Page 126 of The Stench of Trade

Georgiana had of course told her aunt the story the previous week and now the two of them watched the different emotions pass across the faces of the two gentlemen.

“This is what Miss Bennet strongly believes?”

“Yes brother. Her exact words while holding and squeezing my hands, her gaze unblinking to the questions in my own eyes.”

Georgiana smiled but her eyes were still.

“Of course, it is nothing but a rumour, is it not?”

The silence last for close to a minute but Darcy had no concept of time. He sat there looking at his beloved little sister, how she was not just back to how she was 10 months earlier, but how she was a grown mature young lady. Georgiana Darcy the child was consigned to the past.

He jumped to his feet pulling his sister into his arms, hugging her so tight that she squeaked at him. No sooner was she released from his hug than her cousin also hugged her, although with less danger to her ribs. They all settled.

“As you can imagine I returned her last Wednesday in somewhat of a daze. I made my excuses to our aunt and uncle and sat in my room replaying the day. I went to bed and had the best sleep in a year and woke up with this wonderful feeling of freedom. A weight I did not know I was carrying.”

She stopped.

“No, the better way to describe it is I did not realise the weight I was carrying was so heavy. I knew I was burdened by the events of Ramsgate but it was not until that feeling was gone that I knew how much it was weighing me down. Our poor aunt has had to suffer my effusions for a week. Even church on Sunday was better. I never prayed for myself, I was too ashamed of my behaviour. But last Sunday was different, in ways I am not sure I can describe. This is the new me. Happy, cheerful, so effusive I have managed to upset our uncle enough to make him laugh three times in one day.”

The following morning Darcy was awake before the dawn and was in Hyde Park as the sun rose above the city behind him. Dinner the previous evening had been light-hearted and relaxed, to the point where Darcy could have described it as joyous. The change in his sister was so wonderful. Darcy was smiling so much that he snorted at himself for this uncharacteristic behaviour. This made him shake his head at the visage he presented; smiling, snorting and shaking his head? Whatever would the Ton make of such utterly un-Darcy-like behaviour.

But his thoughts that morning trended towards Miss Elizabeth Bennet. How on earth was he to thank her for the miracle she had wrought with his sister? He was struggling to find an appropriate, yet discreet way to thank her. And that was easy compared to considering how to reward her. He knew and admired her fierce independence. She would be insulted by any kind of material token.

Thinking about Miss Elizabeth Bennet led him on to her family. Three days earlier he had dined with her older sister. The fresh morning air and a prancing stallion led him to a second circuit of the park. He knew that there had been an estrangement between the two sisters and that it had only been resolved during the current season. But there were innumerable unanswered threads to the tale. Now most of them were none of his concern and he had no reason, or right, to be involved in the affairs of the Bennet ladies. But there were many omissions in the tale. He had no idea why there had been an estrangement in the first place. Miss Elizabeth had requested that he make no mention of her current address when in Kent. As far as he could tell the rest of the family assumed she still lived with her uncle. Which led to the question many gentlemen, not just himself, had wondered over the course of the season. All Miss Bennet or Lady Maria ever said was that she had done a small service for the family. What was interesting was Miss Bennet always said ‘small’ while Lady Maria just said ‘a service’. He was not alone in speculating as to what that service was. Miss Bennet had significant connections in London and Darcy was not sure that any of the rest of her family were aware of them.

He pondered this as he rode, his body controlled his horse with instinctive and automatic commands. He considered the wider Bennet family, including the new Baronet in London. He had to focus back on his time in Hertfordshire, where even he acknowledged he had failed the basic manners of a gentlemen, at least some of the time.

Mr. Bennet was a ghost, if not literally then socially. No other gentlemen in the neighbourhood had come right out and said it, but the inference was clear; he was a lazy landowner. His own daughter was handing out ‘blood brandy’ to his neighbours and he appeared to know nothing about it. His wife was a matchmaking mama of the Ton, just in a country setting. She was more coarse than most of the ladies of the Ton, but her intentions were identical. That the three oldest daughters were genteel and dignified was a miracle. In her defence, an entail and a lazy husband were not conducive to keeping any lady calm. Caroline Bingley had been quick to gloat that there was no dowry for any of the daughters, beyond the mother’s own jointure. Another indication of the laziness of the father and husband.

