Lady Catherine was pleased to see her and greeted her warmly as she entered the drawing room. Anne did her best to avoid looking at Monty. She knew, however, that it made her actions appear awkward and so was glad to be furnished with a cup of coffee and seated on the settee.
“Ah, a fine cup of coffee, and much needed, if I do say so myself.” Henry sighed as he drank deeply. “It is a lovely evening, and we enjoyed a pleasant drive here, Your Ladyship. I trust you had an agreeable dinner?”
“Thank you, Henry. Yes, we did.”
Anne sighed inwardly. She wished the pleasantries and the entire evening were over so that she could retire and be as far away from Monty as possible.
“I say, Anne. You were greatly missed at dinner this evening.” Walter smiled kindly at her.
Anne blushed and doubted the verity of the statement. She was sure Monty did not wish to see her any more than she did him. “Oh, thank you for the compliment, Walter.”
Walter grinned cheekily at her and laughed. “I hope that you did not abscond and hide yourself at the parsonage all day to avoid us.”
Anne’s heart missed a beat. Surely he knew nothing of that morning’s events. “Not at all, I assure you. I merely accompanied my mother there this morning, and then was asked to stay for dinner.” She smiled as innocently as she could.
Ernest huffed and slammed his glass down on the table beside him.
Henry frowned at him. “Whatever is the matter, my dear fellow?”
Ernest stared hard at Anne. “Perhaps you should ask Monty that question.”
FIFTEEN
_______________________________
If the ground had opened up and swallowed Anne whole, she would have been eternally grateful. However, it did not and she knew the next few minutes would be hard to bear.
Everyone in the room turned and stared at Monty questioningly. It was as though they saw him for the first time that evening.
“Dear God! What happened to your face?” Henry exclaimed.
Anne was impressed at his acting ability and almost laughed because she was so nervous.
“Perhaps for the answer to that, you should ask Anne,” Ernest sneered.
As one person, they all turned to look at Anne. She could not raise her head and meet their gazes. She felt ashamed of herself and guilty for her actions.
“Yes, so you should feel ashamed of yourself,” Ernest mumbled.
Whatever Ernest was told, he believed Monty’s injury to be wholly her fault, and she felt it acutely. She gripped her cup and saucer tightly as she resisted the powerful urge to run from the room.
To Anne’s embarrassment, her mother joined in with Henry’s ruse.
“To what are you referring? What on earth has Monty’s injured face to do with my Anne?”
Anne looked at her mother and the disbelief on her face astounded her. If the situation had not been so serious and upsetting for Anne, she would have found her mother and Henry’s acting skills highly entertaining. As it was, she wondered what they were about.
Monty spoke up finally. “Perhaps we should indeed ask Anne.” He stared at her and Anne could no longer avoid his gaze. She could not help herself as her eyes welled with tears.
“Aye, you may well indeed cry, Miss de Bourgh, after what you have done!” Ernest’s tone grew increasingly angry towards her.
“What I have done?” she cried. “What do you mean, what I have done?” Anne stared at Monty, her eyes begging him to tell the truth of the matter, but he merely looked down at the floor.
“Anne,” he said quietly, “you know exactly what you have done. I cannot speak of it in front of so many.”
“Nonsense!” Lady Catherine bellowed. “If you have an accusation to make against my daughter, then be out with it!”
All eyes were on Monty. Anne was certain that she saw a glint in his eyes as he looked at her. She feared what he would say.
Monty looked at his friends and, to Anne’s horror, they nodded to him that he should tell all. Monty looked directly at Lady Catherine. “I am a jilted man, Your Ladyship.”
“Jilted?” She frowned. “I was not aware that an understanding existed between you.”
Monty sighed. “Yes, there was, and Anne broke it off most cruelly.”
Anne was incredulous. “That is untrue!”
Monty turned to face Anne. “How could you, Anne? How could you add insult to injury by denying it? After all we have been to each other.”
