“I am sorry you overheard that. I should not have been so indelicate. But I cannot pretend to feel differently to how I do. My feelings are natural and just. Do you expect me to rejoice in the inferiority of your connections? To congratulate myself on an alliance with those whose condition in life is so beneath my own?”
Elizabeth took in a deep inhale. “To have to marry you under such circumstances as this is already intolerable. Your insults make it worse.”
Darcy felt a flash of remorse and shame. She had been through a terrible experience and now felt as if she was being forced into marriage to a man who felt nothing for her. He could not go on allowing her to think that way.
“Miss Bennet, I must tell you how I feel about you. It has been many months now since I came to realise…”
“Oh, I will spare you the necessity of doing so, Mr Darcy,” said Elizabeth. “I know I have no choice but to accept your proposal if I am not to ruin my sisters’ futures as well as my own. I will marry you. As to your feelings for me, I am aware of them, and I return them most heartily.”
Darcy’s heart briefly lifted at her words, but he had a moment of confusion. Her tone did not match what he imagined her words to say. What did she mean?
“I am aware you dislike me as much as I dislike you,” she continued. “And I am aware we both consider one another the last person in the world we could ever marry. Neither of us loves one another and who knows if we ever will?” She sighed. “It is a wretched beginning. If those men are caught, I would cheerfully see them hanged high for forcing us to take this step alone.”
Darcy continued to stare at her. His heart felt as if it had been smashed. She did not care for him. She did not even like him. He was the last person in the world she could ever marry. How could he have been so wrong about her? All those times she had bantered with him - had they not been banter at all? Had she in fact been honest about her dislike for him? What a fool he had been. He felt a brief flare of satisfaction he had not had a chance to propose before. She would probably have laughed in his face.
“May I ask why you are so set against me?” he asked. His voice was devoid of emotion. “I confess, I had no notion of it.”
There was a spark of surprise in Elizabeth’s eyes.
She was about to answer honestly, but she paused. What good would it do now? She was marrying him whether or not she liked him. There was nothing to be gained by antagonising him. She was doing this for her sisters’ futures, especially Jane’s. Perhaps by marrying Darcy, she could bring Bingley and Jane back together again.
“Perhaps dislike is a strong word,” she said reluctantly. “But I think you cannot deny we have not exactly been the best of friends. We certainly have no fondness for one another.”
Darcy’s face was white. He looked as if he had been struck a blow and Elizabeth was bewildered by it. Why did he look so distraught? He was arrogant, but surely he was not so proud that he needed to believe every woman was in love with him? Especially one who had been so clear about her dislike.
“I understand you, madam,” he said formally. “And I commend you for your honesty. It is a trait I admire. You are right. We have not been the best of friends. I will leave you to your solitude for now, but we will speak later.”
He bowed and turned to leave. Elizabeth sank back against the bench, feeling worn out.
“But you are mistaken about one thing,” he added.
She turned around. His face was still grim and serious. “I have never disliked you,” he said. He bowed then walked away without looking back.
Chapter 12
Elizabeth stayed where she was for some time. Her mind spun with everything that had happened. Perhaps the most astonishing was discovering that Mr Darcy did not dislike her. She was so sure he did. He looked down on her from the moment he met her. Mr Bingley had tried to persuade him to ask her to dance, and he had declared her not handsome enough. He stared at her afterwards as if determined to find every flaw in her face. Whenever he approached her after that to speak with her and ask her to dance, she had assumed he sought her out to find fault with her.
Well, what of it? Perhaps she was wrong that he disliked her, but she was certainly not wrong that he did not care for her any more than she cared for him. How dreadful to have to marry under such circumstances. After pondering the matter for some time and still being no closer to making her peace with it, she rose from the bench and returned to the house.
Lady Catherine’s rage was still in full flow.
“It is impossible,” she screamed at her nephew. “I do not care if you have proposed, and she has accepted. You will not marry her.”
“I will, Aunt,” said Darcy. “You forget yourself, but you do not have the authority to arrange my marriage.”
