Chapter Seventy-Six
O n the afternoon of the second day, the coach pulled up in front of a rather unprepossessing-looking home about the size of Longbourn.
“Rather a come-down from Pemberley!” Mary said.
“But still a good-sized home for one woman,” Elizabeth said. “Do not forget that our parents raised five daughters in a house no larger than this one, so let us not feel too sorry for Lady Anne.”
The coachman escorted the two ladies to the door. Elizabeth stopped to speak with him. “John, there is no guarantee that Lady Anne will even allow us entrance; we may need to repair to an inn for the night and then return to Pemberley. I know you would like to unharness the horses as soon as may be, but that may not be a good idea.”
“I understand, Mrs. Darcy; the master spoke with me about it before we left. We will wait here until your welcome is assured.”
John knocked on the front door; after a few minutes, it was opened by a butler. John spoke before Elizabeth could do so. “This is Mrs. Darcy and her sister, Miss Bennet. They have traveled from Pemberley to visit Lady Anne. Is she at home?”
The butler looked astonished, but seeing that the two ladies were well-dressed, he admitted them immediately and escorted them to a parlour. A few minutes later, Elizabeth and Mary heard a voice. “Who? No, I do not believe it. What in the world could she –“
And then Lady Anne walked in. Elizabeth and Mary rose to their feet and curtsied. Lady Anne stared at them both and then slowly curtsied.
Elizabeth spoke matter-of-factly. “Lady Anne, may I present my sister, Miss Bennet? Mary, this is Lady Anne Darcy, Mr. Darcy’s mother.”
The three ladies then sat in silence. It was broken, finally, by Lady Anne saying, “Refreshments?”
Elizabeth replied, “Yes, I thank you. Lady Anne, the horses would doubtless like a rest. Might I beg the use of your stables for – well, for as long as we are here?’
Lady Anne nodded at the butler, who was hovering in the doorway. He nodded back and vanished. “Bromwell will take care of it.”
“Thank you.”
Lady Anne pulled the bell cord, and everyone waited in silence while the tea tray was brought in.
“I am sorry to say that I do not recall your tea preference, Mrs. Darcy,” Lady Anne said, very politely.
“Milk and one sugar.”
“Miss Bennet?”
“Just milk, thank you.”
Once everyone was served, Lady Anne and Elizabeth both spoke at once, and both immediately fell silent, each waiting for the other to speak.
Elizabeth said, “Please, what were you about to say?”
“Only that I cannot at all account for your presence here, Mrs. Darcy.” Her tone was not unkind, simply confused.
“Lady Anne, first I must tell you that William sent a message asking you to wait before departing Pemberley. We hoped that you and I would have a final chance to speak together. Evidently the message arrived after you had already departed.”
Lady Anne raised her eyes in surprise.
Elizabeth continued, “But I was glad to see that you had left Pemberley; I will not pretend otherwise. Though it was terrible for me to see Georgiana in such pain! She has difficulties enough, given how shy she is, and the absence of her one remaining parent is not good for her peace of mind.”
Lady Anne’s eyes filled with tears. “It was not easy for me to leave my daughter behind, Mrs. Darcy.”
“I am certain it was not.”
“Are you simply here to tell me that my daughter is sad? I wonder that you came so far to do so.”
“No; I am here so that you and I might speak with one another candidly. You took an immediate dislike to me, so we have never spoken, woman to woman, in an attempt to resolve our differences.” She stopped, waiting to gauge her opponent’s reaction.
Lady Anne admitted, “It is true; I did take an immediate dislike to you, yes, beginning at Rosings. It was so clear, even then, that my son was taken with you, and I –“ And here she stopped and shook her head, unable or unwilling to continue.
Elizabeth, seeing that Lady Anne had nothing more to say at the moment, went on. “My sister here has impressed upon me that no woman would want to lose the one thing that gives her purpose and status. What was it you said, Mary? You were eloquent on the subject, I think.”
Mary was more than a little nervous, but she rose to the occasion. “Lady Anne, it seems to me that men are able to find purpose through their careers or their estates, but we women have nothing but what is granted to us by our husbands.”
Lady Anne looked astonished. “That is exactly what I said!”
“Go on, Mary,” Elizabeth prompted.
