Jest Chapter 11, a pride and prejudice fanfic

I appreciate your comments, especially the ones about Collins. I tried to stay as close to canon as I could, and still make this story work.

I hope you enjoy what comes next.

~~J~~

Confrontation

The party made their way to Rosings, after Darcy and Richard retrieved their horses. The Earl conveyed his niece in his carriage, while one of his footmen brought the phaeton.

As they entered the house, Anne quietly asked Darcy, 'Cousin, could you escort Doctor Humphries to my room, and retrieve my tonic. I told him where to find it.'

The two men went off on their errand, and Richard offered his arm to Anne, to escort her to the drawing room. The Earl and Mr Thompson lingered a moment in the foyer, to give instructions to the butler, who had been relieved to see Miss de Bourgh safe and sound, and informed her that Lady Catherine was anxiously waiting for her return.

The moment Anne and Richard entered the room, and Lady Catherine caught sight of them, she started to berate her daughter. 'Where have you been? You have had the whole house in uproar since no one could find you. How dare you absent yourself without informing me.'

'I went for a drive, Mother. It was a lovely day and my cousins and I longed for some fresh air.'

'You know that I have forbidden you to go out. It is bad for your health.'

'As a matter of fact, fresh air is good for me, and since I am of age, you have no right to forbid me to do anything.'

'As long as you live under my roof, you will do as I command.' Lady Catherine became ever more irate at her daughter's relaxed and, to be honest, dismissive, demeanour.

'But since you live under MY roof, you have no right to dictate my actions.'

'How dare you contradict me. You will do as I say, since we established this morning, Rosings is mine, according to your father's Will.'

'Do you mean that rather pathetic forgery of a Will?' the Earl asked, as he entered the room, accompanied by Mr Thompson.

Anne and her companions had the pleasure of seeing Lady Catherine pale at the sight of the newcomers.

Although shocked at the unexpected appearance of her brother and the solicitor, Lady Catherine gathered her scattered wits and asked dismissively, 'what forgery? That was the Will which has been amongst my late husband's papers since his death.'

'But it is not the Will which was signed by Sir Lewis de Bourgh and witnessed by myself and Baron Standish. Certified copies of which were retained by myself, George Darcy and Mr Thompson. Those copies all state that Anne was to inherit Rosings when she turned five and twenty, or on the occasion of her marriage...'

'Anne is not married, therefore, I am still the Mistress of Rosings,' Lady Catherine interrupted the Earl.

'… whichever even comes first.' The Earl finished speaking as if his sister had not interrupted him. 'Since Anne turned five and twenty last year, she is the legal owner and Mistress of Rosings Park.'

'Anne cannot be the Mistress, she knows nothing about running an estate.'

'Neither do you, according to Darcy who keeps complaining about your incompetence and spendthrift ways.'

'Anne's health is too delicate to deal with the rigours of being Mistress of Rosings.'

'There is nothing wrong with Miss de Bourgh's health,' yet another voice cut in, as Doctor Humphries entered the room, looking thunderous.

'Who are you to make such a ridiculous claim? Doctor Brown, who has looked after Anne for more than a decade, has been concerned about her ill-health and its effects on her mental state for years.' Lady Catherine blustered.

'Allow me to introduce MY family's physician, Doctor Humphries. I trust him to give an honest diagnosis, rather that of one of your sycophants, who will parrot whatever you tell them.'

'If it had not been for Doctor Brown and his wonderful tonics, I doubt that Anne would even be alive today.'

'Do you mean this tonic?' Doctor Humphries displayed the bottle he was holding.

'Precisely. And you had better return it, since Anne is dependent on its content to keep her alive.'

'This tonic cannot even keep pot-plants alive. As a matter of fact, it kills pot-plants. And if Miss de Bourgh had not been sensible enough to stop taking it years ago, I suspect it would have had the same effect on her.'

'You stopped taking your tonic? I wondered how you could…' Lady Catherine stopped herself in mid-sentence, realising she had almost given herself away.

'You wondered how your daughter could survive being poisoned for years?' Doctor Humphries accused the lady. 'That certainly explains what we found in Miss de Bourgh's rooms.'

He turned and addressed the assembled company. 'Let me tell you what we found.'

~~J~~

Darcy led Doctor Humphries up the stairs to Anne's rooms in the family wing. They encountered a couple of maids, but neither of them thought to question Darcy, who had every right to be there.

Once they had entered the sitting room and closed the door, Darcy asked, 'where did my cousin tell you to find the tonic?'

She said it was in her dressing room, in a green bottle on top of the dressing table.'

Having been given the information, Darcy led the way to the dressing room, only to stop short, the moment he entered, nearly causing Humphries to run into him.

On the floor of the room lay a young woman, curled up next to a bowl, containing a foul-smelling mess.

'Good Lord, what is going on,' exclaimed Darcy, while Humphries pushed him aside and rushed to the woman, feeling for her pulse.

A look of relief washed over his countenance, as he declared, 'she is alive.' He picked her up and carried her into the bedroom, placing her gently on the bed, tucking a blanket around her still form.

'Get me some water and a cloth, then order some hot water and a cup to be brought,' Humphries requested distractedly, while he was examining the maid.

