Author's Note: There are quotes from the book, and one from Sense & Sensibility, concerning libraries, as well as reference to a scene from the 1995 adaptation of Pride & Prejudice. Enjoy.
Part XI.
Darcy found himself airborne from the sofa the second he heard her voice. Her arrival, nay, even the notion, of her visiting him in his townhouse, took him completely by surprise.
It was several days after he had received news from Bingley, coming to a time when he was soon resolved to return to Netherfield and support his friend, even while he envied him, and mourned the loss of ever having the opportunity to experience the same happiness. During this interval he had settled his accounts, corresponded with his steward, though not with his sister, as he did not feel ready to tell her of his current state of mind, and finally, sought to prepare himself for a return to his friend's house, and to his friend's current contentment, while suffering under the opposite emotion himself.
Now however, all thoughts were scattered to the wings as he and his townhouse received a most unexpected visitor. One who never paid a call anywhere unless they were informed that the person they wished to see was unable to travel to their estate. One who was used to other people paying calls on them, attending to their views and needs, and, more importantly, agreeing with every opinion, and obeying their every whim.
Having heard and recognised her voice, he was already on his feet and still trying to recover from his astonishment when the doors to the Drawing Room opened and his butler announced her entrance.
"Lady Catherine de Bourgh."
Even his butler, one who was, on a daily basis, used to forcibly forbidding admittance to the many callers who believed themselves allowed to call on Derbyshire's most eligible bachelor whenever he happened to be in town, looked uncomfortable in the formidable presence of his master's maternal Aunt. Behind her he raised his eyes to Darcy, an apologetic glance overcoming his face, as he silently reported that he had failed to keep this visitor out of the many which had tried to see him during this sojourn in town, from entering the house.
Darcy sent an equally silent glance back, trying to convey to his faithful servant that he was not to blame himself for this unexpected occurrence. He then inclined his head, motioning him to return to the sanctuary of his rooms downstairs. Only then did he turned to his Aunt. "Lady Catherine, I must confess myself surprised at the ... honour of your visit," he remarked in greeting, hoping his hesitation over the word 'honour' had passed unnoticed.
"Nephew, I have no time for civilities. My only reason for visiting is because my first meeting failed to result in the outcome I desired." With this she paused and sat down, inclining her head in a silent gesture for him to do the same, despite that she was a guest in his house. "I came here directly from Hertfordshire in the quest for answers which the person who was the object of my first visit failed to provide me."
Here she paused, giving Darcy time to wonder at the identity of said person. As far as he knew, his Aunt had no acquaintances in Hertfordshire. However, he could think of a few which were connected to him. A horrible feeling arose within him as he suddenly realised that notice of his friend's engagement to Miss Bennet would have inevitably travelled to Mr Collins, who in turn would have relayed such news to his Aunt. Though what connection this now had to him, he could not think.
"Before I relay to you, nephew, the account of said visit, I must ask you this. Have you made Elizabeth Bennet an offer of marriage?"
The question caught him completely by surprise. Darcy had never imagined that anyone could have had the slightest suspicions of his actions in Hunsford during April, save perhaps Colonel Fitzwilliam, whom he trusted to keep his own counsel. Though disguise of any sort was his abhorrence, he felt it best to reply with the following. "No, Aunt."
Lady Catherine seemed to breathe a visible sigh of relief at this answer. "A report containing this most alarming nature of news reached me three days ago. I was told that your friend Mr Bingley had become engaged to Miss Bennet, and that you would soon ally yourself to her sister. Though I knew it must be a scandalous falsehood, I instantly resolved on setting off for her father's house, in order to make my sentiments known to Miss Elizabeth Bennet."
Oh no. Darcy inwardly groaned, careful to keep his emotions from becoming apparent to his Aunt. He could just imagine how such an encounter had played out. Then again, he could not. He caught the disgust in his Aunt's tone as she spoke her name, and, for the first time in days, the tiny flame of hope within him, the one which had refused, despite the certainty in his grieving heart, to die, began to flicker alive.
