Chapter 26: Threat
Elizabeth stood in front of Lady Catherine, fully prepared for the confrontation. A few minutes ago, she had decided to face her without her husband.
I cannot wait till Mr Darcy and Georgiana are back. I need to talk to her.
She stepped into the drawing-room and closed the door. Elizabeth expected Darcy's aunt to be a meek, old lady, but she was surprised to find her tall and stout.
She looked intimidating, with an expression of rage evident in every wrinkle on her face.
"Good morning, Lady Catherine. I am Mrs Darcy. I understand you wish to speak with me."
Elizabeth did not get any reply from her. Did she even hear me?
"Madam, is there anything you would like to say? My husband has gone for a ride."
"Your husband?" Lady Catherine cried with spite.
"You uncouth? Do you even have a status to step on this property? The mistress of Pemberley is my daughter. You are nothing but a weed. I am here to throw you out of Pemberley."
"I am sorry to remind you that your daughter is no more. Like it or not, I am the mistress of this house. I will not have you yelling like this. Please leave, if you cannot decently wait for my husband."
"How dare you? I am here to throw you out of this house. Along with the child who is a disgrace to this world."
Oh! God! Emma!
"How could you speak in such a way about your granddaughter? I warn you not to say another word about her."
"You warn me? I warn you. Go and bring that girl. Both of you out of here before I lose my patience and take matters into my hand."
"You are out of your mind. My husband will be back any minute, and I suggest you leave now."
"I am not scared of him. I am not scared of anybody. I have lost too much already. He should have married Anne. He let her die, and now he has brought a beggar like you to take her place. I will not have it. Do you think I do not know about you? You are a mercenary woman. You married him to save your family from the gutters. Mr Collins wanted to turn you out of your home. And you saw no other way but to trap a rich man. You must have used all immoral ways to entice my nephew."
"You have no right to disrespect me. You do not know anything. I do not know what you plan to accomplish by coming here. Please leave, else I may have to ask my footmen to remove you."
Elizabeth saw her getting agitated and go white. Lady Catherine walked a few steps forward.
"Bring me that child, now."
"I cannot."
"I will not leave this place without throwing both of you out."
"Lady Catherine, I wish to treat you with respect. You have no business to see her. I can call my footmen now and send you out. I do not want to insult you. Please leave without causing trouble."
"Do you think I am jesting with you? You do not know what I can do." She said with an evil sneer and pulled out her gun.
Oh! God! Elizabeth was shocked beyond measure.
"Do not be foolish. Put the gun down." She said, trying to conceal her fear.
"I will not. Bring that child now else you give me no other choice but to shoot you."
"I do not care what your intent to do. I can never bring Emma here."
"Emma? Is that what you call that disgrace? I should have shot her father last time. I missed my chance. But it is good in a way as he is suffering every day for it. You will suffer too if you do not leave this place."
She is completely delusional.
"What do you mean by saying that he is suffering?"
Lady Catherine let out a low laugh. "He is suffering in hell. And that is where you will go if I shoot you. You, low life. How dare you take the position of Anne?"
Elizabeth did not know how long she could stall the woman.
Just then, she heard footsteps outside the door. Darcy entered with a look of torment on his face.
The moment he saw Elizabeth facing his aunt's gun, he froze.
"Good God! Elizabeth, are you all right?" He asked. He stood in front of her, blocking her from the view of his aunt. He held her hand, and Elizabeth felt as a wave of relief hit her.
"I am all right. She wanted me to bring Emma. I could not…" Before she could complete the sentence, Lady Catherine interrupted.
"Fitzwilliam, take your hand off her. When did you lower your standards to this extent?"
"Put your gun down. How dare you point it at my wife? Are you out of your mind?" Darcy said in a harsh tone.
"Do you think I could go about my life happily when I became aware of your disgraceful marriage? Send this woman out right now, along with that child born as a disgrace to Rosings."
"That is enough. If you utter one more word about my family, you will repent."
"There is no use reasoning with you Fitzwilliam, you have fallen for her charms. Maybe she is well versed with the arts of trapping men with fortune. She must be a fallen woman."
"That is enough. Not a word more." He said with anger.
"Elizabeth, please go upstairs and wait. Do not come down."
"I cannot." She replied firmly.
Darcy looked at her angrily. "There is no need for you to endure her words. Leave now."
