Chapter 77
Lady Catherine made it clear that several matters needed to be ‘dealt with’ at once.
Chief among her concerns were Georgiana’s care, the reputation of the family, and the vital importance that Pemberley would not be neglected out of carelessness, drunkenness or ignorance.
She said this last word with a glance at Elizabeth - a kindly glance, all things considered, but one that Mrs. Darcy did not appreciate.
She had expected to be intimidated by Lady Catherine, and the few minutes she had spent with her so far had proven her correct.
However, Lizzie did not find the other woman to be as monstrous as she had been painted.
Her love for Georgiana and for Darcy was beautiful, and it was obvious that Lady Catherine made all of her decisions with their wellbeing at the front of her mind.
While Elizabeth did not relish the thought of Lady Catherine giving her instruction about the running of the estate, she had to admit that the lady had some right to be superior.
She had been the mistress of Rosings Park for decades, and by all accounts it was a superb house.
Had Lady Catherine offered her insights in a tactful manner then Elizabeth would have been grateful.
Her reference to ‘ignorance’, however, proved that any understanding between them would take time.
“What of my sister?” Elizabeth asked, when Lady Catherine had stopped speaking for long enough to enquire.
When the older woman frowned at her, Lizzie awkwardly added: “My sister Jane, madam… your rector, Mr. Collins, believes that he has some claim to her. Indeed, we thought that was why you decided to visit us.”
“Collins! Is he here?”
“Yes, ma’am. He is staying in the dower house. I do not believe we shall see him until morning, for he drank a great deal at the ball.”
“Excellent, he is at his most tolerable when kept at a distance. Yes, Mrs. Darcy, he did petition me for assistance, but no, that is not why I am here. My goodness, you make it sound as if I am here at his command! You must understand, Mrs. Darcy, that is not how such things are managed among the finer families.”
Elizabeth felt a wild urge to laugh. Lady Catherine’s opinions had been the focus of her life for so long that she had never stopped to consider the sheer audacity of Mr. Collins’s claims. It was not only that his esteemed patroness didn’t care about his plight.
The notion that she was at his disposal, and that he could make her travel so far to serve his needs, was deeply offensive.
It was tempting to press the matter and make it clear that Collins was abusing his patroness’s good name.
Elizabeth decided against it. Lady Catherine seemed content to ignore him entirely.
Every minute that Collins was forced to remain in Pemberley, waiting for her attention, was another minute Jane could use to escape.
Lady Catherine had many questions about Georgiana’s ‘accident’.
She asked them bluntly, like a bull stomping one foot against the ground.
To protect Mary from both the unpleasant topic and the snorting orator, Elizabeth took her downstairs and sat her down in the parlour.
For a few minutes they both breathed in silence, stunned by the violent emotions they had just witnessed and the clash of Darcy and his aunt. Then Elizabeth stood up.
“I will get the others. Kitty and Lydia will want to know about Georgiana.”
“Yes, but… Lizzie, wait.” Mary caught her sister’s hand, “This is bad timing, but it is the only time. I need to speak to you.”
There was such agitation on her sister’s face that Elizabeth sat back down at once. “What is it, my love?”
“Do you not wonder where Fitzwilliam has been all day?”
“Oh. I… um…” Elizabeth floundered. She could hardly tell her sister that the whole day had been a fever-dream. “Where is he, Mary?”
“He is… oh, I do not think you will understand. Let me try again. Elizabeth, last night I told Fitzwilliam that I would not dance with him. Instead, we walked through the garden for several hours.”
Mary’s face went very pink. Elizabeth had a horrible moment of déjà vu, remembering the expression on Jane’s face after she had spied on them in the woods. Her own face burned and she blurted out: “Did you see us?”
“See what?” Mary blinked, distracted from her poignant recollections, and let out a small scoff.
“Were you reciting Shakespeare to the fairies? I saw nothing. You are not at the centre of every story, Elizabeth. You must try to imagine a world where people have their own lives, even if you are not there.”
