The Trials: A Pride and Prejudice Story

by Timothy Underwood

  After a few minutes, Pamela brought in the ices and in a workmanlike manner quickly distributed the tall cups filled with the sherbets. She caught Elizabeth’s eye and smiled when she delivered one to Elizabeth. The hairpiece was still there. Elizabeth frowned as she looked at it, anxious.

  When she served Lady Catherine and Anne, Pamela kept the side of her head away from Lady Catherine, showing a little prudence.

  With the tray empty now, the maid curtsied and turned to walk away. The tightness in Elizabeth’s stomach released. Hopefully, she could convince Pamela to hide the jewelry away while working next time.

  “Stop!” Anne stood up from the table and grabbed Pamela’s hair roughly to pull her head down so she could examine it. “That hairpin! That! That is one of my mother’s!”

  “No, no.” Pamela frantically shook her head, trying to pull away from Anne’s grasp. She looked like a cow desperately trying to escape from the butchers. “A gift! It was a gift.”

  “A gift? You made yourself a gift of my mother’s jewelry?” Anne roughly pulled the hairpin out of the girl’s braid, making Pamela’s curls fall in a wild fan. Without letting go of Pamela’s hair, she held it up to examine closer. “Mother, this is your hair piece, is it not?”

  Elizabeth looked at Lady Catherine, and there was something terrifyingly mad in the gleam of her eyes as the dimming sun lit her in a reddish beam. “Yes. Yes. It is mine.”

  Anne shrieked jerking harshly at the hair. “Thief! You stole my mother’s jewels.”

  Pamela jerked herself away, leaving strands of her hair in Anne’s grip. “It was a gift! I swear!”

  “Who gave it to you?”

  Pamela looked at Lady Catherine. She went pale. “Madam, you know who…”

  “I do not. You are dismissed for this theft.”

  “It was that gentleman!” Pamela looked pleadingly at her mistress. “The one who visited you today.”

  “There was no gentleman. For your theft, I would have simply dismissed you, but for your lies, I will have you prosecuted. Grab her! Grab her!”

  Pamela did not even struggle as one of the footmen who’d gathered to watch the drama took her arms and forced her to sit in the chair.

  Lady Catherine shouted, “Hawdry! Have your bailiff called.”

  “Yes, Madam.” The man stood ponderously and looked at the footman who wasn’t holding Pamela down in the chair. “Paper, now. Then have someone run off to Mr. Joseph.”

  Darcy stood. “There is no need for such action. Nothing has been lost.”

  “She stole! She stole! She stole! I will have her punished! Punished! Punished!” Lady Catherine stabbed her finger towards the trembling girl. “Tie her up. A rope! Tie her up. She’ll try to escape.”

  Elizabeth spoke, “I believe there must have been some gentleman. Pamela has spoken about her friend several times. Perhaps he was the thief.”

  Lady Catherine turned to her with a raging flame in her eyes. “You will not speak! You have no permission! None! I give you too much leeway. There was no gentleman! None!”

  Elizabeth swallowed, frightened by the look in Lady Catherine’s eye. Elizabeth would speak if it would help Pamela. But Pamela would be dismissed no matter what was said now.

  “I would ask,” Mr. Darcy spoke in a calm voice, but his eyes were sharp, “I ask as a personal favor, that you simply dismiss the girl. That would be sufficient punishment. There is no need for a prosecution.”

  “The Darcy line has no title. It should not beg personal favors from us. I am a Fitzwilliam! I am the widow of Sir Lewis de Bourgh! You should grovel before me. I am above you! Do not speak as though your vast wealth matters. I swore I’d bring you to heel, and I will. Hawdry, to prison! Commit her to prison until the time for the assizes.”

  “The assizes?” Hawdry echoed in confusion. “There is no need for that. I can issue a summary punishment immediately and—”

  “Hanging! The assizes. I want her hanged! Hang her! Hang her!”

  Darcy said sharply, “Madam, it is a quite strange theft, it will not be believed by the jury, so there is no value in bringing charges — a thief who wears the jewels in front of their original owner? I am entirely convinced that a gentleman gave her them, and that the maid is blameless.”

