by Linda Wells
Elizabeth cast a glance at Sir William Lucas and saw a middle-aged man, quite thick around the middle, a beaming face like his son’s but hardly the picture of robust health. She raised a brow. “Do you think it wise to simply leave your education of your estate to the future, sir? Would it not be best to be prepared, should something, heaven forbid, happen unexpectedly to your father?”
He looked somewhat taken aback. “Do you think so? I can not imagine there is much to it, after all.”
Elizabeth attempted to hide her astonishment. Her father was hardly the example of a fine estate manager, but even watching, and sometimes aiding him in his duties, she saw all that was involved. She was disappointed in John, and thought he had more sense. “Sir, when your family’s well-being and the care of your tenants are at stake, it should be of great interest to you.” She said gently.
“Perhaps you are correct.” He considered her. Yes, she would make a very fine and sensible wife. He was about to ask her to join him in some refreshment when Mrs. Bennet bustled up. She saw the conversation between the two of them, and wished to redirect the young Lucas to one of her other daughters.
“Mr. Lucas! Why how well you look! Do you not think so, Mary?” She pushed the mousy girl forward. John startled.
“Yes, Mama.” She said then looked away, clutching the sheet music she had brought with her.
Mrs. Bennet sighed. The girl was not cooperating. Seeing that John was returning his attention to Elizabeth she spoke up again. “Mr. Lucas, have you heard the news? Netherfield Hall is let at last; Lizzy met the man who will take up residence only this morning!” She turned a pointed eye on her daughter. “Did you not, Lizzy?”
She smiled at John. “I did. And I met his friend, who I understand will be visiting with him this autumn. They seem to be fine gentlemen and will undoubtedly add to the neighbourhood.”
John looked at Mrs. Bennet’s beaming face with a suspicious mind. “Will the men be bringing their wives and children?”
“Ah, they are unmarried, Mr. Lucas! What fine news for the young ladies!” She looked to Elizabeth and then found Jane. John did not miss her movement and returned his gaze to Elizabeth who was looking at the ground in her embarrassment. John grew up listening to Mrs. Bennet’s effusions, and he also grew up seeing Elizabeth’s reactions to them. This embarrassment was different from what he had seen in the past. She was interested in these men.
“You say they come in the autumn?” He said quietly.
“Yes, at Michaelmas.” Elizabeth looked back up and smiled. “I believe they both will come with their sisters.”
“And they will certainly be entertaining!” Mrs. Bennet crowed. She looked at John’s disappointed face and nodded. Her work was done there; her wishes were made quite clear.
“I suppose they were very fine gentlemen, Eliza, but such gentlemen would certainly not be looking for more than amusement in the country, nothing more interesting than a good hunt and perhaps a little flirtation. Their futures would be from the ladies of the ton. Your mother should not get her hopes up.” He watched her face and actually was pleased to see her frown. His words had struck the mark.
“I am sure that Mama is simply pleased to have the empty estate let, Mr. Lucas.” She looked up at him, but the crease in her brow remained.
He bowed. “Of course, I am sure that is true.” He walked away and started thinking. He had until Michaelmas to win her hand, and it seems, to become serious about learning to run his father’s estate.
Elizabeth wandered off to listen to her neighbours’ conversation of two young, likely rich, men coming to the neighbourhood. She wondered if Mr. Darcy’s attentions were just what Mr. Lucas implied, and that he was merely setting up a pleasant diversion to keep him occupied during his visit. She tried to believe that it was not so.
“COME IN, DARCY, come in.” Lord Matlock waved in his nephew who was looking at him from the study door. He automatically began to close the door behind him, anticipating a conversation about Georgiana. To his surprise, it stopped moving halfway when his aunt caught it.
“Trying to shut me out, are you?” She smiled and slipped past, giving him a little pat on the arm.
“Forgive me Aunt Ellen, I did not notice you.” He finished his task and took the chair his uncle indicated. He sat looking between his relatives expectantly.
