The Portrait of Elizabeth

by Jane Angwin

  "Darcy! There you are! You have come to honor your dear mother's wishes! Come in, come in, my boy!." Darcy did not make a move toward her, and she huffed and turned back to her brother and exclaimed, "Certainly you must agree with me, Alexander, that this marriage must take place. I have waited long enough, and Darcy must honor his mother's wishes."

  "You mean your wishes, Catherine," Lord Matlock bellowed. "You know as well as I do that our sister Anne never would have agreed to such a scheme. This is some mad plan you have conjured up to improve your tainted reputation and status and to increase your wealth, but most certainly not your daughter's. She has already reached her majority, and Rosings already belongs to her! Does she even know that, Catherine?" Catherine audibly gasped, and Alexander looked at Anne, whose eyes were as big as saucers. "Do you know that, Anne?" he asked.

  In a tiny voice, she stuttered, "N-n-n-no, Uncle. I was not aware of that. How can that be?" She looked totally shocked as if she had been hit with a lightning bolt.

  "I am sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, my dear, but tour mother has been lying to you. You are already the Mistress of Rosings, and your mother has no say in the matters of the estate. Her selfish desire is to have you marry Darcy so that you will go to live with him at Pemberley, and she can have Rosings for her own. Your father had enough courage to make that very clear in his will when he realized what she would do when he passed away. God rest his soul."

  Again, everyone looked at Anne who was now a pure shade of white as she realized that something was terribly wrong with the story her mother had told her all these years about her father. "Do you mean that my father is dead, Uncle Alexander?" She stood up for the first time, and continued. "I was led to believe that he was living somewhere in England with another family, and he had left Rosings to Mother. She said he wanted nothing to do with us." When the room remained totally silent except for a second loud gasp from Catherine, Anne realized that her mother had in fact lied to her about everything.

  Edith Matlock rose from her chair and walked to Anne, putting her arms around her in a motherly way, something that Anne was not used to. Anne stiffened at first, but when the tears came, she crumbled into her aunt's arms. Edith helped her back to her settee and rocked her like a baby while she sobbed. Edith glared at her sister-in-law. "Catherine, you are as evil a woman as I have ever known. I have always known you to be a miserable, malicious person, but to have lied to your own child about the death of her father who loved her more than life itself is the most wicked and vile thing I have ever heard of. You selfish, disgusting woman!" Anne now became utterly inconsolable, and Edith escorted her from the room to attempt to calm her in some way.

  "Brother, do something! This is unacceptable! This is my daughter, and your wife has filled her head with horrible ideas!" Catherine whirled around and screamed at Darcy, "And you! If you had married her as you should have, none of this would have happened. But, No! You think you have to go off and search for some fantasy woman to have the same kind of insipid marriage your mother did! She cared nothing for her status in the world as a Fitzwilliam! All she cared about was just some boring and colorless man that killed her by having another child when she shouldn't have!"

  "Enough!" Alexander yelled. "That is entirely enough, Catherine! You will leave our home this minute, and you will either make plans to move from Rosings to the Dower House immediately, or we will declare you incompetent and have you admitted to Bedlam. I swear it, Catherine! Now, go!" Darcy and Richard stood motionless, watching the unbelievable spectacle unfold. "Boys!" Lord Matlock roared. "Take your aunt's arms and escort her down to her carriage. She is leaving this house for good, and Anne will be staying with us for the time being!" They did as he directed them to do, trying to keep hold of her flailing arms and trying not to listen to the harangue spewing from her mouth, but it was not an easy task. The servants had, of course, heard everything and had alerted the driver that she was being forcefully brought down to the carriage for an immediate removal to Kent. He opened the carriage door, and he stood motionless as the cousins walked her down the stairs and practically pushed the wild eyed, screeching woman inside. Not a word was spoken by anyone, other than a nod from Darcy to the driver to return her to Rosings. They would worry about moving her to the Dower House later. Her loud cursing could be heard clearly as the carriage rolled down the street

