In Plain Sight: A Pride & Prejudice Variation by Don Jacobson

Author:Don Jacobson
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Alternate Universe, Pride and Prejudice & Related Fandoms
Publisher: Meryton Press
Published: 2020-06-12T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 27

The Netherfield Ball, October 25, 1811

The light streaming through Netherfield’s west-facing windows poured molten gold over every fixture in the ballroom.

Caroline Bingley could not appreciate the aesthetic atmospherics despite the beauty of the sunlight glinting off of gilt-laden furnishings and crystalline chandeliers. There was, as of yet, far too much to accomplish before her 150 guests arrived some three hours hence. Not only were tasks still being completed, but Caroline was also convinced that none would meet her standards unless she personally supervised the final execution.

She had heard from nearly a dozen of the local doyens that it had been nearly five years since a ball of this magnitude had been given in this backwater corner of England. Miss Bingley would never admit to having a cloud cross her brow when faced with what seemed to be insurmountable. She privately would allow that there were moments in the darkness of her chamber when she stared up at the featureless plain stretching above her, butterflies batting about her ribcage.

After Charles impetuously had taken it into his head to put on a ball, Caroline had spent the subsequent fortnight discovering how much she could find in the estate’s storerooms and what she would have to bring in from town. Carters’ wagons bound for Netherfield daily rumbled along the turnpikes connecting the capital, St. Albans, and Hertford to Meryton. Their beds were filled with hothouse flowers, choice viands, elegant tableware, and untaxed liquids. This was one of the times she did not eschew her father’s business acumen; his fortune founded in trade made this evening possible without discomfort.

Nary a soul would have dared compare her methods to plan the Harvest Ball with those used by her bête noire, Mrs. Bennet, to organize Mary Bennet’s wedding. Yet, both ladies were alike in their planning discipline: lists upon lists covering sheets of foolscap scattered about both estates’ public areas as if the parlors had been turned over to den Generalstab des preußischen Königs.[30] Both Bennet and Fitzwilliam had been heard complimenting their respective hostesses’ Teutonic efficiency. Neither lady was exactly certain how much was praise and how much was sarcasm.

Miss Bingley doubted that any of the country bumpkins crossing her threshold this evening would notice any shortcoming in her preparations, but she was determined that all would be as perfect as if the Beau himself was on the guest list. Her self-image insisted that she show these rusticated ladies—the local gentlemen would only notice if there was a sudden shortage of port and brandy in the card room—how an accomplished hostess met every obstacle.

Now, she had but an hour before she would prepare herself to greet her guests. And those salutations, while made between clenched teeth and fluted through upturned nostrils, would cement her standing as the arbiter of style. None could gainsay any of her decisions; of this, she was convinced. She fully expected that her enhanced reputation, gained from the ball’s flawless execution, would make her return to town all the more triumphant.

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