“I thought we would see you yesterday. What kept you?”
“I accompanied my friend Charles Bingley to Hertfordshire. He found an estate to lease and wished my opinion.”
“Ah, good, good, you continue to keep your friends.” Lord Matlock nodded, then templed his hands, looking down at his fingers.
“I have many friends Uncle, although I have certainly learned in recent days the identity of my true friends, and which were merely paying me lip service. It has, I think, been a valuable lesson, despite the reasons behind it.”
“What has the reaction been to you?”
Darcy shrugged. “You saw the interest at the theatre, and church was much the same, although with Georgiana by my side, I would say that the barely moderated voices were far more, shall we say, accusatory? I think that the people were rather enjoying pointing their fingers and shaking their heads in false sorrow for her downfall, and of course how it had taken me with her.” He said this with disgust in his voice. “She will not be attending again; she did not speak for nearly the entire week after that experience.”
“I heard that you stopped at your club.” His uncle probed.
“Ah, yes, that is where I learned of the bets laid against my plans and Georgiana’s lost virtue.” He spat the news.
Lord Matlock met his wife’s eyes and sighed. “Yes, it is as I have heard then.” He cleared his throat. “Catherine paid us a call.”
Darcy laughed hollowly. “Yes, she was kind enough to personally come and tell me of our ruination, and offered me Anne as wife to supposedly save the Darcy name.” He shook his head. “And then she had the gall to suggest that Georgiana should be taken from me and go to live with her! As if I would ever allow that! Poor Georgiana was there, was subject to her tirade, and on top of everything else and despite my reassurance, she is convinced that you will somehow order that I send her to Rosings! Or worse, that my shame for her behaviour will cause me to send her there; or into exile somewhere.” He closed his eyes. “I realize I should respect my aunt, but … the damage she inflicted that day … it is unpardonable.”
Lord Matlock directed his gaze straight at Darcy’s eyes. “Your aunt is not entirely wrong. An excellent marriage would instantly retrieve your reputation, as would Georgiana’s if she were to marry well.”
Darcy stared at him. “You are not actually promoting her ridiculous notion that I marry Anne?”
“It would be a brilliant match Darcy.” He said emotionlessly. “You would have Rosings, and Anne’s dowry is fifty thousand pounds.”
“I could care less what it is. I will not marry Anne. Or anyone without affection.” He stated this with great conviction and actually startled himself with his words.
“Affection?” Lord Matlock asked. “What do you mean? Liking your wife? Fondness?” He looked to his own wife, for whom he did have a great deal of affection and met her raised brows. “Yes, I can see how you would wish for that, but marriages in our circle do not occur because of affection, that is simply a fortunate offspring of some matches, like my own.” He nodded to Lady Matlock. “It certainly was not the greatest consideration. Why, your own parents… “
“Do NOT speak to me of my parents! I was quite well aware of the disparity of their feelings for one another.” He glared off into a corner, memories of his childhood flashing through his mind. Again without even realizing he was speaking out loud he said, “It is for that reason that I wish to marry for love or not at all.”
“LOVE?” Lord Matlock cried. “What on earth does love have to do with marriage?”
Darcy’s brow creased, and he looked at his uncle in a state of blank confusion.
Did I actually say that? He heard the question over and over again in his head, and then his own voice spoke. “What does love have to do with marriage?” He repeated. Everything, Darcy’s mind urged, and with growing confidence he stared at him straight on, and declared it aloud. “Everything.”
His uncle sat in stunned silence. Lady Matlock touched Darcy’s arm and he jumped. “You do realize Darcy how unlikely it is that you would ever make such a match?”
“I am determined not to marry at all without it, Aunt. I was decided before this all happened with Georgiana not to marry, and to leave the task of producing the heir of Pemberley to her. Now, I realize that her prospects are seriously damaged, and I may be forced to take on this role that I so dislike. I also realize that I am not as desirable as I once was, or so society has made clear to me.”
