Chapter 51 Chaos #3
Once again, the occupants of the room dispersed into smaller groups.
Anne pulled Georgiana to join her in one corner of the room with Jane, Mrs. Cathcart and Lucy.
In their corner, Mrs. Bennet and her group of matrons happily settled into discussion with a new range of topics.
Courtships, betrothals and the upcoming wedding were their primary subjects, although Darcy noticed some speculative glances directed at Kitty and Sir Phillip as well.
That couple sat to either side of a small occasional table on which they set up their game.
Nearby, Lydia presided over the arrangement of her board on another small table.
The remaining occupants of the room gathered around to watch the games in progress, with Mr. Bennet settling into a chair next to Lydia while the rest stood.
Martin joined Lizzy and Darcy as they watched Kitty's game begin. Quietly, Darcy said to his new cousin-by-marriage, "You and Anne arrived much earlier than we expected. You must have been on the road well before dawn."
Chuckling, Martin replied, "If we had made the trip in one day that would be true. Instead, we left yesterday as soon as we received Mr. Bennet's confirmation that we would be welcome. We spent the night in London and came on from there this morning."
"Was there any particular reason for your haste?" asked Lizzy.
"Anne was excited to arrive here quickly," Martin admitted, "but she was also concerned.
Her mother knows now about our marriage and Anne has been expecting an irate visit from Lady Catherine at any time.
We decided to come here before that could happen.
If Lady Catherine shows up at Boxwell, my family will simply tell him we have gone away on a trip, with no mention of our intended destination.
Of course, we will have to face her at some time, but Anne is enjoying her new freedom and the opportunity to show her true self for the first time.
I did not wish her mother to ruin that yet. "
Darcy and Lizzy nodded understandingly, and Lizzy said, "She seems happy here."
They all looked over to see Anne laughing over some comment Lucy had made. As they watched, Anne leaned towards Georgiana and said something that was clearly meant to gently tease the younger girl, who smiled and laughed herself.
"I love to see it," Martin said, looking fondly at his wife. "I simply cannot imagine growing up in such a challenging household.
"I am glad she found you," Darcy told him.
"I have always wanted her to be happy, but I did not think that would be the case if she were married to me.
When we discussed it, Richard, who has always known Anne better, agreed with me.
I do wish I had taken steps to help her out of that situation earlier, but as you know, I believed in my aunt for far longer than I should have. "
"That is partly my fault," Peter Fitzwilliam said as he quietly joined the conversation.
"I did not challenge your belief in my sister even though I knew you were being taken in by her.
I thought the warnings would be better coming from Richard instead of being dictates from me or your father.
That placed both of you boys in a bad position and led to some antagonism between you.
I am very sorry about that. I did not intend to leave you unprotected, but somehow that was the result. "
"It cannot be changed now," Lizzy said. "Instead of worrying about regret or things that might have been done differently, we all need to think about how to protect ourselves from the challenges Lady Catherine presents to us right now.
We have a good start with two of her primary agents out of the way.
Anne is safe. In fact, all those she might be likely to harm are either here, or soon to arrive here, where we can all look after each other.
Viscount Rand, you know your sister better than any of us. What is she most likely to do next?"
Peter looked over at the two chess games in progress.
"Her game is in shambles. She has lost all her major pieces and now only has a few pawns and the queen to protect the king.
We still have all our major pieces and largely control the board.
As I see it, she is clearly going to lose this game she began years ago, and I expect she knows it.
That means her most likely next steps will be to set aside all vestiges of the game, before we can declare a checkmate, and do something drastic fueled by her ill temper.
What that might be, however, I do not know. I suspect she does not know either."
"If that is the case, then what can we do?" Martin asked.
"Be vigilant," Peter replied. Looking down at the game in front of him, he smiled and added, "I could say the same to Kitty."
The other three all looked and nodded. "Hmm," said Martin, looking between the two players, "I wonder if she actually wants to win."
"Oh, I think she will win either way," Peter said with a soft laugh and the other three joined in.