  Upon returning to the sitting room, they found that Alexander had poured himself a substantial tumbler of brandy. He motioned for the young men to do the same, and they silently sipped their drinks until he began speaking to them. "I'm sorry you had to witness this Boys, but it has been a long time coming, and I am glad it is finally done. Your aunt has done a terrible thing to our family, and I have only just learned of it. I had some questions about Anne's possible inheritance of Rosings and sought out John Stater, a lawyer who I recall was a friend of her father's before he left them. Percy had always professed a love for his young daughter, and we were all quite shocked to learn that he had left her for another woman with a family, but we did not question it because of how horrid Catherine was to him. Imagine my surprise when Stater informed me that Percy had actually died when Anne was just a young child and hadn't left them for another woman after all. Catherine had lied to all of us, and the lawyer had no idea that we were not aware of his death. Catherine never told anyone about the terms of Percy's will, and she has known that she would lose control of Rosings ever since."

  He sighed loudly and took a seat. "I also spoke to Mrs. Barrett, Anne's companion this morning, and sadly she has known of the deception all these years. Catherine threatened her at the time to keep the secret of De Bourg's death from Anne, saying it would destroy her already weak constitution, and that she would ruin the woman's reputation if she ever told anyone the truth. She said that she carried the secret with her but as the years went by, it became more and more difficult for her to keep the truth from Anne, and she admitted that she was prepared to come to me with the truth quite soon, no matter what the consequences for herself. It is quite obvious that she is quite relieved that this news has finally come out into the open. She loves Anne very much, and it will be best if Anne doesn't know that Mrs. Barrett knew the truth. She only did what she thought was best, and as she emotionally shared with me that she knew she had to stay and live the horrible lie to provide Anne with her own motherly love - the love that she knew Catherine could not and never would show to her own daughter."

  Darcy walked over to the large floor to ceiling windows as was his habit, and stared off into the distance, thinking about how Anne had thought the worst about her father all these years and wondering what kind of monster his aunt really was. "May I see Anne before I leave, Uncle? I want to tell her that she has all of us now to help her through this terrible shock. She has lost both her mother and father today, and I know how hard that is."

  "Certainly, Fitzwilliam. But don't stay too long. She has had a terrible shock, and she will need rest and quiet for some time until she is ready to move on to the next chapter of her life. She is a very wealthy woman now, and she can even choose to live here in London if she wishes to. I know that Edith would love that, having never had a daughter of her own and has only had incorrigible sons and a stubborn nephew to look after." He looked at Richard and huffed. "You have all been quite a handful for her. Not at all the same as having a daughter to spoil."

  Richard let out a low whistle and looked over at Darcy. "Thank you, Father. Most kind of you to say so!"

  Alexander ignored him, and continued on. "Richard will hopefully stay on for a while, and Mrs. Barrett is here to help as well. We will make sure that she too stays with Anne. Perhaps being out from under the oppressive control of Catherine will help her grow stronger and maybe even find some joy." He shook his head, and poured another glass of brandy. "The poor child."

  Darcy left the room and climbed the stairs to find where his aunt Edith had taken Anne. It was now quiet above the stairs, and he hoped that she had ceas
ed crying for the time being. He carried a tumbler of a small amount of brandy for her to sip if she wished and gently knocked on the first door where he heard ladies voices.

  "Yes, please come in" he heard his aunt Edith say. He poked his head into the room and asked if Anne would like to have a small sip of brandy. "Thank you, dear. That is lovely of you," Edith said. She took the glass from him and handed it to Anne, who accepted it with shaking hands. She took a rather large drink of it, and she coughed and sputtered as the heat of it went down her throat, but after a moment, with her eyes watering, she took yet another drink. Darcy chuckled to himself and thought that this was probably the first time she had been allowed to have an adult drink.

