“It wouldn’t have made any difference. There would still have been prejudice about where your fortune came from. Certainly in my aunt’s case.”
“Luckily for us, she is an aunt not a parent, and I now understand how the family dynamics have worked until now.”
Fitzwilliam smiled. “So I can return?”
“Yes.”
“It might be a little while. Aunt Catherine isn’t going to be persuaded easily.”
“I can wait.”
“I am not sure if I can.”
“Do not push your advantage.”
Laughing Fitzwilliam kissed her gloved hand. “You cannot blame a man for trying.”
Chapter 19
If Colonel Fitzwilliam thought he would spend a day or two at Rosings and then head north once more, he was to be disappointed. Aunt Catherine was furious that Anne was not with him when he returned, and after her hysterics had calmed on hearing how ill Anne was, she would not countenance a marriage between her daughter and Mr. Huxley.
“Never! As long as I have breath in my body, I shall never approve of such a match.”
“She is of age.”
“I shall disinherit her! Unless she returns to me. Unwed.”
“Then she shall be ruined in the eyes of society,” Fitzwilliam said.
“Nonsense! She is a De Bourgh! She will be nothing of the sort. No one would dare to believe rumours of one of my family.”
“Are you sure about that, Aunt?” Fitzwilliam asked. “It is a heck of a risk to take with Anne’s reputation. As the situation stands at the moment, we can fudge over the reality of what actually happened. Her illness can be made public, saying that she became ill when visiting her cousin Prudence, but then happened to fall in love with Mr. Huxley. It is a surprising match, but one that you approve of because your wish is for your daughter to be happy.”
“Do not be ridiculous! As if I would lower myself to repeat such a Banbury tale!”
“I hope Anne is able to withstand the cuts she will receive in society. And you as a consequence.”
“Why would I be affected?”
“Anne lives here. No one will visit a family in which a ruined girl still resides. Unless you wish to cast her off, of course, and send her to live somewhere else.”
Lady Catherine rose from her chair and stormed across the room. “As if I would send Anne away to live elsewhere!”
“You have just threatened to disinherit her.”
“She would return before I was forced to do that.”
“That’s fine, but I can’t see Sir James visiting. How shocked would his mother be to know you had allowed Anne back into Rosings? You have been missing for days, and Anne has also been absent. What rumours and gossip are already circulating?”
“If I find out that any of the servants have been spreading rumours, they shall be cast off without a reference.” Lady Catherine glared at the unfortunate footman, who stood guarding the door.
“The fact that you have already sent Mr. Huxley away will have convinced the servants of that. It will most certainly have been reported with wonder and speculation, particularly because you seemed to be perfectly happy with the last few years of Mr. Huxley’s work.”
“Damn the neighbourhood!”
“You should have been more circumspect, Aunt,” Fitzwilliam said gently. “If you had not overreacted when the news reached you that Anne had been foolish, you would not be facing any of this now.”
“So it is my fault, is it?” Lady Catherine demanded.
“No. Not as such, but your reaction to it was not prudent.”
Lady Catherine looked at her nephew through narrowed eyes. “You have changed. You never used to be so objectionable.”
Laughing, and with a shake of his head, Fitzwilliam indicated that his aunt should sit. “I was always the one who soothed you when Darcy told you the truth of a situation. That is all. I am having to play the role of Darcy in this situation.”
“Yes. Because that woman is having yet another brat.”
“Aunt, that is unfair. Darcy is the happiest we have ever seen him. Elizabeth is a perfect wife for him. You did not meet the women who fawned over him when he was single. Believe me, if he had married any of those, we would all have been sorry. He had a lucky escape when he did not fall for the so-called charms of the likes of Caroline Bingley,” Fitzwilliam said of one of the women who had been determined to set her cap at Darcy.
Lady Catherine sat down at her nephew’s request. “At least they would have come from the right stock.”
“Aunt, you cannot, in all countenance, wish an unhappy marriage on someone you care for just because the man or woman in question comes from the right kind of family, surely?”
Lady Catherine narrowed her eyes at her nephew. “Is this to do with that girl who tried to insinuate herself with you?”
“If you are referring to your niece, Prudence, no it has nothing to do with her. This is about Anne, and if you are going to stand by your daughter. Are you, Aunt? Or are you happy to remain here alone and estranged?” Fitzwilliam had riled at his aunt’s words, but had managed to keep his expression bland. She was being pig-headed and foolish, but he was aware that if the discussion turned into an argument, only Anne would suffer, for Lady Catherine would become even more belligerent.
“I would have to admit a steward into the front of the house. He would be in charge of Anne’s fortune.”
“This is not about money,” Fitzwilliam ground out. “It is about Anne finding a man who loves her for all her fragility and who is a decent, hardworking man. He has already shown he is committed to Rosings and will work hard to protect and develop the estate.”
“The ruination of Anne was probably his intention from the start.”
“Aunt, that is unjust.”
“What else am I to think?”
“That your daughter is loveable enough to fall in love with?”
