Mr Charles Bingley to Mrs Bingley
London, September 13
Dear Mama,
You will be pleased to know that I have at last found an estate. I did not take Caroline or Louisa with me, since they criticise everything and upon my word nothing seems to please them. Instead I persuaded Darcy to accompany me.
I was shown around by a Mr Morris, a very fine fellow who praised the house and the grounds; however, Darcy spotted some difficulties and made sure they were resolved before I settled. And now I am to have the run of Netherfield Park.
You must come and see it at once, and bring my brothers and sisters. You are all very welcome to come and live with me if you have a fancy to it. I am planning to move in by Michaelmas.
Your loving son,
Charles
Mrs Bingley to Miss Caroline Bingley
Yorkshire, September 14
Well, my girl, your brother has written to me and told me all about this estate of his, and I’m coming to see it just as soon as I can. Now don’t you worry, your old ma won’t go getting in the way. I’ve the little ’uns to look after apart from anything else, but Ned is driving me down to take a look at the place.
Make sure you invite Mr Darcy straightaway—these fashionable gents get snapped up quick—and don’t forget to let your old ma know what’s going on.
Your doting Ma
Miss Caroline Bingley to Mr Darcy
London, September 15
Dear Mr Darcy,
We can never thank you enough for helping Charles to choose a house in the country. We are all beholden to you, and to show our gratitude we hope you will visit us as soon as we move in to Netherfield Park.
Do not, I beg you, refuse on the suspicion that you will have to mingle with the local burghers. Louisa and I will be there to provide you with the superior company to which you are accustomed. I dare say you will never have to speak to the people of Meryton at all, except to say, ‘Good morning,’ if you should be unlucky enough to come across them whilst taking the air.
Hertfordshire is a pretty country, I hear. I am longing to see it! And Netherfield, Charles says, is a very fine house. Not as fine as Pemberley, I am sure, but then, what house is? For Pemberley, as I frequently say to Charles, is the epitome of a gentleman’s residence, and I advise him constantly to model his own house upon it.
How happy we all were at Pemberley over the summer, before you returned to London. I am longing to see Georgiana again, and hear all about her trip to Ramsgate. I called upon her recently but she was out.
Dear Georgiana! How I dote on her. Her manners are sweet and engaging, exactly what a young lady’s manners should be. How I loved to see her dancing at Pemberley, at the private balls. They were just the right sort of entertainment for her, introducing her to local society and allowing her to see how men and women of fashion behave. Most of all, allowing her to see some very superior dancing.
You yourself excel at the accomplishment, and I flatter myself that the partner with whom you opened the last ball was not deficient in her skills. It was very good of you to ask me to open the ball with you, though it gave rise to so much speculation that I was quite embarrassed by it all. I did not know where to look when your neighbour, Lord Sundy, said how well matched we were, and when his wife said there would be wedding bells at Pemberley before long, I am sure I must have blushed.
Georgiana, too, remarked that Pemberley needs a mistress. I am sure you would find it a help if you were able to leave the running of the household, and the care of your younger sister, to a wife, as long as the woman you chose was as fond of dear Georgiana as I am. I declare, I love her as much as I love Louisa, and you know my sister and I are very close. It is such a comfort for a woman to have another woman to talk to, and I think I may say, as your friend, that it would do Georgiana good to have some company from one of her equals. Mrs Younge is all very well, but a companion is only a companion, and can never be to a young girl what a sister can be.
But I must not lecture you. I am sure you will choose an estimable young woman to fill the role of Mrs Darcy when you are ready, and I can assure you that your friends would like nothing better than to see you happily settled. Who knows? Perhaps you will find your Mrs Darcy waiting for you when you visit us at Netherfield!
Do say you will stay with us. Charles would like nothing better, and Louisa and I quite depend upon it. It is our chance to repay you for all the hospitality you have shown us over the years. I am so glad that at last Charles has an estate of his own.
Sincerely yours,
Caroline Bingley
Miss Elizabeth Bennet to Mrs Gardiner
Longbourn, Hertfordshire,
September 14
My dear Aunt Gardiner,
Netherfield Park is empty no longer! I am sorry for Susan, as I know she hoped for a last-minute miracle, but I must also admit to being curious about our new neighbours. There has been talk of nothing else for days. According to Mama, who has been gossiping with Mrs Long, the house has been taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of England, a Mr Bingley. This is very pleasing to Mama, as you might imagine, for she has already married Jane off to him in her imagination, even though she does not know yet if he is single or married.
What is less pleasing to her is that Papa is refusing to visit Mr Bingley when he arrives. Mama teases him about it constantly, but he will not be moved. He says that Mr Bingley might call upon him if he pleases, but that he has no intention of being the first to pay the call. This has put Mama out of all countenance, for of course we cannot visit Mr Bingley until we have been introduced.
Jane and I have tried to console her by saying that one of our neighbours will perform the introduction at the Meryton assembly, but she refuses to be comforted, saying that Mrs Long is a hypocritical woman with two nieces and will therefore not introduce us. And even if these obstacles could be overcome—if Mrs Long were to suddenly become the kindest woman on earth and her two nieces were to become betrothed, or die, before the ball—it would still not answer, for Mrs Long will be away and will only return the day before the ball; therefore she will not have time to come to know him herself.
I dare say we will become acquainted with Mr Bingley sooner or later, whatever Mama thinks, since it is hardly possible we can be neighbours for any length of time without coming to know each other. Whether the acquaintance will be as welcome to her once it has been made I do not know, since it is almost impossible to find out anything for certain about Mr Bingley. This, however, does not stop the rumours. Almost everyone is sure they have heard something about him. Some say that he has three brothers, others that he has three sisters. He is, according to different informants, handsome, tolerably handsome and not at all handsome; temperamental, affable and condescending; a sportsman, an intellectual and a hermit. In height he is tall, medium and short; in figure he is portly, emaciated and spare.
However, we will have to wait until Michaelmas to find out for ourselves because he does not move into the Park before then.
Your loving niece,
Lizzy
Miss Susan Sotherton to Miss Elizabeth Bennet
Bath, September 25
Dearest Lizzy,
You will have heard by now that we have found a tenant for Netherfield Park, which has provoked different feelings in us all. Mama is relieved, because now, at least, some of the worst of our debts can be paid, whilst Papa is affronted at the idea of strangers living in our ancestral home, even though it is his own folly that has forced us to leave. My brothers and sisters are sad and angry in equal measure, and I must now become resigned to it. I must confess, I kept hoping against hope that Papa would see the error of his ways and stop drinking and gambling overnight, or that Mama would inherit a fortune from a hitherto unsuspected great-uncle, and that we could all return to Netherfield. But alas! It is not to be. Papa drinks as much as ever, though he gambles less, and unsuspected great-uncles are in short supply.