Chapter 7
“Ah, there you are, Eliza,” Charlotte greeted her, just stepping out of the kitchen. “I wondered where you had gone for so long. Are you... - well, yes, you are. It is good to see you smile again.”
“Yes, the walk was very beneficial and I am quite myself again.”
“And have you come to any conclusion on Miss de Bourgh's mysterious visit?”
“In a sense. The conclusion I have come to is, that she must have it all wrong. I am almost certain that Colonel Fitzwilliam does not care for me anymore than I do for him.”
“Well, with that I quite agree and still, I do not think that Miss de Bourgh was wrong at all,” Charlotte mysteriously replied but did not elaborate. “But as it is, dinner is almost ready. Can you believe it, but Lady Catherine on her usual morning ride changed my order at the butcher's!”
“Without any trouble.”
“I only wonder... - well, never mind. I think you should get changed.”
“Yes, I am awfully dishevelled, I know.”
“Not that I mind in the least, after all, I know you, but Mr Collins prefers us to always be prepared for a surprise visit from his noble patroness...”
Her friend was obviously not in the best of moods. Not that Charlotte ever would show as much openly, other than herself. On one hand one just had to admire her composure on the other, at times, it could be frustrating to no end.
When Elisabeth saw herself in the mirror she had to admit that she indeed looked like a fright. While the wider paths had been perfectly dry, the one she had taken to get back home, had been too much in the shadows all day long to not have the occasional puddle getting in the way and it clearly showed. And then there had been that one cheeky branch that had to tear apart her bun and mess with her curls. She even had a couple of leaves stuck in hair. Curious, thinking that the new leaves only just sprouted while the old ones should have fallen off months ago. But as it was, she had to pry out several dry ones before she could even attempt to brush through her thick curls. Thank goodness Mr Darcy had not seen her like this, or he possibly would have changed his mind in bringing together Bingley and Jane.
A quarter of an hour later she was back down, and just in time for their family meal. Mr Collins already waiting impatiently to start eating.
“Ah, there you are at last, Cousin Elisabeth. We were just about to send a search party,” he greeted her with one of his habitual silly smiles and chuckling at his own joke.
Only Maria joined in, while Charlotte apparently struggled to keep from rolling her eyes and Elisabeth herself merely greeted him back in turn.
“Charlotte, dear, do you not think the joint of gammon is a bit small for all of us? I thought you meant to keep some for tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, that was my intention and had it not been for Lady Catherine, I would have done just that.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, oh! She happened to drop in at the butchers and promptly changed my order.”
For once her friend sounded rather exasperated and vexed.
“Well, she has pointed out repeatedly that our joints of meat are too large,” her husband stammered back.
“But as it happens, this is my household and not hers. Have I ever let anything go to waste?”
“Not that I am aware of... - But if her Ladyship says...”
“No, William, I will not have her meddle with my housekeeping! I shall have a word with the butcher to not comply to Lady Catherine in regard to my orders and that is the end of it.”
“But dear Charlotte, do consider.”
“I have, William. And this is the result. Now we have no gammon for breakfast because of her meddling!”
“I am certain she means well, dear.”
“Be as it may, I will not tolerate her involvement in our private affairs any longer.”
Oh dear! Well, Elizabeth had wondered ever since first arriving when Charlotte would finally put her foot down and oddly enough, Mr Collins, for once in his life, kept his mouth shut and instead began cutting the meat. And even more remarkably the remainder of the meal was fairly cheerful. Nothing but a thunderstorm to clear the air. Not that one could really call Charlotte's little outburst such, but in regards to her friend, it came pretty close.
They had just retreated to the sitting room, when there was a ring at the door and to her surprise Colonel Fitzwilliam stepped in and with his arrival all her confusing thoughts did likewise. Was Miss de Bourgh right after all?
“I am so sorry to intrude, but seeing that I took a little walk and happened to pass by, I had hoped to find a bit of lively conversation before I returned back to Rosings,” he explained after his formal bow.
“And you would not find such at your aunt's?” Elizabeth could not help asking.
“Oh, there is a lot of conversation to be had, I assure you, but more often than not it is rather one sided.”
“Please, Colonel, do take a seat,” Mr Collins offered, anticipating his wife, much to Charlotte's apparent surprise.
“Thank you, Sir. I will not disrupt your family circle for long, I assure you, seeing that you have just been about to read.”
“Oh, it is no bother. Any nephew of my noble patroness is always welcome in my most humble abode.”
“I am glad to hear it. But now that you have said so, be prepared that I make frequent use of this offer.”
