Chapter Twenty Nine
Lady Blanche stood beside Richard, relishing the chaos.
Lady Catherine de Bourgh, whom she had long despised, was purple and apoplectic with rage.
A report of a most alarming nature had reached her – presumably from the bitter shrew Miss Bingley – informing her of the myriad ways Mr. Darcy had debauched himself and besmirched the family honor while paying court to Miss Elizabeth Bennet. It was too delicious.
She glanced over at her mother, and the two women grinned in a silent agreement to see what unfolded next before they intervened.
Lady Rebecca had been clever, weeks ago, making herself an unstoppable force, constantly detaining Miss Elizabeth until she was desperate to get a moment with Mr. Darcy.
With such an immovable object as Lady Catherine in her way, Miss Elizabeth would surely get that last little nudge toward the man she was clearly besotted with – and Lady Blanche would win her bet.
Some of the more tactful members of their party, such as Miss Anne and Brandon, slowly edged out of the room as Lady Catherine. Others watched in fascination and horror; Lady Matlock was laughing uncontrollably, while Richard and Lady Rebecca devoured a tray of tea cakes.
Miss Bennet went to her sister’s side, and the imposing captain trailed behind his betrothed, looking ready to intervene however he must. Lady Catherine turned to give Elizabeth a choice sampling of her abusive language, and flinched at the sight of Captain Wentworth. “And who is this, your bodyguard?”
“This is my sister’s betrothed, madam,” Elizabeth said, staring down the old dragon as she flatly refused to perform any proper introduction.
Lady Catherine looked over at Miss Bennet. “And this, I suppose, is one of your sisters.”
Miss Elizabeth’s eyes darted to the countess, and then she grinned at the old harridan. “Then at last you have made a reasonable assumption, your ladyship. Are you at all acquainted with our hostesses, or ought I introduce you?”
“I know them, and I know all about what goes on at these sort of parties,” Lady Catherine hissed.
“You have requested several times that we invite your daughter and Mr. Darcy, and oblige you in uniting them,” Lady Sophia said causally.
“That is a lie,” Lady Catherine cried, but Blanche smiled brightly. It was, if anything, an understatement.
“Darcy, I demand you leave this place with me at once. I care not if Richard and Rebecca choose to sink themselves amidst such a tawdry scheme, but I will not have you debase the good name you are destined to bestow upon my daughter! I will not stand for it!”
“You are welcome to take a seat,” Lady Dorothea drawled.
Lady Catherine ignored this and continued staring down her nephew.
He stepped closer to Miss Elizabeth, looking every bit her protector.
“Lady Catherine, I will not. I intend to remain for the duration of the party. I have, and will continue to comport myself in the manner I see fit, which is merely to recommend myself to my companions in a matter entirely befitting a gentleman. As such, I must ask you to cease any further aspersions and accusations on the present company.”
“Cavorting as you see fit,” Lady Catherine cried, twisting his words.
“These parties are dissolute and undignified! A gentleman of your stature need not stoop to such vulgarity in order to secure an appropriate bride, particularly when you are destined for my daughter, a lady of unassailable merit.”
“A light wind might assail the sickly creature, Cat,” the countess said.
“Be silent,” Lady Catherine spat at her. “You have long disgraced my brother’s house, and taught your daughter to do the same. I am ashamed of you! If I must fight you like the very devil to preserve my nephew, before he is beyond reclamation, then so be it.”
At this, Lady Catherine slapped the Countess of Matlock across the face.
A collective gasp rippled through the room, but the countess betrayed very little reaction.
She held her rival’s gaze; Lady Catherine leaned forward a little, leaning on her walking stick.
Lady Matlock smiled beatifically at her, then gave the walking stick a gentle kick, causing Lady Catherine to stumble. The countess sputtered with laughter.
Richard relinquished the tray of tea cakes to his sister and stepped past Lady Blanche. He went to his aunt and jerked her roughly by the arm.
“Unhand me this instant!” Lady Catherine wrested herself free, glowered for a moment at Richard, and then turned back to Mr. Darcy. “Do you really intend to forsake all that you owe to the family? Duty, honor, decency!”
“I should not be abandoning my principles, madam, in….”
Lady Catherine finally noticed Miss Darcy, who lingered in one corner with Harriet, a budding friendship that pleased Lady Blanche very well. “You brought your sister here, Darcy? She is an innocent child! How could you dare to expose her to such shameful frivolity?”
