by C. P. Odom
“But he is not, my lady.” Mrs. Albertson’s temper was growing frayed since this question had been asked and answered several times already. Even if this lady was the sister of an earl, she was a most rude and impolite visitor. It was difficult to keep her temper under control when confronted with such incivility.
This time, however, instead of engaging in yet another fruitless demand, Lady Catherine paused. Finally, she said, “Where is the estate of this Bennet family? It is nearby, is it not?”
“It is about three miles away in the direction of Meryton. The estate is called Longbourn and is about a mile past Meryton on the road.”
Without so much as a “thank you,” the old lady turned on her heel and left through the open door.
As she closed it behind this unwelcome visitor, Mrs. Albertson whispered a prayer under her breath that the old lady’s immense coach might slide off the road into the ditch before getting to Longbourn. She was well acquainted with the Bennet family and considered most of them quite foolish. But not even foolish people deserved having such a woman inflicted on them.
***
Tuesday, September 15, 1812
Longbourn, Hertfordshire
Mrs. Bennet sat alone in her front parlor, trying without much success to sew a new ribbon on an old bonnet and lamenting the absence of Jane these past two months. If Jane had remained at Netherfield, it would be more pleasant to visit her rather than attempting her present task. She had broached to her husband the subject of traveling to Derbyshire to be with Jane when the baby came, but Mr. Bennet had flatly refused to consider such a trip with winter coming on.
She also lamented the absence of Mary, who could always be engaged to perform such tasks for her, but she was also gone with her husband. Lydia or Kitty could not be prevailed upon to assist her since their skills were inferior to her own. And she supposed Elizabeth was gone on one of her long walks.
She is likely sulking after I tried to impart some sense to her yesterday, Mrs. Bennet thought. Everything looked so favorable in November!
The first indication Mrs. Bennet received of boredom ending at Longbourn came when she heard the front door open and close and saw Elizabeth sweep past the door to the parlor.
But it was the sound of horses and a carriage arriving in front of the house that made her immediately spring to the window in time to see a magnificent team of horses pull to a halt in a spray of gravel. They stood, streaming sweat and blowing white clouds of vapor in the coolness of the early autumn afternoon, while two footmen sprang to the ground to open the door to the coach and place a step in front of the door.
Just then, both Lydia and Kitty burst into the room with their usual lack of propriety.
“Mama, Mama, the largest, most magnificent carriage just arrived!” Kitty cried.
“It is a coach-and-four,” Lydia said authoritatively. “It is too large to be a simple carriage. There are two footmen riding at the back, and there are four huge horses pulling it!”
Any further discussion was brought to an end by a loud, peremptory knock at the front door, and Hill shortly bustled into the room, an expression of unusual anxiety on her face.
“Lady Catherine de Bourgh, madam,” she said, barely getting the words out before a tall, large woman with strongly marked features brushed past her into the room.
After Hill closed the door and left the room, the new arrival turned to survey the three Longbourn ladies with an air marked by overweening superiority without even a hint of conciliation. She was completely unknown to any of them, but her brusque and rude entry clearly demonstrated her disinclination to allow any of them to forget the inferiority of their rank.
Neither Mrs. Bennet nor her daughters could manage a word in the alarming presence of this fearsome woman.
“You are, I assume, Mrs. Bennet, mistress of this house? And these are your daughters, I suppose. Which of you is Miss Bennet? Miss Elizabeth Bennet?”
Mrs. Bennet was so intimidated she could only speak stumblingly. “These…these are my two younger daughters, Lydia and—”
“Then where is Miss Bennet?” Lady Catherine said, harshly interrupting her.
“She…she is above stairs, your ladyship. In her room, I believe.”
“Then summon her immediately.”
The old woman’s tone was such that the already overwhelmed Mrs. Bennet could not even take umbrage at being ordered about in her own home. She meekly rang for Hill and asked her to have Elizabeth come down at once.
Lady Catherine had no interest in further conversation and turned away. She was so dismissive of Mrs. Bennet and her daughters that she did not even demand their withdrawal. Mrs. Bennet was so unsettled, she would have gladly done so, but she was incapable of any action not commanded by this formidable woman. Her two daughters, Lydia especially, did not seem at all in awe of this highborn lady. Instead, they wanted nothing so much as to witness what promised to be an exciting event and thus they sat down in chairs against the wall, trying not to be noticed.
***
When Elizabeth entered the parlor, having come downstairs only because Hill had said a visitor had arrived who wished to see her, she found an unfamiliar woman standing at the window, looking out at the afternoon sun. She found it strange that her mother and sisters were seated, huddled together against the wall.
The woman immediately turned to Elizabeth and said with the utmost self-importance and lack of civility, “I am Lady Catherine de Bourgh. And you are, presumably, Miss Elizabeth Bennet.”
Elizabeth was quite shocked at this arrogant and unseemly introduction. However, if this stranger hoped to intimidate her, she was not inclined to cooperate, so she only nodded and coldly so.
