Charlie's Angels ~A Short Story

Posted on Thursday, 29 July 2004

Mr. Charles Bingley smiled broadly as he surveyed the assembly room. The party had mostly gathered, the music was beginning for dancing, and several couples had already made their way to the center.

Mr. Bingley made his introduction to the host, Lord Sharpton, who had opened his substantial home for the purpose of a ball for the local gentry of _______shire. Bingley himself was only a visitor in the area, staying with his good friend from school, James Simpson, who owned a smaller manor close by.

Bingley was in the neighborhood to look at an estate, for he had recently come into his inheritance, and was eager to settle down. It had been his father's greatest wish to establish himself as a gentleman, but he had passed away before he was able to settle the fortune he had made in trade into an estate. Therefore, the task was left to his only son, Charles. Old Mr. Bingley had lived to see his eldest daughter, Louisa, comfortably settled and married to a Mr. Hurst, and his middle child, Caroline, was left with a dowry substantial enough to ensure her own marital felicity. Charles dearly wished to settle into an estate, meet a lovely young women in the neighborhood, and begin to raise a family.

Mr. Charles Bingley was an amiable, affable, agreeable, and (some considered) adorable young man. He had a somewhat unruly mop of curly blonde hair, bright green eyes, and a charming smile with one dimple (on the left) that was nearly always present. His personality was all that was jovial and jolly, he was always ready to enjoy himself, and to offer praise and good wishes to all he met. If Bingley could be said to have any faults, it was that his perpetual happiness could sometimes grate on the nerves of his somewhat-less-eternally cheerful friends.

This in fact was the reason that Bingley had been spending a fortnight with his friend Mr. Simpson. He had planned, as it was nearing the winter, so travel south with a different friend, to look at an estate in Hertfordshire. However, his friend had recently written to him that he was quite out of humor after the summer, and unfortunately not yet up to being in the, while companionable, very cheery society of Bingley himself. He begged to postpone their travel for a month, at which time he was sure he would be in better spirits.

So Bingley found himself traveling north instead of south, and looking at an estate with Simpson, who was a young gentleman of almost equal temper to himself. Though he was quite pleased with the company of Mr. Simpson and his elder sister, Pamela, both excellent hosts. Though Bingley had grown up in the north, this county was significantly further north, and already the autumn air was tinged with a chill. He was not sure that he was prepared to be so far from London, and in such a climate. Bingley also needed to investigate all the society in the neighborhood before deciding if it was a place he could settle.

Which was precisely the reason he, Simpson, and Pamela had walked into the room at Lord Sharpton's home that very evening.

After making his introduction and applying to Pamela Simpson for the second set of dances (she was already engaged for the first two to her fiancé, a gentleman in the county of substantial means whom she was to marry in two month's time), Bingley surveyed the room again.

He saw a myriad of charming looking people, all happy, smiling, and making conversation, or entering into the dance. Pamela was claimed by her fiancé, and James Simpson had just moved over to talk with a group of two young ladies and an older woman, who looked quite severe. The younger ladies both resembled the older, though with more pleasant expressions, and Bingley assumed them to be a family. Simpson at that moment beckoned him to join them, and an introduction was made.

"Mrs. Allen," he said, with a slight bow to the older lady, "please allow me to introduce to you my good friend Mr. Charles Bingley." Bingley bowed to the lady, with a charming and good-natured smile. "Bingley, may I present Mrs. Allen, and her daughters, Miss Allen, and Miss Margaret."

"I am very pleased to make your acquaintance," Bingley said, widening his smile. Miss Allen was a beauty, to be sure, and her sister was also very pretty. He was about to speak up and ask the elder sister to dance, when he noticed that James had already taken her hand, and with a bow to the other ladies, led her to the floor.

Bingley looked discombobulated for a moment, but then turned his attention back to Mrs. Allen and her other, and surely quite lovely daughter.

"Do you reside in the area, Mrs. Allen," he asked in a polite manner.

"We do sir, but we spend a good deal of time in London as well. We have only recently returned to the country after spending the season there. Molly has just had her coming out." At this she nodded towards her younger daughter, and tried to give her (and Bingley) what appeared to be an attempt at encouraging smile. Bingley took the hint and inquired after the younger girl.

"Miss Margaret, how did you like London?"