“Very well; Lady Anne, is there not a good deal you could teach my sister? Oh, she is more than capable of keeping accounts, paying the servants, managing the menus, and so on, but she has never had to plan a ball. She has never hosted a large dinner party. There are any number of things that you could teach her, if you had a mind to.”
Elizabeth now intervened, “And I am willing – more than willing! – to learn these things from you, Lady Anne, but I cannot and will not cede my own responsibilities. I am the mistress of Pemberley. But you are the Dowager Mistress of Pemberley – a title we should invent here and now – if you are willing to fill that place while allowing me my own.”
Lady Anne raised her eyes to Elizabeth’s. “And you would allow me to return home?” Her tone was uncertain.
“Under the conditions I have outlined, yes.”
“Then you are a better woman than I, Mrs. Darcy, for I would not be so generous, had I been treated as you were,” Lady Anne declared.
“You admit that your behaviour has been less than ideal?”
“I look back upon it with the deepest shame and regret, Mrs. Darcy. My only excuse – and truly, it is no good excuse at all – is that I was terrified at the thought of becoming unimportant.”
Mary said, “I can understand that, Lady Anne. You are the niece of an earl; you were courted and praised as a young lady, and as the mistress of Pemberley, you were the second most important person on the estate. Once my sister arrived, you felt relegated to a back corner.”
Elizabeth said, “I can understand it as well, but – heavens! Did you not think that we might work together? My father’s estate is not a tenth the size of Pemberley; every day, I wondered what I might be doing wrong!”
Lady Anne stared at Elizabeth in astonishment. “I would never have guessed it, Mrs. Darcy. You seemed to take to the role with ease and confidence!”
“I had been advised to take the reins as soon as possible, but do you understand how difficult you made that for me? The servants did not know who I was or what they should do! Thank heavens for Mrs. Reynolds; I do not know what I would have done if she had followed your example, Lady Anne.” Elizabeth’s tone was censorious.
Mary broke in, “Tell me, what happened when you first moved to Pemberley, Lady Anne?”
Lady Anne groaned. “Heavens! My mother-in-law was a tyrant and she made my life an utter misery! Her husband had already died when Mr. Darcy and I married, but she refused to relinquish even an inch of her position to me. Mr. Darcy and I were not even able to move to the master’s and mistress’ suite until after she died because she would not –“ And here Lady Anne put a hand to her mouth. Then she continued in a whisper, “And that is exactly how I treated you. Oh, Mrs. Darcy, I am so very, very sorry!” Tears were now coursing down her cheeks. “I beg you to excuse me!” She rose and hastened out the door.
Elizabeth turned to Mary. “What do you think?”
Mary replied, “It is clear now that she was following the example of the previous mistress of Pemberley. This was her model for how the previous mistress should treat the new mistress. Not that this makes it right, of course.”
“No, it most certainly does not!” Elizabeth said. “Would you not think that she would have been all the more resolute to behave differently, having been the victim of such treatment herself?”
Mary shook her head. “That would be the rational thing to do, of course, Lizzy. But how many rational people do you know? Do you think our mother will be happy to hand the keys over to Charlotte when the time comes?”
“You are right, Mary. And in any case, we are here to make amends.”
The two sisters fell silent, waiting. A maid came in to refresh the tea tray.
When Lady Anne finally returned, it was clear that she had been weeping. She settled herself on her chair and said, “There is nothing I can say that can excuse my treatment of you, Mrs. Darcy. I, of all people, should have known better. I cannot possibly excuse my behaviour.”
Elizabeth rose, walked to her mother-in-law, and curtsied. “Lady Anne, might we not begin again? I am Elizabeth, though most of my family call me Lizzy.”
Lady Anne rose and returned the curtsey, smiling through new tears. “I am Lady Anne Darcy, though I hope you will call me Mother. To you, Miss Bennet, I am simply Anne.”
After that, of course, Lady Anne heartily agreed to return to Pemberley and serve as the Dowager Mistress. She said she could be packed in just a day, and that Hannah would be delighted to learn that they were to return home. “If you will consent to spend the night here at Cresston Hall, we can travel back home together. If you do not mind my company, that is.”
Elizabeth and Mary assented readily, and were shown to their rooms to rest before dinner. “Well done!” Mary whispered to her sister before they each went into their separate rooms.
“I could not have done this without you, Mary,” Elizabeth whispered back.