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Once Mr Darcy had departed – his long legs moved him along the path quickly – Elizabeth turned to the younger woman and said, “Miss Darcy, I propose we have an adventure when we reach Netherfield.”

“An adventure, Miss Bennet? I dread any meeting with Aunt Catherine,” replied Georgiana. “She demands that my brother send me to live with her so that she can oversee my education and make certain my character is properly formed. But William denies her every time.”

Elizabeth reached out a hand to squeeze Georgiana’s arm in a comforting manner. She said, “Miss Darcy, you have an excellent character. I imagine anything that Lady Catherine lists as your faults are merely reflections of her own inadequacies.”

They continued walking and after a moment of silence, Elizabeth asked, “Tell me, Miss Darcy, have you ever been inside the kitchens in your homes?”

“Of course, I have been to the kitchens in both of our homes,” Georgiana replied.

“At Pemberley, my brother and I have tea with our cook once a week. Mrs Huddleston makes the most excellent biscuits. In London, the butler and housekeeper turn a blind eye to my trips into the kitchen to visit with Mrs Benson. She’s our cook in the city, and she keeps a tin of biscuits for us to pilfer.

Mrs Annesley counsels me not to go too often as it would make the maids too familiar with me. ”

Nodding, Elizabeth said, “At Longbourn, our housekeeper helped my mother raise my sisters and myself. Your footman, Jacob Hill is her son, and we played together as children. Jacob learned his job from his father who is our butler and my father’s valet.”

“It’s true, Miss Darcy. Me and Miss Elizabeth caught frogs in the pond down the lane from the kitchen until her mother made her start wearing long skirts,” the footman added.

“And there is an important secret that only I know at Longbourn. I have never told my sisters because I fear one of them might tell our mother or father,” confided Elizabeth.

“What secret?” asked Georgiana with wide eyes.

“When I have been on a walk through the woods or fields and want to avoid Mamma when I return, I enter the house through the kitchens and climb the back stairs,” Elizabeth confessed.

“Therefore, we shall enter Netherfield through the kitchens and climb the narrow stairs to your room without your brother or aunt knowing we are under the same roof.”

~~~

As Fitzwilliam Darcy walked back to the manor house, his thoughts were mixed as he attempted to find a reason for his aunt’s appearance in Hertfordshire. He decided, ‘Lady Catherine must have already been at Matlock House in London. But why?’

Imagining that his cousin was ill, or that a fire had damaged Rosings Park, Darcy lengthened his stride.

When he reached the front door of the manor house, he did not wait for the footman to open the door but entered the manor on his own, leaving his hat, gloves and cane on a table near the staircase.

He listened quietly for a moment and determined his aunt was delivering a lecture of some kind to Mrs Bingley in her front parlour. Again, he opened the door and let himself into the room.

“Darcy!” Lady Catherine exclaimed. “There you are!”

“Aunt,” Darcy acknowledged Lady Catherine but gave his full attention to Jane Bingley and thanked her for allowing his relative to wait inside the house instead of the carriage where an uninvited visitor should have remained.

Blinking in surprise, Lady Catherine protested, “Remain in the carriage? I am the daughter of an earl! I never wait in a carriage!”

“My grandfather has been dead for twenty years and the Countess of Matlock would wait in the carriage if she ever had the bad manners to call at my friend’s home uninvited.”

“Darcy! This is hardly a house of high-quality people!” the woman protested. She waved toward Jane and said, “This girl claims to be Mrs Charles Bingley.”

“Silence!” Darcy said, his angry tone evident to Mrs Bingley and his aunt. “This is the home of my friend, Charles Bingley and his bride, Jane Bingley. Be respectful or I shall tell my uncle that you are a candidate for Bedlam!”

Understanding that a man’s opinion counted for more than any woman’s wishes, Lady Catherine sat back in her chair and fell silent. She recognized George Darcy’s infamous temper in her nephew’s tone and threats.

Darcy turned to Jane and in a pleasant tone said, “Mrs Bingley, I apologize for my aunt’s horrid ill-manners. Please be assured that she will write a formal letter of apology, or I shall publish a multitude of tales regarding her profligate spending and horrid manners in the newspapers in London.”

Anxious to escape the room before more angry words were spoken, Jane replied, “Mr Darcy, I shall leave you and your aunt to discuss her news with you.”

Despite the uncomfortable setting, before she left the room, Jane inquired, “Would you and your aunt care for tea?”

“My aunt will not be staying,” Darcy replied. “Send a footman to me so I can send instructions to the coachman.”

~~~

“Such bad manners,” Lady Catherine said after Mr Bingley’s bride had departed.

“Yes, Aunt Catherine, your manners are atrocious. However, Mrs Bingley is a lady with a kind heart, and I am certain she will forgive you. I pray she does not blame my entire family for your lack of manners.”

