Page 16

Unsurprisingly to her relations, Lady Catherine de Bourgh was most venomous in her condemnation of Mr. Darcy and his betrothal to Miss Elizabeth Bennet.

She had brought Anne on the long, uncomfortable journey to Derbyshire with the conviction that at Matlock, family seat of the Fitzwilliams, her nephew would finally do his duty and announce his engagement to her daughter.

Instead, he had declared his intention to marry an impertinent little country nobody.

Worse, the family had congratulated him!

And they had laughed at her when she claimed the betrothal to be impossible because he was to marry her Anne!

Even after another lengthy session in the Earl’s study, Lady Catherine was astonished to find that her brother and nephew continued to refuse her.

Although she spent many hours over the following days working on her nephew, the boy displayed a stubborn willfulness that made her wish she could bend him over her knee.

She was not certain how he had tricked her to into praising Miss Bennet at the dinner table, in front of all the family no less, but it made her furious to recall her words.

Unfortunately, several of her nephews found it necessary to remind her of them, repeatedly.

Lady Catherine was beyond displeased.

When it became apparent that Darcy was not going to be easily bent to her will, she returned to her brother. At first, Henry had teased her. “But I thought you said you liked the girl, Catherine?”

However, it did not take much of her increasingly vitriolic demands for him to become serious.

The Earl of Matlock had finally risen to his full height and informed her that she had no hold over Darcy except that resulting from her nephew’s respect for her as an elder relation and that if she continued to act in such a way, he would not blame anyone in the family for ignoring her entirely.

The night after her brother’s birthday, Lady Catherine considered the problem anew and decided that a change in tactics was necessary.

Early the next morning, she bundled her daughter into their carriage and directed the driver to make for Hertfordshire.

Mrs. Jenkinson had the temerity to protest that Miss de Bourgh was still too exhausted to endure another long carriage ride but certainly her mother knew best and so Anne’s companion was left behind to repack their trunks and follow with the servants.

Even at top speed, the carriage took nearly two days to reach Hertfordshire, with Lady Catherine’s temper worsening with every mile.

When they finally arrived in Meryton, she had her footman discover directions to the Bennet estate and drove there directly, although it was mid-afternoon and they had not stopped since breaking their fast. Anne’s mother had worked herself into such a fury that she practically leapt from the carriage, wholly focused on confronting the doxy who had enthralled her nephew and completely forgetting about the daughter she left behind in the carriage.

Thus, while Lady Catherine marched into the house to harangue Miss Elizabeth Bennet, Anne was left quite unsupervised.

Now that the coach was no longer in motion, the air inside became even more stifling and eventually the young woman’s desire for a more comfortable situation outweighed her lethargy.

With the help of a footman, Miss de Bourgh emerged cautiously into the late summer sun.

Looking around, she observed that the ivy-covered manor house was on a much smaller scale than Rosings and, though the surrounding gardens appeared to be extensive, they were not organized with the precision that her own park displayed.

Some portions were devoted to flowers, some to roses, and a large herb garden caught her attention when the summer breeze brought the scent of lavender to her nose.

While peering in that direction, Anne’s eyes moved past the Bennets’ stable boy where he was watering the horses.

Normally, Miss de Bourgh would not condescend to notice a servant unless she required something, but on this occasion she did a double take.

In a voice oddly reminiscent of her mother’s, she called out, “You there! Yes, you.” She looked the man full in the face and was struck by his resemblance to a portrait she had often studied in the gallery at Rosings. “What is your name?”

The man blushed slightly at being singled by a strange lady, but replied obediently, “Davey Hill, ma’am.”

“Have you always been at Longbourn?”

“No ma’am. I lived in London ‘til I was near grown.” Seeing the visitor wished for more, he offered, “Me mum and I were in service to Mr. Bennet’s brother, old Mr. Collins, you see.

When Mrs. Collins passed on, he offered us a place here.

Mum’s kept the house at Longbourn ever since, and I look after the horses.

The Bennets are a good family to work for, ma’am.

