Fate and Consequences

by Linda Wells

  “Yes, Charles?” Louisa said a little too eagerly.

  He looked between the two. “I am sorry; I am not at liberty to discuss this with you.” They sighed.

  Caroline tried a different path. “Have you invited the Darcys to come stay with us at Netherfield?”

  “Yes, they plan to arrive soon after we do. I hope that they will enjoy their stay.” He thought of Darcy and Miss Elizabeth, and hoped very much his friend would find whatever he was seeking with her.

  “Well then, that will be wonderful. I will certainly enjoy being in the same household with Mr. Darcy, and you can advance your suit with Miss Darcy.”

  Bingley startled. “My suit? What are you talking about?”

  “Why, this is your opportunity! You could gain Georgiana as your wife so easily now! Even you should realize that this may be your best chance to win a bride with such a fortune, and with her marriage, her name would be restored. We would all be connected to the Darcys!”

  “Caroline, I insist that you stop this scheming now. I am not inviting the Darcys to Netherfield to win Miss Darcy’s hand or find you a husband. They are coming for peace and companionship. That is all. I hope that you remember that.” He looked from one sister to the other. “And Louisa, I will thank you for not encouraging her.” They both started to protest and he held up his hand. “I have work to do. Excuse me.” He left the room.

  Louisa rolled her eyes, while Caroline steamed. “Never mind him, Louisa. Once we are all alone together, we will be in charge of what happens in that house.” Caroline smiled slightly. “Perhaps some compromises may be made.”

  DARCY RETURNED to his home from his uncle’s to find that Mrs. Annesley urgently requested his presence in his sister’s chambers. Deeply concerned, he hurried up the two flights of stairs and knocked tentatively at the door. It opened and instead of admitting him, she slipped out.

  “Mrs. Annesley, what is the meaning of this?”

  “Sir, forgive me for alarming you, I thought it best to apprise you of the situation before entering Miss Darcy’s chambers.”

  “What has happened?” He searched her face. She indicated a sitting room; he entered and then turned to face her.

  “Sir, Miss Darcy and I were walking in the park, when it seemed one woman after another came upon us, and each saw fit to say or perform some sort of cutting behaviour. They each, in their own way, made it quite clear to Miss Darcy that she was utterly ruined in the eyes of society, and further, that she would be shunned and never accepted amongst them. Sir, it was horrible to witness. Unfortunately we were on the other side of the park when it began, so we were forced to walk through a gauntlet before reaching here. I am afraid that Miss Darcy was completely distraught by the time we arrived. I asked for tea and a mild dose of laudanum to calm her. I am sorry, sir. I did not expect such rudeness, or I would not have suggested the walk.”

  Darcy listened to all and he closed his eyes. “This is not your fault, Mrs. Annesley. I am afraid that none of us are accustomed to being so treated. Receiving the disdain of others is unfortunately becoming quite familiar. It will be good to leave for Pemberley in a few days. I have hopes that things will have improved by the time we return to town in the spring.” He looked back at her and sighed. “Does she sleep now?” She nodded. “Please inform me when she wakes.” He walked from the room and slowly descended the steps to his study, the weight of the world on his shoulders, and sat at his desk with his face resting in his hands. He had no idea how long he remained so.

  “How are you Cousin?”

  Darcy looked up and blinked, his vision blurred. He drew a deep breath and swallowed hard. Richard had the grace to turn and busy himself with the brandy decanter while he put himself to rights. “I am well, Richard.” He said, and cleared the hoarseness from his throat. The men’s eyes met and he accepted the glass that was pushed into his hand.

  Richard settled in the chair across from his desk. “Are you ready to talk now?”

  Darcy took too large of a sip and coughed, then nodded. “What is there to say? Georgie took a walk in the park, and experienced the welcome of society.” The bitterness was clear in his voice.

  Richard sat up. “They cut her?”

  “Apparently. Mrs. Annesley did not say specifics, she did not need to. You know what she heard.” He closed his eyes. “She is sedated now.” He looked back at his cousin. “What can we do?”

  “Take her home to Pemberley. She will be safe there.”

  “Yes.” He paused. “I saw your parents today. Your father was pushing me to marry Anne.”

  Richard rolled his eyes. “Yes, I happened to be in the house when Aunt Catherine arrived. You realize she sees you as weak now and ripe for bullying into accepting her wishes. She claimed that your mother wished for it as well.” He laughed at that.

  “She did.” He said quietly. “I was twelve when she died, and she was already telling me that I was to marry Anne.” He shook his head. “I really had no true understanding of it, but when I grew older, my father told me of some agreement she made with Aunt Catherine to join the estates and that the two of them practically cackled with glee over the wealth that would be in the family.”

  Richard stared. “I thought it was always just a fancy of Aunt Catherine’s. I had no idea Aunt Anne was involved.”

  “Oh yes, Mother wished to use me as a pawn to continue to fulfil her dreams of making her progeny more powerful than her own father. She was angry that her father betrothed her to George Darcy. She, an Earl’s daughter, married to a farmer. She was angry from the beginning.”

  “My father is now the Earl, with all that comes with that title, but the Darcys are so much older, richer, and more influential than the Fitzwilliams, he has always told me this. Your mother did not understand that?”

  “She wanted a title. She did not listen to her father’s explanations. She entered the marriage with anger, but was pleased with Pemberley and the riches my father gave her, so she played the part well.”

  “Why did your father choose her?” Richard asked, hearing all of this for the first time.

  He laughed harshly. “She was stunning, and she had a pedigree with a healthy dowry. She performed well in society, and would ornament his arm. They had nothing in common. I remember meals spent in silence and the sounds of argument from her bedchambers each night when she refused him. Sometimes he would not accept her response.” Darcy took a long sip of his brandy, and went on without emotion. “Of course, at the time I did not know of what they argued, but I would sit in the hallway outside the door, listening. She would say he had his heir and he should be satisfied with that. She told him to go buy a mistress. So he did.” He looked up at his cousin’s shocked face. “I would come to London with him, and I would see him leaving for an evening out. Sometimes I would be rising when he came back in, and he would give me a wide smile. I understand now.” He took another sip, and continued his purge. “They would host guests who would stay for weeks. I think they did so to keep from speaking to each other. Oh, they put up a perfect front in company, but I heard the doors opening, the footsteps and laughter in the hallways. Pemberley was a den of fornication, by both of them.” He said the last with disgust.

  “I am surprised your father did not remarry after your mother died, if his marriage was so bleak.”

  “By that time he realized he did not require a wife to keep him company.” He glanced at his father’s portrait on the wall. “He actually discovered he had a son and lavished his attention on me. He swore I would not marry Anne, he would sooner see me married to a scullery maid than see any wish of Mother’s fulfilled.”

  “Darcy, forgive me, but you seem to intimate that he gave you his attention to spite your mother’s neglect, and not out of any affection for you.”

  He gave him a grim smile. “I do not intimate it at all, Richard. I accepted the attention for what it was. I benefited from his words, and he actually seemed pleased to train me to understand my duty.” He sighed. “No,
that is not quite correct, he always was proud to have an heir. He was extremely proud of Pemberley, and our heritage. It was instilled in me from an early age the importance of my duty. That was truly the only time I saw the man he was, who he could have been.” He said the last softly.

  Richard was watching him carefully. “You never said a word.”

  Darcy shrugged. “It would change nothing, so why bother?”

  “Good Lord, Darcy. I had no idea.” He began to understand his deeply private, intensely protective cousin. He rarely expressed emotion; he grew up knowing it meant nothing. How empty he must feel. Richard’s own upbringing was in a household with affectionate, kind parents, who did care for each other. He did not know if it could be labelled love, but it certainly was vastly superior to what Darcy experienced. One thing was for certain, he loved Georgiana.

  Darcy was lost in another memory of his childhood when he was startled back to the present by his cousin. “What of Wickham? How do you explain your father’s attraction to him?”