“I am the patroness—”
“I am well aware who you are,” Elizabeth said, interrupting this rude visitor with equal incivility. “You are the patroness of Mr. Collins, who is married to my sister.”
“I am not used to being interrupted, Miss Bennet!”
“Your attitude will make your situation rather pitiable, I am afraid, since I am not at all disposed to meet rudeness with subservient politeness. Please state your business if you have any.”
Elizabeth ignored her mother’s gasp at her effrontery and kept her eyes fixed on this strange and uninvited intruder.
“Hear me in silence, Miss Bennet! I came here with the determined resolution of carrying my purpose, and I will not be dissuaded from it!”
Elizabeth said nothing to this, merely standing firm before this woman who towered over her. She wondered why she had come to Longbourn if only to behave in such an unseemly manner.
Lady Catherine, after glaring at her for a few moments, said in an angry tone, “I warn you frankly that I am not a person to be trifled with, Miss Bennet. A report of the most alarming nature reached me just two days ago, informing me that my nephew, Mr. Darcy, was intending to come to Hertfordshire and present you with the opportunity of a most advantageous marriage.”
Despite her resolve, Elizabeth was stunned by this assertion, as was her mother, judging by her suppressed gasp. Never in her wildest dreams had Elizabeth expected such an openly expressed statement from someone outside her family, but hearing the words spoken aloud was so surprising, even shocking, she could not conceal her disbelief.
“Do not attempt to deceive me and protest you have never heard such a rumor, Miss Bennet!” Lady Catherine said angrily, incorrectly interpreting Elizabeth’s expression. “You will not mislead or delay me on such a matter! I am known by all for my frankness, and I shall certainly not depart from it in a matter such as this! You cannot claim you are unaware that the nearby estate owned by Mr. Bingley is being prepared for my nephew’s arrival.”
Elizabeth only shook her head. “I have heard Mr. Darcy might stay at Netherfield to be closer to his business, but I certainly have n
o reason to believe he may have any intentions toward me. I have not laid eyes on him since last November.”
Elizabeth spoke these words with icy formality and a deliberate omission of the woman’s rank. She stated the truth as she knew it to be, despite the many unrealistic statements made by her mother. She had been so immersed in her attempts to heal the anguish in her heart that she had taken little time to hear of any news of the neighborhood, even from Charlotte.
“Such insincerity will not impede me from attaining my intention, Miss Bennet!” declared Lady Catherine angrily. “I was informed of all this by your own sister’s husband. Even though I knew what he told me had to be a scandalous falsehood, I lost no time in coming to call.”
“If you knew that Mr. Collins’s information was untrue, why would you waste your time coming to Hertfordshire? You must know, after all, that you have never been introduced to anyone in my family other than my middle sister. Coming to call at Longbourn in such a manner as this would tend to lend credence to what you declared a scandalous falsehood.”
“I came to demand that you own to having industriously circulated this offensive rumor, Miss Bennet!” Lady Catherine cried shrilly. “Mr. Collins informed me that this gossip is known and accepted throughout the neighborhood!”
To this, Elizabeth only gave a careless shrug. She was becoming more and more irritated by this useless argument as well as by this overbearing and offensive woman.
I did not dispute Mr. Darcy when he referred to the social inferiority of my family, she thought irritably, because he did little other than speak the truth. But he cannot take any pride in such a close relation as his aunt thrusting herself upon my family in such an arrogant and improper manner. Haughty old woman!
“This is not to be borne, Miss Bennet! I insist you openly admit to having spread these untruths!”
“I shall make no such admission! I have heard no such news as you charge, and I certainly had no part in spreading it about the neighborhood! And I must tell you I am not at all disposed to continue an offensive conversation such as this with a person so wholly unrelated to me and my family!”
“Do you know who I am, Miss Bennet? I am almost the nearest relation my nephew has in the world! I am entitled to know all his dearest concerns!”
“But you are not entitled to know mine! And behavior such as you have displayed today shall never incline me to be explicit on any matter, much less one that appears to exist solely within your deluded mind!”
“I have not been accustomed to such language as this from anyone, much less a person who has the presumption to aspire to a connection so wholly beyond her station in life! Unfeeling, selfish girl!”
The sheer effrontery of having such a haughtily disdainful person make a statement so condescending and disparaging drove Elizabeth into a blind fury.
“I am not to be intimidated into any such unreasonable admission as you demand. However farfetched and ludicrous your assertions may be, I will only say this: I should not be quitting my sphere if I were to marry your nephew. He is a gentleman, and I am a gentleman’s daughter. Our stations, in fact, are equal.”
“You may be a gentleman’s daughter, but who are your relations—your aunts and your uncles? I am all too aware of their condition in life: one uncle a lowly solicitor in a country town, and the other in trade in Cheapside! Besides, Mr. Darcy is engaged to my daughter. They have been intended for each other since their infancy.”
“Then why have you made such a useless journey? If your daughter’s engagement to Mr. Darcy were secure, then why would he make an offer to me? I suspect, your ladyship, that your professed confidence is a sham and Mr. Darcy has no intention at all of marrying your daughter.”
