Chapter 27
Drawing Room
Rosings
Half an Hour Later
“I do apologize for the delay in dinner,” Lady Catherine said with a dramatic sigh. “I cannot imagine what my daughter and Darcy are doing.”
“Given that they are engaged to be married,” Lady Metcalf tittered, “I wonder that you sent Miss de Bourgh to fetch her cousin.”
Lady Catherine turned to gaze at her guest with apparent indignation. “My dear Lady Metcalf, I am certain that they would not…”
She trailed off and deliberately widened her eyes. “Oh, I fear that was rather a mistake. But surely Darcy would not…”
She rose to her feet and said, “I had best go upstairs personally and check on them. Lord Metcalf, Mr. Goulding, would you be willing to come up with me? If there has been any sort of indelicate situation, well, I know I can count on you to remind Darcy of his duty.”
She was not surprised when not only the older gentlemen, but their ladies and Mr. Harmon, rose to their feet and followed her as she walked rapidly out of the room.
Outwardly, her brow was puckered worriedly, but inwardly she relished her own brilliance.
With so many observers, Darcy would have absolutely no choice at all but to marry Anne.
That would show these young ones that Lady Catherine was not the sort of woman to be gainsaid!
The door was, of course, locked. Clara had done her work well.
“Anne! Darcy!” she called out, rapping the wooden door briskly. “Anne, are you in there?”
“Lady Catherine,” Darcy’s deep voice called out. “We are locked in here! Do you see a key?”
Lady Catherine made a point of looking around in apparent bewilderment. “I do not…”
“I see it!” Mr. Harmon said in a pleased voice. He reached under a nearby table and stood up with a shiny key in his hand.
“How very extraordinary!” Lady Catherine said, reaching out an imperious hand.
He handed it over, and with a sense of triumph, Catherine de Bourgh inserted the key and flung open the door.
She stepped through with her head held high, while her guests crowded in behind her, and then came to a sudden, shocked, horrified halt.
“Lady Catherine,” Elizabeth Bennet said, rising from her seat next to Anne, “good day. I apologize for the intrusion.”
***
Anne thought that she had never, in her entire life, seen Lady Catherine so absolutely flabbergasted. Her brow was raised as high as was physically possible, her cheeks were flushed bright red in her outrage, and her mouth hung open in disbelief.
Anne was still shaking inwardly over the events of the last minutes and was thankful when her cousin Darcy stepped forward and said, “Ladies, gentlemen, may I please introduce you to Miss Elizabeth Bennet. She is sister to Mrs. Collins, who is married to Mr. Collins, the parson at Hunsford. Miss Bennet, Lord and Lady Metcalf, their eldest son, Mr. Harmon, and Mr. and Mrs. Goulding.”
Elizabeth curtsied deeply, and the gentlemen bowed, and Mrs. Goulding curtsied as well. Lady Metcalf, who was nearly as proud as Lady Catherine, doubtless did not consider Miss Bennet worthy of a curtsey.
“What are you doing here, Miss Bennet?” Lady Catherine demanded, having recovered enough to speak.
Elizabeth’s expression was the perfect blend of humility and graciousness.
“I do apologize for intruding, Madame,” she said meekly.
“You may remember that you gave me leave to practice the pianoforte in the housekeeper’s room, and after I had done so today, I remembered that Miss de Bourgh told me, some days ago, that I was welcome to read your copy of The Expedition of Humphry Clinker by Smollett, as she assured me that I would be in no one’s way.
I found my way to the corner of the library and began reading the book, but with the rain pattering down and an oddly disturbed night, well, I fear I fell asleep. ”
“I did not even know that Miss Bennet was present until Anne arrived,” Darcy said.
Miss Bennet nodded earnestly. “I woke up at the sound of voices, of course, and then discovered we were all locked inside. I cannot apologize enough for this intrusion. I realize it is dinner time for you and will make my way home. Lord and Lady Metcalf, Mr. Harmon, Mr. and Mrs. Goulding, it was an honor to meet you.”
“I will walk you home,” Darcy said flatly.
Lady Catherine’s eyes bulged unbecomingly. “You most certainly will not, Darcy! You must change for dinner, which is already sadly delayed.”
Darcy looked down on his aunt from his substantially greater height and then turned to the guests. “My apologies, but I was not aware you all were coming to dinner tonight and have plans which will not allow me to attend. Please forgive me.”
