Chapter 11
NO HUMOUR AT PRESENT
Darcy and his aunt Lady Catherine de Bourgh were embroiled in a heated debate.
Vexing woman! It took all the control he could muster to remember it was his elderly aunt to whom he was speaking.
He took a measured sip of his drink to compose himself.
“You cannot be serious about wishing to part with Hercules. He sired five of our family’s prize-winning bays. ”
Her ladyship jutted her chin. “What use must I possibly have for such a possession?”
To Darcy’s surprise, her ladyship had invited many of their family to Kent, ostensibly to attend the horse race: his uncle and aunt Lord and Lady Matlock, his young sister, Georgiana, and his cousins Lord Robert and Richard.
All of them save his cousin, Anne, Georgiana, and Richard were gathered in Rosings’ palatial parlour.
Lord Matlock, who was thought to be napping, sat up and cleared his throat. “What is it that you are saying about Hercules?”
His wife, Lady Ellen, said, “Have you not heard? Lady Catherine is considering selling Hercules to the highest bidder.”
“Catherine, how could you? Hercules was our father’s favourite possession. You were determined father should give him to you when, by all rights, he should have belonged to me.”
“You need not be overly concerned,” said Darcy. “I suspect her ladyship has no intention of parting with Hercules at all. This is her thinly disguised attempt to bend me to her will.”
Lady Catherine reared her head. “I will not have the two of you speak of me as though I am not in the room. I will have my share of this conversation.”
“Is what Darcy says true?”
“I have given him the first right of refusal. He simply has failed to meet my terms.”
“How much has he offered you?”
“My terms have nothing to do with money! I have more than enough money. If Darcy wishes to own Hercules, he knows what he must do to satisfy my demands.”
“Is this about Anne? My God! Do not tell me you are using your own daughter as a bargaining chip.”
“And what if I am? It is not as though Darcy and Anne are not meant for each other. From their cradles, they were destined to be married. It was my sister’s as well as my own favourite wish. I am simply making this young man an offer he cannot refuse merely to speed the process along.”
“I contend what you are proposing is ludicrous and completely unnecessary. This young man is eight and twenty, and he has yet to choose a bride. There can be but one reason. He knows he must marry your daughter to satisfy his obligation to the family. He is simply biding his time.”
“In the meantime, Anne is not getting any younger. Neither am I. I wish to have my grandchildren benefit from my guidance and counsel while I am able to bestow it.”
Darcy had heard enough. “Listen to the two of you going on and on about my obligations. Your wishes do not obligate me. You and my mother did your part in planning the union. Its execution depends entirely upon others. I do not consider myself engaged—at least not to my cousin.”
Lady Catherine’s face twisted into a tight grimace. “What on earth is that supposed to mean?”
“You will know when the time is right.”
“This is not to be borne! Who is the young lady who has usurped my Anne’s rightful place as the next mistress of Pemberley? How is it possible that such a thing could have escaped my knowing?”
Darcy had no intention of satisfying his aunt’s curiosity. Darcy swirled the liquor in his fine crystal glass and then took a sip.
Lady Catherine banged her bejewelled mahogany cane against his velvet cushioned chair. “I insist upon being satisfied.”
Startled, but far from intimidated, Darcy met his aunt’s ferocious stare with one of his own. “I have said all I intend to say for now. I am not at liberty to say more.”
“But what about Anne? What about Hercules?”
“If Hercules’s fate depends upon my marrying Anne, then I suppose you had better put him down.”
Taken aback, her ladyship said, “You speak nonsense, Darcy! What has gotten into you?”
Richard shuffled into the room and drew everyone’s attention.
“There you are, Fitzwilliam. Your cousin states that he will not marry my Anne, and he does not care about Hercules. He alludes to being engaged to another, but he will not tell me anything about the young woman. What say you about all this?”
Elizabeth needed to speak with her aunt.
Now that Lord Holland had stated his intentions towards her in no uncertain terms, she was even more persuaded she would be restless and dissatisfied with her current circumstance.
Elizabeth wished for nothing more than to avoid Bosley’s society altogether. Longbourn is where she longed to be.
Elizabeth’s footsteps echoed quietly as she walked through the corridor of Barrington Hall with sadness she did not think herself capable of when she first arrived in Bosley.
Portraits of Barrett family members lined the panelled walls.
While Barrington Hall was not her home and did not have the feeling of being home, she had taught herself to appreciate its ostentatious opulence—not because her own tastes had changed, but because this was a reflection of Lady Vanessa’s taste.
All of this meant something to her aunt.
Even the thought that Lady Vanessa had meant for Elizabeth to one day own all of this was not something Elizabeth took for granted.
Her late husband, a man that Elizabeth never even knew, had bequeathed his entire fortune to Lady Vanessa, and she had thought to make Elizabeth her sole heir and beneficiary.
Elizabeth found her aunt in the library. She took the seat opposite her. “Might I have a word with you, your ladyship?”
“Of course, you may, my dear. What is on your mind?”
“I have decided to return to Hertfordshire. I am not indifferent to the kindness you have bestowed, but Longbourn is where I need to be, so do not try to dissuade me.”
“Elizabeth, my dear, I will not attempt to change your mind. If I know you at all, I know you value the strength of your convictions. You know your own mind. I could not change it, even if I wish. You have no doubt given this a great deal of thought.”
“I have.”
“Well, I cannot help but consider that this has to do with Mr. Darcy’s leave-taking. What a shame that is too. And my dear nephew—surely you know by now how he feels about you.”
“I am painfully aware of Lord Holland’s sentiments, your ladyship. But I cannot pretend to enjoy similar feelings, nor am I able to hope that I ever will. An alliance between the two of us would subject us both to misery of the acutest kind.”
“I will remind you of the terms of my agreement with your father.”
Elizabeth listened without speaking as Lady Vanessa continued to make her opinion known; so much for her earlier statement about not attempting to change Elizabeth’s mind.
However, she was right in saying that any efforts to that effect would be in vain.
Elizabeth had thought long and hard on the matter and had formed the conclusion that she could no longer be contented in a place that reminded her so much of Mr. Darcy.
She knew if she left now, there was no turning back.
She would return to Longbourn with nothing, and her family would be right where they started.
She and her sisters would have no connections and no fortune.
Any hope her mother held for most advantageous alliances for all her daughters as a consequence of her ladyship’s largess would be considerably diminished.
The next morning, Elizabeth stared out the window of her apartment and observed the tranquil countryside for what she was sure would be the last time.
Her sister’s drawings were removed from the walls, and all her belongings were packed.
The room was just as she had found it months prior.
She wondered how her father would take the news of her returning to Hertfordshire with no assurances of his sister’s intentions.
Surely Papa will not fault me. She twisted her lower lip and shook her head.
If only the same could be said of my mother.