Anne froze. She watched as her mother turned to her in disbelief.
“Of what is he speaking, Anne? What does he mean?”
“I have no idea, Mother. He is nothing to me and never has been!”
Ernest stood at her words. “You deny it?”
“Ernest, please.” Monty put out his arm to stop his friend from moving towards Anne.
“Let’s keep a hold of our emotions, gentlemen. Monty, what is it that you are accusing Anne of?” Henry joined.
“Anne, please,” Monty begged. “Say you’ll change your mind and marry me. Just say it, and we can forget all of this. I promise I won’t say another word.”
Anne was in shock. She felt cornered once again. Her mind could not think and neither could her mouth speak in her defence.
Monty rose, stepped towards her, and reached for her hand. “Just say the word, Anne.”
A shiver ran down Anne’s spine at his touch and she snatched her hand away. “No! I will not marry you! I cannot and I will not and you know full well why not!” She cared not that tears were now falling freely.
Henry stepped forward. “Now, let’s get to the bottom of this and end the argument.”
Anne looked at him imploringly.
“Anne, are you unwavering in your determination not to marry Montague?”
Anne nodded.
“Right.” He turned to Monty. “You heard the lady clearly, I suppose?”
Monty nodded. “Yes, I did.”
“So, are you willing to drop the matter?”
“No.” Monty clenched his jaw and Anne’s stomach sank.
“Then would you please inform us of why?”
“With pleasure.” Monty smiled and Anne dreaded his next words. “A couple of nights ago, Anne invited me into her rooms and…” He looked at Anne. “…in our passion, we anticipated our marriage vows.”
Anne gasped. She could not believe her ears.
Lady Catherine was beside herself. She virtually fell backwards into her armchair. Anne could not attend her mother; she stood still, staring at Monty. His lie reverberated in her ears.
It took a few minutes to calm Lady Catherine’s nerves after Monty’s revelation. She lamented Anne’s demise. “My daughter is ruined! How could she behave so? She will have no choice but to marry him now!” she screeched.
Charles obligingly added a little brandy to her coffee and made her drink it all. It seemed to do the trick. Lady Catherine slowly regained her composure.
She stood up and very nearly pushed Anne out of the way. “How dare you cast aspersions on Anne’s character?”
Monty countered. “They are not aspersions, Your Ladyship. I speak only the truth.”
Anne flinched as her mother rounded on her. For one awful second, she thought her mother would strike her.
“What have you to say for yourself?”
“It is not true, Mama. You must believe me.”
Monty laughed spitefully. “Oh, Anne. You had an attack of guilt this morning and then tried to break it off. You bit my lip when I kissed you! This…” He said, pointing to his face. “…is evidence enough!”
Anne could not believe how easily Monty lied to them all, nor how they believed every word he uttered so implicitly.
“I bit you because you forced yourself on me!” Anne sobbed.
“Forced myself on you? Preposterous! Force myself on my own fiancée?” he spat back.
“I am not your fiancée. I refused you and you forced yourself on me!” Anne’s legs felt weak and she sat
back down on the settee and sobbed into her handkerchief.
Walter moved to sit next to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Whether she is your fiancée or not, Monty, it was bad form to force yourself upon her. A lady deserves better.”
“I did not force myself upon her! She wanted it!” He stared with undisguised venom at Walter. “And what would you know about how to treat a lady, anyway?”
Charles stood and squared up to Monty.
“Now, now, gentlemen, please!” Henry waved his hands at them. “Let’s not get overheated. Let’s please endeavour to keep this civilised in front of the ladies.”
Monty clenched his jaw, but did not step away, and neither did Charles.
“We must get to the bottom of this. If there is any truth in the allegations, then Anne must marry Monty to save her reputation, I am afraid.” Henry sighed.
Charles looked sadly at Henry, turned, and seated himself on the other side of Anne to Walter.
“Now, Anne.” Henry continued whilst staring at Monty and indicating with a nod of his head that he should be seated. “Did Monty offer marriage to you?”
