Chapter 28

CHAPTER 28

T wo days later, a carriage pulled up to Bourne House, carrying a number of unexpected guests.

“Whatever do you do here, Bennet?” asked Lady Catherine as her old rector, now Mr William Bennet, dismounted from Bartholomew, and assisted Mary, Jane, and Caroline Bingley out of Mr Bingley’s carriage.

Mr Bingley dismounted from his horse as well, and greeted Lady Catherine and Anne pleasantly. “Lady Catherine, I thought I might throw myself upon your hospitality this time!”

“My dear Lady Catherine, when we had word from my cousin Elizabeth about your turn, we thought we ought to come and see what we could do to aid your comfort,” answered William. “I do not flatter myself that my counsel is needed, but if there was anything we might do to assist you or Miss de Bourgh, we felt that we must come to you with all haste.”

“That, and my mother has made life impossible at Longbourn,” added Mary. She looked at Elizabeth. “Mama wants a double wedding in the worst way, Lizzy. She has made life quite uncomfortable for Jane and poor Mr Bingley, in her determination to see them engaged.”

“Mr Bingley and I shall become engaged exactly when and if we are ready to do so, and not a moment before,” said Jane, bussing Elizabeth’s cheeks, and sweeping Lydia into a warm embrace. “And Mary and our cousin deserve their own wedding; I will not overshadow it.”

“William and I quite agree that such a scheme could only enhance our joy, and that of all of our family and friends, but I will not rush you,” said Mary to her sister, in what was obviously a conversation the two had held before.

“Well we are very glad to have you, and Bennet, perhaps the company of you and Bingley will not be amiss; you are most welcome,” said Lady Catherine, approvingly. “Eastbourne is swimming in rakes and rogues, it will be good to have men I can trust about the house. I shall be grateful indeed when we finally have my nephew’s protection. Miss Bingley, you must tell me all about your time in town. I was hoping for a letter from you, but this is better.”

“It is good to see your ladyship looking so well, Miss Elizabeth’s letter gave us quite a turn.” Miss Bingley curtsied deeply before the woman who had spent months drilling etiquette into her, changing her address greatly.

Her ladyship got her wish some three days later. Mr Darcy had left Pemberley the very day after receiving Elizabeth and Georgiana’s express packet, and stopped only briefly in London. Elizabeth was thrilled to be back in his company after so many months, but, like Jane, she felt that the separation had been good for them. She had learned to miss him, and to long for him, and that to be without him caused her despair. The two had expressed their devotion to one another in no uncertain terms in their correspondence, and now that he was here, Elizabeth felt rather shy in his presence, blushing at the memory of all of the expressions of amour the two had shared on paper. Darcy as well felt reticent in her presence, though the two of them soon found their previous camaraderie the following morning when Darcy accompanied her for a walk.

To their surprise, they found not only Lydia, but Anne waiting for them when they descended the stairs for their morning exercise. “I beg your pardon, Lizzy, for imposing upon your time with my cousin, but I simply must have a few words with him before my mother comes down this morning,” Anne said apologetically. Elizabeth made no objection, and Darcy asked Anne to tell him what was on her mind as they walked.

“It is that abominable foreigner, that is the problem!” Anne cried. Anne loathed the Comte St Germain. After having tried his elixir, Lady Catherine was robust with energy and vitality. Her colour was back, and she was eating with appetite. Anne did not trust it. “How can a mere tonic cure a cancer of the breast, Darcy? I am convinced that this elixir only makes her think she is better. She has the appointment with the other surgeon in a few days, I fear that this comte’s quack medicine will make her even more unwilling to consider Mr Stewart’s cure.” There had been even more fighting when Lady Catherine had wished for the comte to examine Anne, who outright refused to allow him near her, claiming that she had endured enough of the quack medicine her mother believed in already.

Elizabeth had been overjoyed by Lady Catherine’s return to vigour, but she could understand Anne’s concern.

“I comprehend your worries entirely, cousin,” Darcy replied. “And I assure you that I share them equally. Someone must question this comte about his methods. If he claims they are to work, he must explain how they work, if he wishes for my aunt’s family to trust him with her health. I assure you that I will do so, directly.”

For the next two weeks, Lady Catherine was indefatigable. She did attend the meeting with the surgeons, but so far refused to agree on a date for a procedure. She felt well enough, and she was not ready for such a step. Anne did her very best to discover whether she would at some point agree, but Lady Catherine was closed-mouthed on the subject. She would not discuss the Comte’s methods or treatments with anyone. She met with him twice per week, when he presumably administered an elixir of unknown origin.

