“What brings you here?”
Instead of answering, he embraced her; and that sensitive woman, who had been to him almost as a mother since the loss of his own, understood at once that something unusual had occurred.
“Where is Anne?”
Darcy sat beside her on the sofa.
“We have little time. I would not wish it to be known that I came to you first.”
“Oh! Then you have not yet seen your uncle,” she said, growing more astonished and curious. “Is everyone well?”
“Yes—do not worry. But I need your help.”
Lady Matlock took his hand and answered with warmth, “Anything, my dear boy.”
“I shall be brief and direct. If you help us, we shall all gain—Richard…Anne…” he added quickly, not omitting his cousin’s name.
“What has happened?” murmured the countess, far from reassured.
“Anne has left me.”
Darcy smiled faintly and pressed her hand, which had grown cold in his.
“Good heavens! What are you telling me?”
“It is no story. We lived beside her without seeing that Lady Catherine had oppressed her for years, and meant to bindher completely—only to retain control over an estate that was, in truth, Anne’s.”
“I know,” Lady Eleanor said quietly. “I tried many times to intervene, but your uncle will not hear of such matters. Still, I have spoken often with Anne this past year. She came to me—and she seemed much improved.”
Darcy looked at her with admiration. So she had been one of the reasons Anne had found her strength—had gathered the courage to act. And at once the agitation within him eased. Lady Eleanor would know how to manage the uncertainties of London society; she would help them. She would surely take to Elizabeth—and in all this, only Elizabeth mattered.
“When I proposed to her, she already had a plan—to leave for America with Mrs Jenkinson.”
“Incredible. That delicate creature—a woman of such resolution. But why did she not remain with you?”
“Because she needed to free herself entirely from her mother—to begin again. She had a plan, but my proposal suddenly offered her a better means than the one she had devised. Had she simply fled, her entire fortune would have remained with Lady Catherine, and it would have been nearly impossible for her to recover any part of it.”
“Quite so. With your uncle’s support, Lady Catherine would never have granted anything to a daughter who had fled and brought disgrace upon the family.”
“And you do not suffer?” she asked, searching his face.
“I am in love with another woman.”
Without hesitation, he told her everything—his attachment, his proposal, the mistake he had made, and the despair that had driven him to Anne, believing Elizabeth lost to him.
“What a story,” the countess said softly.
“Anne’s fortune is now mine, and through the divorce Lady Catherine cannot reclaim it—if Lord Matlock agrees.”
In a bold move, he handed her the document from the solicitor, which Anne used to transfer the Bourgh estate to Richard. Lady Eleanor flushed deeply, overcome by emotion as she read it.
“You consent to this?” she asked, holding the paper.
“Entirely.”
“Bourgh House is fine, though somewhat neglected…no matter. I shall make it worthy of Richard.”
In that moment, Darcy knew he had succeeded. Lady Eleanor was ready to do whatever might be required—and he asked only that, in time, she would protect Elizabeth.
