ROSINGS
PRIDE & PREJUDICE CONTINUES
BOOK TWO
Karen Aminadra
Published in 2013 by Karen Aminadra
Copyright © 2013 Karen Aminadra.
First Edition
This is a work of fiction. All names and characters in this book are fictitious or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental and is not intended by the author.
The author has asserted their moral right under the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
All Rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the copyright holder, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
ISBN: 9781310709265
Acknowledgments
Many thousands of thanks to Susan Uttendorfsky at Adirondack Editing, Miranda Stork at Moon Rose Publishing, and Jennifer E. I am indebted to you all.
Cover art by Miranda Stork of Moon Rose Cover Designs and Moon Rose Publishing.
Dedication
To Karilyn and Derek for always loving me and believing in me.
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Foreword
Charlotte – Pride & Prejudice Continues began and sparked off a series in which Karen Aminadra follows the lives, loves, and drama of Jane Austen’s minor Pride & Prejudice characters.
Rosings takes place at Rosings Park, the home of the inimitable Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and centres on her daughter, Anne.
Anne’s story begins just as Charlotte’s finishes.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
ONE
_______________________________
The Right Honourable Lady Catherine de Bourgh had not spoken to her nephew, Mr Darcy, since his infamous marriage to Miss Elizabeth Bennet. She made her views on the match perfectly clear, even going so far as to visit the home of Miss Bennet herself. She was so irritated upon hearing rumours that he would marry Miss Bennet that she immediately left Kent and travelled the fifty miles to Hertfordshire, stopping only briefly at Bromley to change her horses, as she usually did.
Upon her arrival at Longbourn, the Bennet’s estate, Lady Catherine was shown into the drawing room. It was a most inconvenient room, she remembered, with the windows facing full west. She received no courtesy which was due her owing to her station. They were neither polite, nor were they rude to her; they merely stared at her. No introductions were made and Lady Catherine herself had to speak up and prompt Miss Bennet to introduce her to her mother. She was glad she made Anne remain in the carriage and wait for her. She did not wish Anne, with her delicate constitution, to suffer from such impropriety.
Lady Catherine was already beside herself with irritation when she arrived at Longbourn, but upon being subjected to such indifference in the Bennet household, her ire rose and she could not bear to remain seated in that room much longer. She remembered seeing a pretty-ish sort of wilderness on one side of the Bennet garden. She stood and insisted that Miss Bennet accompany her there. Her anger was so high that she stormed off ahead of the young girl and heard her taking many steps to keep up with her. The discussion that she then had with Miss Elizabeth Bennet was not satisfactory. She remembered Elizabeth’s curt replies like a knife in the heart. Lady Catherine spelt out quite plainly why the marriage could not and should not take place. She expressly also asked Miss Bennet not to enter into an engagement with her nephew. Miss Bennet would not satisfy Lady Catherine as to her intentions as to Darcy at all. When pressed, she also would not promise to refuse any offer of marriage he made to her.
“And will you promise me never to enter into such an engagement?”
“I will make no promise of the kind,” was the answer she received. This incensed Lady Catherine even further, who then realised the futility of such an interview with the young lady.
Lady Catherine knew that she was impolite to Miss Elizabeth Bennet when taking leave, but she cared not. Her only thought was that the family would be degraded by such a match; that such a connection would be shameful for them all.
She barely spoke a word to Anne on the way home to Kent from Hertfordshire, apart from relaying the news that Anne would not be Mrs Darcy. Lady Catherine was perplexed by the look on Anne’s face. It seemed that news came as somewhat of a relief to her.
If that all was not humiliation enough, when Lady Catherine confronted her nephew with the news, he simply remained silent and pensive. He would not furnish her with any more information, no matter how hard she pressed him. He then promptly left Kent for she knew not where. After a few weeks passed, she received a letter from Mr Darcy, informing her that he asked Miss Elizabeth Bennet to be his wife, and she accepted. The letter shocked and wounded her deeply. She did not speak for a full ten minutes after receiving it. Each time she opened her mouth to say something, only a screeching noise came out. When she fully regained herself, she stomped and ranted for the remainder of the day.
She began and discarded many letters to Mr Darcy, each one more violent in its expression than the last. After an extremely unsettled night’s sleep, she finally organised her thoughts into a letter to him that was barely polite. Lady Catherine pleaded with her nephew to see sense. He refused, of course, and an altercation by letter ensued between them. The result was that Lady Catherine refused to attend her nephew’s wedding and, after a few more choice words, Mr Darcy angrily forbade Lady Catherine to set foot upon Pemberley land.
Lady Catherine and Anne did not attend the wedding ceremony, therefore, or the wedding breakfast. They also did not send their congratulations to the newlyweds. Lady Catherine began to fear for her daughter’s future security, and they sat in sombre silence that day.