  “Have her hanged for it! Grand larceny! That pin is worth at least a hundred pounds!”

  “Lady Catherine.” Darcy spoke in a pleading voice. “I am to be your son, I beg you not to make such charges. You will expose yourself to derision and — do you not care for your soul? I believe you know she is entirely innocent of theft. It would be right to dismiss her for accepting such a gift from a gentleman, but—”

  “Hanging! I’ll only accept hanging! She must learn her place!”

  Spittle flew from the mouth of Lady Catherine. Darcy’s mouth had a grim line. “If you do not let her go, I shall personally investigate the truth of her claims about a gentleman.”

  “You can’t stop me! You can’t! You won’t do that! You know what will happen!”

  “Madam, I believe you have… You go too far. This is another matter in which I will not bend. I beg you, let the girl go.”

  “No.”

  Darcy stared at Lady Catherine for a long time. His noble face slowly hardened. “Then I know what I must do. I shall not allow this injustice to occur.”

  He sat calmly down and began to quietly eat the melting sherbet.

  Darcy’s calmness settled Elizabeth, and while she felt frightened still, the fast beating of her heart slowed. He would not let Lady Catherine have poor Pamela hanged. It amazed Elizabeth that Darcy could eat the sherbet at such a time as this. Her stomach felt so awful that it was like she would never be able to eat again.

  The footmen had tied Pamela’s hands to the arms of a chair, and one continued to stand over her, guarding her at Lady Catherine’s demand. The girl’s breast went up and down with her rapid panting. Elizabeth saw the wild fear in her eyes at the idea she might be hanged.

  Elizabeth sat next her and took Pamela’s hand and squeezed it. Elizabeth leaned her head to the girl’s. “This will be resolved. Darcy is —”

  “I was such a fool!” Pamela exclaimed. “He just wanted to cause trouble, and—”

  “Remove yourself from my prisoner!”

  Elizabeth looked at Lady Catherine and a desperate desire to defy her began to build. Lady Catherine was mad. “She is a fellow creature and in distress.”

  “Now! Now! Now! Or else I’ll dismiss you. You know that none else will hire you. Never! Never! Never! Obey me.”

  Elizabeth almost defied Lady Catherine. But she feared the consequences for Emma. The girl was still under Lady Catherine’s control. She couldn’t abandon Emma for anything. Elizabeth squeezed Pamela’s hand one last time, and she felt deeply guilty when she sat at the heavy dining table again.

  She could not meet anyone’s eyes, and her face was red with shame.

  Was Darcy was looking at her? Did he think she’d just behaved as a coward?

  No one said anything. The minutes continued. Still no one spoke. There was no casual conversation. An extra footman entered the room, curiously looked around, and then gathered the melted ices.

  A few minutes later the bailiff arrived.

  After a consultation with Mr. Hawdry, Mr. Joseph took Pamela and led her out of the house. They would take her to the local gaol to await trial when the circuit court came back to Kent in a few weeks.

  Mr. Hawdry looked at Lady Catherine and exclaimed, “Servants stealing! It’s a curse. They all do it. We shall make an example of this one. Deuced lucky that she was caught red handed. You should give all your goods a looking over to ensure that nothing else has been taken.”

  “Everything will be looked over.” Lady Catherine’s grim reply followed.

  Darcy stood. “Mr. Hawdry, it is exceedingly unlikely that the girl in question stole anything at all. Instead she has been the victim of a prank played on Lady Catherine by a visitor. Do you wish to place
your reputation at risk as well as my aunt’s by supporting her in this?”

  “What do you mean?” Mr. Hawdry harrumphed. “I saw what happened. Lady Catherine, you must make a statement. If Mr. Darcy wishes to make trouble, I must take down the evidence.”

  “She had my hair piece! Is any additional evidence needed?”

  “I suppose not.” He looked at Darcy and pulled at his sideburns.

  Darcy said, “She obviously did not know it was Lady Catherine’s. Otherwise she would never have worn it while performing her duties.”

  Hawdry pulled at his sideburn. “But she had no other way of getting it.”

  “The gentleman who she claims gave it to her perhaps stole it. Or perhaps he received it as a gift from Lady Catherine.”

