Chapter 4
Thick drops of rain were beginning to fall by the time Elizabeth and the Colonel reached the house. Inside, servants were running about the room, closing windows and lighting candles, preparing the manor for the upcoming tempest. Outside, the guests, with the exception of the Hunsford party, were planning their return home before the storm reached the island with all its force.
"Miss Bennet, are you all right?" Col. Fitzwilliam inquired with concern.
Elizabeth was still in shock. "My goodness! That was close!"
"Richard!" Ann ran towards them, "are you hurt? I saw the branch falling over you."
"I am quite well, dearest, we made a narrow escape," the Colonel brushed the leaves and dirt from his clothes. "Where is Darcy?"
"I don't know," replied Ann, eyes wide with fear, "he helped us in and went out again. I believe he said something about helping the servants to see the families off."
Fitzwilliam glared at his aunt, incredulous that she had sent her guests away in this weather. Concerned about his cousin's welfare, the Colonel went to the doors that led to the terrace in search of Darcy's figure. The rain was falling harder, making it impossible to discern anything beyond the gardens. A strike of lightning landed too near to the house, blinding them with white, making windows and furniture tremble with its tremendous noise.
"He must have gone mad. He cannot stay out in this weather. I will go after him."
"No!" Ann grabbed his sleeve, "It is too dangerous!"
"Ann!" bellowed Lady Catherine ,"Fitzwilliam is right. Darcy must be brought back to the house safe and sound. He is too valuable a person to risk his health in the storm for someone with little consequence in life."
"So you prefer to risk Richard's? He is your nephew too, mother!"
"Do not forget yourself, Ann. Fitzwilliam is an officer of His Majesty's Army. He has confronted greater dangers than a simple storm. He will find Darcy and bring him back to the house."
"That will not be necessary," The Colonel's eyes narrowed as he distinguished a familiar figure approaching the house. "There he is."
From there, the could discern Darcy's distinctive figure crossing the gardens towards terrace that led to the sitting room. He was not alone. In fact, with the help of a footman, he was carrying another man, a servant, that appeared to be unconscious. The others inside hurried outside to help them carry the body of the injured man into the house.
The limp body of the servant was laid on the rug where the Colonel made a quick examination. Darcy knelt beside him.
"He has a cut on his head and several bruises. What happened to him?"
"He was trying to secure the horses while one of the families climbed into their coach." Darcy was recovering his breath, "Something scared them and he was hit by the carriage. It is a miracle that it did not roll over him."
"We cannot fetch the apothecary in this weather." stated Fitzwilliam. "The injuries do not appear to be dangerous, though. We must put him in a warm bed. Hopefully, he will recover." To his cousin, he asked, "Has everyone left for home now?"
"Yes, let us pray that they will reach the village safely."
"They will," Lady Catherine said solemnly. "Tis only a storm."
"A storm that almost killed one of your servants, aunt," retorted the Colonel. "The road to Husnford is dangerous and should not be transited in this weather."
"Nonsense. Rosings has suffered greater gales and still stands up."
Darcy rose to confront his aunt. "Yes, but that does not mean that you can send your tenants on the road to find their death. This man would not have been injured had those families been invited to remain here until the storm passed. As the mistress of this estate, it is your duty to guard for the safety of those who work your land."
Lady Catherine stood proud and tall, "I will not allow you to question my decisions, nephew. I may not run my estate with the same liberality you run yours but I do know how to manage Rosings island successfully." Pointing at the injured servant, she addressed the butler, "Take this man to the servant quarters. He is staining the rug."
Quietly, the footmen lifted the servant and carried him out of the room while Darcy, drenched to the skin, stood in front of his aunt, looking at her with such an indignant face that the rest in the room thought that he might strike her at any moment.
"Go to your room and make yourself presentable for supper, Darcy," her ladyship stated, "we have important matters to discuss."
Darcy's fists were tightly clenched. He did not move.
"Come, Darcy," Fitzwilliam patted his cousin's back, "you must remove those wet clothes. You'll catch your death in them."
That seemed to soothe him and Darcy allowed his cousin to guide him out of the room. They both conversed in hushed tones as they left the room and Elizabeth, the one closest to the door, heard something that had certainly not been meant for her ears.
"I could have strangled her right there, Richard." said Darcy.
"You were not the only one, believe me."
The rain had been falling over Rosings for many hours, batting against stone and glass with relentless intensity. Inside the mansion, darkness had taken over the place. Not even the many candles and torches that had been lit in halls and rooms were enough to lighten its gloomy, oppressive atmosphere. Long shadows extended themselves over walls and floors with ghostly appearance and the hearths that had been started in the few rooms that were open for use were not enough to mitigate the cold humidity brought by a storm that seemed to be born in hell itself.
Notwithstanding the implacability of the storm and unfortunate incidents that had happened earlier in the day, her ladyship's guests were required at the dining table. The Collinses, Miss Lucas, Miss Bennet and Lady Catherine's illustrious nephews -who were doing very little to conceal their disgust for being forced to share the meal with her, were sitting in the lugubrious room where supper was being served . Even Miss de Bourgh, whose eyes were still swollen and her nose puffed after her recent confrontation with her mother had joined them.
No one seemed inclined to speak, in spite of Lady Catherine's efforts to constantly bring subjects up. Her comments barely excited responses and the only sounds that were heard were those that came from the storm outside or the occasional clicks of metal against china coming from one of the attendee's plates.
"You are very dull this evening, Miss Bennet. Do not tell me that the storm has scared you to the point of making you mute," stated Lady Catherine.
"No, madam," replied Elizabeth. "I was only preoccupied about the servant that was injured today. Is he any better?"
"What happens to the servants is not of my concern, Miss Bennet. And I found it very inappropriate that a young lady would express interest in a footman's health, too."
"He is much better," Darcy interjected. "The Colonel and I paid him a visit before supper. He recovered consciousness very soon after he was taken to bed."
Elizabeth nodded quietly.
"Darcy!" cried her ladyship, "you went to the servant's quarters?"
"Yes," he replied coldly. "I did."
"So did I," added Colonel Fitzwilliam.
The two young gentlemen glared at their aunt, as if challenging her to defy or criticize their actions. In an unusual display of wisdom, on this particular occasion, Lady Catherine kept her mouth shut.
"Ann," she thus addressed her daughter, some minutes later, "You have not eaten one single bite of your food."
"I am not hungry, mother."
With a loud sigh, Lady Catherine returned to her meal, "No matter how much you cry, Ann, I will not change my mind. You know your duty. Now eat, food should not be wasted."
The 'duty' to which Lady Catherine was referring to was not foreign to those at the dining table. Though no one was present during the argument that took place in Lady Catherine's study only a few hours earlier, the outcome was obvious to them. Ann's 'you cannot make me! I will never marry him!' were a clear evidence of what subject was under discussion. So when the young lady left the room, crying and shouting 'I hate you, mother! I hate you!' before she ran up the stairs, they all knew that Lady Catherine was still firm in her pursuit of producing the marriage between Mr. Darcy and Miss de Bourgh, no matter how much her daughter and said gentleman were opposed to her schemes.
Another course was served that no one, with the exception of Lady Catherine, tasted. At the announcement of coffee being served in the sitting room, her Ladyship and her guests exited the room. The evening, though, was far from being over.
Coffee time was as dull and unpleasant as supper. There was no conversation, no music was played nor card tables readied to distract the party from their unpleasant thoughts, only uncomfortable silence of those who were forced to stay under someone's capricious design.
Upon Lady Catherine leaving the room with Darcy, the others remained in the sitting room, trying to find some sort of entertainment until the time to retire came. Elizabeth sat beside a candle with a book; Charlotte and her husband merely sat with their eyes lost in the darkness of room while Maria, terrified of the storm, jumped and secured her sister's hand whenever the sounds of thunder reverberated inside the halls. Only the Colonel stood, pacing in front of the hearth while Ann, still cross and teary, sniffed quietly in her seat under the constant vigilance of Mrs. Jenkinson.
"Ann, dearest," Fitzwilliam approached her tenderly, trying to distract her from her thoughts, "Would you play something for us? I am sure that it will make you feel better."
"I do not have my music with me." She pouted.
"Come," he extended his hand to her, "There must be some song that you remember."
Ann took the offered hand. "I will go for my sheets. I believe I left them in the music room."
"Do not trouble yourself, Miss de Bourgh, I shall go for them," Elizabeth rose from her chair, desirous to leave the room if only for a moment.
"Do you know the way?" inquired the Colonel.
"Yes, sir, I do."
