Chapter 25
Four days earlier
Darcy was glad to leave his aunt and uncle’s house at the end of the celebration of his sister’s birthday. He suspected Georgiana was also relieved when he indicated they should part soon after Lord Halsley, Mrs Ryde, and Elizabeth did.
“You will return tomorrow,” Lady Catherine insisted. “We have much to discuss.”
He kept his lips firmly pressed together while he sought a polite excuse to refuse.
“Of course he will,” Lady Romsley said.
“Do, Nephew,” the earl added, and Darcy knew it was not a request. “We shall expect you shortly after breakfast. Georgiana, my dear, you ought to come too. I am sure Anne would appreciate it.”
His sister glanced at him, her expression indicating she was unsure how to respond.
Well, I can at least spare her the displeasure of our aunt and cousin’s company.
She had told him how awkward it had been to have Anne at her birthday luncheon, given her unwillingness to speak to anyone or join them playing music and games.
“I believe Georgiana and Mrs Annesley will be occupied.”
Lady Catherine made a dismissive sound and gesture. Before she could speak—no doubt to argue it was more important that the young ladies spend the day together—Fitzwilliam did, saying, “Georgiana must resume her usual routine. She has appointments with masters and her studies to attend to.”
With grudging hesitation, the earl agreed that, as both of his niece’s guardians said she could not come, she could not. “You would not have her neglect her responsibilities,” he said when his sister appeared set to argue.
“Very well,” Lady Catherine said, her voice strident. “But Darcy will be here.”
“Of course he will,” Lord Romsley said, repeating his wife’s earlier words.
Feeling he had no choice, Darcy dutifully returned to Grosvenor Square the next morning.
The days that followed were miserable. The earl, countess, and Lady Catherine were demanding, wanting, as Lady Romsley said Sunday morning, “the family to spend as much time together as possible, since we are all in town, which rarely happens.”
Darcy supposed part of their reason was the hope that more people would lessen how oppressive Lady Catherine’s presence felt.
“It is especially good for you and Anne to take the opportunity to converse,” Lady Catherine added.
“There is no need,” he said. “As much as I respect my cousin, there is nothing more—”
“Not at present, perhaps, but very soon that will change,” his aunt stated.
Sunday afternoon, about midway between when he had last seen Elizabeth and the ball, he and his aunt were having an exchange that had become all too familiar and vexing. They were in the drawing room. Lord and Lady Romsley were also present, as were Bramwell and Fitzwilliam.
“I do not—” he began to say when his aunt pressed him to join Anne in a smaller parlour so that they might speak alone.
“It is time, Darcy,” Lord Romsley interjected. “You are seven-and-twenty and should settle. Georgiana needs a sister, and you need a mistress for your estate.”
“I agree,” Darcy said, thinking of Elizabeth filling the roles. “But—”
It was unlikely the countess heard his final word, which meant he could not accuse her of rudeness when she said, “With all three of you boys present, it is the perfect occasion to speak of your marriages. I greatly anticipate watching you establish your families, even if some of your choices are…surprising.” She eyed her sons.
“Let us be blunt,” the earl said. “Bramwell has disappointed us by not marrying Lady Cassandra as we had expected. Rebecca Darcy is unobjectionable. She is a lovely girl, and I am sure she will do her best in her new life. But there is no denying it has created some…discord, though not as much as Fitzwilliam’s choice of bride will.
” Lord Romsley turned his gaze to his second son, his expression blank.
Fitzwilliam shrugged and explained to Darcy, who was confused.
“I decided I ought to inform my parents that I hope to prevail upon Miss Strachan to marry me. I think she will. We have discussed it, but more in implied terms, if you know what I mean. We shall be dancing the opening set at the ball, which is bound to create some talk.”
Darcy said, “I thought it might be like that. I like her, as does Rebecca. It will be agreeable to them to marry brothers. Supposing they accept you and Bramwell, that is.” Privately, he added that Elizabeth would also be glad that her new family included two such close friends.
He hoped to add a bit of humour to the conversation, but it was apparent his aunts and uncle were not prepared to treat the matter lightly.
“Marian Strachan!” Lord Romsley said, his tone exasperated. “Why her, of all ladies?”
Lady Catherine added her objections, while the countess said, “Like Rebecca, she is a lovely girl. I shall not deny that, or that what my nephew said is true. If you marry her and Bramwell marries Rebecca, they will be sisters, which I am sure would be a comfort to both of them.”
“That is all very well,” Lord Romsley said, visibly irritated.
“But I am left to deal with the consequences. It was enough when I had to inform Lady Cassandra’s father that Bramwell had intentions elsewhere, but once people learn that Fitzwilliam intends to marry Strachan’s daughter, it will cause me no end of trouble.
Gentlemen, some of whom I respect greatly, will worry I shall alter my positions on very important matters to secure a wealthy heiress for my second son. ”
“I am sorry, Father, but my mind is made up,” Fitzwilliam interjected before the earl could continue. “I was not seeking a wife, but the more time I spent with her, the more I realised she was the lady for me.” Once again, he shrugged.
“And she knows you view her this way?” Lady Romsley asked.
“She does,” the colonel confirmed.
At the same time, Lady Catherine said, “What does it matter? As long as he has not proposed, his honour is not engaged.”
As his aunt took a minute to explain why she disapproved of the match, Darcy reflected that he had never proposed to Anne, which meant his aunt should not consider him bound to her.
Not that she would view the situations as the same.
Whenever Anne’s or her own desires are involved, nothing else matters.
