Chapter 26
“Darcy, what is it? It is ten o’clock in the morning, and you look as if you had not slept a wink. Look at these dark rings around your eyes! If you are not well, we should put off looking through the books. Let us ride the estate instead. It is a gorgeous morning.”
Mr. Darcy rubbed his chin with his hand, as if needing to be convinced it was indeed morning, and his valet had given him a tidy shave. He asked, “Can you ride?”
“Try me!”
The Colonel’s leg wound was essentially healed, but riding could stretch the leg and aggravate the newly closed wound.
The cousins arrived at the stable. Mr. Darcy mounted his favorite stallion, Perseus. The colonel chose a smaller mare. Once he was astride, he claimed to be comfortable. After all, he was a cavalry officer.
“I can ride well enough to rejoin my regiment if I wish!” boasted the Colonel.
Mr. Darcy just smiled. In the past, he would have given his horse its head to make his cousin eat his words. This morning, he simply did not have the energy.
Once they were out in the fields, they stopped and looked around.
Mr. Darcy said resignedly, “Anne told me yesterday that she enjoyed being married to me and wanted us to move into the master and mistress’s chambers.”
“Huh,” was all the Colonel said in response. He instinctively felt he should not wade into the affairs between husband and wife, but his being the one who should have been the husband made him feel keenly the difficulty Darcy faced.
“Anne has been demanding more wifely privileges. This was not what I bargained for. I feel I could not have sunk any lower by saying the sacred marriage vows with no intention of keeping them.”
“What do you plan to do?”
“I received a letter from the Duke yesterday. He thanked us both profusely for our assistance, which I could comprehend, but then, he also rather awkwardly bade me to enjoy life with some friends. I cannot fathom why he suggested that, but perhaps he has an uncanny sense in foretelling my current incapacitation by shame and guilt. I propose we leave tomorrow for a few days. The legal documents for Weston to sign came this morning. Easter is around the corner. I shall return and stay here through the holiday, and then I shall go to Pemberley to oversee the spring planting. Anne is too weak to take such a journey. This will buy me some time to prepare myself for the inevitable and accept my fate.”
“You cannot even entertain the thought of sleeping in the bedroom next to hers? You know she is too weak to get up to any mischief.”
“I have reconciled myself neither to the fact that I am married nor to the legitimate expectations my… marriage partner could have of me.”
Mr. Darcy was quiet for a moment. When he spoke, his tone was beyond resignation—it was despair.
“From what I read of consumption, if the afflicted persons become stronger toward the end, they might be even more energetic than before they contracted the disease. There are records of painters producing their best works during the period immediately before death took them.”
“Have you confronted the physicians about why they have not mentioned this possibility to you?”
“What would be the use? I asked them whether Anne’s condition could be an example of this exceptional recovery, and whether we could expect her to be cured.
They said that a temporary improvement was indeed possible, but they themselves had never yet experienced this with their patients.
However, with one voice, they affirmed that consumption was terminal. ”
“Well, until they see an example to the contrary,” remarked the Colonel, but Mr. Darcy found the quip far from amusing.
“I do not wish to continue with this topic. I have tried my best throughout my life to do my duty, and to be prepared for unexpected situations. The current circumstances of my marriage to Anne and the ensuing complications are beyond my comprehension at present. Some time away is the only hope of restoring my faculties.”
Mr. Darcy scanned the fields. “See that drain there?”
The cousins turned their attention to estate matters, which always focused Mr. Darcy’s mind and confounded the Colonel’s.
That evening, Mr. Darcy announced to Anne and Lady Catherine that he and the Colonel had business at Westerham and would be away until the day before Easter. He would arrange the spring planting at Rosings before leaving for Pemberley to do the same.
Lady Catherine chimed in, “Westerham is not far. Perhaps you should bring Anne.”
Mr. Darcy was incredulous. He turned to look at Anne, who was still extremely frail, but whose pale face looked hopeful.
Mr. Darcy said solemnly, “My host is recuperating from battle injuries and does not have a hostess; and the house is damp and drafty. It is not suitable for Anne.”
Both his wife and mother-in-law wore their disappointment overtly. Ultimately, the doctors disapproved of her taking such a journey, and the dispute was finally settled to no one’s satisfaction.
