“Lady Catherine,” said Darcy, deciding it was time he stepped in, “you may insist all you like, and it will not affect me. Now is not the time to discuss such matters. Please have a little respectfor our hosts and cease speaking of this subject.”
“Today’s events will affect Anne’s reputation, Darcy. A timely marriage is of the utmost importance. It is your duty to comply.”
“Your opinion of my duty differs from my own,” retorted Darcy, his patience almost snapped by her unreasonable demands. “Leave this discussion at once, Aunt, for now is not the time nor the place for it.”
“The time and place are of my choosing!” insisted Lady Catherine.
“Ugh!” exclaimed the youngest Bennet. “Can no one silence this virago so we can all eat in peace?”
As it happened, Darcy agreed with Miss Lydia’s assessment, though not with the rudeness of saying so much to his aunt’s face. Lady Catherine’s cheeks reddened with rage at the insult, so much that she appeared incapable of responding. Mr. Bennet looked on with glee, his family with varying degrees of shock or anger, Bingley matching Mr. Bennet, while Fitzwilliam appeared ready to expire from mirth, he was laughing so hard. Darcy thought to interject, reflecting it may be best for them to depart at once, when another spoke before he could.
“I cannot agree more, Miss Lydia,” said Anne, smiling at the younger girl.
Miss Lydia realized she had spoken out of turn and was expecting a reprimand, but when Anne spoke, she started, but did not hesitate to grin. Anne, however, turned her fire back on her mother.
“Do you wish to know why I left Rosings this morning, Mother? Do you wish to hear the real reason for my flight?”
Though nearly incoherent with rage, Lady Catherine did not seem eager to hear what her daughter would say. Anne, however, gave her no opportunity to demur, for she continued at once, as inexorable as the tide.
“I left because I could no longer endure your tyrannicalways. Remaining where you could inform me of my opinions, dictate every facet of my life, and browbeat me into doing what you wished became repugnant, so I took the first opportunity presented to me to flee.”
“Anne!” exclaimed Lady Catherine in shock.
“I will not return to Rosings with you, Mother,” said Anne, directing a pitiless—derisive—glare at her mother. “When we leave Netherfield, I intend to go to London and throw myself on my uncle’s mercy to remove myself from your influence. If uncle will not have me, I will ask Darcy to set me up in one of his estates, and should that fail, I will join a nunnery before I submit myself to your authority again.”
“Anne!” repeated Lady Catherine, this time the anguish of rejection rather than the fury of confronting disobedience.
“That is quite enough,” said Fitzwilliam. “Anne, we completely comprehend your feelings, but let us not say more in front of our hosts who graciously invited us to dine with them.”
“Of course, Cousin,” said Anne, sipping from her soup. “I apologize for any discomfort I provoked.”
“Anne,” said Miss Elizabeth warmly, “there is nothing to forgive. I am certain it is already forgotten.”
The murmur around the table accompanied Miss Elizabeth’s kind words, and silence fell over them all. Throughout the rest of the meal, there was little enough said, though Miss Bennet and Bingley continued to murmur together, and Misses Kitty and Lydia kept up a whispered conversation. Darcy refrained from speaking anything other than the most banal comments to Miss Elizabeth, judging it inadvisable to further provoke Lady Catherine.
It seemed he might not have bothered, for the lady was quiet and ashen, eating little and sneaking glances at her daughter. Anne ignored her, focusing on her meal, her appetite unaffected by the argument. Darcy regarded his aunt critically, wonderingat the reaction of the woman to her daughter’s denunciation. It seemed she was not beyond reach, though it had taken harsh words from her only living child to inform her that she could not always have her way. It was a hard lesson, and one Darcy had not wished on her, though he hoped she would improve because of the experience.
At length, dinner ended, and Mrs. Bennet invited her guests back to the sitting-room, Mr. Bennet speaking of his intention to dispense with the separation of the sexes. It was just as well, thought Darcy, for there was little enough reason to drink port and smoke cigars after the events of the day and the argument. Darcy, smiling his apology to Miss Elizabeth, made his way around the table and escorted his cousin himself, Fitzwilliam attending to his aunt. As they walked, Anne addressed him.
“Do not take me to task for saying what I did, Darcy. It needed to be said and was long overdue besides.”
“Believe me, Anne,” replied Darcy, “I had not intended to. While we should not air such disagreements before the Bennets, I cannot but agree with you.”
Anne nodded, and they entered with the others, Darcy seeing her seated on a sofa, taking the position next to her. The evening would end before long he was certain, for the atmosphere was not conducive to small talk. Noting that Bingley had entered with Miss Bennet and nearly the entire company was present, he rose to approach his friend and discuss the timing of their leave-taking. That was when he heard a hated voice.
“Well done, Anne. Well done, indeed.”
It was Wickham. He stood inside the open door, a pistol held in one hand pointed in the general direction of the company.
Chapter XVII
Dinner had not been what Elizabeth had expected. While Lady Catherine’s ability to dominate and insist on having her way had not been beyond Elizabeth’s comprehension, she thought the lady would have more tact than to raise such sensitive family disagreements in the home of another.
What was less certain was Anne’s ability to withstand her mother, a question she had answered to impressive effect. Elizabeth knew she regretted the necessity of speaking to Lady Catherine in such a way despite her stoic appearance. This business with Mr. Wickham had changed her, it seemed, for Elizabeth could not have imagined the Anne de Bourgh she had known in Kent defying Lady Catherine. Perhaps it had begun before, given Anne’s testimony of her determination to remove herself from her mother’s stifling control. Despite the harsh words that scored wounds in the hearts of both women, Elizabeth was proud of her new friend and hopeful for her future. All deserved a life free of such casual tyranny.
For this reason, Elizabeth delayed leaving the dining-room, intent on taking a few moments to herself to sort through her feelings. Lady Catherine had seen something of Mr. Darcy’s interest, provoking the argument, and while Elizabeth did not think the gentleman’s decision to escort her to dinner was the most sensible thing he had ever done, she was relieved the question was answered once and for all. It was a simple truth that she did not repine her refusal of Mr. Darcy’s proposal, though she now regretted the acrimonious argument that had ensued. She should have behaved better and rejected him in a more temperate manner.
Now, however, she had a distinct problem to address, for Mr. Darcy’s attentions to her had not ceased, not given what she had seen of his behavior and what Lady Catherine suspected. Did Elizabeth wish for them? The honest woman in her could acknowledge that while the notion intrigued her, at that moment she was not reconciled to it. Not only did much lie between them, but the moment her mother caught wind of his interest, she would have no peace. Could she come to love a man who had provoked disgust and revulsion only a month earlier? Perhaps it was possible, but Elizabeth did not know how to take that step. It seemed like a long stride, indeed.