* * *
Try as she might, Lady Catherine could not erase the knowledge of the marriage from her mind. It kept her up at night, and she was determined to dedicate her time and energy to helping those around her who needed it instead, like Mr and Mrs Collins. However, it seemed that her help was not wanted there, either.
She could not understand the way the younger generation thought. They seemed to have no regard for their elders. She bore it as best she could. She willingly offered her help when Mr Collins asked for it after his wife went against her express wishes. Together they came up with a way to help correct Mrs Collins’ waywardness and to bring harmony back to the parsonage.
Then, before she knew it, Lady Catherine had to bear more insolence from Hunsford with the wedding of Miss Louisa Thomas and the farmer, Mr Simmons. In her temper, she wanted to put a stop to the marriage for a second time, as she had the first, many years before, but her nephew, Colonel Fitzwilliam, spoke kindly but sternly to her on the subject. He had not once in his life spoken to her in such a manner and she took his words to heart immediately. It seemed to her that everyone was turning away from her and it grieved her profoun
dly. In fact, she sulked in her room and around Rosings until the wedding tizzy in Hunsford was over and done with.
* * *
It was not long thereafter that news was brought to her of Mr Collins’ unfortunate accident. Lady Catherine didn’t know all the particulars, owing to the fact that she still did not wish to speak to Mrs Collins over a small, trifling matter. She knew only that he hit his head, but she supposed that he tripped on the rug and fell against the hearth in the drawing room. She immediately assumed the worst, of course. She believed head injuries always to be fatal. She visited with Mrs Collins as soon as she could summon the strength, and not long after she entered the bedroom, where he lay, she felt he was not long for this world. The atmosphere in the room was unbearable and she could not remain longer than propriety demanded. She returned home dejected and saddened that Mrs Collins was still not contrite.
After a few days passed, Lady Catherine endeavoured to visit with Mrs Collins once more. That was when she came face to face with her nephew and his new bride, Elizabeth.
* * *
Lady Catherine arrived at the Hunsford parsonage for a second visit. She was certain Mr Collins was nearing the end of his days. Therefore, she felt it incumbent upon her to visit and arrived that day to offer succour to the soon-to-be widowed Mrs Collins. Lady Catherine was still prepared to let the events of the past few weeks pass into memory, for the sake of Mr Collins, if Mrs Collins would but give her an apology. However, upon entering the sick room, Lady Catherine saw that her nephew, Fitzwilliam Darcy, and his wife were also present. She felt dizzy at the memory of it, and took deep breaths to calm her nerves.
Mr Darcy sat beside Mr Collins’ bed reading his correspondence out to him when Lady Catherine entered the bedroom without being announced.
“Mrs Collins, you are well…” She stopped mid-sentence upon seeing Mr Darcy and his wife Elizabeth in the room. “You! What are you doing here?” she demanded angrily.
Elizabeth Darcy, who was always quick-tongued, spoke first. “Good morning to you as well, Aunt de Bourgh.” She dropped a curtsey. “I trust you are well.”
“Hmm…” Lady Catherine stared at her in astonishment.
Mr Darcy rose and offered his aunt the chair he was occupying, although he did not greet her, nor did he bow.
She seated herself beside Mr Collins, whom was now forgotten, and stared at her nephew. “Well, Nephew, answer me. What are you doing here?”
“We are here to see Mr and Mrs Collins, of course, Aunt,” came Mr Darcy’s response. He was being curt and it infuriated her.
“I can see that. Do not be insolent with me. What is Mr Collins to you, pray?”
Nothing could have prepared her for Mr Darcy’s response. “Mr Collins is my wife’s cousin. Mr Collins is my cousin-in-law. Mrs Collins is Mr Collins’ wife…”
“Do not be obtuse!” Lady Catherine cut in. She could not understand why her nephew could treat her thusly.
Mr Darcy continued, however, and his voice became more forceful. “…Mrs Collins is Mr Collins’ wife, making her my wife’s cousin-in-law. This, then, makes her my cousin-in-law by marriage. To make it plainer, Aunt, William and Charlotte are family, and we are visiting them in their time of distress.”
Lady Catherine’s face became so red at his words that she felt as though she would burst a blood vessel. She rose from the chair and stormed from the room, declaring, “It shall not be borne!”
She remembered speaking, leaving the room, and fleeing to the entrance hall. She then vaguely recalled her nephew speaking with her there, but try as she might, she could not gather her wits as yet to comprehend all that passed. She knew that she fled the parsonage as quickly as she could. She also had forgotten her manners in so doing, but what cared she for that? She was discomfited and injured yet again.
My nephew, Fitzwilliam Darcy, and his wife, in the Collins’ home! It is not to be borne! Why are they even there in the first place? What business of theirs is it if Mr Collins is taken ill? Who do they think they are, traipsing across half the country to meddle? Is Mr Collins not under my protection? Surely I am the proper person to offer assistance in their time of need!
“Mama, what is it?” Anne called to her from the carriage. “Is it Mr Collins? Has he taken a turn for the worse?”
