Chapter 15 - Conspiracy
AN: I was going to go on a rant about trolls, however several of my wonderful reviewers have been angered on my behalf. Rest assured, I have reported them to . Not sure what they will do. I am open to positive criticism of this story. Any grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors, please either PM me or nicely point them our in a review. At some point in the future, I am planing to publish and your efforts mean so much to me.
Although I do not respond you each and every review, please let me tell you I read them all and they warm my heart. I hope you're happy with a group thank you so my fingers might continue to tap on these keys in the hope of more updated and/or new chapters. So, let's take a look in on Darcy and Anne, as they cope with LC.
"Where is my nephew," Lady Catherine lamented from her throne and not for the first time.
At least that is how Anne described the ornate chair her mother favoured in the main parlour. Seated beside Mrs. Jenkinson, the young woman watched calculating, cold, grey eyes glance at the clock every few seconds. Lady Catherine became increasingly agitated as neither of her sibling's children attended her.
"Why," the elder woman turned her gaze back to her daughter, "did you allow Fitzwilliam to escort you into the cold and without your companion this morning. It is unconscionable. I must have him answer me!"
An hour ago, Mr. Collins came to call. The parson's inane conversation and taking of tea gave Anne a well-earned rest from her mother's rants. The moment the odious man left, Lady Catherine returned her attention to the misdemeanours of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Obviously, she wished to make something of a simple walk, for it played to her preconceived notions of uniting Pemberley and Rosings.
The clock struck twelve when Darcy finally designed to enter the room. Bowing, he faced his aunt with a severe scowl upon her scolding. "I am sorry to have kept you waiting. I must inform you Richard has been sent to London on business that cannot wait. He will not be dining with us again for several days."
Raising an eyebrow, Lady Catherine began to calculate this event into her most wanted scheme. Darcy alone with Anne this morning and now the disappearance the Colonel proved intriguing. Understanding her mother's thought process, Miss de Bourgh decided to take matters into her hands and ensure the outcome she wished. Standing she went to Darcy's side and curled her fingers in the crook of his elbow. One look at his severe facade and Anne understood Richard agreed to her plan, ensuring the means with his dash to London. Now they had to stop her mother suspecting.
"We will be such an intimate party," Anne stated, giving a small cough, "only the three of us."
Careful not to look towards Darcy, Anne shielded her eyes and kept her delight internalized. Lady Catherine took the meaning and her mind began to make connections in relation to the events in the conservatory. Ideas her daughter cleverly planted earlier in the day when she let one of the servants witness her leaving for a morning walk with her cousin. Indeed, Lady Catherine could not help but draw the conclusions Anne coveted.
Darcy, on the other hand, frowned. He knew Anne needed to speak with Mr. Collins to arrange the ceremony. Darcy used the hour since sending Richard away to call on the parsonage and speak privately with Mrs. Collins. He had persuaded her to host a very small wedding breakfast in honour of their new patroness. The rector's wife appeared to be a sensible, intelligent woman willing to aid Miss De Bourgh and secure her own future at Hunsford.
"A small party," Lady Catherine repeated with a glint of pleasure in her orbs. "Madison," she shouted for the footman. He entered swiftly. "Tell me, has Mr. Collins left for the parsonage?"
"No, Ma'am," Madison informed his mistress. It was not unusual for Mr. Collins to dally at Rosings in case is esteemed patroness required his further devotion. The man could be found ambling without a care among the herbs in the kitchen garden.
"Please show him into the parlour immediately," commanded the great lady. When the snivelling man stood before her, Catherine declared, "I am afraid I must rescind my offer for your guests to dine at Rosing tomorrow night. Please inform you wife that we will reschedule when Colonel Fitzwilliam is once again able to join us. I believe we shall all be celebrating a very significant event having taken place by then."
Anne used the distraction to leave the parlour and lay in wait for her quarry. A quarter of an hour later, Mr. Collins had every intention of leaving Rosings with his mind full of Miss de Bourgh's soon to be announced engagement. Anne halted his progress, ensuring they had a moment alone.
"Sir," she mimicked Lady Catherine's tone and air, an event that shocked the Pastor into confounded silence, "did my mother inform you of the reason for your banishment?"
