P&P200: Caroline’s Wedding Reflections
“How thrilling!” a woman in the pew behind said in hushed excitement. “A double wedding!”
Caroline Bingley rolled her eyes heavenward and leant closer to her sister. “Double disaster, more like,” she whispered. Although she had no choice but to attend this farce, she did not have to make believe she liked it.
Her brother’s choice of bride was truly a disaster. He might have married a girl from one of the best families, someone who would have enhanced the prestige of the Bingley name… and perhaps added to the family’s fortune as well. What had they all been working for, after all, if not to raise themselves to where nobody would ever remember their humble origins again? Louisa had done her part, at great person sacrifice. But Charles! He was this minute throwing his one chance away on a nobody, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Caroline could not bear to watch her brother disgracing himself, but she did hazard a glance in Mr. Darcy’s direction… and a sigh. Were there any justice in the world, she would have been the one standing up beside him now, the one he was regarding so tenderly, the one to whom he plighted his highly covetable troth. It was unaccountable – and patently unfair – that after all her efforts, all her attentiveness, he should also prefer a Miss Bennet! It was not to be borne!
Had Darcy determined to marry Miss de Bourgh over herself, she might have understood, for then she would have been beaten by the undeniable claims of a noble bloodline and a superior fortune. But what did Miss Eliza Bennet have to boast of… except for those notorious “fine eyes”?
It was indeed a harsh blow, and one that was not to be recovered from anytime soon.
Shannon Winslow
Shannon Winslow was minding her own business - raising a family and working at a practical job - when Jane Austen changed her life. Suddenly smitten by all things Austen (and "Pride and Prejudice" in particular), she was inspired to write a sequel to her favorite book. With the success of her first novel, "The Darcys of Pemberley," she never looked back. Now pursuing writing full-time, Winslow has gone on to write two more Austenesque novels with more stories to come. She lives with her husband south of Seattle.
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34 Responses to P&P200: Caroline’s Wedding Reflections
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Ha! Poor Caroline–all her hopes and dreams dashed in a double ceremony. I hope she matures and finds herself a destitute peer who needs her dowry but brings love and common sense to the table.
Excellent post!
Thanks, Pamala! You almost make me feel sorry for her. Maybe I’ll have to write the story you suggest next!
Poor Caroline! She may never recover.
‘Tis a cruel blow, indeed.
More sour grapes here than Pemberley’s wine cellar lol I guess you can’t blame her for being disappointed about Darcy but I would wish her brother’s happiness meant at least a little to her.
To a normal reasonable person it would, Monica. But to Caroline…?
LOL, Shannon! Well done getting into Caroline’s POV.
.
This day has to be quite a trial for her
Glad you enjoyed it, Marilyn!
Typical Caroline. Thinking of our own security and ladder climbing at such an event. She needs to be shaken really hard.
Good idea, Karana! You grab one arm and I’ll grab the other…
Of course, she thinks she’d be less upset if he married Anne but I don’t believe it for a second!
Maybe not, Susan, but I don’t believe her heart’s really involved here – it’s her ambition that’s been twarted and her sense of justice that is outraged.
I can only imagine the mad look on her face having to sit through this.
She looks none to happy in the picture above, but it doesn’t really do justice to what her outrage would have been.
Muahahahaha! I am revelling in schadenfreude at her disappointment right now
at least through her bitterness she seems to have also found acceptance
Austen tells us that “Mrs. Hurst had married a man of more fashion than fortune” so we assume Hurst came from a good family.
Our Jane also tells us, “They were, in fact, very fine ladies; not deficient in good humor when they were pleased, nor in the power of being agreeable when they chose it; but proud and conceited. They were rather handsome; had been educated in one of the first private seminaries in town; had a fortune of twenty thousand pounds; were in the habit of spending more than they ought, and of associating with people of rank; and were, therefore, in every respect entitled to think well of themselves and meanly of others.” Naturally, Caroline could not see how she could be inferior to Elizabeth.
Thanks, Regina.
Like most of us, Caroline was capable of being in good humor when she got her way. Not one of those occasions, however. And, yes, according to society norms, she had a right to feel superior to Elizabeth, which is why her sense of justice is SO offended.
A sour expression to accompany those sour grapes
Just what she deserves. She epitomizes the sins of both pride and prejudice.
I cannot stand Caroline Bingley she is one of those characters you love to dislike. LOL wonderful post!
Ah, but Caro forgets, by marrying Jane, Bingley fortifies their ties to the Darcy family — what a coup. Bingley is not only marrying a gentlewoman but a gentlewoman with connections! Ha ha ha ha ha. She can think what she likes, but in the end, she’s gonna have to kiss Jane’s ass to stay on the in with the Darcys. Teeheeheehee. That thought always makes me smile. And Caro may have had a good humor when pleased, and a fine education, but it didn’t keep her from saying the stupidest things whenever JA gave us a bit of her dialog.
I’m with Ceri. Thank you, Shannon, for giving me pure schadenfreude bliss here. You’ve captured Caroline so well, for a moment, she reminds me of Lady Catherine.
Pamala is way more generous than me, I say keep Caroline bitchy!
Your comment about Caro reminding you of Lady Catherine caught my eye, Nina. I’ve always thought that if “The Darcys of Pemberley” was made into a movie (I can dream, can’t I?), I’d want Anna Chancellor (Miss Bingley, P&P ’95) to play Lady C. She’d be perfect, don’t you think?
Caroline needs to be knocked off that pedistool she has placed herself on! You capture her perfectly!
Thanks, Becky!
Harsh blow indeed! I can see her confusion because she doesn’t take love into consideration.
Nice vignette, Shannon!
Poor Caroline. How she suffers. Maybe someday she will be struck by cupid’s arrow…but then again, she may have to undergo an even greater transformation than Darcy did.
Yes, Jakki, it would have to be a HUGE transformation. I’m all for reforming characters – I did it for Mary in my upcoming “Return to Longbourn” – but we always need a few bad guys in our stories. And Caroline is so good at being bad! I’m with Nina; lets keep her nasty.
“…she didn’t have to pretend to like it.” uh huh. So she pouted and scowled thru the whole thing which made every single person in the building know how put out she was to be overlooked. Classy. LOL Not catching a rich man with THAT look.
or even a poor one!!!
Meow…Hisssss….sourpuss Caroline will have to sheath her claws if she wants to keep her connections to the Darcy’s.
And according to the last chapter of P&P, she did so:
Miss Bingley was very deeply mortified by Darcy’s marriage; but as she thought it advisable to retain the right of visiting at Pemberley, she dropt all her resentment… and paid off every arrear of civility to Elizabeth.
Wonderful perspective of Caroline, Shannon, you nailed her!