Chapter 39: Outtake from Ch 27 - Anne's POV
Conversation Between Anne & Georgiana and later removed from the story
From Ch 27 -
Friday, 31 July 1812,
Darcy's Twenty-Eighty Birthday, from Anne's POV
As Mr. Bennet's carriage finally pulled away, Anne was relieved to see the back of the man as he finally removed himself from her estate. She returned to her wing, thinking about what she would say to Elizabeth. Darcy was willing to stay throughout the pregnancy, but would Elizabeth be willing to let him and welcome him?
So far, Darcy had responded just as she had anticipated. Richard suggesting his interest made Darcy both possessive and jealous. That trip to Hertfordshire for the Bingley wedding seemed to attach him to her further. Peeke told Anne that Elizabeth had spent her nights in London in Darcy's bed, which was even more than Anne could have hoped for. Anne was now confident that Darcy would marry Elizabeth as soon as he could once he became a widower.
But now Elizabeth was a problem. Richard, while doing his part to antagonize Darcy, made Elizabeth question the suitability of their family. On top of that, Anne learned Darcy had made an awful first impression while in Hertfordshire the previous autumn. For Elizabeth to accept Darcy's hand later, she had to willingly accept him staying now.
Anne could continue to force the issue for a few months. Elizabeth seemed to care for Darcy, and he had been on his best behavior while with her in the room, but it could be so difficult to tell with her. She could just be displaying proper manners. Anne would know more when she returned to the wing. Elizabeth had had a chance to sleep alone last night and decide. If she decided she wanted him to stay, then Anne knew all would work out as she had planned it. If she decided she wanted him to leave, Anne would force her to keep Darcy for another couple of months while she worked to bind Elizabeth to Darcy and the baby.
The worst thing that could happen would be if Elizabeth were to leave the baby. Anne cringed at the thought of some other woman raising her child. Any other Darcy may choose would put her own interests first. Elizabeth was the only option who would put this child's interests first.
Anne finally made her way back to the wing and walked down to Elizabeth's room. She passed Georgiana's room and was surprised to hear someone rustling around inside. It was quite early in the morning for the city girl to be up, but Georgiana would not be dressed and ready to leave her room for another hour at least. She continued on to Elizabeth's room. Opening the door to look in and see if her friend was awake yet, she was at first shocked, and then irritated to see Darcy in Elizabeth's bed!
"Darcy, what in God's name are you doing in here?" Anne hissed at him. How was she going to ask Elizabeth what she wanted with him in the room? "I told you to stay in your chambers last night."
"This is my room," he growled back at her. "Leave me." She saw him look at her, and then at something behind her before he swore, "Damn you, Anne!" he snarled as he climbed out of bed. "Why can you not knock?"
He pulled on his breeches under the bedclothes while looking over at Elizabeth.
"Why are you in here?" Anne demanded. "She needed time to herself."
"Because this is the room I stay in"—he bit out, dripping with sarcasm as he climbed out of bed—"upon your orders, in case you had forgotten." He shoved himself past her and headed toward the hallway.
"Where are you going?" Anne asked. He had no reason to be entering the wing; he needed to go down the hidden stairs to his room.
"To speak with my sister. Since you seemed not to have noticed, she was behind you when you so brazenly opened the door."
"Crap!" Anne exclaimed. Her eyes grew wide as she followed Darcy out the door. Damned Darcy! Always insisting on doing things his way even when it messed up Anne's carefully laid plans! How could Anne manage Georgiana's knowing?
Gently knocking on his sister's door, Darcy quietly announced himself. "Georgiana? Please let me in." Darcy and Anne could both hear what sounded like sobbing from behind the door.
"Please give me a moment," Georgiana called weakly.
Anne stood beside Darcy, whispering, "What are you going to say to her? What are you going to tell her?"
Responding in a whisper, he said, "I do not know." Knocking again then speaking so his sister could hear, he called again. "Georgiana, please, just open the door."
When Georgiana slowly opened the door, he entered her room with Anne on his heels.
They all three took a seat, but none could find the words to start.
Finally, Anne began. "Georgiana, dear, what did you see?"
