Page 54 of The Shades of Pemberley
Lady Catherine waited for him to speak again, and when he did not, she appeared most displeased. “Well, what are they?”
“Come, Lady Catherine, we are not so well acquainted that I would share such family secrets with one who is not, after all, connected to us.”
“Your very demeanor brands you as a lout.”
“And yours reveals you to be a termagant. It appears we both have failures we must overcome.”
By this time, Lady Catherine’s visage was purpling, for Bennet did not suppose she had ever endured such insolence from a man of his position.
For a moment, she did not reply, appearing to master her anger, a concept with which she was not at all acquainted.
When she spoke, the rage remained, but it lurked behind her arrogance, no doubt ready to be unleashed in a spectacular conflagration.
“Then I shall leave you to your squalor, Mr. Bennet, for I shall get nothing from you. Instead, I shall go to Netherfield and congratulate Darcy for coming to his senses at last.”
“I bid you farewell, Lady Catherine,” said Bennet. “But I would not advise you to go to Netherfield, for Darcy is not there.”
“Oh?” asked Lady Catherine. “Perhaps he went to London, hoping to cleanse the dust of this place from his person?”
“Darcy is not in London either.”
Again, it appeared Bennet had provoked Lady Catherine’s hackles to rise. “Foolish man! Is everything a joke to you?”
“Not at all, Lady Catherine. However, I find life is such that I must take my amusement wherever I can. You are such a spectacle as to provide me with fodder for a sixmonth.”
“That is enough!” screeched Lady Catherine. “Tell me now, where is Mr. Darcy?”
“Why, he is in Ramsgate, Lady Catherine.” Bennet was enjoying himself, and even more because he was putting this woman in her place. “If you wished to know where he was, you should have asked.”
“Ramsgate?” demanded Lady Catherine. Then she appeared to understand. “Ah, the Darcy property there. Perhaps an unorthodox place to go, but I suppose he wished to take himself away from your daughter.”
“Not at all, Lady Catherine, for Elizabeth is in Ramsgate with Darcy.”
Shock bloomed on the lady’s face. “Your daughter is also in Ramsgate?” Her eyes narrowed. “That is far more audacious than I might have expected. Does she now consider herself his mistress?”
“Not at all, Lady Catherine,” snarled Bennet, this time pushed beyond all endurance. “Unless, of course, you refer to a wife’s position as mistress of all her husband owns.”
This time, shock was no fit adjective to describe Lady Catherine’s response. When she spoke, her voice lost all its overbearing power, for she seemed to have no notion of what to feel or say. “Wife?” It came out like the squawk of a chicken being strangled before gracing the dinner table.
“As of two days after you departed Hertfordshire last time, Lady Catherine.”
Bennet gave a grim nod as the woman digested this bit of information.
“Knowing your determination to disrupt his wedding, Darcy decided he would marry Elizabeth at once. They married, we converted the engagement ball to a marriage ball, and they have now departed for their wedding tour before they make their way to London for the season.”
“How dare you!” railed the woman.
“How dare you !” retorted Bennet. “Lady Catherine, your behavior is beyond the pale; I cannot account for it. Though I have known a peer or two drunk on their importance, I have never seen someone so lost to everything good as you. The world does not revolve around you. Whatever your opinion of me or my family, we have been gentlefolk for generations, and Darcy’s engagement with my daughter was more than a year’s duration.
If they had kept to their plans and you objected to his wedding, Darcy would have taken you by the scruff of your neck and deposited you in the dust of the street— this is only a taste of his disgust for you. ”
“I am not accustomed to such language as this!”
“I care little for your offense. Now, Lady Catherine, you will depart my estate at once, and you will never darken my door again. If you wish, you may go to Ramsgate to take up the subject with Darcy, but I warn you that he will treat you more harshly than I have. The earl, by his own admission, is not of a mind to endure you—he was also at Elizabeth and Darcy’s wedding ball.
Even one such as you must understand the approval in that gesture.
I recommend you abandon your schemes, but it is your choice. ”
Far more quickly than Bennet might have expected, Lady Catherine turned on her heel and marched from the room.
Bennet sat at his desk, passing a weary hand over his eyes and massaging his temples.
Amusement was all well and good, but Lady Catherine could infuriate by doing nothing more than opening her mouth.
