Murdering a Bennet Read online

  Murdering A Bennet:

  A Pride and Prejudice Variation

  By Deborah Ann Kauer

  Murdering a Bennet

  Charles Bingley faces a dilemma. His best friend and his sisters are attempting to persuade him the love of his life does not return his affections. His affections, however, are committed. He has found the only lady he will ever love, and he thought he knew she returned his affections, but persuasion is a powerful tool when used improperly. Determined to discover the truth about Miss Jane Bennet’s affections, Bingley finally decides to turn to the only person who truly understands Miss Bennet’s feelings – her sister Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Bingley seeks out Miss Elizabeth only to stumble upon a murder in the process. He is fortunate to save one Bennet daughter but too late to save the other. Who hates the Bennet family enough to want to murder two of the daughters? The only one with the answer is unable to speak and is in a deep state of shock. Bingley, Jane, Darcy, and Georgiana will bring all their abilities to the forefront in an attempt to revive the only witness to the murder and attempted murder, but other factors might hinder their progress.

  Copyright Pending with the U.S. Copyright Office

  © 2019 Deborah Ann Kauer

  Published by Deborah Ann Kauer

  This book is a work of fiction. All name, characters, places, and incidents are completely the work of the author and are not to be taken as real. Any resemblance to persons living or dead, actual events, or locations is entirely coincidental and not the intention of the author.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. The only exception is quotes used in reviews, so no part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author.

  This e-book is licensed for your personal use only and may not be sold, shared, or given away to others. This is the author’s original work. Please do not illegally share this work with anyone else. If you are reading this book and it was not purchased at Amazon or was not obtained through Amazon on the authorized Kindle program, then please return the work and obtain it through the proper means. By trying to read the work through any other means is harming the author who is not paid for the work.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Epilogue

  Chapter One

  (November 30th)

  “What am I, a man or a child? Why should I allow others to dictate my decision?”

  Mr. Charles Bingley had struggled with his feelings for the past four days. He spent the long, solitary days mulling over what his sisters and Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, his closest friend, had shared with him the day after the ball at his leased estate Netherfield. He replayed their arguments so often he could clearly recall the confrontation in his mind’s eye. After much self-debate, he readily admitted the three had easily swayed him to their point of view and he even saw his weakness during their verbal attack.

  He saw himself as he sat in the most uncomfortable chair in the entire gloomy room. He had not paid much attention to the room at the time, but he now remembered noting all the drapes had been pulled closed keeping out all the light. How had he not realized his sisters had intentionally heightened his discomfort?

  His recall helped him realize Caroline had chosen the chair knowing how discomforted he would feel from the beginning of their onslaught. All three surrounded him looming over him like birds of prey. He had spent a few moments trying to remember the name of the stuffed birds from the savannah of Africa he had seen at the British museum. They had been black, ugly, and vicious looking. Their eyes, talons, and beaks all enhanced their ability to rip and tear their prey apart. It took him a few minutes before he recalled the plaque declaring their name as vultures. It seemed appropriate to identify his tormentors as vultures. Something in the name matched their looks and attitudes. He could just envision them picking him apart in the attempt to kill his affections for Miss Bennet with their words. They had basically dared him to challenge their beliefs. What a complete victim he had allowed himself to become.

  Caroline, his elder sister by two years, had been the first to present her argument, her voice he suddenly compared to the screech of a bird. ‘Charles, how can you attach yourself, and us, to such a family. Mrs. Bennet boldly declared to everyone how you would marry her daughter even though you never mentioned the possibly of marriage.’ She had sneered, her face scrunched in a severe grimace.

  ‘Given the opportunity, she would have found a way to force you into declaring yourself,’ Louisa, his eldest sister had injected. The cold steelish look she directed at him penetrated his consciousness like the points of a finely honed blade. Her darkly clouded eyes he could easily compare to the stare of the stuffed vulture.

  ‘Really, Bingley. I never once saw true affection from Miss Bennet.’ Darcy had added more matter-of-factly as if he were already bored with the entire endeavor.

  All three agreed Miss Jane Bennet, who he had been enthralled with since their first meeting at the Meryton Assembly in October, did not return his affections. He could still recall his first sighting of her standing across the dance floor from him. She resembled an angel with her golden tresses, and as he approached, he noticed her intense heavenly blue eyes. Her tall graceful figure and elegant bearings impressed him even more, and her gown, he recalled, enhanced her pleasant figure. She was everything London society declared as a classic beauty, but her smile melted his heart.

  ‘She always had a pleasant smile for me whenever we were together,’ he had offered as his defense of her affections.

  ‘I admit she smiled at you, but she smiled at everyone. Her serene smiles for you were no different and carried no special signs of affection or preference. Bingley, she smiles too much to make her pleasing.’ Darcy had expounded with a slight wave of his hand as if to push away Bingley’s defense of his angel’s affections.