“Would you like a cup of tea?” Charlotte finally found her voice again.
“That would be lovely, Mrs Collins.”
“And what has brought you out into the darkness if one may ask?” Elizabeth inquired, hoping for some sign be it to confirm of deny his cousin's allegations.
“Oh, nothing in particular. It is just that a man only bears to be trapped indoors for so long and I for my part had to attend my aunt all afternoon long. I have to admit that I had hoped for my cousin to disrupt our meeting, just as I did for him yesterday, but he seemed to have been busy.”
“As I understood it, he is taking care of your aunt's matters regarding her tenants and estate in general. I think Lady Catherine mentioned as much the other day.”
Elisabeth almost blushed at her little falsehood, and yet, it could hardly be prevented, could it?
“He does, while I, on the other hand, am left to take care of her books.”
“But does not Lady Catherine take care of them herself?” Mr Collins inquired, looking quite surprised. “I think she mentioned that one always should take care that one's accounts are in perfect order.”
“Well, she is quite right, I would say, but nonetheless, no, it is on me to add everything up.”
“Oh?”
Poor Mr Collins. This very evening one unwelcome revelation seemed to follow another.
“But I guess my aunt is just too busy,” the Colonel added with a small smirk, his meaning obvious.
Yes, busy she was, just not with her own concerns, but with those of others.
But as it was, while he was once again pleasantly conversing, it was with everybody. Not one secret glance was cast her way, nor did he single her out by any other means. And while Elizabeth had been flattered by the prospect of potentially having caught such an eligible man's eye, she was more relieved that it proved to be untrue. So why did she still wonder about the odd visit from Miss de Bourgh and Charlotte's mysterious musings?
Anyway, her mind should be on other matters, but to her great surprise, after the Colonel had left again, Mr Collins started to read as had been his design all along, but it was not that which surprised her, but his choice of book. Had he not once exclaimed with some indignation, that he never read novels? Well, it seemed as if he wanted to appease his wife and so 'Tales of the castle' it was and he read it quite well, too. Who would have thought?
Chapter 8
It was still the middle of the night that Darcy woke up, aroused from the vivid dream he had had of Miss Elisabeth. And quite literally so. He had never been prone to lose his composure, not even in his sleep, but it seeme
d as if her closeness during the afternoon had changed that. Whether that was a good or bad thing, he was not quite certain of, but at any rate, it was embarrassing nonetheless, even in the dark of night and with being all on his own. What if lost his hold on himself like this when she was around? It would be mortifying to say the least and completely inappropriate above all else.
Dousing his head in the cold water left in the jug of his washbowl at least his head was cool again. It was lucky that he had instructed the maids to leave it here in case he wanted to wash his face. And since the sun would not rise for another couple of hours, Darcy proceeded to light his candle and continue reading his book. The only one that he had found in the library of his aunt that appeared to be interesting and that he had not read as yet since it had been published several years ago already. There was little doubt that it had been his uncle who had purchased it. Other than his wife he had liked to read and had often hid away in his library. Thinking of it, he had been remarkably similar to Mr Bennet. Odd that he had never made that connection before. Then again, it had been several years since Sir Lewis de Bourgh had passed away, shortly after Darcy's own mother had died, and he could hardly remember the man. Just that he had liked him very much as a boy. Thinking about it, back then Anne had been a cheerful girl, even a bit wild on occasion. There was the faint memory of him and her climbing around in the apple trees down in the orchard. Shame that she had been all but smothered by her mother's exaggerated concern since then. What remained was but a shell. But again, if one looked very closely, something of the girl she once had been was still there as was some of her father's wry sense of humour. It was just trapped deep within. Perhaps someday he could do something for her. Someday, when he was married. Though not to her, that much they both had established a ling time ago. Just that as yet neither of them had had the courage to tell her Ladyship. No, with any luck, as little as he dared hope, he might be married to Miss Elizabeth and he would be the happiest of men.
Well, it was almost as if the Colonel had jinxed him when they had spoken together the day before yesterday. Where before he had been perfectly able to convince himself that he felt nothing but regard and admiration for her, now Darcy felt like a fool in love and he very likely was.
Anyway, unable to concentrate on his book, he began pacing instead, hoping that it would tire him out enough to fall asleep once again. But all it actually did was make him more awake. Well then, perhaps thinking about how to best approach their little scheme of bringing his friend and Elizabeth's sister back together again. Had he been George Wickham, he surely would have come up with something already, but any falsehood was an abhorrence to him and consequently everything Darcy's mind came up with, was as silly and bound to fail as the next.