That gentleman looked at her with a stunned expression in the attempt to find words to answer. Obviously, Mr. Collins had not taken the retraction of offers to tea and dine as such. Miss de Bourgh had to spell it out for the stupid man. "It is because I am to wed my cousin in two days. The Archbishop is currently hearing of the reasons for the purchase of a special licence. Once I am Mistress of Rosing's Park, your parsonage will come under my influence. You will be ready to perform the ceremony if you wish my continued favour. My mother will be removed to the Dower house and her power to protect you diminished unless I allowed it. Until then we do not wish to be disturbed. I hope I make myself abundantly clear?"
"I…I…' Mr. Collins could not rap his poor little mind around the sudden outburst. However senseless and imprudent, he could not fail to see her logic nor the necessity to save his own good fortune.
"Good day, Sir," Anne pivoted and made her way back to the parlour where her mother honoured a rather irate looking Darcy.
Accepting her role of manager in this conspiracy, Miss Anne de Bourgh sat beside her cousin and gave the impression Lady Catherine wished to be true. The next two days would prove torturous for the young pair. Mrs. Jenkinson, exiled to her rooms took a well-deserved reprieve, allowing Anne to pretend to fawn over Mr. Darcy. Her cousin accepted the attention with his usual solemn grace and superiority. It kept her mother's hopes alive and everyone accept the two designed for each other away from Rosings Park.
When Mr. Collins returned from his noble patroness, Elizabeth had completed her second walk of the day. During the first, in the distance she had seen Mr. Darcy urge his horse on as he returned to the stables. Later in the morning, as she dallied in a grove of woods not far from the main road, Colonel Fitzwilliam rode as if the hounds of hell were at his steeds' hooves. Convinced something had occurred at Rosings, Lizzy hurried back to Charlotte. Finding Mr. Darcy in the main drawing room, his head close to her friends confused Miss Bennet further.
A maid stated all was well and Mr. Collins currently attended Lady and Miss de Bourgh at Rosings. Not wanting to disturb her friend, Elizabeth retreated to her room to consider all that happened last night. Her feelings for Mr. Darcy remained confused. Clearly, she did not hate him anymore but nor could they be considered more than acquaintances. Not an hour later, her cousin entered the house in high dudgeon. Too much for Elizabeth to ignore, she came down stairs to see what all the fuss entailed.
"Whatever is the matter?" questioned Charlotte of her husband's erratic behaviour.
What came out, a rambling story of Miss de Bourgh, marriage, Mr. Darcy and Lady Catherine's pleasure did not make sense. As much as Charlotte tried to calm her distressed partner in life, he only became more anxious. One thing seemed certain, Mr. Collins proved determined to lead the ceremony uniting Miss de Bourgh in matrimony. Miss de Bourgh, on the other hand would command his eternal gratefulness from this day forward.
"I fear," Lizzy told her friend later the same evening once the parsonage settled back into its normal routine, "this has something to do with what I witnessed this morning."
"Tell me what you know," Charlotte stated, her calm brown eyes watching her friend carefully.
"I came across Mr. Darcy while riding. I could see the scowl on his face. He seemed to be trying to make a decision of some import. When he concluded his thoughts, Mr. Darcy rode for the stables in haste. Several hours later, Colonel Fitzwilliam couldn't be to the London Road fast enough. I believe he had gone for a special licence at the request of Mr. Darcy. It seems Lady Catherine is to get her son-in-law rather sooner than she thinks," concluded the young woman, unable to place any other interpretation upon these facts.
"I believe you may be correct," Charlotte attempted to keep her complicity quiet.
"Charlotte," Lizzy smiled playfully, "do not tell me you were not informed by Mr. Darcy himself. I saw the two of you together in this very room today as I returned from my walk."
"You have caught me out," Charlotte couldn't help laugh. "I dearly hope it will all work out as Miss de Bourgh and Mr. Darcy wish. We are to host the wedding breakfast as Lady Catherine knows nothing of the particulars. It will come as somewhat of a surprise when she is forced to make way for her daughter as the new Mistress of Rosings. But Eliza, promise me you will not breathe a word for I am sworn to secrecy and so must you be."
"Has Mr. Darcy given you leave to tell me all this," Lizzy requested in astonishment.