Anne nodded her head.
“And did you accept this offer or not?”
Anne cleared her throat. “I refused him.”
Monty made to speak, but Henry silenced him with a movement of his hand.
“And what of the allegation that he has made against your character?”
Anne wept again at such cruel treatment. She could only shake her head.
“Are you saying that it is a falsehood?”
“Yes,” she answered weakly.
“Callous, lying coquette!” Horace hissed at her.
“That’s enough!” Lady Catherine yelled at him.
Anne wondered when her mother would come to her aid. She was beginning to feel abandoned by her.
“I wish to get to the bottom of this and I will not stand for any more name-calling in my house! Do you hear me?”
The threesome looked at each other, but did not seem contrite at all.
Anne pondered what would become of her when Henry began to question her once again.
“Forgive me, my dear, but would you be willing to have the doctor verify your negation?”
“Henry, please!” Lady Catherine looked shocked and fanned herself with her handkerchief.
“Forgive me, Your Ladyship, but we need to be certain as to what is truth and what is falsehood here.”
Anne knew that Henry was right, so she spoke up and, in a quivering voice, said that if need be, she would submit to Dr Sawyer’s examining her. Almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she hung her head and wept bitterly. She felt so ashamed and wished she’d never set eyes upon Montague Fitz-Herbert.
* * *
Lady Catherine waited all evening for that brute, Montague Fitz-Herbert, to say something and cause a scene. Now that it was happening, she wanted it to stop as soon as possible. She needed to hear every accusation that Monty had against Anne, but the sight of her daughter weeping so desperately tore at her heart.
Lady Catherine very nearly came close to losing her countenance when the young man alleged that he and Anne had Biblical knowledge of each other. She was not accustomed to hearing such language and she was certain her nerves could not take much more of the scene.
Lady Catherine was quite content to allow Henry to take the lead in drawing Monty and his accusations out into the open. When it came to it, she felt she did not have the stomach to hear such things about her precious child.
The anger and hatred directed towards Anne was shocking. She was so enraged by the threesome that it was all she could do to resist the urge to grab hold of the closest object and throw it at them. She wanted to have them all thrown out of Rosings that very instant, without giving them the courtesy of time to pack their belongings. However, Henry had insisted they wait and draw Monty out.
Lady Catherine sat, watching Anne and Monty in turns. Her ears could not believe the spite in that man’s voice.
“Anne,” he pleaded, “do not put yourself through the indignity of such a procedure, I beg of you. I cannot bear to see you embarrassed so.”
The sympathy in his eyes made Lady Catherine’s stomach turn. How could he behave thusly?
“I want to marry you still, and you will be happy, I assure you.”
Charles cleared his throat. “If you were so concerned for Anne as to spare her pain and embarrassment, then perhaps you ought to have had this discussion in private with Anne and Lady Catherine.”
“Keep out of this, Warrington. It’s none of your business.” Monty growled back at him.
Lady Catherine watched in silence, her anger boiling over. Anne could take no more, it seemed, and rose to leave.
Monty grabbed her by the arm and hissed in her ear. “Where are you going? You will answer me, and you’ll do it now. I will have you for my wife, Anne. You are mine and there’s nothing more to it.”
Lady Catherine heard every single threatening word.
“No, let go of me!” Anne cried. Monty’s gripped increased and Anne yelped in pain.
Lady Catherine heard enough; she would sit idly by no longer. She stood up and grabbed Monty by the ear. “Let go of my daughter this instant, do you hear?”
Monty pushed Anne violently away in an attempt to free himself from Lady Catherine’s vice-like grip.
Lady Catherine, however, did not let go of his ear until she was satisfied that Anne was seated again and unhurt. She walked Monty backwards until he fairly fell into the armchair he previously occupied.
