Chapter 28
Drawing Room
Rosings
Later
Anne clasped her hands tightly together in her lap to hide their trembling.
She hoped that none of their guests noticed how perturbed she was.
To Anne's relief, Richard had returned in time to hastily change his clothes and join the party for the latter half of dinner.
He was now engaging Lady Metcalf and Mrs. Goulding in conversation, with Mr. Harmon chipping in with his own comments.
Lord Metcalf and Mr. Goulding were happily occupied in the far corner of the room.
Anne guessed that they must be discussing hunting or fencing or shooting sport or farming or some other such manly pursuit.
Their guests were used to Anne's reticence in company and thus did not pull her into any conversations, which was a profound relief.
Her nerves were on edge after her terribly close call earlier in the evening, and she was grateful to be ignored.
She was grateful, too, that Darcy was nowhere to be seen.
Had he been present, their guests might have been inclined to discuss or even slyly allude to the earlier episode, but his absence combined with Richard Fitzwilliam's ignorance of the incident did not encourage such discussion.
Anne's eyes strayed nervously towards her mother.
Lady Catherine sat beside the fire, brooding grimly in a most uncharacteristic silence, her hands wrapped tightly around the arms of her chair, rousing only occasionally to answer absently any remark addressed to her.
She would not be pleased to have been flouted, Anne knew, but how much more dreadful to be forced into marrying Darcy!
Lady Catherine did not tolerate defiance of her wishes, but Anne had not realized her mother would go to such dishonorable lengths, and it filled her with genuine horror.
The great-grandfather clock in the corner struck the hour, tolling out seven sonorous chimes. Lady Metcalf rose to her feet, Mr. Harmon following her cue half a second later. Lord Metcalf glanced over from his corner of the room and shook Mr. Goulding's hand and stood as well.
“Lady Catherine, Miss de Bourgh,” Lady Metcalf said, “thank you for a most interesting evening, but it is time for us to return home. I hope we will see one another soon.”
Lady Catherine did not bother to rise but bestowed a regal nod on her guest. “I am certain we will. Good evening.”
The threesome left, and as soon as they had departed, the Gouldings rose as well.
“Thank you for a lovely evening,” Mrs. Goulding said with a timid smile, and Mr. Goulding murmured his agreement.
“Good evening,” Lady Catherine said absently.
The Gouldings left, and Richard waited until their steps had faded away before turning to his aunt.
“Lady Catherine,” he said, “I do not think those horses in Hillbrow are appropriate for the stables here. I am fairly certain that one of them is…”
“Lady Catherine does not really care about the horses, Richard,” a new voice said, and Anne turned as Darcy stalked into the room and shut the door behind him.
Richard stood up. “Darcy! I was wondering where you were tonight.”
He paused, thought, and then frowned. “What do you mean that our aunt does not care about the horses? I rode to Hillbrow at her request!”
“Yes,” Darcy agreed, “but that was merely to get you out of the way. Her purpose in doing so was to arrange for Anne and me to be locked in the library together, and not only did she succeed in doing so, she specifically invited guests to dinner so that the planned compromise could not be suppressed.”
Richard’s usually cheerful expression had, by now, given way to genuine horror.
“You and Anne were compromised?” he demanded, looking at Anne.
“We were not,” Anne said, straightening her back. “By the very grace of God, Elizabeth Bennet was in the library reading a book, so when we were locked in…”
“How did it happen that you were locked in?” Richard interrupted.
“One of the servants did it on Lady Catherine’s orders,” Darcy said coldly, turning to glare at his aunt.
“How dare you say such a thing, Darcy!” Lady Catherine snapped, rising to her feet and glowering up into taller nephew’s face. “One of the servants must have locked it without knowing that you were within!”
“I will thank you, Lady Catherine, not to insinuate that I am a complete fool,” the master of Pemberley said, and Anne was startled at the genuine fury in those usually calm dark eyes.