“No, I didn’t mean…” Elizabeth could not scold Mary for being so scathing. After living under her sisters’ shadows for so long, Mary had every right to value her time without them. “What happened with Colonel Fitzwilliam, dearest?”
“Alone? In the dark woods? Unchaperoned? What do you think happened?”
Elizabeth felt dizzy. “You…?”
“He kissed me.”
“He… kissed you.” Elizabeth breathed out slowly, “Did he do anything else?”
“Mm. A lot of talking. It turns out, Lizzie, that there are times when I do not prefer a rousing debate. Yet that was all I was offered, at least until this morning.”
“Without making me almost faint for the second time, Mary, please tell me what you and Fitzwilliam did this morning.”
“Not what you and Darcy were doing, if that’s what’s making you light-headed, dear sister. Nor, I might add, what Jane and Mr. Bingley were doing the night before.”
“What!” Elizabeth half-shrieked, half-hissed, “How do you know about…?”
“I wake up early to go walking. They were saying goodnight in the corridor. At least, that is what they told me. What I observed was decidedly less of a farewell and more of an invitation.”
“Mary! Hold your tongue! You are not supposed to know of such things, much less talk about them so… so plainly!”
“Am I not?” Mary shrugged, “It is all in the Bible, you know. Alongside all of the verses concerning modesty… chastity…”
“Mary, I am in no mood to debate scripture with you. I congratulate you on your moral fortitude and hope your kiss was a pleasant one. Will that do?”
“Thank you. It was not unpleasant. My intention was not to debate morality, Lizzie, only to reassure you that I did not act improperly.”
“I shall be more reassured if you actually finish telling me your story. This year, if you please! What happened between you and Fitzwilliam this morning?”
“Oh, he has gone to speak to mama. It seems that Mr. Collins has a very bad hangover and was trodden upon by a horse, not to mention having his pride firmly trampled by our dear sister. The dower house must have felt much like a prison with him whining, or perhaps like a menagerie, so Fitzwilliam invited mama to spend the day in Lambton. She leapt at the chance, poor dear. I believe they will be back in time for dinner.”
Elizabeth spoke very, very carefully, for she believed Mary was making vagaries on purpose to be difficult. It was difficult to make her sister concise at the best of times, much less when she was skirting around the notion of marriage or ruination. “Is Colonel Fitzwilliam making an offer?”
“If he is a fool, then he is. He made it very clear that he should only marry a woman who can bring him a generous income. If he meets one of them on the road to Lambton, then perhaps he will do the sensible thing and change his mind about proposing to me. His opinion of me seems to eclipse every scrap of common sense, Lizzie.”
“Do you want him to marry you?” Elizabeth was exasperated by now, “You sound utterly… indifferent! If Fitzwilliam is prepared to have only a modest income for your sake, then you should be grateful, not… not criticising his judgement!”
“Oh, I am grateful, but that does not mean that I do not disapprove. I tried to talk him out of it, but he refused to listen. I am sure that he did not kiss me to be affectionate, but rather to silence me. It was rather effective, I must admit. I am only saying that I do not know for certain that he really wants me for his wife. I would not blame him for choosing logic over love. It is what I would do.”
“No,” Elizabeth interrupted. She had been watching her sister’s expression with wonder.
Under all of the hard words there was a softness in Mary’s eyes that was staggeringly beautiful.
“A year ago, perhaps… but that is not what the Mary in front of me would do. My little sister values love very highly, I think - and I suspect she feels a great deal of it, even though she would never admit it.”
Mary scowled and did not answer. Elizabeth kissed her cheek and stood up.
“I need to get the girls. Will you tell them about this?”
Mary shook her head emphatically. Elizabeth had one final, delicate thing to ask.
“Will you tell them about Jane? I do not mean about her running away - I will tell them about that myself. But do you plan to tell them about seeing her with Mr. Bingley?”
“Of course not. They are too foolish to understand such things.”
Elizabeth sighed. “They are only young, Mary. I thought that you were the most innocent of us all. But I thank you for your restraint. I do not think my nerves could compete with hearing Lydia’s opinions on such matters. You have shaken them up enough for a year.”