Lady Catherine tried to sip the tea, but her discomfort overwhelmed her, and she decidedly placed the saucer on the table to emphasize her agitation.
“Please tell me what brought you here today.”
“That girl!” His aunt spit out the words.
“What girl, Madam?”
“Miss Elizabeth Bennet, of course!”
Darcy froze. Had he heard his aunt correctly? “Miss Elizabeth Bennet?” he tried to sound nonchalant. “What could Miss Elizabeth have to do with our family?”
“She is an insincere young lady, one not to be given proper address!”
Darcy’s mind raced;about what could his aunt be talking?“I thought Miss Elizabeth was a favorite,Aunt.”
“She most certainly is not! She spreads scandalous falsehoods, and I came here to demand you deny her report.”
Darcy stood and forced himself to walk casually to the mantel. “What falsehood has Miss Elizabeth spread which caused you such torment?”
“That girl,” she began again,“let it be known she intends to be united in marriage with you, Nephew.”
Darcy’s heart leapt at the words. He never thought Elizabeth could spread such a rumor; it was beyond her.“Are you sure,Aunt? This seems uncharacteristic of what I know of Miss Elizabeth. From whom did you hear this rumor?” He tried not to show his own turmoil.
“From Mr. Collins, of course,” she exclaimed. “He is Miss Bennet’s cousin! I have it on his good authority, and I expect you to publicly contradict this braggart.”
“No one, I am sure,” he started slowly,“of any consequence will repeat such stories. The Lucases are a gossipy lot. These are only Collins’s assumptions based on Charles Bingley’s plans to marry Miss Elizabeth’s eldest sister. Mr. Collins exaggerates the situation.There is nothing for me to contradict.”
“First the girl will not retract the rumors, and now you refuse to contradict them!” she lamented.
“Lady Catherine, have you spoken to Miss Elizabeth?” He could not believe his aunt confronted Elizabeth with these accusations; Elizabeth must hate him for bringing such censure into her life!
“I have, Sir. I am almost your nearest relative, and I will expunge your reputation even if you will not!” Her haughtiness showed her true nature.
Darcy gripped the mantel for support; he must keep his aunt talking to know what happened, but at the moment he wanted to drive the woman from his house for attacking Elizabeth.“May I ask what you so kindly told Miss Bennet?”
“I confronted her, demanding she contradict the rumor she started. Of course, Miss Bennet feigned innocence, claiming my coming to Longbourn would only give merit to a rumor if it existed.”
“She makes a reasonable point, Lady Catherine.”
“Nonsense! I asked her if she could declare there was no foundation for the rumor, and that impertinent young lady told me I may ask questions which she may choose not to answer! Can you imagine such insolence?”
Imagining Elizabeth’s brazen confrontation of his aunt, Darcy stifled an ironic laugh. “Go on, your Ladyship,” he encouraged for he must know whether Elizabeth spoke of him positively or not.
“When I told her as your aunt I had arightto know all your dearest concerns, Miss Bennet claimed I had norightto know hers. Her arts and allurements are many; I fear you have succumbed to them, Nephew.”
Darcy could not respond; all he could think of was although Elizabeth did not say she loved him, she refused to say she did not love him. “What else happened, Aunt?” He tried to control the chaos of his mind by steadying his voice and encouraging his aunt’s retelling of the events.
“I reminded her of your engagement to my daughter and how it was your mother’s wish for it to be so; and I told her as a young woman of inferior birth, she had no claim on a man of your standing. I reminded her of propriety and delicacy.”
The gentleman gritted his teeth and bit the words as he said them, but miraculously, Darcy controlled his ever-building anger. “What was Miss Elizabeth’s answer?”
“The response reeked of more insolence! She said although she heard it before you were to marry Anne, that fact would not keep her from marrying you if neither your honor nor inclination confined you to your cousin. She said if you were to make another choice, and she should be that choice, she had the right to accept the proposal.”
Darcy’s breath came in short bursts. Elizabeth did not say she would accept his proposal; only she had the right to accept it. He had to know more; he forced his mind and his being to appear in tune with Lady Catherine’s sentiments, but she waited not for his response. “I told Miss Bennet such an alliance would bring her only disgrace; she would never be recognized or accepted by your family and friends. She is so obstinate and headstrong Miss Bennet claimed being your wife would have its own attached happiness, and that happiness would be great enough to keep your wife from feeling any regret in her choice.”
Again, Darcy heard Elizabeth thought being married to him could bring a woman happiness.Was it possible to bring her happiness?Hope grew again in him. “I assume that was the end of this confrontation,” he added, hoping it would keep his aunt talking.
“It most certainly was not! I reminded her of your noble lineage of your mother’s family and that your father was from a respectable, honorable, and ancient, though untitled, family. I told Miss Bennet if she was sensible of her own good, she would not wish to quit the sphere in which she was brought up.”