The ladies and gentlemen murmured confusedly, and Darcy turned toward Elizabeth, who lifted her pelisse off a chair and put it on.
“Shall we?” he asked, holding out his arm.
She curtsied again to the company and took the arm, and the pair walked out of the room.
“Shall we go to dinner?” Anne suggested. “I daresay we are all very hungry.”
“Yes,” Lady Catherine said grimly. “We shall.”
***
A Few Minutes Later
“At least it is no longer raining,” Darcy remarked as the pair walked out the side door and down narrow steps which led to a gravel path.
“True,” Miss Bennet said cheerfully. “Although I do not actually mind walking in the rain so long as it is not a downpour. This time of year, the rain makes the earth smell wonderfully fresh.”
“It has been quite dry thus far this spring, so the farmers will be happy with today’s rainstorm.”
“Yes,” Miss Bennet said, tipping her face upward toward the sky. “It is a great blessing when there is both enough rain and enough sun.”
They had by now walked far enough away from the house that there was no chance of being overheard, but Darcy nonetheless lowered his voice when he said, “Miss Bennet, I cannot tell you how grateful Anne and I are for your willingness to risk life and limb to save us from compromise.”
She turned to look up at him, her piquant face rosy, her lips curved up in a smile. “I would not say that I risked my life, sir. I climbed trees regularly until some four years ago, and the tree near the library window is perfectly suited for scaling.”
He found himself breathless. She was so beautiful, and brave, and glorious, and…
“I love you,” he blurted out, stopping in the middle of the lane. “I love you.”
Miss Bennet’s smile disappeared, to be replaced by wide eyes and paling cheeks.
“What?”
“I love you and I want, above all else, to marry you,” he said.
He shook his head and continued, “I am fumbling this dreadfully. I … that is, I know that I idiotically insulted you at Meryton, the very first day we … well, we did not meet, but we saw one another. I was tired and irritable, but that is no excuse. I am supposed to be a gentleman, and I acted like an immature child. I…”
He trailed off as Miss Bennet’s lips quirked up a little, and he said, “Am I babbling?”
“You are, rather, Mr. Darcy,” Miss Bennet said. “I wonder if you could allow me a moment to think.”
“Certainly,” he said.
She nodded and took his arm again, and they began walking toward the parsonage, more slowly now.
A full minute later, the lady said, “I confess to being entirely flabbergasted, although I am flattered, of course.”
He gulped and turned to gaze down at her, though her face was hidden by her hat.
“But you do not love me?” he asked, forcing his tone to remain steady.
She turned now to look at him, and she said, “I do not, but I do admire and respect you, and I gladly forgive you for that unfortunate and silly insult.”
He was thankful for her kindness, but...
“I do not think you are a woman who will marry based on respect and friendship alone,” he said tentatively.
She bit her lip and then said, “I cannot accept your offer today, because truthfully, I had no idea that you … that you are in love with me. I am honored and grateful and very surprised. I need to consider the matter at some length. I hope you understand.”
He stopped again and looked down on her, his heart beating rapidly. “Certainly, I understand. Indeed, given the situation, all I can hope for is a courtship. Given that our first interaction was so poor, I am not surprised that you had no idea.”
“I have admired you since you saved Maxwell.”
“And I already admired you at that point, but your actions confirmed my views. You were brave then, too, and delightfully unconcerned about a wet scarf and pelisse.”
She grinned, and they began walking again. They were close to the parsonage now, and Darcy said, “I fear I must leave Rosings today.”
Miss Bennet nodded and said, “I think that is the only safe option. It is obvious that Lady Catherine will use fair means or foul to force you into marriage with her daughter.”
He was relieved by her ready understanding and said, “Bingley told me that I am welcome to visit Netherfield Hall anytime I wish. I will plan to journey to Hertfordshire in a month or so, when I believe you will be back to Longbourn?”
“Yes,” she said simply and then blushed. “I would like that very much. By then, I hope I will have an answer for you.”
They were ten feet from the front door of the parsonage now, and he stopped, took her right hand, raised it to his lips, and kissed it.
“Until we meet again, Miss Bennet,” he said formally.
“Until then, Mr. Darcy,” she replied, and stepped toward the house.