  He frowned. “He was the son of a loyal servant, was gifted with charm, and cunning enough to see how to achieve his wishes. Father also knew that it enraged Mother to see him lavishing her son’s funds on a servant’s child. I think it was the only motherly instinct she ever displayed for me, and he delighted in throwing it in her face. He had no idea what he created by giving Wickham a taste of what he would never attain.” He sat back and said thoughtfully. “It was rather cruel if you think about it.”

  Richard found the thought of Wickham receiving a gentleman’s education by his uncle Darcy anything but cruel. “And Georgiana? What of her?”

  “I do not know that he was entirely convinced she was his, but he never treated her poorly. Actually, I think that he rather delighted in her, how could he not? She was raised by her governess, and your mother has influenced her. I was in school most of the time after she was born until father died. She was the only reason I came home.”

  “Do you know why my father would support Aunt Catherine’s bid to marry you off to Anne? Mother did not seem to.”

  “No, she did not. I think that Uncle Henry knew that his sister’s wish was that I marry Anne, he knew that mother was unhappy in her marriage, and that for him, seeing that her wishes were fulfilled, would be a way of honouring her memory.”

  “That is ridiculous! It is your decision who you marry, not his!” He shook his head. “One great benefit to being orphaned Darcy; you are without question head of your house. You decide what you will do. My father can give advice but can not do anything to you.”

  “And neither can our aunt. Her desire to take Georgiana from me is impossible. We have custody. She has no rights to her at all.”

  “No woman does. The children always go to the father or male relative. She is just trying to scare you.”

  He muttered darkly. “I do not scare easily with empty threats.”

  “And what of real ones? What of Georgiana?” Richard brought up the most pressing concern. Darcy sighed. “I will take her home and hope the world forgets about us.”

  “Well there is an advantage to living so far north; nobody will wish to visit once the weather closes in.” He screwed up his eyes in thought. “And Wickham, have you heard anything from him?”

  Darcy’s countenance stiffened. “Not a word. I am undecided how I feel about that. He obviously realizes he is too late to benefit from blackmail. Georgiana’s experience in the park proves that.” He laughed with satisfaction. “So much for his wish of profit from me. But in truth, I do not believe he will hesitate to extract revenge if he can. There is just too much between us.”

  “So you must remain prepared.” Richard said, patting his scabbard.

  Darcy saw the gesture and said dryly, “And retreat to my fortress in Derbyshire?”

  “Have you ever thought of digging a moat, Cousin?” Richard grinned.

  Darcy raised a brow. “I have enough problems with the cesspits, do not add to them.” He did manage a small smile, then sighed. “What will I do when I get her home?”

  “You will concentrate on the estate, and Mrs. Annesley will do her job.”

  Darcy nodded and thought, and maybe, she will receive some letters.

  ELIZABETH WALKED swiftly out of the door, tying her bonnet ribbons as she put distance between herself and the bed where she had attempted to find sleep the night before. It was hopeless. After John Lucas put the idea in her mind that Mr. Darcy was only coming to Netherfield to find some pleasant diversion in a country girl before returning to the ladies of London, she had felt her ire rise to a level of indignant unreasonableness such as she had never felt before. “How dare he trifle with me!” She stormed. “Giving me handkerchiefs and writing his pretty words, when all along he knew he would be coming back to the area. Of course he would wish to have some young lady with whom to flirt!” She stormed on, not paying any attention to her direction or destination. “John was quite right, how clever of him to see right through them! I always thought of him as clever!”

  Elizabeth stopped to catch her breath and she saw that she had arrived at the very spot where only yesterday Mr. Darcy had stood nervously before her, unable to find his voice, but caressed her with his gaze and his lips on her hand. She trembled and whispered, “Oh my,” and leaned back against a tree, feeling the rush of shivers travel from her shoulders to her toes.

