Page 91 of To Go Against Her Heart
“Unfortunately, your letter has failed to convince him, for the claims you have made are without proof. Had you written it under your own name, he might have been more inclined to believe them; yet he has declared he would never question her and has explicitly forbidden me from doing so.”
“You cannot allow your family to be attached to her; can you not stop this marriage? Elizabeth Bennet betrayed all of you, and I assume she cares nothing about Mr. Darcy, except for his money and status. Who knows why she broke the engagement with Mr. Harrington? It might be because he did not have the wealth she had always dreamed of marrying into. You cannot allow her to be the mistress of Pemberley, Lady Matlock. Surely, there must be a way.”
“There is; I can never let those who deceive me go unscathed, and the only way to make my nephew understand the perils of his future is through her own confession.”
“She will deny everything.”
“Perhaps she might, if we question her within four walls, but not before her family and friends at the party. I request you to be patient and wait until tomorrow evening to witness what I have planned.All I ask is that you stand beside me when I entreat you to disclose the truth you know,” she said. Miss Bingley could barely contain her delight at the prospect of Elizabeth being exposed before all her acquaintances. She was delighted that,though she had penned several falsehoods in the letter, Lady Matlock had accepted them without question.
“Do you plan to expose her at the party? In front of everyone?” she asked, thrilled.
“Only that would suffice for someone who has acted with such spite.”
“Be assured, madam, whatever you want me to say to support you, I shall, and I hope Mr. Darcy finally sees what a filthy woman she is,” Miss Bingley said and left the room.
***
The next day, Netherfield buzzed with activity as the guests were set to arrive that evening. Everyone was excited for the party and the upcoming weddings. However, the delight evident in Miss Bingley’s countenance was for an entirely different reason. She smiled sarcastically as she saw the servants hurrying here and there carrying decorations and anticipated that the party would end in Elizabeth’s ruin.
If Lady Matlock confronts her, she will have no means to deny her past. Even if she denies the affair, after such a public display, Mr. Darcy could never marry her—and I shall use this to my advantage and stop the other wedding,she thought.
She was hardly able to contain her triumph at the thought of everyone’s smile evaporating into thin air as the night ended.
Miss Bingley encountered Lady Matlock but once during the day—at dinner—and from the look upon her countenance, she felt reassured that Lady Matlock had not wavered in her resolve regarding the forthcoming confrontation.
As evening approached, she grew restless; at last, she knew it was time to disgrace all those who had caused the turmoil she had endured in the past weeks. She had become an object of ridicule to her own family, and now she wanted Elizabeth to suffer similarly.
Around half past six, she glimpsed the Bennet carriage from her window, and her heart immediately began to race. She mentally replayed everything she had planned to say against Elizabeth and at that very moment, a knock sounded at the door.
“I brought you tea, Miss Bingley,” her maid said and left the tray on the table.
Miss Bingley clenched her fists as an equal amount of excitement and tension engulfed her.
Finally my time has come and I shall ruin you forever, Elizabeth Bennet,she told herself, as she prepared to present herself at the gathering. With the inherent need to steady her nerves, she quickly drained her cup of tea and shut her eyes for a few minutes of solace.
***
As the night drew to a close, for the first time in her life, Miss Bingley felt a profound satisfaction as she witnessed the chaos unfold at the gathering, among a crowd she deemed so vastly beneath her in every respect. She watched the torment on Elizabeth’s face as Lady Matlock accused her of having an affair with Mr. Harrington and of concealing the truth about her engagement. She was ecstatic to witness the shock in Darcy’s eyes as Elizabeth wept in her father’s arms, unable to deny her past with Mr. Harrington. Mr. Bingley and Mrs. Hurst appeared astonished, while Georgiana looked utterly devastated by the revelation. With secret delight, Miss Bingley watched the crowd disperse, whispering among themselves about how the Bennets would be shunned from society forever.
With absolute joy, she watched Darcy storm from the room, declaring that the engagement was broken and that he no longer wished to be associated with her or her family. The Bennets retreated from Netherfield in shame, while she stood proudly beside Lady Matlock.
Finally, her heart was content; everything she had ever desired transpired in front of her eyes, and now, the world was hers again.
She breathed a sigh of relief, feeling the air fill her lungs, and finally felt powerful. Blood surged to her veins, awakening and thrilling her with the knowledge of the power she held to alter or ruin the lives of those she wished to.
She shut her eyes tight to relish the moment and finally found the peace and contentment her mind had craved for so long.
I shall be the mistress of Pemberley now,she thought, and opened her eyes—only to her horror, Miss Bingley found herself still seated in her room, in her chair. Appalled as she was, she finally understood that she had succumbed to a deep slumber and everything she had experienced was but a dream. It had seemed so real that she wondered whether she was in a trance.
Good Lord, how did I ever fall asleep?
She fled the room, trembling, hoping she was not yet too late for the party.
However, the moment she descended the stairs and entered the ballroom, Miss Bingleyfroze.
Chapter 38
As she stood in the ballroom, which was utterly deserted, Miss Bingley witnessed a room with every sign of past merriment: dessert plates cluttered the tables, candles had burned low, and the fragrance of roses from the vases hung faintly in the air. For a moment, Miss Bingley thought she could hear the echoes of laughter that had once animated the evening. She suddenly felt her body weaken, unable to comprehend what she had missed. To her horror, she heard the great clock above the mantel strike, and it was an hour past midnight.
