by Lauren King
Mrs. Bennet rushes after Jane to stop her, but she sees Elizabeth also descending the stairs, thus she says, “Lizzy, tell Jane to stay. It is because of you that Jane is leaving.”
Elizabeth shakes her head in disbelief and with disgust as she ignores her Mother and continues to walk downstairs to escape this ridiculousness. Also in disbelief, Jane turns back to her Mother and boldly states, “Mama, as I have said, you are wrong – again.”
Both Jane and Elizabeth make their way down the stairs as Mr. Bennet ascends it. He figured that there would be some chaos once Mrs. Bennet learned that Jane and Elizabeth will not stay for the wedding; hence, he wanted to stop it from getting out of control. Mr. Bennet looks at his two eldest daughters with understanding.
“Papa, I am also leaving with Lizzy. I am sorry, Papa.” Jane says sadly.
“I understand, Jane. You both are good girls. Go and pack, Jane. Lizzy, get Toby to retrieve your trunk.” Mr. Bennet pats both girls’ arms before going up stairs to inform Mrs. Bennet that they need to leave for the church in an hour and a half or else they will be late.
Jane goes to her room to pack while Elizabeth goes to retrieve Mary and Kitty to offer them some of her day dresses. With Elizabeth’s wedding trousseau, she will have sufficient new clothes for her new life; as a result, she wants her sisters to have some of her dresses to spare her Father from having to provide more for Mary and Kitty – for now.
Mary and Kitty are happy and thankful for Elizabeth’s pretty dresses; they both each get five dresses from Elizabeth. Elizabeth goes to help Jane pack.
Everyone is in the drawing room while Lydia and Mrs. Bennet are in the small sitting room. All the necessary trunks are loaded and the carriages are waiting to set off to London. Mary and Kitty hug Elizabeth and Jane warmly; they are sorry that their two eldest sisters will not be staying for the wedding and spending more time with them.
Mr. Bennet shakes hands with Mr. Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam to thank them for their assistance and wishes them a safe trip. Then, he turns to Jane to give her a heartwarming hug before he hands her into the carriage. Afterwards, he hugs Elizabeth lovingly and tells her that he is sorry that it has come to this. He tells her that with time, things will calm, and then she can try to talk to her Mother again. He will make sure that her Mother understands what she said was wrong. He plans to arrive in London on January 28th and leave February 4th. Elizabeth informs him that William has offered for her Father to stay at Darcy House if there is insufficient room at her Uncle’s. Mr. Bennet he will see once they arrive. Father and daughter give each other a last warm hug before Darcy hands Elizabeth into the carriage.
The trip back to London is filled with talk of when they all were young. There is a lot of laughter that makes them forget for a little while about what transpired at Longbourn. They do not want to speak of the earlier incident anymore because they are exhausted. If things went as planned, then Lydia was already married at this moment. Now, everyone can move on with their lives now. They finally reach the Gardiner residence. Darcy and Richard accept the Gardiner’s invitation to come for dinner.
At dinner The Gardiners are told the condensed version of what transpired at Longbourn and why they did not stay for the wedding. In the end, everybody is simply happy that Lydia is married without causing much more trouble.
That night, Elizabeth asks if Jane wants William to inform Mr. Morgan that they are back in town.
Jane hesitantly answers, “I do not know. I want him to have some time away from our courtship to see if he is truly inclined to continue with me. With some time, he may not feel that he wants our courtship as much as he thought from the beginning. I am very happy that Lydia’s problem has been dealt with, and it seems that there will not be a true impediment for me should I have another suitor; however, there is no guarantee that I will have another suitor. I guess I will have to be governess to your children, then, Lizzy.” Jane giggles lightly but sadly. “You and William will have beautiful children.”
“Oh, Jane; you will have plenty of suitors; there is no doubt in my mind that you will have a loving husband and pretty children, yourself. I hope that we will live close enough to each other so that our children can be close cousins and great friends.”
“That would be ideal, Lizzy.” Both sisters smile warmly at each other.