  "Thank you, Fitzwilliam," Anne said after recovering her voice. "I am so grateful that you are here. I want to tell you something that I haven't been able to say to you before now." She took a deep breath, calming herself. "I realize that my mother has been telling you over and over again for many years that you have an obligation to marry me, and I would assume you thought I heartily concurred with her. The truth is, Cousin, I have no desire to marry you, or anyone else for that matter. I realize that I am not strong, either physically or emotionally, and also that with marriage comes many responsibilities that I could never fulfill. I could never take on the overwhelming job of running your beautiful estate in Derbyshire," she paused and looked down and blushed a deep shade of red, "and we all know that I could most likely not provide an heir for Pemberley."

  Looking back up again at Darcy, she bravely continued. "I love you, Fitzwilliam, but not in the way that you would want your wife to love you. I love you as a beloved cousin, but that is not what I would wish for you. I have heard Mother speak over and over again about the ridiculous concept of a marriage based on love, and yet deep in my heart, I always hoped that she was wrong. I remember very little about your mother and father, but I do recall with vivid clarity how kind and lovely they were to me and how they treated each other with such respect and affection. I had never seen a man and woman hold hands before, and I remember seeing them steal a kiss in the music room when they didn't know I was observing them. That, Dear Cousin, is what I wish for you, and not a loveless arranged marriage to combine estates. After talking to Aunt Edith and Mrs. Barrett, apparently that is what my parents' marriage was based on and most likely what caused my father's misery and undoubtedly his death."

  "Anne," Darcy finally spoke, "my heart goes out to you for the terrible revelations you have learned of today. None of us knew about this, and it is beyond my imagination how you will be able to process your mother's deceit and the lies that you were told. I feel such guilt right now realizing that you and I never even spoke of this before. If only we had done so. Your mother would probably not have ceased pushing us toward a marriage, but at least we would have had a united front to push back. My hope for you now is that you can walk out into the daylight and live an authentic life and be truly happy being Anne De Bourg, Mistress of Rosings, or perhaps for now, Anne De Bourg of London, beloved niece of the Earl and Lady of Matlock. The world is yours." He walked to her and bent down and kissed her cheek. She was still frail and her skin was cool to the touch, but her coloring had already improved since earlier in the day. "I bid you a good afternoon and wish you well. You are always welcome at Pemberley to stay with Georgiana and me."

  Darcy turned and left the room with a renewed feeling of hope for her. This was certainly not how he thought his day would go. He returned to his Uncle and Richard, who were well on their way to finishing a bottle of expensive brandy. "I must ask to be excused gentlemen. I had a brutal ride to London this morning, and the dirt from the road is all over me. I also feel a deep sense of relief, and I would like nothing more than to take a hot bath and a long uninterrupted nap." They all said their goodbyes, promising to have a dinner together before Darcy returned to Netherfield.

  Chapter Thirty One

  A return to Netherfield

  Two days later, Darcy returned to Netherfield, filled with expectation about finding the right time and the right words to tell Elizabeth of his feelings for her. He arrived mid-day, but he felt it was too late to bathe and change clothes and ride to Longbourn in time to somehow speak to her, so he found Gerard and took his time getting dressed for dinner with Charles. He dreaded seeing Caroline, but he felt that he had finally convinced her that there was no hope for their alliance, and he hoped that she would now leave him alone. He went to look for Bingley, but instead found Miss Bingley alone in the drawing room. He instinctively backed away into the hallway, as it was not proper to be alone in room with a woman under any circumstances unless engaged or married, and especially if the woman was Miss Bingley. He still had that visceral feeling of dread when he was near to her, but he bowed and inquired about the whereabouts of her brother.