” The last bit was not strictly necessary but Anne suspected it had to do with the raised voices they could both hear coming from the copse on the other side of the yard.

Apparently Lady Catherine had not received the answer she wished from Miss Bennet in the house and was now going at her in the open air.

Miss de Bourgh was too curious about the man in front of her, however, to give anything else much notice.

“Do you know anything more about your family?” Seeing the servant stiffen, she could only continue staring stupidly. “You see, it is very odd, but you look just like the portrait of my father.”

At that moment, Davey looked up to see his own mother standing some steps behind Miss de Bourgh.

Usually a pillar of strength, Mrs. Hill was currently pale as a sheet.

“Mum!” Leaving the horses to the de Bourgh coachmen, Davey bolted to his mother’s side and helped her to a bench in the shade.

Angrily, he called over his shoulder, “What are you accusing her of? My mum’s the best there is! ”

“Davey.” All three heads turned to Mr. Bennet, who had emerged from the house in time to interrupt the odd tableau. “I do not believe that the young lady was accusing your mother of anything.” He looked toward the visitor and, indeed, Anne was instantly contrite.

“Oh no… I’m sorry… it’s just that the likeness surprised me.

It’s been so long since I’ve been away from Kent and I know so little of my father’s family.

I thought… oh, I don’t know what I thought.

I suppose I’ve read too many novels,” she finished lamely, feeling confused, embarrassed, and thoroughly overwhelmed.

Mr. Bennet chuckled slightly, seeing Miss de Bourgh for what she was; a quiet and rather simple young woman with little escape from her domineering mother except through books and fairy stories, leaving her ill-equipped to deal with the real world.

“Ah, of course. My own daughters have long been devotees of that particular genre. You thought, perhaps, that young Davey was kidnapped at birth and is, in fact, the missing heir of an ancient and noble lineage.”

Even as Mr. Bennet exercised his wit to the point that Miss de Bourgh giggled a little and even Davey smiled, he looked toward Mrs. Hill.

The master of Longbourn had a high respect for his housekeeper and felt that he owed her a great deal.

For many years, the woman had been his sister’s only friend during a miserable marriage.

Just as Mr. Bennet was readying another jest, Elizabeth burst forth from the garden and strode angrily across the yard. Trailing behind her, trotting to catch up while shaking a very ornate walking stick, was Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

“And this is your real opinion! This is your final resolve! Very well. I now know how to act! Do not imagine, Miss Bennet, that your ambition will ever be gratified. I came to try you. I hoped to find you reasonable; but depend upon it, I will carry my point! ”

Lady Catherine blustered on in this manner until they reached the carriage. Before stepping up, she added, “I take no leave of you, Miss Bennet. I send no compliments to your mother. You deserve no such attention. I am most seriously displeased.”

Suddenly realizing that her carriage was quite empty, her Ladyship spun around and vented some of her spleen upon her daughter. “Anne! What are you doing standing about like this? Get back in the carriage immediately! These people are not fit to be seen, much less conversed with!”

An instant later, the unimaginable occurred.

Lady Catherine stepped toward her daughter as if to take her by arm and, in doing so, looked Longbourn’s stable boy full in the face. And then, she fainted dead away.

Oddly enough, Miss Elizabeth Bennet was the only one quick enough to catch the woman before she fell to the gravel like a sack of potatoes.

Davey moved to her aid and, with one young person under each arm, the older woman was carried straight through the house to a sofa in Mr. Bennet’s library.

Not knowing what else to do, Anne sat beside her mother as directed by Elizabeth while Mrs. Hill brought a cool compress for the woman’s forehead.

After disappearing for several minutes, Elizabeth returned and closed the door behind her, explaining that she had informed her mother that the de Bourghs had some business to discuss with Mr. Bennet, adding, “Mamma is taking my sisters to visit Mrs. Phillips.” She then turned to Miss de Bourgh and inquired after Lady Catherine’s condition with far more grace and compassion than even Anne thought her mother deserved from the young lady.