CHAPTER 17
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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14th
Elizabeth will not see William this morning due to his attending to some business; he will visit her after luncheon. Elizabeth takes this time to go over her wardrobe to see if she can give Mary and Kitty some more of her dresses when they come for her wedding. Jane spends some time with her little cousins while Mrs. Gardiner attends to her household accounts.
The housemaid, Mildred, comes to inform Elizabeth that she has a grand visitor waiting in her carriage. Elizabeth is confused as to who it could be. She guesses that it may be Georgiana or Lady Matlock to fit the description with which Mildred has described.
“I will find Mrs. Gardiner. You may show the lady into the drawing room once we have arrived, Mildred.” Elizabeth instructs politely.
“Yes, Miss Elizabeth.” Mildred curtsies before leaving swiftly to do her bidding.
Elizabeth is glad she is dressed properly to accept visitors. She approaches her Uncle’s study where her Aunt is doing her accounts and the both of them move to the drawing room to greet Elizabeth’s visitor.
“Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Mrs. Gardiner.” Mildred announces as she leads the grand lady inside the drawing room; afterwards, she swiftly curtsies and exits.
Both Elizabeth and Mrs. Gardiner are very surprised at this visit. Elizabeth is actually shocked at Lady Catherine coming here. What could she possibly want with Elizabeth in order to visit Cheapside – God forbid. The first and the last time Elizabeth had seen Lady Catherine, William had banned Lady Catherine from anything related to the Darcys. She had said many harsh and atrocious things about the Bennets and about William. Lady Catherine could not be here to apologize to Elizabeth, could she? That would be too inconceivable.
With surprise and suspicion, Elizabeth says nicely, “Lady Catherine, I am sorry I was not expecting your visit. Please, allow me to introduce my Aunt, Mrs. Madeline Gardiner. Aunt, this is Lady Catherine de Bourgh – Mr. Darcy’s aunt.”
“Welcome to our home, Lady Catherine. Please, be seated, ma’am.” Mrs. Gardiner says courteously.
Lady Catherine states haughtily without even looking at Mrs. Gardiner. “This is not a personal visit. I have come to speak to Miss Elizabeth Bennet on an important matter. I do not want additional audiences in this matter.”
“You are my niece’s guest in my home, Lady Catherine. She is allowed to have visitors. I will leave you to my niece, then.” Mrs. Gardiner says deceptively politely as she gets up to acknowledge Lady Catherine before quitting the room. Mrs. Gardiner retrieves Johnny, the male house servant, to stand at the front entrance until Lady Catherine leaves. Mildred is to stand outside the drawing room to await any instructions that Elizabeth may have.
Elizabeth’s ire rises at the rudeness of Lady Catherine towards her Aunt. She does not think Lady Catherine is here to make amends. This occurrence may go very wrong.
“I will get right to the point. I am Darcy’s family, and he will soon see it my way that you are not good enough for him. He is a gentleman of the first circles, and he might have temporarily lost his clear thinking to a clever, scheming young lady. However, when I speak to him again without you hovering around then he will see the light and leave you. If you take my proposition, then, minimally, you will get something for your troubles. Be assured that I will never accept you as Darcy’s wife. You will not be acknowledged by my side of the family. We will never acknowledge you. You will be sorry that you tried to rise out of your sphere and lure my nephew into an engagement with you. However, I can guess the ways of the world of the lower classes; therefore, I will offer you four thousand pounds if you back
away from Darcy this instant. I have the money right here. All you need to do is to convince Darcy that you have changed your mind. He likes you enough that he would not think of trying to get compensation from your family for breaking your engagement. He must know that your family does not have that kind of money anyways, thus he will not pursue it. He is not heartless. Once you have left him, I will advise him not to go after compensation from your family. These four thousand pounds will go far for you, and you will not be shunned if you just stick to the story of you being too sickly to marry Darcy. This could be over without delay, and you will be rich instantly. Do I have your agreement?” Lady Catherine inquires impassively.
