Chapter 16 #2
“Offended?” Bingley intervened, impromptu.
“Lord Markham, your son insinuated himself upon my sister and pretended to have a serious interest in her; he convinced her to procure him an invitation to Netherfield, and when he came here, he harmed Lady Cassandra and my soon-to-be sister! He deceived us all and acted like the worst of savages—and you are offended? You are fortunate I would not want such a man in my family or I would force him to do his duty regarding my sister since her reputation surely has been affected by his behaviour!”
“I never claimed to have any intentions regarding your sister; it was all in her imagination!” The younger Markham seemed to lose control, his face coloured highly, and his eyes assumed a strange expression. “The only woman I truly want is Elizabeth! Mr Bennet, you must—
Four pairs of eyes stared incredulously at Markham, and Bingley finally put aside his anger and simply shrugged to the others. “He is out of his mind! I will call the servants to show them out of the house.”
“No need to disturb yourself, young man! We shall leave this disgraceful house immediately!”
Hesitating for a moment to follow his father, the younger Markham stepped near the colonel and Cassandra and whispered in a low voice, “This will not end here!” and then hurried to the door.
The colonel moved toward him, but Lady Cassandra grabbed his arm.
“Please, let them leave. Bingley is right; he is out of his mind. Let us put all this behind us.”
The colonel seemed unwilling to listen to her, but a moment later, he met her pleading eyes and nodded in agreement. “Very well…it will be as you wish…for now.”
∞∞∞
When he was certain Elizabeth was breathing steadily and there was no danger of waking her, Darcy gently freed himself from her embrace and cautiously left the room.
He went downstairs, his rage increasing as each step brought him closer to the library. The moment he entered, his mood became darker as he saw his friends talking, apparently calmly.
“Darcy! How is Elizabeth?” Mr Bennet and Cassandra asked him almost at the same time.
“Elizabeth is well enough now. But you seem very well indeed—all of you! If I did not know better, I would never suspect the gravity of the situation mere hours ago.”
Before any of them found the proper words to reply to his statement, Darcy continued, talking mostly to Cassandra and his cousin. “What on earth was Markham doing in this house? And how is it possible he was alone with Elizabeth?”
His voice was so reproachful that Bingley hung his head guiltily while answering, “It was my mistake, Darcy. I never knew who Markham was. Apparently, he and Caroline had become quite friendly during the last few weeks, and she asked me to invite him to Netherfield for the ball. We thought…I thought he was courting Caroline. I am very sorry.”
“Markham courting Caroline? Upon my word, Bingley, sometimes you are so na?ve.” Bingley only blinked a few times but remained silent. “But why did you not throw him out of the house when you found out who he really was? He is not a man to be allowed near any respectable lady!”
“Darcy, there is no need to blame Bingley! He knew nothing. We did not tell him anything about Markham,” the colonel interrupted, but Darcy’s rage turned on him.
“You told him nothing?! How could that be? Of what were you thinking?”
“He wanted to talk to Bingley, but I would not allow it,” Lady Cassandra replied. “After all, Markham appeared to be nothing more than Miss Bingley’s guest, and I thought we had no reason to worry. We never guessed he might have an interest in Elizabeth until tonight, and I warned her—
“No reason to worry? Cassandra, are you out of your mind? But of course, as always you presumed your opinion to be the only correct one, and you cannot be wrong. Your presumptions put Elizabeth in such danger—
“Darcy, you forget yourself!” shouted the colonel with equal anger.
“How dare you address Cassandra in such a manner? She was the one who saved Miss Bennet, and she did so with no concern for her own safety. Have you asked how badly Cassandra was injured? Or has your anger blinded you to all reason?”
“Colonel, calm yourself…Darcy is upset, and he has reason to be so. It was my fault indeed—
“No, it was not your fault—not at all,” the colonel replied soundly.
Darcy continued, his tone slightly lower as he made an apparent effort to regulate his response. “Markham should not have been allowed to remain here, and you two were aware of that!”
“You are correct,” admitted the colonel. “I should have been more careful. I am to blame! My only excuse is that I did not remember that Markham and Miss Bennet had ever met each other, and I kept my attention upon him only regarding Cassandra and Georgiana. I am very sorry.”