"Yes," Charlotte chuckled at the look on her friend's face. "I do believe he wishes you to know his plans for the future." However, Mrs. Collins would not part with the identity of Miss de Burgh intended. Not when the expression on Elizabeth's countenance told its own story. She would just have to uncover the truth with everyone else.
Two days later, Darcy found his head aching and wishing for deliverance. "What I do for you, Cousin," he muttered under his breath as Lady Catherine's voice droned on. He had not been allowed out of her sight since Richard's disappearance forty-three hours, seven minutes and thirty-two seconds ago. Yet it felt like a lifetime to Fitzwilliam Darcy who wished for any distraction. As if conjured, the butler delivered an express.
We will be about half an hour behind this message. My parents travel with me to give the marriage credence and respectability. Archbishop Fitzwilliam is traveling in his carriage with Mr. Wright, a young pastor, who will preside over the ceremony. Be ready with my change of clothes for I am ready for a change in fortune.
Your devoted cousin.
"Well?" Lady Catherine demanded of the note.
"Richard will return shorty," Darcy stated. Anne received the message and took a fit of coughing. "I must depart, Aunt. I will see you once this business is concluded."
Torn between the health of her daughter and the thought of what a great man Fitzwilliam Darcy had turned out to be, she called for Mrs. Jenkinson. The woman came immediately and took Anne above stairs. Once out of the room, the girl changed before her companion eyes.
"Call for the carriage and do not let my mother know of it or you position here will be forfeit. I will join you shortly," Anne headed for the stairs with a jaunt in her step. Perhaps for the first time in her life she felt alive. Soon she would be able to speak and act as she pleased, within reason.
Twenty minutes later, Anne climbed into the coach for the short ride to the church. She had planned for this day since her nineteenth birthday without a though as to whom her bridegroom might be. While Lady Catherine told anyone who would listen of her wish to unite Pemberley to Rosings, Anne had never envisioned Fitzwilliam Darcy as the partner of her future life. Then, months ago, after receiving her cousin Georgiana's letter requesting the name of Mr. Collins wife, the young woman commissioned her wedding dress. It seemed Darcy's affections had been engaged by a young woman of little fortune. It gave Anne the courage to remove her mother and regain her birthright. Finally, Miss de Bourgh won the opportunity to wear her matrimonial finery.
"Miss de Bourgh," Mrs. Jenkinson exclaimed upon seeing the delicately embroidered dress liberally embellished with lace. However, the elderly retainer did not gain entry to the carriage as the door was closed before she could board.
"You may tell my mother to meet me at Hunsford church in half an hour if she wishes to see her only child married," Anne smiled. Tapping the roof, she called, "drive on."
Darcy, after returning to his room and collecting Richard's best military coat and servant, arrived to the church at the same moment as his cousin. The Colonel's valet rushed him into a small vestibule to make ready for the ceremony. While dressing Fitzwilliam, Darcy greeted his relations as Mr. Wright went to speak with Mr. Collins about the service.
"I am glad you have come," Darcy commented with relief as The Earl and Countess of Matlock stepped down. "I had hoped some of my relations supported Richard's decision to wed on such short notice."
"We could not let our son marry without his family making an appearance," Lady Susan stated in a rather haughty tone. "Tell me, who else is to attend?"
"The parson's wife, Mrs. Collins, her sister, Miss Lucas and a friend who is currently visiting," Darcy replied. "Mrs. Collins has agreed to host the wedding breakfast in my cousin's honour."
"Oh, my poor sister," Lord James Fitzwilliam, the eldest of the siblings, lamented with a glint of amusement in his eye. Richard informed his father of Miss Elizabeth Bennet being in the neighbourhood at the separation of the sexes after dining last evening. The Earl and Archbishop had made fun of their nephew. Just as well Mr. Darcy did not know of their conversation. "How will she take this degradation, do you think? Perhaps I should have insisted the Viscount attend. What games might be afoot then, hey, Darcy!" The elderly Earl teased rhetorically.
"We are here, Uncle," Darcy reminded severely, "to wish Richard and Anne well."