Elizabeth is, once again, stunned into silence. Twice in three days by two old women who should know better. What is going on in Elizabeth’s life to create this kind of absurdity? INCONCEIVABLE!
Elizabeth does not see any reason to delay her sentiments. “Lady Catherine, you sicken me.” She says with the most grave expression and voice she could conjure.
With an unemotional face, Lady Catherine says, “I will give you six thousand pounds!”
“I will no longer entertain you. You are a horrible person who just wants to trap your nephew into a loveless marriage with your ailing daughter. Mr. Darcy has told me that he is very sorry for his Cousin Anne’s sickly state and he cares for her as his cousin only – nothing more – ever! He will never see her as a wife; he will never marry her under any circumstances. Yet, you would still try to trap him into such a dooming marriage.”
“How dare you talk about my daughter? You have no right to even mention my daughter!” Lady Catherine exclaims loudly.
“How dare I? How dare you come into my Aunt’s home and be rude and ill-mannered to her and to me? Afterwards, you make the most outrageous claims and offers. I have every right when you barge in here uninvited. You are the most delusional, offensive, contemptible woman in existence if you think I would ever take your money over Mr. Darcy. I will never take your money. I do not care if you do not accept me. I do not care if you do not acknowledge me. I do not care if you shun me. I do not care about you, at all. I only care about Mr. Darcy’s love for me! I will not be sorry for anything except to have the misfortune to have met you.” Elizabeth has had her limit of awful women; she is livid, but she remains in control.
Elizabeth stands up and walks towards the door while saying, “You must leave, now; you are not welcomed here.” Elizabeth quits the room. She can hear Lady Catherine gasp and huff in shock.
Outside the door, Elizabeth tells Mildred to remain standing by the drawing room door with it opened and stay out of Lady Catherine’s way. If Lady Catherine does not leave in the next few minutes, then Mildred is to come for Elizabeth and Mrs. Gardiner immediately. Johnny is to tend to the front door until Lady Catherine leaves. Elizabeth quickly goes into her Uncle’s study to see her Aunt and tell her what was said. Mrs. Gardiner expresses concern that Elizabeth may have been too forward with William’s Aunt.
“They are family, after all, Lizzy.” Mrs. Gardiner says with some concern.
“William is not like that, Aunt. He has told me that he will no longer include Lady Catherine to anything pertaining to the Darcys. She was, overwhelmingly, offensive towards me and him the last time we saw her at Darcy House. Furthermore, I did not say anything that was not true in self defense. I did not say anything rude about her daughter. I only pointed out what William has said about his Cousin Anne, and it was nothing offensive.”
After a few minutes, Mildred comes to tell Elizabeth that Lady Catherine angrily left the house after saying that they are all low class, rude, uncouth people. Elizabeth’s stern expression clearly shows her immense anger.
Elizabeth eagerly waits for William’s arrival. He finally visits at two o’clock, and Elizabeth is relieved to finally see his loving face. She tries to remain calm and not be so incensed, but she knows that she cannot hide all of her emotions from William.
Darcy can tell that Elizabeth is very irritated with something. Could it be another situation with Miss Lydia? After they greet each other fondly, Darcy asks, “Dearest, are you well? You look disturbed.”
“It is just incredible! I still cannot believe what has happened.” Elizabeth shakes her head in disbelief. It is not a nightmare; she wishes it was.
“What is it, Lizzy? Tell me.” Darcy inquires urgently as he reaches for her hand.
Elizabeth sighs heavily before she tells Darcy about Lady Catherine’s intrusion. Afterwards, he is infuriated; Darcy cannot believe his ears!
“I am sorry that I was not here to protect you from her disgusting diatribe. I am so embarrassed that Mrs. Gardiner had to experience Lady Catherine. I will apologize to Mrs. Gardiner later.”
“Darling, Aunt knows you have nothing to do with Lady Catherine. She knows what a good person you are and believe me, you are. You do not have to apologize to me. You have no control over Lady Catherine. I was just so shocked and so offended. Can you believe that she offered me money to leave you?”