Looking at her cousin in confusion while pointedly not looking at her brother, Georgiana whispered, "My brother was in Elizabeth's bed while she was sleeping. He said it was his room and told you to leave." She dropped her head as tears welled in her eyes.
"What do you think happened?" Anne gently asked. An alteration to her plan, one that made use of Georgiana, was beginning to form.
"Does it matter? My brother was being disrespectful to you and was compromising my friend," she said while staring dejectedly at her toes.
"Georgiana," Darcy began cautiously. "It is more complicated than what you saw in that moment."
Anne glared furiously at Darcy. She did not want him to interfere once again with her well-laid plans.
"Stop it, Anne. You are the one who came up with this depravity. I may be trapped in your net, but there is no reason for me to lie to Georgiana." So Darcy began. He took his responsibility upon his shoulders. It must have been Georgiana's experience with Wickham that earned her his complete honesty.
Anne sat to the side acknowledging her own role in the scheme.
At the end, Anne looked up at Georgiana. "So you see, he is not disrespectful to me. He is doing what I asked."
"But what of Elizabeth? How could you just use her like this? What happens to her?" Georgiana asked.
"Elizabeth will come—" Darcy began before Anne interrupted, not wanting to clean up if he were to make more of a mess.
"Elizabeth will be taken care of," Anne told her consolingly. "She now has ownership of her family estate and a decent dowry."
"But she is compromised. How will she be unharmed?" Georgiana knew the importance of a young lady's integrity. Without it, she had no chance for respect. "She will have no suitors if it becomes known."
"It will not become known," Anne said firmly. "It is in none of our interests for any to find out what is happening. She will no longer need a suitor for her security, but they will come anyway. She is now an attractive woman of means. If she marries, her estate will become that of her husband. There will be no shortage of men interested in such a prize, even after she tells them she has had a child, but it will now be her choice."
Darcy glared at Anne's prediction, further convincing Anne of his attachment to Elizabeth. She only needed Elizabeth to let go of the misconceptions given to her by Richard.
Anne, now having determined a way to incorporate Georgiana as a part of her scheme, took her cousin's hand. "Come, Georgiana. Let us go to my room where we can speak more freely." Neither attended to Darcy on their way out.
~~~ooo0ooo~~~
Once they entered Anne's sitting room, Anne turned to her young cousin and squeezed her hand before letting go.
"You are young, but by now you know that the world does not exist with only good and evil."
Georgiana silently nodded her head.
"You know I am ill and will not live much longer. If I do not have an heir, my mother will come to live with you." Georgiana's eyes grew wide with fear at the prospect of Lady Catherine at every meal and having to entertain her in the long evening hours. "Your mother never wanted you subjected to her sister. Neither do I."
Anne continued. "Beyond my own need for an heir, your brother also needs an heir and a wife. I have heard of the women who pursue him. There are many tales of their vanity and greed. While he is surrounded by those ladies of the ton trying to capture him, no lady of real value will be allowed into his acquaintance."
Georgiana nodded, still unable to speak. She well knew the machinations of the ton.
"But you and I both know he found a woman of value when he was in Hertfordshire and outside of their reach." It was here that tears began to well in Georgiana's eyes again. She must be thinking of Elizabeth and the shame her brother has placed upon her friend. "You and I also know how your brother presents himself to those he does not know well. It is not welcoming." Anne raised her brow, drawing her lips in irritation at Darcy's huffish demeanor when not comfortable with those surrounding him. Georgiana, again, silently nodded her agreement.
"These are the foundations for what is happening here. Once I knew Darcy was fond of Elizabeth, I was overjoyed to have the opportunity to meet her. I found her to be a woman who would bring genuine happiness into your lives." From there Anne told of the divine inspiration that laid out to her of how to solve all of their difficulties at once, even Elizabeth's. When Elizabeth's father had been injured, she had no other choice but to accept. It was God intervening to create the necessary environment for the plan to begin.
Anne first went through the basics of the strategy, but then decided she needed to tell her young cousin the full tale lest the young girl ruin everything. And so she did, telling all about her reasons and her desire to see this situation end with Darcy finally being happily married to Elizabeth, as well as having an heir to secure Rosings.
