Page 9 of Blessed Interference (Pride and Prejudice Variations #1)

Dining Room

Rosings

That Evening

“Do not linger long over your port,” Lady Catherine ordered. “I am certain we would all enjoy a pleasant game of quadrille this evening.”

“Very well,” Richard said, and Darcy nodded obediently.

Their hostess, her daughter, and her daughter’s companion, filed out of the dining room and closed the door, and Darcy and Richard huffed simultaneously in relief.

“Port, Darcy?” Richard asked.

“Please!”

The colonel poured full glasses for himself and his cousin, took a sip, and then said, “Darcy, tell me about your friend Bingley’s marriage to Miss Jane Bennet.”

Darcy blinked. “What about it? They were wed but a few weeks ago in Meryton, and I served as my friend’s best man.”

“I know,” Richard said impatiently, “but I spoke at some length to Anna, one of the maids at the parsonage, and she is actually from Longbourn in Hertfordshire and has served the Bennets for many years.”

“Oh!” Darcy said, his face clearing. “That must be where I saw her before. I thought the girl looked familiar when we visited the parsonage yesterday, though in truth, I feel like I had seen her in London, but that cannot be.”

“Apparently Anna has a twin sister, Lucy? She might…”

“Lucy!” Darcy cried out. “Yes, that was the name of the maid at Hurst House who…”

He trailed off, took another sip of wine, and frowned.

“Who?” Richard prompted.

“I think that it was a maid named Lucy – who does look the same as Anna, so she must be her twin – who revealed to my friend Bingley that Miss Bennet was in London. Bingley’s sisters and I were in agreement, but, erm, I confess to an error there.

I thought that the former Jane Bennet did not truly love Bingley, and I encouraged him to leave Netherfield the previous autumn.

However, when Miss Bennet came to London, and visited Miss Bingley… ”

He trailed off and ran a hand down his face. “I did make a mistake, Richard, in advising Bingley to leave the lady he loved, and I now know it. By the grace of God, and the courage of the maid, all ended well.”

Richard nodded and said, “Darcy, do you think Miss Bennet knows of your part in convincing Bingley to depart Netherfield last autumn?”

Darcy poured another draught of wine down his throat and then lifted nervous fingers to tug at his collar.

“I do not know,” he said. “That is to say that, well, I suppose she might, as she and Mrs. Bingley are very close. Do you think ... I had good intentions, you know.”

“I know,” Richard said quietly.

“Do you think Miss Bennet might be upset with me?” Darcy asked, a trifle piteously.

Richard sighed deeply and said, “I do not know. She is a spirited woman, and if she does know that you tried to separate her elder sister from the man she loved, well, I would not be surprised if she were irritated with you.”

The gentlemen finished their drinks in silence.

***

On the Path to the Johnsons’ House

Rosings

One Week Later

Once again, Richard had come across the maid Anna, though this time it was no mere chance.

He knew, because Mrs. Collins had mentioned it during a visit to the parsonage the previous day, that Anna took food to the Johnsons’ every day as Mrs. Johnson was recovering slowly from the delivery of her baby.

He and Darcy had visited the parsonage almost every day in the last week, and Richard was entirely confused as to Miss Bennet’s attitude toward Darcy.

On the one hand, she was always courteous.

On the other, she did not look at Darcy unless she was directly speaking to him, and she displayed no signs at all of being interested in the wealthy master of Pemberley.

Was that because Miss Bennet accepted that Darcy was engaged to Miss de Bourgh, and thus there was no chance of a marriage offer?

Was it because Miss Bennet genuinely disliked Darcy?

Could it be that Miss Bennet was indifferent to Darcy?

He needed to know, and thus, once again he found himself walking beside Anna, and within five minutes, he had managed to bring the conversation precisely where he wanted it.

“Miss Bennet does not dislike Mr. Darcy, exactly,” Anna said. “Indeed, she has reason to be grateful to him, and so do I.”

“You?” the colonel asked. “May I inquire as to what my cousin has done to benefit you?”

Anna swallowed hard and said, “There was, um, a man in Meryton, near Longbourn, who, um, he attacked a girl...”

“Wickham!” Richard interrupted, his fists now clenched in fury. “Yes, a rogue, who is now rotting away in Marshalsea.”

“Yes, sir,” Anna agreed, biting her lip. There was silence for thirty seconds, and then she continued huskily, “The girl is my cousin.”

“Oh,” the colonel said. “I am sorry.”

“Yes, it was quite dreadful, but in any case, Mr. Darcy was the one who arranged for Wickham to be removed from the regiment, and it is a relief to know he is no longer wandering free.”

“Indeed,” Richard said, “and Anna, I actually assisted in having Wickham locked away for debt, and on the day that the villain was captured, Colonel Forster punched him in the jaw in retaliation for harming your cousin. That is not all he deserved, but I hope it is comforting.”

Anna turned an amazed look on him. “The colonel hit Mr. Wickham?”

