Chapter 26 #2
“He stole from his fellow officers. At our request, he will not face the firing squad, rather, the libertine will be consigned to King’s Bench Debtor’s Prison once he is able to be moved. He received forty lashes for his crimes against those in the regiment,” Gardiner reported.
“He also came close to ruining my youngest sister, but Aunt Maddie and Uncle Edward had footmen at Netherfield Park whom they sent to protect us as soon as they knew that libertine was in the area,” Elizabeth related. “I hope he never physically harmed Miss Darcy.”
“No, I thank goodness daily that he did not. Now it is my turn, Miss Elizabeth. Regardless of who my words were aimed at, they should never have been thought, never mind crossed my lips. Not only were they ungentlemanly, but they were patently untrue as it has been a long time since I have thought you the most handsome woman of my acquaintance,” Darcy stated.
“As soon as I understood at Lucas Lodge, you had heard those vile words, I should have apologised, but my improper pride held me back from, as I thought then, lowering myself to beg your pardon as I should have.” He paused and looked into those fascinating emerald-green eyes.
“Now that I am putting my improper pride aside and learning humility, if you can see your way clear to forgiving me, I would like for us to begin again.”
“I think I would like that. Thank you, Mr Darcy,” Elizabeth managed as she fought to regulate her colour since he declared he thought her pretty.
“I understand from a letter we had from Adam you are reconsidering your connection to Mr Bingley and his family. Is that true?” Maddie asked.
“Indeed, I am.” Darcy told of the spectacle the three siblings made outside his house and the fiction sent to him in a note. “It is my intention to sever the connection.”
“I think we should all meet with the Bingleys at Darcy House,” Gardiner proposed.
“I do not think you are aware that Netherfield Park belongs to Maddie and me, are you? The lease was abandoned, and we would like to discuss the way they behaved in the area, including Mr Bingley raising Jane’s expectations in such a public way.
Also you may want to discuss this with them.
” Gardiner handed Darcy Miss Bingley’s letter.
Before he looked at the letter, Darcy realised why Miss Elizabeth said her aunt and uncle sent footmen from Netherfield Park. “You are Bingley’s landlord.” It was a statement not a question. Then he opened the letter and began to read.
The Gardiners and Elizabeth were not surprised by the fury which built as Mr Darcy read the termagant’s letter.
“Your cousin and Miss Darcy’s co-guardian was no less angry when he was told about what she wrote,” Elizabeth revealed. “She is lucky she is not a male; the Colonel would have called her out.”
“As would I have,” Darcy growled.
“Darcy, rather than go there now when you are angry, this is what I suggest…” Gardiner laid out a plan, to which Darcy agreed.
Before Darcy departed, he and Miss Elizabeth had their first true debate, about a book, sans any rancour or attempts to provoke. They both enjoyed it thoroughly. Neither had realised how easy they would be in the other’s company.
Maddie gave Gardiner a knowing look; he shrugged his shoulders to defer to his wife’s perspicacity.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
To say that Lady Catherine de Bourgh was furious was an understatement.
That useless toady, Collins, had been returned to the parsonage for almost a sennight, and he had not called on her once.
Not only that, but it seemed that he had defied her orders, because as far as she knew he had not returned to Kent either engaged, or married, to one of his impecunious cousins.
If that were not bad enough, the sermon he delivered on Sunday past had not been written by herself, and he had not allowed her to read it to make her corrections.
He had preached some drivel about Christian kindness and had blasphemed by uttering some lies about how all men were equal in God’s eyes!
She had stormed out of the church and not marked him with any attention.
She had certainly not issued an invitation for him to come to tea or a meal after the service as had been her wont in the past.
This morning, she had sent a most strongly worded note which could not have left him in any doubt of her displeasure and ordered him to present himself at Rosings Park at exactly fifteen minutes after ten.
That time had come and gone, and yet there was no Mr Collins.
She knew what she needed to do. It was time for him to feel the pain of her walking stick striking him again.
Since she had done so that first time, he had followed all of her orders without question.
She would not tolerate anything but absolute obedience from her serfs.
More than an hour after the time she had ordered the parson to appear before her, the butler announced him. The man was about to waste her time with some other nonsense, but she dismissed him before he could speak.
Collins entered the drawing room with the Right Reverend Copeland, the Bishop of the Canterbury Diocese, and Mr Bertram, the man who was to succeed him at Hunsford. He hid the amusement he felt at seeing first the outrage and then the confusion on Lady Catherine’s countenance.
“Mr Collins, who are these riffraff you dare to allow enter my drawing room?” Lady Catherine screeched.
“She really sounds like a woman hawking her wares in the market, does she not?” The Bishop quipped. He turned to Collins. “Will you introduce us to the self-styled ‘great lady’ please.”
“How dare you demand I be introduced to you? As a peer of the realm, it is my right…” Lady Catherine stopped her diatribe when the one man lifted his hand.
“As I am the Right Reverend Henry Copeland, a bishop, which is the same rank as an earl, I am in fact the only one in this room who can claim a rank equal to a peer. You, Lady de Bourgh, were married to a knight, and as you well know, in our society the lady takes the rank of her husband. Even without that as the daughter of an earl, yours is merely a courtesy title. You, Madam, are a commoner.” He paused and ignored the outraged look on the virago’s face.
“You contravened church law in demanding Mr Collins share confidential parishioner information with you and insisting he allow you to write those wholly un-Christian sermons.
Because of such nonsense about the distinction of rank and the deference you were owed in said sermons, you are forever barred from appointing a clergyman to any living.
“Thanks to the Archbishop being cousin to Lady Matlock, we are aware that, as of your daughter’s birthday a few months past, she is the rightful mistress of this estate, not you.
Lord Matlock will be here later today to ensure that the terms of Sir Lewis’s will are executed fully.
As of today, Mr Collins has resigned the living, and in consultation with his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, we have appointed Mr Edmund Bertram as the new rector of the Hunsford parish.
At least, you did not lose this living in a game of chance like Mr Bertram’s older brother did with the one attached to Mansfield Park.
“Before you complain, you can thank the Lord above that his Grace did not excommunicate you for your interference in church matters and your non-Christian actions. Any more attempts to meddle in the running of this or any other parish of the Church of England and that will be your fate.”
For once in her life, Lady Catherine said not a word. Even she knew that her life as a titled person would be over if she was excommunicated. Was Reggie coming to remove her as mistress? Surely not.
The Bishop nodded to the two clergymen, and they followed him out of the drawing room. Not one bow had been bestowed on the lady.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“I have a note from Darcy,” Bingley told his sisters and brother-in-law, who was enjoying his after-dinner sleep. “It just arrived; I will open it and read it…” His older sister plucked the missive from her brother’s hand.
Louisa Hurst broke the seal and read the contents quickly. With a smile she read all to her siblings.
2 December 1811
Darcy House
Bingley,
I invite you and your sisters to arrive at Darcy House to meet with me at 11 o’clock in the morning on the morrow.
We will discuss a number of things, including your informative epistle. I will also have some questions to ask; questions that I should have had answers to long before.
Darcy
“I knew how it would be,” Mrs Hurst crowed. “Mr Darcy intends to offer for you, Caro. Did I not tell you my letter would smooth things over?” She boasted.