Elizabeth headed towards the music room, which she had visited only once but that she knew was situated nearly the end of the hall. Illuminating her way with a candlestick, she tried several doors until she found the correct one. She took the sheets and on the way back, she heard muffled voices coming from one of the adjoining rooms.
Apparently, Lady Catherine was having the same discussion with her nephew that she and her daughter had had only a few hours earlier. The door was ajar, and Elizabeth clearly heard what follows,
"During the past weeks I have allowed you to pretend you do not listen to what I say, Darcy, but you cannot escape your duty anymore. The time has come to announce your engagement to Ann."
"Perhaps I have not made myself clear enough in the past, aunt, so let me be rightly understood. The match to which you have the presumption to aspire, will never take place. I will not marry my cousin. Never."
"This is not to be borne, Darcy. I insist to be satisfied. From your infancy, you and Ann have been intended for each other. It was the favourite wish your mother's as well as it has been mine. By denying us both, you will be wilfully refusing to obey the claims of duty and honour for what your family had planned for you."
"No principle of either will be violated if I do not marry Ann. You both did as much as you could in planning our marriage but its completion does not depend on you. I fear that, in this affair, neither Ann's nor my opinion had ever been taken into consideration. Neither by honour nor inclination do we feel confined to each other."
"What you or Ann feel is not of importance. Decorum, prudence, nay, interest, demand it. Yes, Darcy, interest. You two descend from a noble line on the maternal line, the fortune on both sides is splendid. Do you not think those reasons are important enough?"
"Not to me. As you stated, I am a man of fortune and that allows me the liberty to live my life as I choose."
"You refuse to oblige me, then."
Darcy's voice was determined. "Yes. I will never consent to your wishes."
"I had hoped to find you reasonable, but I see you are not. Do not think that will make me recede in my intent, no. It only forces me to carry it on with methods that you might not find as appropriate as those I had previously exposed."
Darcy did not appear intimidated by his aunt's threat, so she went on.
"I am not a stranger to what happened in Ramsgate, of how your failings in properly attending to your sister's concerns almost ruined the family's reputation." She proceeded in a tone charged with confidence. "I am, too, well acquainted with your dealings with that man and the amount you had to pay in order to keep the scandal from becoming of general understanding. If you do not indulge my demand, all your efforts to keep this affair secret will be in vain."
"I did not know that blackmail was a usual practice of yours, Lady Catherine," he said evenly.
"Oh yes, it is, when it serves to my purposes."
Darcy began to slowly pace the room. "I have never imagined you capable of such selfishness, such greed. Is this what you want? Sacrifice your daughter's happiness and destroy your niece's life only to gratify your ambition?"
"Think of the possibilities that this marriage will bring! Your fortunes, combined, will excel the imaginable. It will be an empire within an empire. The compensation will be so grand that you shall find it enough to lessen any scruples you might feel in entering in an alliance with us."
Darcy contemplated his aunt with astonishment and incredulity. She was insane. "If you think that I can be worked on by such perceptions as those you stated, you are wildly mistaking my character."
"I know you better that you can imagine. You will do anything to protect your name and honour. Think of it, Darcy, the cost to pay will be too high. Are you willing to resign power and respectability with the only design of preserving your freedom?"
"I need not to choose. Whatever you say about Georgiana and myself, I will deny it."
"You may, but you will not be able to refute the letters she wrote to that man nor her plans to elope to Gretna with him. Georgiana was stupid enough to leave written proof her dealings with him and that evidence is now in my hands. And believe me, I will use it if you refuse to oblige me. I have influence, nephew, more that you can imagine. Once this affair is known, your guardianship over your sister will be revoked. With my connections, I can immediately make myself named your substitute. As soon as Georgiana is under my tutelage, I shall be the one in charge of her fortune and education. Finding her the appropriate husband will not be difficult. That will kill two birds with one shot. Your name will be stained forever and your sister's fortune will go to someone of my choice."
Darcy's reply, if there was any, was silenced by the sound of a loud thunderclap that shook the windows. The meeting had come to an end, Elizabeth realized, and fearing to be caught eavesdropping on such a private conversation, she quickly hid herself behind a column just as Mr. Darcy left the room with an un-gentlemanlike curse. Greatly disturbed by what she had heard, Elizabeth ran back to the sitting room where the others were waiting for her.
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