She would have years with Darcy, rather than weeks. They could have children; they could see more of the world. It was still strange to once again think of the future, to have hope and to make plans.
“Lizzy?” Jane sounded serious, and Elizabeth sat up to look inquiringly at her. “Darcy appears respectable, reserved yet candid—I think him a good sort of man—but he kept the truth from you. His wealth and position are to your advantage of course, but are you angry? If you are, you ought to tell him. I would hate for you to grow resentful about his deception.”
“I have been frank with Darcy.” She would not admit to marrying him only because she thought she was going to die.Only Colonel Fitzwilliam knew the truth of her mistaken heart ailment, and he was too delighted for his cousin’s sake to be angered by her error.“Darcy was not honest by omitting to tell me who he truly was.” Although she had been wrong, facing her death had granted her a perspective, a resolve, that none but those who had a fatal diagnosis could understand. “But I know how exquisitely precious happiness is, and how fragile it is. I will not harbour resentment, not when Darcy loves me so dearly and feels so guilty.”
Jane smiled. “Nothing could be more natural than for you to be beloved.”
“And nothing is more natural than my teasing him about it whenever I choose.”
“So long as you are both happy.”
Jane’s husband was not affectionate, her mother-in-law kept a hand in her household, and she weaned one child and then immediately was in that way again. “Are you happy, Jane?”
She gave a serene smile. “Of course! I have healthy children and the approval of my family. It is everything I wanted. You, I daresay, need a husband who grants you a little more independence than is typical, who freely admits that he loves you. But a large family, a steady husband, and a comfortable home are what I need to be happy.”
The door was then thrown open, and Colonel Fitzwilliam entered with a tall, large woman, with strongly marked features. There was a similarity in her face to Darcy and Georgiana, and Colonel Fitzwilliam introduced her as Lady Catherine de Bourgh.
Her ladyship made no other reply to Elizabeth’s salutation than a slight inclination of the head and sat without saying a word. Elizabeth mentioned Colonel Fitzwilliam’s name to Jane, who met him graciously, though no request of introduction came from Lady Catherine.
After sitting a moment in silence, she said stiffly, “I should be glad to speak with you without the presence of your sister.” While Elizabeth hesitated from surprise, she continued, “From your sister’s appearance, I suspect her to be breeding. That gown no longer flatters her wider shape.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam winced, and Elizabeth would have told her ladyship she had no right to send Jane away nor speak to her in that manner, but Jane said her children wanted her at home and asked Elizabeth to call for her carriage.
“Oh, your sister keeps a carriage? I thought her poor like you, since your uncles and brother-in-law are in trade.”
As she left, Jane gave her a serious look that told Elizabeth to keep her temper. If anyone knew about keeping her patience around an overbearing woman, it was Jane. However, Elizabeth was determined to make no effort for conversation with a woman who was insolent. She asked after Colonel Fitzwilliam’s health, and he continued their conversation with an expression of apology.
“I understand that I will have the pleasure of seeing you tomorrowat my father’s house. My mother enjoyed meeting you. I hear she has planned a party to intro?—”
“I am not here because I approve of your union,” Lady Catherine began as though no one else had been speaking. “I know it is irremediable, but had I known of its arrangement, I would have refused my consent.”
“Your consent was not required, madam.”
Lady Catherine seemed astonished at receiving such an answer. “You trapped a man in a moment of infatuation, and I came here to see if you were ashamed of your conduct. My nephew was in mourning, and you made him forget what he owed to himself and his family.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam braced his hands on the armrests. “Mrs Darcy did not draw Darcy in, I assure?—”
She again spoke over the colonel. “I am also here because it appears—to my great shock—that you are to be noticed by Darcy’s family and friends. Not to wait upon a bride is remiss, and I am attentive to matters of decorum. However, if I had my way, your name would never be mentioned by any of us.”
“The party Colonel Fitzwilliam’s mother will give for us tomorrow will make it rather difficult for you to avoid hearing me called ‘Mrs Darcy.’”
Elizabeth could hardly keep from smiling at the look of affront on her ladyship’s face. “If Darcy chose to give his hand elsewhere than to my daughter, he would have looked for a lady possessed of more accomplishments and connexions than you can boast, had he not been distressed by grief. I can hardly credit the idea that my nephew is sincerely fond of you.”
“Darcy is the last man in the world who would give any woman the idea of his feeling for her more than he really does,” Elizabeth quickly said.
Her ladyship frowned, and then looked sharply at what Elizabeth was wearing. “It is an insult to Miss Darcy that a woman so wholly unconnected to this family wear jewellery set with her hair.”
Elizabeth took a steadying breath rather than tell Lady Catherine how she loved Georgiana to the literal end of her life. “I accepted Darcy’s family as my own the moment we exchanged vows. He, too,has a sincere attachment to mine.” At least, he loved Lydia and her mother for her sake, and was coming to appreciate Jane and her boys. “There is no one nearer to Darcy than me. Not only do I deserve to be treated as his family, I am honoured to show my respect to that dear departed girl.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam looked so sympathetic that she averted her eyes to look at her brooch and avoid her ladyship seeing her grief.
“Lady Catherine came today to acquaint herself with you before my mother’s party,” he said with forced cheer. “Where is Darcy? I thought he would have been home by now.” The colonel gave her a significant look that told her he had not wanted her to face Lady Catherine alone. “I have a letter for him and hoped to speak with him privately.”
Elizabeth appreciated his attempts at politeness and distraction. “My husband had business with a lawyer, and then intended to go to his club. He has been gone all day, but I expect?—”
“To be gone so long from his new wife demonstrates his lack of interest in you.” Lady Catherine looked pleased. “I wonder if my nephew is often from home to avoid you.”
“Indeed not! Darcy is always at home by this time, and I assure you, he is always happy about it!”
