“Good evening, Miss Bennet.” He came close, and she turned to him.
“Mr. Darcy, it’s so pleasant to see you again. I believe the last time was a month ago in Rio de Janeiro.” The lady switched to English, causing some scowls amongst the Dutch boys—for that is what they were, mostly eighteen years or younger—standing near her.
“Mevrouw!” exclaimed one in the local language, which Darcy could not understand. “He’s English; we shouldn’t be seen talking tohim. Come, it’s rather hot and stuffy in here; let’s take some air in the garden.” He took her arm and began to move towards the open doors.
Observing closely, Darcy saw Miss Bennet was somewhat flushed and acting a little careless. She was forced to follow, but then turned to him, and he could see some puzzlement in her eyes; an expression of unease clouded her face. This was so unlike her usual demeanour that Darcy was at once confused as to herdisposition. One boy, in his eagerness to depart the ballroom, grasped her arm. She threw him off, but in doing so, a little of the clear liquid from her glass splashed onto the bodice of her gown. The scent of juniper wafted into the air.
Genever! He knew Miss Bennet only drank watered wine—what the deuce was she doing drinking gin, a drink that should only be sipped, and never by respectable ladies?
He moved quickly to block the path of the young Dutchman and leant towards Miss Bennet: “Il tuo drink è stato arricchito di liquore—your drink has been spiked by liquor!” She paused as her mind switched languages: from Afrikaans, to English, to Italian. Her hand went to her mouth; she blushed and blushed again with shame and dismay. She had been saved embarrassment from his speaking a language not used at the Cape, but the glass fell, shattering on the polished floor, the scent of juniper now spreading strongly, mixing with the acrid smell of tallow candles.
Darcy took her arm and led her quickly away; she stumbled, but let him guide her. An older Dutchman—one of the few who remained in the ballroom—came hurriedly towards them.
“Sir, I am Meneer Brand. What is wrong? Miss Bennet is a guest in my house. How can I help?”
“Mr. Darcy, of Colonel Macquarie’s party. Sir, take Miss Bennet where she can compose herself. Thoseboysspiked her drink with strong liquor. She’s an English lady, not some Dutch floozie. Attend toher, and I shall deal withthem!”
Meneer Brand frowned. He would intercede if he could, but the gentleman’s angry mien would not allow his purpose to be gainsaid, at least by a Dutchman. He led Miss Bennet to his wife, quietly told her of the lady’s distress, and asked that they take the coach back to his house. He would follow after with their other guests.
He looked across the hall and saw Mr.Darcy stride towards the boys who were standing about laughing to themselves. They were sons of the leading Boers of the district, attending by virtue of their fathers’ invitation, resentful of the British, and puffed up with their own consequence. This would not end well.
Darcy sought out the boy who had attempted to pull Miss Bennet from the room. “Boerenpummel!”he used the worst profanity he knew in Dutch. The boy grew angry and stepped forward; his friends tried to restrain him, but he shook their arms away.
“She is a British whore,” he exclaimed in heavily accented English. “She dresses like a harlot, her hair done up with no cap; she dances unmarried with strangers; she wears slippers and not boots; she is wanton.”
Darcy looked disdainfully at the group. “Be warned, sirs…” The music and dancing ceased. The attention of the room was now wholly on him, whereupon he spoke with his most chilling cadence, that used to freeze the hearts of fraudsters, that which brooked no dissent.
“I am Judge-Advocate for the British Colonies. You assaulted an English lady using poison—for strong liquor, such as your Dutch gin, is nothing but that. This is the governor’s residence—the governor is the King’s representative in this land—thus you trespass against the Crown. Under English law, I can hang you. I assure you I would feel no remorse.”
“But surely, sir,” cried Meneer Brand, “you cannot mean this. The boy does not know English ways; he made a mistake. You cannot hang a man for such a small offence!”
“No, I’ll not hang him, for good English rope has better uses.” Darcy turned and was surprised to see Lord Caledon standing nearby, but the governor made no attempt to intervene. “Let him spend the night where he wished to importune the lady. Indeed, it’s a chill but pleasant evening.Perhaps a night and a day in the stocks would cure him of his disrespect.”