"I cannot leave you."
"She cannot even obey your simple request. What do you even know about her? Do you know how poor her family is? Her family has had mercenary motives for a long time. Even when her father was alive, they could not be content with a small fortune."
"What nonsense are you stating?" Elizabeth asked in anger.
"You rejected my parson, Mr Collins, didn't you? Even though he could have saved your family from all the misery of the entailment. You always wanted to marry for money."
Elizabeth froze upon hearing her words. Oh! God! That horrible man has gone around talking about his proposal.
Darcy could not believe his ears. That fool proposed to Elizabeth? What an idiot?
"See, she has not revealed anything to you. She has planned and deceived you just for your wealth."
Elizabeth was utterly mortified. Now she is adding fuel to his accusations. I am sure he believes her.
She was surprised by the next words from her husband.
"She has not deceived me. She is my wife, and rightfully so. She has my respect. And it is utterly disgusting to talk to my wife about the proposals she has received in the past. It is none of your business."
How could he defend me? When he believes the same about my character. She wondered in shock.
"You are in a deteriorated mental state since the last time I saw you. Uncle Robert wrote to me, concerned about you. I believe Rosings is facing the wrath of your temper and delusions. He wanted to get you admitted in an Asylum. From your display today, I think I can arrange for it right now." Darcy said with resolve.
He saw his aunt startle.
"You would not. You cannot do that to your own aunt."
"I will. If you pose as a threat to any of my family members? I will see that we get you admitted in Scotland, and you will never step on Rosings again. I am serious."
Lady Catherine moved closer to him; her gun still pointed at Darcy. Elizabeth tried to move close to her husband, but he firmly held her behind.
"Do not try anything stupid. I can call my men in right now. They will take you directly to the authorities. I think you are sensible enough to understand what happens after that."
Lady Catherine stared at the couple viciously and lowered her weapon.
"This is not over. It will not be over until I chase these worms out of Pemberley. Do not think I will rest until you repent for the death of my daughter. You married her to a beggar. He is facing the wrath of all of your actions."
"You are completely out of your senses. Mr Nash is dead."
"He will be, soon."
She is out of her mind. Elizabeth thought.
They watched her walk out of the room. Darcy never let go of his wife's hand. They watched her carriage leave, and Darcy whispered something to his footman.
Once Lady Catherine's carriage was out of sight, he pulled his wife to his study and shut the door.
"Why didn't you leave when I asked you to?" He asked angrily.
"Out of all that happened, you are worried that I did not obey your orders?" Elizabeth asked in irritation.
"Elizabeth, she was pointing a gun at you. I did not want you to be in the same room. Why do you have to be so stubborn? She could have easily injured you or worse? I cannot put you in danger, no matter what."
"And you think I would be happy to allow you to face her wrath? She could have shot you as well. What makes you think that I would care less about your welfare?"
Both of them stared into the depth of each other's eyes. They realised that they felt something deep inside their hearts that neither of them was willing to acknowledge.
Oh! God! I have developed feelings for you. I cannot make sense of it. Darcy thought as he stared into her beautiful eyes.
Elizabeth stared at him in silence.
"Can you unhand me now? I want to see Emma." She said, unable to endure his presence any longer.
He let go of her unwillingly. He watched her leave his study.
Elizabeth ran upstairs. There was one question lingering in her mind.
Will he believe what he heard about Mr Collins? From his assumptions about me, he must believe that I rejected Mr Collins because I wanted to marry for wealth. But he defended me. Has his opinion about me changed? Why do I even care what he thinks about me? What is that I feel for him now, which I did not few weeks ago?
Darcy, on the other hand, paced his room.
How ridiculous it sounded when Lady Catherine accused her of being mercenary. What I see of her now makes me question my assumptions about her and the compromise. She has refused a man who had the solution to all their family problems. She could have secured her family's future by marrying him. But she did not. What if she wanted to marry for love, just like me? Then she must be a victim of the compromise just like me. Then who planned to trap me that day?
He was tormented by the wave of questions in his mind. He had felt such pain when he witnessed her standing at gunpoint. The moment he saw her in danger, his heart had skipped a beat. The thought of losing her had made his heart hurt like never before.
She refused to leave me in danger. What does that mean? She has been indifferent towards me. Could that have changed?