Lady Catherine barely saw the carriage in front of her or her concerned daughter. She was lost in her own thoughts and upset. Her memory came back to her in waves through the anger that clouded her mind.
How dare they speak to me in such a manner? That Elizabeth called me aunt! Oh, I know what she is about! She is determined to ingratiate herself with me by flouting her familial connection, but it will not work. I have made my mind up and I am immovable on the subject.
Lady Catherine fumed and her mind raged as she climbed into her carriage. Anne sat beside her silently. All her questions fell on deaf ears, and she seemed to know her mother well enough not to agitate her further by questioning her again.
And my nephew, how dare he speak to me so! I know he was never brought up to speak in such a fashion. That wife of his must have put him up to it!
She sighed unhappily as the carriage headed back to Rosings, not giving a backward glance to the parsonage behind her.
* * *
Later, as Lady Catherine sat in the drawing room of her home, the events between then and now slowly pieced themselves together in her mind. She was not amused. In fact, she was angry and disappointed. All her life she had striven to preserve what she saw as the correct order of things. Her mind was in turmoil as she tried to make sense of it all.
She liked people to remain within their proper ranks. However, events of recent months took a turn of which she did not approve. The villagers, she believed, no longer revered her and even her nephew, Colonel Fitzwilliam, departed abruptly and against her wishes. She was not used to such disrespect from those around her. It is not to be borne. Am I and all my advice and charity to be thusly discarded?
Her world was changing and she was losing her position as mistress of it all. Something had to be done. She had to assert her authority again. Lady Catherine straightened up in her chair. She knew exactly what to do now. The Darcys and Collinses were to be forgotten. Anne should rightfully take up all of her attention now. She smiled.
“Yes, indeed,” she muttered as she rose and went to her writing table. She began to scratch a list of names upon the paper in front of her. “It is Anne whom I should focus upon now.”
TWO
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Lady Catherine remained seated and was aghast at her daughter’s reaction to the list she handed her. She only wanted the best for her daughter, as any mother would.
She announced her plan to invite several young men for a visit and that Anne would have the pleasure of choosing to marry the one who pleased her the most. It could not have been more convenient for her. Why had she reacted so negatively? Lady Catherine did not have the faintest idea.
She was extremely attentive in choosing the young men to add to the list, and eliminated many eligible bachelors before making her final decision. Surely, Anne could see that her efforts were solely for her benefit. Lady Catherine wanted the best for her daughter, and was perplexed that Anne did not agree that this was an excellent method of choosing a husband.
* * *
Anne ran to her room, slammed her door shut, and immediately regretted it. She was not one for fits of temper, but her mother severely riled her that morning. She was presented with a list of men who would be invited to stay at Rosings and was told that she must choose and persuade one of them to marry her. How could her mother be so cruel? Did she care nothing for her daughter’s future happiness?
Anne was determined that she would not marry any of the men on her mother’s list and her mother was determined that she would. Anne knew that she would eventually have no say in the matter at all. She would not be permitted to marry for love, but for rank or for money. She also knew that the home s
he knew and loved for all of her life would be handed over to her husband, by law, as soon as she signed her name on the register. He would then be able to do as he pleased with her, her fortune, land, and house. The very thought frightened her and made her sick to her stomach. She retched and managed not to lose her breakfast, then sank to her knees, sobbing bitterly.
* * *
Anne de Bourgh was the daughter and only child of Sir Lewis and Lady Catherine de Bourgh and was sickly, or so she was always told. She was cossetted and shielded from all the bumps and scrapes that most children have by her over-protective mother. If it rained, then she was to stay indoors, for fear of catching a cold. If it was sunny, she was to remain indoors or under a pergola or some other covering, to avoid overheating and becoming faint. If she did, by some miracle, manage to get out into the sun, then she had to wear the most enormously brimmed bonnet and long sleeves to avoid getting sunburnt. This would then genuinely make Anne faint, not from the intensity of the sun, but from the sheer amount of clothing she was forced to wear on a hot day. Anne was also then chased wherever she went by her companion, the poor, long-suffering Mrs Jenkinson, who was mortally afraid that Anne would be stung by a bee. Mrs Jenkinson would also mumble and moan that if Anne was indeed stung, then she would probably die, and it would all be her fault for not protecting her well enough. Anne doubted very much the veracity of such a statement, but thus it was and, as a result, Anne lived miserably. Every day brought new encounters, insects, or weather that could endanger her very life, or so her mother was convinced. Anne, on the other hand, was sure that her mother was in error. There were days when she felt so full of energy that she could have run from the house to Hunsford village and back again before breakfast. She, however, did not do any such thing; a lady would never run. But that was how she felt. She was rarely unwell and dreamt of participating in all the activities she knew her cousins were permitted to take on. The reins with which her mother controlled her were held very tightly indeed. Anne loved her mother dearly, despite her faults, and was convinced that deep down, under her stony exterior, she loved her in return.
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