Anne looked at her mother in sympathy. “There would be little point in attempting to protect me by marriage, when sucha measure would certainly take my life, Mother. Darcy needs an heir.” When Lady Catherine did not reply, Anne spoke again, “I do not wish to die, Mother. I am unlikely to live to a great age, but I do not wish to die in childbirth. If you wish for Darcy to unite the fortunes, I could easily just give him Rosings Park, and possibly live another decade, if I am fortunate. I believe the estate ought to go to Richard, if anyone cared what I thought aboutthatmatter; Darcy has enough.”
“You will be kidnapped into marriage in under a fortnight when I am gone!” Lady Catherine insisted. “And who knows what abuses your husband might heap upon you then in order to speed your demise!”
“Are you suggesting that the House of Matlock is incapable of defending our own?” demanded Lord Matlock in outrage.
“I beg everyone’s pardon, but Miss de Bourgh does not need to be married to Mr Darcy in order to receive his protection, or even to live at Pemberley,” Elizabeth pointed out diplomatically. When they turned to her, she said, “I am not engaged to Mr Darcy, as we all well know, so it is not at allmyplace to issue invitations. However, he has confided in me that he cares deeply for Anne as his friend and cousin. I am certain that she would be welcome in any of his homes, to live with his family for as long as she chuses, once he is married.”
“As if you would allow such a thing if his wife was to be you,” Lady Catherine snarled.
“I am the second of five daughters,” Elizabeth replied evenly. “I am accustomed to the company of other women, and I am certain that I will miss my sisters dearly, should I move to Derbyshire, even with Miss Darcy’s company. I am used to the society of my village, and I hear that Pemberley is remote and rather isolated. I will surely have one or another of my sisters with me more often than not, and if my family must be welcome in any home I chuse to live in, so must my husband’s family be.I am told that Pemberley is a great house. I am certain we could move any number of relations in and never notice them from one day to the next if we chose not to. Thatisthe purpose of such grand houses, is it not?”
“That is a sound plan, Cathy. Miss Elizabeth is right, Anne could not live with Darcy until he weds, but she could stay with me and Eleanor at Matlock or in London until that happy day arrives. She can stay indefinitely, although I believe the company of other young people might be good for her,” said Matlock. “It is time to set aside this obsession with Anne’s marriage. Trust your family to take care of her. She is one of our own, and none of us would allow a single hair on her head to be harmed. Please, do not waste what little time you have left in this manner, Sister.”
Lady Catherine seemed to deflate. “Are you well, Lady Catherine? Is there anything that I may provide for your comfort?” Elizabeth asked kindly.
“I am exceedingly tired,” Lady Catherine admitted. “Perhaps Anne and I could have that cup of tea by the fire, and then find ourselves rooms in the area. That Miss Bingley seemed to think I was invited to Netherfield, but I do not wish to presume.”
“There is plenty of room at Netherfield; I know Bingley would not begrudge you a bed,” said Darcy.
“Come into the drawing room, Lady Catherine. We shall see about that tea.” Elizabeth rose, and went around the table to take Lady Catherine’s arm as Lord Matlock offered his support to his niece. Elizabeth led the others back to the drawing room, where Lord Matlock introduced his sister to the Bennets.
Lady Catherine addressed Mrs Bennet, “Madam, please forgive my intrusion to your home. I was mistaken on a matter of grave importance, and I was wrong to encroach upon your peace. You have a lovely room here. It must be very pleasant of a spring morning.”
“Yes, it is, Lady Catherine, we are very fond of sitting here on such days,” Mrs Bennet finally found her voice. “We are planning a grand dinner for my daughter Mary’s engagement to your parson. Your family will join us, I do hope you will as well.”
“Mrs Bennet, may I offer Netherfield’s dining room?” offered Bingley. “Your party is getting rather large, and at Netherfield, you may invite the entire neighbourhood if you like. My sister Caroline will be very happy to allow you the management of our cook for the day, and will be glad to assist you with anything else you require.Right,Caroline?”
Caroline heard the edge to her brother’s voice, and knew he had been pushed beyond his limits. “Very happy indeed, Mrs Bennet. I look forward to your visit, when you can tell me what you have planned.”
CHAPTER 16
Amsterdam - 1540
In a darkened laboratory,a man dressed all in black added one element to another from a vial, observing the reactions and making notes as he did so. The wall behind him was engraved with thousands of arcane symbols. The wall to his left was the home of hundreds of vials of rare ingredients. He had been in these rooms without leaving for nearly one hundred and thirty years, working, just working, on this most exciting of experiments.
