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“No. Your sister is delightful. I like her very much.” Elizabeth really did enjoy spending time with Miss Darcy. The young lady’s sweet temperament in combination with her fair skin, golden hair, and angelic countenance reminded Elizabeth so much of Jane.
A look of relief spread over the gentleman’s countenance. “You cannot know how pleased I am that the two of you are getting along.”
“Sir, at the risk of sounding impertinent, may I ask why it is so important to you that Miss Darcy and I get along?”
“Do you really have to ask, Miss Elizabeth? I would like to think you and I have become close friends. Now you must tell me at once. Which of my family members has given you cause for uneasiness at Rosings? I was given to believe that you considered my aunt reasonably tolerable, albeit a bit overbearing at times. You have always risen to whatever challenge she has endeavored to lay before you. It is but one of the things I admire about you.”
Elizabeth smiled a little. “You are correct, sir. I have been able to tolerate your aunt fairly well.”
“Then who is it? Is it my cousin Anne?”
“Well, you will concede that she barely acknowledges that I even exist. She has scarcely spoken five words to me during the entire duration of my visit. I fear she does not like me and, well, Rosings is her home as well as Lady Catherine’s.”
“It is true that Anne appears very reticent at times. But I assure you she comports herself in a similar manner with most everyone, which includes members of our own family. I fear Anne rarely shows her true feelings to anyone. How often have you observed the two of us talking when we are together—that is to say Anne and me?”
“You make a fine point, and one I dare not argue except to say she comes across as being very cordial towards Georgiana—almost solicitous. Yesterday, for instance, she came into the library while Georgiana and I were practicing a duet, and she simply would not be satisfied until she had successfully managed to lure your sister away. Not that I am complaining, for I am certain she was eager to spend time with a cousin she has not seen in a long while, but Anne did not breathe a word to me. Can you wonder why I might perceive my near constant presence in her home as an inconvenience?”
“I am sorry my cousin’s behavior gave you cause to feel unwelcome at Rosings. I shall speak with her immediately upon my return.”
“No—I pray you will not. I see no need to introduce undue strife where it is not needed. Besides, I do not plan to be in Kent much longer. It is very likely that Anne and I may never cross paths again once I am away. There is no need to bring attention to a problem that will soon be cleared up by time and distance.”
“If you wish for me to let this matter rest for now then I will. But I cannot agree wholeheartedly that you and my cousin may likely never cross paths again. I truly believe the chances are greater that you will, indeed, meet after you have left the Collinses.”
“Yes, I suppose you are correct. I do not imagine my cousin will give up the living of his own accord, and with that being the case, I shall have many other opportunities to visit my friend Charlotte.” God-willing the Collinses will remain in Hunsford for many, many years to come, Elizabeth thought but did not say aloud for the alternative was in every way unthinkable owing to that ridiculous entail on her family’s estate.
Darcy had reasons of his own for thinking as he did. “Indeed,” he responded tentatively. If things progressed as he hoped, the next time Elizabeth might well be a guest at Rosings, sharing his bed. Not wanting to get ahead of himself, he said, “In the interim, I had planned to spend much of this fine day watching you practice. I shall be very disappointed not to enjoy my share of your company today. May I accompany you on your walk?”
“I should be delighted to have your company.”
Their minds made up, the two set out accordingly. After walking several miles in a leisurely manner, talking easily about Mr. Darcy’s home in Derbyshire, and giving little thought to the passage of time, they found at last, on examining their watches, that it was time for Elizabeth to be at the parsonage. As was his wont to do, Darcy walked with her and took his leave at the gate.
Lady Catherine did not oppose Elizabeth directly. Neither had she confronted Darcy about the young woman. Her nephew was much too sensible to contemplate anything beyond a mere dalliance with someone so beneath him in consequence. She comforted herself with the notion that men will, after all, be men. Soon, her nephew would realize that anything beyond a meaningless flirtation with that impertinent young woman was an impossibility, else he would face the scorn of his friends, his family, and his peers.
My nephew would not dare put his reputation in jeopardy.
No longer willing to risk anything where Miss Elizabeth Bennet’s motives were concerned, her ladyship had taken matters into her own hands to see to it that she and her family would meet with the derision of every decent family in England. Simply sending her away from Kent would have been a less costly solution, but she could not make certain that the young woman would not throw herself into Darcy’s path once she was once again in town and beyond Lady Catherine’s reach.
It was not in her ladyship’s nature not to prepare for every possible impediment to the successful execution of all her wishes, and she resolved that her solution was the best one for everyone who was in any way connected with her. By now, her scheme was well underway were she to rely upon the confirmation from her sources. There was nothing or no one capable of stopping events from progressing to a conclusion Lady Catherine deemed satisfactory.
Forcing her nephew to do what she expected of him by marrying Anne was another matter entirely. Lady Catherine and Darcy sat across from each other in the drawing room—their conversation long overdue.
“You can be at no loss, Nephew, to understand the reason I have summoned you today for a private audience. Your own heart, your own sense of right and wrong, must tell you why.”
“Lady Catherine, if you mean to berate me for not making an offer of marriage to Anne then you are wasting your time and mine.”
“Darcy, you know as well as anyone that it was the favorite wish of your mother’s as well as mine that you and Anne would one day be married. We planned the union while the two of you were in your cradles. Everyone in our family desires this union—the combining of two of the grandest estates in all of England. Everyone in our family expects it.”
“Not everyone,” Darcy said under his breath.
Her ladyship leaned in closer. “What is it that you say, Nephew?”
“I said not everyone desires or expects such a union.”
“Who would dare oppose me in this?”
“If you would take the time to consult your daughter on the matter then surely you would know that Anne does not want this.”
“Silence! You speak nonsense! My Anne is a good daughter. She is loyal to her family. She will do whatever I tell her to do.” With that, Lady Catherine rose from her seat in a manner befitting a queen arising from her throne and crossed the room as quickly as a woman of her age could manage. After pulling the bell to summon a servant, she slowly spun about on her heels and faced her nephew with a broad smile of self-satisfaction.
