Anne turned to Richard when his mother and Darcy had left the room. “Well, what are we to do?” She threw her hands up in frustration. “My mother is determined to have her way, is she not?”
Richard wound his arms about her from behind and pulled her against him. He could feel her body trembling with emotion. “You must not allow yourself to become overly distraught. We knew she would not take the news of your refusal to marry Darcy well.”
“I can bear her displeasure, but I will not allow her to harm another. Miss Bennet does not deserve such treatment.” She turned in his arms and looked up at him. “As much as I would wish for her to come to her senses on her own, I must tell her of our betrothal. We must attack before she has a chance to fire.” She sucked in a quick breath as she heard a knock and the door being answered by Kellet. “Come. We’ve no time to lose. I am fond of Mrs. Collins, but her husband is insufferable. He must not be told of anything regarding Miss Bennet. He will prattle on and on about propriety and maintaining one’s place.” She took Richard by the arm and started for her mother’s parlour.
She turned as she reached the door to the parlour. “Mr. Collins, I assume you have come to see my mother on a matter of great importance, but I am going to have to ask you to wait a few moments. You will not mind, will you? I need to speak to my mother on a delicate matter.” She smiled sweetly. “I am sure my mother would understand if you gave precedence to her daughter.”
“Of course, Miss de Bourgh, I would not think of placing my needs ahead of yours. What can my needs be compared to that of the daughter of my gracious patroness. Why just this morning I was saying to Mrs. Collins and my cousin Elizabeth how very fortunate I am to have such a position as I do. Lady Catherine is so condescending and — .”
“Mr. Collins,” Anne interrupted. “I really must see my mother.”
The man clamped his lips together and nodded before taking a seat on a bench a short distance down the hall.
Anne breathed deeply. “Ready?” she asked Richard.
He nodded and opened the door.
“Anne!” Lady Catherine sat in her chair near the fire. “What are you doing here? I am expecting a caller.”
“I know, and it is a pleasure to see you as well, Mother.” Anne led Richard to the settee across from her mother.
“What have you done to your hair, and why are you leading him about by the hand?”
Anne sat down, keeping Richard’s hand firmly grasped in her own. She gave him a little tug indicating he should also sit. She pulled his hand into her lap and covered it with her other hand.
He could feel her still trembling ever so slightly. He had never truly realized the strength that resided in her delicate frame. How many times had she had to deal with the machinations of her mother on her own? Never again, he promised himself.
“I am not leading him around by the hand, Mother. I am holding his hand because I wish to.” Her mother’s brow knit slightly in question.
“And my hair must have gotten dishevelled when we were kissing.”
Richard coughed to cover a chuckle.
Lady Catherine’s eyes grew wide, and her mouth hung open for a moment before she snapped it shut.
“I have come to a decision, Mother,” Anne continued before her mother could find her voice. “I am going to marry Richard. He needs an estate and is willing to take on Rosings and me.”
Lady Catherine’s face grew red. “I will not have my daughter marrying his son after what he did to me.” She sputtered. “I will not have it.”
“You have no say in the matter, Mother. My decision is made.” Anne stood. “I shall give you one week to become accustomed to the idea before the banns shall be read for the first time. Mr. Collins awaits you in the hall. You will, of course, wish to make him aware of his duty to call them.”
She still held Richard’s hand, and he felt the tremor beginning to increase. He slid an arm around her protectively. “Anne has had a very trying day, and I would not wish for her to become ill because of it. I do not know what you hold against my father, but hear me and hear me well, I am not he. I have made a promise to protect your daughter, and I will stand by my word. No one shall harm her, not even you.” He felt Anne relax just a bit in his hold as he continued. “You shall not cause trouble for her, her friend, or Darcy. Miss Bennet will be joining Anne and my mother at the dower house. You may tell Mr. Collins of the honour bestowed upon his cousin by Lady Matlock.” He waited for her reply.
“I shall do no such thing! I may not have any say in this decision, but I will not just step aside.”
“Very well,” said Richard. “I will inform Mr. Collins myself and tell him you have unfortunately fallen ill. I shall, of course, send for my father. He will be able to care for you while my mother and I tend to Anne at the dower house. What with her delicate constitution, her removal to the dower house will become even more imperative.” He gave his aunt the same look he would have given to an unwilling underling in his command, a look which told them worse was to follow should they decide against following his orders. He watched her face redden and her eyes narrow.
“Take care, Aunt. Do you truly wish for your parson to hear discontent in your home? He is just without in the hall awaiting his interview.”
Her jaw clenched, and she huffed.
“One must always do what is needed to preserve the family’s reputation,” she spat before taking her seat. “Do what you will. My particular happiness has never mattered to anyone in this family. Why should I hope for that to change now?”