"I found her at home with her remaining sisters and her mother. I was surprised to see that Longbourn was such a small park, I had understood from Mr Collins that his inheritance was to be greater than that. I was received into what must be a most inconvenient sitting room in the summer. The windows were full west!" Lady Catherine paused here, seemingly insensible of the shock she was giving her nephew, before adding, "but to resume. I managed to gain an interview alone with the girl. I shall repeat an exact account of this meeting to you now, nephew, so you may understand the anger and other emotions which I am presently suffering under. Be assured that my memory of such things, is as always, precise.
"I began by informing her that I am not to be trifled with. That however insincere she may chose to be, she would not find me so. That I am celebrated in my neighbourhood for my frankness and sincerity, and such an occasion as this shall not make me depart from such a character. I then informed her of the scandalous falsehood which had been relayed to me then three days ago. She replied that why, if I had believed it to be untrue, I had taken the trouble of coming so far. What did I propose by it?"
There again, came a short pause, allowing Darcy to picture the meeting in his mind, and Elizabeth's voice as she said those words. Even though he rarely took the wisdom of his Aunt without also taking the proverbial pinch of salt, he could imagine Elizabeth replying with such a form of address.
"I replied that I had come in order to have such a report universally contradicted. She then argued that my coming to see her would be seen as a confirmation of it, if such a report ever existed! I asked her if she was ignorant of it, that if her family had not industriously circulated the report about themselves. That she had not heard of such a report being spread abroad. She replied that she had not. I then asked her if there was any foundation for it. She answered that she did not pretend to possess such equal frankness with myself. That I may ask questions which she would not choose to answer."
Darcy inwardly hid a smile at this, proud at her ability to rise to every occasion that sought to intimidate her.
"I insisted on being satisfied. I asked her then, if you had made her an offer of marriage. She answered that I had declared it to be impossible. Indeed, as I said to her, it ought to be so, while you retain the use of your reason. But that her arts and her allurements may, in a moment of infatuation, caused you to forget what you owe to yourself and your family. That she may have drawn you in. She replied that if she had, she would be the last person to confess it." Lady Catherine paused once more, while her nephew inwardly held another smile. "I then told her, that I was not accustomed to such language as this. That I am almost your nearest relation in the world, and as such I am entitled to know all your dearest concerns. She replied that I was not entitled to know hers, nor would such behaviour of mine induce her to be explicit."
Darcy had difficulty keeping himself in check here, as he considered the effrontery which his Aunt had risen to. She had always been one of the last to know anything of him, as he realised long ago the control she was trying to subject him and the rest of their family to. Inwardly he applauded Elizabeth for her response, knowing that he could not now express the same, without risking the chance to hear what else she had said to put his Aunt in this state of mind.
"I then said to her that this match to which she had the presumption to aspire, could never take place. That you are engaged to my daughter. She said that if that were so, I could have no reason to suppose of you making an offer to her. I then outlined the full details of mine and your late mother's plans for the eventual union of you and Anne. I commented on the impropriety of such a prevention as the upstart pretensions of a young girl of inferior birth, of no importance to the world and wholly unallied to the family!
"I asked her if she paid no regard to the wishes of your friends. To the tacit engagement with Anne. If she had lost every feeling of propriety and delicacy. That had she not heard me say, that you are destined for my daughter. She countered what was it to her. That if there no other objection to her marrying you, she would certainly not be kept from it. That we did as much as we could in planning the marriage. That its completion depended on others. She further countered that if you were not bound either by honour or inclination to your cousin, why should you not make another choice? And that if she was such a choice, why should she not accept you?"
I could not agree more, Darcy silently answered, as that previously referred to flame within him continued to grow in strength and luminosity. Not trusting himself to speak, he remained quiet, desperately hoping that his Aunt had more to reveal.
"I responded that honour, decorum, prudence, nay, interest, forbid it. I told her that she must not expect to be noticed by your family or friends if she wilfully acted against their inclinations. That she would be censored, slighted and despised by everyone connected with you. That such an alliance would be a disgrace, and that her name would never mentioned by any of us."
Darcy found himself inwardly wincing as his mind recalled how similar his own words were to his Aunt, from that fateful day at Hunsford Parsonage in April. Could you expect me to rejoice in the inferiority of your connections? To congratulate myself on the hope of relations, whose condition in life is so decidedly beneath my own? It frightened him to realise how much alike his and his Aunt's opinions had been, only a few months ago. Again, he found himself grateful for the response he had received from Elizabeth, the words which had taught him to take a hard look at himself, and seek to change all she had found wrong. Not for the first time did he see how unjustified such opinions were, and how inferior he had been, and his Aunt still was, compared to Elizabeth.
