“Do you mean the Countess?” Bingley enthused. “Caroline would love to meet her.”
“I saidour aunt, not my mother,” Richard replied. “I meant Lady Catherine. He fought to school his features. Lady Catherine would be the ideal buffer against Miss Bingley. She would have no problem putting the high-in-the-instep harpy in her place. After all, their aunt had always been celebrated for her forthright character. She had previously heard of Miss Bingley and her pretensions, and Richard was acutely aware that just from what Aunt Catherine had been told, she already disliked Bingley’s younger sister.
“Even if it is not Lady Matlock, I am sure Caroline would love to host one of your titled aunts,” Bingley asserted.
The cousins looked at one another. They were certain it would not take long before Miss Bingley would regret meeting Aunt Catherine, and if Miss Bingley behaved as she was wont to do, their aunt would pounce like a feline. It had been more than ten years since they had called her Aunt Catty. She had heard them once, in their first year at Eton, and she had almost lifted them up by their ears. Since then, they had never dared use that moniker again.
After Bingley took his leave, the cousins made for the music room where Giana was practising at the pianoforte. Their aunt and Mrs Annesley were in quiet conversation so as not to disturb Giana.
As soon as she saw her guardians enter the room, Giana ceased playing. “Well, are you going to Hertfordshire in September?” she asked.
“It looks that way, Sweetling,” Darcy replied. “If you and,” he turned to his aunt, “Aunt Catherine, agree Bingley has invited you to be hosted at the leased estate as well. It will be a good opportunity for you to correct some of Miss Bingley’s foibles.”
“What say you, Giana dear? Should we join Richard and William and journey into Hertfordshire?” Lady Catherine verified.
“You know I love to spend time with Richard and William. With you and Mrs Annesley with me, I need not worry about having to escape Mrs Hurst and Miss Bingley and their cloying attention on my own,” Georgiana enthused.
“Then it seems we will join you.” Lady Catherine thought of something. “What of your cousin, David Wendell? Will he also be one of the party?”
“No, Aunt Catherine, David can only tolerate Bingley for a short time. That would preclude him being hosted by the Bingleys. The day we spent looking over the estate Bingley will lease was enough for him. He will remain in London at Fitzwilliam House. Aunt Cilla and Uncle Joseph will arrive and be with him a few days before we make for Hertfordshire. It is why Mother and Father will remain in London. It is the first time since Ellie…” Richard paused. It still hurt to think of the vivacious life which had been cut short by some blackhearted bastard. “It is the first time Aunt Cilla has come to London voluntarily. The only times she has been in London since Ellie was taken was for the levées of her two sons. Barney will join them here for Christmastide. As far as I know, Emily and Andrew will arrive in Town in mid-November.”
“And will we be back to celebrate the festive season with the family?” Lady Catherine questioned.
“Yes, it is our plan to return to London at least a fortnight before Christmas Eve,” Darcy confirmed. “Even with you there, there is only so much I can tolerate being in Miss Bingley’s company.”
Lady Catherine nodded before she remembered something. “Richard, did you manage to interview candidates for the Hunsford living? I am proud that you refuse to sell it like so many others do. Did you take my advice and write to the bishop in charge of the local seminary?”
“Yes, on both counts,” Richard responded.
“And?” Lady Catherine demanded. She was not oftenimperious anymore, but she lost her patience when she wanted an answer to a question.
“He sent me four men, three are possible candidates and one is most certainly not. He is a man who I would never inflict on the parishioners. In fact, as I told the bishop, the man should not be allowed to minister to pigs.” Seeing the questioning looks, especially from his aunt, Richard decided to elucidate.
“The man’s name is William Collins, and a bigger sycophant I have never met. He was about four years older than the others with whom I met, and that is because it took him much longer than his classmates to graduate. How he did, I do not know; I know more about theology than him.
“Most of the time, he was ranting about how a distant cousin dared to have his wife give him sons, which would end the entail on an estate he had been in line to inherit. He was far more interested in speaking of his grievances than sharing his views of the scriptures. The one time I steered him to the Bible; I found his knowledge sorely lacking. It was not many minutes before he was asking God why He allowed the children who had usurped his position to live. It was then I had this Collins fellow tossed from Rosings Park.
“The next day, I rode to see the bishop. He will recommend this man be sent away to the farthest possible land as a missionary. I think to the deepest, darkest Africa. If we in England are fortunate, we will never see that man on these shores again.”
“Do you want to know the sad thing?” Lady Catherine shook her head as she thought back to who she used to be at one time. “Before Anne was taken from me and I changed for the better, a sycophant like that is exactly the kind of man I would have sought to fill the living.” She looked at Richard with love. “I knew that turning Rosings Park over to you was the right thing to do.”
When Richard and William left the music room, Giana went back to her practise.
Chapter 9
Caroline Bingley was about to explode with anger at her brother. He had taken a lease on an estate in the backwaters of Hertfordshire. Worse than that, he had done so without consulting her.
As she was about to unleash her fury at his affront, some of what he had told her penetrated the fog of her anger. “Wait, did you say that both our dear friends Mr Fitzwilliam and Mr Darcy viewed this place and approved of it?” Miss Bingley demanded shrilly.
“That is correct. Wendell was with us, and he, too, approved of the estate,” Bingley responded.
“Who cares about him? What did you say about Mr Darcy’s aunt?”
“I received a note from Darcy that his titled aunt, Miss Darcy, and Mrs Annesley, Miss Darcy’s companion, will arrive with Fitzwilliam and Darcy.”
“Is the Countess finally going to wait on me?”
Bingley could see the pretension for what it was, but Caroline’s mood was improving, so he said nothing to correct who would wait on whom. “Not Lady Matlock, but her sister-in-law, Lady Catherine. Surely you remember she resides with the Darcys for part of the year?”
