Much as I appreciated his desire to accompany me, we could refrain from annoying his aunt in this instance. “Fitzwilliam, you have not seen your aunt for a long while. You ought to remain here.”
His eyes met mine for a moment. “Very well. You are correct.”
Lady Catherine’s forced exhalation made her exasperation known. “What you ought to have said is that I am correct, Nephew! No one is more attentive to propriety than I.”
My husband positioned himself out of the two ladies’ view to make a facetious expression for my benefit.
I could not keep from grinning. How I loved him! He had an uncanny ability at times to know precisely what I needed from him. My hand brushed along his arm as I walked past him.
Graham set down his plate, shot to his feet, and strode towards me. “I could do with a short walk. Do you mind if I go with you?”
“Oh…um…not at all.”
Darcy
I ground my teeth as Graham followed my wife from the room. The rascal waited to be certain I should remain before rising to accompany her. If I had known his intention—
“Well, Darcy, have you seen the error of your ways?”
My aunt’s query broke through my rumination. “What do you mean?”
“Will you now acknowledge you erred in marrying so beneath yourself?”
Confound it.How dare she pose such an insulting question? I attempted to restrain my temper. “In the event I failed to make myself clear in my last communication with you, I expect you to provide my wife every due courtesy. Elizabeth is everything I could have wished for in a wife and more.”
She came before me. “I received your letter, but you had not yet married back then. You may have had cause to change your mind.”
‘That is not the case.” I lowered my voice. “I had hoped your appearance here meant you had resolved to accept my wife. If that is not the case, you ought to leave without delay.”
She blanched and ambled back to her seat. “There is no cause for you to be so petulant. You mistook my object. I meant to satisfy myself that you have no regrets and are not keeping the woman to maintain appearances.” My aunt’s frown belied her words.
“You will refer to her as Elizabeth or Mrs. Darcy.”
“Of course—Elizabeth.” Lady Catherine gestured to a spot on the settee next to Lady Rebecca. “Now will you stop towering over us and sit before you give me a sore neck?”
I chose a nearby chair instead. “Is Anne well?”
My aunt’s face took on a pinched expression. “Her health has declined of late.”
“I am sorry to hear that.”
“Perhaps you will come to see her at Rosings one day soon.”
“That is a possibility. I shall discuss the subject with Elizabeth.”First, though, you must show my wife the respect she deserves during this stay.
Lady Catherine squeezed her lips together with such force, they seemed to disappear altogether.
I took a quick glance at Lady Rebecca, who sat in an august position like a statue. Why had my aunt brought her here? To my knowledge, she had never before travelled with a lady other than Anne.
“I must say, Darcy, you are far more liberal, or perhaps lax is the better word, than I should have expected. Few husbands would allow their wives to gad about alone with a handsome gentlemanfriend. Most would be concerned—if not for his wife’s fidelity, then for the indecorous nature of her actions.”
A blazing heat seared me from within. By Jove, I should not allow her infernal statements to perturb me. “My wife’s conductis above reproach.” At the sound of footsteps, my harsh mien relaxed, and I rose to my feet. Elizabeth entered the room holding Bennet’s hand. Graham and Miss Hunter followed.
My son walked behind Elizabeth, his body hidden by her skirt as he peeked at the unfamiliar ladies. The moment he caught sight of me, he smiled and ran towards me with his arms outstretched. “Papa!”
I grabbed Bennet under his arms, lifted him to my chest, and resumed my seat with him upon my lap.
“Why would you encourage such an undignified display?” Lady Catherine wrinkled her nose. “It is never too soon to teach the boy the proper way to greet his parents and guests. You do him no favours by treating him like a baby.”