“Ha! There she is. Listening behind doors just as I would expect from one of her descent.”
“Walking through a door is not the same thing as listening behind doors, Lady Catherine,” said Elizabeth coolly as she took a seat between Charlotte and Colonel Fitzwilliam. Fitzwilliam grinned at her.
“Welcome to the family,” he whispered. Elizabeth nodded but could not return his smile. If it had been he she was required to marry, this would not nearly have been so bad.
“You are an impertinent girl,” Lady Catherine screamed, pointing a finger at Elizabeth. “How fortunate for you to have wheedled your way into a marriage with your betters. I suppose you planned this from the beginning?”
“What did I plan? That brutes should attack me in the woods and locked away overnight with your nephew? I am flattered you think so highly of my ingenuity, but I am afraid I cannot claim the credit.”
Lady Catherine’s face turned so red, she looked like she was about to explode.
“You!” she snapped, pointing a finger at the cringing Mr Collins. “Your cousin is here under your protection. You will refuse permission for this marriage and forbid it.”
Mr Collins looked as though he wished the floor would open up so he might disappear. For a moment, Elizabeth felt sorry for him. Lady Catherine was his patroness, and it placed him in an impossible situation. With a shock, she realised her marriage to Darcy might very well cost the futures of her cousin and her friend. All because some thieves wanted a few trinkets for their trouble.
“I — Lady Catherine — I— “ Mr Collins wrung his hands and looked pleadingly around the room for aid. All eyes were on him but none so intently as Lady Catherine’s. She peered at him like a hawk about to swoop down on a foolish, trembling mouse.
“Well? You will forbid this match, Mr Collins. I insist.”
“William — “ said his wife. She nodded at him, and he swallowed. His eyes almost bugged out of his head in terror.
“I cannot, Lady Catherine,” he said in a voice so strangled, the rest of the room could hardly hear him.
“You what? What did you say?” The lady leaned forward and fixed her gaze on him as if she could turn him to stone. He swallowed again.
“I cannot forbid it,” he said, a little louder this time but with no more strength. “Cousin Elizabeth is under my protection, and I have her wellbeing and her reputation under my care. If she spent a night alone with Mr Darcy, it is only right that they marry…” His words finished in a whisper.
Elizabeth looked at her cousin in amazement. Charlotte smiled at him, but Lady Catherine rose from her seat so suddenly, Mr Collins scrambled back as if in real fear she might launch herself at him. There was nothing about the lady’s behaviour that would have surprised Elizabeth just then. A new respect rose in her for her cousin. Mr Collins was terrified, but he still did what he believed was right even in the face of such rage. She would never have thought him capable of it. No wonder Charlotte looked at him with such pride.
“Mr Collins, you will forbid your cousin,” she ordered again, more coldly this time. “I understand your belief in your duty to this unfortunate girl, but you have an even higher duty to me. I am the one who has given you a living and a home. I
have always noticed you. I have always been kind and generous to you, have I not? Have I not?”
“You have, Lady Catherine.” Mr Collins stared miserably at the floor.
“It does not matter if Mr Collins refuses his permission. It is Miss Bennet’s father I will apply to for it,” said Darcy in a clipped voice. Mr Collins threw him a grateful look, but Lady Catherine was not to be deterred. She kept her eyes fixed on her quarry.
“Say it, Mr Collins. Say you forbid your cousin to marry my nephew.”
Mr Collins hands shook slightly as he clutched his hat between them. Elizabeth’s heart went out to him.
“I will not,” he said finally, in a voice scarcely above a whisper. “It is my duty as a cousin, a head of household and as a clergyman to set the example for right living. I would fail in all three if I tried to prevent this course of action.”
What followed was a spectacular display of rage. They were all of them forced to endure Lady Catherine’s abuse. Darcy and Fitzwilliam had no idea their aunt knew so many swear words and Elizabeth, Anne, Charlotte and Maria promised themselves they would look up the meaning of quite a few of them as soon as they were free of the dreadful situation. Finally, Darcy and Fitzwilliam took charge. Darcy walked to Elizabeth and offered her his arm. She took it as she rose from her chair. He gestured to the other men who took charge of the remaining ladies.
