Page 39 of Longbourn’s Son (Pride and Prejudice Variation #22)

“Elizabeth! Jane!” Georgiana squealed, rushing forward to embrace the two eldest Misses Bennet as they entered Darcy House. “Oh I am so happy, so very very happy!”

“We are overjoyed as well,” Elizabeth said, returning the hug with enthusiasm. “I cannot think of anyone I would rather have as a new sister than you, my dear.”

“And I look forward to being your cousin,” Jane continued cheerfully, and then her eyes lit up as Colonel Fitzwilliam and Darcy entered the foyer. “Richard!”

“Jane, my love!”

“Elizabeth!”

“My darling Fitzwilliam!”

Georgiana, blushing and chuckling at these exuberant displays of adoration, retreated to allow her brother and cousin to properly greet their fiancées.

She was aware of a deep swell of satisfaction in her breast at the sight of her brother’s joy; he worked very hard and had been carrying a great load for many years.

It was glorious that he would have a strong, intelligent, determined woman as his helpmeet.

Georgiana waited until the two couples had moved apart a few inches before suggesting, “Do come into the drawing room and have tea.”

/

“Lizzy and I would like to be married in Meryton, yes, and if possible at the same time,” Jane said as she picked out a biscuit from a tray.

“It will make it far easier for our friends and family to attend the ceremony and wedding breakfast. However, we realize that you both have family scattered across England. Would you prefer to be married here in London or Pemberley, perhaps, to make it more convenient for them?”

Richard and Darcy exchanged a look and Darcy said, “We both would be pleased to marry in Meryton, and we do not care if our relations attend or not. I believe both my cousin and I are more concerned with the timing than the locale.”

Elizabeth tucked her hand in the arm of her beloved and inquired, “What time is convenient for both of you? I believe Jane and I are quite free for the next few weeks and months, but perhaps you, Colonel, have military duties that will keep you busy?”

Richard reached out his right hand to entwine his fingers with Jane’s and said, “The only military duty I must complete is to sell my commission, and that will not be onerous. As for the timing of the wedding, we both wish to be wed as soon as possible.”

This provoked smiling blushes from both Bennet ladies and Elizabeth asked, “Do we wish to call the banns? Or will we be married by common license?”

“I suggest that we purchase licenses,” Darcy suggested. “It will give us more freedom to choose…”

He broke off as the drawing room door opened and his butler, wearing a disapproving expression, announced, “Mr. Darcy, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Miss Anne de Bourgh, Lord Matlock, and Lady Matlock.”

The two engaged couples rose immediately to their feet and Darcy found himself pulling Elizabeth a little closer, even as he observed Richard moving protectively nearer to Jane.

This time, he would not allow his aunt to lambast his darling.

At least the tedious clergyman, Mr. Collins, did not seem to be in attendance.

“There she is!” Lady Catherine howled, taking a step forward and pointing a furious finger at Elizabeth. “This is the hussy…!”

“You will be silent!” Darcy boomed, so loudly that his aunts, uncle, and cousin quivered in astonishment.

He turned to look down at Elizabeth, whose face was set with determination, and said gently, “My darling, will you please go with Georgiana and Jane into the music room? I would prefer to deal with my relations without you present.”

“I am not afraid of your relations,” the lady said calmly, her eyes flashing dangerously.

“I know you are not, my love. I merely believe this situation can better be resolved if you and Lady Catherine are not trading barbs.”

This provoked a soft laugh from Elizabeth, but she nodded and said to her fiancé’s sister, “Georgiana, would you be willing to play a duet with me in the music room, thus allowing our elders to speak to one another in privacy?”

“That is Miss Darcy to you!” Lady Catherine snapped indignantly.

“Elizabeth and Jane and I are friends,” Georgiana stated with surprising bravery. “We will see you later, Fitzwilliam.”

Darcy nodded approvingly and watched as the Bennet ladies and Georgiana walked gracefully out of the room.

To his relief, his cousin Anne, who was standing behind her older relations, crept quietly out of the room behind the younger ladies.

Based on her expression, Anne had no desire to be part of the upcoming familial storm; he could not say he blamed her.

“Please do sit down,” he suggested to the interlopers. “May I inquire what brings you here today?”

“You know exactly what brings us here today!” Lady Catherine cried out as she took the seat nearest the fire.

“You are consorting with that woman, Elizabeth Bennet, and disregarding your duty to Anne! Since you will not listen to me, I have brought your uncle along so that he can pound some sense into your infatuated head!”

“Catherine, please calm down,” the earl said, running a weary hand through his thinning gray hair.

He sat down on a nearby settee, while his wife took her place next to Richard.

“Now come, Darcy, your aunt’s account of this matter seems quite impossible – I know you to be a most sensible young man and not the type to fall victim to a pretty face.

What are you about? I am shocked to find this Elizabeth Bennet here at Darcy House, and on familiar terms with Georgiana.

You owe it your family to be careful in your interactions with young women.

As your aunt says, you are engaged to Anne! ”

“I am not , and never have been , engaged to my cousin Anne,” Darcy declared, scowling at his uncle.

“Sir, I respect you as my mother’s brother, but you have no authority over me, and I will choose the wife whom I believe best suits me.

That woman is Miss Elizabeth Bennet. I offered for her yesterday morning, she accepted, and I rode to Longbourn, her family’s estate, to ask for her father’s permission. He granted it, and we are engaged.”

A few seconds passed in silence, and then Lady Catherine let loose with an outraged scream. “No, no! You must marry Anne! Your engagement to this ... this wench ... is entirely illegal!”

“Darcy, really, this is quite ridiculous!” the earl said in an outraged tone. “I thought you far more sensible! Now the woman will have to be paid off to relinquish her claim on you!”

“Lord Matlock, Lady Catherine,” Darcy said sternly.

“You have two choices before you. One is that you can continue to oppose my engagement, shortly to be my marriage, with Elizabeth. The other is that you gracefully accept the inevitable. If the former, I will cut off ties with you, which would provoke a public scandal. I advise you not to test me, I will do it. The other is that you can behave like civilized people and accept that you have no right to choose my bride for me.”

The earl rose to his feet at these words and glowered down into his nephew’s face. “Darcy, how dare you say such a thing! I am your uncle, and head of the Matlock family…”

“But he is a Darcy, not a Matlock, Husband,” Lady Matlock interposed, speaking for the first time.

Lady Matlock was a pretty woman, with soft brown hair and faded blue eyes, but she was also a force to be reckoned with.

She looked up into her lord’s purplish face and continued soothingly, “Darcy is the head of his own house and is quite correct – there were no formal documents drawn up which require that he marry Anne. Furthermore it is obvious to me, if not to you, that he has made up his mind.”

She stood up gracefully and placed a gentle hand on her husband’s arm. “Come, Matlock, you know that none of us desire a family breach. Moreover, I have never heard that Anne has any desire to wed Darcy.”

“Anne will do as she is told,” growled Lady Catherine, “and she will marry Darcy.”

“So,” Lady Matlock continued without paying attention to her sister-in-law’s words, “it is far better for us all if we make the best of the situation.”

She turned her attention on Darcy and smiled up at him. “You spoke of a family estate; she is a gentleman’s daughter, then?”

“Yes,” Darcy said thankfully, allowing himself to relax. With Lady Matlock on his side, there was real hope that they could avoid an unwelcome family division. “The Bennets have dwelled in Longbourn, in Hertfordshire, for many generations.”

“It is a small estate,” Catherine de Bourgh said angrily.

“My parson is a distant relation and knows much about the property; it brings in only two thousand pounds per annum, and Mrs. Bennet bore five daughters along with one son. Miss Elizabeth’s portion will be absurdly small, whereas Anne is heiress to one of the greatest estates in all of England! ”

“I love Elizabeth,” Darcy declared, “and I do not love Anne, not in the romantic sense.”

“Love! Romance! Those are matters for peons, not the gentry!” Catherine de Bourgh exclaimed. “Brother, speak to him!”

Lord Matlock sighed and shook his head. “No, Catherine, my wife is correct. Nothing can be done about this situation except to make the best of it. Darcy has offered and been accepted.”

He turned a hopeful eye on his wife and said, “My dear, perhaps you would be willing to take the girl in hand so that she can be properly launched into society?”

“It would be my pleasure,” she said. “Darcy, would you kindly do me the honor of formally introducing me to your fiancée?”

“Before you do that, Mother,” Richard said with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, “I have something I need to tell to you and my father.”

“Yes, dear one?”

“I have asked Miss Jane Bennet, Elizabeth’s older sister, to be my bride, and she has accepted me.”

/

“I never wanted to marry Darcy,” Anne de Bourgh stated. “Never. I cannot tell you how happy I am, Miss Elizabeth, that he has found a lady whom he truly loves for a bride.”

“Did you ever tell Lady Catherine of your feelings about the matter?” Georgiana asked timidly.

The initial plan to play duets in the pianoforte had given way to a comfortable conversation in a cozy sitting room which faced out onto a well-tended garden.

Through the window, early daffodils waved their sunny heads in the mild breeze.

Anne shook her head and took a bite of biscuit.

“She would not have listened to me. No, my only hope and prayer was that Darcy would not offer for me, and of course he did not, but every year at Easter, when he visited Rosings, I was afraid that he would. I feel enormously relieved that I no longer need to fear his visits.”

“Oh Anne!” Georgiana exclaimed, her eyes filled with sympathetic tears. “If my brother had known, I am certain he would have reassured you that he had no wish to force you into an unwanted marriage.”

“Dear cousin, I assure you that I am not angry at Darcy in the slightest; as long as he remained single, the danger remained, in my mind anyway. My mother is quite a force of nature.”

“I gathered that,” Elizabeth said, her lips quirking upwards in amusement. “But do not worry, Miss de Bourgh. My fiancé is entirely capable of holding the line with any number of strong willed relatives.”

Anne’s pale face brightened at these words and she said, “Miss Elizabeth, would you be willing to call me Anne?”

“Of course, if you will call me Elizabeth.”

The door opened and the ladies looked up as Lady Matlock entered the room with Darcy and Fitzwilliam behind her.

“Aunt,” Darcy said as the Bennet women rose to their feet, “may I please introduce Miss Jane Bennet and Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Jane, Elizabeth, my aunt, Lady Matlock.”

The Bennets both curtseyed respectfully but Lady Matlock, eschewing convention, rushed forward to embrace Jane.

“Miss Bennet! My son tells me that you and he are engaged!”

“Yes, Lady Matlock,” Jane answered in some confusion.

“My dear, I truly wondered if this day would ever come to pass! Let me look at you.”

Jane obediently stood still for a thorough inspection, and then her future mother-in-law beamed and said, “Miss Bennet, you are quite lovely, but I know it is not your beauty that attracted my Richard; he, as son of an earl, has been pursued by many handsome ladies. I am so glad, so very glad, to welcome you into our family.”