Lady Catherine went silent for a while. Fitzwilliam thought he had struck a chord with his aunt, but then she looked at him, her expression full of disdain. “Love? Pah! That is for fools!” She stood and walked out of the room, flinging the words, “I shall hear no more of this!” over her shoulder as she went.
Fitzwilliam ground his teeth in frustration. He would have to stay longer than he wished. Yet again, his family was getting in the way of his happiness, and he cursed them for it.
*
Days.
It took days.
And still she would not agree.
Fitzwilliam had never been as vexed in his life, trying different arguments that would persuade his aunt’s unyielding stance on the fate of her daughter.
He was eventually to receive support from an unexpected source ― Mr. Collins.
When Lady Catherine had no company, she invited the clergyman around far more than she did when she was being entertained. Normally, if Darcy and Fitzwilliam were visiting, Mr. Collins would receive only one or two invitations. On this visit though, Lady Catherine did not wish to spend time with Fitzwilliam; his challenges were unwelcome to a woman who expected her word to be final. She had never seen this pugnacious side of her nephew, and she did not like it.
As a result, Mr. Collins was invited at some point every day. This added to Fitzwilliam’s frustration as the man was an overt sycophant where his aunt was concerned, and it did not do his cause any good when Mr. Collins supported Lady Catherine whenever she spoke.
On the sixth day of Fitzwilliam’s return to Rosings he entered the large grandiose drawing room. Lady Catherine was seated, resplendent on her favourite sofa, the folds of her heavily embroidered dress clashing harshly with the busy fabric on the piece of furniture. Mr. Collins in his clergy garb sat opposite Lady Catherine, leaning towards her in an almost seated bow.
Sighing silently, Fitzwilliam acknowledged Mr. Collins with a nod before helping himself to a brandy. Tea was available on the table next to Lady Catherine, but Fitzwilliam was finding more and more that tea did not rem
ove the tension like brandy did when sitting in a room with the two characters he now faced.
“Have you heard from Manchester today?” Lady Catherine demanded as she did every time she first saw Fitzwilliam. He had been out on a ride during the morning to try to clear his head for the afternoon he would spend trying to persuade his aunt into accepting the fact that Anne had to be married.
“I have. Anne continues to make progress, albeit very slowly. She is staying awake for more than an hour at a time now,” Fitzwilliam said. His highlight of the day was receiving the letters that Prudence sent. Yes, they were all about Anne, but in the farewell paragraph she always expressed her desire to see him soon, which helped to lift his spirits.
“It is a blessing that Lady Anne is recovering,” Mr. Collins stated. “But as Sir James was saying only last night, it is so difficult for yourself.”
“How so?” Lady Catherine demanded.
“No longer being able to welcome her at Rosings. We were discussing last night how it must grieve you for it to be so.”
Fitzwilliam sat back in his chair, taking a sip of his drink. The afternoon had suddenly become far more interesting if the expression on his aunt’s face were anything to go by.
“And why would I turn my back on Anne? It is only that my own health has had a set-back in recent weeks that I am not by her side at this moment,” Lady Catherine said.
“With her ruination being so publicly known, I am only even more convinced of your magnanimous nature that you would go to her if you were able. She must feel honoured that, even though she will never see Rosings again, she might be allowed to see you. For she must repine at the loss of her family and friends.” Mr. Collins was blithely forging ahead, as always misreading the signs emanating from the person he was in conversation with.
“Anne shall be returning to Rosings the moment she is well enough to travel,” Lady Catherine said.
“My dear madam, please allow me to offer my advice on this matter. I strongly advise you against such a course of action. The neighbourhood ― ”
“Are nothing to me!” Lady Catherine exploded. “How dare you? How dare you come into my home and tell me what I should and should not be doing? I have never heard anything so utterly offensive in my life!”
“Lady Ca―”
“Do. Not. Interrupt. Me. I shall be giving Sir James a piece of my mind, and if I see or hear of anything ― a single word or a look out of place ― I shall know how to act,” Lady Catherine said.
“Lady Catherine, please. Think about this,” Mr. Collins appealed.
“I want you out of my sight, you foolish man!” Lady Catherine responded. “But you can tell everyone that my daughter shall be returning to Rosings and taking her rightful place as the heiress to this estate. If anyone has an issue with that, I suggest they come and visit me. Now go! I cannot bear to be near you!”
Her words sent the unfortunate clergyman scuttling from the room whilst looking anxiously back at his patroness. The room fell into an uneasy silence for a few moments before Fitzwilliam broke the quiet.
“I don’t know whether to pity or admire him.”
“He is a fool.”
“He’s only repeating what is being discussed throughout the area.”
“I will make sure it stops.”
“You know full well, as a ruined woman, she would not receive a welcome here. The best course of action you can take is to minimise the damage.” Fitzwilliam managed to suppress a smile at the glare his words caused. The fact that she was not cursing him to the devil as she had done every other time he had brought up the subject so far was, hopefully, a sign of progress.
“And I suppose you think a marriage to someone wholly inappropriate would improve matters?”
“Not in the short term. Aunt, Anne is going to take a long time to recover from this. She will be absent for some time. Why not send her somewhere to recuperate when she is strong enough to travel, rather than immediately returning to Rosings?” Fitzwilliam was thinking on the spur of the moment, but a plan was forming that he thought might work.