“Come now, son,” Mr Bennet said warmly, taking Darcy by the arm and directing him to a chair. “Take a seat and let us talk calmly. There is no need to fight amongst ourselves.”
“I shall take care of Markham myself,” Darcy whispered.
“Markham is gone, together with his father,” Lady Cassandra said with the same low voice. “I dare say you will not meet again anytime soon.”
“Gone? Where?” Darcy cried, instantly rising from his seat.
“I do not know and really do not wish to know.”
“But I wish to know! I shall go after him directly!”
“He has been gone for more than an hour. There is no way you could find him now, and besides, you had better take a bath and get some rest. Elizabeth will need you tomorrow morning. Running through the countryside after Markham surely will not give her much comfort.”
Darcy cast a furious look toward her. He attempted to continue on his way, but the colonel grabbed his arm. “Darcy, she is right. Let it be…for the moment.”
“Are you out of your mind? You want me to stay here and put everything aside? You expect me to forget what he has done and let him live in peace?” His countenance darkened with each word, and he paced the room like a caged beast.
Suddenly, he hurried toward the door without giving them another look. The colonel fought to stop him, but Darcy pushed him aside.
“Darcy,” said the colonel in a low voice. “Cassandra is correct. Miss Bennet will surely need you. She will ask after you first thing tomorrow. She does not deserve more distress and fear, would you not agree? Besides, there will be a ball in two days’ time.”
“You are out of your senses if you believe I am in any disposition for a ball,” Darcy replied, struggling to contain his anger. “The ball? Is that what you are thinking of?”
His tone was offensive, yet the colonel would not allow another argument to develop. “Oh, you should think of the ball, too, Darcy. That would help you to calm a little and think reasonably—and to find a more appropriate time to finish this business to your satisfaction.”
Tired and too exhausted to balance his own angry stubbornness with his cousin’s insistence, Darcy forced his mind to grasp the colonel’s words and judge their wisdom.
Seemingly defeated and with a silent nod to David, he finally returned to the library.
“Please forgive my wild behaviour,” he whispered as he fell into a chair.
Darcy’s gaze remained fixed on the fireplace, and none of the others disturbed him for a time.
Eventually, Mr Bennet decided to leave for home to calm his undoubtedly nervous wife, and he asked for the carriage.
Darcy barely heard the elder gentleman when he took his leave, nor did he move when the door closed behind him.
Silence and apparent peace finally enveloped Netherfield. It was almost dawn.
∞∞∞
Not even a hot bath and another glass of wine were able to calm Darcy.
He was still restless; not a single moment passed without blaming himself for the attack on Elizabeth and for his unfair behaviour toward Cassandra.
The need to do something—to be of assistance or to punish the man who had caused so much pain—was unbearable.
The only palliation to his distress was the knowledge that Elizabeth was well.
The desire of seeing her turned his steps toward her room. He entered as silently as he could; inside, sitting on Elizabeth’s bed, he found Cassandra. She turned her head to him with a warm, friendly smile. He wanted to smile back but simply could not. He felt too guilty and ashamed of himself.
“She is sleeping. She seems well and calm,” she said.
“I hope she is well. I shall stay with her a little longer,” he whispered back.
“She will be happy to have you here She was more affected by your possible reaction than by anything else.”
“Cassandra, I…Please forgive me for acting so rudely, so unfairly to you. I was principally angry with myself and allowed my anger to fall upon you. But I cannot tell you how grateful I am for everything you have done for Elizabeth. If not for you—
“I know, I know. Do not worry so. You are not very pleasant when you are angry,” she replied, her smile growing on her lips. “You never have been, even as a child.”
“Yes, I know.” He finally smiled back. “I am difficult to bear. I was extraordinarily fortunate to be accepted by Elizabeth.”
“Indeed you were, my friend,” she replied, her voice wearing an unexpected trace of sadness. “Be careful not to waste your chance at happiness. More than anything, keep yourself healthy and safe, close to Elizabeth. I am sure that is what she wishes.”
“Cassandra, I can imagine how difficult this evening’s events must have been for you. And you were hurt, too,” he said with much affection, gently touching the bruises on her cheek.
“Do not worry about me. Good night—as much as there remains of it.”