Chapter 31
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
D ing. Ding. Ding .
Really, is every clock in Kent broken? That ringing is insufferable!
Forcing her aggravation aside, Lady Catherine responded to Miss Bennet’s assertion with a scoff. “You know ‘everything’, do you? That is just like you, always believing yourself the quickest wit, the cleverest person in the room. You know nothing , child.”
The impudent chit glared at Lady Catherine even as she cowered behind the bedpost. “I know you poisoned your own daughter—murdered her, in fact. I have proof.”
At this, Lady Catherine threw her head back and laughed. “What sort of proof could you possibly have against me? Anne died of an acute attack of illness. Nichols will attest to it.”
“I have your daughter’s testimony, written in her own hand, that accuses you of slowly sapping the life from her with your vile tonic. And all for what? Because she outlived her usefulness?”
“Because she would not obey!” Lady Catherine spat, then realised her error. More collectedly, she continued, “You know nothing of a mother’s duty to her child. Anything that I did for Anne was done for the best.”
“For the best? You killed her with your horrid potions. Your own child! What kind of mother are you?”
“A far better one than you will ever make! I know what is owed to my family, my name, my position in life—you are nothing but a thieving interloper who stole my daughter’s future out from under her. Were she here now, she would spit upon you with contempt.”
Ding. Ding. Ding!
“I think not. Anne never wanted to marry Darcy, nor he her. He asked her once, did you know?”
Lady Catherine could feel heat rising in her face. It bubbled beneath the surface of her skin, ready to erupt. “You lie! If Darcy had proposed, she would not have dared to disobey my wishes.”
Miss Bennet laughed without humour. “Except that she did. My husband explained to me that he once offered for Anne in the hopes of getting her out from under your thumb. She refused him because she did not wish him beholden to this failing estate or your unreasonable demands. Had either of them realised what you were actually about, that you were more monster than mother, perhaps it would have turned out differently, but instead one of them is dead and the other plagued with regrets.”
“You have always been an artful creature, exerting your wiles upon every man in the vicinity. You used them on Collins, Fitzwilliam, Darcy—and probably untold others. You are a loathsome, devious harlot with no concept of the truth of matters.”
“Then why do you not explain them to me?” the chit challenged, chin lifted as if she were some noble defender of Anne. Beyond her, the standard held aloft by one of those stupid knights waved slightly in an unfelt draught. “From where I stand, your only motive appears to be greed and petty revenge.”
“You could not possibly understand,” Lady Catherine snarled. “When—or I should say if —that child is born, you will come to learn that discipline is a necessary element of child rearing. If you do not provide a firm guiding hand, children will ruin themselves. Just look at Anne! Had she obeyed and captured Darcy, she would still be alive today, settled in her proper place as the mistress of Pemberley. Instead, you have lured him away and thwarted my plans, leaving me no recourse but to punish my daughter harshly. I never meant for it to go so far, but she had to learn her lesson.”
Miss Bennet gasped. “That is preposterous! I had no hand in your treating her so dishonourably and neither did my husband. He was free to marry where he chose and was encouraged in that pursuit by Anne herself. Do not blame others for your misdeeds. Besides, it is starkly apparent that greed was your incentive. Why else try to force your daughter into a union she did not want and then punish her for not achieving it?”
“The youth today! None of you have any concept of duty. You are provided with every possible thing you could require, assiduously tended and educated from infancy, all so you can go your own way in the end. Such selfishness is disgusting.”
“One does not raise children simply to…to do one’s bidding. They are people with their own thoughts and feelings.”
Lady Catherine could not help a cackling laugh. “You are painfully na?ve.”
“ You are evil.” The accusation emerged from Miss Bennet as a hiss, full of contempt. “Tell me, because I have been wondering, did Anne’s will play a role in your decision to be rid of her? Was this her final ‘betrayal’?”
“I did not know Anne had cut me from her will until after she was dead. Mr Stephens brought it to my attention the next day, so you cannot accuse me of acting for pecuniary advantage.”
“And yet you set fire to his offices to preserve Rosings for yourself, killing him in the process.”
She waved away this objection just as easily. “I could not let the estate devolve into unworthy hands, could I? After everything I have done to keep it solvent? It was a practical matter.”
“Murdering an innocent man is a practical matter?”
“In this, as in everything, you are woefully unschooled. This is exactly why you ought never to have quit the sphere in which you were brought up, for you have only brought suffering into mine.”
The girl had the temerity to point an accusing finger at Lady Catherine as she loudly declared, “The suffering is all on your head!”
“It is soon to be on yours.”
Lady Catherine took up her cane and lunged forwards, swinging it in Miss Bennet’s direction. The girl cried out and stumbled back, just out of range of the silver-tipped end of the makeshift cudgel. Lady Catherine pursued her, issuing another swipe, which she ducked, and pressed her closer to the fireplace. If she will not hold still and take her punishment, I shall corner her!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Those blasted bells began again, knelling in warning. Lady Catherine disregarded them, and when Miss Bennet moved for the door to the hall, she blocked her path. The chit had no choice but to stumble backwards against one of those ridiculous knights Sir Lewis had insisted upon installing all over the house.
The knight teetered, providing the perfect distraction for her to pounce. While Miss Bennet struggled to prevent the thing from collapsing atop her, Lady Catherine executed another lunge with her cane.
This movement resulted in a shooting pain from her ankle, and she stumbled, crying out. Miss Bennet used this to her advantage and dodged out of the way just in time to avoid receiving the pummelling she so richly deserved. The cane instead struck the knight and?—
There was a deafening crash, a shriek of the utmost rage, and the bells fell silent.