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“Indeed. She is not just a girl. She is my sister. I love her dearly. I cannot imagine life without her. One day, you shall feel the same way I do towards my sister, towards your own little sister. Trust me.”
“I trust you, sir. Moreover, I love you dearly.” Ben embraced Darcy. “I can hardly wait to call you papa.” Ben reflected for a moment on his chosen appellation. “Shall I call you father, or shall I call you papa, or perhaps even Pa?”
“I addressed my parents as father and mother. That said, it is entirely up to you. I shall find whatever suits you agreeable.”
“Then, I think father is pretty formal. I think I shall call you father when I am particularly vexed. What say you to that?”
“I say it is good to be forewarned,” Darcy jested. “What shall you call me when you are exceedingly happy?”
“Oh! You shall find out.”
“I can hardly wait.”
“Nor I, to be sure,” Ben said. “Look after my mama and take good care of her on your wedding journey. I shall look after Pemberley, as well as Miss Georgiana, in your absence.”
The history between Lord Matlock’s only nieces could never have been described as anything akin to cordiality. Far from it. The unfortunate fact was borne out by Georgiana’s reaction to the footman’s ushering in a dark cloud, with his entrance into her favourite room in all of Pemberley.
“Miss Anne de Bourgh,” he announced.
Georgiana could not have been more displeased, as the unmasked look of dismay on her countenance surely attested. In keeping with her station as hostess in her brother’s home, Georgiana arose from the pianoforte and walked over to greet her cousin.
“What are you doing here, Anne? Why have you come all this way, uninvited? Should you not be at Rosings Park on your deathbed feigning illness of some sort in a desperate attempt to lure my brother back to Kent?”
“I have come all this way to confront my intended—to put an end to this nonsense once and for all,” Anne bitterly retorted. “I suppose the better question might be what are you doing here, or is your presence required to lend an air of legitimacy to the presence of his mistress living under his roof?”
“Poor deluded Cousin Anne. If only you knew,” Georgiana smirked.
“From what my uncle conveyed in his missive to me, you have been a party to this sordid affair from the start,” Anne accused as she brushed her cousin aside and walked about the room. “Have you no shame? Accepting your brother’s mistress, first in your home, and now here! For crying out loud, that the shades of Pemberley are thus polluted.”
“You are your mother’s daughter, are you not? You sound exactly like her. How did you manage to come all this way without her?”
“You never mind that. The whereabouts of my mother is none of your concern. You need not pretend with me, young lady. You have never looked on me with favour since it was made clear to you that despite your objections, your brother and I were to be married.”
“I confess there is no love lost between us, but that has nothing to do with your misapprehensions that you and my brother are intended for each other. Had my brother expressed any desire in the slightest to go along with that foolish notion, I would have made every attempt to welcome you with open arms.”
Anne looked at the large mantle clock she had admired for so many years. “Where is Fitzwilliam? Surely, you do not suppose I came all this way to waste time pontificating with you.”
“My brother is out. I do not expect his return for hours. Are you staying at the inn in Lambton? Shall I inform him upon his return that he might find you there?”
“Do not be ridiculous, foolish child! I shall stay here, as I have always done when in Derbyshire. I believe Pemberley is as much my home as it is yours. I daresay it is certainly destined to be.”
“I would not hold my breath whilst waiting for that to come about, if I were you. On second thought, do hold your breath, dear cousin,” the younger woman suggested derisively.
“Pardon me, dear cousin. I should like to go to my room. I am certain Mrs. Reynolds will have arranged for me to be comfortably settled in the blue bedroom, where I normally stay.” Anne headed towards the door. She paused. “Do make yourself useful and ring for tea to be served in my room. I am rather parched, and I much prefer my own company than to suffer your impertinence a minute longer than is necessary.”
“Oh Anne! Why do you not go away and let us be? My brother does not intend to marry you; on the contrary, he is promised to another.”
“We shall see about that!”
Several hours later, Anne stood at the window of her apartment, the same room she had occupied whenever she had visited Pemberley for as long as she could recall. I shall not be consigned to this room much longer, she considered. I shall reside in the mistress’s suite soon enough. Such grandiose scheming was halted when she espied her cousin. She could recognise his fine gait from anywhere. The pleasure she enjoyed from the sight of him was soured by the sight of the two companions who joined him. They united hands and ambled along together, the smallest of the three in the middle. One big happy family, she considered mockingly. Anne then recalled Darcy’s attachment to the child whilst in Kent. At first, she had thought it all a ruse, a not so subtle attempt to garner the favours of the mother.
She was no fool. Surely, her intended was no stranger to the arts and allurements of beautiful women. If he deigned to have a mistress, who was she to object, as long as he did not flaunt it in her face? However, this was too much. Did he just lift the child in his arms, then lean forward, and place a kiss on the mother’s forehead? Anne had seen enough.
This ends today!
Anne stalked out of her room and stationed herself in the hallway where she would be sure to intercept Darcy on his way to his apartment.
Darcy was not surprised to see his cousin. Georgiana had mentioned she was there. He had thought to speak with her later—much later, after she had rested from her long journey from Kent. He had not expected to find her standing in the hallway with her arms crossed in front of her, awaiting his approach.
