“Darcy, do you care for a brandy after all that time out in the chill?”
“Perhaps just one,” Darcy replied, suddenly very tired.
In the library, the colonel poured short measures for them both. Darcy let the brandy linger on his tongue, savouring its smoky sweetness and slow, honeyed burn as it warmed him from the inside out. As there was little more to be said, the gentlemen downed their drinks and headed up the stairs.
They had just reached the first landing when they heard the screaming.
Hines entered Darcy’s bedchamber from the dressing room to tend the fire and pour hot water into the basin for his master’s evening ablutions. He pulled back the curtains from the canopied bed to check the hot bricks and started at finding a female in the bed, propped against pillows. Before Hines could speak, Miss de Bourgh screamed as if a hundred wild animals had arrived to assault her. Lady Catherine and MrsJenkinson burst into the room.
“Darcy! Explain yourself!” Lady Catherine exclaimed.
Then Hines turned to face her Ladyship.
“Who are you?”
Hines bowed deeply. “I am Hines, your Ladyship. MrDarcy’s man.”
“And where is your master?”
MrDarcy and the colonel stood in the doorway. MrDarcy said, “I am here. Why are you shouting at Hines? And who is in my bed? Anne? What are you about?”
Miss de Bourgh wrapped her dressing gown around her slight frame and exited the bed from the other side. “It was Mother’s idea.”
Lady Catherine stood akimbo. “Darcy! You must see that Anne will be ruined if you do not do your duty and marry her immediately.”
“I see no such thing, and I shall do no such thing.”
The colonel added, “Aunt Catherine, there are witnesses. How can you want Anne to marry MrHines here?”
Hines’s stomach clenched at the thought.
“Oh, dear God, Mother, you cannot expect me to marry a servant,” cried Miss de Bourgh as Hines whispered, “Colonel Fitzwilliam, sir, I am already betrothed.”
He looked at MrDarcy for reassurance.Surely,the colonel is in jest!
The colonel had the impudence to wink at him. But MrDarcy shook his head, and Hines sighed in relief.
Lady Catherine rounded on him. “Your puny betrothal can be nothing to me, Hines. Nephew, do not be ridiculous. I would not see my daughter married to aservant!”
A pair of footmen appeared in the corridor, attracted by the commotion. Lady Catherine shooed them away, slamming the bedchamber door.
MrDarcy fixed his aunt with a black expression, his lips pressed into a thin line. “Madam, it appears that you have attempted to entrap me into a marriage that I do not desire, and that my cousin Anne desires even less.”
“He is correct, Mama, I do not—”
“Be silent! It was the greatest wish of both your mothers!”
Miss de Bourgh pulled her dressing gown more snugly around her. The colonel wordlessly settled her in an upholstered chair by the fire, tucking a blanket over her lap.
“You may silence your daughter, madam, but you may not silenceme. My mother never spoke to me of this alleged wish, and I do not consider myself bound to Anne by either honour or inclination. I have the greatest cousinly affection for her, but we would not suit. I shall depart Rosings in the morning, and it is unlikely I shall ever visit this place again whilst you live. If I ever hear a report that you have circulated false tales about the events of this evening, I shall not hesitate to refute the gossip with these witnesses. I shall not be responsible for any damage to your reputation.
“Anne” — MrDarcy turned towards his cousin, where she sat by the fire, and spoke gently. “I regret that your mother chose to torture you in this way. I wish you only the best. Know that I willalways be happy to receive you at Pemberley or at Darcy House in London,without her.”
“How dare you disrespect me in this way? I am your nearest relation!” Lady Catherine picked up the book on the bedside table and threw it, striking MrDarcy on the temple. MrDarcy rubbed his brow, scowling at his aunt. Hines bent to retrieve the book and met his master’s eye before he read the first lines:It is a truth universally acknowledged that most young ladies will do all they can to prevent an unfortunate incident from happening again.
And he thought,how very apt.
Chapter 14: Sorrow and Regret
