A clever, and very kind, explanation for Miss Bingley

I will never look at Caroline with disdain again

A very interesting version of Caroline's origins. It's sad that she couldn't fulfill her life's ambition just because she was born a daughter, not a son.

I really like this as a back story for Caroline!

I nice take on the origins of Miss Bingley - well done.

love your p&p writing to bits. Duh, i even like Caroline now.

so i hope to see your new piece in the not so distant future.
thx for sharing!

Great story. So that's how Caroline got to be the way she is ! Thank you.

I have read a fair number of stories attempting to explain how Caroline Bingley became the unsympathetic woman of P&P, but never one that felt so natural and authentic or which suited the times so smoothly. Caroline's loss of the freedoms accorded the trade class has an element of tragic irony, given that her own flair for business probably contributed to the wealth that robbed her of the niche where she might have flourished.

It is a nice touch that her father feels free to revert to his native accent with her on his deathbed; it is a final moment of intimacy between them and a closeness she will likely never feel again. One can sense her loss very strongly and I felt sad imagining that your Caroline will not do the same when her own time comes to depart. I could almost hear a weighty tome thudding closed, the end of an era. By heaven you conveyed an enormous amount of meaning in that one short paragraph. Well done!

I also admire your bookending with her sleepless in the beginning and falling to sleep in the end.

I have by now read all your P&P stories and while I admire them all, short as it is, this one is my favorite. I see you did quite a lot of writing some years back and this is the only recent post you've made. I hope you consider posting more, even if you are brief. This was a real breath of fresh air and your unconventional use of mixed verb tense was fascinating; I have rarely seen that done well, yet you pulled it off.

My compliments also to your other P&P stories, and enough gushing.

Very insightful, caring reflection on Caroline. Thank you!

This is lovely. It is very rare to see a sympathetic portrayal of Caroline, much less one that is compelling.

Thank you for this.

This makes her so real, and actually likable. Good job!

Very, very good!

Wow. I had no idea I could ever understand or sympathize or even acknowledge Caroline Bingley as a normal woman with anything but malicious intentions. This was beautifully written, but more importantly, written in a way that got right inside me and moved things around. Excellent. Please write more FF! There are too few writers of your caliber here.

So sympathetic. I am intrigued by this Carrie. Give her a happy ending?

Darnitall! You made me feel sorry for her!