Page 43 of The Countess and Her Sister

“He has been too attentive to another lady of my acquaintance, and nearly ruined her reputation! Jane will not permit him to do the same to your daughters, nor should you – they, who are sisters to a countess, ought not be ruined when it can easily be prevented.” Elizabeth hoped that invoking Jane’s rank might appeal to Mrs. Bennet’s sense of avarice, when common sense was clearly not enough.

“Jane can scarcely make a fine match for herself, since she would let you steal Mr. Darcy away from her, when surely he is too grand to ever offer for you,” Mrs. Bennet screeched. “I know all about how you flirt with him!”

Elizabeth clenched her teeth, ignoring the impulse to triumphantly inform the woman that she and Mr. Darcy were already betrothed.

“Madam, I must implore you to listen carefully to what I tell you. I attended a party in London, where Mr. Darcy and I happened upon Captain Tilney alone in a room with a young lady – he had made love to her, and her reputation might have been ruined if we had not covered it up.”

Mrs. Bennet rolled her eyes and shook her head. “The poor girl! You likely denied her a great chance!”

“That is madness! He did not court her openly, but took advantage and might have done far worse if we had not intervened. The young lady believed his intentions were honorable, but she was made to see reason, and spared a fate such as some have suffered.”

“Men who compromise young ladies can always be worked on – I ought to know! I managed it for Jane, and look at her now, a countess who might have ten thousand a year and another great estate! And instead of any thanks, you deprive me of my daughters and try to manage me with your own ill-favored whims!”

Elizabeth clenched her fists at her side as she abruptly stood and began to pace, ready for this visit to be over.

“Madam, I cannot make it any clearer to you that Captain Tilney is a dangerous man, especially in the company of a practiced schemer such as Lady Catherine, who has already caused Jane considerable mischief and dismay. You have imperiled all my sisters by allowing these people into your – into Jane’s home.

It is unfortunate that you cannot be satisfied with Jane’s generosity, but I hope that you shall at least show better prudence than allowing a known seducer under the same roof as your daughters purely out of spite!

They were meant to come to us three days hence, but my uncle will be collecting them this afternoon. ”

“Can you be so cruel, Lizzy? This may be Jane’s house, but as she does not condescend to visit the place!

I am sure I have every right to decide who I shall allow in my home when I am left all alone, and at present that privilege is one you shall not enjoy, Elizabeth Bennet!

I am ashamed of your insolence, and I will hear no more! ”

Elizabeth stormed out of the room without another word to her mother, and tensely bid her sisters goodbye, telling them to pack their bags and prepare for departure within an hour.

When she returned to Matlock Hall, the first thing Elizabeth did was throw her arms around Lady Augusta and weep as her true and gentle mother stroked her hair and whispered tender reassurances.

***

Lady Catherine made a valiant effort at seeming ill when Mrs. Bennet fluttered into her guest room.

“I hope I have not woken your ladyship – I am quite beside myself! Wicked Lizzy has set my brother upon me, and he has taken my girls before they were meant to go away! She called this morning to plague me with her high and mighty nonsense – some grudge against you, and hateful slander about the charming captain – and then my own brother betrayed me in taking up her cause – they would have me turn you all out of my house!”

Lady Catherine went rigid, hoping the vulgar woman had not been miraculously made to see sense.

Mrs. Bennet shook her head in frustration as she paced.

“Well, I would not be so wicked as them , no indeed! If Jane does not like it, she can come here and try to do something about it – but she will not speak to me!”

Lady Catherine scoffed, earning a look of approbation from Mrs. Bennet.

“The way they call Lady Augusta Mamma! The cheek of it – if I were you, I would not stand for it! And now she would speak against my future step-son – it is not to be borne! You poor woman, to be vexed with such an irreverent daughter.”

Mrs. Bennet came to sit at Lady Catherine’s bedside.

“I tolerate her, out of my affection for dear Jane, not that I get any thanks for it! No, I am dismissed and disobliged at every turn. I made Jane what she is….” For a moment the shrill creature seemed to realize her misstep in mentioning that horrendous debacle, but she was not finished yet.

“And am I thanked for my wish to see Jane do better than a tradesman with an insufferable sister? No, for Lizzy would set her own cap at Mr. Darcy, ungrateful child that she is! She could have been mistress of Longbourn if she had taken Mr. Collins! And now they have taken my girls, and they would even deprive me of such agreeable guests, when I am only doing my Christian duty!”

