Chapter 53
Arriving in Mayfair, she alighted the carriage with no small amount of haste. The moment was upon her, this matter would be laid to rest at once - her ladyship would brook no opposition, her nephew and her daughter would marry at once - smothering the rumors and setting the situation irrevocably to rights.
His adventures had already cost her the indignity of giving way to a young woman of inferior rank in order that her ladyship may speak her mind - forcing her even to enter a tradesman's home, as that impoverished daughter of a country squire knew not how to defer to her betters. To be spoken to as such, without any deference to rank - for an unmarried woman of no consequence to insist on her own way, to believe that she herself would decide whom she married. To be brought up in such a household where the youngest ran wild and the second eldest thought she had the rights of a man, it was apparent she had no understanding of the workings of the world. Elizabeth Bennet, if her ladyship had her way, would wish she had shut her mouth and done her duty, marrying her cousin as she was instructed, and preserving her home for the sake of her mother and younger sisters.
She rapped on the door and pushed past the butler, descending upon Darcy's study with none of the deference to propriety that would have given him fair warning by having herself properly announced. He looked up from his letter, upon hearing her barge through the door. She did not delay making her mind on the matter known at once.
"I insist upon being heard, you will quit your task at once. This is not to be borne, your gallivanting has nearly cost our family its very respectability. Think of your parents, your sister, how on earth would she marry respectability with an alliance most disgraceful recently commenced through her nearest relation's indecency?
Nor am I accustomed to such disrespect, I will not endure being gainsaid. I demanded her promise that she would never enter into an engagement with you. That penniless nobody, with nothing to recommend her, insisted that she had every intention of accepting you as soon as you requested her hand again. As though a man of your station would propose to her twice! The first should have been impossible. Surely you have since come to your senses, and quit this infatuation.
Heaven and Earth, Darcy, she had the nerve to speak of love while I impressed upon her that family lines are on the verge of being degraded. Great families did not become thus by answering their own selfish wishes, but doing what they were called upon to do to preserve the family line, and thus its dignity. She may have wit, but she is without her sense. To wish to quit the sphere that she was born to, that such a woman presumes to take the place of my sister, your mother. It is not to be endured, have you no sense of duty, of dignity, of what you owe your family name to have proposed marriage to her in the first place? It will not happen a second time. You will marry Anne at once, my patience is at an end with you."
Lady Catherine ranted, but Darcy heard little but that Elizabeth had spoken of loving him, that she would accept his proposal. She must have read his letter, forgiven him even, to have refused to promise never to marry him! Lady Catherine was never so welcome. He couldn't be without apprehension for his aunt's abuses, he would owe Elizabeth yet another apology for manners, though he was grateful that this time it was not his own behavior that had given insult.
"Am I to understand that you were to see Miss Bennet?" Darcy inquired, giving away nothing, his mask fully in place.
"I had to enter a tradesman's home to speak with that girl, she refused to come to the door. Now, what say you? To be forced to endure such an indignity for the sake of preserving my family! It is not to be born, you are no youth Darcy, to be giving in to such base instincts as to propose marriage to a pretty, penniless girl with no breeding or distinction because she denies your lustful indulgences. It is no less disgraceful than when a man of noble birth marries his mistress. What are you about, in the country with tradesmen, proposing marriage to a woman you know full well has no business as the mistress of Pemberley? You shall be instructed on finding entertainment that is suited to a man of your station. There is nothing to gain from mixing with those beneath you. Once you are married to Anne..."
There her Ladyship was finally interrupted. "I shall not be marrying Anne, I am not now, nor was I ever engaged to my cousin."
"You will marry her at once before you bring further disgrace on this family. I will have my share of say in the matter. For too long I've allowed you to enjoy your freedoms, and what has come of it? The insolence from a country squire's daughter has set the example for you, the grandson of an Earl? The nerve of her, to refuse my parson yet again when I had offered her a second chance at doing right by her family, however little they are deserving of it. I have sent them a governess, I was disgusted by the disgraceful behavior that I witnessed, however, ill-bred they are, it will not do to have daughters of a gentleman raised in such a manner."
Darcy now realized Lady Catherine had likely been to Longbourn first, though it hardly aided his cause with Elizabeth, he knew that he could not argue with his aunt on the decorum of the youngest Bennets. He chose the first of her arguments instead to make his position clear, "Had I ever meant to marry Ann it would have been accomplished by now, the only bride in my future, madam, is Miss Bennet. She will suffer no abuse at the hands of my family as my wife. There are none of my acquaintance, regardless of station, or of their relation to me, that will be allowed to disparage herself or her family."
"You are determined to have her then. You are lost to all decency and reason. I shall know how to act. I shall go to your Uncle and he will order you to marry Ann and put this infatuation behind you. He will insist you make her your mistress, as is suitable for a woman of her breeding. All of London will know she is not fit to be your wife."
Darcy was enraged, "Take care madam, as it will not stop my purpose to be wed to Miss Bennet, it will only make me more determined to make right what you've wronged by giving her my name. Therefore, know it is your family that will bear the brunt of it as well, exposing Ann to derision for disappointed hopes that were only ever imagined by her mother. The gossip and scandal will not be kept from your door if you are the author of it. Lying about an engagement to bring about your designs will only bring you scorn, some may even question your sanity."
She began knocking on the floor violently with her walking stick, as was her way. "I shall carry my point, Darcy, if not with you, then with good society in general. Do not think that you can cross me without consequence. The world as a whole will scorn your wife and your children." With that her ladyship turned her back on him, not waiting for a reply.
In spite of his vexation at his aunt's deplorable behavior, he could not help but to feel the full weight of joy at learning that Elizabeth had declared that she returned his affection. He jotted off a quick note to his uncle, warning him of his aunt, reminding him that he would never marry Ann, and declaring the woman he would marry was a perfectly suitable daughter of a country gentleman. His uncle would not like the notion that he was not to make a society match, but nor would he attempt to force Darcy's hand. With no grandchild yet for that generation and two of three young men still single, he knew his uncle's most pressing concern was continuing the family line. He would not press the issue, only express a little displeasure, as long as the woman was at least of the same station, though not of the same situation in life. The viscount had yet to produce an heir, or even a daughter with his wife, and Richard refused to marry until it suited him. That left Darcy, often at the mercy of the match-making schemes of his aunt, at his uncle's behest. He finished his brief note, offering to meet with his uncle, and departed to go to Elizabeth.