"Richard also knows most of what I am doing. He had a role to play in this until I found he was bungling everything. Now that I have told you, you must never let your brother or Elizabeth know any of this, or they will ruin it all." When Georgiana looked at her with a brow raised in question, Anne explained further. "They are both stubborn. If they think I am trying to trick them into doing something, they will revolt against it even if it means hurting themselves. Cut off their nose to spite their face."
Georgiana finally found her voice, albeit a quiet and timid one. "Are you not tricking them into this?"
Sniffing indignantly and raising her nose in the air, Anne arrogantly informed her young cousin, "I am not tricking them into anything. I am simply setting up a situation that will bode well for both of them if they take full advantage of it."
Georgiana did not look convinced.
Seeing Georgiana was not in agreement, Anne took a different approach. "The last few times you have written to me, you have asked me to ensure I will allow you to stay with your brother and the baby once it arrives."
Georgiana colored. Anne knew Georgiana's fear of being ejected from her family. With all that Wickham had done, Georgiana already felt like she was on the outer fringes, just one misstep from being disowned. The girl's biggest fear was that she would be left behind as her brother began his own family.
Anne realized this would be the way to win Georgiana's loyalty. "You know we all love you and welcome you into our homes and families."
Georgiana, now looking at the floor, nodded as tears began to fall.
"I know all that happened with Wickham, and I know of your concern of censure from your family. Yet look at what we are now doing? Do we have any right to censure you when we are acting so much worse?"
Georgiana sniffed, lifting her eyes curiously to Anne.
"You are now a part of this with us. All of us. Me. Your brother. My mother. Aunt Eleanor and Uncle Henry." Anne patted Georgiana on the shoulder. "And there is a role for you to play as well." Anne went on to explain how Georgiana could help form opinions on her brother and sister by attending outings with Aunt Eleanor in preparation for her coming out. When the sweet and innocent Georgiana told the ton how wonderful things were at Rosings Park, they would share such news with their gossips.
As Georgiana began to view what was happening at Rosings Park as a family affair, one that she was being welcomed to participate in, she warmed to the scheme. Though she still did not approve of the way they were using her friend Elizabeth Bennet, she wanted to be included in the family intrigue.
And once this ended, Elizabeth would be her sister. Who better as a sister than one who was already a friend? Knowing personally what it was like to be misused, Georgiana was a much more sympathetic friend to Elizabeth.
The ladies quickly decided that Georgiana would utilize her stay at Rosings Park to learn the best words to use while on morning visits with Aunt Eleanor. The ever useful Peeke would help Anne come up with turns of phrases that would pack the most meaning. Once returned to London, Aunt Eleanor would take over the practices and help guide Georgiana.
Meanwhile, Anne insisted Georgiana would have to forgive her brother. Or at least make him think she forgave him until she could finally find some forgiveness in her heart. If not, then Darcy would continue to question his actions, putting the whole plan at risk. Anne assured Georgiana that none of this was her brother's idea.
"Your brother participated in this for you. To keep my mother from your house." Anne held Georgiana's hand. "This was not something he wanted to do, it is something I forced him to do. Forgive him and Elizabeth for what you saw. What you saw is what I have forced upon them both. It is easy for people to sit in their safe and dry home, claiming they would never lower themselves to such activities when they have never been in a storm."
Anne allowed Georgiana a few minutes to reflect on how she felt about all she saw and all she now knew.
Looking her cousin in the eye, Anne asked, "Can you forgive your brother?"
Georgiana looked back at Anne. "While I am still troubled by what he has done to my friend, yes, I believe I can."
Anne breathed a sigh of relief. "I am so pleased. This will promote the happiness of every one involved. I understand it is an unconventional way of doing things, quite the reverse of normal, but left to his own devices, your brother would easily ruin his own happiness. As it is, the two of them refuse to commit to marrying after I die." Frustrated at Darcy and Elizabeth's refusal to just make the commitment and secure the future Anne wished for them, she told Georgiana, "I do not understand their hesitance, but we are working to get them both past it. Fortunately, we have time to encourage them to make their decision."
"I am also troubled by what you have schemed to do here, my cousin," Georgiana finally gathered the courage to tell Anne, though still using a quiet and timid voice.
Anne lifted her brows.