She then loomed over him as she spoke. “I have just about had enough of this charade, Mr Fitz-Herbert.” She took a deep breath and enjoyed every syllable she then uttered. “You will desist in this foolery and retract your allegations this instant, or I will have you thrown out of my house immediately and horsewhipped to boot!”
“But, I …” Monty began to spout, but Lady Catherine cut him off.
“No excuses, Mr Fitz-Herbert.”
“Why?” Horace shouted. “Why should he apologise for telling the truth?”
“Yes, your daughter is a Jilting Jesse!” Ernest joined.
Lady Catherine was aware that her face became red at such insolence. She turned to Henry, who smiled and raised his eyebrows at her, and she calmed. She knew exactly what to say next. “I am very sorry to inform you, gentlemen, but you have been victims of deception.”
“What?”
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
Lady Catherine turned her anger on Horace. “It is not I who am being ridiculous, Mr Felton. It is you who have blindly allowed yourself to believe such untruths of my daughter; it is you who is ridiculous.”
She turned around and looked directly at Anne. “However, it is I who was initially deceived. I believed Montague to be a gentleman of good reputation. I believed that he would indeed make a good husband for you, Anne. I was in error, I see that now.”
Anne’s mouth fell open in surprise. She could not believe that her mother was apologising. Never before had she heard such a thing.
“However, I was not the only person to fall for Montague’s dissimulation. His purpose in coming here was to marry Anne. That in itself is not shocking, as it was also my intention in inviting you all to visit; I have no doubts of your awareness of this fact.” She looked around the room at the faces watching her so avidly. “Unfortunately, I was not aware of the dangers that I was placing Anne in by doing so.”
Anne smiled gratefully at her mother.
“I regret doing that, Anne. However, it does not excuse the behaviour of Montague Fitz-Herbert at all.” She turned and fixed him with a gaze that made him sink down further into his chair. “You, young man, have deceived us all.” She looked at Horace and Ernest. “Including those you would call friends.”
“I have not! I resent the implication, Your Ladyship!” He shot out of his chair. His face was red with incredulity.
“Are you quite sure
of that?” Lady Catherine asked calmly.
Monty nodded. “Indeed, yes I am.”
“Montague, you made me…no, you made us all believe that you were in love with Anne.”
“I say! How can you doubt it? I am in love with Anne, dash it all!”
“Truly?” she asked him quietly.
His face turned a deeper shade of red. “Of course! I want her to marry me, don’t I?”
“That does not necessarily imply that you are in love with her.”
Monty placed his hand on his heart in a melodramatic show of his emotions. “I swear to you, in the most animated of language, dearest Lady Catherine, that your daughter, Anne, is the deepest desire of my heart. I love her more than my own life! And…and we wouldn’t have…you know, if I didn’t love her.”
“Mr Fitz-Herbert, the maid, Miss Yates, told us how you bribed her to gain entrance to Anne’s room.”
Monty’s mouth twitched a little smile.
“She also told me, before she was dismissed without reference, that you were not in Anne’s chambers long enough for anything out of the ordinary to have occurred. Not in any loving manner, anyway, Mr Fitz-Herbert, and Anne would have come straight to me if that took place, I assure you.” She stared at him hard. “It is my opinion, having heard what Anne has to say, that you and she did not, in fact, do what you claim.”
“You have only Anne’s word on the matter!” Horace spat.
“Yes, I do. And hers is worth a thousand times that of Mr Fitz-Herbert’s here!”
“I have behaved in a gentleman-like manner! You cannot doubt that, Lady Catherine!” Monty whined.
Lady Catherine took in a deep breath and exhaled while shaking her head slowly. “Then perhaps, Montague, you would tell me who Nancy is?”
Monty’s face went from deep red to the palest white in an instant. “I…” He swallowed. “Who?”
“I believe Horace referred to her as Nancy Bishop.”
Horace and Ernest paled almost as quickly as Monty.
“What else was it you called her, Horace?” Lady Catherine turned to him. “The … something, something in Hackney?”
Monty sputtered.
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