Chapter 29
LADY CATHERINE WAITED until Mrs. Bennet returned to the house before turning upon Darcy. “You are going to remain?”
Bingley stood beside Jane, while Georgiana and Anne remained near the gate. Bennet had made no move to leave, and Elizabeth kept one hand on Sarah’s neck as the dog waited beside her.
Darcy did not look away. “I intend to.”
“Good. Then we may settle this matter before I return to Netherfield.”
Bennet smiled. “You have chosen an ambitious afternoon, Lady Catherine. Most families require several visits before they begin settling one another.”
Lady Catherine’s attention remained upon Darcy.
“You have allowed your conduct to invite speculation. You have written of Miss Elizabeth to your sister, remained in Hertfordshire beyond the demands of friendship, and made yourself at home in a family whose circumstances should have warned you against every step.”
Elizabeth’s hand rested on Sarah’s head. The dog did not move, but Darcy saw the tension in her fingers.
“My conduct requires no defense before this company,” he said.
“It requires explanation to your family.”
“Georgiana has asked for none.”
Lady Catherine glanced toward her niece. “She is seventeen.”
“And old enough to know when someone uses her name without her consent.”
A flush rose in Georgiana’s face, though she did not look away. Lady Catherine dismissed the rebuke with a turn of her head.
“You mistake the point. I came because you would not act. Miss Elizabeth may possess spirit, and she may amuse you in a place where society offers little variety, but amusement is not suitability.”
Elizabeth spoke before Darcy could answer. “You have crossed half the county to tell me that I am unsuitable for a question no one has asked.”
Lady Catherine turned to her. “You know the question.”
“I know what you fear.”
“Do not play with words. You have encouraged my nephew.”
Darcy stepped forward. “No.”
The force of the word took her by surprise.
Lady Catherine stared at him. “No?”
“Miss Elizabeth has not encouraged me. Whatever attention I have given her began without invitation and continued despite every reason she had to think ill of me.”
Elizabeth looked at him then, and he saw surprise break through her anger.
Lady Catherine struck the ground with the end of her cane. “It sounds like her refusal to flatter you is a recommendation.”
“One of many.”
“Many?” Her gaze swept over Elizabeth, yard, and Sarah.
“I see a country house in need of repair, a mother who cannot govern her tongue, younger daughters who run after officers, sheep beyond the windows, and a dog that does not know its place. There is neither polish nor restraint, yet you ask me to consider these recommendations.”
Bennet stepped closer. “You were not asked to consider anything.”
Darcy kept his attention on Lady Catherine. “You see what I saw when I came to Hertfordshire.”
Elizabeth’s expression changed. The words had reached her, though Lady Catherine appeared to hear only agreement.
“At last,” his aunt said. “Then you admit the truth.”
“I admit the error.”
Silence followed.
Darcy had spoken of that error to no one. He had examined it in private, each correction more uncomfortable than the last, but Lady Catherine had brought the matter into the open and left him no honorable retreat.
“When I first saw Miss Elizabeth,” he continued, “I judged her family, her habits, and even her place in a field before I knew her. I mistook competence for want of refinement, independence for disregard, and loyalty to her family for blindness to their faults. I believed rank had taught me discernment when it was misplaced confidence.”
Elizabeth did not look away.
Lady Catherine’s face hardened. “Contradiction fascinates you. A woman opposes you, and you mistake the novelty for character.”
“No. I mistook character for novelty because I had not met enough people willing to oppose me.”
Bingley looked as though he meant to smile, but Jane’s glance stopped him.
Lady Catherine turned upon Elizabeth. “And you stand there pleased with this triumph.”
“I am not pleased that he once thought so little of me.”
“Yet you accept his defense.”
“I accept that he has judged himself with more honesty than you have judged anyone since coming here.”
Lady Catherine snorted. “Honesty? You presume to instruct me in honesty while placing yourself in Darcy’s path at every turn.”
Elizabeth’s chin lifted. “I live three miles from Netherfield. It would require effort to avoid every road he might take.”
Sarah raised her head at the sharpness in Lady Catherine’s voice, then settled when Elizabeth touched her collar.
“There,” Lady Catherine said. “Even now the animal requires management.”
“All creatures with spirit do,” Bennet replied. “Some accept it with more grace than others.”
Darcy saw the corner of Elizabeth’s mouth move, but she suppressed the smile.
Lady Catherine faced him. “You defend this household because you have lost perspective. Look at the younger girls. They speak of officers as though the regiment existed for their entertainment, and their mother announces every hope before it has drawn breath. The estate will pass from them, and their connections offer no compensation.”