Darcy looked to his Lordship, who nodded almost imperceptibly, and moved away, indicating that the musicians recommence the dancing. Two ensigns stepped up and marched the protesting youth away. The Cape governor understood the exercise of power and recognised Mr. Darcy had shown the Colony that the British ruled, and not the Afrikaners—even one as powerful as the father of the foolish boy. These were staunch Calvinists, seeing themselves as the children of God in the wilderness, a Christian elect divinely ordained to rule the land and the backward peoples therein. Against British policy, the Boers were hostile towards the indigenous African peoples, with whom they fought frequent range wars, and towards the government of the Cape, which was attempting to control their movements and commerce.
“Meneer Brand,” Darcy spoke to the gentleman. “I apologise for the discomfort you must feel. You live here, but I’ll soon move away, leaving you to placate the Boers who I know despise the British. That’s their choice, but it will surely end ill—there’s no benefit to their attitude, for it is either us, the French, or a bankrupt Netherlands. I assure you, British law is preferable to that of the continental countries.
“Nevertheless, Miss Bennet deserves respect; she extended her friendship and was repaid with contempt.ThatI will not countenance. But I’m in your debt for your care of her. You have my good wishes and my thanks to your lady.”
Darcy began his return to the governor’s party, but before he had gone two paces, he turned back to Meneer Brand.
“Sir, can you keep Miss Bennet’s place in this episode confidential? Few here know her name, apart from yourself, so her reputation should be safe. Perhaps, if asked, you could say merely that thefarmer’s boyinsulted a lady and I, as judge-advocate, took umbrage at his behaviour. Speak of me as anarrogant and haughty Englishman.”
Both gentlemen parted company in agreement. Darcy was impressed by Meneer Brand’s concern for Miss Bennet’s welfare, and Meneer Brand was aware the outcome would have been much worse if a military officer or a member of Lord Caledon’s staff had used the boy’s malfeasance to seek retribution against the Boers—who had become increasingly disgruntled with the liberal policies of the British, particularly regarding the restrictions placed upon them in their dealings with the Africans and expansion across the frontier.
Chapter 10
Table Mountain, October 5, 1809
The next morning, Darcy called upon the house of Meneer Brand. He knew Mr. and Mrs. Bent would be absent, accompanying Colonel and Mrs. Macquarie on the road to False Bay, allowing them a good idea of the country in the immediate neighbourhood of Cape Town. He himself had made the journey some two days before. He gave his card to the servant who opened the door and was immediately granted entry into a fine vestibule and thence into a drawing-room that would have done an English manor proud, though the furnishings and decoration were adorned with Dutch motifs, which were very pleasing to the eye. After a short delay, Mevrouw Brand entered with Miss Bennet.
“Goeie more, Meneer,” Mrs. Brand smiled at Darcy and turned to Miss Bennet for translation. Elizabeth blushed, finding it difficult to meet Mr. Darcy’s eye. “She says good morning, sir, though I suspect you understand this greeting. I’m so ashamed, so mortified after last night. I thought I was drinking some flavoured refreshment, such as lemonade.”
“No, Miss Bennet, no fault lies with you. Your manners, so proper for a young Englishwoman, are unlike those expected in a strict Calvinist tradition. I don’t understand why those youths were invited to the ball, or, indeed, why they attended. Calvinism bans dancing and the wearing of luxury clothes; thus their presence seems more a provocation, some way to expose the decadence of the English and the Church of England. For the most part, the Dutch of the towns are very pleasant people. Although many of the men are lukewarm to English government, their wives and daughters enjoy oursociety. But I’m here for a more pleasant purpose.”
Elizabeth was pleased Mr. Darcy had turned the conversation. Ifhewas willing to forget her painful experience, thenshewas willing to believe it had never occurred. “Indeed, sir. You have my attention.”
“I share accommodation with Captain Antill, who travelled on theOxford, though he’ll join either theHindostanorDromedaryfor the onward journey to New South Wales. He’s a very pleasant gentleman—an American whose father fought under the King’s banner during the American War of Independence. The family removed to Canada, where he joined the 73rd. Macquarie intends for him to be his aide-de-camp.
