“Miss Rosanna Baltimore is a beauty, but she is six-and-twenty and so eager to marry that she would accept almost any compromise,” Darcy said while they were in Bath.
“Not Lady Rowena—under any circumstances,” he declared after a ball in Brighton. “She is well known in London to have had more than one betrothed…most intimately!”
And so the list went on, Darcy becoming more and more weary and disappointed.
“It resembles a hunt more than a happy marriage for life,” he said, once they were back in London.
The colonel agreed, though he tried not to reveal the private conviction that the only truly happy match had perhaps been the one at Rosings. But he knew already that Darcy was too stubborn to abandon his present course. Of late, he seemed more determined than ever that he must marry a lady of the ton.
“Bingley’s wedding is in a week,” the colonel remarked one evening, scrutinising his cousin.
“I know. I have decided not to go.”
The colonel was so astonished that he could not conceal it.
“My dear cousin, do not look so alarmed. It is not the end of the world.”
“No, certainly not—but Bingley is one of your closest friends.”
“I know. I have written to him that my uncle, as head of the family, has arranged a meeting at Matlock estate in Leicester at exactly the same time.”
“What meeting? I know of no such gathering!”
Darcy smiled at his surprise. “Only because it had been just decided.”
“And you invite me?”
“Of course. You and the rest of the family.”
“But why did you say nothing of this before?”
Darcy laughed. “I decided only a few days ago...But I postponed telling you because I am still afraid of you. You always won our battles in childhood, and now you are in far better condition than I am.” He was joking, but the colonel suspected that beneath the jest there was something concealed.
“Bingley will think you still disapprove of the marriage.”
“No, I wrote him a long and very sentimental letter, merely to assure him that I entirely approve. I have invited him and his future wife to visit Pemberley as soon as they return from their wedding journey.”
It was such a surprise that Darcy intended to absent himself from his friend’s wedding that the colonel entirely forgot to ask why he had summoned the Fitzwilliam side of the family to Matlock at precisely that time.
Chapter 10
When Lady Catherine was absent, Anne became quite another person. Darcy had observed the transformation more than once. The image of her at Matlock House, in her elegant court dress, lingered in his mind long after that morning.
Later, at dinner, they were seated beside one another, and, her mother not being present, she smiled at his attempts at wit. Dressed in a gown chosen by Lady Wharton, with her hair arranged in a more becoming style and a faint touch of colour upon her cheeks and lips, she appeared delicate and truly pleasing.
He had not told Richard that, during their recent search for a wife, he had nearly persuaded himself that he had found one. The young ladies of London had failed to impress him; even those who were undeniably pretty lacked a certain sincerity. Brought up by their mothers to secure a husband from an early age, they had learned the art too well. It was no longer a matter of feeling; for many, it had become a pursuit—a calculated chase. Lady Grace had been an exception, as were a few others; but he could not marry a woman of sense and education without giving her his whole heart. And that heart was already claimedby the lady who had once walked alone through the fields of Hertfordshire.
He forced himself to think that she was in the past. No matter how he still felt about Elizabeth, he had decided to marry Anne, although he profoundly disliked her obedient nature. If she agreed to marry him, he wanted to take her to Pemberley and slowly lead her to discover love and freedom, certain that she would flourish in a different atmosphere when treated with reverence and loving benevolence.
Avoiding Bingley’s wedding was the best decision he could make—one that, hopefully, would put an end to his torment and open a brighter future at the same time. Charles was now happy, so he would forgive him, and their friendship would continue as before once he married Anne.
He had determined to speak to Anne, and to inform Lady Catherine only if—and only if—Anne’s answer were favourable. He would not compel her into a marriage she did not desire. Yet he had hoped she might see in such a union the means of attaining both freedom and happiness. The recollection of that interview returned to him with unexpected lightness of heart…
When he arrived, he desired the servant to announce him to Miss de Bourgh alone. She received him in the music-room, with Mrs Jenkinson, as usual, at her side. They curtseyed, and the customary civilities were exchanged, but before they could be seated, Darcy gently requested that Mrs Jenkinson leave them.
The lady withdrew, not without displeasure, though she did not venture to oppose him. He was, after all, a near relation.
Anne appeared surprised, though not alarmed, and he admired her composure. She was neatly dressed, with a delicate pearl necklace resting upon her slender neck, and looked every inch the lady. He smiled with increasing confidence in his purpose. She had not expected his visit, yet there was nothingdisordered in her appearance, and he could not help wondering whether he had ever truly seen her before. It seemed scarcely credible that she should have altered so much in so short a time. Lady Catherine, he thought, must long have confined her within a kind of cold indifference; and the reflection strengthened his resolution.
