Chapter Ten
“Whatever can she want here?” Elizabeth asked, bemused, following Darcy out into the hall.
He turned and took her hands in his. She blushed, still unaccustomed to such intimacy even though he had approached her father to request a formal courtship three days ago, and had been much in her company since.
“My suspicion is that Mr Collins ran straight home to Kent with his tail between his legs and poured out his tale of woe to Lady Catherine, including a selection of snippets about my interest in you that would have been like presenting a red cloak to a bull. I have already told you that I am bound by neither honour nor inclination to my cousin Anne; Lady Catherine has deluded herself for years that I will come about and marry her. To avoid the breach in the family which would ensue if I refused outright, I have never yet done so.”
Elizabeth pursed her lips. “And now those chickens are coming home to roost.”
“With a vengeance, on Longbourn’s doorstep.
I would rather the coming confrontation happen anywhere but here, but there is no way to avoid it now.
All I ask, dearest Elizabeth, is that you leave me to face it alone.
You need not be inflicted with the venomous spite she will spew upon you and your family. ”
“I will not.” She lifted her chin proudly. “My courage rises with every attempt to intimidate me. Words cannot hurt me, for I am clad in the armour of knowing you love me.”
He said no more, for Hill was opening the door to admit Lady Catherine, but the look he bestowed on Elizabeth made her feel quite warm through. Side by side, they waited for the aggressor.
Elizabeth was rather surprised to see that Lady Catherine de Bourgh was quite a small lady, no taller than she herself.
She held a cane in her hand, but it seemed to be an affection, for the tip never touched the ground.
Instead, she used it to point with, and to punctuate her statements, which were delivered with all the force she could muster.
Darcy deftly managed to escort Lady Catherine into the drawing-room, at which she looked around and sniffed dismissively, before settling her beady black eyes on Elizabeth, pointing her cane and saying;
“This, then, is the chit who thinks herself above being a parson’s wife?
Who has refused a life of comfort and ease under my patronage, to reach far above herself and attempt to enter a sphere to which she will never be admitted?
Darcy, I thought better of you than to be taken in by some adventuress!
Pretty enough, I’ll grant you, but you can surely enjoy her favours without having to sign the register for them! ”
“That is quite enough, Madam!” Darcy said sharply. “You will not insult Miss Elizabeth again, do I make myself clear?”
“Only if you will give me your promise never to become engaged to her!”
“I can offer no such promise. Should Miss Elizabeth ever deign to accept my hand, I would count myself the most fortunate of men.”
Lady Catherine, seeing that he was not to be moved, turned on Elizabeth.
“And you! You will ruin him, Miss, do you understand me? None of our family will acknowledge you. Darcy’s former friends will cross the street to avoid you both.
Pemberley will be desolate of good society…
” here she broke off, as Darcy had plucked from her hand the cane which was jabbing, in his opinion, dangerously close to Elizabeth’s chest.
“What a crock of nonsense,” he said sharply. “My two best friends sit in another room of this house at this very moment, courting two of Miss Elizabeth’s sisters! As for my family, the only one who is unlikely to accept gladly my marrying someone who will make me happy, is you, yourself!”
“What use is happiness?” Lady Catherine sneered. “You and Anne will have Rosings and Pemberley, a uniting of two great estates, noble bloodlines…”
“And without happiness, those things would be as ashes,” Elizabeth spoke for the first time. “Are you so unhappy, Lady Catherine, that you cannot bear to see anyone else find joy?”
“I did not give you leave to speak!” Lady Catherine snapped.
“I did not give you leave to insult me in my own home!”
“How dare you, Miss! You insolent slattern!”
“ENOUGH!” Darcy bellowed, and seizing Lady Catherine by the arm, he almost dragged her from the house.
“Begone,” he ordered her sharply, “and do not trouble me again until you are ready to apologise. Be warned that if you dare to slander Miss Elizabeth again, I will let the truth you have hidden for so long be known!” He held Lady Catherine’s eyes for a long moment, until she wilted and looked away.
She climbed into her carriage with not another word, but many furious glares.
Darcy led Elizabeth back inside before the carriage was even half-way down the drive.
She was itching to ask him what truth Lady Catherine had hidden, he could see it in her face, and so before they re-entered the parlour, he said quietly, “My cousin Anne is not Sir Lewis de Bourgh’s daughter.
For many years that marriage was childless.
My father discovered that Anne was actually conceived at Pemberley, in an illicit liaison with another house guest. Lady Catherine passed the child off as her husband’s, and he never denied it, but it could not possibly have been true.
Father left me a letter with documented proof, in case I should ever have need of thwarting Lady Catherine.
There are quite a number of de Bourgh cousins who would have her out of Rosings in a moment, if they could ever prove Anne was not the true heir. ”
“Would you really have exposed her?”