“Mr Collins, might we impose on your hospitality this afternoon while we make arrangements?” he asked.
Mr Collins nodded. Any pride he might have felt in standing up to Lady Catherine had been swept away, leaving him feeling deflated and nervous. Lady Catherine tried to forbid them to leave then settled for attempting to stop Anne. Fitzwilliam placed his hand over Anne’s and smiled at her. She returned it with a nervous one of her own and allowed him to escort her outside without looking back at her mother. Mrs Jenkinson tried to join them, but Anne shook her head. Once Darcy made arrangements for carriages to meet them at Hunsford, they walked in silence to the lodge.
“Well, as always, our aunt can be relied on to make everything unnecessarily complicated,” said Fitzwilliam as he threw himself into a chair. “Begging your pardon, Anne.”
“My pardon is granted,” said Anne. Her face was pale, and her hands shook as she sipped at the brandy Charlotte had given her.
“Miss Bennet, you have an aunt and uncle in London, I think?” said Darcy.
“As you know,” said Elizabeth. Her demeanour was stiff. “My sister, Jane is staying with them, as you also know.”
For some reason, Darcy glanced at Fitzwilliam, but he withdrew the look at once.
“I propose we make our way to London this afternoon,” he said. “Anne, you may stay with me at Darcy House. Georgiana will be delighted to see you. Fitzwilliam, will you join us there or will you go to your parents’ house?”
Fitzwilliam was looking at Anne in concern. “I will stay with you if it is not an imposition,” he said. “Much has happened today and none of it pleasant. I think it would be best if family stay together as much as possible.”
Darcy nodded. “Very well. Anne, we can get you anything you need in London. With your mother in the state she is in, it would not be a good idea to…”
“No, it would not,” Anne agreed. “If I return there, she will do all in her power to prevent me from leaving. And I could not endure it now.”
“Then we will not even consider it,” said Darcy with a gentleness that caused Elizabeth to remember some events of the night before with a blush. “We shall leave at once if no one has any objection to it.”
No one did. While Elizabeth was still reeling from the events of the day, she felt a sudden comfort at the thought of being with Jane and her favourite aunt before nightfall. How good it would feel to be with them and get their wise counsel. Her only regret on leaving Kent was saying goodbye to Charlotte and leaving her to the mercy of Lady Catherine. Maria would remain with her, but she was so terrified of Lady Catherine, she would not offer much support.
But as they prepared to leave, Charlotte drew her to one side.
“Do not worry for us,” she said with a smile. “You have your own future to think of. And I daresay once Lady Catherine calms down, she will regret her behaviour. She will not risk losing the only people she has left.”
The two girls embraced. “I am sorry your visit has turned out thus,” Charlotte whispered. “Please tell me when the wedding will take place. I will come at once.”
As they parted, Mr Darcy stepped forward. He drew Charlotte to one side and spoke to her earnestly. Charlotte nodded, and Elizabeth noted the look of relief on her face. Before she could discover what he said, it was time to leave. Elizabeth and Anne rode in the carriage, and Darcy and Fitzwilliam rode along beside them on horseback. The two ladies did not speak, but when they passed Rosings Park, and Elizabeth heard Anne give a small sob, she reached out and took her hand. They comforted one another in this manner on the journey to London.
Chapter 13
The sun was setting in the sky as they reached the capital. Elizabeth looked at the familiar sight of St Paul’s Cathedral in wonderment. At almost the same time yesterday evening, she had been sitting in the glade enjoying the cool evening air, thinking of nothing more than how she might return to Hunsford Lodge without Mr Collins realising where she had been.
Now, here she was in London about to be reunited with her family far sooner than she expected, and engaged to Mr Darcy. It was too much to be believed. Surely at any moment, she would wake up and find herself in her bed at Hunsford Lodge, her book lying open beside her to discover none of it had happened? But a fish seller’s cart passing her window sent a stale stench she knew could be part of no dream. She was on her way to Gracechurch Street, and within a few minutes, her family would be made acquainted with her engagement.