Richard started at the vehemence in her voice. He looked questioningly at Anne, but she could only lift a shoulder, helpless to understand the source of her mother’s anger. He smiled at her reassuringly before he released her from his grasp and took a seat across from his aunt.
“I do not know of what you speak. While you may refuse to believe the truth of this statement, my father has always longed for your happiness. I have heard him say as much many times. I do not know what has happened in the past; perhaps I wish to know; perhaps I do not.” He leaned towards her and lowered his voice to a more soothing tone, one he had used on more than one occasion to calm an angry or fearful soldier. “The past has happened, and it cannot be undone. I can only speak to and work towards the future. You placed a chess piece in a precarious position and charged me, no matter the cost, to protect your daughter not as the pawn which represented her but as the most valuable piece on the board. Is that still your desire? Do you still wish for her to be protected as the most valuable, or shall I put you in that place as you are asking me to do?”
Lady Catherine blinked, her head jerked back ever so slightly, and her brows drew together as she contemplated his question.
“Aunt Catherine, my desire is not to see you unhappy, but I will put your daughter’s happiness above anyone’s, including yours. How high will the price of such an action be? Shall there be a rift between us? The choice is entirely yours. However, I will ask one more thing. What are your chances for happiness if you are estranged from your daughter and her family?” He rose slowly as she pondered his words. “I will not hear your answer until the morning. Consider your decision carefully.” Extending a hand to Anne, he led her from the room.
~*~*~
“Your meeting with Miss Bennet was a success?” Richard first placed a kiss on his mother’s cheek and then one on Anne’s before taking his regular seat at the table.
Darcy cleared his throat and lifted a brow while trying to hide a grin.
Richard shook his head. “I have greeted Anne in such a fashion all of my life, Darcy. I do not intend to stop doing so now.”
“My meeting with Miss Bennet was successful.” Lady Matlock turned to Darcy. “You know I will turn a blind eye to small improprieties such as a kiss of greeting, but only if the lady is betrothed to the gentleman. I assume you will be joining those ranks shortly.”
Richard nearly choked on his coffee. “Are you off to Hertfordshire today, Darcy?”
Darcy’s cheeks had taken on a rosy hue. “I am.”
“And are you certain of her acceptance?” Anne placed her teacup on the table and gave him an amused look.
“I have received her acceptance this morning.”
“An early walk in the groves?” Richard asked.
“Indeed.” Darcy placed his empty cup on the table. “I needed to know if my trip to Hertfordshire was warranted. Do you wish for me to remain at Rosings until all are settled into the dower house?”
“If you would stay long enough to be party to this morning’s conference with our aunt, I should think you could be off with enough time to reach town at an acceptable hour. You had not planned to reach Hertfordshire today, had you?”
“No, no. I had hoped to call on Bingley while in town, and Miss Elizabeth has given me a letter to deliver to her relations. I also wish to extend an invitation for Miss Bennet to travel with Georgiana when she comes for the house party.” He paused. His eyebrows rose as an idea formed in his mind. “Perhaps, I shall stay an extra day and escort them myself.”
“You would spend an extra day away from Miss Bennet?” The colonel’s face wore an expression of disbelief. “You shall not become unpleasantly impatient and torment the poor ladies as you travel?”
Darcy smiled. “I shall not promise to be patient or completely content, but I do believe I can act the part of a gentleman for a few hours knowing the prize at the end of the journey. Besides, it would give me time to meet with Wetherald about my offer concerning your commission. I should like to see the matter settled quickly. The banns for your wedding will be read soon?”
“Sunday next,” said Anne. “We have given mother a week to reconcile herself to the idea before they begin to be read. It merely means our wedding will be one week later than I should like, but — ”
“One week later. Such nonsense,” said Lady Catherine as she entered the room. “I do not see why we need to wait an extra week to begin publishing the banns. Whatever trifling ailment seemed to plague me last evening has passed.” She gave a meaningful look to Richard, who nodded his acceptance of her change of position. “I shall call upon the parsonage to inform Mr. Collins of the change in plans.”
She strode to the table and took her place, waving for the footman to pour her tea. “That shall be all,” she dismissed him. “See that we are not disturbed.”
The four other occupants of the room looked at her with varying degrees of shock on their faces.