“Impertinent, avaricious girl!” cried Lady Catherine. “You are only in pursuit of my nephew’s fortune! An adventuress, a parasite! You care not that you will ruin him in the opinion of all his friends!”
Elizabeth smiled grimly at the success of her barb, and she was not even stung by Lady Catherine’s insults. “If I were pursuing your nephew’s fortune, then I think I would have found a way to put myself in his presence sometime in the last ten months. As a fortune hunter, it would appear I am a particularly inept one.”
“That is what you say, but is it the truth? I suspect not! I believe you have been in secret communication with my nephew and have engaged your arts and allurements to draw him in and make him forget his duty to himself and to all his family! You have seduced and infatuated him so he comes to this unknown and insignificant corner of England in pursuit of you!”
Elizabeth laughed bitterly at this absurd statement. It was she who was entranced, but not by the wiles of her nephew. Darcy neither suspected nor imagined it. She did not have the option of pursuing Darcy and could only clutch her secret desires to her heart, crying herself to sleep at night.
“Miss Bennet, I insist on being satisfied! I will not be dissuaded from it! I will have your promise that you will cease your maneuverings and, above all, will not accept any offers of marriage from him. Will you give me your promise?”
“As I have said before, such an event will simply never happen. You demand I make promises to you when you insult my family and me and refuse to listen. Hear me now, then! Though you babble nonsense, I will make no promises of any kind to you. If your nephew calls tomorrow, ridiculous as it may be, and makes me an offer of himself and all his worldly goods, I will make my decision solely on the basis of what would constitute my own happiness. My decision would have nothing to do with you or any other person so wholly unconnected to me. I owe you nothing.”
“And this is your answer? But I will not relent, Miss Bennet. I am not used to being thwarted in my intentions, and I shall not be disappointed in this case.”
“You will simply have to become accustomed to disappointment. I am completely unmoved by your distress. It will have no effect on me. Now, I must demand you importune me no further on this subject and leave me in peace.”
“Not so hasty, if you please, Miss Bennet. I am by no means finished! Is such a girl as you to be the mistress of Pemberley? Heaven and earth, of what are you thinking? Is the noble estate of my sister to be so polluted?”
“You can now have nothing further to say to me. You have insulted my family and me by every possible method! It is past time you leave this house!”
“You have no regard, then, for the honor and credit of my nephew, you heartless temptress? Do you not consider that a connection with you must disgrace him in the eyes of his peers?”
Elizabeth stood and glanced heatedly at her mother, who had witnessed the entirety of this attack without comment. “You know my sentiments. If my mother will not force you to leave our house, then I will do so.”
Lady Catherine opened her mouth to continue her harangue, but Elizabeth stopped her with a raised palm.
“No! I will hear nothing further from you! The arguments you have made in support of your extraordinary and fanciful application have been as frivolous as they were ill judged. My character is such that I could never be worked on by such persuasions as these. I make no farewells to you, Lady Catherine. You deserve none.”
Without another word, Elizabeth left the room and then the house, punctuated by the harsh slamming of the front door.
Lady Catherine stared at the empty doorway in frustrated anger at having achieved none of what she had planned. Mrs. Bennet stared also, hardly able to comprehend what she had just witnessed.
As for Lydia and Kitty, they stared at each other in delighted excitement. They could not wait until they were able to inform one and all of what they had seen and heard!
***
It was more than an hour and a half before Elizabeth had walked off her rage and thought of returning to Longbourn. She had been so driven by her anger when she slammed the door behind her that her only thought had been to g
et far away from the house and that infuriating old woman.
Only now did she comprehend how near the sun was to the horizon. To her alarm, she also realized an autumnal rainstorm had formed and was near to sweeping over her. The rain clouds were no more than a few miles away, and she hurriedly turned about and began walking homeward as fast as she could manage.
What a perfect end to a perfectly terrible day! she thought. I will surely get soaked through before I get back to the house. I want nothing more than to have Sarah heat enough water for a hot bath before bedtime.
***
Darcy’s original intention had been to go directly to Netherfield so he could get a good night’s sleep before calling at Longbourn the following day. But he and McDunn had decided to make a quick check of progress on their new locomotive, which took longer than expected. When the two men got started toward their initial destination, Darcy could not rid himself of the nagging feeling that going to Netherfield first had been influenced more by his anxiety about seeing Elizabeth and what he might say to her than by other arguments. The more he thought on it, the more convinced he became that he was coming down with a severe case of nerves.
Finally, he decided he would not be guided by his doubts. He would stop at Longbourn for at least a brief visit before going on to Netherfield even though the light drizzle had now turned into a steady, cold rain.
McDunn said nothing, only nodding in response to Darcy’s change of plans, but Darcy thought something lurked behind his guarded expression. He made no effort to guess what it might be since interpreting his American friend’s face was nigh impossible when he wished to keep his thoughts concealed.
The first indication of anything untoward came when the elderly housekeeper opened the front door at Longbourn. Before Darcy could even ask to see Elizabeth, the loud voices and the number of people in the hallway indicated considerable turmoil.