“She is gone, Mr. Bennet,” said Mrs. Hill, stepping into the library with a few of the cakes the cook was so adept at making.
“Forever, with any luck,” replied Bennet. He offered a smile to his longtime servant. “Thank you, Mrs. Hill.”
“Not at all, Mr. Bennet. I shall call you for dinner when it is ready.”
When the door closed behind her, Bennet took a cake and picked up his book again.
Though he suspected he would consider the confrontation at length, he longed to forget about it for the moment.
The written word had often been his sanctuary on such occasions, and he was eager to lose himself in the words on the page again.
“WELL, CAROLINE? WHAT do you think of Lady Susan’s kindness?”
Caroline started as Bingley had known she would.
Though she did not lack the ability for self-reflection, Bingley knew Caroline was also not prone to an excessive tendency to it either.
Witnessing her behavior since he returned from Netherfield told Bingley that she had learned something from her experience there, and the meeting at the ball with Lady Susan had further affected her.
Bingley thought he knew something of her thoughts, but there were several truths he wished to make clear to her, and this appeared an excellent time to do so.
“She is a fine woman, is she not?”
“As fine a woman as I have ever met,” agreed Bingley.
Caroline regarded him, and after a moment ventured a comment. “It was a surprise when she asked for an introduction.”
“Yes, I suppose from your perspective it was.”
“What do you mean?” asked his sister with no little curiosity.
“What do you think I mean?” asked Bingley. “You know something of the situation, Caroline; it would be beneficial for you to divine it for yourself, for I cannot think it is a difficult puzzle.”
A blush stained her cheeks. “Might I suppose she heard something of what happened at Netherfield?”
“I know of nothing Darcy said to inform them of the exact sequence of events. Just as you are capable of inferring, so are Lady Susan and her husband.”
Caroline appeared to absorb this, though she did not speak at once, instead preferring to consider her response. Bingley allowed her to work it out in her mind to reach the same conclusion he had.
“Then,” said Caroline, her hesitation resulting in the slow cadence of her words, “I must suppose that Lady Susan knew I was there and that I departed the day after Mr. Darcy married. Given my ambitions, which are... not unknown in society, she must have supposed that I departed when I failed to turn Mr. Darcy to me.”
“That is the gist of it, I must suppose,” agreed Charles. “As Darcy was not disposed to avoid you and your name came up in conversation, Lady Susan inferred that your connection with Darcy, while not close, is not broken beyond all repair.”
“Because I accepted Mr. Darcy’s marriage and did not voice my displeasure.”
Bingley nodded. “Again, I must suppose you are correct. The question you must answer is why she wished for the introduction, knowing what she does about your ambitions.”
With pursed lips, Caroline considered this question. “Does it have to do with your interest in Miss Bennet?”
“Very good, Caroline. While they were only there for a few days, I did not try to hide my interest in Miss Bennet.”
“Then, as you will be a connection, albeit a distant one, Lady Susan knows an acquaintance is inevitable and acted to put the best possible perspective on it.”
This time, Bingley shook his head. “I do not know that I would put it in such terms as that, Caroline, for the Fitzwilliams are excellent people. Rather, I suspect she wished to offer some legitimacy to you; an acquaintance with an earl and his wife will do wonders for you in society.”
“That it will,” murmured Caroline, “for I have seen the effects already.”
Caroline shook off such concerns. “Please know that I enjoyed making her acquaintance and I appreciate her efforts, but I shall not attempt to use it in any way that will not reflect well on us.”
“That is good news, Caroline.”
Bingley’s feelings softened for the sister with whom he had been close as a boy, but who had become a woman he did not know and could not like. Perhaps there was hope yet for Caroline.
“As you have apprehended, the acquaintance will do you good in society, and not only because men who did not find you acceptable before will reconsider. In fact, I would urge you not to give any such man the time of day, Caroline, for a marriage to such a man would not be agreeable.”
“Yes,” whispered Caroline. “With that, I cannot but agree.”
A smile of affection for his sister came easier than it had in recent years. “Of greater importance, I cannot but think that association with such excellent people as Darcy and the Fitzwilliams, and even the Bennets, will do us good, for I esteem them highly.”
“I cannot but agree, Charles.”