Page 22

Kitchen

Lucas Lodge

The Next Day around Noon

Charlotte brushed her face across her shoulder, smearing back the tendrils of hair stuck to her face. It was hot in the kitchen, and sticky, and her arms were getting tired, but she was pleased with her efforts. A mince pie sat before her, glistening with the egg wash over the pale crust. Mince was not her favorite pie, personally, but it was the favorite of her fiancé, William Collins, and she intended to perfect the art of making them.

She had been spending a great deal of time in the kitchen of late. Soon enough she would be married and mistress of her own home, and she would need to know how to cook and bake and manage a kitchen as well as the household accounts. They were uplifting tasks, even when she did not particularly enjoy them, because each one was a reminder that she would soon be married.

“Miss Lucas,” the housekeeper of Lucas Lodge said, “your mother has summoned you to the parlor. Mr. Collins has arrived. ”

Charlotte blinked in astonishment. “Mr. Collins?”

“Yes, Miss. Would you like me to have Polly assist you in changing into another dress?”

“I would, thank you,” Charlotte said gratefully. She knew she looked a sight, with messy hands and disheveled hair, and her apron crumpled and stained with mince.

She hurried up the servant’s stairs in order to avoid her fiancé and changed as quickly as was possible. The rush caused her usually sallow cheeks to be pinker than usual, and she was well satisfied in her appearance as she descended the main stairwell. The door to the parlor was open, and she was surprised to hear an unfamiliar female voice within.

“Mr. Collins, I am horrified that your cousin would behave in such a way,” the voice declared irascibly. “I simply will not have it. Do you understand?”

“I am equally distressed,” Mr. Collins said as Charlotte stepped into the parlor and looked around quickly. Lady Lucas and Maria were seated side by side on a couch looking anxious, while an older woman, richly dressed, sat on the best wingbacked chair near the fire. Mr. Collins himself stood near the unknown lady with an alarmed expression on his face. At the sight of his fiancée, the rector turned to the woman and said, “ Lady Catherine, may I please have the honor of introducing Miss Charlotte Lucas.”

Charlotte immediately sank into a deep curtsey and waited, well aware that it behooved her to tread cautiously.

“Miss Lucas,” the woman said cantankerously, “it took you rather a long time to come.”

“My apologies,” she replied meekly. “I was in the kitchen, as I am determined to learn more about cooking and baking before my wedding to Mr. Collins, and I was not fit to be in the presence of such a noble guest.”

This, to her relief, seemed to please Lady Catherine, who said, “It is wise of you to learn such skills, Miss Lucas. As I told Mr. Collins before he visited Longbourn, he needed to choose a gentlewoman formysake, and for hisown, let her be an active, useful sort of person, not brought up high, but able to make a small income go a good way. Based on my initial assessment, you will do very well.”

“I am confident that I will not do everything correctly when we are first married, but I hope to learn,” Charlotte replied humbly as Mr. Collins smiled proudly.

“And I will be pleased to assist you,” the lady said graciously, and gestured toward a chair. “Sit down, Miss Lucas. ”

She did so immediately and waited with folded hands and as calm a face as she could manage. Based on what she had overheard, Lady Catherine was here because she had learned of Elizabeth’s engagement to Mr. Darcy, and the lady was not pleased in the least.

“Your mother tells me that Miss Elizabeth Bennet, Mr. Collins’s cousin, compromised my nephew at a ball at Netherfield Hall,” Catherine de Bourgh declared abruptly, her eyebrows now jutting forward ferociously. “What do you know about that, Miss Lucas?”

Charlotte was confident that her mother had not described it in exactly that way, but she also knew she needed to tread lightly in her defense of her friend.

“My understanding,” she said carefully, “is that Miss Elizabeth disappeared for part of the ball, and Mr. Darcy did as well, and rumors spread that they had crept away together, though I am confident that is not true. Unfortunately, rumors multiply quickly in our little society of Meryton, and when Mr. Darcy learned that Miss Elizabeth’s reputation was damaged, he offered for her hand in marriage.”

Lady Catherine’s chest puffed out like a particularly indignant pigeon, and the lady said, “That is quite impossible, Miss Lucas, because Mr. Darcy is engaged to my daughter. Now, what do you have to say about that? ”

Charlotte cast an anxious look on her fiancé, who was staring at her with slightly protruding eyes, and she said, “If that is true, then Mr. Darcy cannot be engaged to Miss Elizabeth. It seems there has been some great confusion here.”