“Yes, I can believe it. She greatly wants me to marry Anne so that ‘everything can stay within the family’ as she has said many times before. In addition, she can boast about being related to all that is under the Darcy name. I think that she feels that she can manipulate me because she knows that I am trustworthy and I highly regard family, honor, and responsibility. Additionally, I would not remove her to the dowager house. She thinks that I will not dishonor my families or become greedy or reckless to ruin Rosings; therefore, I am the perfect person to marry Anne.” Darcy sighs and then continues, “I cannot believe that she actually pulled such a horrendous stunt.”
“I am sorry that I was so harsh with your Aunt, but I could not let her speak so abominably.” Elizabeth says calmly; she really hopes that she was correct in thinking that William will support what she had said to Lady Catherine.
“You had every right to defend yourself. You did not say anything that was untrue. She was terrible and rude to you in your home. I am not concerned that you were harsh with her. I am just sorry that I was not present to defend and shield you from her dreadful conduct.”
“I love you, William. No amount of money would mean anything to me if I did not have you in my life. We can live on my forty pounds a year for all I care; as long as I have you, I do not care.” Elizabeth exclaims genuinely and honestly. “I can live without your riches, but I cannot live without you.” Her eyes are sad and shimmering.
“Oh Lizzy, you astound me.” Darcy holds Elizabeth’s face in between his hands affectionately as he kisses her lips tenderly several times before saying, “I love you so much that it hurts me to hear that you would rather be poor and be with me than have all the riches without me. I will never let you suffer like that. My life would be dark and desolated without you in it. I do not think I could live a normal existence without you. Do not ever make me experience that hell on earth.” Darcy crushes her body into his tight embrace as they try to soothe one another. Their whispers of love and devotion to each other assuage the contemptible and offensive actions of Lady Catherine.
“I will take care of Lady Catherine, dearest. You do not have to worry about her approaching you again.”
“What are you going to do, darling?” Elizabeth is worried that William will have some great altercation with Lady Catherine that could become out of control due to her insistence and stubbornness.
“I will officially cut all ties with her and not recognize anymore. I will inform my Uncle Henry and insist that he control his sister’s outrageous behavior or else she will bring shame to the Fitzwilliams. Do not worry; I know what to say and do. Lady Catherine cares very much for society’s dictates; therefore, she will not risk being shamed by her own family not acknowledging her.”
“I am sorry that you have this trouble with your Aunt because you associate with me.” Elizabeth claims discontentedly.
“Lizzy, I do not want you thinking such things again. You are my life. Lady Catherine is ab
surd. I do not care about her, especially after what she has said and has done. She has made it easy for me to sever all ties with her. I do it with good reason; she has driven me to this. You are going to be Mrs. Darcy, and no one is allowed to behave in this manner to you. You are an extension of me, and if anyone treats you in that manner, then, effectively, they are treating me like that. I will never tolerate that kind of conduct. Do not worry, sweetheart.” Darcy tries to reassure his kind betrothed.
Elizabeth lunges towards William and hugs him tightly around his neck because she cannot say enough how much she loves him. Darcy gladly embraces her tightly. His hands roam her back, and he squeezes her tighter to his chest with the utmost contentment.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 15th
The next morning, Darcy visits Matlock House to inform his Uncle Henry of what had occurred with Lady Catherine and Elizabeth. His Aunt Helen gasps with shock and says that Lady Catherine and Anne just left here for Kent. They had come yesterday for some business. Now, Lady Catherine’s business is clear. Darcy informs his Uncle and Aunt that he will no longer acknowledge Lady Catherine, and he requests that his Uncle do something about Lady Catherine so she will not bring shame to their families. Lord Matlock says that he will write to Lady Catherine and visit her as soon as he can to impress upon her the gravity of this situation.
While Darcy is busy talking with his Uncle Henry, Elizabeth is encouraged to leave Darcy due to his unpardonable past actions with a certain young lady. This information will ruin his reputation if it gets out. Must Elizabeth leave him to protect him? God, why is this happening to her? Why could she not just have William for a husband, in peace and quiet?
