Chapter 29 Skeletons in the Closet #2
A bark of mirthless laughter escaped her lips.
Mary’s eyes flared with something sinister, and Elizabeth was helpless to avoid the push when Mary launched towards her with outstretched arms. In horror, she fell towards the speared brass fireplace fender and braced herself for the impact.
A roar resonated through the room, and she was jerked sideways and landed hard on the floor but avoided being impaled.
“I am so sorry,” Darcy whispered. “Did I injure you?”
Her husband must have been standing inside the room, hidden behind the open door to have come so quickly to her rescue.
Elizabeth sat up and rubbed her hip. “I have suffered less harm than I would being impaled on that fearsome-looking fireplace fender.” She was keeping an eye on Mary, should she forward a second attack, but the transformation in her sister was a remarkable sight.
She clutched her heart, and her expression turned to one of compassionate concern.
“Oh, Mr Darcy! Is Elizabeth unharmed? Foolish girl, tripping on my rug.”
Darcy lifted Elizabeth into his arms.
“I think I can walk,” Elizabeth protested.
Darcy shook his head. “Not before we have ruled out any injuries. You are in shock and may not feel it yet.”
“Show some gratitude, Elizabeth. Mr Darcy is always solicitousness itself to everyone in his care.”
He turned his concerned eyes away from her to settle a scowl on Mary. “As for you, Mary, disguise of every sort is abhorrent.”
Mary’s lower lip trembled and tears welled in her eyes. “I do not take your meaning, sir.”
“Do not play coy with me. I have been listening behind your door for the last ten minutes. Nothing you say in your defence could tempt me to accept it. I have only one question, and that is how you came to have fifty pounds to bribe Mr Wickham.”
“Mary has that and much more,” Elizabeth informed her husband.
“She receives forty pounds in allowance per annum and hardly ever spends any of it. I would not be surprised if she has two or three hundred pounds. Or rather had, as she must have spent a fortune on errand boys to deliver all those notes to the newspapers and rescind the invitations.”
“It was worth every farthing,” Mary growled.
“But…how could you do so without detection?” Darcy asked.
“No one ever pays any attention to what I do,” Mary sneered. “My only regret is that Miss Mildmay, Captain Warrender, and Colonel Greville did not receive theirs.”
“What about the judge and his children, the Matlocks… Even Lady Catherine received an invitation but no withdrawal,” Elizabeth wondered aloud.
“I wanted them there, of course, to witness your mortification. Not one of them approves of you.”
A throat cleared from behind them.
Shocked, Elizabeth turned away from the blackened look Mary directed at her. Peering over Darcy’s shoulder, she regarded the shocked expressions on her family’s faces; only Georgiana wore a determined countenance resembling her brother’s master of Pemberley mask.
“My grave error of judgment is infinitely preferable to your affected piety fabricated to hide a hideous flaw in your character.” Georgiana’s faint voice trembled.
“I rejoice in your downfall, Mary. You have done nothing but belittle me and laud your own virtues since the day we were introduced. I heartily regret ever confiding my secret to you!”
“I am so sorry, Georgiana. I had no idea! It is no wonder you have been civil but reserved towards me. I can only hope that sometime in the future, you will find forgiveness in your heart,” Elizabeth begged.
“I heard everything, and there is nothing to forgive. We have both been victims of a distorted mind.”
“I am shocked,” Lady Louise whispered on the threshold, flanked by Count Reimarus and Lady Catherine.
“I am not,” Lady Catherine interjected. “There is always one lunatic in every family. In mine it is my brother. If I had been the earl… Well, never mind. I have been the queen of Rosings for a decade now, and it has every modern convenience that Matlock lacks. I have no cause to repine.”
“Nor have you grown humble these past fifty years,” Lady Louise muttered.
“Absolutely not! Humbleness is contrary to my nature. My character has ever been celebrated for its sincerity and frankness, and I shall certainly not depart from it at such a moment as this.”
Darcy made for the door, intent to carry her to her room.
“Wait!” Elizabeth yelped. “We cannot leave Mary unattended. She is dangerous!”
“Leave the girl to me,” Lady Catherine boomed. “I shall lock this miscreant in her room and order a footman to guard each door. We shall leave for Rosings on the morrow.”
“I cannot foist my sister upon you. You already have a frail daughter to attend to.”
“Balderdash! Anne is much improved after taking Mrs Collins’s foul concoctions.
She needs hardly any of that dulling laudanum for her pains any longer.
I assure you, dear niece, that I can handle a recalcitrant child.
I did not grow up with a pig-headed brother like Lord Matlock without learning every trick in the book.
He thought he could lord over me, but I am not the kind of female who can be dictated to.
He even wanted me to marry one of his impoverished friends.
But I would never have anyone but my dear Lewis, so I convinced the queen to knight him, which made him more palatable to my father.