Lady Catherine hesitated and then said, “The engagement between them is of a peculiar kind. From their infancy, they have been intended for each other. It was the favorite wish ofboth me and my sister. While in their cradles we planned the union, and now, at the moment when the wishes of both sisters would be accomplished, is their marriage to be prevented by a young woman of inferior birth, of no importance in the world, and wholly unallied to the family?”

“Indeed, it cannot be,” Mr. Collins exclaimed. “It is entirely impossible that Mr. Darcy could cast aside his commitment to the most distinguished lady in all of Kent, Miss de Bourgh.”

“I quite agree that Mr. Darcy would not take such a step, as he is an estimable man,” Charlotte agreed. “There have been a great many rumors flying about, Lady Catherine, and rumors are often wrong. In this case, they must be. Perhaps you could call on Mr. Darcy at Netherfield Hall and ask him about what is happening? I know that he departed for London some days ago, but it may be that he has returned. ”

She knew, of course, that Darcy was still in London, as were Mr. Bingley and the Bennets, but it seemed wise to seem as innocently unaware as possible as to what was happening.

“Mr. Darcy is apparently in Town,” Lady Catherine stated, “and the butler at Longbourn informed us that the entire Bennet family is not available either.”

“Yes, Jane Bennet is engaged to Mr. Bingley,” Charlotte said, “and the whole family journeyed to London so that she could purchase bridal clothing.”

“Where are they staying?” Lady Catherine demanded.

“I fear I do not know,” Charlotte said meekly. “Elizabeth told me that she would write when she arrived, but I believe they left only yesterday, and there has been no time for a letter to journey from London to Meryton. Mr. Bingley doubtless knows where the Bennets are settled, and Mr. Darcy presumably knows Mr. Bingley’s direction?”

A rather dreadful silence fell as Lady Catherine squinted and even grunted, and Mr. Collins’s expression shifted from worried to terror-stricken. To the relief of all, the mistress of Rosings took only a minute to think and then rose.

“Thank you, Miss Lucas, for your assistance,” she said graciously. “I will indeed call on my nephew in London, and we will put to death these scurrilous rumors about my daughter’s fiancé! Now, I am hungry, along with Mr. Collins, and we require sustenance.”

Lady Lucas started at this and then bobbed her head meekly. “Yes, of course, my lady!”

***

Drawing Room

Darcy House

Dinner Time

Darcy reread the same sentence once again and then lowered his book with a restless little sigh. He was a disciplined man and a great reader, and normally even the dullest aggregation of words could hold his attention, but today nothing could retain his focus. A glance at the clock showed that an hour remained until the expected company arrived, and Darcy shifted in his chair and tried once more to read. It was a vain effort, and he finally put aside his book and stood to pace, giving vent to the restless energy filling him.

Mr. Bennet, Miss Bennet and Elizabeth were coming to dine, and he was looking forward to it with an almost painful eagerness. His joy was tempered with apprehension, however, for Georgiana would be present, and he was anxious for her to like her future sisters by marriage. He also hoped, desperately, that Elizabeth would like Georgiana, because his shy little sister needed a friend.

Darcy turned to stare out the window, hands clasped behind his back. He did not care for the changes that being in love had wrought in him. He had always been a deliberate man with iron self-control, and now all that was crumbling away at the altar of a pair of fine brown eyes and a sharp wit. His life had ever been carefully ordered, his wealth and his connections and his impeccable breeding opening any door or opportunity to him that he wished – and even many that he did not. Almack's, White's, symposiums of agriculture, all of these were his for the choosing. He could have wed at his leisure nearly any woman in England.

Elizabeth Bennet was no man's for the mere choosing. She was her own woman and knew her own mind. And Darcy had entirely lost his heart to the only woman who had no interest in his hand. The exertion to woo a woman, rather than resist one, was still new to him, and he was clumsy at it. Would his awkward efforts be enough to win her affections?

Voices in the corridor broke him from his musings, and he turned hastily. He thought he had heard a woman's voice, too old to be Georgiana, and his heart leapt. Had Elizabeth and her sister arrived early? Darcy took a few eager stepstowards the door just as it swung open.

