A/N
HLW - Chapter 2 for your perusal, hope you enjoy.
Thank you so much for all the encouraging words and feedback – made me super happy. Life at the moment is somewhat hectic and haphazard, so please excuse me if I do not reply personally to your feedback but do know that I read each and every message with a lot of interest. As always, feedback, suggestions, corrections all are welcome.
Neha
Her Last Words Chapter 2Darcy was in a melancholy mood as he arrived at Darcy House later that day. The fact that he could not save Mrs Bennet or alleviate Elizabeth's pain weighed heavily on his heart. Additionally, the realization that his unrequited love for her was almost certainly a permanent fixture in his heart gave him a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Little did he know that his mood was about to worsen very shortly.
"Ah... Lady Catherine has been waiting for you in the drawing room for quite some time, Mr Darcy," his butler, Higgins, said as he took Darcy's coat and hat.
Darcy swallowed an oath with difficulty. "She will have to wait a while longer, Higgins. I urgently need a change of clothes," he replied and then went upstairs to his room. He wondered briefly as to why his aunt would call so soon after his visit to Rosings, but was unable to come up with anything plausible.
"It cannot be anything good," he muttered as he entered his chambers. He considered asking his valet to arrange for a hot bath, but then decided against it. Since he could not avoid meeting Lady Catherine, he did not want to give her any reason to be more upset than she already was.
Darcy did not dally over a bath, but it was more than a quarter of an hour before he finally went downstairs. A feeling of unease prevailed in the drawing room as he entered the elegant, well-proportioned room. Lady Catherine was holding court, as he had expected, and his visibly uncomfortable sister was listening to her in unhappy silence. His aunt was expounding her views on the ill manners of today's generation in general and in particular on ungrateful, lackadaisical nephews, who lacked proper respect for their elders.
"I do not know what your brother is..." Lady Catherine broke off when she noticed Darcy standing near the drawing room door.
"You certainly took your time, Darcy! I believe I heard your carriage about half an hour ago. One would think you would have enough consideration and courtesy for your elders to not keep them waiting in this uncivil manner."
Darcy's lips tightened at the rebuke. "I had returned after assisting an accident victim who could not be saved, unfortunately. I was dirty and dishevelled. I doubt you would have appreciated it if I had presented myself to you in all my dirt." he said coldly and felt a perverse sense of satisfaction at the disconcerted look on Lady Catherine's face. Without waiting for the lady to gain her equilibrium, he enquired, "To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit, madam?"
Lady Catherine stiffened at his query, and her countenance underwent an immediate change. "I think you will prefer it, nephew, if we have this conversation in private," was the ominous reply.
Until now, Darcy had felt only a vague sense of annoyance at his aunt barging in on them unannounced. He now felt the first stirrings of unease at her strange behaviour. He gave Georgiana a reassuring smile, even as he motioned for his aunt to follow him to his study. He did not have much time to ponder the issue as Lady Catherine turned on him even before the door of the study had properly closed behind them.
"I am here, nephew, because a report of an alarming nature reached me yesterday. Since I could not believe that you would ever behave in such a heedless and dissolute manner, I have come here to discover the truth of the matter from you."
"D... dissolute?" Darcy's mouth dropped open at the unexpected attack. Miss Elizabeth only a few days ago, had listed what to her were his many character flaws. The one that had rankled the most had been the accusation of his being less than the gentleman he was. And now his aunt was calling him dissolute - when he was anything but! It was intolerable.
"Aunt Catherine! What in God's name are you talking about?" he exclaimed angrily.
"Miss Bennet did not visit us when the rest of the Hunsford party came to tea the day before you left Rosings. Did you pay her a visit when she was all alone at the parsonage that day?"
Darcy was taken aback by the unexpected question. Consequently, he revealed more than he would have otherwise. "How do you know that?" he asked grimly.
"So, you did visit her!" Lady Catherine pounced immediately. "And here I was convinced that you would never behave so foolishly that I came here today just to hear you refute what I assumed were scandalous falsehoods." She shook her head angrily and continued, "I should have known; even seemingly intelligent and cautious young men can lose their heads and descend into dissolute behaviour when faced by feminine arts and allurements."
"There were no arts and allurements and no dissolute behaviour. Miss Bennet is a lady of unimpeachable character." Darcy said through gritted teeth. "Please be careful with your words, madam. I shall not allow you to tarnish the reputation of an innocent young woman," he warned his aunt.
"Then what were you doing with her at the parsonage?" was the belligerent retort. Lady Catherine was obviously not in the mood to take her nephew's words at face value.
Darcy was tempted to tell Lady Catherine that his movements were none of her concern. He would have done just that had his aunt not involved Miss Elizabeth in the conversation.
"I was taking a walk near the parsonage that day when I remembered Miss Bennet was sick. I just went in for a while to enquire after her health." The lie tasted bitter on his tongue, but he had finally discovered that there were instances in one's life when dissembling was the only prudent course of action.
"Fitzwilliam Darcy who has for years ensured that he is not caught in the claws of predatory harpies and their matchmaking mamas, willingly exposing himself to that very danger... just to ask after the health of a mere acquaintance! Do you want me to believe this tarradiddle, Darcy? Tell me this very moment – what is Miss Bennet to you?" Lady Catherine asked imperiously.
"You just said it yourself, Madam – a mere acquaintance. And I believe I already mentioned, Miss Bennet is a lady. Unlike many of the predatory young women of the ton, I was in no danger from her."