"Her reply, nephew," his Aunt continued, causing him to come out of his thoughts, "was such as I have never expected, nor wish to hear from any young woman who had the nerve to harbour such an expectation of you. She commented that these were heavy misfortunes, but that the wife of Mr Darcy would have such extraordinary sources of happiness necessarily attached to her situation, that she could, on the whole, have no cause to repine."
If the previous comments of his Aunt had caused him surprise, this outweighed them all. Darcy found himself shocked, deeply shocked. He could almost believe that he had not heard these words. 'Such extraordinary sources of happiness.' Up until this moment he had been able to picture Elizabeth saying all Lady Catherine had testified her to have said. But this? Such a response he had never even dreamed of.
"Of course, after I had overcome such a response, I naturally concluded her and her family's monetary expectations from such a match."
Darcy outwardly nodded at this, but inwardly his mind was reeling. Unlike his Aunt, he could reasonably attest Elizabeth's response to not originating from any monetary reference, because she had refused him before, and in such a manner as to conclude that it was his character at fault, not his finances. Therefore she meant other sources of happiness. But what? Dare he hope they were the same ones as he would find if he were married to her? That her feelings had really altered that much?
Lady Catherine meanwhile, had more to say. "I called her an obstinate, headstrong girl. I was, indeed I am still, ashamed of her. I asked her if this was her gratitude for all my attentions to her last spring. I told her that I have not been used to submitting to any person's whims. That I was not in the habit of brooking disappointment. She remarked that this would make my situation more pitiable, but that it would have no effect on her. I then reminded her of the situations of my daughter and yourself. That you both originated from the same noble lines through the maternal side, and from respectable, ancient, though untitled families through the paternal side. That your fortunes are splendid. That you are destined for each other by the voice of every member of your respective houses.
"And what is to divide them? The upstart pretensions of a young woman without family, connections or fortune. That this would not be endured. That if she was sensible of her own good, she would not wish to quit this sphere in which she had been brought up. She replied that in marrying you, she would not be quitting any sphere. That you are a gentleman, and she a gentleman's daughter, in which, so far, you are equal. I asked her who was her mother? Who were her Aunts and Uncles? That she should not imagine me ignorant of their condition. She replied that whatever her connections may be, if you did not object to them, then they can be nothing to me."
Darcy inwardly flinched again at this, but the meaning of the reply was understood by him. That flame of hope within him was now quite large, and bright enough to cause him to blink if it had appeared within his vision. It was just within his control to remain seated, and silent before his Aunt, to wait for her to finish her account of this meeting.
"I asked her then, to tell me once and for all, if she was engaged to you. To my profoundest relief she replied in the negative. However, I then asked her if she would promise me never to enter into such an engagement."
Suddenly Darcy found himself aware of nothing more but the beating of his heart. It was pounding heavily within his chest. All thoughts, all emotions, all senses, every part of his body was abruptly called into a state of suspense as he waited for Lady Catherine to reveal Elizabeth's response to what was the most important, vital question she had asked of that meeting.
He did not have to wait long.
"She replied that she would give me no promise of the kind."
This time, Darcy could not hold back the smile. Hurriedly he put his hand up to his mouth, while he took deep breaths to calm himself. The last thing he should do now was express exactly how much that answer meant to him, in front of his Aunt. Such expressions of joy could wait until she was gone.
"She further added that she would never give me the assurances I require. That she would not be intimidated by anything so wholly unreasonable. She argued that, supposing she did indeed give me such an assurance, would that make your marriage to my daughter at all more probable? Supposing you to be attached to her, would her refusal make you wish to bestow your hand on Anne? She said that the arguments with which I had supported this extraordinary application were as frivolous as the application was ill-judged. That I had wildly mistaken her character if I thought she could be worked on by such persuasions as these. She said how far you might approve of my 'interference' in your affairs, she could not tell. But that I had no right to interfere in hers."