“Hard,” Richard promised and grinned.

Anna smiled as well and said, “That is very satisfactory. But back to Mr. Darcy and Miss Bennet. I know Miss Bennet is grateful, and she knows that Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy are friends, so she will, of course, be courteous and polite, which should be enough. It is not as if she thinks Mr. Darcy particularly likes her either, after all.”

Richard frowned. “Why do you say that?”

Anna hesitated and then said, “Colonel Fitzwilliam, I am not certain that Miss Bennet ever thinks about it anymore, but Mrs. Bennet certainly does. The very day that Mr. Darcy came to Hertfordshire, he attended an assembly in Meryton with Mr. Bingley, and he said, loud enough that Miss Bennet overheard, that she was not handsome enough to dance with.”

Richard was so shocked that he froze in position. “He what? ”

“He said she was not handsome enough to dance with,” Anna repeated, nodding forcefully, “and oh, how Mrs. Bennet complained about that the next day. Everyone at Longbourn heard of it, and everyone more or less loathed Mr. Darcy after that, though Mr. Wickham poured fuel on the fire by lying about something concerning Mr. Darcy. Something to do with a church living, I believe. I am confident that Miss Bennet despised Mr. Darcy until we all discovered Mr. Wickham was a deceiver and a ..., well, you know. Now, I think she is indifferent, but she will always be polite, I assure you! Miss Bennet is a lady.”

“She is most definitely a lady,” Richard said in a hollow tone, and then shook himself free of his reverie. “I will bid you farewell.”

“Good day, sir,” Anna replied.

Richard turned and marched away in the direction of Rosings. He needed to have a conversation with his cousin.

***

Johnson House

“Oh, Anna, thank you so much,” Mrs. Johnson said. The woman was sitting on a chair nursing her baby boy, while two little girls played with blocks on the floor.

“It is my pleasure, of course, Mrs. Johnson,” Anna replied as she placed the basket on the simple wooden table in the corner of the room. “Are you feeling any better?”

“I am, yes,” the woman replied. “Yesterday was better, and today is better still. Please tell Mrs. Collins how grateful we are.”

“I will,” Anna promised. “Now, I need to return to help in the kitchen, but I will be here tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you.”

Anna patted the two little girls on their blonde curly heads, and made her way out of the small house, and then walked toward the parsonage, though not at speed. She did not wish to catch up with Colonel Fitzwilliam, as she was confident he had quite enough to think of.

Anna did not even try to restrain her smile as she reflected on her conversation with Colonel Fitzwilliam a few minutes earlier.

The colonel was a kind man, and a polite one, and chatty, and not altogether subtle.

Oh, doubtless he thought that he was, but his steering of the exchange was quite obvious to anyone who had any suspicion of what he might wish to discuss, and why!

Anna was entirely confident that Mr. Darcy was in love with Miss Bennet.

He was much less subtle than his cousin, with his constant visits to the parsonage and rapt attention to Miss Bennet, to the point he would scarcely look at anyone else even if they began speaking.

His interest was obvious to her and the other servants, who would share smiles in the kitchen or parlor after he and his cousin departed.

Anna thought that the Colonel and possibly Mrs. Collins had noticed Mr. Darcy’s adoration of Miss Bennet, but none of the other Quality.

Mr. Collins, who was foolish if kind, was so enamored with Lady Catherine that he could never imagine Mr. Darcy falling in love with someone beside Miss de Bourgh.

As for Miss Lucas, she was neither clever nor observant, though she was sweet and polite.

What was more surprising was that Miss Bennet herself seemed entirely ignorant of the passion Mr. Darcy had conceived for her.

Miss Bennet was one of the cleverest young ladies Anna had ever encountered, but she had her blind spots.

Mr. Darcy’s callous insult at the Meryton assembly had, quite understandably, gotten her back up, and it had never completely come down.

It was only after Mr. Darcy had seen to the removal and arrest of the scoundrel Wickham that Miss Bennet’s deep dislike for Mr. Darcy had eased into a neutral indifference.

It was perhaps not startling that she was unaware that Mr. Darcy even liked her, much less loved her.

If anyone were to ask Anna – which they would not, with her merely being a maid and all, but if they were to do so – she would encourage the match.

Mr. Darcy was always courteous to the staff, which the gentry were not uniformly known for.

Anna had heard enough stories to know that.

He had also dealt decisively with Wickham after hearing of the man’s assault on a girl, even though she was only a tenant’s daughter and not a gentlewoman at all.

That showed a worth of moral character and a compassion that was rare indeed among the upper classes, and one that Anna could only admire.

Perhaps Miss Bennet could come to admire it, too, with time and the right inducement.

She was a lady who knew her own mind and was not easily convinced, but she was fair and just, too.

It was possible that when the colonel told Mr. Darcy of his catastrophic mistake, he would be able to rectify it and start wooing the lady he so obviously adored.

Her sister had played the matchmaker for the Bingleys; perhaps she could do the same for Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet.