A Pemberley Bride by Helen Stone

Author:Helen Stone
Language: eng
Format: mobi, azw3, epub
Published: 2016-02-10T07:00:00+00:00

Not half an hour later, Miss Bingley was talking to her sister, Mrs Hurst, in her bedroom. Polly, the maid, was folding clothes in the corner and every now and then Miss Bingley scolded her for some imagined mistake.

‘We must do something,’ said Miss Bingley, banging her hairbrush down on the dressing table for emphasis.

‘Really, Caro, I don’t see what we can do,’ said Mrs Hurst in a bored voice.

‘I have told you before, Louisa, don’t call me Caro. That is a name from our childhood. I am Caroline now. There must be something we can do.’

‘If he has decided to marry Miss Eliza Bennet, then he will marry her.’

Miss Bingley became thoughtful.

‘Not if she disgraces him in front of all his guests. Then I think he will send her about her business. Her ankle is much better now. She can hobble around on her own and I think, if she disgraces him, he will think she is well enough to be sent packing.’

‘She will never disgrace him,’ said Louisa Hurst.

‘Oh, I think she will.’ There was an evil gleam in Miss Bingley’s eye. ‘The day after tomorrow there is a very important dinner party. The Prime Minister will be there and several other very important people. They are `staying here overnight on their way further north. I think I can see a way how it can be done. Miss Elizabeth Bennet has no clothes suitable for the occasion. She is on a travelling tour and her dresses are plain and serviceable, made of muslin and not satin or silk. I shall offer to lend her one of my dresses.’

‘How will that help?’ asked Louisa. ‘Will that not make him want her even more?’

‘You are going to help me, Louisa,’ said Miss Bingley, going over to her wardrobe. She took out an exquisite gown of gold silk. ‘This will suit Miss Elizabeth’s complexion and her fine eyes.’ She emphasises the words in a droll voice, ridiculing them, because she hated the fact that Mr Darcy had uttered them.

‘Really, Caro, I think you must have taken leave of your senses. She will look adorable. She really is very pretty, you know. Not at first, perhaps, because she is out of the common way, but when one sees her in a certain light she is positively beautiful.’

‘I am going to loosen the stitching,’ said Miss Bingley. She took a small pair of scissors out of her dressing pouch and began to snip some of the stitches very carefully. ‘Now, let me put it on.’ She turned to the maid and said in a haughty voice, ‘You, girl, assist me.’

Polly helped her to don the gown.

‘Now,’ said Miss Bingley to her sister. ‘Step on the train.’

‘Why?’ asked Louisa.

‘Just do as I say.’

‘Oh, very well.’

Louisa stepped on the train and Miss Bingley moved forward carefully. There was a tugging sensation but it was clear the stitches had not been loosened enough for her plan to work. She commanded Polly to help her remove the gown and then she loosened some more of the stitching.

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