The carriage turned up the familiar street. They came to a stop outside a smart house where her aunt and uncle lived. As Darcy handed Elizabeth out of the carriage, she saw him look at the surrounding merchants, an inscrutable look on his face.
“Fear not, Mr Darcy,” she whispered. “I am sure you shall survive your encounter with people whose condition in life is so decidedly below your own.”
Darcy gave her a steady look, but to her surprise, he did not take the bait. He merely nodded and escorted her to the door.
When they were shown into the parlour, her aunt and uncle and Jane rose from their chairs with cries of astonishment.
“Lizzy! What are you doing here?” cried Jane as she rushed forward to embrace her sister. “Oh — Mr Darcy. Forgive me, sir. I did not see you.” She looked between her sister and Darcy in bewilderment. “How did this all come about?”
Mr and Mrs Gardiner were hardly less surprised. “We did not expect to see you for another month at least,” said Mrs Gardiner. She also stared at Mr Darcy in confusion. She had never met the gentleman, but she had been treated to a full account of his evils by her niece when she had visited Longbourn at Christmas. How Elizabeth came to be in his company, she could not guess. “I hope nothing is amiss?”
Between the stress of the day, the shock it had brought and her lack of sleep from the night before combined with the relief of being with her family, Elizabeth burst into tears. She pitched herself forward into Jane’s arms and wept as her sister held her.
“Lizzy, what is it? Are you ill?” Jane asked. Elizabeth could only shake her head and cling to her tighter.
Darcy shifted looking out of his depth.
“Miss Bennet has had a shock,” he said. “We both have. Do you have something you can give her for her present relief? Some wine, perhaps?”
Mrs Gardiner rang for it at once. A tray of refreshments was bought for all of them including the wine for Elizabeth. They sat on the couches, but Darcy looked ill at ease.
“I don’t know how to tell you our story. Miss Bennet is not hurt, at least not physically. But I wonder if I might speak with Mr Gardiner alone?”
“I think
that is best,” said Mr Gardiner. He rose at once and led Darcy to his study.
As soon as they were out of the room, Jane and Mrs Gardiner turned to Elizabeth.
“What is it, my dear?” said Mrs Gardiner. “Come, do not keep us in such suspense. We imagine all sorts of dreadful happenings, are we not, Jane?”
“Tell us, Lizzy,” Jane pleaded. “It frightens me to see you like this.”
The wine had its restorative effect, and Elizabeth drew a deep breath to calm herself. “Forgive me,” she said. “It has been a long day. Possibly the longest day of my life. I am exhausted. So much has happened in the last few hours.”
Slowly and between sips of wine, she told them of what had occurred. Jane looked horrified, and though her aunt stayed calm, she could not hide the shock in her eyes as Elizabeth told them everything.
Or almost everything. The night she passed in Darcy’s arms she decided they did not need to know right now. But all the rest, including the engagement she shared with them.
“Oh my dearest Lizzy,” said Jane. Her eyes were filled with tears as she lay her head on her sister’s shoulder. “How brave you are. To go through such an experience! I could not have endured it.”
Elizabeth laughed shakily. “It certainly was an experience, and if nothing else, it will be a good story to tell my grandchildren.” She glanced towards the closed study door. “Our grandchildren, I think I should say.” Something about that thought made her take a deeper draught of wine than before.
“Married to Mr Darcy,” said Jane. She shook her head. “I can hardly believe it. And yet he has been so noble in protecting you and marrying you against his aunt’s wishes.”
“Well, I protected him too, you know,” said Elizabeth with a flash of her old humour. “If it were not for my fichu, who knows what might have happened his injured hand? It might have needed to be removed. Everyone who ever gets a letter from him from here after has me to thank for it. And the joy this brings to his aunt is part of my delight if nothing else. I am sure she shall wish to be a guest of honour at our wedding and gift Pemberley with a chimneypiece even grander than anything found at Rosings Park if that is possible.”
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