  "Oh, welcome back, Mr. Darcy!" she said. Attempting to return to his good graces, she lowered her eyes and bat her eyelashes at him, and responded in a syrupy voice, "I am so delighted that you have returned!" Not receiving an answer about Bingley's whereabouts, he asked again. "Why, where he always is these days, Mr. Darcy. He has gone to Longbourn again. Surely you must agree with me that this ridiculous charade between Charles and Miss Bennett must be stopped. I have never seen him so besotted over a woman. I have told him time after time that he should leave this dreadful place and return to London where he will meet someone of a higher sphere. A relationship with a country nobody will bring nothing to our family name other than derision and mockery." Her voice had gradually started to rise, and she stood up and started pacing, forgetting her attempt to remain coquettish. "That horrid mother of hers planned this all along! She demanded that Jane pretend to care about Charles and then convince him to marry her so that she could get her claws on our wealth. They are nothing but mercenary witches! All of them!" She was screeching now, and Darcy was sure that the servants could hear her tirade throughout the house. She wasn't done, however. "And that reprehensible Elizabeth Bennett is the worst of them all!" she bellowed.

  Shocked at her tirade, but trying not to look too appalled at her last comment, Darcy defended the Bennetts, declaring them not at all mercenary in his estimation. He then calmly asked her why she had singled out Elizabeth from the other sisters. "What has she done to incense you so? I can see nothing objectionable about her, Caroline." He hoped that he hadn't said too much to alert her to his feelings.

  Continuing to pace around the room, she said, "Well, I am sure she acts truly proper and quite lovely when she is around you, Mr. Darcy. A minx like that would never show the true nature of her being to a wealthy and single gentlemen such as yourself. Underneath that pretty face, she is nothing more than an insolent, scheming Jezebel!" She whirled around and stood looking at him. "It is just fortunate for you that I told her the truth about you going to London to announce your marriage to Anne before she had time to compromise and ensnare you! The minute she heard that you were no longer available to her, she decided to leave Hertfordshire to try her luck in town." With that, she huffed and threw herself down on the sofa again, talking to herself. " Good luck, Miss Elizabeth Bennett! If I haven't yet found a husband in London, it is certain that you never will!" In her emotional outburst, she did not realize that she had just admitted to her failure in finding a suitable husband.

  Darcy backed out of the open doorway and stood motionless. Had he heard her right? Was Elizabeth planning to leave Hertfordshire? Or worse, was she already gone? And why? He had felt something magical growing between them, and he had so much to tell her. He was even prepared to ask her to marry him, but what evil deed had Caroline done this time to thwart his beautiful plans with Elizabeth? He had to find Charles, and he had to talk to him right now.

  Without excusing himself from Caroline's presence, he spun around and raced to the stables and pulled Omega out of his stall, not waiting to saddle him. He launched himself on the horse's back and rode bareback the three miles to Longbourn, riding much too fast, trying to hold on
and not fall off. Fortunately, he was quite skilled at riding Omega bareback, and both rider and horse were able to arrive safely. Sliding off his back and motioning to the confused stable boy who had come out when he heard a horse coming, he left Omega in his hands and strode to the front door of Longbourn, knocking loudly. His heart was pounding out of his chest, and he tried to breathe slowly to calm himself. Mrs. Hill opened the door, and seeing Mr. Darcy, she happily ushered him inside. He could hear Charles and Jane talking in the parlor by the front door, and without waiting to be announced, he entered the room.

  "Darcy! What a surprise, old man!" I was just telling Jane that you would be returning from London soon, but I didn't think it would be quite this soon! Come in and tell us everything about your wedding plans!"

  "What wedding plans, Charles? Where did you get that foolish idea? Was it you that told Caroline that I was marrying Anne?" Darcy was practically yelling now, and Bingley had never seen him so discomposed. It was obvious there had been a terrible misunderstanding, and he was somehow right in the middle of it.

  "Well, not exactly, Darcy. She heard you and I talking about your plans to go to London to see Anne, and that is how she learned about the wedding. You said it was finally time to do something you should have done a long time ago, and I must admit, I too thought you had finally decided to go forward with the plan your family had for you all these years. You have talked about the necessity to provide an heir for Pemberley, but you have also been discouraged with the marriage market and all the objectionable mothers pushing their daughters at you in town, so it just seemed that you had decided to go the way of a marriage of convenience with your cousin, Anne . Was that not the case? Have I got it all wrong?"