“I do not know why you all must sit with your mouths agape. It is very unbecoming, I must say.” She sipped her tea. “Richard made an excellent point at the end of his lecture last night. My chance at happiness was snatched from me by overbearing relations, and it seems I have become very much like them. I shall not stand in the way of my daughter’s happiness any longer.” She placed her cup carefully on the saucer, studying it as she did so. “I must apologize, Anne. I have been bitter for so long, and the choice has always been mine. It is as Richard said. I shall not be happy if you are not happy, and it is only I who can choose to accept things as they are or remain a cantankerous, lonely old woman. I do know how indomitably stubborn a Fitzwilliam male can be — nearly as stubborn as a Fitzwilliam female,” she paused to chuckle, “and I dare say Richard would be true to his word and pack me off to some distant port if necessary to have his way.”
She looked at the faces which stared back at her in disbelief. “I am not fit for bedlam, if that is what you are thinking. I know it is a sudden turnabout, but a turnabout it is. I have made my choice and am moving forward. How is it you said it, Richard? The past is in the past? And that is where it shall stay.”
“And you are certain of this, Catherine?” questioned Lady Matlock. “You are not just taking the role expected of you for the sake of the family?”
“Good heavens, no!” Lady Catherine shook her head. “I have spent far too many years doing as the family expects. Is not a lady in her dotage allowed to do the unexpected? In three weeks, I shall hand over the care of Rosings to the younger set and shall begin to take my ease.”
Anne regarded her mother carefully. “Are you quite sure, Mother?”
Lady Catherine smiled at her. “I am. I spent many hours considering what was in my heart. It was not a pleasant task, I can assure you. I have tried with great success to ignore what was there for many years, to deny myself pleasure of any kind, to refuse to allow myself to feel an attachment to anyone or anything, save this home and you, but even there, I have not really formed a proper attachment.” She lifted her shoulders sadly. “I feared the pain which comes when something dear to you is wrenched away. I have been a coward, and my heart spoke to me of that very clearly as I pondered it last night.”
She rose and walked the length of the room, coming to stop at the window. “I once felt that pain. It is shattering and oppressive and all consuming. It is an agony that if given time to run free in your mind will drive you to the brink of yourself. It was by locking away my heart and refusing to hear it that I ─ and you ─ survived. It was because of you I survived.”
“What do you mean?” asked Anne.
Lady Catherine drew a breath and turned to face the room. “During my first season, I fell madly in love with a young gentleman. He was beneath me in status but had such a promising future that I knew if I but waited, his success and the wealth which would accompany it would one day sway my father’s opinion. We would marry and live happily ever after.” She paused. “Yes, as most young girls are, I was a romantic. I know that is difficult to believe to see me now.”
She ran her hand along the sideboard as she walked back and forth in front of it. “I told no one save my closest friends ─ Mrs. Barrows, as you know her, and your uncle, my brother James ─ we were so very close back then. But somehow, my father became aware of where my affections lay. He, of course, was furious. He refused to allow me even the smallest of freedoms, so that he might know of every interaction I had with every person. It made me all the more determined to have my way and to follow where my heart led. I thought I had managed to contact the gentleman discreetly. So determined was I to follow my heart that I had made arrangements to flee with him one night to Gretna Green. I knew, in doing so, I would lose all standing in society, that I would not receive a farthing of my dowry, and that I would be cut off from my family. But to me the price seemed to pale compared to the prospect of living my life without him.”
She shook her head in bewilderment. “To this day, I have no idea how my father found out about my plan or how I became embroiled in a potential scandal which tore me away from my love.” Her fingers drummed a pattern on the top of the sideboard as she thought. “I have my suspicions, which have led to the difficulties between James and me.”
“Which he denies,” said Lady Matlock.
Lady Catherine gave her a small smile. “I attended a ball at the home of Mrs. Barrows’ parents. It was a lavish affair. Everyone who was anyone was there. My father had several approved matches in attendance, and I was instructed to spend a minimum of one dance with each. If I did not…well…my father was not above more severe punishment than having my every move watched. I may have found myself locked in my room or worse. As it happened, I ended up with worse.” She swallowed and blinked.
“I remember dancing several dances and then scooting off to a quiet room to refresh myself. I sat in that room with my glass of punch in hand and kicked off my slippers. I remember nothing beyond that until sometime later when I was awakened by my father’s angry voice. I found my hair all askew and my clothing was disheveled. I was on the couch with my head on the shoulder of the man I planned to marry. He had not been at the ball, yet there he was, looking as bewildered as I at our circumstances. My father, of course, would hear none of our pleading. He threw the man out and threatened him with ruin or worse should he ever be seen near me again, and me, I was locked away in my room for the length of time it took to secure a special license. Then, with horse whip at the ready should I refuse, I was informed I was to marry a man of my father’s choosing. He was a man of importance to my father’s political position and would receive an estate and a knighthood for saving my reputation.”