Lady Catherine had never known her nephew to resort to falsehoods in all the years she had known him. She might have dropped the subject after chastising him for his imprudence if she had not noticed a strange yearning in Darcy's face as he spoke about Miss Bennet. The expression reminded her of the incoherent blabbering of Collinses' parlour maid, who had heard a snippet of Darcy's passionate declaration to Miss Bennet that fateful evening. Unfortunately, his approaching footsteps had made the maid hurry away from the door before she could hear Miss Bennet's response to the declaration. Lady Catherine could not believe Darcy would propose to someone as unsuitable as Miss Bennet, let alone keep it a secret from his family, but the maid had stuck to her story despite threats of dismissal. The desire to know the truth was as unbearable as a nagging toothache that just had to be dealt with. And there was only one way to do so - confront Darcy. Taking a deep breath, Lady Catherine did just that.
"Darcy, tell me the truth, are you betrothed to Miss Bennet?"
Darcy's hands clenched at the lady's extreme presumption, but he kept a tight rein on his temper. It was now clear to him that his aunt had somehow got an inkling of the events of the evening at the parsonage, if not the whole sorry tale. He had to tread carefully - to protect Miss Elizabeth's reputation.
"Certainly not, Madam. Do you not think that you – my beloved aunt - would have been the first to know if the happy event had taken place?" Darcy raised his brow satirically at his aunt.
Lady Catherine was relieved by his denial, but his impudent response aggravated her already frayed temper. "Happy event! Have you taken leave of your senses, nephew? It would have been a disaster, if you attached yourself to that impertinent, thoroughly unsuitable Miss. Who are her parents? What is their standing in the ton? Do you not know that her uncle is in trade! How could you consider polluting the shades of Pemberley in this manner, even in jest?"
It angered Darcy to listen to Lady Catherine's tirade against Elizabeth, but what brought a pang to his heart was the realization of how eerily similar her sentiments were to those he had expressed to Elizabeth while professing his ardent love for her! Now that he had met the Gardiners, he was even more ashamed of his hurtful words. How could he have been so insensitive and stupid? It was no surprise that Miss Elizabeth had thrown his proposal back in his face. He found that he could not let the fresh insults to Elizabeth pass unchallenged.
"I have already told you that Miss Bennet is nothing more than a passing acquaintance. However, I fail to understand why you consider she is unsuitable. I am a gentleman and she is a gentleman's daughter, and in that much she is my equal," he told his aunt coldly.
"What! That woman appears to have caused you to lose your senses. It is now up to me to ensure that you do not do something that you will regret for the rest of your life." Lady Catherine said grimly.
Darcy's brow furrowed in surprise. "And how do you intend to accomplish that, madam?"
"By asking you to send out a notice of your betrothal with Anne to the Times."
"That is never going to happen! You are well aware that Anne and I are not betrothed."
"In that case I will do it for you."
"Go ahead and do so if you want to make yourself the laughingstock of the ton, because the very next day I am going to send a retraction to the paper."
Lady Catherine sighed in frustration as she looked at the implacable expression on Darcy's face – she knew her nephew far too well to take the threat lightly. For the umpteenth time, she inwardly cursed her brother Henry, the Earl of Matlock, for refusing to compel Darcy to offer marriage to Anne. Perhaps now Henry would see some sense, when she told him about the danger posed by that upstart Miss from Hertfordshire.
"Then at least promise me that you will not do something silly," she said placatingly.
"Such as?"
"Like offering for someone unsuitable, such as the scheming Miss Bennet!" Lady Catherine snapped.
"I cannot make such a promise, madam. Only I will decide when and with whom I marry, and I will do whatever brings me happiness." Even as Darcy spoke the words that he had never dared to think before, he knew they were true. At the very least, the events of this morning had made him realise this.
"Darcy! Have you forgotten what you owe..." Lady Catherine began to protest but Darcy raised his hand to interrupt. He suddenly felt too exhausted to continue arguing with his overbearing aunt. He just wanted her gone.
"I have already stated that I am not promised to Miss Bennet. Furthermore, she has never employed any arts and allurements to encourage me and... and if that puts your mind at ease then please know that she is in mourning. It was her mother who was in an accident today and did not survive. Even you, I believe, would not accuse a bereaved young lady of plotting to entrap gentlemen of her acquaintance before her mother was laid to rest.
While Lady Catherine had no trouble imagining any kind of depraved behaviour from greedy young ladies – grieving or otherwise – the intelligence that Miss Bennet was in mourning helped to ease her mind. Almost certainly, the young lady would spend her mourning period in Meryton - away from polite society and from Darcy. Now that Bingley had closed the estate he had rented, her nephew had no reason to visit the area. The foolish boy was not in any imminent danger, and she now had enough time on her hands to persuade Henry of the importance of nudging Darcy to do his duty to his family. Lady Catherine decided not to waste any more time with a recalcitrant and mulish Darcy after reaching this welcome conclusion.
"I am sorry for Miss Bennet's loss and can now understand why you are being so difficult today. I shall take your leave now and we will talk about it some other time."
"Talk about what?" Darcy asked irritabily.
"About Anne and you." Lady Catherine gave a benign smile as she got up to leave. She would go and ask Henry to at least keep an eye on Darcy.
"There is no Anne and me. I believe I have already told you that!"
"Now... now ... I understand you are not in a pleasant frame of mind, but there is no need to shout. As I said, we will discuss it later," Lady Catherine said as she made her way to the door.
"Not if I can help it," Darcy muttered as the door closed behind his aunt. He poured a glass of port for himself in an attempt to relieve the agitation his aunt had left behind in her wake.
"Well... it appears I made the right decision in coming here. This morning I told Lizzy that you are not such a bad fellow after all and look how well you defended her against the old shrew's disgusting attack!"
Darcy's glass slipped from his grasp and landed loudly on the wooden floor. He jerked around in surprise at the completely unexpected voice. "Y... you?" he stuttered, taking a few steps back involuntarily.
~§§§~
Her Last Words
Copyright © 2022 by S. Neha
All rights reserved.