Page 14 of Dear Friend

Richard laughed and raised his glass.

Darcy allowed the subject to lapse. He had no wish to defend a principle he considered perfectly obvious. He wanted a marriage in which affection was not merely an agreeable consequence but a reason for entering into it. He had seen such a marriage in his own parents, and no argument concerning settlements, connections, or convenience had yet persuaded him that he ought willingly to accept less.

“There is one matter upon which I have at least made progress,” he said after a moment.

Richard’s eyes narrowed with interest. “You have?”

“I saw Lady Catherine just before Christmas.”

“That does not generally qualify as progress.”

“I told her I have no intention of marrying Anne.”

Richard lowered his glass, his eyes widening in shock. “Plainly?”

“As plainly as I am speaking to you now.”

“And you survived?”

“Barely.”

Richard laughed. “I wish I had been there.”

“I was exceedingly grateful you were not.”

“How did she receive it?”

“Precisely as you would expect.” Darcy finished what remained of his brandy and set the glass upon the table. “She informed me that the matter had been understood since our infancy, that my mother had desired the match, that the union of Pemberley and Rosings was the natural expectation of both families, and that I was allowing obstinacy to overcome duty.”

“And what did you say?”

“That whatever she and my mother may once have wished, I had never entered into any engagement with Anne and would not do so merely to satisfy an expectation formed without consulting either of us.”

Richard regarded him with renewed interest. “I begin to regret my absence more than ever.”

“She then accused me of disregarding my mother’s dearest wish.”

The humour left Richard’s face. He knew, as few people did, how little patience Darcy possessed for anyone employing his mother’s memory against him.

“And?”

“I told her that my mother’s dearest wish, so far as I had ever understood it, was the happiness of her children.”

Richard lifted his glass towards him. “Well done.”

“I did not say it to earn your approval.”

“You have it nevertheless.”

Darcy shook his head, but some lingering satisfaction remained. The conversation at Rosings had been deeply unpleasant, yet he was glad it had occurred. Lady Catherine might continue to believe him misguided, ungrateful, or obstinate, but she could no longer honestly claim to misunderstand him.

“And Anne?” Richard asked.

“What of her?”

“Did you speak to her?”

“There was nothing to say. Anne has never behaved as though she considered us engaged, whatever her mother chooses to imagine.”