“It ought not to be troubling Mrs Darcy, either.”
Both women jumped at the sound of Darcy’s voice—unexpectedly close and unusually cold. Elizabeth turned to greet him but faltered when she saw his expression, unsure what was wrong. It soon became clear.
“This incessant pestering of my wife must stop, Mrs Lovell,” he said icily. “You are paid to manage this household. If you are determined to run to Mrs Darcy for assistance every time you encounter a difficulty, I see no reason for us to employ you at all. My wife has had an exceedingly trying day. Pray leave her alone and get on with the work you are being paid to do.”
Elizabeth was so stunned by this outburst that the housekeeper retreated before she had the opportunity to defend her. Her shock ignited into burning hot anger when Darcy began to apologise forMrs Lovell’sbehaviour.
“Elizabeth, I am sorry you had to deal with that as well as—”
“Upon my life!” she interrupted. She was attempting to keep her voice at a level that Lady Catherine would not hear, but her pique was such that it made her sound as though she was growling. “Mrs Lovell was only here at my request! She has just saved me the brunt of your aunt’s derision. And Iaskedher to keep me informed of Edna’s conduct! If you have just cost us the best thing that has happened to Pemberley since we got married, you may find the replacement yourself. I am done with the whole business!” She strode away at a pace.
“Where are you going?”
Darcy sounded utterly bemused and a little panicked, and Elizabeth almost stopped to reassure him, but the danger of encountering Lady Catherine again if she lingered too long decided her against it.
“For a walk!” she answered without stopping. And since nobody had given her the time to so much as change out of her travelling clothes since she arrived home, it was the easiest thing for her to march directly out of the front door and away into the park.
CHAPTERFORTY-TWO
THE PRAISE OF AN INTELLIGENT SERVANT
Darcy knew not which way Elizabeth had gone and therefore wasted half an hour searching in vain on the wooded north slope. He eventually spotted her from the top of the rise, walking back towards the house along the riverbank, and set off to intercept her at the bridge.
He was not concerned that there was any insurmountable disharmony between them, but he was dismayed to have vexed her. His intention had been to lessen the demands on her time, not create yet more difficulties for her to overcome. Either way, he was relieved that, when she saw him approaching, she did not strike off angrily in another direction.
“Will you allow your fool husband to walk with you?” he asked when he reached her.
She shook her head at him fondly. “You are not a fool. I know you were thinking of me. I ought not to have stormed off, but I needed some air.”
“I am a fool if I have made matters worse for you.” He reached to toy with the curls at her temple. “I would give you the world, but all I seem able to do is make more problems for you.” When she looked as though she would argue, Darcy pulled her into his embrace and kissed her as he had wished to kiss her when he met her at this same spot in the summer—penitently, with all the tenderness of a man begging for forgiveness, and all the warmth of a man violently in love. “Am I pardoned?”
“A girl could pardon an awful lot for a kiss like that.” She wrapped her hands around his arm, setting them in the direction of the house. “I do wish you were less determined to dislike Mrs Lovell. She truly is an asset. Even your aunt approves, though she will never admit it.”
“How was my aunt?”
He knew it was unfair. He could see Elizabeth had hoped for more, but it would only distress her if he voiced his true opinion—that everything had run smoothly before, and if only everything could be managed properly again, she would not be required to superintend the havoc, and he would be able to rest easy, knowing she had the life she deserved. Would that Mrs Lovell could be half as efficient at the business that Mrs Reynolds had made look elementary.
With a slight sigh, Elizabeth submitted to the change of subject. “She was her usual delightful self. That said, she can surely only be here to reconcile with you. If she truly despised us, she would not have taken the trouble of coming so far. I think she only wishes to punish us for not doing as we were told.”
“Her presence here is ample punishment.”
“It will not be for long. She says she will not be frightened off by the noise, but she may not be so complacent after a few days of it.”
They emerged onto the lawn. From this angle, the shoring that leant at five-and-forty degrees to the end of the east wing was silhouetted against the low sun and made the house looked like a giant, ungainly grasshopper. Following his gaze, Elizabeth asked how things were progressing with the works.
“The new foundations seem to be holding at last. Which makes it all the more difficult to explain why the original crack is getting larger.”
“Itwasan emergency then?” Elizabeth asked, all alarm.
“Not as such—it has not happened suddenly. But it has widened by four sixteenths of an inch since it was last measured, when the underpinning ought to have ceased all movement.” Her distress made him regret telling her. “Ferguson has it well in hand.”
“I am sure he has. I am sorry—of all our silly little tribulations, Pemberley is the only one that truly matters.” In a lighter voice, she added, “But for heaven’s sake, do not tell your aunt. She would be seriously displeased to know she was not our utmost priority.”
* * *
Lady Catherine certainly tried to be their chief agitator, finding endless things about which to be displeased. By noon on Saturday, she had twice insisted on being moved to a different bedroom, demanded food that was out of season at both dinners, accused Pemberley’s servants of bullying her lady’s maid, offended the stonemason, and picked a fight with Matthis. When her derogatory comments about Georgiana’s pianoforte practice made his sister cry, the last of Darcy’s forbearance evaporated. He ordered Georgiana and the footman out of the music room and rounded on his aunt.
“Since you have been dissatisfied with every aspect of your stay, I trust you will have no objection to my insistence that you leave.”