She rounded on Elizabeth. “This is all your doing, I know it is! Oh, I know all! You came to Kent for the express purpose of working your arts and allurements on my nephew, having failed to do so in your miserable backwater of Hertfordshire!”
Elizabeth smiled coolly. “Nothing could be further from the truth, madam. I only ever quarreled with him in both of those places.”
Lady Rebecca laughed and Lady Catherine hissed at her, but her beady-eyed gaze remained fixed on Elizabeth.
“You have worked your wiles to draw my nephew into your net, here. I know what goes on, the scandalous improprieties that make these parties so attractive to the lowest sorts. Miss Bingley, though not gently bred, has kindly warned me of what you have stooped to, in your efforts to insidiously sink your hooks into a gentleman so far above you!”
“Caroline!” Bingley grabbed his sister and jerked her toward him. “You will remain in your room from this moment forward. Go, at once!”
Sir Walter stammered some feeble attempt to defend his lady, but Lady Dorothea opened the parlor door and beckoned to the little harpy, who stormed out of the room in a huff.
Lady Rebecca began whispering furiously with Mr. Bingley; Lady Blanche hoped they were cooking up a very severe punishment for Miss Bingley, though her impending marriage would be wretched enough.
Lady Catherine began to lecture Miss Darcy, but the countess intervened, moving to stand in front of the girl and shield her from the verbal onslaught.
“I brought her here three days ago, and I shall hear no further delusional admonishments from a woman who is my social, intellectual, and spiritual inferior. The most scandalous entertainment I have yet been treated to at Richmond Cove is your own preposterous ranting, Cat, and of some delights a very little will suffice. Be gone before I let Rebecca drag you out by your hair.”
“Vulgar upstart! I have not forgotten who you were before my brother raised you so high, little though you deserved it. Of course you would defend such gauche and unsavory proceedings. But it is the upstart pretensions of this creature I have come to prevent.” Lady Catherine pointed a bony finger at Miss Elizabeth, who looked entirely prepared to be amused by the coming attack.
“I see how you repay my attentions to you at Rosings – but it is not little surprise, after your dealings with poor Mr. Collins!”
The countess burst out laughing again, and Elizabeth gave her a devilish wink.
Lady Catherine’s outrage intensified. “Disrespectful, disingenuous hoyden! I have come here with the determined resolution of carrying my purpose, and I will not be dissuaded from it! I have not been in the habit of brooking disappointment.”
“That will make your ladyship’s present situation more pitiable, but it will have no effect on me.” Elizabeth smiled smugly as laughter ebbed through the room.
Lady Catherine’s face flamed with rage. “You brazenly refuse to deny that you intend to drag my nephew down into degradation and disgrace!”
“Well, I should hardly admit to such a thing.”
“That is enough, Lady Catherine,” Mr. Darcy thundered.
He moved to stand beside Elizabeth, and laid a hand deliberately and protectively atop her shoulder.
“Miss Elizabeth has been a respectable and highly valued guest here at Richmond Cove, as she was at Hunsford, and on every occasion entirely beyond reproach. You will not speak to her in such a way.”
“I will not be silenced! I will have her answer for her diabolical schemes to entice you. If you were sensible of your own good, Miss Elizabeth, you would not wish to quit the sphere in which you had been brought up.”
“In seeking a marriage with your nephew, as you are convinced my motive to be, I should not consider myself as quitting that sphere. He is a gentleman, and I am a gentleman’s daughter. We are equals.”
Lady Catherine sneered at her. “Marriage? Who said anything about marriage? I have heard what my nephew is up to. I know it all! Miss Bingley found papers in his desk – he has rented a house in Brighton. I can guess what he intends to do with it – he thinks to install you in some establishment….”
Elizabeth did not even look at Mr. Darcy before instantly discrediting this. “How dare you make such an egregious accusation! Your nephew would never do anything of the kind, for he is ten times the gentleman you conceive that he ought to be!”
“Aww,” Miss Darcy crooned, resting a hand on her heart. The countess added her own emphatic agreement.
But if Miss Elizabeth looked at the gentleman in question, she might have been puzzled by the fact that he had gone white as a sheet. Lady Blanche was, and she turned to Richard with a look of question.
He moved closer and dropped his voice low. “It is for her family, that they might better supervise the younger sister when she visits the colonel’s wife. I think he meant it as a surprise.”
“If she does not accept him after that, we shall have to lock them in a room together,” she whispered back.