Lord Matlock came alive again. “Which is why Catherine’s offer of Anne is so perfect! You will have everything with her!”
Darcy’s brow rose. “Except love.” He said.
Lord Matlock turned to his wife. “Talk some sense into the boy, Ellen!”
“If you are going to further promote a union with my cousin, I do suggest that you save your breath, Aunt.” Darcy quietly said. “In fact, I will save you the trouble. I will take my leave now.” He began to rise.
“Darcy, stop. Please sit down.” She held his arm, and he wearily took his seat. “I do not believe that your prospects are nearly as terrible as Catherine and Henry say. You know as well as I do that the rules for men in society are vastly different than for women. If you were Georgiana’s sister, yes, you might be ruined, but you, a man, a very rich man with an estate and old family name? No Darcy, I suspect that the censure you are receiving now is simply the result of society enjoying a good scandal at the expense of one of its most elusive and upright members. I am sure that those who are persecuting you are the same ones who are intensely jealous of you, and that after your return from Pemberley for the next Season, the matrons will welcome you with open arms, and happily direct their daughters your way. No Darcy, you may feel ruined now, you may feel unworthy of any woman, but I have no doubt that should you choose, you may still have any woman in England that you wish for. So, if it is not your desire to marry Anne, do not. And do not force yourself to settle for someone less than yourself because you feel it is all you can have now. Time will take care of your censure.”
“Ellen!”
She turned to her husband. “Enough of this Henry! You know that the rules of society are different for men! Do not try to force this ridiculous idea of Darcy marrying Anne down his throat just to satisfy your sister! Tell her you tried and failed. She sees him as weak right now and is pouncing, that is all. I am ashamed of you helping her. You know that Anne is hardly fit for any man!”
He sighed and looked to his nephew. “Forgive me Darcy, your aunt is correct. Marrying Anne is not necessary, although a wedding sooner would be better than later. If you drop this ridiculous notion of love, you could have any woman, just as she says, just wait for it all to blow over for a few months.”
“Although I appreciate your withdrawal of this demand from Aunt Catherine, and both of your reassurance that all will be well again for me in a few months time, I am in no hurry to marry, and I was serious about my convictions. I witnessed a loveless marriage. Pemberley was not … a happy home.” He paused, realizing he was speaking of his uncle’s sister. “But in any case, despite your optimism, I do not feel that I deserve any woman’s affection after failing my sister so terribly. It is unfair that she will have no future where mine is guaranteed to be whatever I wish. She is ruined when she did nothing wrong.”
Lady Matlock said gently. “You must marry Darcy, and Georgiana did do wrong.”
“I will not listen to this!” He stood and this time moved out of his aunt’s reach. “We leave for Pemberley in three days. If you care to visit, we will be at home. Otherwise, I hope to invite you to join us for Christmas.” He bowed and left the room.
The couple looked at each other. “Henry, why on earth did you push him to marry Anne? We needed to talk of Georgiana, not him.”
“Catherine was relentless, you heard her.” He sighed. “I know; we were going to talk of Georgiana’s future. We will visit tomorrow, when he has had time to calm.” He closed his eyes then looked at her. “You know the ladies on the Almack’s board, what are Georgiana’s prospects?”
She considered the question. “If she were coming out next year, I would say very poor. But in two or preferably three years, I believe her dowry will buy her entry there and into the homes of any man’s family who needs her. If Darcy could add to it, that would help, I should think.”
“You heard him, Ellen; he has the fool notion of marrying for love. If that is what he feels for himself, he will want the same for her. He will not marry her off to rid himself of her, no matter what such a burden may prove to be for his own prospects. I can see him gaining whatever woman he wants based on his own merits, but how many would wish to marry him with Georgiana and her troubles still living at home?”
“So you suggest she go to Rosings?” She asked incredulously. “That would kill the poor thing!”
