“Speak up, you silly, silly girl.”
Darcy frowned. He had heard Mr Bennet call his girls silly many times—never with such a marked want of affection.
“Georgiana wrote that Darcy thought she was compassionate and?—”
“Do not dare blame that dear girl,” her ladyship interrupted. “Georgiana is too good, too sensible to do anything as reckless as you have done.”
Darcy held himself still, gladder than ever to have concealed his sister’s near-elopement from his aunt and undesirous of giving her away at this stage.
“Would that you could have turned out more like her, instead of this wretched, snivelling creature.”
With deepening alarm, Darcy tilted his head, as though hearing his aunt’s words from a different angle might mitigate their cruelty—a foolish act but one borne of disbelief.
“Is that it, then?” her ladyship went on. “You have no better reason for this preposterous behaviour? You have risked your health and your cousin’s reputation because you heard it said that he thought a woman waskind?” When she received no answer, she demanded stridently, “Well,child?”
Anne folded her shoulders inwards and dipped her head, veritably cowering away from her mother. “Mr Collins said she was very pretty.”
“Yes, and I can see why that would worryyou, but if you think this sort of carry-on is going to make you any prettier, then you are even stupider than I thought. Fortunately, Darcy is more rational than to lose his head over a handsome face. You ought to give him more credit. He knows his duty to this family. It is about time you remembered yours.”
“I am sorry, Mother.”
“Your apologies are as worthless as you are. If you were a pleasanter, healthier, more accomplished woman, you would have been married by now, and your disappointing looks would be immaterial.”
“Good Lord, that is enough, madam!” Only horrified incredulity had kept Darcy quietthatlong. He stepped in front of his cousin, putting his back to his aunt. “Have your trunks packed, Anne. You are coming to London with me.”
She looked at him plaintively but shook her head as her mother began railing at them both. “I cannot?—”
“You can, and you will,” he replied in a low voice that nevertheless brooked no argument. “I shall deal with your mother. Go now.”
Darcy waited until Anne had left the room, then turned to face Lady Catherine. “I shall impute this reprehensible behaviour to grief and say no more on the matter, provided it isneverrepeated.”
An unpleasant sneer deepened the lines about her ladyship’s mouth and made her look older than she was. “Which one was it? The beautiful siren, put forth by the mother to capture unsuspecting heirs? The coquettish minors, out before their older sisters are wed? The bluestocking? Or the ungrateful fool who refused Mr Collins’s offer of marriage?”
Darcy baulked. She could only mean Elizabeth. The thought of her marrying that dolt sickened him. Blast it, the thought of her marryinganyonesickened him. He had never allowed himself to consider it before. He knew why not now. The panic it induced made him feel winded.
“Oh yes, Nephew, I knowallabout the Bennet sisters. Mr Collins has told me everything. Take care.Hemanaged to escape their greedy clutches. Make sure you do, too.”
He stared at her. Had she always been so vicious? Or was it, as his conscience whispered, that four-and-twenty hours in the company of Elizabeth’s family had fundamentally changed his expectations of his own? Whatever the answer, Darcy did not know this woman. And if her behaviour were any reflection of his—which, with profound dismay, he acknowledged it probably was—then he barely knew himself.
“Who said I have escaped?” He had not meant to say it, but now that he had, he did not wish it unsaid.
His aunt billowed with furious indignation. “Was Anne right, then? Isthisyour resolve?”
“I have nothing more to say to you, madam. I am leaving.”
Darcy turned to go, but she stepped into his path, blocking his way. “Not so hasty, if you please! I demand to know. Are you engaged to one of these girls?”
He looked down at her with undisguised loathing. “Goodbye, Lady Catherine.”
“Darcy, you have been drawn in! You cannot see it, but you have been worked on!” she implored, her tone insistent, yet her voice unsteady. “You will comprehend if you will only give it time. Promise me that you will stay away until you are able to see clearly once again. Promise me you will not go back to Hertfordshire.”
“I could not promise you that, even if I wished to. I must return, for I have left something incredibly valuable there.”
* * *
Elizabeth could not wholly justify the happiness she felt as she closed her eyes that night. It could have been Jane’s increasing delight in Mr Bingley’s attentions. It could have been that her family all behaved themselves impeccably at dinner, giving her sister no cause to be embarrassed. It could have been the delicious meal her mother devised for their honoured guest.
Yet, she could not deny the most likely reason was that Mr Bingley had not arrived at Longbourn alone. It transpired that, in the confusion of issuing various invitations the previous day, they had somehow all overlooked that Miss Darcy and her companion were still at Netherfield. Which, Mr Bingley explained, was because his friend had not gone for good. Mr Darcy was coming back.