"Yes, you say you have done this to help my brother, but how to do you help him when you take away his choice?"
Anne had no answer to that question. She floundered a moment before averring, "Elizabeth is the lady your brother had already chosen, yet he began his acquaintance by making a hash of it. He insulted her and her neighbors. I only learned of it yesterday, but now I find I must work to ensure she is able to forgive his blunder."
Though her jaw dropped slightly in surprise, Georgiana quickly composed herself. "If my brother has made a mistake, he is the one who is responsible for correcting it. I still believe my brother should have been left to make his own choice and atone for his own errors." Georgiana, drew her lips resignation. "He is an honorable man, and I have always known him to do that which is honorable. Until now."
"Are you telling me you do now wish to have Elizabeth as your sister?" Anne asked, knowing she could not address Georgiana's concerns.
"I do! I do wish for Elizabeth as a sister!" Georgiana smiled slightly before frowning. "But I do not like being used to exhort my brother into dishonorable actions."
Anne looked silently at Georgiana. The young girl was resolute. She would forgive her brother and her friend, but she might not forgive her cousin for this. Though Anne could not think herself evil in concocting this scheme, she would have to accept her younger cousin's judgment lest the young lady ruin it all.
"Georgiana, I accept that I am the dishonorable one," Anne reluctantly agreed, not believing her own words. "But when you speak to your brother later, I need you to start constructing our message. I need you to encourage him to seek his own happiness once I die. You and I both know Elizabeth is his joy. He must marry her quickly before any of the town-clowns have a chance to make him miserable."
Georgiana smiled at her cousin's name for them and agreed. She did not want any of them to make her brother miserable. From there, she and Anne discussed how Georgiana would encourage her brother to woo Elizabeth and began to work on the messages she would give to the ton with Aunt Eleanor.
2021 A final note:
This is the end. I had hoped to have some time to respond to comments, but I haven't. It's been an absolutely insane spring. I apologize for that, but I have appreciated all your thoughts and wonderful compliments.
As for the chapter names, I'm embarrassed to say I don't remember all the reasons why - it was almost 5 years ago that this was written and the titles given. My betas came up with some of them - clever women! The "Emma" de Bourgh was Anne paying matchmaker like JA's character Emma is so well known for.
Cousins marrying - it's weird for me, but JA features it in at least a couple of her novels so I followed suit.
I do have some other stories that I wrote around the same time, I'll get those back up as well. Maybe over the summer.
Aunt Margaret's letter is inspired by the older women in my very large family - my great grandmother and her sisters and nieces. While very proper, they were also no-nonsense. So Mrs. Wilson and Aunt Margaret are taken from them. The actual contents are things I've heard over the years - please do not take any of it as real medical advice! It was fun recalling conversations I overheard as a little kid, when they thought I wasn't paying attention.
It was also inspired by a note my brother wrote back in the 1980s when we all passed paper notes to each other. It was atrocious, horrible, awful - and extremely funny. It was recopied over and over and passed around the school. He did get in trouble for it (as he deserved), but I think some of the teachers even made copies of it.
Anne is inspired by my mother, the oldest of over a dozen children and someone who struggles with boundaries. She's clever and if she would have had the opportunity to go to college or have a career she would have been a superstar, but she was not given that opportunity. Lady Catherine is inspired by a real person who reacted essentially the same way when a close family member that they had never shown love died unexpectedly. As for Elizabeth and her not being as strong as people would like, even strong people can be weak and broken in difficult times. It doesn't mean they can't rise back up in time. Darcy not communicating - I married into a family that is like that. My kids know my family history, but not much of their father's because even he doesn't know it.
Almost all of the things in this story are based on people I've known or things I've seen, less often things I have read about. One thing I know without a doubt is that at all of our core, we are the same people that Jane Austen wrote about. Different cultures, different technology, but we love our family and friends, faults and all, and we want to be loved, faults and all.
Thank you for sticking with this difficult story and know that I will likely never write anything this angsty again. Or this long.
Again, thank you for all the comments and all the praise. I really appreciate it. Take care and enjoy!
Take care and thank you for all the wonderful comments, I have really enjoyed reading them and wish I had time to respond to everyone.