Angry to hear her nephew speak thus, the unhappy woman stated, “I should have caned you myself when you were a boy.”

Equally angry, Darcy asked, “Aunt, what are you doing here? How did you know to find me at Netherfield?”

“I came with good news! Important news that cannot wait until you deign to appear in London,” the old woman replied. “And it was Wickham who shared with me where you would go to escape London.”

“Wickham? Mr George Wickham?” Darcy inquired and Lady Catherine nodded to acknowledge the man’s identity. “How are you associated with that man?”

Scowling, Lady Catherine replied, “I was forced to turn to Mr Wickham when I had to find a man with some success in business. I have sullied my hands with matters of trade and gold in an attempt to make you see sense.”

Instructing the footman to open the valise, Lady Catherine pulled out a sheaf of papers and presented them to her nephew.

With triumph in her voice, the gentlewoman announced, “There is even greater wealth in your future nephew. Once you marry Anne, these stocks from The New World Tea Company will make you and your wife richer than you ever imagined! Your heir will be wealthy beyond belief.”

Darcy grimaced, trying to discern the meaning of his aunt’s excited speech.

He looked closely at the stock certificate in his hand.

The name New World Tea Company was printed across the top of the paper and on the sides were images of what artists believed to be the native peoples of the new world – dark-skinned men and women dressed in strange clothing of feathers and animal furs.

The native people were posed on either side of the paper underneath stylized palm trees.

But Fitzwilliam’s eyes were drawn to the bottom of page when he saw a signature–George Wickham–underneath the images. Very carefully, the tall gentleman controlled his temper before he turned to Lady Catherine and said, “Aunt, explain to me how you have been in company with George Wickham.”

Frowning, Lady Catherine repeated, “I told you that I was forced to sully my hands seeking gold to entice you to do your duty to the family and marry Anne. The Fitzwilliam family must retain Rosings and the Darcy wealth for the next generation.”

Sighing, Darcy looked at his aunt and stated, “Aunt, I insist that you explain how you came into possession of stock certificates signed by George Wickham.”

Lady Catherine replied, “I purchased shares in Wickham’s company with promises of dividends every year in the future. Everyone in the world – all civilized persons – drink tea. These shares in the New World Tea Company will make you and Anne even richer.”

“Do you mean that you gave George Wickham money?” asked Darcy, his tone registering his disbelief.

“Of course! That is how you purchase things,” Lady Catherine stated contemptuously.

Sighing, Darcy asked, “How much money did you give Wickham?”

Begrudgingly, Lady Catherine revealed that she had handed over fifteen thousand pounds to purchase shares in the company.

“Where did you obtain that amount of money?” Darcy demanded to know. “That amounts to almost four years’ income from Rosings Park! Did you borrow money? Did you mortgage Rosings Park?”

Lady Catherine hesitated only one moment before she explained, “I sold the properties from my dowry.”

“Those buildings belong to Rosings Park! You didn’t have the authority to sell anything,” Darcy insisted.

“I brought them to my marriage! I can do what I want with them!” she argued. “And the lawyer showed me the document you signed that relinquished all dealings with Rosings Park in the future.”

With a smirk, Lady Catherine remarked, “For once, the lawyers followed my orders.”

As Darcy covered his eyes with his right hand, he crumpled the stock certificate with his left.

Lady Catherine reached for the paper and took it from her nephew.

She straightened the certificate while she fussed, “Do not tear the paper! Mr Collins keeps his in a safe place in the parsonage and I shall buy a strong box to keep these until you marry Anne. Only after you are wed will you take possession of the New World Tea Company stock certificates.”

“How did you meet George Wickham?” croaked Darcy trying to calculate the loss of wealth in his cousin’s estate.

Lady Catherine replied, “At my order, Mr Collins invited Wickham to Hunsford and brought the man to Rosings Park for an interview. And I learned that Wickham handed over gold to Collins as his share of the profits this spring.”

“Aunt, ships do not arrive from the Americas in early spring,” Darcy stated.

His aunt argued, “You do not know everything about this man’s business.”

But the man continued by saying, “I know that ships do not approach Britain in the rough storms of spring!”

Lady Catherine discounted her nephew’s statement and explained how she came to London, ordered the lawyers to sell the two properties quickly, and handed over fifteen thousand pounds to George Wickham.

Darcy sat back down in one of the chairs and explained, “Lady Catherine, in my years of overseeing my estate, Anne’s estate, and the associated businesses, I have worked with merchants and men of business. In my opinion, these stock certificates represent worthless papers.”

The woman frowned but remained silent when Darcy concluded, “You have thrown away a fortune for a sheaf of paper printed with images of the native peoples of the Americas.”

~~~