“I am sure you have the right of it. We will be vigilant and act if it is needed.”
“Charles, you know most of her behaviour is because of all of the climbing in society nonsense with which our late mother inculcated her. And yes, I agree with you, she is three and twenty, not some young girl who knows no better,” Louisa observed.
“Our late mother created a monster,” Bingley opined.
Soon enough brother and sister left the drawing room to pursue their own individual interests.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“I will run that bastard through!” Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam of His Majesty’s Royal Dragoons exclaimed after Darcy told him and his parents all.
“No, Richard, you will not take the law into your own hands like some common criminal, just like that reprobate Wickham,” Lord Reginald Fitzwilliam, the Earl of Matlock, riposted. “When he is arrested and tried, he will swing, without any of his blood on your hands. Also, when you used suchcolourfullanguage, did you forget your mother is present?”
Fitzwilliam turned towards his mother, Lady Elaine, the countess. “Please pardon me, Mother, my passions were inflamed. If only my late Uncle Robert had woken up to the truth of the viper he created much sooner than he did.”
“You are forgiven, Richard.” Lady Matlock looked from her son to her nephew. “Where is Anna, and how is the poor dear coping?”
“At Darcy House, and not well. I am at a loss. She willnot leave her chambers and cries all day,” Darcy revealed. “My worry for Anna is the main reason I am here to see you now. What should I do?”
“Have you not done enough?” Fitzwilliam bit out bitterly.
Darcy hung his head in shame; he could not refute his cousin’s words. It seemed Father erred when he was appointed as one of Anna’s guardians. He was aware he was being self-indulgent.
“William may have made some errors in judgement, but I am sure this was the last thing he expected,” Lady Matlock opined. “Should he have verified Mrs Younge’s characters and involved you in the search for a companion? Yes, he should have. As it has been more than five years since you have seen Wickham, how could either of you suspect that the awful woman was in league with the blackguard?”
“I could have spoken unfairly in my anger,” Fitzwilliam owned.
“Now what is being done to find him?” Matlock enquired. “It will not be easy; he could have crawled under any rock.”
“More likely than not he is in the depths of Seven Dials or St Giles. It is worse than a rabbit warren in many places in those areas and those who live there will not reveal anything to one they consider an outsider,” Fitzwilliam stated.
“I agree with Richard; we will need to wait until he lifts his head above ground again. Now how do we help Anna?” Darcy queried.
“Certainly not by indulging her and allowing her to wallow in her self-pity,” Lady Matlock said firmly. “You, William, are partially to blame, as is Anna for going against everything she was taught to allow the miscreant to courther without your permission, and we will not even mention that she agreed to elope with him. That being said, by far the most blame must be affixed to that Wickham character and his paramour, Mrs Younge.” She looked at her son and nephew and was gratified to see they both nodded their agreement. “Anna is to be brought here to Matlock House. I will not allow her to continue as she is now. Next, I will ask for the names of a few companions seeking work from among my acquaintances. I will chuse them based on word of mouth, not by placing an advertisement in the broadsheets. Once their characters have been thoroughly verified, then I will present three or four candidates to you boys so you can make a choice.”
Even had he wanted to disagree, Darcy was aware from the look in his aunt’s eye that she would not be gainsaid. “I agree,” he responded meekly.
“As do I,” Fitzwilliam added.
“Before you boys go, we can never allow Catherine to hear a whisper of this. You know she will attempt to use it as leverage to force William to marry Anne,” Matlock warned. “I may have to step in and intercede there soon. Certainly, I will need to do so when Anne reaches her birthday in November.”
It was well known in the family that Lady Catherine’s claim of a cradle betrothal was a story made up of whole cloth in an attempt to retain control of Rosings Park. She seemed to forget that William was three years older than Anne so he had been long out of his cradle before his cousin had been born.
“Why do you think you will need to step in, Father?” Fitzwilliam asked.
“Read this.” Matlock pulled a letter from his pocket and handed it to his son. “It is from Anne.”
Fitzwilliam and Darcy stood next to one another so they could both see the paper. They knew their Aunt Catty—as they liked to call her—was not always reasonable, but stealing overtwo thousand pounds from her new sycophantic rector was far beyond the pale. It was not as bad as ordering him to marry a cousin. Their aunt really thought she was a deity.
“Why would Aunt Catty need to steal her parson’s funds? Has she finally bankrupted Rosings Park?” Fitzwilliam questioned.
“No thanks to her, the estate is solvent. However, in my role as the late Sir Lewis’s executor, I have restricted how much estate funds she is allowed to waste on her ideas of art and décor. That was the impetus, I am sure, for her relieving, from what Anne writes, the very stupid man of his savings,” Matlock explained.
“Reggie has the right of it. Catherine is so selfish that she would not think twice about embroiling the family in a scandal if it served her aims.” Lady Matlock turned to her beloved husband. “I think the time is near that she will be put somewhere she cannot harm herself or any others. Sometimes I wonder how she could have come from the same parents as you and our dear, departed Anne. She is nothing like either of you.”
Matlock looked uncomfortable. “That is a story for another time.” Leaving no room for argument, the meeting came to an end.
Lady Matlock knew her much-loved husband would share when he was ready.
