Chapter 9
Darcy hurried through breakfast. When he finished he asked the footman to go and ask Miss Bennet if she would like to go for a walk with him.
In less than ten minutes Elizabeth appeared at the entrance dressed appropriately for a walk.
“Good morning Miss Bennet.” Darcy said softly.
“Good morning Mr Darcy.” She seemed almost shy, which bode well for him.
“Where would you like to walk today?”
Elizabeth looked out through the open door, “It is a beautiful and clear day, shall we venture a little further today?”
“I agree, I have already gone out for a ride this morning and can attest to the day’s beauty.”
She smiled, “Lead the way then.”
The conversation was a little stilted at first; Darcy did not know how to start and Elizabeth deferred to him to broach the subject he most wanted to discuss.
“Miss Bennet,” he finally said, “Colonel Fitzwilliam told me exactly what he said to you about my involvement in separating Mr Bingley from your sister.”
Although she tried to school it, her expression betrayed a quick but furious anger; but it passed before taking root. He realised the effort she was making to hear him out was something he could not take for granted.
“I am afraid he misrepresented me.”
“How so, Mr Darcy? You thought my sister was beneath your friend, a fortune hunter. You did not keep your own counsel in the matter but instead you used your powers of persuasion on him.”
“It is not true. I never thought your sister was beneath my friend and I certainly never thought that your sister was a fortune hunter.”
“How then did the Colonel arrive at this assumption?”
Darcy refused to feel trapped. He knew his words to Richard about his involvement had been less than complimentary to the lady, while at this juncture he needed to be truthful, for Elizabeth was no simpleton.
“I cannot be responsible for what Richard deduced but I can tell you with all honesty, before God that I never thought so meanly of you or your sister.”
Elizabeth did not fail to notice that he had left the rest of the family out of his assessment.
“We are going around circles Mr Darcy, for though you are defending yourself I am still ignorant of what you said to cause a man, a man ostensibly in love, to turn and run from the lady as if his tailcoat was on fire.”
“Very well, let me start by saying that if in the explanation I am under the necessity to make, I relate feelings which may be offensive to you, I can only say that I am deeply sorry.” He looked at her and waited for a response, when none came he continued, “I had not been long in Hertfordshire before I saw… as did others, that Bingley preferred your sister to any other young woman. But it was not until the dance at Netherfield that I had any apprehension of his feelings being evidence of a serious attachment. I had often seen him fall in love before.”
At this Elizabeth frowned. Had she been hasty in assigning all the goodness to Mr Bingley, simply because he was, unlike his friend, amiable and willing to dance?
Darcy continued, unaware of the turmoil his words were causing Elizabeth, “when I had the honour of dancing with you at the ball Sir William Lucas interrupted us, if you recall, and unwittingly informed us that Bingley’s attentions to your sister had given rise to a general expectation of their marriage.
From that moment on I observed my friend closely and came to a conclusion that I had never before.
I witnessed the particular partiality that he showed towards your sister.
He truly looked like a man in love, not simply infatuated by another angel, as he often calls the ladies whom he admires. ”
Here he paused since he was about to relate what he thought of her sister.
In that he needed all caution not to cause offence and antagonise his lady love; “I also had the opportunity to observe your sister and arrived at this conclusion; that though she received his attentions with pleasure, her heart seemed unattached.”
Elizabeth closed her eyes and appeared as if she was struggling to keep her temper under good regulation.
“When I shared with him my belief that his love was unrequited he followed my suggestion that Netherfield should be abandoned and so we all returned to town.”
“I am very sorry to say Mr Darcy that your presumption in knowing my sister’s deep feelings and desires astonish me.”
“I must accept your superior knowledge of your sister’s character Miss Bennet.
If what you are telling me is in fact the truth of your sister’s feelings then I made a terrible error of judgment.
But in my defence I came to believe by observing your sister’s countenance and serenity, that however amiable her temper might be, that her heart was not likely to be easily touched. ”
“Can you say with all honesty that you were not desirous of believing her indifferent?”
Darcy sighed deeply, “I will not lie to you Miss Bennet, regardless of how it may injure me in your eyes, I will admit that I did desire to find her indifferent. But I will venture to say that my investigations and decisions are not usually influenced by my hopes and fears.”
“So were your actions solely based on the desire to save your friend from a marriage of unequal feelings between the partners?”
Again Darcy sighed; her questions were designed to strip him of all subterfuge.
He would either have to lie to her or simply bare his soul.
Could he risk all by telling her exactly how he perceived her family to be?
Or was that absolutely out of the question?
His cousin’s words only that morning to not disparage her family and ruin his chances once and for all, came back loud and clear to his mind.
“Miss Bennet you know that I abhor all forms of deceitfulness. I would do you a disservice by trying to placate you with honeyed words, while thinking things that would insult you. Therefore I must risk your ire; I only ask you to forgive me since my intention is not to scorn your family but simply relate to you how they might be perceived in society at large.”
“Do your worst Mr Darcy.” Elizabeth said, feeling resigned, for she feared she would now hear a truly awful estimation of her family.
Darcy nodded and ploughed ahead before he could change his mind, “I must say that the situation of your mother’s family, though objectionable, was nothing compared to the total want of propriety so frequently, almost uniformly betrayed by herself, your three younger sisters and occasionally even your father.
