First Impressions {TAG: Caroline Bingley}

[MISS JANE BENNET]

Jane could not believe her good fortune, an invitation to luncheon with Miss Bingley! She had received the invitation on the morning post and could barely contain her excitement at the thought. Whilst Mrs. Bennet was drawing grand conclusions that this luncheon would eventually lead Jane into matrimony with Mr. Bingley she was of no such mind. It had been mere days since the Assembly and although Jane was very certain a affection was formed, she merely eager to see where it would go. She was disappointed to hear that Mr. Bingley would be dining out, but she hoped perhaps foolishly that she might get a glimpse of him as she either arrived or left.

So she had dressed with great care in the hopes of making a favorable impression upon Miss Bingley. She had chosen a light blue gown that complimented her deep blue eyes and had made her mass of blonde curls was pulled back into careful order. Upon being declared fit to dine amongst such important people Jane had been forced to set out on horseback amongst all things. Although Jane enjoyed riding, she was acutely aware of the speed of the storm coming and coincidently the speed of her little mare.

So upon making the trip to Netherfield she arrived on the doorstep drenched to the bone having been caught in the brunt of the storm. Her gown was pasted on her body and her hair matted to her head. But she had arrived and was determined to make the best of the situation, for she certainly couldn’t return home now. Trying to muster up whatever dignity she had left she walked to the door and was greeted by a footman. Jane inclined her head in kind and handed off her bonnet and gloves before entering the grand estate. As she was being attended to she felt the alarming need to sneeze. Oh dear, it would appear Jane had done much more than get caught in the rain.

She choked it down with as much discretion as she could muster before she was led through to the sitting room where Miss Bingley awaited her. She was aware she looked a perfect mess, and could only imagine how this would be magnified in comparison to the elegant and refined Miss Bingley. But Jane could do little else than compose herself and allow the event to take place. When she was announced she walked in quickly with a shy smile gracing her face. Upon getting close enough to Miss Bingley that pleasantries might be exchanged she dipped into a polite curtsey and promptly let out a huge sneeze directly in front of a woman whom she longed to impress. A wide-eyed look of horror graced her face as she registered what had just happened.

“ M..Miss Bingley I am terribly sorry. I was caught out in the storm you see…” she said gesturing at herself and she was trying to come up with something adequate to express her embarrassment at the situation. “ I’m sorry.” she added again, rather sheepishly. Her face steadily turning redder by the second.

Oh dear, this was not the impression Jane wished to make.

[MISS CAROLINE BINGLEY]

There were both manner and form to be observed in the way in which a young woman engaged the world, a very particular mode in which she must recommend herself to’t. While many might have declared that they perceived this virtue embodied in Miss Caroline Bingley – and many more declared with pointed effect that Miss Bingley herself perceived it most of all - Caroline was rather more circumspect. It was because she so often perceived the failure of this cardinal value that she pressed herself, and undoubtedly others, to pay particular attention. One could not simply expect accomplishment, it must be properly understood, earned and pursued.

Much like other virtues to which many a young woman aspired.

It was under this very instinct – and certainly a great care for the severity of the matter at hand – that Caroline sought to make a very specific study of Miss Jane Bennet. Now, one ought not to be under the illusion that this was in any way an act of generosity toward the young woman, for the careful Miss Bingley had all but concluded that the eldest Miss Bennet was far and away beneath the offer her brother was almost poised to make. Nay, this extension of grace – for certainly it must be counted as most gracious indeed that an offer to luncheon at Netherfield had been delivered - was rather more focused on learning what manner of game Miss Bennet was poised to play. The choices were plain to the experienced socialite; Jane was either as wily as she was pretty – for there was no point in denying that, whatever one might say about the roughness of country manners – or she was simply of an absurd hope that must be at once quashed before being able to infect her impressionable sibling. She was not about to watch him throw caution to the wind simply because of the giddiness of sentiment.

There were things far graver at stake than mere sentiment.

Thus, it was necessary to determine how best Caroline might be able to protect her brother in his undoubted risk – judging from the effusions she had heard from him since the assembly at Meryton, that there was a risk was quite clear – and no better way to do so than by engaging what the other young woman might seek most next to the particular regard of her object, Caroline’s own affection.

For this reason, the invitation had been dispatched – though carefully, so as to avoid Charles himself being present -, the staff put on high alert and the Park on high display in anticipation of the precious event. Caroline herself was prepared with focused care, since she was bound to display the standard to which she would hold Miss Bennet, and Louisa, quite naturally did the same, since no evaluation would be complete without her sister to preside over it as well. They were ready, though for what not even they in all their calculation could have been thoroughly prepared.

It was considered, it was cunning and it was diabolical that she had come on horseback!

Caroline did not go a minute without knowing exactly what was happening about her domain and she was swiftly informed of the manner of Miss Bennet’s arrival. Anyone with half a year’s worth of life and the vaguest sense would have known that rain was imminent, and Caroline was not so generous as to think that Miss Bennet had not used such an opportunity to her advantage. Whatever Jane’s intentions for burgeoning impressions, then, they were thoroughly undermined even before she had arrived! Miss Bingley had singled her out as the very worst sort of opportunist and she would be damned if she did not prove it.

It would begin, of course, with the utmost kindness.

“Miss Bennet,” Caroline curtsied and smiled with unparalleled sympathy at the poor girl’s state, “please do not apologise to me! I should beg your forgiveness for not sending the carriage on such an abominable day!” Beneath this display simmered increasing contempt. Really, the sneeze was utterly over the top! While Caroline had merely expected the girl to extend her stay by virtue of being unable to return home in the rain, that she might further impose herself by feigning illness was pitifully distasteful. Not even she would have been so bold!

It only went to show that there was no replacement for proper breeding.

[MISS JANE BENNET]

Oh dear. This was not how she imagined this luncheon beginning. Jane had hoped that she would meet Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley under far more pleasant circumstances, namely for one being dry. Oh why couldn’t the horses be spared for the carriage! It was in moments like this that Jane was sometimes embarrassed to be a part of her family. To be in the presence of such elegant and refined ladies and be to poor to arrive in carriage was just one of the trials a Bennet girl faced in polite society.

Although wet and soaked through to the bone Jane couldn’t help but be awes truck at the opulence of Netherfield Park. If the estate looked grand from the outside it paled in comparison to the interior. Everything was of the finest quality and not a hair out of place. Longbourn was often a flurry of activity and in a constant state of dishevelment compared to this place! Jane could not feel more the country bumpkin in any other circumstance.

Had she not been guided so carefully by the impressive staff at Netherfield she would have been hard pressed not to explore every room in the house. However Jane was taken straight to the mistress of the house. Swallowing her pride and hoping to make a good impression she entered and her spirits instantly fell. They were so elegant, their grace and manners so refined and Jane was a mess.

When Miss Bingley graciously excused her appearance Jane was eternally grateful. “ Oh thank you Miss Bingley but I could not be so bold as to impose on you in such a manner. My family’s carriage could not be spared for the horses were needed on the farm. I’m afraid my mother could only spare the mare today. I really must apologize again.” she stammered out desperate to make a good impression on such ladies. She was unsure what the ladies knew of country life, but it was not uncommon for the horses to be used on the farm when not in use by the family.

“ I pray you will forgive me. I am in awe of the surroundings. Netherfield is a lovely estate.” she continued trying to compose herself as her nose started to turn a shade of pink.