Chapter 11. Lady Catherine Visits Hertfordshire #2
Before the family could move into their parlour to rest before supper, they heard a carriage approaching the house again. Mr and Mrs Bennet, followed by Jane and Elizabeth, stepped outside as the Goulding family carriage pulled to a stop in front of Longbourn.
Mr and Mrs Goulding quickly exited the carriage, and everyone heard the most unpleasant voice of an angry woman from inside the carriage.
“This is intolerable! Are there no decent houses in the whole of Hertfordshire?”
Mrs Goulding was ushered into the house by Mrs Bennet while Mr Bennet, Elizabeth and Jane waited with Mr Goulding at the door.
The neighbour appeared wide-eyed beside the master of Longbourn when he begged, “Bennet, you must assist me! I have tried to reason with the woman, but she is a candidate for Bedlam if I have ever seen one!”
“What is the matter Goulding?”
“I found a carriage broken down just beside the stream that separates your lands from Netherfield Park. Mrs Goulding and I stopped to offer our assistance to the passengers and that woman began making demands. I should carry her to Netherfield; I should walk rather than contaminate her presence. She struck her coachman and left him and the horses beside the stream. The man was bleeding...”
“What happened at Netherfield?”
“I went to the door to explain the situation to Mrs Hobbes but the lady–she’s a tall, fearsome woman–came out of my carriage and pushed her way into the house, followed by two footmen. She was yelling for Mr Darcy, and I heard several crashes as furniture was thrown about...”
Mr Bennet glanced at the carriage with the two footmen standing at the door and he whispered into Elizabeth’s ear. “Go into the house with Jane and have Mr Hill lock all of the doors and send for all the stable boys as well as Mr Jones and his sons.”
When Elizabeth appeared to want to ask some questions, he frowned and said, “Immediately and without question.”
Frightened by her father’s voice and look, Elizabeth ran with Jane back inside the doors of Longbourn.
While Mr Hill set to work with the locks, Elizabeth ran through the house to the stables.
Their coachman and stable boys stepped around the house while another boy rode bareback across the fields to the nearest tenant farm to rouse Mr Jones and his three sons.
Once his house as secure and he saw his men waiting at the side of the house, Mr Bennet stepped forward to greet the lady.
“Madam,” he said respectfully as he bowed.
“I am Lady Catherine de Bourgh of Rosings Park in Kent.”
“Welcome to Hertfordshire, Your Ladyship. I am Thomas Bennet, esquire. How may we be of assistance this evening?”
“I am searching for my nephew, Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy,” came her reply.
Mr Bennet glanced back to Mr Goulding as though surprised by the woman’s words before he said, “I must report unpleasant news madam; my understanding is that Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy is away from Netherfield for at least a fortnight on matters of business with his father, Mr George Darcy.”
“I know who my brother-in-law is; you do not have to name him for me!”
“Of course, Your Ladyship. It would never cross my mind to be anything but solicitous to Your Ladyship’s needs.”
There was silence for a moment from the carriage as the woman said, “I must return to London immediately, but this wagon is hardly suitable for my person or the person of my daughter.”
Mr Bennet attempted to offer refreshment and rest for the woman, her daughter and her footmen though she would have none of it.
“Then perhaps I could offer Your Ladyship the use of my carriage and team to return to town now. There will be a full moon tonight to light the roads and you and your daughter can be in town in only a few hours,”
“What kind of carriage do you have?”
“Nothing so fine as the carriages Your Ladyship is familiar with, I am certain, but it is reliable, and my coachman and team will deliver you safely to your destination.”
“Very well,” decided the voice. “But hurry!”
Mr Bennet walked to the side of the house and dispatched the coachman and stable boys to once again harness the team to his carriage.
When it pulled into the drive next to the first carriage, Lady Catherine and her daughter and the daughter’s maid all silently stepped from the Goulding’s carriage to the Bennet’s carriage.
“This is totally unsupportable! I cannot be seen in such a wagon!” declared the tall woman who appeared wilted from the confinement of carriages for the entire day.
“Certainly, Your Ladyship! Certainly!” agreed Mr Bennet. “All that is necessary is for you to lower the curtains and no one will see you in London.”
“Very well....”
“And what shall I do with your carriage, coachman and team along the highway madam?” Mr Bennet asked.
“Send for the magistrate. He will care for them and return them to me when I am able to recover them.”
The footmen quickly lowered the curtains and took their places on the carriage–one at the back and the other up top with the Bennet coachman.
“I shall expect you back by luncheon tomorrow, Tolliver,” told the coachman letting the footmen and the passengers hear his order.
“Very good sir,” Tolliver replied.
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As the Bennet coach pulled away, Mr Goulding stepped closer and asked, “But Bennet, you are the magistrate are you not?”
“Indeed, I am,” Mr Bennet replied. He turned as Mr Hill opened the front door to allow Elizabeth and Jane to return to his side, while Mr Jones and his three sons with farm implements in their hands came around the corner of the house.
“Send for a wagon and another team,” he told Mr Jones. “There’s an injured man to recover as well as horses down the road.”
He glanced at his two daughters and nodded, “Yes you may come. Few people have as good a hand with horses as you two have proven this summer.”
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