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“I wish you to read these letters.” He handed her the pages and took some small satisfaction in the change that came over her as she read the housekeeper’s note. She was trying her best not to show her mortification, but his sister never had been able to conceal her emotions well.

“You ordered the housekeeper to read my letters?” she asked, horrified.

“Only if you directed a letter to Longbourn, for I had an idea of what you might wish to accomplish. Yet, even I could not have imagined the depths to which you could sink, Caroline. Never in my life have I considered Miss Darcy as anything other than my friend’s sister. Why, she is not even out!”

“She shall be soon.” She waved away his objection. “I do not doubt that she shall come out at sixteen or seventeen. Mr. Darcy is so protective of his sister, surely he will prefer a gentleman he knows for her.”

“Then you mistake Mr. Darcy entirely,” said Bingley with a force that surprised even himself. “You should know that your supposition and ones like it are why you shall never be Mrs. Darcy. Mr. Darcy has said he will never arrange a match for his sister. He shall allow her to decide who she marries, if she marries.”

Caroline tamped down her offence at the statement about her future and squared her shoulders. “I wish only to see you happy, Charles,” she said, her voice brittle, “and I must suppose that, left to your own devices, you will be quite undone by the first handsome face and obliging manner to cross your path. I cannot regret that I tried to act for your good.”

“I am grown, Caroline. I do not need your assistance.”

“Then I see how it is. You have made up your mind to be rid of me. I shall not be welcome anymore in your house.”

“At Netherfield and in this house,” said her brother, “you are correct that you are not welcome. Yet, I am not so cruel as to leave you without a place to go. You are still welcome with the Hursts, and if you do not wish to stay with them, I might assist you in setting up an establishment of your own,” Bingley offered.

“I do not require your assistance, Charles,” she replied, her head held high. “I shall go and throw myself on the mercy of the Hursts. If I require anything I am sure that Hurst will assist me, since you do not desire my presence any longer. Go, go back to Netherfield and throw yourself away by marrying a girl of no consequence in this world.”

Bingley prided himself on his response, for he did not spit back insults after his sister spoke in such insulting terms of his beloved, instead calling for a nearby servant to ready the carriage and bring her to the Hursts. Then also, they were to prepare his horse, for he wished to speak with Mr. Darcy as soon as could be managed.

Chapter 24

Upon entering Darcy House, Mr. Bingley sent up his card post-haste and was rewarded in moments by the appearance of his friend, who, discerning the gravity of Bingley’s expression, led him at once into the privacy of his study. There, with the door securely closed and no chance of interruption, Bingley laid before Darcy both the intercepted letter and Mrs. Nichols’s account of its discovery.

Mr. Darcy read both with great solemnity, his face betraying little of his emotions. When he had read both missives, he set them aside and leaned back in his chair as one exhausted. “This is no small thing, Bingley. I had thought your sister capable of much, but I never would have imagined that she would involve Georgiana in her schemes.”

“That is why I brought the letters to you at once. I would not have you thinking I have designs upon your sister, for such a thought has never crossed my mind. I mean no offence, but I was appalled when my sister suggested such a thing.”

“I know you do not mean it as a slight to my sister,” Darcy replied. His gaze lingered on the missives before him, as if through sheer force of will he might obliterate all trace of their contents. “But you must know that from this day forward, neither I nor Georgiana shall hold any further communication with your sister.”

“If I was not required by family duty to communicate with her, I should do likewise,” Bingley answered.

“Further,” said Darcy, “I think it only fair to inform you that your sister came to see my sister and me this very morning.”

“She did not imply—” Bingley began, but Darcy held up a hand to stop him.

“She said nothing of that. No, she spoke rather of your attachment to Miss Bennet. Her object was to urge me to convince you to think better of your intentions toward Miss Bennet. She was perfectly frank in her belief that such a match would be a disgrace and pressed me on every supposed deficiency in the Bennet family.”

“And what was your reply?” Bingley asked, remembering what Darcy had said about Miss Wester the year before.

“I told her that I would have no part in her schemes. I believe that Miss Bennet seems at the very least to like you, and her family is genteel, even if they do not have the greatest connections. I do not find anything in Miss Bennet’s manner objectionable, nor do I think she is pretending affection for your fortune. Thus, why should I object?”

Bingley breathed a sigh of relief. Although he knew he needed no one’s permission to marry, he valued Darcy’s opinion highly. He would have proposed to Miss Bennet regardless, but such reassurance was greatly appreciated. “Will you come with me to Netherfield? I mean to return on the morrow.”

“Tomorrow? You cannot have accomplished all you wished as yet. Not to mention that tomorrow is Sunday.”

Bingley waved the objection away. “I will see my solicitor this evening and he shall be able to set all in motion. I will be able to finish the rest with the help of Mr. Phillips and a few missives sent between Meryton and London. As for the Sabbath, the Lord shall forgive me, I am sure, given the circumstances.”

Darcy’s lips quirked in amusement at his friend’s eagerness to return. “If it must be so,” he said, “then you are right to lose no time. The sooner you are in Hertfordshire, the sooner you may set your mind at ease,” he said, before his countenance turned more severe. “I cannot go with you, though. I have been too long away from my sister.”

“Miss Darcy would be quite welcome. Mrs. Annesley too, for if she comes with, I shall have a lady to act as my hostess.”

“I cannot bring my sister to Hertfordshire while a certain officer remains in the county.”

Bingley’s joyful expression dropped away. He did not know exactly what had passed between Darcy, his sister, and Mr. Wickham, but it was enough that he knew his friend would never willingly bring his sister into Wickham’s company. “I understand, Darcy,” he said. “But I do hope you will bring your sister when you visit after I am wed. I believe she and Miss Bennet will get on famously.”

“Are you so confident in your reception that you declare we shall visit when you are wed and not if?” Darcy teased.