She took her seat. “I had no choice. I knew to refuse would not just earn me one beating but a lifetime of mistreatment. My father was not known for his patience and kindness. So, I married your father. I became with child almost immediately, but I was not well. My mind was in such a state of despair that the doctors feared not only for my life but also that of my unborn child. When I heard them speaking with my husband, I determined I could not take the life of a child, though I did pray mine would be taken in childbirth. It was not, and because of my poor health, you were born early. They did not expect you to live, but you did. Your determination to survive gave rise to my own determination to persevere.”
“Catherine,” Lady Matlock spoke softly. “Have you ever noted the wide scar on James’ temple?”
Lady Catherine nodded.
“When he heard about what had happened at the ball, he went to see your father while you were shut in your room. He attempted to convince your father not to force you to marry. He even volunteered alternate solutions to any possible scandal, but his father would not hear it. In the course of their discussion, a vase was thrown. That is how he got the scar and why he was unable to attend your wedding.” She smiled at her husband, who had entered the room during her explanation.
“Catherine.” He bowed a greeting. “I took the liberty of requesting hot tea. I hope you do not mind.” He took a roll from the sideboard and popped a piece of it into his mouth. “Travel does affect one’s appetite.” He took a chair near his wife. “Lovely to see you, my dear.”
“And you, my love.”
“You were telling about my scar. Was there a reason?”
“Mother just told us of how she came to marry my father,” said Anne. She looked a bit pale and disconcerted.
“Ah, I see. And are you well?” He cocked his head to one side and studied her face.
“I believe I am; though, it is all rather shocking.”
He nodded and seemingly satisfied that she was indeed well, shifted his attention to his sister. “And you, Catherine. Are you well?”
“I hardly know. But you truly care that I am, do you not?” Her eyes searched his.
“I always have,” he said softly.
Her eyes filled with tears, and she sought her handkerchief. “You did not tell father about Adrian?”
“I promised you I would not. I am a man of my word.”
“So then how did he know?”
“Muriel, my dear sister. She is the only other who knew of Cranfield.”
“Muriel?”
He nodded. “You know I have never trusted her and for good reason. After you married, she set her cap for our brother.”
“Our brother?”
“Indeed. She even had the support of our father for a time, but John would not hear of it.” Finishing his roll, he brushed the crumbs from his fingers. “There was a rather loud discussion that I happened upon. Father wanted an alliance with Leighton for some reason. Some foolishness about having good hunting grounds which would afford fabulous opportunities for rustication with his political cohorts.”
“He wanted John to marry Muriel for her father’s hunting grounds?” Lady Catherine’s brows drew together in question. “Did anything our father did ever make sense?”
“It made perfect sense. It was always to strengthen his position politically and to increase the family coffers. It was just never for the reason he gave.” He leaned toward his sister, his gaze intent on her, and his voice soft. “That is not all I heard of the discussion. I also heard John shout something about ‘after what she did to Catherine?’ but the rest was lost to the crash of another vase. Thankfully, John’s reflexes are better. It merely damaged the door and not his head.”
Lady Catherine’s eyes grew wide. The shock of hearing that her dearest friend had been the source of her unhappiness was evident in her features. Anne had just begun to worry about if it all had not been too much for her mother when the door opened, and her mother assumed her normal expression.
“Pardon me, my lady.” Kellet stepped into the room and closed the door softly behind him. He took several steps toward the group who sat around the table and lowered his voice to speak. “Mrs. Barrows, Miss Barrows, and the young Mr. Barrows to see you and Miss de Bourgh, my lady. I have placed them in the sitting room, but if you are not feeling up to company…” He let the idea hang in the air as he waited her response.
“A moment please.”
Kellet nodded and stepped back to stand by the door.
Lady Catherine looked thoughtful. “I made the appointment before we spoke last night, Anne. I thought Mr. Barrows…well, it does not signify what I thought. It was the silly notion of a bitter old woman. I suppose we must entertain them for a few minutes at least. Do you not think?”
Anne nodded. “It seems the appropriate thing to do. However, we do have much to do with the removal to the dower house and the arrival of Lord Matlock.” She lifted a brow and gave her mother a small smile before taking a final sip of tea and standing. “You gentlemen will attend us, will you not?”
“As if nothing has changed since last we met?” Lady Catherine questioned.
“Indeed. I believe it would be best.”
“Would you give me a few minutes to speak with my father and Darcy before joining you?” asked Richard.
Anne smiled and patted his forearm, which lay on the table. “Of course, but please come to my rescue soon. I find Mr. Barrows to be a dreary conversationalist, and his sister, well, I am sure she will be hoping to see a gentleman or two.” She laughed. “Unfortunately, there are no available gentlemen to be duly impressed by her charms.”