“No! Well, Lady Catherine perhaps, but not Anne. Anne has consumption; she is unlikely to live longer than a few years more, and then her cousins will quibble over Rosings like a dog with a bone anyway. Even if Anne married, she would have to have a child to inherit from her; her husband would not gain the estate if she died childless. Lady Catherine wanted me to marry Anne so that she could keep Rosings for Anne’s lifetime, and then remove to Pemberley – which she has always coveted – following Anne’s death. ”
“She must be deeply unhappy,” Elizabeth said sadly, and Darcy smiled down at her, and glanced around the hall to check that they were alone.
“Even after she insulted you so grievously, you are still kind to her. You are the true Lady,” and he bent his head and brushed his lips lightly over hers.
It was a rather delightful experience, being kissed by Mr Darcy, Elizabeth found, and she swayed towards him unconsciously, lifting her hands to his chest to steady herself.
A moment later she was in his arms and being kissed a good deal more thoroughly.
Neither of them heard the book-room door open, nor even Mr Bennet’s cough.
“Excuse me,” Mr Bennet said rather loudly after two coughs and a loud clearing of his throat. Darcy and Elizabeth jumped apart, both red-faced. “I know courtship these days might be considered to offer a gentleman a little more leeway in his actions, but not with one of my daughters, Mr Darcy.”
“Sir,” was all Darcy could manage. Elizabeth, unable to look at her father, hastily opened the parlour door and stepped inside. Only to stop, her hands to her mouth, as she took in the scene before her.
Both couples remaining in the parlour had their backs to each other.
Mr Hutton and Mary were still at the table, but he had one of his hands placed firmly over hers on their book, and his other hand was at her cheek, twining a dangling curl around his fingers.
His eyes were fixed firmly on Mary’s blushing face, a smile curving his mouth as she looked shyly back at him.
Jane and Mr Bingley, by the fireside, were leaning into each other, kissing quite as passionately as Elizabeth and Mr Darcy had been but a few moments before.
“So,” said Mr Bennet, as everyone sprang apart and stared at him, “who is going to be first?”
And so, one bright winter morning just after Christmas, there was a triple wedding at Longbourn Church.
Mrs Bennet had bemoaned the limited amount of time to prepare three trousseaus, but all of her future sons had assured her that they planned to take their brides to be outfitted at the finest modistes London could offer.
As Mrs Gardiner had promised that they should have only the very best fabrics from Gardiner Imports also, Mrs Bennet was quite satisfied with writing long lists of the things they would need and passing them on to her sister.
She herself intended to be quite busy at Longbourn supervising Kitty and Lydia’s further education.
Mr Darcy had suggested that the two younger Bennet girls might like to share a season in Town with his sister Georgiana, when she was presented the following year.
Georgiana had taken at once to the friendly Kitty and lively Lydia, having few friends her own age, and they were in awe of her accomplishments, her natural grace and her very expensive wardrobe.
Meeting Georgiana had made Mrs Bennet realise just how very far Kitty and Lydia had still to go before they might be truly considered gentlewomen, and she had thrown herself into the endeavour with great purpose.
As Elizabeth had predicted, all that was required was for Mrs Bennet to indicate her disapproval, and Lydia fell into line, with Kitty following along as always.
Mrs Gardiner watched, teary-eyed, as her three nieces walked the aisle, one at a time, their father returning to the back of the church each time to collect a daughter and lead her to her groom. The three young men looked nervous but happy. Mr Bingley beamed throughout the service, as did Jane.
Their smiles betokened a long and contented life together, Mrs Gardiner was sure, especially if Mr Bingley kept his resolve where that sister of his was concerned and refused to allow her to live with them.
Caroline Bingley sat in the pew across the church from Mrs Gardiner, her eyes closed, seemingly unable to bear the sight of the happy couples standing before the altar.
Madeline Gardiner smiled to herself. She had already given Jane a few tips on how to ensure that Mr Bingley would always put his wife’s wishes first. Her eldest niece was a quiet girl, but not a silly one, and she had listened carefully.
Mr Darcy and Elizabeth smiled less, but their eyes were full of secret knowledge as they spoke their vows, each in clear, steady voices.
They were entering into this marriage with their eyes wide open, in full knowledge that neither of them was perfect.
They were strong characters and there would be moments of strife along the way, no doubt, but their love for each other would see them through the bad times as well as the good.
Mr Hutton stammered even more than usual saying his vows, but Mary stood with no sign of impatience and a gentle smile upon her face.
He clutched her hands and managed in the end, and no one doubted his sincerity.
Mary would be good for him, Madeline thought, and he for her; and as far as she knew the Earl of Bonham was in excellent health, so the girl should have years in which to learn the duties of a Countess.
“You are smiling far too smugly, my matchmaking wife,” a low voice murmured in her ear, and she turned to smile at her husband, her darling Edward.
Jane Bennet took after her uncle, and he was as tall, blond, blue-eyed and handsome now as he had been when they first met eleven years ago, Madeline thought, in the dark days after Louise’s tragedy and her father’s untimely death.
“I am just glad to see them so well-settled,” she said.
“And you think that your precipitous trip to Longbourn a month ago might have helped to bring this about?” Edward Gardiner crooked an eyebrow, much as Elizabeth might have done.
Madeline smiled as her husband put his arm out for her to take, following the newly-weds out of the church.
“Perhaps.”