  “Stop being a fool Lizzy Bennet! How could a man who completely lost the ability to speak, who had no idea he would encounter you ever again, who wrote such honest, sweet things, be trifling with you?” She sank down to the ground and drew her knees up to her chest, hugging them. What is wrong with me? Why do I care if Mr. Darcy comes to Hertfordshire in September? He is … I do not know! She picked up a stone and threw it in frustration. It is all John Lucas’ fault! I was quite happy with the thought of writing to his sister and him, and anticipating his return. Why would I let John’s comments bother me so? He is not clever! He has not even bothered to think about his future! I can not possibly respect a man who has such responsibility and such potential before him and does nothing to prepare for it! Surely his father has tried to teach him? I must speak to Charlotte about her brother. But why should I care? I am not going to marry him, am I? She shook her head. Her future as one of five daughters with very little dowry and little else but her charms to recommend her was quite questionable, and despite her romantic conviction that she wished to marry a man she could respect and love, and who felt the same for her, the intelligent mind that was both her gift and curse knew the reality of her situation all too well. John Lucas’ attentions might just have to be accepted.

  Her thoughts turned back to the man who stared at her so intently the day before. What troubled him so, and how could I help him? She stood and brushed off her skirts, and began the long walk home, composing a letter to Miss Darcy in her mind.

  DARCY SAT BACK in his chair, watching Georgiana. She was picking at the keys of the pianoforte. She had not spoken a word since the assault in the park by the well-bred ladies of London. I cannot wait to leave here! He could not imagine what the three-day journey to Derbyshire would be like, but thankfully, the people at the inns where they would stop would have no idea of Georgiana’s fall from grace, and the further they were from London, the more at peace she should be.

  “Will you play for me, dear?” He asked. She startled. His quiet request had the effect of a whip lash she looked so pained. He immediately went to her side and awkwardly patted her shoulder. “Georgiana, please, I do not mean to upset you.” He had no idea how to comfort her, never having been comforted himself. “What can I do for you?”

  She looked up at him. “I am so sorry, William.” Her eyes filled with tears and she got up to run upstairs just as Lord and Lady Matlock were announced. She dropped a curtsey and ran from the room.

  They turned to face Darcy who had risen to his feet. “I am sorry, she … she met some ladies in the park yesterday and they were quite clear to her how ruined sh
e was. It has affected her deeply.” His face was a mixture of fury and pain.

  Lady Matlock turned to her husband. “I will go to her.” She whispered in his ear. “Remember, we are here for Georgiana.” He rolled his eyes and nodded.

  Darcy gratefully watched her go, and then looking to his uncle he said. “Uncle Henry, perhaps we would be more comfortable in my study?” He led the way out into the hallway and down to the door. Opening it, he stood aside and waited for his uncle to precede him, and then shut it soundly. After providing him a glass of wine, they sat in silence for a few moments.

  Lord Matlock began. “Darcy, we ended our conversation yesterday before we had an opportunity to discuss Georgiana.”

  Wearily Darcy sat back in his chair. “Do you have some cousin you wish her to marry? Richard perhaps?”

  “That was unnecessary, Darcy.” Lord Matlock said sharply.

  “Forgive me, Uncle. It has been a very long day, and it is only two o’clock.” He sighed.

  His face softened. “Has anything else happened, aside from the confrontation in the park yesterday?”

  Darcy shrugged and waved his hand over his desk. “It seems all of my long-lost Darcy relatives have decided to suddenly lend their voices to the fray. My Uncle Harold, you may remember him; my father’s brother, has decided that I am unfit to be the heir of Pemberley, and has told me so.” He shook his head. “He invents ideas to unseat me quite regularly. It is fortunate for James that Richard is not a disgruntled second son, as he knows how to kill with a sabre as opposed to angry words in an apoplectic letter.”

  Lord Matlock looked at his nephew sympathetically. “I take it he was unhappy that one so young would come into such a huge inheritance.”

  “Yes, my father was five and thirty when his father died, a decent age to become master of an estate, by my uncle’s estimation. He did not take to the life in law with happiness, although it was entirely his own choice.” He sighed. “And there are other letters, calling me an unfit brother, telling me I have sullied the Darcy name forever, and even worse things of Georgiana. It is fortunate we meet them all so rarely, because after their sweet letters of support, I doubt I could abide any of their faces again.” He closed his eyes momentarily and then looked up to his uncle. “So tell me, what words of wisdom do you have to impart?”