She was silent. He knew she would make no effort for conversation with a woman who was now insolent. If he did not remove his aunt, Darcy feared Elizabeth might leave and never come back.
“My marriage is a permanent union,” he said as calmly as he could manage. “And my acquaintances and friends have noticed Mrs Darcy. We have done a great deal of good in showing that she is a respectable woman. My union is far from a scandal.”
Lady Catherine gaped at him. “I am shocked and astonished, Darcy. I expected to find a more reasonable man. I shall not go away till you have given me the assurance that you will pay her to engage in an affair and divorce her for being unfaithful.”
“I am not to be intimidated into anything so wholly unreasonable,” he cried. “You have insulted us both in every manner imaginable. And now you may leave this house, or I will have my footmen remove you.”
His aunt gasped. She was entirely unaccustomed to having her demands challenged. “You are resolved to keep her? And this is your real opinion! This is your final resolve?”
Darcy’s jaw hurt. He realised he had been clenching his teeth. “My alliance is not the disgrace you think it is. And even if it was, I am not abandoning my wife or forsaking her. You have greatly underestimated my character and integrity if you think I would divorce my wife to marry your daughter.”
He rang the bell, and when the servant came, he said, “Call her ladyship’s carriage, and she is not to be admitted into the house again.” To his aunt, he said, “All communication between us is now at an end. If you think I can be prevailed on to overlook this offence against my wife, you are gravely mistaken.”
Lady Catherine swept from the room, shouting a few more invectives on her way down the stairs, but Darcy simply shut the door.
Elizabeth still stood with her back to him, and he wondered howdeeply his aunt’s insults had hurt her. Darcy came up behind her and carefully placed both hands on her shoulders. He felt the tension in them collapse, and as she turned round, he kept his hands in place. She did not look like she was about to cry, but was deeply weary with a sadness in her eyes that made him feel ashamed.
“I am exceedingly sorry.”
She gave a drawn smile. “I promise when you meet my aunt Gardiner, she will wait until she is invited before coming upstairs, and not once will she suggest you married me in a fit of infatuation.”
She could not even joke about the demand that he obtain a divorce and rid himself of his unsuitable bride. “You did not deserve any of that, and I wish Georgiana knew what her actions have caused you to suffer.”
Elizabeth gave a careless shrug that he did not believe. “You cannot think me so affected by an angry, resentful woman. Bitter aunts or a friend’s jealous sister will not intimidate me. I am far too stubborn for that.”
“You are not weak to admit you are injured.”
She dropped her eyes and leant toward him, carefully resting only her forehead against his chest. Darcy brought his hands to her waist while she clasped hers around his back. She heaved an exhausted sigh and rested further into him, and he tucked her head under his chin.
“I will not allow Lady Catherine to insult you,” he said into her hair. “And I promise you that is the last offence you will endure by anyone who knows me. How much soever she may hate you in her heart, if she wishes to see either of us again, she will treat you with civility.”
“That reconciliation will be many years coming, if it comes at all. Lady Catherine seems to be a proud woman.”
“I wonder if I was once like her,” he murmured. “You called me proud, and all of her vitriol is based on angry pride and superiority.”
“You have rank and fortune, and an authoritative manner, but that is where the similarities end. You are not selfish. You are not cruel. You are not uncivil. You do not seek to control the people around you.” She tilted up her face. “Do not wound me by comparing yourself to that woman.”
He realised as much as he wanted to shield her from these indignities, she was equally offended on his behalf. It made a warm feeling spread across his chest.
“Between my parents and your aunt,” she went on, “I think Darcy family gatherings will be rather small.”
Unspoken was that his sister had run off with a syphilitic gamester who no one in London with an ounce of integrity could welcome into their home. “Colonel Fitzwilliam will often be with us. He wrote to say that he leaves his father’s house soon and will squire you around town and raise your popularity.”
Now she gave him a genuine smile. Elizabeth had a remarkably pretty mouth, and Darcy had to remember his resolution not to kiss her first. “And you will like my sister Jane and my aunt and uncle when you meet them.”
Elizabeth then pressed a quick kiss to his cheek and left his arms. “I have wedding visits to return, and I know anyone who expects to continue their acquaintance with you will be more civil than what we experienced today.”
He hardly knew how to react, or if he should even react at all. Had she kissed him in gratitude for championing her? Or was it a sign that she might be glad she had been forced into marrying him?
“Um, you are returning wedding visits today?” He had to focus on her words and not on remembering the feel of her lips. “I will be back to join you if you can wait until one?” His errand in Ludgate Hill at the jeweller’s would not take longer than that.
“Very well,” she agreed. “I have a few tasks to complete myself.”
She then left the room without realising what a state of emotion he was in. He ought to be distressed over breaking with his aunt and all the indignities Elizabeth had endured. But all he could think of was the sensation of her soft lips on his skin. Did she want anything more, or did her gesture have only the same sort of feeling as she would kiss her sister or a friend in greeting?
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Elizabeth retrieved her parasol and left the house on foot once Darcy went out for the morning. Lady Catherine’s visit threw her into a discomposure of spirits, and being comforted by Darcy was equally disconcerting, although for far different reasons. Lady Catherine had insulted her deeply, but it was not a lasting harm. She would not be heard from again, at least not until she had learnt to keep a civil tongue.
