Mr Darcy's Christmas Carol

Part 11

At last Caroline Bingley was pulled to her feet, and Darcy moved away from her quickly - but not quickly enough. He opened his mouth to justify their compromising position as an accident, nothing more, but Caroline Bingley somehow managed to speak first.

"Oh, Charles! Forgive us. We could not help ourselves, we -"

"Be quiet, Caroline." It was the sternest sentence Darcy had ever heard his friend utter and laced with the contempt that suggested he, like Darcy, grasped the true nature of what had happened. They had been found in a compromising position, certainly, but it was no more Darcy's fault than it was the accident he had been about to claim. It had been engineered - by none other than his sister.

"What's happening over there on the terrace?" A curious, middle-aged woman asked, and the two couples moved quickly back into the light.

"Nothing, Mama!" Annabelle Parker called, shooting a knowing glance at Mr Bingley. "We four were just seeking a little fresh air."

"Good, good." Mrs Parker looked a little crestfallen as if she had scented some trace of scandal in the air and was disappointed to be denied the chance of some delicious gossip.

The musicians began to play once more and the party shifted, allowing the quartet quiet enough to speak without fear of being overheard.

"Charles -" Darcy began, sensing that, of his three companions, his friend alone possessed the sense to listen to reason.

"You are a good friend to me, Darcy." Charles looked as confused as Darcy felt. "But Caroline is my sister. If anything - that is, I trust -"

"Nothing happened," Darcy said. "What could have happened? Caroline sought some fresh air and tripped. Would you rather I let her fall?"

Charles' frown darkened, and Darcy turned towards Caroline, silently willing her to corroborate his story. He knew, from one glance at her serene features, that it was a vain hope. She had done exactly as she wished, and with witnesses that would be difficult to avoid. He caught sight of a knowing look pass between the two women and his heart sank further still. He did not doubt Charles' happening to pass by the window at just such an unfortunate moment was no coincidence.

"Is that what happened?" Charles asked, directing his question to Caroline. Darcy held his breath. Everything rested on what Caroline's response would be: surely she would not lie to her brother's face?

"It is just what Mr Darcy said." Caroline's response was barely a whisper, and she dropped her eyes to the ground as if she could scarcely bear to meet her brother's gaze. Darcy felt the slightest of smiles tug at his lips and wrestled to maintain a neutral expression. Very clever, Caroline, he thought, realising that she had managed both to avoid lying to her brother and insinuate that Darcy's entirely truthful account was anything but accurate.

When Charles looked at him next it was with an expression that Darcy had never before seen on his friend's usually happy countenance. Reputations were at risk: his, Caroline's, but at that moment his friendship with Charles was the most precarious of all. Darcy's stomach rolled. Could he risk bringing such scandal close to his door again, so soon after he had barely managed to avoid it with Georgiana? Would he condemn Charles' sister to the tragedy he had averted for his own? Caroline was silly and manipulative, but perhaps she would change in time. Surely he owed his friend that much.

Trapped, what other option was open to him? He sighed and turned to Caroline. His words, when they came, were forced out from between clenched teeth, giving them a taut, angry tone.

"Miss Bingley, will you allow your brother and me to discuss the details of our engagement. I trust you wish to marry?"

"Oh, Mr Darcy!" Caroline cried, with what might have been genuine delight. "Of course. Come, Annabelle, let us get some refreshments and allow the gentlemen to talk."

They had been gone but a moment when Charles let out a heavy sigh of relief.

"Well! I must confess I did not foresee those words coming out of your mouth."

"I did not intend on uttering them."

Charles' eyes narrowed.

"Come, Charles. You must have seen how that little performance was entirely engineered by your sister. Do you really think me foolish enough to attempt a seduction in a room full of people? Or a scoundrel enough to even countenance such behaviour?"

Charles shook his head, slowly.

"Then Caroline...?"

"Yes, Caroline," Darcy grumbled. "Still, I suppose she will make me no worse a wife than any other woman."

"She - she can be kind, Darcy. I know you will grow to care for her, if you do not at present." He sounded strangely sad, but Darcy was in no mood to placate his friend. It was for Charles' happiness he had sacrificed his own, what more did his friend desire?

"So you will marry her?" The slightest trace of doubt had crept into Charles' voice.

"I said as much, didn't I? Or do you intend to impugn my word now as well?" Darcy was already regretting his offer of marriage. Surely there would have been some other way out of it that did not mean his being bound to Caroline Bingley for life.

"Well, I'm glad," Charles said at last. He reached a hand out and clapped Darcy on the arm. "I could not wish for a better husband for my sister." He said nothing of there possibly existing, somewhere, a better wife for Darcy. "Let us not speak of specifics tonight, though." He eyed the crowd, who had begun to dart curious glances to their corner, one or two having spoken directly to Caroline and whose gazes were not curious, but knowing. "Surely now is the time for celebration?"

"Celebration," Darcy muttered, his eyes returning to his feet once more. How quickly everything had shifted. And how little he felt the need of celebrating such a change.