Have no fear, Elizabeth. I have managed much worse and must laud my husband’s foresight.
He was an admirer of everything gothic and added a dungeon in Rosings’s cellar.
I had never thought it would one day become useful…
But rest assured, Mary will not escape her imprisonment.
“Since Anne has recovered and gained a new friend, I often find myself without occupation. I need a new project to rescue me from the disgrace of idleness, as Mr Collins has proved to be a hopeless case. Which reminds me—I hope Martha is performing to your satisfaction. I had her in mind from the day I met you. You are a rustic kind of girl and would not be comfortable with one of these French trollops who are the rage these days. Oh no, a hearty Yorkshire lass would serve you much better. In addition, she is the eldest of twelve brothers and sisters and will be of much aid to you when you approach your lying-in.”
Every eye turned to Elizabeth. Lady Louise looked composed, Georgiana brightened, Mary scowled, a smug smile bloomed on Darcy’s face, whilst Count Reimarus only raised his eyebrows.
“What?” Lady Catherine cried. “Was it not common knowledge?”
“Never mind,” Elizabeth said. “It is only family here, but I implore you not to spread the word beyond our circle before I have felt the quickening. Which reminds me, do tell the servants not to allow any correspondence to leave my sister’s room.”
“You may depend upon it. Not as much as a carrier pigeon will come within a mile of Miss Bennet for as long as she is in my care.”
“Thank you,” Elizabeth replied, stifling a yawn.
Darcy bade their family good night and strode towards his chamber with due haste.
“Am I heavy?” Elizabeth fretted. He had held her for what felt like an eternity, and she feared his arms must be growing weary of their burden.
Darcy let out a derisive huff before he placed her gently on the bed. He removed his coat and began pressing his fingers from her toes to her head whilst repeatedly barking, “Does this hurt?” After an equal amount of “no” responses, he sighed in relief.
“It is all my fault,” Darcy avowed.
“From everything that has happened tonight, how can you deduce any of it is your fault?”
“It was I who invited Mary to our home. I did not even confer with you. I was impressed by her pious nature and thought she might have a good influence on Georgiana. Instead, she has been a detriment to my sister’s happiness and has ruined your introduction into society.”
“She is my sister!” Elizabeth cried incredulously.
“If anyone should have been suspicious, it is I, who have known her all my life. The truth is that I was completely ignorant of Mary’s perfidy.
If not for the small detail divulged to the newspaper, that I spent the last of my money on ices at Gunter’s—a fact only I, you, and Mary knew—I would never have deduced the truth.
I sought her out, expecting her to offer a perfectly natural explanation.
It was a random act to accuse her. I did not genuinely believe she was the culprit. ”
“Let us not quarrel about who is the most to blame.”
“No. Mary is the malefactor. Do you believe Lady Catherine is the one who should be burdened with the responsibility of her punishment?”
“Would you rather send her to Newgate or Bedlam? I assure you it can be arranged.”
“Absolutely not! I have attached enough scandals to your name. I only wonder whether my father should be allowed to correct her.”
“Firstly, you have done nothing wrong, Elizabeth. Secondly, and you are not going to relish hearing what I have to say next… Mr Bennet has had nineteen years to discover her deficiencies, and I add, with fear of offending you, he has not taken the trouble so far…”
“You are correct, and I am not offended by the truth. I am, however, relieved that Jane and Mr Bingley moved to Hurst House to allow me to accommodate all our guests. My sister would have been overwrought by tonight’s spectacle.”
“Yet we must tell her when she arrives on the morrow.”
“Certainly, but not before Mary has left. She frightens me.”
“Which is natural and just. She scares the dickens out of me.”
“Mr Darcy!” Elizabeth chided.
“Pardon my frankness, but seeing you falling towards that fender took decades off my life. I fully expect to wake up tomorrow with a full head of grey hair.”
Elizabeth snickered. “I shall still find you the handsomest man of my acquaintance, even if you awaken grey and wrinkled like a prune.”
“I stopped listening after you declared me the handsomest man of your acquaintance.”
“Of course you did. Your vanity—” Elizabeth stopped before she said something hurtful.
“Please, dear Elizabeth, do not stop teasing me, and I promise to retain my ridicule-worthy character traits for your amusement. I am not so vain that my pride cannot withstand a jest.”
“You must know that I do not mean any of it. You are the man I love most ardently, and you are sheer perfection.”
“Desist or you will swell my head with improper pride.”
“Which head?”
“Minx!” he retaliated. “Are you certain you are well?”
“Better than ever. Even if we do not succeed in changing society’s opinion of me.
I believe I can now stop fretting so much, growing concerned that everything I do or say will be twisted into something dreadful.
Within our small circle of family and friends, we are safe from scorn, and those are the people who truly matter. ”
Darcy replied with an ardent kiss.