He was spellbound as Beth Bennet sang “Amazing Grace” as Jane played. Hers was not a classically trained voice, but the feelings she produced were authentic and moving. His admiration of her talents and thankfulness for the kindness she showed to Gaby and Anne only fueled his desire for her. The sound of her voice seemed to dance across his skin. Oh, to have those full lips sing his name as she took her pleasure! Darcy shifted in his seat.
“Will, are you all right?” Tilney asked him. Mortified, Darcy assured him he was well.
They were startled as the doors crashed open. “Jane! Jane!” Doc Bingley cried as he ran up the aisle, waving a slip of paper in his hand. Alarmed, the two men ran after him, the concert coming to an abrupt halt.
“What is it, Charles?” Jane instinctively covered her pregnant midsection.
“She’s coming today! I just got this from the telegraph office.” Charles shoved the paper into his wife’s hands. It only took her a moment to read the message. She paled.
“But… but she wasn’t coming until June! You read her letter.” The two talked as if all the others had disappeared. They had not—they all stood around in various stages of alarm. They knew something was amiss, but it was a mystery as to what it was exactly.
“I know, but she’s on today’s stage. She’ll be here at any time!”
“But I’m not ready!” Jane cried in a panic. “Her room’s not ready. How can she do this to me?”
“I’m sorry, but what can I do?”
Darcy stepped in. “Forgive me, but what the devil are you two talking about?”
“Caroline! Caroline’s coming! Today!” Charles said.
Darcy’s eyebrows rose. “Caroline? Who’s Caroline?”
“My sister, Caroline, from New Orleans. I’m sure I mentioned her.”
Beth gasped. “But you said she wasn’t coming until June. That’s at least two weeks away.”
Tilney broke in. “Uhh, folks, if Doc Bingley’s sister is on today’s stage, I suggest we get to the hotel. It’s due any time now.”
Charles was wide-eyed. “I know! That’s why I’m here. Jane, can you come?”
“My house!” Jane cried.
“It’s all right,” Beth assured her. “We’ll see to everything, won’t we?” She turned to her sisters, who quickly agreed. Charlotte, Gaby, and Anne excused themselves, but Jane would not hear of it, insisting that they remain to enjoy themselves.
“Jane,” Darcy said in a firm yet gentle voice, “why don’t we adjourn to the hotel and take our leisure? My cousin, sister, and I would be glad to keep you and Charles company.”
“Oh, thank you, Will! Beth! Beth, you come, too. Please!”
The group broke up into two parties. Mary, Kathy, and Lily went to the Bingley house to prepare it for the guest, while the others walked over to the hotel. Charlotte joined them, but Tilney excused himself. An hour later, a now-composed Jane and Charles Bingley, with their friends and relations, met the stagecoach as it pulled up. A gloved hand waved from the window.
“Charles! Oh, Charles! How wonderful to see you!” called a high female voice from within.
Charles stepped up and helped a blonde woman descend from the coach. Her traveling dress was dusty, and the feathers on her hat drooped into her face.
“Oh, you must be Jane!” Without ceremony, the woman drew Jane into her arms. She gave her a quick kiss and released her, turning to Charles.
“My God, Charles, what god-forsaken place have you dragged me to?”
Caroline Bingley had arrived.
Chapter 6
June
It didn’t take long for Beth to come to the decided opinion that Caroline Bingley was the most unpleasant woman in the world.
With Caroline’s early arrival in Rosings, Beth naturally wondered if the plan for her to move in with the Bingleys in June to help out until after the baby was born was still necessary. Jane assured her that it was, so Beth moved into the lone guest room in the Bingley house as scheduled, sharing it with Charles’s sister. Beth truly intended to get along with Caroline, and she tried mightily—for a week.
It wasn’t because Caroline was outright mean, Beth would later admit to herself. She would have to be noticed first by the blasted woman to be directly insulted. Caroline typically ignored her existence and refused to talk to her unless absolutely necessary. She was treated more like a servant than a relative.
Beth’s job was to do everything that Jane normally would, so her sister could take her rest in preparation for the baby. The work of washing, cleaning, and cooking wasn’t difficult—Beth had done it her entire life. But instead of doing it for three people, she was doing it for four. Caroline, by hook or crook, refused to lift a finger to help. Bingley’s sister either didn’t know how to cook, had to keep Jane company instead, or developed a headache when chores had to be done.
Caroline had plenty of opinions, though, and spent most of her time expressing them. It was terrible that Bingley couldn’t afford a servant, she had said. It wasn’t like the old days back at Netherfield. The town was so small, and she wondered how Charles and Jane could tolerate it. No theater, no music. It was simply barbaric! She couldn’t abide the simple farmers and dirty ranch hands. There were too many “others” in town—by that, she meant Mexican people. But she reserved her greatest ire for the “carpetbaggers” and “scallywags,” like George Whitehead and Billy Collins.
“Imagine a son of Georgia working with that slimy Yankee!” she declared one day when she and Beth had met the two on the street after a shopping trip to Zimmerman’s. “But, I suppose he was the son of a shopkeeper or something. Class always tells, Miss Beth.”
Beth gritted her teeth but kept an indifferent expression. “Mr. Whitehead is a very respectable man. He was appointed by the governor himself.”
Caroline dismissed Elizabeth’s comment with, “Another scallywag in the pocket of those vile carpetbaggers.”
Beth tried to be polite. “Perhaps, but Governor Davis was elected by the people of Texas.”
Caroline smiled patronizingly. “After the Yankee soldiers purged the voting rolls! Charles told me all about it. Oh, Miss Beth, you have no idea what we’ve had to put up with down here.” She paused. “Y’all are from Ohio, I understand?”
“Yes, we are.”
Caroline’s nose seemed to rise. “That explains things. You have a lot to learn, Miss Beth, bless your heart.”
It didn’t take long for Beth to realize that Caroline used “bless your heart” as a means of taking the sting out of her most pointed insults.
Passing a ranch hand on the street: “He probably hasn’t had a bath this year, bless his heart.”
After meeting Charlotte: “Not every girl can be born pretty, bless her heart.”
Beth’s clothing: “I suppose livin’ on a farm you have to make your own dresses, bless your heart.”
When Caroline wasn’t holding court over the shortcomings in Rosings, she reflected on life at Netherfield, where the Bingleys grew up, or waxed elegant over New Orleans, where she was currently living with her sister and brother-in-law, the Hursts. The music, the food, the society—everything was superior in the Queen City of the South. She talked endlessly of the fine parties and balls she had attended, particularly about an event called “Mardi Gras.”
“A bal masque,” she explained, “only attended by the cream of society. Oh, Charles, if only you lived in New Orleans! With Mr. Hurst’s connections, I’m sure that you and dear Jane would soon be in the highest circles.” She then turned to Beth. “And I’m sure we could do something for you, too, dear.”
The only resident of Rosings who seemed worthy of Caroline’s notice was Will Darcy. He brought his sister to dinner one night, and Beth was amused at how Caroline practically threw herself at the man. It was obvious that the woman’s interest was purely monetary, for she spent the entirety of the dinner asking Darcy about Pemberley Ranch, ignoring Gaby altogether. Beth swore she could see dollar signs in Caroline’s eyes.