When Elizabeth led Anne into her mother’s domain, she watched her friend, curious if she would show any sign of what she thought of the place in which she now found herself. There was nothing that Elizabeth could see, for Anne appeared to concentrate on what was happening at the moment rather than on the appointments.
Within the sitting-room her mother was alone, in her hands a fashion magazine, though it did not look as if she had been paying it any heed. Her mother was not the sort of person to sit alone at the best of times, preferring some company with whom she could exchange banal comments or complaints about her infamous nerves. Of the latter, Elizabeth had always thought there were far too many. When Elizabeth entered with Anne and Jane trailing, her mother looked up, and when noticing the visitor stood as was proper.
“Lizzy,” said she, “I did not know you were to bring a visitor.”
“We met by chance in Meryton, Mama, and there is quite a story behind it. Perhaps we should summon Papa before we begin.”
Mrs. Bennet appeared mystified by this request, but she acceded readily enough, taking the bell cord and summoningMrs. Hill. A few instructions later the woman left on her errand, both to inform Mr. Bennet of their visitor and to fetch a tea service for their consumption. It might have been awkward had Mr. Bennet dallied, for Mrs. Bennet looked at Anne with curiosity, while Anne finally found some interest in her surroundings.
“Yes, Mrs. Bennet?” asked Mr. Bennet as he stepped into the room a moment later. He caught sight of Anne at once and appeared to sense something of the reason for his summons.
“I see you brought a visitor, Lizzy,” said he, turning to Elizabeth.
“Will you not introduce us, Elizabeth?” invited Anne, before Mr. Bennet could speak; as the master of the house, he could ask for the introduction, though Anne was of a higher sphere.
“Of course,” said Elizabeth.
Elizabeth performed the introductions, presenting her parents first to Anne and then reciprocating. Whatever her parents had expected, it was not the daughter of Mr. Collins’s patroness, a woman of whom they had heard but little—that, of course, was because Mr. Collins had focused his considerable verbosity on praising his patroness rather than the woman’s daughter. Not that they had heard nothing, for Elizabeth remembered distinctly a few choice words Mr. Collins had offered when asked about Lady Catherine’s daughter.
“Miss de Bourgh,” said Mr. Bennet, speaking for his wife, “you are very welcome here. I must own, however, to some shock, for I had not expected to welcome one known to my heir into my home.”
“No, I cannot imagine you did,” replied Anne a little wryly. “The tale of my coming is a stupendous account, containing libertinous villains, distressed damsels, and a heroine who would stop at nothing to thwart the rogue and perform a daring rescue.”
Elizabeth turned to Anne, shocked she had made such a sportive statement, not having thought her capable of such. Mrs. Bennet tittered, and Jane smiled, but her father offered an amused snicker.
“Is ‘libertinous’ an actual word, Miss de Bourgh?”
“I believe I may safely say it is now, Mr. Bennet,” assured Anne.
“Yes, well, if we are to invent words on the spot to describe today’s events, I am certain they must be worth hearing. Let us sit and you may tell us all about it.”
Thus invited, they all took their seats, Mr. Bennet glancing toward Elizabeth and Anne in turn. “Since it appears you both share knowledge of today’s events, I suppose you will wish to share in the telling. Or perhaps Lizzy would prefer to take the lead? I apologize, Miss de Bourgh, but the few reports we received of you suggested you are not exactly... verbose.”
“I am not,” replied Anne, “though I am not precisely as taciturn as my cousin Darcy.”
“Ah, yes, Mr. Darcy,” mused Mr. Bennet. “I had forgotten about that connection.”
Mrs. Bennet huffed, drawing the attention of the company to her. Elizabeth, feeling mortified at her mother’s outburst, directed a stern warning to her, but Anne only smiled at her.
“It seems my cousin has been making himself agreeable to the neighborhood.” The understated sarcasm in Anne’s tone again caught Elizabeth by surprise. “While I have attended little society with him, my other cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, has told me many tales of his exploits to entertain me.”
Seeming to understand she had risked provoking offense, Mrs. Bennet offered: “Mr. Darcy does not speak much. I commented on that facet of his character more than once.”
“It is a Darcy family curse,” replied Anne. “But we did not come to exchange stories of Darcy.” Anne turned to Elizabeth.“If you would, Elizabeth?”
While Elizabeth thought the story began before her involvement, given Mr. Wickham must have spent some time convincing her, then traveling with her to Hertfordshire that very day, she assented. With an economy of words, she described the Bennet sisters’ sojourn to Meryton that morning, how she had espied Anne in the carriage, and Lydia’s assertions concerning Mr. Wickham’s return. Then she spoke of how she had approached Anne and convinced her to abandon her design of eloping with Mr. Wickham, then their escape from Meryton and to Longbourn. By the end of her tale, her mother was fretful and her father knowing.
“That is an interesting tale, Lizzy,” said Mr. Bennet. “Thus are the identities of the damsel, the heroine, and the villain made clear.” He chuckled and added: “I agree with your assessment, Miss de Bourgh, for the man in question appears to be more than a little libertinous.”
Anne laughed, but Elizabeth could not help but feel abashed. “I am not a heroine, Papa.”
“Yet you acted when you saw a problem, Lizzy, without hesitation or thought to the consequences.” Mr. Bennet regarded her, the warmth of his affection filling her with happiness. “It is so like you to rush in and right a perceived wrong—I cannot but say your perception was accurate, as usual.”
“I am grateful to your daughter for her actions,” said Miss de Bourgh. “Though Mr. Wickham convinced me to depart Rosings with him, and I shall not say what prompted me to accept, I had second thoughts almost from the first moment. Had Elizabeth not convinced me, I cannot say that I would have acted to save myself.”
“But Mr. Wickham!” wailed Mrs. Bennet. “He has always presented such gentlemanly manners. It is unfathomable to think that he is a dastardly villain!”
Mr. Bennet nodded and turned to Elizabeth. “Given your efforts to convince Miss de Bourgh, you must have known something of him. I do not recall you saying anything on the subject before you went to Kent; might I assume you learned something of him there?”