“I know, I know, and the thought of sending her away to that estate he owns in Scotland is wrong. No, he must not appear ashamed of her, I was just thinking of my friends in the House, and what they have been saying to me.”
“Which is?”
He looked sadly at her. “Pack her off to a distant estate and never see her again.”
“Lovely friends you have there, Henry.” She said dryly. “I would enjoy hearing what they would say if it was their relative.”
“I imagine they are simply repeating the gentle gossip they have heard from the ladies gathered in their wives’ parlours.” He said with a raised brow.
She nodded. “That is more likely. Those cats are savouring this, which is why a wait for her come out is necessary. I imagine the men support banishment to just shut up the yowling they are subject to at home.”
He laughed. “You are implying that women are catty, my dear?”
“If it were not for them, no man would care what Georgiana did or did not do, and you know it.” She met his smiling eyes with a pointed glare. “It is all about power, money, revenge, and spite. Women are just as ruthless in society as men are on the battleground.”
“Just better dressed?” He suggested.
She finally smiled. “Well, of course!”
Chapter 6
“Caroline!” Bingley cried upon seeing his sister. “Excellent news! I have signed the lease, and Netherfield is ours for the next year!” He beamed. “Our father’s dreams are being fulfilled!” He gave her a peck on the cheek and turned to hug Louisa.
Caroline’s eyes lit up. Becoming one of the landed gentry was not only her father’s dream, but hers as well. Having a country house was essential to her aspirations to climb to a higher social circle; of course, marrying well would not hurt, either. “That is good news, Charles. Now tell us about the house. Is it very fine?”
He laughed. “I am not the one to decide that Caroline. I am afraid that my opinion and yours will differ, but I think it is a good sound home, well furnished; the staff seems to take its care to heart. Darcy approved, so what more can I ask for?”
“Mr. Darcy approved?” She sent a quick glance to Louisa who smirked. “I did not know that he accompanied you yesterday. Why did you not mention it?”
“Did I not?” Charles evaded her. In truth, Darcy wanted no one to know of his company, in case some well-meaning ladies of the ton decided to call upon Georgiana in his absence. Of course Charles knew precisely which ladies. He looked upon them. “Oh, well it must have slipped my mind. Yes, he toured the house and grounds with me and supported my decision to take the lease. It is only twenty miles from town, so well within visiting distance should you have a need to go shopping for some finery to impress the locals.”
That drew both ladies’ attention. “Ah yes
, I am sure that they are simply starved for news on the latest fashion!” Caroline snorted. “Forgive me. I am so looking forward to meeting them all!”
Bingley’s eyes narrowed. “You do not plan to be rude, do you Caroline? These are to be our neighbours and I wish for us all to get along well. When the lease is up, the owner will be willing to discuss selling. It is too good of an opportunity to let pass. Estates such as this do not come available very often.”
“Oh Charles, relax. Caroline will behave.” Louisa reassured him. “She has just been looking forward to this for some time and her tongue got a bit carried away with her mirth.” She shot a look at her sister. “Is that not so, dear?”
Caroline’s eyes were wide and innocent. “Oh yes, of course. I meant no harm, Charles. I am sure the neighbourhood is just lovely.”
Placated, Charles’ grin returned. “Well, it seems a pleasant village, and I did meet one of our neighbours, a pretty girl whose estate borders Netherfield.”
Caroline sighed. “You are not planning to fall in love again, are you Charles? I have no desire to gain a sister from the country. You are doing quite well with the ladies you are attracting here in town …” She glanced at Louisa, and began her campaign. “Charles, you were with Mr. Darcy, how is he with all that has happened?” She looked concerned.
For a moment Bingley was drawn in. “He is naturally unhappy. He worries for Miss Darcy; she is distraught, poor girl.”
“Does he fear for her future?” Caroline asked prettily.
“Naturally. He worries for both of them. He is convinced that he is not worthy to …” He stopped, realizing that the last people Darcy would wish him to speak to about his feelings and worries were his sisters.