  Now he clearly saw how weak his defense had been. He had cowered like a small child being reprimanded by his elders. Yes, he could admit his friend’s statement was correct; Miss Jane Bennet did smile at everyone, but her smiles for him were different. At the time, he believed it was true, but while under attack, he wavered in his belief. Now he saw another weakness, allowing others to persuade his opinion.

  If smiling at others showed a lack of affection, then he too was as guilty as her, for he smiled at everyone. Both she and he, in his viewpoint, were agreeable people who liked everyone, so of course, they smiled at everyone. He recognized his other similarity to Miss Bennet. We are both extremely friendly. In fact, this is what attracted me to her, he emitted an audible sigh, her pleasant personality and ease with people. We are alike, so it should make us more suited to each other.

  D
arcy also had observed, ‘I watched her carefully when she was in your presence, and she never once showed any signs of affection.’

  Looking back at the comment, now, he realized Darcy had spent less time observing Miss Bennet than Miss Elizabeth, Miss Bennet’s next youngest sister. He did not dwell on that thought, however, but recalled more of the earlier confrontation.

  ‘The Bennet family would make the most embarrassing connection you could choose,’ Caroline had continued. She had paced around as she spoke like a caged animal but her tongue had freely roamed from one insult to the next. ‘Why, Miss Eliza, in a social setting in London, would insult everyone she spoke to. Her manner of speaking her mind without restraint would soon have us banned from attending all important social events.’

  Bingley recalled sitting meekly while his sister railed, but in reflection, Caroline was the person who insulted others without considering who might hear her cutting remarks. It also surprised him when Darcy did not offer any reaction to Caroline’s insults to a lady Bingley had once suspected Darcy had liked. He decided he had been wrong thinking such a charming young lady had touched Darcy.

  ‘Even her family’s connections are embarrassing. Did not her mother’s sister prove her low behavior by also loudly proclaiming her niece would be wed by Christmas,’ Louisa had pointed out, still smirking and shooting daggerous looks at him, while Darcy and Caroline had nodded in agreement, but their expressions once again had reminded him of the dead vulture, at the museum, leering at those who came to observe it.

  ‘Let us not forget her uncle who lives in Cheapside, near his warehouse, no less.’ Caroline had added, wanting to prove the Bennet family tainted by trade.

  So she had family in trade, there is nothing wrong with that, he now thought. My immediate family was in trade, and I still have family members involved in trade. No Bingley before him had ever held the title of a gentleman.

  ‘Charles, you can do so much better than the daughter of a small country farmer.’ Caroline added, pointing and shaking her finger at him to emphasis her opinion.

  He knew, even at the time, her insult was meant to belittle the Bennet family, but at least Mr. Bennet was a landowner and came from generations of landed gentleman. Caroline could not make the same claim for her or her family; they were from generations of tradesmen who only recently found prosperity in their trade.

  ‘You should set your sights higher,’ Louisa had added.

  Of course, Caroline and Louisa advocated for a young lady from a higher social rank. They were both attempting to climb higher on the social ladder, especially Caroline. Neither considers my happiness when considering their desires.

  “Bingley, she does not love you. She is only acting in the interest of her family and will marry where her mother dictates,” Darcy then added with emphasis.

  Caroline and Louisa looked on with matching smirks at Darcy’s declaration and heartily nodded in agreement with him. The only one in the room who added nothing to the arguments for or against the lady was Mr. Hurst who was stretched out on the sofa apparently asleep. Bingley wondered how the man could sleep with all the loud arguing occurring.

  Unfortunately, Darcy’s comment about Mrs. Bennet’s pushiness to marry off her daughters could not be refuted. But she is no different than any of the other fashionable London society mothers I have ever met, he argued with himself. The only difference I can see is most society mothers would prefer Darcy to me for their daughter’s marriage partners for he is wealthier and has higher social connections. Why did I not point this out to Darcy?

  Mrs. Bennet, he realized, might have chosen Darcy for her eldest daughter if Darcy had been more congenial to Meryton society, but, as usual, Darcy revealed only his somber, aloof side to the people of Hertfordshire. He could once again see Darcy walking around the perimeter of the dance floor, ignoring those around him and speaking to no one.

  No wonder Miss Elizabeth found him disagreeable. To her it would look as if he were snubbing her family and friends.

  Bingley also suspected Miss Elizabeth had overheard Darcy’s cutting remark at the assembly, ‘She is tolerable, I suppose, but I do not find her handsome enough to tempt me. Others must think the same since she had not been solicited for a dance. Now leave me alone, Bingley. I prefer to remain as I am.’

