Chapter Sixteen
D eeply relieved to be leaving Hunsford, Mr. Darcy stopped first at the parsonage to enquire after Mr. Partridge. He learnt from Mrs. Collins that he inhabited a tiny cottage in Hunsford and was struggling to feed himself after having been let go by Lady Catherine. Mr. Darcy made a mental note to have his man of business take care of this situation as soon as possible.
It was but a short ride to London, but it was enough time to allow the cousins to try to make sense of all that had occurred at Rosings.
“Darcy, had you ever before had even an inkling that your mother was so determined to remain mistress of Pemberley, come what may?”
“No, never; I admit to being completely astonished.”
“Whatever can she be thinking?”
Mr. Darcy sighed. “She told me that for a wife, her power, her definition of herself, stems only from her husband; thus, once I marry, her role of mistress of Pemberley ceases.”
Richard’s brow creased. “I certainly see her point, but that is the way of the world.”
“I see her point as well, but what does she expect me to do? Marry a nonentity like Cousin Anne, so that my mother is permitted to retain her post? It is everything absurd!”
“Darcy, the situation is such that someone will be made unhappy. It is merely a question of who it will be. Will it be your mother who is made unhappy because she loses her exalted position? Or will it be you, because you have married someone who will not be a threat to your mother? It seems to me that this is the choice you face.”
“Surely it is not selfish of me, to want my own happiness.”
“Selfish? Surely not. And it is downright unnatural for your mother to value her position over your happiness. I would never have believed it.”
“And it is not just my mother! Is Aunt Catherine at all concerned for her own daughter’s happiness, forcing Anne to marry someone who does not want her, and thrusting her into a role she cannot possibly fill?”
“Perhaps the sisters are not so different as we have always believed,” Richard mused.
***
Upon arriving at Matlock House, politeness compelled Mr. Darcy to visit with the Earl and Countess before going home to Darcy House. Both his aunt and uncle were in the drawing room when they entered the house, and – of course – both were deeply curious as to how events had proceeded at Rosings.
“You would not have believed it,” Richard said, immediately. “Aunt Catherine tried to have Anne compromise Darcy!”
The Countess looked confused. “I do not fully understand; I thought Darcy went there to propose to Anne! Though I thought it a dreadful mistake, Darcy.”
Mr. Darcy agreed. “You were certainly right in thinking it a mistake, Aunt Eleanor, but I did not realise it until we got to Rosings.”
Richard snorted. “You mean you did not realise it until you met Miss Bennet!”
“And who is Miss Bennet?” the Countess demanded.
“A very lovely young lady who, with no effort at all, made Darcy here discover that Cousin Anne is not fit to be anyone’s wife, let alone the mistress of Pemberley!”
“No, and it is not just Anne’s health that is at issue; we all know that she was not raised to take on estate responsibilities,” the Earl contributed.
“But why is that?” Mr. Darcy asked. “Will she not inherit Rosings Park?”
“Inherit it? Why, it is hers already, though my sister Catherine does not want her to know it,” the Earl said.
“Hers already?”
“Yes, it became hers when she turned twenty-five in January.”
“But you have not heard it all yet,” Richard insisted. “Aunt Anne was there to persuade Darcy to do his duty.”
The Earl was flummoxed. “Anne was there as well? Both my sisters?”
“Yes; and frankly, Uncle, I am rather confused. I understand now that my mother hoped I would marry Anne so that she could retain her place as mistress of Pemberley, but why…” He trailed off. “Ah, that was the missing piece. Aunt Catherine wanted her daughter at Pemberley so that she, Catherine, could remain mistress of Rosings!” He looked first astonished, and then furious. “Why did no one warn me?”
His Aunt looked at him with pity in her eyes. “I knew it was happening, nephew, but thought it not right to interfere. After all, perhaps you wanted to marry Anne and make your mother happy. But let us return to Miss Bennet. Will you see her again?”
“I hope to, Aunt.” He would say no more, and soon after left for Darcy House.
***
He intended to set off for Netherfield the very next morning, but found a stack of business letters in the study that had been forwarded from Pemberley and these had to be dealt with before he could make good his escape. He remembered to write a message to his man of business in London, arranging for an annuity to be paid to Mr. Partridge in Hunsford, beginning immediately. It was unconscionable of Aunt Catherine to leave Mr. Partridge in such circumstances, and he was glad to have the opportunity, as well as the ability, to rectify her poor-spirited blunder.
But at last he was on his way out of Town, traveling on a glorious spring morning, eager to see Miss Bennet again. He had sent Evans with his trunks on ahead of him, so that he might be alone with his thoughts. And his thoughts were all of her .
I must be in love, he thought. Nothing else could explain the way she constantly invaded his mind! Breaking his fast each morning, he imagined her sitting beside him, close enough that he might reach over and touch her hand. Sitting in the study at Darcy House as he wrote letters, he imagined her sitting opposite him with a book in her hand, looking up to smile at him as she turned the pages. Going to bed at night, he imagined himself walking through the shared sitting room to join her in her bed, her hair unpinned and flowing in gentle waves down her back…he imagined her smile as she saw him approach her bed…he imagined her opening her arms to him…he imagined joining her in the bed…
As his body reacted, inevitably, to these thoughts, he smiled wryly to himself, thinking that it was just as well that he had sent Evans on ahead. He did not want to share a carriage with anyone until he was in better control of his imagination.
He knew that being in love with Miss Bennet created a significant problem. He wanted desperately, more than anything, to marry her immediately and never be separated from her. But he knew that his path would not be easy. It would have been less difficult if he had fallen in love with a young lady of the ton and subsequently married her. His mother and his Aunt Catherine would still have been angry, but no other eyebrows would have been raised.
But a heretofore unknown young lady from the country? His mother and Aunt Catherine would be angry and eyebrows would be raised in every townhome in London!
Did he care?
No. No, he realised, with an enormous smile, he did not. Not in the slightest.
***
At Rosings Park, Lady Anne climbed into her carriage, preparing to head north to Pemberley. She had not been in so foul a mood in some time, and her poor maid, Hannah, was made to hear all her ladyship’s recriminations about Lady Catherine, who had clearly not raised Anne de Bourgh properly; about Anne de Bourgh herself, for being so weak and uninteresting; about Fitzwilliam, for being so very disobedient, rebellious, disrespectful and unfilial; but most of all about Miss Elizabeth Bennet, who had the audacity to be pretty, vivacious, well-read and very much in the wrong place at the wrong time.