  “There was no gentleman! None! I’ll never forget it if you do not hang her. Never.”

  Hawdry looked between the two. “I trust you, my ladyship. We’ll see justice done.” Hawdry walked to the table. “May I examine the piece?”

  He held it up, turning it every way. “A maid with such an item! This is prettier than what my wife used to wear. No, no, no! — Damnation! Not in my county. No. Mr. Darcy, she was having a joke on her mistress before selling the piece.”

  “That is…unlikely.” Darcy’s lips tightened. “I suspect my aunt has reasons which would lead her to lie about the existence of this gentleman visitor. If you intend to seek justice, you will look into that possibility.”

  “What are you accusing Lady Catherine of? That slur — that she would entertain gentlemen in hiding — I’d challenge you. I swear, I’d put a bullet through you if you weren’t her nephew. Lady Catherine, I must be off. I’ll handle it exactly as you told me to.”

  He left the room, and the heavy oaken door pounded shut, with a heavy sound like a death knell.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Darcy focused on his plans. The frustration and anger made him wish to argue with Mr. Hawdry, but the magistrate was determined to support Lady Catherine.

  Darcy looked at Elizabeth.

  Her face was ashen in the candlelight. He knew Elizabeth had become friends with the servant, and he had seen how she’d nearly argued with Lady Catherine. If it had simply been a matter of protecting her position, he believed Elizabeth would have resigned. He had never felt prouder of her, or more torn.

  He loved her. He had never ceased to love her. For a time the fire of his love had burned low enough that he could pretend the flame was gone. But it had always survived. What could he do? He could not carry through with his plan to marry Anne.

  Not even to protect Georgiana could he tie himself closer to this petty murderous tyrant.

  After the girl was taken away, Darcy stood to leave the table. He would go to the gaol and talk to the maid. At the least he would pay for a defense counsel from London, and he wished to know. He suspected the gentleman visitor was Wickham. If he brought Wickham here to testify to his seeing Lady Catherine, perhaps with some proof that she’d paid him off, it would conclusively prove that the maid had not stolen the hairpiece.

  Darcy did not want to believe that a jury would ever convict upon such slender evidence as Lady Catherine could present. At least not if the holes in her assertions were clearly pointed out. But jurors were drawn from amongst men of property in the district, all of whom might need to fear Lady Catherine’s wrath. The assizes were only in two weeks. He did not have a great deal of time in which to prove the girl’s innocence.

  Darcy signaled to a footman. “Bring me some paper. Immediately.” He would write a letter to his solicitor in London begging him to find the best defense counsel available, then he would go to the gaol.

  Lady Catherine stood and exclaimed, “Darcy!”

  Darcy raised his eyes and looked at her impassively.

  “Never challenge me again!” She turned away and walked from the room.

  Darcy internally shrugged. He was done with her, and she would find that soon enough.

  Attempted murder was too much. There was a distinct feeling of happiness suffusing Darcy. He should feel guilty that he would be forced to let his aunt hurt his sister. But now that he would no longer marry Anne, he could marry Elizabeth. He felt free and happy.

  “What a disgusting creature.” Anne’s voice broke Darcy’s reverie, and he looked at her trying to figure out what she was referring to.

  “That girl pranced into here wearing a piece of jewelry like that. She should have known that—”

  “She didn’t steal it.”

  Anne blinked at Darcy. “Of course not. Your argument made that clear. I am not a fool. I wonder what about this gentleman made Mother so angry. But what a terrible servant. There should be laws about them wearing jewels.”

  Darcy looked at her in disgust and glanced at Richard, once more confused by how his cousin found Anne attractive.

  Richard poured himself a deep glass of the wine on the table and drank it in several quick swallows. He laughed. “It certainly turned out to be a poor adornment. Hahaha. They won’t convict her for it. Your mother will be shown a fool. I’ve served on juries before. We were too aware of our responsibility to make such a mistake.”

  “Yes, Mother is wrong. She is always wrong. I hope she isn’t proven such a fool as you say, but the girl was even more foolish.”

  Darcy said, “The girl will be hanged if the claim of such a large theft is proven. I must prove your mother a fool.”