The rest of the conversation was lost on Mr. Darcy as he sighted Miss Bennet approaching from the direction of the parsonage. She walked beside her friend, Mrs. Collins. They chatted happily with each other until she saw him. At which point a blush rose on her features while the skin beneath paled considerably. This reaction made Darcy smile slightly. It appeared Miss Bennet was under the same illusion as his Aunt and the reaction gave the man reason to hope his suit would not be rejected completely. Clearly, she still held some prejudices against him.
"I am to wish you joy, Mr. Darcy," Elizabeth stated as she came close to the man waiting at the front of the church.
Not confused by this statement, Darcy noticed his Aunt and Uncle watching him carefully. With a smile, he bowed to the young lady. "Please allow me to introduce you to my family," he said politely. "May I present Miss Elizabeth Bennet, Mrs. Collins and Miss Lucas. These are my nearest relations, Lord and Lady Fitzwilliam, the Earl and Countess of Matlock and Archbishop Fitzwilliam, the current Archbishop of Canterbury."
"How do you do," the three ladies curtseyed, somewhat awed by the quality of the company.
Unable to hold back her impertinence, Lizzy finally found the courage to comment, "it must be a pleasure to see such a turn out at your wedding, Mr. Darcy."
Although expecting such wit from Miss Bennet, Fitzwilliam drew in a sharp breath and couldn't help feeling disappointed. In his mind, Darcy imagined a very different bride and groom. However, he would never behave in such a cavalier way when taking a wife. Calming his emotions, Darcy once again saw the device Miss Elizabeth used to cover her confusion. She wished conformation of his betrothal.
"So, you think I am to marry my cousin today?" he returned, allowing his tone to remain severe. "I see you continue to wilfully misunderstand me, Miss Bennet."
"I had thought," Lizzy truly looked at the man for the first time only to realise her mistake, "but it seems I am incorrect in my assumptions."
"This is not a first, Miss Bennet," Darcy allowed the ghost of a smile to crease his lips. "Often you assign motives that are not mine and mistake my intentions when they do not fit your preconceived notions."
Pursing her lips, Elizabeth could not hold her anger against him. "I believe you may be right, Sir. However, we will have to suspend further contemplation on my faults as Miss de Bourgh's carriage has arrived. If I am not wrong, that speck is Lady Catherine charging across the lawn from Rosings at a great pace."
"Well, well," Lord Fitzwilliam broke in, watching the interaction between this young woman and his nephew with delight, "let the games begin. Come Darcy, you must stand up with my son."
"I hope we are past the part where Mr. Wright will ask for objections," Archbishop Fitzwilliam stated dryly, "by the time my sister arrives. It will save us all from her vitriol and ill manners."
"Shall we go inside then," Anne requested as she climbed from her carriage. Darcy, acting as her father would have, stepped aside for his uncle when the man indicated the pleasure of escorting Miss de Bourgh down the aisle should be his.
"James," rebuked the Archbishop, "I believe, as it is your son the lady is marrying, I will have to fulfil that pleasure for our dear departed brother, Sir Lewis. Go and sit so we may have these two wed before Catherine can put her ore in."
"With this ring, I thee wed," Richard said, placing the gold band on Anne's finger the moment Lady Catherine finally reached the church doors. Mr. Wright, more than aware of the politics hastened and slightly abbreviated the ceremony with the Archbishops blessing.
In that moment, her face red with equal parts indignation and perspiration, the great and condescending Lady Catherine de Bourgh knew she had been bested by her daughter. Instead of the hysterics they anticipated, a wild laughter rang throughout the church. Getting control of herself, she marched to the front and effectively stopped the service. All the gentlemen in the party stood to defend Anne.
"Finally," Lady Catherine glared at her child standing before man and god, placing her life into the hands of Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, only a second son, "this is what it takes for you to defy me."
"For God's sake woman," Henry Fitzwilliam forgot his love of the church and place within it, "sit down and keep your trap closed. You are in the house of the Almighty Lord."
And that is exactly what she did. Retribution would come later as Lady Catherine would not easily give up her beloved Rosings. Indeed, she planned to continue as before by sending her new son-in-law off to battle somewhere. After of course, he had Anne with child for he would be of no use then.
Back to my normal publishing pattern of Sunday and Wednesday, Australian Western Time (GMT +8).