  Darcy can be so thoughtless at times, he silently remarked. It is little wonder he attracts only those ladies who seek him for his fortune and estate. No lady seeking a husband based only on love would give him a second thought.

  Caroline’s tirade against the lady had continued. ‘As soon as the ring is on her finger, she will become just like her mother. Shrill, overbearing, and loud. She will no longer be your angel but your tormentor for the rest of your life, but it will be too late for you to extract yourself from the connection. It is a mistake you will have to live with for the rest of your long miserable days.’

  The last memory caused a thought to forcibly strike him. “Ah ha!” He declared aloud to the empty room lifting up a fist to emphasis his words and then dropped it. “She is the one like Mrs. Bennet, not Miss Jane Bennet. Why did I not see it sooner? Caroline is already loud. She already declares what she believes will happen, and she is just as overbearing. How blind I have been.” How sensible he felt to finally realize an important piece of information – Miss Bennet was not going to be like her mother, but Caroline already was like Mrs. Bennet.

  As the attacks against Miss Bennet and her family had continued, Bingley realized he sat quietly and drew even more within himself as his three tormentors pummeled him with arguments against the lady he had chosen to be his wife.

  ‘Miss Bennet and her family are nothing but fortune hunters. Did you not notice how Miss Eliza tried to attract Mr. Darcy with her fine eyes and impertinent manners?’ Caroline had declared, as if, he now acknowledged, his own sister did not continually try to attract Darcy’s attention.

  Yes, in reflection he had acted as a child being castigated by his elders who declared they knew better than him, but he now saw the error of his feeble acceptance without offering a resolute defense of his or the lady’s feelings. How could he have been so servile?

  He freely admitted they had worn down his resolve, but he also realized he had not fought back but gave easily into their demands. I allowed them to make my decision for me.

  “Wait!” He had been pacing during the time he recalled this part of the event but suddenly stopped. “Caroline declared the entire Bennet family fortune hunters. Her remark against Miss Elizabeth should have caused Darcy at least a moment of displeasure, but he did and said nothing. This was the second time Caroline insulted Miss Elizabeth, and still he did not react. He really does not think much of her or her family. I guess his unusual attention to her was for some other reason than admiring her.”

  Then another thought suddenly struck him. “How stupid of me!” He began pacing again. He recalled the first time he introduced Caroline to his friend. Even from the earliest moment of their acquaintance, Caroline had tried to attach herself to Darcy. “She latches onto his arm whenever she is near him. She uses every trick to get him to notice her, to dance with her, to lead her into dinner. Why have I not seen this before? My sister is the fortune hunter. He is the grandson of an earl. His has wealth, connections, and a high social standing. She has done everything but try to compromise him.”

  He thought about that small fact for a moment before speaking aloud again, as if the walls were his sounding board. “She does not love him. She loves his wealth, his homes, and what he represents. She is the fortune hunter in all sense of the word. Why have I never seen this before?” Being struck by the force of this realization, he found the nearest chair and fell into it. “How could I be so blind? How could I be so foolish?”

  It took him a few moments to recall what he had originally been focused on before going back in time to that final confrontation.

  ‘I advise you to cut all ties with the Bennet family. Remain in London, partake of the f
estive events, and do not return to Netherfield. Allow the lease to run out and find another estate to purchase or lease,’ Darcy, in his severest tone, had urged.

  The last memory he reexamined was a brief moment spent with Mr. Hurst after his sisters and Darcy had left him alone in the sitting room believing they had achieved their goal. When the room was finally quiet, Hurst had sat up from the sofa and walked over to sit in a chair near Bingley.

  ‘Charles, you can do one of two things from this moment forward. You can bow to the dictates of your sisters and your friend and give up on a lady who might truly make you happy, or you can take time to examine your own thoughts and feelings. I will however add this piece of advice. No matter which way you go in regards to Miss Bennet, decide whether you want to be led around by your sisters for the rest of your life or if you need to finally stand firm in the face of their displeasure and make your own decisions. Choose carefully, though, because a wrong choice could lead to a life of misery and unhappiness forever. I have long wished I had taken a firmer stand with Louisa when we first married but have discovered I waited too long to be the man in this family. I allowed her too much control. Now my only escape is found in food and drink. It might be too late for me, but you might still have a chance to change your life for the better.’ He then had stood, gripped Bingley’s shoulder, squeezed it lightly, and departed the room.

  Hurst’s words had prompted him to seclude himself from his sisters and take time to closely examine his options and desires.

  Once free of his tormentors, he had sought time to think, recall, and replay every interaction he had with them and the lady he loved. After going through their arguments multiple times, he clearly saw his failures to defend what he felt and what he believed Miss Bennet felt. Once satisfied he had examined the event in its fullest, he took time to replay his encounters with the lady in question.