  “This is why such servants are usually dismissed. It is an ugly business. Really, you shall make things difficult, and Mother will be angry—”

  “Anne, I am not going to marry you.”

  She turned pale. “But…you must…”

  “I will not. I am done. This is too far.”

  “I beg you — Mother will be angry. Even if you have decided to let her hurt you however she threatened to, I don’t want to… She will be so angry. I can’t…”

  “She is attempting to murder a young woman.”

  “Why do you care about her? She is just a servant. Are you sweet on her too, in addition to Miss Bennet?”

  Richard patted Anne on the elbow. “What makes you so scared of her?”

  “Just don’t. Don’t! I don’t want to see her so angry. I wish she would die. But she won’t. Not on her own.”

  Darcy was disgusted by Anne. She was weak and cowardly, and hardly behaving as an adult. He stood up to leave the room. He’d written his letter, and he needed to go to the gaol. He turned to Elizabeth, who was not smiling in the way he had hoped, but her eyes were so deep and intent on him.

  “Wait, Darcy,” Richard called out.

  With an attentive look Darcy turned towards his cousin.

  “Don’t tell Lady Catherine yet. Something might come up to make things simpler. We want to avoid the scandal, and…” Richard gestured towards Anne. “I’ll tell her that you are demanding a delay. Or something of that sort. Or we have a fake priest perform the ceremony so it is not valid. But don’t be hasty.”

  “Why?”

  Richard looked hurt. “I care about Georgie too. Even if I don’t think you should go so far to protect her, I want her to be protected. Once she is safely married and everyone is away from Rosings, we can tell Lady Catherine about the trick we played on her. You just do one thing incorrectly, and the ceremony is invalid. So it is easy.”

  “I am not — I…must think about this.” Darcy felt like it was a devil’s offer. Protect Georgiana, and not marry Anne. He had a minute before hardened himself to hurt his sister, and now…

  Darcy shook his head. “Our aunt will not stay silent when she finds out about the ruse. She would say everything simply for revenge.”

  “Georgiana would already be married.”

  “It would be even worse for her if the story came to his ears after they were married. No, I will not play that game.” Darcy paced around the side of the dining room. He wished Elizabeth would say something. “Elizabeth, what do you think I ought to do?”

  Her
face was white. “You should not… I do not know. But… Oh God! Do not ask me!”

  Anxiety came back into his nerves. “I must go to London tomorrow. Richard, I believe we both are acquainted with the gentleman visitor. I will attempt to find him, and I will speak with my lawyers and Georgiana. She must be warned of what Lady Catherine may say, even if we delay her doing so until after the marriage.”

  “Wickham! Of course. But…”

  “I will not tell Lady Catherine that I have ended the engagement before I leave. While I am away I will consider at my leisure whether to participate in some deception. But I do not believe I will. It would be dishonorable, and a matter of such disguise that it would be my abhorrence. You shall have two or three days’ reprieve. I am now off to the gaol to speak with the poor girl.”

  Richard shook his head and said bitterly, “You would have made a terrible soldier. A deuced awful soldier. It is good you were born the obscenely rich son who didn’t need to dirty himself with real matters.”

  Darcy tightened his jaw. Richard was not the enemy. Lady Catherine was the enemy.

  *****

  Darcy arrived back at Rosings late that night. He was hungry and tired. It was much too late in the night for him to seek Elizabeth out. Darcy wanted to leave early the next morning, but he also needed to talk to Elizabeth before he left.

  He went to the kitchen to see what food there was to steal. Mrs. Shore was angrily speaking while Elizabeth and one of the maidservants listened.

  Elizabeth jumped up. “What news? Is Pamela well?”

  “Yes.” He looked at her and smiled, despite how tired he was.

  She smiled back, but then turned away.

  Darcy said to the cook, “Mrs. Shore, she told me to give you a message. She is sorry for the trouble she has caused, knows you were right all along, and she promises to never do anything of the sort again. I think I convinced her they won’t hang her for it.”

  “Will they?” There was a sharp angry challenge in the cook’s voice.

  Darcy said steadily, “The laws of England protect the innocent. Your niece is innocent.”