” He looked at her to see how she received this.
She seemed stoic, her face devoid of emotion.
“However I must add that you and your sister I must exclude from this harsh assessment. You and Miss Bennet are above reproach.”
“I must thank you Mr Darcy for your candour. As much as it hurts me to admit, I am very well aware of my family’s failures.”
“I truly beg your pardon Miss Bennet. All I can say is, there is no perfect family.” He chuckled, “one need only cast a brief glance at my own aunt to be persuaded that true flawlessness is not to be found in any family.”
“Quite.” Elizabeth said emotionless.
“There is however one part of my conduct in the whole affair upon which I do not reflect with satisfaction.”
“Oh?” Elizabeth for the first time raised her eyebrows with curiosity.
“It is that I stooped so low as to agree with Miss Bingley to conceal from my friend your sister’s being in town.”
Elizabeth gasped, “He does not know?”
Darcy shook his head, “no, he is yet ignorant of it and I am very sorry, for this disguise was beneath me.”
They arrived at a fallen log and sat, both looking quite spent emotionally.
Elizabeth remained quiet for some minutes considering the weight of all she had heard.
Darcy stood abruptly and paced a few minutes. Elizabeth looked at him and frowned.
“What is bothering you, Mr Darcy?”
“I must do more than just apologise. I now understand how officious my interference was. I placed two young people in acute suffering simply because in my own overinflated ego I saw myself as superior in understanding, while understanding nothing.”
“What do you propose to do?”
“Miss Bennet I did all I could to separate my friend from your sister, all by myself. I neither required nor asked for anybody’s support. But to rectify the situation I created I now humbly ask for your assistance. Will you help me?”
Elizabeth could not help but smile, “yes Mr Darcy, what do you need?”
“Is your sister still in town?”
“Yes she is.”
“Miss Bennet, would you care to write to your sister and ask her to come to Rosings to assist you in the care of Mrs Collins?”
Elizabeth regarded him confused, “I do not require assistance to look after Charlotte; what do you mean?”
“Do you not see? The solution to our problem is right before our eyes. If Miss Jane Bennet is still in love with Bingley and he with her, all they need is to encounter each other again.”
“Oh,” Elizabeth exhaled, “I see… do you mean to ask Mr Bingley to come to Rosings as well?”
“Yes that is exactly what I am going to do.”
“But Mr Darcy, Rosings is not your estate; can you fill the house with persons that Lady Catherine would most certainly not approve?”
“I have been coming to Rosings Park every year without fail for the last six years to assist my Aunt run this vast estate. Without my help Rosings would have collapsed already.”
“Are you saying you will simply invite them without first seeking her permission?”
“I will inform her that you need your sister’s assistance and I in turn need Bingley’s.”
Elizabeth at last smiled into his eyes, “thank you Mr Darcy.” She said softly.
Darcy held his breath, her smile temporarily dazzling him, “you have nothing to be grateful for; had I not interfered, your sister might have been married by now.”
Their eyes met and held the gaze, each seemingly unwilling to relinquish the moment; and so they might have remained for an age had not a disturbance from behind a not-far-distant tree broke the spell.
They turned to see Lady Catherine walking away in some haste.
***
Lady Catherine had noted when Darcy and Elizabeth left the house for their walk. Today they had not stayed near the house but made their way into the woods.
She followed.
She could not get close enough to hear their conversation until they stopped and sat on a fallen log.
She hid behind a tree. She realised the light breeze was blowing gently from the east and every word they said was as clear as crystal to her ears.
She was furious to see how careful and how gentle Darcy was with the chit. How he spread his own handkerchief on the tree trunk for the woman to sit. He had never shown even half of such care with his cousin, his intended.
This could not go on. She knew what to do.
It was risky, but her daughter deserved the effort from her.
Marrying Darcy would be a very good thing for Anne, but ultimately the goal was to remove Anne to Pemberley once and for all, leaving herself forever in charge of Rosings without anyone challenging her. That was, without a doubt, the most important thing.
Hearing that he intended to usurp her authority and fill her house with lowborn interlopers, simply to appease the chit, was more than she could bear.
Yet with the threat of Lord Matlock hanging over her head she could do nothing.
Her brother was not a man to be manipulated nor swayed by entreaty or intimidation, so he held all the cards.
Not only did he alone know the real circumstances of how Sir Lewis de Bourgh had died but he was also the executor of her late husband’s will and could, at a moment’s notice evict her from the great house.
Good God, he could even see her hanged if she pressed him too far.
After all it was he who had saved her from the noose all those years ago and kept her secret; not out of love for a younger sister, nor from any sense of familial duty but as an ace card kept hidden up his sleeve, to be played whenever it suited him.
This time she would be smarter than she had been all those years ago; she would not leave a string of witnesses as she had before, when she had told her maid to ask her stable master to acquire the product from the apothecary.
No, this time she would get it herself so nobody would be any wiser of her activities, therefore nobody would be able to betray her.
She would go along with Darcy’s plans and pretend to agree with whatever he suggested... but in the end there would be only one victor and it would not be Miss Elizabeth Bennet.