He might be on the point of exchanging vows with Elizabeth, standing in church next to her, and still Lady Catherine would demand he throw her over and marry Anne instead.
In a dark, twisted way, it was a diverting thought—he could almost picture such a scene—but it also convinced him that he would have to make his position clear.
He had never and would never propose to his cousin, and his relations must accept it once and for all.
“It is always possible Strachan will refuse his consent,” Lord Romsley said. “But Miss Strachan must be nearly one-and-twenty, and from what I have heard of her, she would not hesitate to marry without her father’s blessing.”
“She attained her majority this summer, but still, I hope it will not come to that, if only to avoid possible gossip,” Fitzwilliam said, looking between his parents.
“If it is of any comfort, she has told me she anticipates marriage in part so that she can leave her father’s house and avoid seeing him as much as possible. ”
The earl grunted in a manner that suggested it might help a little, and the countess turned to Darcy and said, “All of this to-do makes us so thankful you are behaving exactly as we have always expected.”
“Naturally, he is,” Lady Catherine said, her manner almost offhanded; she did not even bother to look at him. “My nephew knows his duty, and marrying Anne is what is best for her, him, and this family.”
The earl and countess agreed, Lady Romsley saying, “It would have made Lady Anne so happy to see them united.”
Addressing Darcy, Lord Romsley said, “Your father would have been proud to know that you had acted to enrich the Darcy estate so greatly. It will benefit countless future generations, to say nothing of strengthening the connexions within our family.”
Glancing at his cousins, Darcy saw that Bramwell was giving him a pointed look, silently encouraging him to speak up.
He wanted to, had been on the verge of doing so, when his mother and father were brought into the conversation.
The earl and countess were correct that his parents likely would have been glad to know he had married Anne, his mother most of all.
His heart beat heavily, causing an ache in his chest. How could he disappoint his beloved parents?
Knowing his aunts and uncle—possibly including Frederick and Julia Darcy—would not particularly approve of him choosing Elizabeth rather than Anne was difficult enough to bear, in part because they were already upset at the actions of the viscount and colonel.
The thought of how his parents would have responded had they been alive was worse.
At the moment, it robbed him of his voice.
Fitzwilliam cautiously said, “But is it what Darcy wants?”
“Why would it not be?” the earl said.
“Do not speak such nonsense!” Lady Catherine cried. “Darcy knows he has always been intended for Anne. How often did we discuss it when my sister, brother-in-law, and he were at Rosings with Sir Lewis and me? It is what we all want, and now, at last, the time has come to finish the business.”
“Besides, there is no one else, is there?” Lady Romsley asked him.
Darcy had never done well when he was being scrutinised by multiple people at once, and it added to his present unease.
His aunts and uncle were waiting for him to confirm that he had not given his heart to another lady, and his cousins were waiting for him to admit that he favoured Elizabeth.
All the while, the voices of his mother and father seemed to be screaming at him, like they were ghosts inhabiting his mind, telling him that he must marry his cousin.
After what felt like a substantial pause, Darcy managed to say, “I had not anticipated marrying so soon.”
Lady Catherine let out a loud sigh. “Must I remind you that you are seven-and-twenty? Anne is five-and-twenty. You would have been married these two or three years, had her health allowed. We were going to make arrangements for your marriage when you came to Rosings at Easter”—that was news to Darcy—“but then you went to Ireland with Bramwell.” She turned her scowl on the viscount for a moment.
Ireland was where he had fallen in love with Elizabeth, even if he had been unwilling to recognise it at the time. “There is a—” he began, intending to say that his affections were engaged, even if he, regrettably, was not.
Darcy was prevented from saying more, because the earl stood, saying, “We understand each other well enough. There is no reason to continue the conversation. I must review some papers.”
Likewise standing, Darcy announced that he would depart. “I have been neglecting several matters of business.”
“That is unlike you, Nephew,” Lady Catherine was quick to say. “You must not allow your work to accumulate! It is a terrible habit, nearly unforgivable in you, knowing you will soon be responsible for Rosings as well as Pemberley.”
Just hearing the words left him feeling hollow inside.
He would not take on Rosings, because he would not marry Anne.
His head shook slightly in a silent refutation of his aunt’s presumption.
If he believed it would be helpful to argue with her, to try to make her accept that he would not do what she demanded, he would.
What kept him from saying he wanted to marry Elizabeth, not Anne?
Was it the boulder he sensed had been placed on his shoulder?
Likely it was the weight of responsibility, but not because of his aunts and uncle.
Despite their disappointment, he was confident the earl and countess would soon love their daughters-in-law and recognise their sons had chosen well.
He hoped they would view Elizabeth in the same manner with time.
Lady Catherine was seldom pleased unless people acted as she wanted them to, which would make it easier to overlook the anger he anticipated she would express.
No, what most affected Darcy was the implication that his mother and father would have been displeased with his decision.
I require a brief period alone to set it aside and decide how I shall have a proper conversation about Anne and Elizabeth with them.
“Darcy is the most diligent man I know, and since he has work to do, we ought to let him get on with it,” Fitzwilliam said.
“I am sure the only reason he has not yet attended to it is that he has been spending so much time with you, Lady Catherine,” Bramwell added.
Darcy appreciated their support and tried to show it with the looks he gave them.
“I agree,” the countess said. “I shall let you go, Darcy, but only if you promise you will dine with us this evening. Bring Georgiana.”
Since he had already promised to take the evening meal at Grosvenor Square, it was easy to accede to her demand. As soon as he had, he left.