Miss Jane and Miss Mary Bennet, well Darcy knew them slightly. Now that he had removed his unpleasant demeanour from the time in Hertfordshire, it was clear that they were perfectly acceptable country ladies. Of a different social standing than himself, but it was he who had invaded their sphere rather than the other way round. Then the question that Richard had posed the week previously came to his mind. The situation with Bingley and his sister had to be resolved, but Jane Bennet had asked the questions about his sister and Bingley not because of his sister but because of Bingley.

He did not physically rein in his horse but his thoughts were definitely pulled up. He now saw more clearly; Bingley and Miss Jane Bennet had given the appearance of a courting couple. There had been nothing formal but Bingley had not been coy in his behaviour. He sighed and slowed his stallion to a trot, the third circuit would be a more moderate pace. He sighed at the thought of Bingley and his benighted sister. There was so much to deal with. There had been no mention of the thrice damned letters the previous evening. But he would have to talk to his aunt and uncle, and this day, to explain the circumstances. Any reputation that Miss Bingley had was about to fall about her like a pack of cards. If his aunt spoke to Lady Maria, and through her to her brother and sisters, then Miss Bingley might as well head to Canada. If Desmond added his own displeasure then she might not be welcome even in Canada.

Mere minutes ago, he contemplated informing Bingley that Miss Jane Bennet would be in London for a few days on the weekend after Easter. If Bingley chose to act then he would step back and let events take their course. It was a tangential way to thank Miss Elizabeth. But all that was moot if the Bingley family were going to get the full cut of the Ton. He had no idea how that was going to play out. He had always accepted Caroline Bingley, however reluctantly, because she was Bingley’s sister. Given that he would never put Georgiana aside for a friendship, he had always shied away from requiring the same thing of Bingley.

Where he was struggling was the whole issue of the Bingleys being cut by society. He could limit it to just Miss Bingley but how would Bingley react? And what would it say about him if he cast off his sister rather than retire from society? He thought back to the previous day. If Georgiana’s behaviour ever came to light then there would be a pack of wolves ready to tear her apart. She had been burdened by the same, and the worry of discovery, for close to a year. Which is where all this introspection started, thanking Miss Elizabeth Bennet for allowing his sister to finally move past the incident. Could Miss Bingley similarly recover from this lapse of judgement?

If he was not careful Leonis would have a fourth circuit of the park. He slowed from their current trot down to a leisurely paced walk as he wrestled with the issue. It came down to character. Georgiana acted completely out of character, as she herself said she was struck on her Achilles heel. Whereas Caroline Bingley acted in a manner similar to her everyday character. There was no point in listing the litany of flaws in that character, it was the antithesis of his sister. There was to be no second chance for her. But what of Charles Bingley? Would Darcy think any less of him if he released his sister’s dowry to her and cut ties? He did not know.

Darcy knew Caroline Bingley was Charles Bingley’s own Achilles heel. They had met all season at their club so that Darcy could avoid her presence. Not a week went by where Bingley did not suggest some kind of social outing, normally a dinner at Darcy House. It was why Darcy had been so complaisant with Lady Susan’s invitations to private balls rather than any kind of public occasion. As he walked Leonis back to Darcy House he was saddened to realise that his friendship of more than five years with Bingley was almost certainly at an end. He did not trust Bingley to deal with his sister, even if he proclaimed that he would do so. It was a dispiriting thought.

Telling his aunt and uncle about Miss Bingley and what she had written in three letters to Jane Bennet went pretty well exactly as Darcy had predicted. His uncle was vociferously furious whilst his aunt was frighteningly quiet, a cold fury that was very unnerving.

“You are confident that the news of this has not spread?”

“I am almost certain Aunt Susan. Miss Jane Bennet shared the letters with no one. Not her mother, her sisters, or her closest friend with whom she was staying in Kent. I have given the matter considerable thought, as you can imagine, and my read of them is that Miss Bingley is merely using the purported relationship as a means to let Miss Jane Bennet know that she has no chance with her brother. First, she closed up the house without her brother’s permission to separate them, and second she concocted this idiocy as a second arrow in her quiver. Is what she writes a wish of hers? Absolutely, because she falsely believes that it will ease the way to her becoming Mrs. Darcy. Something that will never happen. She used Georgiana simply because Miss Jane Bennet had met me, she was convenient.”

Both his uncle and aunt pondered his words for a moment before nodding in agreement.

“How do we deal with the brother? Also, did you not tell me there is a second sister that is already married?”

“To answer your second question, there is a sister named Louisa, married to a Mr. Hurst. I confess to not knowing his first name, he has always just been Hurst. As to the brother.”

Darcy spent several minutes recounting his thoughts from that morning’s ride.