Darcy could do naught but approve of Elizabeth's response. Indeed, he resented his Aunt's interference in his affairs, but had held off confronting her about it for so long purely out of respect to his dearly beloved late mother. Lady Catherine had always maintained that she and Lady Anne had been close, and, until recently, he had never doubted such belief. Since April however, when he had been forced to call into question so many of his convictions, he had come to realise that the entire character of his mother, as he remembered it, would be in contradiction if she was indeed as close to his Aunt as she subscribed.
"She begged not to be importuned any further on this subject. But I had not done. I pointed out to her that I knew everything about her youngest sister's infamous elopement with the son of your former steward. That I knew the affair was patched up into a marriage by her father and Uncle. Were the shades of Pemberley to be thus polluted? She replied that I could have nothing further to say. That I had insulted her by all possible methods.
"She then walked off to the house. I followed her. I asked her if she was quite resolved on having you. She replied, that she was only resolved to act in manner which constituted her own happiness, without reference to me, or anyone so wholly unconnected with her. I asked then if she was determined to refuse the claims of duty, honour, gratitude, to ruin you in the opinions of your friends, to make you the contempt of the world.
"She replied that no principle of duty, honour, or gratitude would be violated by her marriage to you. That if resentment of our family were excited, it would not give her one moment's concern, and that the world in general would have too much sense to join in the scorn." With this Lady Catherine now rose from her chair, to stand before her nephew's seat, giving him the full power of her imposing being. "I now ask, nephew, for you to provide those assurances which Miss Bennet failed to give me."
Darcy looked up at his Aunt. His thoughts had suddenly all resolved themselves while he had listened to the last part of her monologue. He knew now, what he had spent all his time in London attempting to figure out. What he was going to do next. Slowly he stood up, making his Aunt back away a little. Then he showed her how imposing he could be. "Aunt, I thank you for visiting me today. Indeed, your visit has caused me to be more grateful to you than you could possibly imagine.
"But I am afraid that I will also have to disappoint you. You asked if I could give you the assurances which Miss Bennet could not. Let me answer these one by one. In the first, no, I am not engaged to her. But nor can I promise not to enter into any such engagement. While you have testified repeatedly to the belief that yourself and my late mother formed a match between myself and my cousin, I cannot remember her telling me anything of the sort, from her Will or any other legal documents incumbent upon me to obey, or through any of the many conversations I shared with her over the years.
"All I can remember, is of her asking me to promise that in choosing a wife, I will act in a manner which, as Miss Bennet said, constitutes my own happiness, without reference to you, or to anyone else so wholly connected to me.
"As for Anne and I, ever since we became aware of this wish of yours, we have contemplated what such a match would mean. However, we have also agreed, indeed only last spring did we agree, that such an union would go against our own wishes to find love, happiness, respect, and contentment in marriage. We care for each other as cousins, but that is all. And so shall it remain."
It was the first time in his life that Darcy had ever witnessed his Aunt at such a loss for words. Long after he had finished speaking did she remain silent, a stunned expression upon her face, the tight fists her hands were making the only sign of how such an answer had touched her.
Silently, he moved from his position before her. Walking to the doors, he rang the bell beside them, summoning his butler. He then turned back to her. "Lady Catherine, I think it wise that I should warn you of something. That if you continue to persist in your interference in my affairs, and if you choose to insult any future wife of mine, that all connections between us shall be severed. I will correspond with my cousin Anne, I will allow her to visit whenever she wishes, but I will never again allow the same liberty from you. I hope you will pay heed to this warning. I have no desire to lose contact with any of my relations. However, if they choose to continue to conduct themselves in a manner similar as you have done this evening, I shall be forced to into this action."
Timing his interruption astutely, it was at this moment that his butler chose to enter the Drawing Room. Darcy turned to him. "Sherringford, Lady Catherine was just leaving."
Lady Catherine had, by this time, only just turned round.
Sherringford, like the rest of Darcy's household, implacably steadfast and loyal to both members of the Darcy family, turned the full imposing power of himself on Lady Catherine. "This way, please, your ladyship."
Later, Darcy would reflect that he was fortunate his Aunt was still in such a state of shock as to not refuse the less than subtle demand to leave his house. All he was capable of now, though, was to run to his rooms, where he found his valet in the midst of packing up his things, tell him to finish with whatever case he had filled and take it down to the carriage, as he would send for more if he needed it, then rush back downstairs and inform his household that he was departing for Hertfordshire immediately.