Caroline Bingley: A Continuation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice Read Online Free PDF Page A

moment. She was neither angry nor embarrassed, but her shock was utter and complete.
    "What do you mean, Louisa?"
    "Why, precisely what I said. You were ever trying to provoke Mr. Darcy by mentioning Miss Bennet and her connections. Though you believed yourself to be mocking her, you succeeded only in keeping the lady at the forefront of his mind." Here, Louisa paused in contemplation. "You may well be the most successful unintentional matchmaker in the country!"
    Ire rose in Caroline at this suggestion, and her fingers gripped the edge of the writing table. "If that is true, Louisa, then you must also accept that you share that title, for it was chiefly your advice that I followed."
    The sisters eyed each other for many long moments before Louisa said, "Do not you think it wise, sister, to retrench? To take some time away? Perhaps a fresh perspective will be good for everyone."
    "Retrench?" Caroline could barely pronounce the word, so far from her nature was it to retreat from conflict. "I need no pause for perspective."
    "Do you not perceive the benefits?"
    "No, indeed. No good can come of such dissemination of our party."
    "Can it not?" Louisa asked. "Our family is suddenly very different. We welcome a new sister to the fold, and naturally, we must all find our footing in the new order. In fact, I am anxious to be away so that I may return as if none of the unpleasantness in London or at Pemberley ever occurred. You ought to do the same."
    Caroline was so angry she could not utter a syllable.
    "I perceive your anger, my dear sister," Louisa said, her eyes now full of false pity, "but you must understand that this decision is for the best. Our best." She offered Caroline another look that was all condescension. "You must weigh your choices. Is it more important to flatter your vanity or to preserve peace in the family? And I should think that you would like to retain your welcome at Pemberley."
    With the latter, Caroline could not argue. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to contemplate Pemberley, the estate she had one day hoped to call home. In her mind, she could see the massive stone edifice, she could smell the roses that bloomed all summer in the manicured garden, and she could even feel the soft breeze that blew across the pond in the evenings. She could imagine herself ascending the massive staircase in the evenings after she indulged in a quick trip to the kitchen for a bedtime biscuit or glass of wine. She could feel the cool stone underfoot as she padded silently up to her chamber.
    "I would never forfeit my rights to visit Pemberley," Caroline whispered.
    "Then off you shall go to Mama."
    "I suppose it is so," Caroline said.
    • • •

    And here she was.
    In Kendal.
    Standing ankle deep in mud at a wretched coaching inn and endeavoring to conceal the full truth of what had taken place from her own mother, the woman she held most dear.
     

 
    Three
     
    Perhaps the long journey and the uncomfortable accommodations over the past six days had taxed Caroline beyond what she had expected, and now she was suffering from an excess of sentimentality. Yes, exhaustion was to blame for the warm sting of tears in her eyes and the heavy pull in her heart.
    "Oh! How I have missed my youngest daughter." Mrs. Newton stepped back, holding Caroline at arm's length so she could better observe her. "But you have matured so much that you hardly resemble the little girl I sent to London all those years ago."
    Caroline briefly lowered her eyes and smiled at her mother. "Mama, it has not been so long as that, for we have seen each other numerous times since I left the seminary."
    "Yes, the seminary returned quite a changed young lady. Even your accent was different. You could have hailed from an aristocratic London family. But you were yet a little girl." Mrs. Newton caressed her daughter's cheek and then took both her hands. "Now, however, after a short two years in charge of your brother's household, I find a beautiful