He had ceased to refer to himself by any particular name centuries ago; the man Cartaphilus was as dead as everyone who had known him. He had ceased to require an appellation long ago. His apprentices referred to him asmaster, and he referred to them all asapprentice; they came and they worked; they grew old, and they died, then new ones replaced them. They were all the same to him. One day he would move in society again, and he would select a new name when it became necessary.
The room was filled with tables, and around the table were young apprentices, following instructions given by the man inblack, and making their own calculations. One apprentice left the room for a few moments, then returned. The man in black glanced up at the young apprentice as he went to a cabinet and retrieved a formula that they had mixed yesterday.
The man in black’s eyebrows furrowed. That formula was not ready for transmutation. He rose, intending to speak to the apprentice, but he was not fast enough, for the man was young, and intent upon his work.
He had only crossed half of the room and cried out, “No, not that one!” before the apprentice applied the formula to the lump of lead in front of him. The chemical reaction was explosive, flooding the room with vibrant colours and strange lights as the apprentices screamed in terror.
He strode into the centre of the room, and raised his hand into the air, controlling the chaos, bringing the devastation occurring in the room slowly down to nothing, as the apprentices whispered excitedly amongst themselves at this demonstration of his mastery of arcane knowledge. When the chaos subsided, he returned to his calculations, as the apprentices repaired the disorder of the failed experiment.
CHAPTER 17
There was a great deal of socialising between Netherfield and Longbourn over the next five days. Georgiana became very close to Elizabeth, and quickly. She also became very friendly with Mary and Kitty, although Lydia had lately become so difficult that she snubbed poor Georgiana quite scandalously. Lydia was in receipt of male attention on an almost daily basis, and she felt that her attention from the local redcoats quite eclipsed the notice that her sisters enjoyed from their “boring” suitors. Those men were unexciting, and Lydia pitied her sisters. She found Colonel Fitzwilliam quite dashing, until the old man turned as boring as the rest of them, and began lecturing her about the reduced circumstances in which army wives must raise their children. Even after visiting one of the officer’s wives and viewing the squalor in which she and her children lived, Lydia had nothing but excuses and explanations.Shewould marry an officer with some prospects.Herdashing preferred redcoat would have expectations.Shewas smarter than all of those other women,theyhad chosen wrongly, but it was nothing to do withher.
Caroline continued to be a problem for Darcy. She followed him everywhere in the house, outside of the house, she paid thestable hands to send her a note and prepare her horse whenever Darcy’s was called for, and the stable boys were paid to slow the preparations of his mount so she might change into her riding habit and catch him before he escaped. She ordered her maid to wake her at five every day, and met Darcy in the stables before his morning ride, ruining his chances for early morning walks with Elizabeth. She hung on his arm every time the young people walked out, and she never allowed Elizabeth anywhere near him. Lady Matlock steadily attempted to distract Caroline with her own attention, but as much as Miss Bingley had wished for her ladyship’s society, it paled in comparison with keeping Darcy away from Eliza Bennet.
On their second day in the village, Richard and Darcy visited Mr Phillips and asked him to collect Wickham’s debts from the merchants in the village, and also sent a message to Colonel Forster, requesting an appointment for the following afternoon. Upon leaving Phillip’s office, they spotted Wickham on the pavement some feet away, speaking to a man who was a stranger to them. When Wickham spotted them, he turned white. Richard smiled wolfishly at his prey, and Darcy doffed his hat mockingly. Mrs Phillips was close by the men at her window, as always, so Darcy turned away from the scene and addressed her.
“Mrs Phillips, do you know who that man is speaking to Lieutenant Wickham?” Darcy asked pleasantly.
“I hear tell his name is Huggins, sir. He is a tradesman who is rumoured to have some business in the area, though Mr Phillips has noted that he never seems toconductany business that anyone knows of. He stays at the inn for a few days at a time here and there. My maid Molly insists that she heard Lieutenant Wickham speaking to the man in another language in an alley last week, but the innkeeper’s daughter swears the man is English.”
Darcy blessed Mrs Phillips at that moment. As unpleasant as he found gossip, there was something to be said for a connection who spilled everything they knew with just one light inquiry. “Is Wickham known to seek the man out often?” he asked easily.