Darcy had done his best to speak with the man, but the man came and went mysteriously, talked in circles, and avoided a private discussion of any importance. Eventually Lady Catherine instructed Darcy to cease his attempts to interrogate the man, and informed him in no uncertain terms that her treatments were not his business. This led to a terrible row with Anne, which raged for three days. Elizabeth did everything in her power to induce her friend to remain calm, for this abominable fighting could not be good for Lady Catherine’s health, but Anne was determined to carry her point. Lady Catherine was equally determined to be obstinate.

The comte had examined Miss Amanda Fletcher, and his elixir was administered. That young lady had suffered weakness of the heart after scarlet fever, but the comte insisted that she might make a partial recovery if her father stopped allowing her to be bled. As with Lady Catherine, the elixir had a miraculous effect. Miss Fletcher was soon full of vigour, and was dancing in the assembly rooms each week by night. The comte warned her father that the elixir alone would not have a permanent effect, and that she must diligently build her strength for the improvement to be permanent.

Mr Woodhouse was outraged that the comte refused to examine Miss Woodhouse. “All that one needs is a good spanking,” the foreigner insisted. Mr Woodhouse was indignant, and begged Lady Catherine to intervene on Miss Woodhouse’s behalf, but Lady Catherine could do nothing. Miss Woodhouse maintained that she found the comte’s dismissive manner of her frightening, and that she did not wish to be examined by him. Elizabeth found the entire situation entirely perplexing. Miss Woodhouse’s father dragged her to Bourne House each day and to every evening event at which the comte was to attend, in order to place the girl in his path. Elizabeth seemed to be the only one to notice that Miss Woodhouse had not had a spell in some time, and that her main interest seemed to be the pairing of Priscilla and Mr Darcy.

Darcy was annoyed by Miss Woodhouse. She spoke endlessly in his presence of Priscilla’s virtues, and the importance of family dynasties and lineage. One might have thought the young lady was a protege of Lady Catherine’s, so inexhaustible she was upon the subject. Priscilla thought the entire matter was a farce, and amused herself endlessly in Miss Woodhouse’s presence by allowing the girl to make a spectacle of herself in her attempts to throw Mr Darcy together with his cousin.

Miss Bingley was surprisingly a friend to Darcy and Elizabeth during this time. Lady Catherine had impressed upon her that it would be to her advantage if Darcy wed Elizabeth and Charles wed Jane. She was keen to see these connections created. She wished very much to be the sister of Mrs Darcy’s sister, and welcome at Pemberley and Darcy House, if she was not to be Mrs Darcy herself. She inserted herself into all of their affairs whenever Miss Woodhouse attempted to manage Darcy and Elizabeth, and constantly placed herself in Miss Woodhouse’s path, which was amusing to everyone, for Miss Woodhouse was a snob, and being imposed upon daily by a tradesman’s daughter was excessively distressing for her.

The comte was the darling of every event, and the favourite of everyone with the exception of Anne and the Woodhouses. He was an incredible conversationalist, and after some days, even Darcy quite forgot he was meant to be interrogating the man about his medicinal methods, and instead spent hours in discussion about historical events, of which the comte had incredible knowledge, and claimed to have seen first hand. Elizabeth noticed that he drank mineral water, but never ate food nor drank wine, not a morsel. She wondered if the man might be a vampire.

“You do realise that if he has seen everything he claims, that he must be nearly two thousand years old,” said Anne, rolling her eyes, as she approached Elizabeth and Darcy at the confectioners one afternoon when they were debating in a lively manner about one of the comte’s more incredible claims about the court of Catherine the Great.

“According to the comte, this is not impossible ,” answered Elizabeth, eyes twinkling.

“He does admit that he is very old,” observed Darcy, smiling at Elizabeth in amusement.

“He ought to admit that he is a great conniver!” snapped Anne in irritation, followed by a lively quarter hour debate between the two cousins regarding the credibility of the comte’s claims.

“Did you come out alone, Cousin?” asked Darcy finally. “You usually drive out with one of the other ladies.”

“Did not Lydia come in right behind me?” Anne looked about the shop. “Elizabeth, keeping your youngest sister contained is like nailing jam to a tree.”

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