“You have learned much from Collins,” Bennet said. “I begin to regret that I taught him how to address a letter.”
“Mr. Collins understands duty.”
“He understands postage.”
Lady Catherine’s color deepened. “This levity proves my point.”
“No,” Darcy said. “It proves that you entered another man’s house and insulted his family until courtesy became difficult.”
Lady Catherine drew herself upright. “You choose them, then.”
The question entered with more force than anything she had said before it, and Darcy knew Elizabeth heard what lay beneath it. He could not answer in terms Lady Catherine wished to force upon him, not while Elizabeth stood exposed before her family, but neither would he retreat into ambiguity.
“Whether I do or not is my right to decide, not yours.”
“That is not an answer.”
“It is all the answer you deserve.”
Lady Catherine stared at him, then at Elizabeth. “You believe this changes your position?”
Elizabeth’s hand left Sarah’s collar. “My position does not depend upon your opinion.”
“You have none without your family.”
“Then I have more than enough.”
Jane moved closer to Elizabeth, while Bennet remained near the steps, watching Lady Catherine with open interest.
She surveyed them and found no surrender. “You will regret encouraging insolence, Darcy.”
“I regret mistaking candor for it.”
Elizabeth’s breath caught. He heard it because he had become aware of every sound she made.
Lady Catherine heard nothing but defiance. “Then you have abandoned sense.”
“No. I have begun to use it.”
Anne turned her face toward the fence, but not before Darcy saw the satisfaction in it. Georgiana’s hands had stopped twisting the ribbon at her waist.
Lady Catherine stamped her foot. “We are leaving.”
Georgiana’s composure faltered. Darcy understood at once that she had expected the command and feared it.
His aunt continued. “The carriage will take us back to Rosings before this place corrupts every judgment you possess.”
“The horses have traveled since morning,” Darcy said. “You will not take Georgiana on the road again today.”
“I decide when my party travels.”
“Georgiana is not part of your household.”
“She came under my care.”
“And she remains under mine.”
Lady Catherine’s grip tightened on her cane. “You would remove your sister from Rosings over this girl?”
“I would prevent you from using my sister to punish me.”
Georgiana looked at him, and the gratitude on her face made him wish he had spoken sooner.
Bingley released Jane’s arm and stepped into the space between Darcy and Lady Catherine with the open expression he wore when he had reached a decision before anyone else knew one was required.
“Miss Darcy should stay at Netherfield.”
Lady Catherine turned upon him. “I beg your pardon?”
Bingley’s color rose, but he did not withdraw. “Netherfield has room, and my sisters would be glad of her company. It is not necessary for Miss Darcy to return to Rosings today, or until she wishes.”
Caroline was not present to dispute the promise, which Darcy suspected had helped Bingley make it.
Lady Catherine regarded him as though a chair had addressed her. “You presume beyond your position, Mr. Bingley.”
“It is my house.”
Hurst could not have made the point with less ceremony.
Bingley glanced at Darcy, giving permission without forcing him to request it. Darcy understood the kindness and the risk Bingley had taken before Jane’s family, Lady Catherine, and anyone who might carry the story through Meryton by supper.
He turned to Georgiana. “Would you like to stay at Netherfield?”
Lady Catherine answered for her. “She would not.”
Darcy kept his eyes on his sister. “Georgiana?”
Georgiana looked toward Lady Catherine, and Darcy saw the habit of obedience contend with the resolve that had brought her to Longbourn. She drew a breath. “Yes.”
Lady Catherine’s face lost all color before anger restored it. “I forbid it.”
Georgiana’s voice shook, but the words did not. “My brother asked what I wished.”
“And I have told you what is proper.”
“I wish to stay.”
Anne lowered her gaze to hide a smile. Bennet made no such effort.
Lady Catherine’s eyes moved to Elizabeth, as though every act of resistance had begun with her. “This is your influence.”
Elizabeth looked at Georgiana before answering. “Miss Darcy appears capable of knowing her own wishes.”
“She was not so bold before she met you.”
“Then perhaps you should ask why she required boldness in your company.”
Darcy expected another blow of the cane, but Lady Catherine had passed beyond gestures. Her anger was too large for display.
“You will regret this,” she told Georgiana.
“I may,” Georgiana said, “but I would regret leaving more.”
The answer held no triumph, and that absence gave it force.
Lady Catherine turned to Anne. “Come.”
Anne shook her head. “I would prefer to remain as well.”