Lady Catherine tried not to sneer at the reference to her former parson, the sniveling weasel.

It was convenient, at least, that Mrs. Bennet shared her wishes for a union between Darcy and the countess, for Lady Catherine had come into Derbyshire expressly to have her own way in the end.

And she believed she could accomplish it while still keeping General Tilney as a promising option.

“You have been my salvation, I am sure, Madam.”

Mrs. Bennet smiled coyly. “I have only done my best. But I ought not distress you with my woes. Shall I mix you another sleeping draught?”

“Thank you, no. Tell me what she said of Fred. I heard rumors in London – I believe your daughters were often in company with him and his brother.”

Mrs. Bennet leaned forward with glee; Lady Catherine supposed the shrew must live for such delicious gossip.

“She said that she attended a ball where Captain Tilney was discovered alone with a young lady – that he had been making love to her, and given arise to certain expectations in that lady, but that she and Mr. Darcy disabused the girl of any such notion, and agreed to hush the matter up. I am sure he would have acted honorably if given the chance, but that is my Lizzy, always interfering where she had better not!”

Several such accounts of the captain had reached Lady Catherine when she arrived in London.

Lady Thurston was keen to repeat every scandal in the kingdom, and Fred Tilney figured into several salacious stories.

Lady Catherine was grinning like the very devil inside, though she presented a neutral countenance to Mrs. Bennet.

“I suppose we ought to be glad, at least, that Miss Bennet will have warned Jane about Fred – I would not have him standing in Darcy’s way. I have promised my dear general that I shall help him see Fred married well – but Jane must be for Darcy!”

“I suppose Pemberley is grander than Northanger Abbey?” Mrs. Bennet gave her a calculating look. “Darcy must be for Jane, of course, and Mr. Bingley is quite as lively as my Lydia. But my dear Kitty is particularly attached to Captain Tilney already.”

Lady Catherine tried not to show her disdain at this brazen, grasping speculation.

“I may not be able to satisfy my dear general’s ambition to see his heir wed a countess, but I might be able to appear to support his cause, while actually bringing about our wishes, Mrs. Bennet, and in Fred you have given me the key. ”

Mrs. Bennet sat up straighter and looked at Lady Catherine with gleeful avarice. “Mr. Collins was certainly right to praise your wisdom! But I knew just how it would be! Having you amongst us has been just the thing! But of course it is a pity that you should be ill.”

“I am feeling better already,” Lady Catherine declared, ready to be done with the ruse that justified her presence in the area.

She sat up against the pillows, every devious impulse taking over.

“We shall use Fred to force Mr. Darcy’s hand, and we might even manage to reconcile you with your daughters in the process.

Do you not wish to entertain your daughters and their friends here at Montrose, and perhaps be welcomed at Matlock? ”

“They have not invited me to their parties,” Mrs. Bennet sniffed. “I hardly think they would deign to accept my invitation.”

“They shall, Mrs. Bennet, mark my words. You may not wish to hear it, but I know just how you shall accomplish it.”

“If we can unite Jane and Mr. Darcy, leaving Mr. Bingley free for Lydia, and please the general, so much the better! And I should desire to be reconciled with Jane above anything, and be with all my girls at Matlock, but she will never apologize to me, she is grown too proud and grand.”

“That is why you shall apologize to them ,” Lady Catherine said.

She recalled with pleasure the look of abject misery that worm Bingley had worn at her own apology dinner party, when he fell into her trap.

How it had not made Jane realize her good fortune in the happy alternative of Mr. Darcy, Lady Catherine could not comprehend.

But this time, Jane would have no choice.

“Apologize to Jane and Lizzy! When they have wronged me ? Whatever for?”

“It is the surest way to make them accept your hospitality, and flattering their unchecked vanity is a small price to pay. I shall even pledge you my aid in promoting Miss Catherine when Fred’s hopes for Jane are dashed.”

This was an easy promise to make when Lady Catherine knew that her plan would likely cost Fred his worthless life.

And then, there would be one more son to be disposed of, for she was not yet forty, and might sire an heir of good sense and breeding for the general – a strong child, who would live to fulfill his family duty.

Her father’s dynasty would be grander than ever, and she would begin one of her own.

“I hope you have a strong constitution, Mrs. Bennet. And not a word of this to your daughters; if we are found out, the consequences may be dire.”