Page 48 of Some Natural Importance (Pride, Prejudice and Romance #3)
As Darcy stood, he asked whether she would be amenable to tea the next day with his aunt. “Mrs Gardiner and your sister may come as well,” he explained, but she saw a look in his eyes that made her wonder whether it was only he who had extended that part of the invitation.
He wished them well with their shopping, assured them he would call to escort them to Matlock House, and said he looked forward to touring Darcy House and hosting them for dinner on Friday. As the door closed behind the Darcys, Elizabeth caught the wide-eyed panic on Kitty’s face.
“Yet another pretty sister! Whatever shall I wear?”
“Whatever will they wear? Walking into a modiste, wearing a black-dyed country frock to purchase gowns and boots?” Cecilia stood in her bedroom, examining the day’s purchases with her mother.
She draped her newest cashmere shawl around her shoulders and gestured to her maid to hold up a velvet cloak near the window so she could better appreciate its elegant passementerie .
Truthfully, she did not much care to dwell on the Bennet bride, but she knew how to please the woman responsible for her own wardrobe.
“That blue is an ideal colour for your eyes, my sweet,” Lady Matlock said before sighing heavily.
“Miss Bennet’s very presence in town is an abomination.
Her behaviour reflects poorly on this family’s name.
Shopping and making social calls whilst in mourning?
I cannot even speak to the audacity of touring Darcy House to plan her renovations with her father scarcely cold in his grave. ”
Cecilia tossed the shawl to her maid and clearly exhausted from her exertions, curled up on her bed. “It is all quite vulgar. Poor Georgiana.”
“We will know Georgiana’s opinion soon enough, and she shall know ours.”
“Mama,” Cecilia held out her hand to her mother, who grasped it and sat beside her on the bed.
“Darcy is set on marrying this woman who lacks fortune and connexions and social position? Miss Caroline Bingley has made her acquaintance and said nothing good of her in her letter to you. Perhaps her betrothal to my cousin is nothing but a scheme.” She had the pleasure of watching her mother brighten, empty though her reassurances felt in her own mind.
Lady Matlock nodded. “I had thought better of Darcy’s intelligence and sense of honour to family and to social correctness.
He is forever doing small kindnesses and favours for others.
That is why he was in Hertfordshire, assisting Miss Bingley’s brother.
Assisting a friend and becoming entangled by a lady in need of help when her father died. Scandalous!”
“Should we worry for Miss Bennet’s safety?
Or for Georgiana’s if he takes her to Pemberley?
” Cecilia turned to look fully at her mother, and gave what she hoped was reason enough for Lady Matlock to drop the idea of a connexion with Darcy permanently.
“Have you noticed that people around Darcy often die?”
Startled by the change in tone, Lady Matlock practised vigilance. “We shan’t need you any longer, Ferris.”
The maid closed the stocking drawer she had been arranging and left the room, curtseying quickly to Miss Darcy, who stood just outside the open doorway.
Lady Matlock turned back to her daughter and spoke in a slow, deliberate voice. “Whatever do you mean, people around Darcy often die?”
“Do not think me fantastical, Mama, but I see a pattern in his behaviour and I worry for any wife of his,” Cecilia cried, eager to embellish her imaginative narrative and add to any discouragement.
“This Mr Bennet is dead, and Darcy wants to wed the man’s daughter.
He married poor Cousin Anne, and whatever happened in the marriage bed made her ill or damaged enough to die, and then Lady Catherine died so quickly.
And Darcy scarcely speaks of any of it, always so silent and brooding.
I do not wish to marry him anyway, but the threat of death from being tied to him through the bonds of marriage is a horrible thing. ”
“You cannot believe Darcy had anything to do with the deaths of your cousin or aunt...that is indeed fantastical. You have been reading too many novels.” Lady Matlock patted her daughter’s hand.
Cecilia appeared irritated at the dismissal of her theory, and her mother chose to placate her with some confidences.
“I shall tell you a secret,” she said, “a family secret that went to the grave with Anne and Lady Catherine. Even Lord Matlock does not know of it.”
Cecilia’s eyes lit up. She leaned eagerly towards her mother.
“You are old enough to have some knowledge of the world. There are rakes and rogues, and there are ladies who fall to their charms,” Lady Matlock said quietly.
“Anne was one of those ladies, stricken with a disease given her by a scoundrel. She died soon after the wedding, and her mother’s grief led to her own demise. ”
“Shocking!” Cecilia’s hands rose to her cheeks. “Darcy knew she ailed—that she would die? It is true, then, he married Anne to gain Rosings, as Papa says?”
“Aye, your papa is always right.”
“Perhaps he married Anne to save her from scandal?” Cecilia’s eyebrows knit together. “Darcy and Richard were friends to her.”
Her mother gave her an indulgent smile and patted her hand. “It is easy to marry when there is a fortune to be gained quickly. He did his duty, and profited thereby.”
“If I married Darcy, I would be very rich and be mistress of three estates.”
“Four, dearest, at the very least. Your cousin is rather secretive about his holdings, but he is a husband worth having.”
Cecilia looked less secure in her mother’s marital resolution. “Mama, if he marries Miss Bennet, he gains nothing. Perhaps it is a love match.”
Lady Matlock’s throaty laugh echoed through the room. Skirts rustled as the ladies stood up and began smoothing their hair and adjusting their gowns. Cecilia dropped her hand mirror; the sharp sound the silver made as it hit the tile floor masked the sound of a door closing down the corridor.
Satisfied with her appearance, Lady Matlock stepped towards the door. “‘A love match.’ We shall see about that.”
As her daughter made to follow her, the countess stopped. “I shall speak with the earl. Ask Peters whether Georgiana has returned, and see what she has to say about Miss Bennet. ”
A husband some twenty years a wife’s senior often brought comfort to women seeking financial security, established social connexions, or worldly experience.
The marriage of Lord and Lady Matlock usually meant generosity and understanding, but this day had turned into a trying one for the earl, so exhaustion was more prevalent.
His concerns were far weightier than the circumstances of his nephew’s country diversion; he had little patience for recounting his earlier conversation with his youngest son.
Still, when she appeared certain he was at his most vulnerable, his young wife asked him again. “What is it you and Richard discussed?”
He sighed loudly from his pillow. “Before I answer your questions, I remind you that you have yet to reply to mine. I have bills from dressmakers and milliners, missives from Gillows and Sheraton about desks and tables you have ordered, and today I see more boxes from more shops were delivered!”
“The Season will be upon us before you know it, Frederick. I am thinking in advance for Cecilia.”
“Desks and tables? We have furniture enough!”
Lady Matlock shrugged.
“I wished her to marry Darcy,” he said, yawning. “He can well afford to pay for her wardrobe.”
“Yes, well, that is not going as hoped. Neither he nor Cecilia appear interested in any attachment.”
“Of that I am aware, and more’s the pity. The man is like Midas himself,” the earl said. “Weds Anne and gains Rosings. Goes to the country and stumbles on a goldmine.”
His wife sat up quickly. “What did you say? A goldmine?”
“Not a mine, per se. Richard mentioned some possibility of a treasure trove, of gold coin and the like.” He yawned again. “It appears Miss Bennet and her family bring a little more than expected to this alliance. Darcy has always been a clever boy. Clever and shrewd. ”
He rolled over and burrowed into his pillow, avoiding—deliberately or not—his wife’s angry expression as he mumbled, “You best forget about him marrying Cecilia and find her a rich husband before her dowry is only gowns and jewellery.”