He was worried about the safety of Elizabeth and Emma. He had sent a couple of footmen to follow his aunt's carriage to Rosings. He did not want his aunt to set foot on Pemberley ever again.
Georgiana was beside herself with worry.
"Lizzy, what did Lady Catherine say? I have witnessed her anger towards Anne a couple of times. What did she want?"
"It is nothing, Georgiana. Your brother sent her away. Do not worry."
"You have not left Emma since morning. Does she want to take her away?" She asked with tears in her eyes.
"She will never be able to do that. Please do not trouble yourself." Deep down, she had the same thought as Georgiana.
Elizabeth stayed close to Emma the whole day. Her nanny was not surprised.
She has so much affection for Emma. Any other woman would see her as an unwanted addition to the family.
Elizabeth was absent during dinner, and Darcy was worried.
"She is with Emma since morning. She plans to eat upstairs." Georgiana said.
"Oh!" Darcy replied in a low voice.
After dinner, he headed to the nursery.
Darcy stood rooted to the spot when he opened the door. He was captivated by the pleasant sight before him. He saw Emma curled beside his wife, both in a deep slumber. Elizabeth was asleep with a book in her hand.
He could not take his eyes off her. She had her hand wrapped around Emma, protectively.
I do not think any woman could be so kind and affectionate towards Emma, even if I had married someone of my choice.
He quietly closed the door and left them. He wondered where Mrs Thomson was.
She met him just outside the door.
"Are you in search of Mrs Darcy, sir? I am afraid she fell asleep along with Emma. I did not want to disturb her. Do you want me to wake her sir?"
"No. Not at all. Please do not disturb her. I hope she had her dinner."
"Yes, she did."
"All right then, I will see her later."
When Elizabeth heard from the nanny that her husband had witnessed her sleeping, she was embarrassed. She was hesitant to face him. The way he had protected her from Lady Catherine warmed her heart. For a second, she wished she could prove her innocence about the compromise and clear everything between them. But I cannot. I have no idea how things happened that night.
She looked at Emma and was worried. She remembered the look of evil on Lady Catherine's face. How could she even imagine hurting her own grandchild?
The day passed swiftly. Georgiana complained of a headache and was absent during supper. Elizabeth was apprehensive about meeting her husband.
Lady Catherine added a feather on my cap regarding my mercenary motives. I wonder if he will ask me anything about it. I cannot avoid him forever. She thought and entered the dining room.
She saw a look of surprise on his face as she entered.
"I believe you have not left Emma's side since morning."
"I am worried about her. I cannot imagine what would have happened if your aunt had set eyes on her."
"I understand your worry. I have asked my men to follow her carriage. I have also written to some contacts in Kent to keep an eye on Rosings. Next time if she plans to visit Pemberley we will know. Of course, her carriage won't enter our grounds. I have given strict orders."
Elizabeth nodded in silence.
"You do not look convinced."
"I did not know that she was this wild. My friend from Kent wrote to me warning me about her arrival."
"Your friend? Who is that? How is she related to Lady Catherine?"
"I assume you remember Sir William Lucas. His daughter Charlotte married Mr Collins." She paused. "She was aware of Lady Catherine's visit. She says your aunt collapsed when she heard about our marriage and was in bed for almost two weeks."
Darcy listened keenly. He could feel the tension in her voice when she mentioned Mr Collins.
"I do remember Sir William Lucas. I was in the company of Mr Collins many times during the time Anne was alive."
Elizabeth stared at her plate, anticipating that her husband would ask her something about his proposal, but he did not.
"I will do everything in my power to keep you and Emma safe. I still cannot digest the fact that she pointed a gun at you. Why didn't you call for help? "
"I told you, I did not want her to leave the room. I felt it was too much of a chance to take."
"What did she say to you?" He asked in an unsettling tone.
"Her accusations are not new to me. They are no different from the accusations piled on me ever since the Netherfield ball." She said with a quivering voice.
Her words struck him like a lightning. The pain in her voice reflected in every feature of her face.
"I do not seem to have an appetite. If you would excuse me, I shall retire now. Good night."
She left hurriedly, unable to control her tears.
As he watched her leave, Darcy felt an emotion that weighed him down to the bottom of the earth. It was guilt.
He was beginning to understand that he might have made the biggest mistake of his life.