She smiled broadly, showing a gleaming row of very fine teeth. "I like it exceedingly sir. There is so much diversion, and I find the society far superior than what is to be had in the country." She paused for a moment, then added, "of course, I have a great many friends in the area here, and I am always glad to come home so that I may see them."

Bingley decided that now would be an appropriate time to ask Miss Margaret Allen to dance, though the first set was finishing. He was already engaged with Pamela Simpson for the second, but he felt there was no harm in asking Miss Margaret for the third two. He asked, she accepted with another wide smile (even larger than Bingley's own good-natured grins), and with a bow he left to find Miss Simpson.

A half-hour later, following an energetic reel, Bingley made his way to the refreshment table to have a glass of punch before claiming his next partner. There he met James Simpson and his partner, Miss Marjorie Allen. Miss Allen, he quickly discovered, though lovelier than her sister, did not possess the same joviality, and was much more reserved. She was a pleasant young lady, nevertheless, of about twenty years, with light brown hair and grey eyes, and Bingley could see that his friend Simpson was quite taken with her. (He would later learn that the Simpson and Allen families had been acquainted for a number of years, and that James Simpson was very much in love with Marjorie Allen, and she with him, and several months later received an acceptance to his proposal of marriage from that young lady.)

After refreshing himself, Bingley turned to find his next partner. He did not have to look far, for just behind him stood Miss Margaret. Upon seeing her, he bowed and offered her his arm to join in the dance.

"Thank you Mr. Bingley," she said with a smile, taking his arm.

Throughout the dance Bingley was pleased to be the recipient of at least half a dozen of Margaret Allen's wide smiles. They spoke only intermittently, about the party and the neighborhood. Bingley mentioned he had been looking at nearby Peyton Lodge, and his partner went into raptures about the beauty of that home and its grounds. Though Bingley was disinclined to think ill of anyone or anything, he had not found the home as charming as she seemed to think it, though perhaps it was because it had sat vacant for several years, and she had only known it when it had been occupied and kept up.

There was no doubt that Margaret Allen, or Molly as she preferred to be called, was a pleasant and charming dancing companion. She was light on her feet, with a pleasant figure that was still blossoming, as she was very young. Bingley of course did not inquire her age, but he guessed it to be, by her manner, and the fact that she had just come out, about sixteen. Although he enjoyed her company very much, he did think that she was too young to suit him, but that it was indeed a shame.

Molly Allen had darker hair than her sister, and dark eyes, framed by long black lashes. Her nose was another give-away to her youth, as it was still somewhat dotted with freckles that would have been acceptable perhaps on a young girl, but would need to be faded on a young lady out in society. Bingley was a little surprised at himself for liking her, not because she wasn't everything that was charming, but because he generally favored fairer ladies with shy smiles and quiet manners. Molly, he soon had discovered, was neither shy nor quiet, yet she was not boisterous or bawdy, like several other young ladies of his acquaintance tended to be.

As for Molly, she found Mr. Bingley to be a charming companion as well, far more pleasant than many of the men she had met during the season in London. She had noticed his looks at her sister, but was content in dancing with him, for she already knew how her sister felt about James Simpson. Molly was glad of his addresses, but she herself knew that she was too young to think of settling down, and she could tell that Mr. Bingley had marriage (though not to her) on his mind, from the way he discussed finding an estate.

By the end of the dance, Bingley was ready to proclaim her an angel, though he nearly shocked himself in doing so, for she was so unlike his type. However, he told himself that he was being unfair -- to himself and to all young ladies -- by sticking to one type, and he resolved to dwell no further on that. He was sure, though, that Miss Molly, though very sweet, was too young for him to pay any addresses. He had also resolved to continue his search for an estate further south, for though the company in the north was charming, he found the weather somewhat lacking, and decided that it was best for him to seek an estate further south.

As the ball drew to a close, Mr. Bingley and Mr. Simpson, along with Miss Simpson bade their farewells to the other guests and to their hosts. Bingley noted that James Simpson lingered over his farewell to Miss Allen, and Bingley himself gave Miss Molly an extra-wide grin. She smiled to rival his own, and bade him goodnight.

Upon their return to the Simpson house, Bingley found a letter from his friend who had postponed their trip. The letter contained more apologies, an assertion that his spirits were much improved, and a proposed date to begin their journey into Hertfordshire. Bingley discussed the letter with his host, and made ready to depart for London in two days time. He would stay there one night before heading toward Hertfordshire in search of another prospect of a home -- and perhaps something more.