“Where?”
“Let her remain in Manchester, and you sort out someone to be a deputy steward, for I doubt Mr. Huxley will return without Anne, and I can’t blame him.” He had seen that she was about to argue and had spoken before she could interrupt. “Then take her to the continent for some warm, fresh air. She has never been abroad. Let her travel and recuperate.”
“What happens with Huxley?”
“I think for Anne’s sake, she should be married before she leaves Manchester, and he should travel with you.”
“Preposterous!”
“Not at all. It would be easier for you to have a gentleman travelling with you. He is intelligent and capable. Anne will be happy with him by her side, and whilst you are away you can start to teach him how to be the gentleman.” Fitzwilliam felt a modicum of sympathy for what he was volunteering Huxley for, but better that than the man lose the woman he loved. “There would be no better teacher. When you return to the area, months will have passed, and other gossip will have lowered the interest in Anne’s story, as it always does. I’m not saying there will not be some mutterings when you first return, but it will be temporary.”
“You are speaking as if we shall be gone for some time.”
“I think the longer the better. In the main for Anne’s health, but also for the neighbourhood to have become bored with speculation.”
“What if she gets with child?”
“What of it?”
“She might not survive.” For the first time Lady Catherine looked vulnerable and unsure. Fitzwilliam had the suspicion that she had revealed the real reason she was so against Anne’s marrying anyone.
Standing, he walked to his aunt and knelt before her, taking her hands in his. “Aunt, none of us knows what the future will bring, but please, speak to Huxley and Anne of your concerns. There are ways of stopping children if she would be in especial danger by becoming with child.”
Lady Catherine looked uncomfortable at the tenderness she was being shown, but Fitzwilliam kept hold of her hands.
Eventually, she stood. “Send word that I consent to the marriage. I shall not travel north, but I expect that Huxley will make arrangements that, when Anne is well enough, we shall travel to the south of France for a twelve-month.”
“It’s the right thing to do. You will see.”
“I suppose now you have managed to browbeat me into submission, you will be leaving?” Lady Catherine asked.
“I have been away from my regiment for quite a while,” Fitzwilliam answered. “I hope to be travelling to Manchester soon, but I need to go to London first.”
“You are going to marry Charlotte’s girl, aren’t you?” Lady Catherine mentioned her sister by name for the first time.
“I hope so, Aunt. I truly hope so.”
“Neither you, Darcy, nor Anne have considered the purity of the family bloodlines.”
“Perhaps not, but we will all be happy with the people we have chosen as husbands and wives and surely that is what matters?”
“I expect you will be spouting sonnets when we next meet!”
Fitzwilliam laughed. “I hope not! I don’t wish to frighten Prudence away so early in our acquaintance. She would never agree to a marriage if she hears my bumbling attempts to be romantic with words. Give me a battlefield, and I know exactly what to do. Matters of the heart are a completely different situation to contend with.”
“You managed to talk me around with your flowery words.”
“Oh, I think that had more to do with Mr. Collins than my endeavours.”
“It shall be a long time before I can face him again.”
“Aunt, he is your biggest supporter after your own family.” Fitzwilliam thought it prudent not to point out that Mr. Collins was probably the only one who hung on his aunt’s every word. “Don’t keep him away. You are going to need company over the coming weeks if you are to stay at Rosings. In
vite him back soon. You know he will spend the next half dozen meetings apologising to you.”
“I thought things would return to normal. I even had a letter this morning from Mrs. Jenkinson saying that she was well enough to return to her role as Anne’s companion. I suppose I won’t need her now.”
“You like Mrs. Jenkinson, don’t you?”
“She is efficient enough and very obliging.”
“Why don’t you change her terms of employment? Ask her to be your companion.”
“I will have Anne and Mr. Huxley.”
“They will be newlywed. Surely you would not wish to be in their company all of the time? It might be an idea for you to have a companion who can do as you wish. That way you can please yourself more than if you were alone with Anne and Mr. Huxley.”
“Your suggestion does have some merit,” Lady Catherine admitted.
“Give Mrs. Jenkinson a pay rise as would befit her new position.”
“That would be unnecessary.”
“You do not wish for it to be known that you promote servants without suitable recompense, surely?”
Lady Catherine’s ever-present glare ratcheted up a notch. “No.”
“Perfect. That’s settled then. I shall make arrangements to travel to London in the morning,” Fitzwilliam said.
“I suppose you are very pleased with all your organising and interference in my life.”
“Not at all. I shall hand that baton back to Darcy as soon as he is able to leave Pemberley once more. I find being the placating nephew a far easier prospect.”
“Impudent pup!”
Chapter 20
Fitzwilliam travelled back to London after he had written to Darcy, Prudence, and Mr. Huxley, updating them of the progress he had made. He knew Anne would be happy, and although he had cursed Huxley to the devil, he understood completely what his motivation had been. He ached to see Prudence again and hoped that it would only be a few days before he set out once more for Manchester.
The Colonel's Spinster: A Regency Romance (Tragic Characters in Classic Literature) Page 15