“No, sir. I am to travel with Mrs. Collins, and then directly to Longbourn as my relatives are traveling and not in London. I regret, I must beg your forgiveness for not coming to you to take my leave.”
The colonel glanced from Miss de Burgh to Elizabeth. “Can we entreat you to alter your travel plans and return with us to Rosings?”
Her brows rose at their request, and she glanced at Charlotte before responding. “Our travel plans have only been directed in the last hour. Yet, I am certainLady Catherinewould frown on any alterations.” Elizabeth heard a small gasp from inside the carriage and knew that Elise would have much to tell Lady Catherine when the carriage arrived in London.
“Miss Bennet.” Miss de Bourgh stepped forward with a quick look at the colonel. “I assure you we have all had ‘plans made for us’ by those imagining they had the right to…dictate our lives, as my cousin Darcy could attest. Yet,” she said, smiling, “you do not appear to be the type of young woman who would sit idly by and allow that to occur.”
Elizabeth’s eyes sparkled with mirth. “You have guessed correctly. In such cases as these, I have no alternative but to do as I am bid. Mrs. Collins would agree, I am certain, and this carriage has already been loaded with my trunk.”
Charlotte interjected in the conversation. “I do not believe your presence is required in London, Lizzy. And, by the time we were to arrive, it would be too late for you to travel on to Longbourn. No, I think the colonel has the right of it.”
“Daniels,” Colonel Fitzwilliam called to the footman, “remove Miss Bennet’s trunks!”
Elizabeth looked on in shock as the young man nimbly climbed up to the top of the carriage and hoisted down her trunk in seconds.
“Now,” the colonel said, “it appears there is no impediment in making the decision which most pleases you.”
Elizabeth laughed. “But Colonel. Once again, I have no alternative but to travel to London.”
“Oh, right. You have not asked her, Anne.”
“Asked me?” Elizabeth asked. “Ask me what?”
Anne de Bourgh turned to Elizabeth and said, “Miss Bennet, as both my cousin and I hope to become better acquainted with you, we would be mostgrateful if you would be our guest at Rosings for the final weeks of your planned stay at Hunsford.”
“I would be pleased to accept but fear any reprisal against my friend and cousin from Lady Catherine. What will her reaction be when she learns I did not travel with Mrs. Collins and the maid? I do not wish to seem ungrateful, as I would dearly love to be your guest, but…”
Colonel Fitzwilliam clicked his tongue. “You are a sharp one, Miss Bennet. No matter the length of my aunt’s stay in London, you are a welcome guest. Please do not fear reprisal for you or your friend.”
“Yes.” Anne de Bourgh rested her hand on Elizabeth’s arm. “When you are with one who knows how to tame her, Lady Catherine is not the fearsome creature she appears.” The colonel winked at his cousin, then turned to the ladies. “Mrs. Collins, I will send a note with you stating we will deliver Miss Bennet to her father’s estate and Lady Catherine need not concern herself.”
“A fine idea, Colonel. Miss de Bourgh, I believe I must be off, as I am not one who knows how totameLady Catherine. Lizzy, take care, and enjoy the hospitality of Rosings.” Charlotte squeezed her arm and gave a knowing look before alighting the carriage and driving away.
“So you see, Miss Bennet. All is well, and as I said, my cousins and I were hoping to become better acquainted with you.”
Her heart felt lighter and hope bubbled in her breast as towhichcousin Miss de Bourgh referred. “I would be delighted.”
The late afternoon sun filtered through the windows, casting a golden haze across the floral papered walls and spilling throughout the expansive room. This was to be her room for the remainder of her stay in Kent; the room was more extensive than Longbourn’s dining room and contained more crystal and candles than Elizabeth had seen in all her twenty years.
She languidly sat in the chair overlooking the boxwood garden with the promise of good company and conversation awaiting her in an hour’s time, when the maid came from the dressing room.
“Is there anything else, miss?”
“No, Adele. I will dress in thirty minutes.”
“Very well.” The young girl bobbed a curtsey and retreated through the servant’s door.
Elizabeth waited for her to depart before collecting her reticule. She retrieved the letter inside, and her heart skipped when she recognized the broad even strokes of his penmanship, her name emblazoned across the front.Oh, Miss Bingley, how correct you were when you flattered Mr. Darcy’s hand all those months ago.
Caressing her own name on the front of the parchment, a wave of uncertainty shot through her. She remembered the contents with mixed emotions: first contempt, then shock, and finally shame.
It had been a tempestuous moment.To be told, I was ardently loved, but that my family lacked in all that was refined.Even Mr. Collins’ sorry excuse for a proposal had been kinder than Mr. Darcy’s. Yet…The words she had thrown at him in a fit of anger stung her, too.“Had your father never had a son, Mr. Wickham would have fulfilled the job more admirably.”She shook her head with disgrace, now owning there had been much to the man she had not understood.
You must face the consequences of your narrow-mindedness and prepare to be chastised once again. Of what you have discovered from his cousins, sister, and even Mr. Darcy himself this week alone, he should be absolved from most, if not all, the blame you heaped at his door.
“And, besides, your dreams have been most enlightening,” she whispered.Is it true that in dreams we often see truth where in reality, resentment clouds our judgment?She burrowed back down in the well-cushioned chair, took a deep breath, and began the epistle.
Miss Elizabeth Bennet,
