Page 61 of New World Tea Company
“Thank you,” the man replied though he did not meet Miss Bingley’s eyes.
To gather more information, Caroline commented, “My brother said you paid too frequently for a business. How do you manage that?”
“Mr Bingley is thinking about trade with the East Indies,” Wickham explained. “For those business ventures, it does take two years or more for a merchant’s ships to sail to the other side of the world and return. But the ships with my tea cross the Atlantic and return in the same year. Some ships reach the docks in August, and others as late as October.”
“Tell me, does it truly take two years for the ships to reach the East Indies?” Caroline asked.
“Yes, it takes at least twenty-four months for a ship to sail to the eastern lands and then return. The ship must first sail to the tip of Africa and then across more oceans to reach the spice islands and India.”
Wickham smiled and continued, “But the trip across the Atlantic is only a few months.”
“So, my brother does not know everything there is to know,” Caroline said smugly.
There was one bit of gossip that Caroline shared with relish. Louisa was absent from the room for a moment, asking for the tea tray to be delivered, when Mr Wickham asked, “Miss Bingley, how has your brother spent the winter? Mr Hurst mentioned that he remained in Hertfordshire and has not visited London this year.”
Her eyes flashing with annoyance, Caroline revealed, “My brother debased himself. Last month he married that Bennet girl, and they remain at the farm in Hertfordshire.
“How horrible,” said Mrs Young to agree with Caroline.
“Mr Hurst has not mentioned this change in Mr Bingley’s life when we have spoken at the club,” George said, though he had read the wedding announcement in the newspaper.
“He is as embarrassed as Louisa and I,” replied Caroline.
“A farm, you say?” asked Mrs Young, unaware of the particulars of Bingley’s situation.
“There were cows and sheep everywhere. I do not doubt they brought the sheep into the house during the winter.”
At this declaration, Mrs Young laughed gently, earning Caroline’s approval. When Louisa reappeared with the footman bearing a tea tray and the maid bringing teacups and plates on a second tray, she found Caroline involved in an animated conversation with Mr Wickham and Mrs Young.
~~~
During March, Caroline enjoyed the company of Mrs Young and Mr Wickham every week. If she noticed that Mrs Young wore the same gowns with only a few different accessories, she kept her superiority to herself for once. Mrs Young proved to have excellent sources of gossip and titillating tales of liaisons in the different grand houses in London.
And more importantly, Mrs Young appeared to know which eligible gentlemen possessed titles and suitable incomes.
~~~
In early March, a letter from Suffolk caused great distress to the household on Olive Street. The steward of the Hurst estate wrote to Mr Hurst that his mother, Old Mrs Hurst, had fallen ill. A physician had been summoned, and the housekeeper cared for the older woman, but Mrs Hurst wanted her son and daughter-in-law present.
Immediately Louisa endorsed a plan to depart London the next morning, but Caroline wailed, “What am I to do? I cannot go back to Herefordshire!”
“No, Charles will not allow you under his roof,” Geoffrey said, not correcting Caroline that Netherfield was located in Hertfordshire.
However, the family was provided with a solution by Mr Wickham almost immediately. The gentleman and Mrs Young were present that afternoon for tea. George suggested, “I believe Mrs Young is the solution to Miss Bingley’s problem.”
“How so?” asked Geoffrey Hurst.
Motioning toward his companion, George explained, “Mrs Young has acted as a lady’s companion in the past, and with her present in Olive Street, Miss Bingley will have a suitable chaperone.”
“Then I do not have to go to Charles,” Caroline said, endorsing the plan. “Yes, this is a perfect solution.”
With the urgency of leaving London, Mr and Mrs Hurst did not give the matter another thought. With the urgency he felt to reach his mother’s side, Geoffrey did not write to Charles that evening. As soon as the sun rose, Geoffrey and Louisa departed in a rented carriage for Suffolk. Mrs Young arrived with Mr Wickham around ten of the clock, and the lady was settled in a guest room before eleven.
~~~
Chapter 26.March in Meryton
The continuous days of rain and grey skies belied the newspaper banner listing the date as late March. Despite the weather, signs of spring were visible from the windows in the Longbourn parlour; everyone could see the new green leaves on the trees, and the sheep grazed on new grass in the pasture. None of the family noticed, but there were afternoons when Elizabeth took her sewing from the parlour to the solitude of her room; these were the times when her thoughts turned to Mr Darcy.
