smiled knowingly at Elizabeth. “Oh, he will be there, Lizzy. Wait and see if I am not right!”
Chapter Eight
Ido not think he so much as took her eyes off her,” Mrs. Hurst told her sister, her eyes worried. She wrung her hands, a nervous habit she had picked up some years ago.
“But you said she is dark-haired, not blonde, and not particularly soft-spoken. She does not sound at all like the sort of woman Charles would be attracted to,” Miss Bingley was irritated. “I do not think we need be concerned.”
“I wish you had been there to see him,” Mrs. Hurst continued, shaking her head. “You would not dismiss the idea so easily.”
Caroline tossed her red curls. “I do not think I could have borne it.”
“The food was excellent,” Mrs. Hurst admitted. “And Miss Mary played quite well, with Miss Bennet singing beside her. Charles applauded mightily, and even Mr. Hurst stayed awake and complimented the two young ladies afterward.”
Miss Bingley only shrugged. She had no interest in Mr. Hurst’s opinions.
“But that is not all,” Mrs. Hurst said. “Miss Bennet and Miss Mary are to visit with us to teach us how to take on our responsibilities for the Netherfield tenants!”
“What?!” Miss Bingley was outraged. “Thetenants?”
“Why, yes; evidently, part of leasing the estate is caring for the tenant families.”
“But they have their own homes and their own farms! What more could possibly be required?”
“That is what we must learn. The Bennet sisters have been caring for our tenants as well as their own, as long as Netherfield was empty. But this has now become our responsibility.”
“I want nothing whatever to do with it,” Miss Bingley said, firmly.
Mrs. Hurst stared at her younger sister in silence for a long minute. Then she said, softly, “Caroline, you do understand that caring for the tenant families would be one of the main duties of the mistress of Pemberley, do you not?”
Miss Bingley closed her eyes for a moment, and then sighed deeply. Opening her eyes, she said, “Very well. What must I do?”
“I do not yet know; the Bennet sisters will visit us, likely after the Sabbath.”
Chapter Nine
Look, Lizzy,” Mrs. Bennet said. “I spent a good amount of time last night altering Jane’s dress to fit you.”