Darcy complied, and in short order Humphries was cleaning the face and hands of the young woman. The ministrations managed to revive the maid.

'What happened?' she asked weakly.

'We found you collapsed on the floor of Miss de Bourgh's dressing room, Miss…'

'Daisy,' she supplied her name. 'Miss de Bourgh's maid.'

The hot water arrived, and Humphries poured a cup and to which he added camomile, which he took from the bag he had brought with him to conceal the tonic bottle.

'How do you feel?' asked Humphries.

'I feel sick as a dog,' Daisy replied, still shivering.

'Have some of this, it will help you feel better.'

Daisy obediently took a few sips. 'Who are you?'

'I am Doctor Humphries, and I have come with the Earl of Matlock to ensure that Miss de Bourgh is well.'

'Good. I don't like that other quack.'

'Can you tell me now what happened?'

'This morning Miss de Bourgh didn't want to eat her breakfast. Said she wasn't hungry. And then she went out with her cousins. Those kidneys smelled delicious. It is not the sort of fare that we servants ever get to eat, and I figured that the cook would not know if Miss de Bourgh or I ate the dish. After Miss de Bourgh left, I finished her breakfast, before going about my duties.'

'I was in the dressing room to see what needs mending, when I started to feel queasy. Before I knew it, I had to rush to the washbowl and I was heaving up my guts. It was so bad that I had to put the bowl on the floor, and I nearly spilled the mess, but I just could not stand up. I had the worst cramps, and I thought that I even lost dinner from two days ago. I don't remember much after that. I was cold, but could not move if you had paid me to do it. Next thing I know, here you are.'

'Well, now that I am here, I want you to stay put. There is something I must do, but I will look in on you a bit later.'

Daisy suddenly realised where she was. 'Oh, no. I couldn't stay. This is Miss de Bourgh's bed…'

Darcy who had watched quietly, reassured her. 'I know that my cousin will not mind. You just stay here and get better.' He smiled and nodded encouragingly.

'Thank you, Sir.'

Darcy turned to the doctor. 'I think that we should go and see my aunt.'

~~J~~

'Now, Daisy is a strong and healthy girl. While whatever was in the kidneys knocked her around, she is already starting to recover. But for someone whose health is already delicate, that same meal could have been her last.'

The doctor turned to the Earl. 'My Lord, you had better question the staff to find who had the opportunity to add anything to Miss de Bourgh's devilled kidneys this morning.'

'How dare you accuse me of harming my own daughter. Have you no shame? And you call yourself a doctor.' Lady Catherine drew herself up to her full height, while remaining seated in her chair, which the family called her throne.

'I did not accuse you, Lady Catherine. But it is interesting that you are assuming that I suspect you.'

Richard noticed Anne looking decidedly pale at the revelations, and interrupted. 'Can I suggest that we deal with one thing at a time. Firstly, Anne's ownership of Rosings, secondly the forged Will, and finally the attempted poisoning of Anne.'

Before Lady Catherine could do more than draw breath to make her displeasure known to all, the Earl cut in. 'I quite agree. Catherine, Anne is the legal owner of Rosings Park, ownership of which you have withheld from her by nearly a year. Since you pocketed those profits illegally, you will pay them back.'

'I do not have that money. I had to spend it on maintaining Rosings,' Lady Catherine was furious.

'Aunt, I just spent the last two weeks going over the books. You spent the bulk of that money on refurbishing your rooms, and on personal expenses. Virtually none of it went into maintaining the estate. You even skimped on essential repairs.' Darcy gave his aunt a cold look.

'As I said, you owe Anne five thousand pounds, which would be the appropriate rent for an estate such as Rosings. Furthermore, you will vacate the manor. The Will entitles you to live in the Dower House…'

'I would rather die than live in that hovel.'

'That could be arranged, Lady Catherine. I believe the penalty for forgery of such an important document as a Will, since it was done with the intent to defraud Miss de Bourgh, is transportation to the colonies. But the penalty for murder, even attempted murder is hanging.' Mr Thompson mentioned casually. He had always despised the woman, and now delighted in opposing her. The feelings might not have been very gentlemanly, but he comforted himself with the thought that he was only human, not a saint.

Lady Catherine gaped at him for a long moment, before recovering her voice. 'You would dare to accuse the daughter of an Earl of such nefarious crimes. You, Sir, are no gentleman. I will have you struck off…'

'No, you will not, Catherine, because I will be the one bringing the charges,' declared the Earl of Matlock.

'You would send your own sister to the gallows?' Lady Catherine could not believe her ears.

'Considering your crimes, yes I would. Unless…'

'Unless what?'

'Unless you agree to remove to accommodations which I will choose for you, and never again interfere in the life of your daughter or any other family member again. Or better yet, you will never interfere in anyone's life again.' The Earl gave his sister a hard stare. 'I am certain we can find enough evidence to convict you of a major crime, for which you would hang. Or you accept my offer. The choice is yours.'

Lady Catherine stared at her brother and saw the Earl, the head of the family, who would not brook any opposition. Suddenly the fight went out of her. 'Very well, I accept your offer.'

~~J~~