27. Chapter 27 (1/2)

since so many people have wondered, jane and oliver are enjoying a honeymoon period. they will come back into the story more prominently soon. i am giving the others a bit of time and attention now. this will happen off and on. sometimes you will see the characters every chapter, sometimes there may be a few between their appearances. there is one chapter coming up that will be focused on one group. there are some interesting twists that are going to occur, some that have surprised even me. several of them are many chapters off, but they will be interesting. i am several chapters ahead in my writing, but i am keeping notes for further events. i can't help but wonder what you all will think.

i hope you enjoy this chapter. i took a little too much enjoyment in writing it. oh, caroline.

caroline bingley smirked as she took another turn in the garden. this particular path she knew took her by mr. darcy's study. he had been a civil as always since she arrived three weeks before. she was a bit confused when he

ushed off any comments she made about being happy her

other had avoided a connection to the bennet's, but she supposed that was because the incident had caused a damper on his friendship with her

other. she was positive that he would rather forget the whole affair, and she agreed wholeheartedly. besides, the bennet sisters would never be a problem for them again. although jane bennet had married so well, their crowd had managed to steer clear of the man before this situation arose, and they could do so again.

caroline was disappointed not to see mr. darcy gazing at her from the window. he had been doing that quite a lot. many times, when she was in the room, he would become distracted and would often stare in her direction. she only wished he would hurry and declare himself. she knew her sister and

other-in-law had no intention of joining them, so she could not fathom what could be stalling him.

the days were becoming so stressful on her. very soon, her

other would take possession of an estate and they would take their leave of pemberly to dwell in the house. she was happy for her

other, and very pleased with the position of the estate, but she had no desire to live there with him. she had hoped she would not leave pemberley, and would instead be made its mistress. and today had been more taxing on her. not only was mr. darcy not taking advantage of the visage she was trying to present him, but her

other was avoiding her, as well as miss darcy! now, she had always done what she could for the girl, so for the little

at to be going out of her way to avoid her was insolent.

caroline stopped. she thought for a moment, and smiled widely. they were planning something! she just knew it. she bet mr. darcy had ensured their help in declaring himself. her day was suddenly looking much better.

this day could not end soon enough. the list of things he held regrets for seemed ever growing, and the newest item on that list was allowing bingley to invite his sister to stay at pemberley. he had always tolerated her before, and when bingley mentioned sending for her, in the effort to continue mending their friendship, he offered for him to go ahead and send for her. she wasn't georgiana's favorite person, but she, too, could tolerate her. oh, how he regretted it.

the woman had been relentless since her return. she now seemed more determined than ever to have him. she would compliment him, sit next to him, talk about how nice the estate was, and talk with him about her

other escaping a connection to the bennet's. that last one would always set him to thinking about one particular bennet. on more than one occasion, he would come back to himself and find miss bingley practically leering at him. oh, how he wished that if he was going to stare off into nothing, it wouldn't be in her general direction.

georgiana was having a hard time dealing with her. his sister was naturally kind, but miss bingley had tested her resolve. the young woman had confessed to him that she didn't know how much longer she could handle the forced attentions miss bingley showered her with. the older woman was constantly correcting georgiana and trying to force her into activities she thought his sister should work on. his sister liked playing the piano forte, and little else. she may occasionally draw or make arrangements, but those were activities she could only do when the mood struck miss bingley seemed determined that she be well rounded in all things. it frustrated the girl to the point that she had taken to hiding away in their mother's favorite sitting room, one that miss bingley would never find, as the siblings shared its locations with no one.

bingley had been especially apologetic. he had become so desperate, due to his sister's actions, that he had actually approached mr. tiller's attorney to see how quickly they could take possession of the estate. thankfully, the man was amused by bingley's honestly in confessing that his sister was making his host uncomfortable, that he wrote to mr. tiller and had it approved immediately. the bingley's were heading to their new home on the morrow. bingley had expressed his regret for sending for her so soon. he wished he had waited until he was in his new home. it had been two days since he received notice of the move, and he had yet to tell miss bingley.

darcy, bingley, and georgiana had unashamedly spent the day avoiding the woman. he had noticed her strolling by his study window once, and upon asking his steward, learned that she had been doing so for a while. he left his study and continued his correspondence in his rooms.

now, they were sitting to dinner, and everyone but miss bingley seemed uncomfortable. she was dressed more outrageously than her usual, dripping with precious stones, and smiling and talking as though they were at a grand party instead of the small company they were. she kept looking at everyone expectantly. darcy was simply ready for the meal to be done. something was up and he didn't think it would be good. once silence settled on the group, bingley mercifully spoke up before she could begin again.

"i have some news."

"what is it, charles?" asked miss bingley, looking between perturbed and hopeful.

"the house is ready. we may move onto the estate as soon as we wish!"

"that is good news, mr. bingley," said georgiana, "i know you have been looking forward to it."

"yes, it will be wonderful to be able to call the estate my home. it is no pemberley, but payton park is more beautiful than i had hoped."

"you cannot be serious! you said it would be a few more weeks yet!" cried miss bingley.

"caroline! that is unnecessary, and i said it could be a few more weeks. the estate sold sooner than they expected, but it did not take them as long as they thought to remove their possessions. many of the staff have decided to stay on, and many items were included in the sale. i do not see us truly entertaining until the winter, but surely you will enjoy decorating the house. i certainly have no knack for it."

"when do you plan to leave?" she ground out.

"tomorrow."

"tomorrow?! and just when were you going to tell me?!"

"i'm telling you now.

"charles! no! this is not… this is not how this is supposed to go!" she was up pacing now. darcy shared a look with his sister. he silently dismissed her and she gratefully fled. "how could you… no. no! i won't accept this! this is not what i wanted… this is not what i had planned." she turned on her

other. "you will not…oomph!"

darcy was surprised to see his friend throw her over his shoulder. "if you will excuse me, darcy, i shall meet you in your study later."

he watch his friend stride from the room, his sister yelling and twisting in a most unladylike manner. looking around the room, he could hardly believe what had happened. shaking his head, he signaled for the food to be cleaned up, requested some pudding to be served for him and bingley in his study. he then left the room and the events behind him.

bingley moved through the house with purpose. he was embarrassed and angry. thankfully, they made it to his sister's rooms before they made more of a spectacle than they already were. one did not see a gentleman carry a young woman over his shoulder, sister or not, while said young woman was spewing things no proper young woman should know. he shut the door and tossed her on her bed.

"charles! how dare you!"

"how dare i? how dare i?! are you serious? after the spectacle you made in the dining room, you're going to ask me how i dare remove you before you make more trouble for yourself, and me for that matter. you are a piece of work."

"you are ruining everything!"

"what have i ruined, caroline? you knew we would be leaving. we are simply leaving earlier than expected."

"mr. darcy was going to make an offer for me!"

bingley stared at his sister. he laughed humorlessly. "my god, you truly believe that." he sat down at her dressing table. "caroline, darcy is not going to make an offer for you. i have told you this before. he has never had any intension of doing so."

"you can't say that!"

"yes, i can! he has told me so. i have told you so. to him, you are only the sister to his friend."

"you're lying!" tears were welling in her eyes.