The butler stepped inside, and Darcy stopped short in astonishment at two familiar ladies followed at his heels.

“Miss de Bourgh and Mrs. Jenkinson,” the butler announced and retreated out the room.

“Anne?” Darcy said. “Whatever are you doing here?”

Anne de Bourgh, who was dressed in a pale yellow gown which made her skin appear even more sallow than usual, took a few steps forward and said, “Darcy, is it true that you are engaged to a Miss Elizabeth Bennet?”

He felt his mouth gape open at these words before pulling himself together sufficiently to say, “How did you…?”

He trailed away as bewilderment gave way to dismay. Poor Anne! She must have heard rumors of the engagement and rushed here to find out whether it was true that he had discarded her in favor of an unknown country girl.

“Darcy!” Anne said sharply. “Are you engaged? ”

“I am,” Darcy said, straightening. “I am sorry that you…”

“Well, praise the Lord for that!” Anne interrupted, her eyes lighting up and her lips curving into a delighted smile. “That is wonderful, Cousin, absolutely wonderful. Many congratulations!”

He goggled at her in wonder, and she laughed – actually laughed – and said, “How astonished you look, Darcy! Now, I know that my arrival and attitude are extraordinary, but before we speak longer, might you be willing to put Mrs. Jenkinson and me up for the night? I will make arrangements tomorrow for another locale, but for the moment, I have nowhere to lay my head, though I suppose we could stay in a hotel.”

“You can, of course, stay here,” he managed to say, “but I am confused. How did you hear of my engagement, and why are you happy about it?”

Anne wandered over to the fire and held out her hands toward the flames. “An anonymous letter arrived yesterday stating that you and Miss Elizabeth Bennet were compromised at a ball in late November and that you are now engaged to the lady. My mother was naturally outraged and summoned Mr. Collins, who was forced to admit that you and Miss Bennet disappeared from the ball for at least a short time, and at the same time. She resolved to journey to Hertfordshire this very morning to confront Miss Bennet, and she took Mr. Collins with her. As soon as she had departed, I arranged to come here and speak to you on the matter, as my mother’s outrage, while doubtless inconvenient to you, was a great boon to me, and I hope that brings you at least a little comfort.”

Darcy was now completely bewildered, but he said, “Please, do sit down and explain yourself, Cousin though I must warn you that the two eldest Misses Bennet, along with their father, will be arriving in the next hour for dinner.”

“I am so looking forward to meeting them!” Anne replied. “Miss Elizabeth Bennet must be an extraordinary lady to capture the heart of my dour cousin!”

“She is,” he said with what he suspected was a besotted smile, “but tell me why you are here.”

Anne leaned back in her chair and crossed her ankles elegantly. “As you may know, I turned five and twenty last month.”

He frowned and nodded. “Yes, you did, though I had forgotten your date of birth.”

Anne nodded and continued, “My father’s will directs that I inherit Rosings on my five and twentieth birthday, regardless of my marital status.”

Darcy jolted at this news. “That … erm … is that true? ”

“It is, I assure you,” Anne said.

“Lady Catherine told me that you would not inherit until you turned thirty unless you were married.”

“Yes, she told me the same thing,” Anne said, wrinkling her nose. “Fortunately, Mrs. Jenkinson was suspicious of that claim, and I managed to speak to our solicitor in Kent, who had witnessed the will, and had enough backbone to tell me the truth, though he asked me to keep my knowledge quiet, which I did. There was no point in discussing it with my mother until after my birthday, as she has every intention of ruling over the estate for the rest of her natural life. I allowed her to think that I am as sickly as always and too frail to manage the estate. She will now find herself in a battle for control of Rosings, and I hope you will help me.”

Darcy suddenly wondered if he was in a dream, and deliberately clenched his fist in order to dig one nail into his palm. It hurt, so he thought it likely that he was awake.

“I am completely confused,” he admitted.

“I am not surprised,” Anne remarked with a chuckle. “You see, for the last two years I have been…”

She trailed away as the door opened and Darcy leaped to his feet at the sight of Bingley, with Miss Bennet on his right arm, while Mr. Bennet followed with Elizabeth on his arm.

“Miss Bennet, Miss Elizabeth, and Mr. Bennet,” the butler announced.