The next morning, the two cousins left for Westerham House. Mr. Darcy felt the tension drain from his body and mind as the carriage carried him away from his deceitful marriage.
◆◆◆
“Gentlemen, you kept your word!” greeted Colonel Lord John Weston enthusiastically.
The three friends spent the next four days drinking brandy, playing shuffleboard, and backgammon. Mr. Darcy and his cousin went riding when their host needed to rest.
The signed affidavit was duly sent by express to the Duke, and the names of the gentlemen to whom Colonel Weston had introduced his paramour were given to the Bow Street Runners in Darcy’s employ for potential witnesses against the plaintiff.
Mr. Darcy and the Colonel had returned to Rosings the following day. On Easter morning, Lady Catherine joined them for church service without Mrs. Darcy, who was not well enough to attend.
The sermon was quite tolerable. Shortly after becoming master of Rosings, Mr. Darcy explained to Mr. Collins that he must trust his own ability to preach God’s Word because no one at Rosings had ecclesiastical training to give him adequate advice.
Mr. Collins, while flattered, was terrified because his previous sermons had all been dictated to him by exalted personages.
He felt this was a God-ordained method for preaching—had he not landed one of the most lucrative livings in England?
Fortunately for him, his wife was a sensible woman.
Charlotte stepped into the void and guided her husband to illustrate biblical truth with everyday village life.
The parishioners found these sermons refreshingly relatable.
In a few short weeks, Mr. and Mrs. Collins became well-beloved by members of the congregation, who barely remembered the high-flown, tedious sermons only Lady Catherine seemed to enjoy.
At the end of the service, Mr. Darcy shook the parson’s hand and expressed his appreciation for Mr. Collins’s well-thought-out Easter sermon filled with hope and good tidings.
“Mr. Collins, thank you for another insightful sermon. I shall have much to reflect on this blessed day.”
“Mr. Darcy, I am honored to have you as my patron. I pray diligently and constantly not to disappoint your confidence in me to preach God’s Word with humility and piety…”
“Mr. Collins!” Lady Catherine interrupted.
She was seriously displeased that Mr. Collins no longer paid her heed now that Mr. Darcy had usurped her place as head of Rosings.
The ingrate even ignored her daily summons to receive instructions on parish matters and sermon contents, which led to the foolish parson preaching nonsense.
Mr. Collins immediately turned toward his former patroness and, out of habit, bowed deeply.
“M’Lady, may the blessings of this blessed day be richly bestowed upon your ladyship and your noble family. I would humbly inquire whether my sermon met your ladyship’s esteemed expectations, and whether it conveyed God’s wisdom to the good people of the village? Your ladyship’s … “
Mr. Collins’s sycophantic attitude returned instantly. Mr. Darcy rolled his eyes at Colonel Fitzwilliam, who was escorting his aunt.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Collins came to pay her respects to her new patron.
“Good day, Mr. Darcy. May I inquire after the health of Mrs. Darcy?”
“Good day, Mrs. Collins, and thank you for your concern. My cousin’s condition is improving. How is your family? I do not see them here.”
If Mrs. Collins felt odd about Rosings’s master referring to his wife as his cousin, she did not show it.
“Thank you for asking. My parents and sister left three days ago to hurry home before Easter. On the way, they delivered my sister Maria to Kennington Castle to visit Lady Kitty Bennet-Fitzstuart.”
“I see. My sister, Miss Darcy, is spending a few weeks at Kennington Castle as well. She will enjoy sharing Lady Catherine’s hospitality with Miss Lucas. Your family was pleasant company for Lady Catherine. You must have wished they could have stayed longer with you.”
“I could not have delayed Maria’s journey short of tying her down with ropes.
She ceaselessly urged my parents to leave ever since arriving—and possibly even before.
Compared with her ducal connections, visiting her sister was an inconvenient obligation.
Fortunately for me, some ducal connections value their old friends.
Lady Jane and Lady Elizabeth will arrive in two days to be our guests. ”
Mr. Darcy was dumbstruck—the possessor of his heart would again come face to face with him. Would he be able to control himself and do nothing untoward? An irrepressible smile emerged, but then reality set in.
The thought of the woman he loved meeting the woman he married at the estate that was at the root of his misery made his heart ache and his face wince.