Yes, he could write to Bingley and just tell him the truth, but then he would give away the man's sisters and that was something he rather avoided, though why he was not even entirely sure of. It just did not feel right to put so much blame on two ladies, while he himself was perhaps just as guilty at separating them in the first place. Then again, while his concern had stemmed from his honest concern about his friend's feelings, that could not be said of Mrs Hurst and Miss Bingley. Their reason had been to have their brother marry a lady of society to further their own influence instead of marrying a country-nobody such as Jane Bennet. And it had also been them who had kept silent about Miss Bennet's stay in London, while he himself had only known shortly before he had come here. He had been surprised to see her and no, he had said nothing to Bingley either, but simply because he had not seen his friend before he had left town.
One would really think that the matter was simple enough, but alas, it was not. It was not even that, quite frankly, Miss Bingley or Mrs Hurst deserved his protection, but again, it felt uncomfortable to rat them out, so to say.
And then another thought came to mind. What if Bingley was already engaged when the next ball at the Guild Hall took place. After all, Bingley never wanted for social engagements.
Sneaking down into the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea he was surprised to find his cousin there with exactly the same purpose in mind.
“Anne?”
“Dear me, you scared me Fitzwilliam! Yes it is I. Cup of tea?”
“Yes, please. What are you doing here?”
“What does it look like? I am making myself a cup of tea,” she replied matter of factly.
“I can see that, but why?”
“I never sleep much. Not with my back aching like it would break in two. It is never so bad if I had any exercise, but when I have been sitting all day, it is close to unbearable. And let us face it, that is pretty much always.”
She certainly had a point. Even when she got to go out, it was in her Phaeton in which again she was merely sitting.
“I thought I saw you walking outside in the garden.”
“I was, but unfortunately Mrs Jenkinson saw me and brought me back in after less than a quarter of an hour, telling me that with all my pains I should rest instead of tiring me out. Knowing her and my mother, I dare say it will be a while until I can mange to sneak outside again. - Wait, I just have to quench the fire again before we leave. While I sometimes really long to escape this place, I do not want for it to burn down either.”
“How do you even know how to make a fire?” Darcy could not help wondering, knowing that his aunt made a point of personally checking if the fire in the kitchen had been put out every night before she went to bed.
“I have many hidden talents, Cousin,” she grinned back before turning serious again. “Unfortunately getting rid of my companion for any length of time is not one of them. - Oh, do not get me wrong, I value Mrs Jenkinson greatly, but her watching over me can be tedious at times.”
That Darcy immediately believed. It was a shame really seeing Anne so cheerful now when normally she would be so timid and positively dull. Yes, he had to do something for her.
“And what are you doing up at this time of night, Fitzwilliam?”
“I could not sleep either. You would not know how to get a man to attend a ball that otherwise he would not have?”
“Are you speaking of yourself there? If I remember correctly you are not very fond of dancing.”
“No, of a friend of mine,” he answered ignoring her tease.
“Invite him along, I would say,” Anne de Bourgh answered matter of factly. “You would have to go, too, of course but it is really the only thing that comes to mind and that would ensure he really goes where you want him to.”
“I had feared as much.”
“So, when is this ball going to take place?”
“I as yet have to find out.”
“And dare one ask why you are so eager for your friend to attend a certain ball he normally would not go to?”
“It is because I made an error of judgement and separated a friend of mine from a young lady who, as I have just recently found out, was very much in love with him, too,” Darcy sighed, running his hands through his already dishevelled hair.
“And now you try to remedy your mistake?”
“Obviously. It was poorly done and it is not only that, the lady was deceived also by people who called themselves her friends.”
“Can you be certain the lady will be there?”
“Well, that is yet another problem to be solved but hopefully her sister comes up with an idea as to how to get the young lady thither.”
“Her sister?” Anne all but stammered in surprise before bristling up: “Do you mean to tell me that you are speaking of Miss Elisabeth Bennet's sister?”
“I am, I fear.”
“You, cousin, are an idiot!”
There was an undeniable truth in her blunt unlady-like statement he could not counter. He was an idiot.
Chapter 9
The morning stretched on sheer endlessly as Elizabeth fell into step with Charlotte Collins on her way to tend to the poor and sick of her husband's parish. While Elizabeth, after a near sleepless night in which
she had pondered over how to persuade her sister to attend a ball when her heart was all but broken, her friend was in a surprisingly good mood. Well, even this morning, Mr Collins had been quite amiable. As amiable as a man of his rather stupid disposition could be, that was. To her he had still appeared almost unbearable doltish but at least he had let her be other than he normally would have, taking the hints from his wife for once.
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