“Anne walked in to inform me that I needed to dress for dinner, and when we tried to leave the library a minute later, the door was locked and the key removed. There is absolutely no way that this was any kind of mistake. You ordered one of the servants, probably your private maid, to lock us in, and then you brought all of your dinner guests upstairs to find us in a compromising position. Thanks to the presence of Miss Bennet, your manipulations came to naught, but I have no intention of spending another hour in this house, so I will be leaving for London tonight.”
Lady Catherine’s mouth drooped open, displaying slightly yellowed lower teeth, but Richard said angrily, “That is obviously the only option, Darcy. Lady Catherine, how dare you do such a thing?”
“How dare I?” the older woman demanded furiously.
“How dare you, Darcy and Anne? You were overheard a few days ago, both of you, deciding against marrying one another! You know that your union has been planned since your cradles, and for you to flout not only my greatest desire, but dear Lady Anne’s as well, is unconscionable!
I only did what needed to be done! Nor does Miss Bennet’s unfortunate presence in the library change anything, not really!
You are bound to one another by honor, and… ”
“I will never, ever marry Anne,” Darcy snarled. “Indeed, I will never again cross the threshold of Rosings while you are still alive and Anne unmarried. Good evening, Lady Catherine.”
He turned and stalked out. Lady Catherine was obviously astonished, but she immediately rose to her feet and made her way with surprising speed after her errant nephew.
“Darcy. Darcy!” she called.
Anne blew out a breath and stood up.
“I think I had best retire to my bedchamber before my mother returns,” she said.
“Anne,” Richard said, staring directly into her eyes, “do you feel safe about staying here at Rosings?”
She considered this at some length. She did not think that her mother would physically harm her, but…
“Not particularly,” she confessed. “She is incredibly angry, and with Darcy leaving, I will be the focus of her ire.”
Richard looked down on her solemnly. He was not as tall as Darcy, and not nearly as handsome, but she had always considered him a friend.
“Then early tomorrow morning, we will leave for Matlock House in London,” Richard said.
She stared at him in wonder. “Matlock House?”
“Yes. I know my parents will welcome you with joy, and they will protect you from Lady Catherine.”
It was a bizarre and sad statement that she needed protection from her own mother, but it was also true. Catherine de Bourgh did not truly care about the well-being of her only child but only what a marriage could bring about.
“I would like that,” Anne said hesitantly. “I only hope that Mrs. Jenkinson is well enough to come with me tomorrow.”
Richard’s eyes narrowed. “She is ill?”
“Yes. Earlier today, she got incredibly tired, so much so that she could not keep her eyes open.”
“I suspect,” Richard said after a moment of thought, “that Lady Catherine may have drugged her.”
Anne’s eyes widened with horror. “Oh, Richard! How dreadful.”
***
Parsonage
Hunsford
Mr. Collins’s Library
“I apologize if this situation makes your position as rector more difficult,” Elizabeth said.
Mary and William were seated side by side on a small settee by the fire. In spite of the fact that their marriage was only a few months old, they already looked very much alike; not in face and feature, but in posture, in devotion, in affection.
“You absolutely did the right thing, Lizzy,” Mary said.
“Indeed,” William agreed with a firm nod. “I will confess that I am experiencing delayed terror at the mere thought of you climbing such a tall tree. Thank the Lord that you did not fall!”
“Oh, the climbing was easy enough,” Elizabeth said with a casual wave of the hand. “The hardest part was climbing through the window, but Miss de Bourgh and Mr. Darcy assisted me.”
She felt her cheeks warm at the memory of Mr. Darcy’s strong hand as he pulled her within, and she hoped that her blushes were not obvious in the soft light of the fire.
“All is well that ends well,” Mary said. “Now, I believe we had best go to bed.”
Elizabeth was very tired, and she desperately wished for time alone in her bedchamber. Lady Catherine’s determination to force her daughter and nephew had been a shock, but an even greater shock had been Mr. Darcy’s sudden and unexpected declaration of his love.
She had been entirely taken aback to the point that she did not feel capable of making any sort of decision at the moment.
And she still did not know what to think. Her relationship with Mr. Darcy had been a complicated one, and since she had not known that he admired her so, she had never even considered the possibility that they would make a match of it.
She needed time to think.