Chapter Thirteen
“Getyoursistersoutof the parlour,” Darcy instructed, “take them back upstairs, and keep Mrs Forster with you, if you can. Quickly, Elizabeth; I will try to head her off but we don’t have much time.”
She caught his meaning at once; they both knew that Lady Catherine had not arrived on a mission to welcome Lydia to the family, and she was likely about to create quite a scene. A confrontation Lydia was utterly unprepared for.
Elizabeth ran, throwing the study door open and rushing to the parlour even as a banging commenced at the front door. “Jane,Lydia, come with me at once!” she said sharply. “Quickly, there is no time to lose, upstairs!”
“Why? Who is that at the door?” Lydia demanded.
“It’s Lady Catherine de Bourgh,” Elizabeth said, and saw Colonel Fitzwilliam pale. He shot to his feet, drawing Lydia up with him from where she sat beside him on a couch.
“Go with your sisters, Lydia. Please. I’ll introduce you to my aunt later, but not now.”
Jane was already on her feet; of course, Elizabeth had shared quite a few anecdotes about Lady Catherine’s antics with her, and Jane had no wish to witness the lady’s infamous temper at first hand.
Mrs Bennet appeared about to protest, but Elizabeth gave her no time to, grabbing Lydia’s arm and urging her from the room. The three girls rushed for the stairs and had just achieved the first-floor landing, around the corner and out of sight from the front door, when Lady Catherine’s voice was heard in the hall.
“Where is Richard? I will put a stop to this nonsense, Darcy, I tell you! Marrying some chit he’s caught running about with in the middle of the night? I never heard of such a thing! Let me at the hussy; I shall soon see her off, never fear!”
“She sounds terrifying,” Lydia whispered as the sisters stood frozen on the landing, petrified to move lest a stray creak from a floorboard give away their position.
“She is,” Elizabeth whispered back.
A sound behind them made them look around, to find a door opening quietly and Harriet Forster beckoning to them.
“In here,” Harriet hissed. “Come on!”
With few options, they followed, finding themselves in a bedroom. Harriet grinned victoriously as she shut the door, very quietly, holding a finger to her lips.
“We’re directly above the parlour,” she whispered. “You’ll hear every word. I thought it was only fair to invite you to hear, since they’ll almost certainly be talking about you, Lyddie.”
Lydia looked at Elizabeth, who hesitated only a moment before shrugging. Likely enough they’d hear every word out of Lady Catherine’s mouth anyway, since that lady’s shrill tones had a tendency to travel, but Elizabeth had to admit she was curious how Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam would handle their aunt.
The four sat in a row on the edge of the bed, listening intently as Lady Catherine continued her tirade from below.
“How did she find out, I wonder?” Lydia murmured. “Richard said he didn’t plan to write to her until he’d heard back from his parents.”
“Rosings isn’t so far from Brighton,” Elizabeth answered softly. “Very likely she has friends who live here. A letter could have reached her this morning and she would have ordered her carriage up immediately.”
Lady Catherine was indeed declaiming just that moment about a Lady Carshalton who had written to her ‘with great concern’on hearing that her nephew had ‘embroiled himself with an adventuress’.
Nobody else had managed to get a word in yet, and Elizabeth winced as she thought of her parents and Mr Gardiner, trapped in the parlour with Lady Catherine ranting away. Or was she still in the hallway? The sound of a door opening brought the lady’s voice a little closer, and then Darcy said loudly;
“Aunt Catherine, allow me to present Mr and Mrs Bennet, and Mr Gardiner.”
“I am not interested in meeting anyone just now, Darcy!”
“The parents and uncle of Miss Lydia Bennet, Aunt Catherine... Fitzwilliam’s intended.”
There was a brief silence. Lydia’s hand crept into Elizabeth’s; it felt very cold. Elizabeth squeezed gently, leaning into Lydia’s shoulder, trying to comfort her.
“This cannot stand,” Lady Catherine said finally. “I have never heard of these people, Darcy!”
“Of course you have,” Darcy said calmly. “You met their daughter Miss Elizabeth Bennet in March. Indeed, you invited her to dine at Rosings several times, commented on her as quite a clever girl, as I recall.”
“Richard’s Miss Bennet is a sister tothatMiss Bennet?“ Lady Catherine snapped. “The one with all the sisters out?Youare her parents?”
“It’s an honour to make your acquaintance, Lady Catherine,” Mrs Bennet said, and Elizabeth was pleasantly surprised by how calm and quiet her mother sounded. “Lizzy told us a great deal of you and of Rosings after her visit to Kent.”
