Chapter 23 - A Strange Set of Circumstances
AN: It seemed the last chapter caused mixed reactions, from humour that Elizabeth finally acknowledged her pride to anger at Darcy ignoring her. All who know my writing will understand all is not a clear as it looks. For the moment we are taking a break from Darcy and Lizzy to see what else is occurring in this AU. It might explain a few aspects, but pose even more questions.
Either way, once again, I thank you all for supporting this work. As to the offer of a list of errors in chapters 20 and 21, YES PLEASE. This is exactly what I wish. Please PM them to me so I can make the corrections. Those chapters were added to the original work, have not been edited or gone over multiple time by myself. I would appreciate your corrections.
"Tell me husband," Anne requested as she entered the private sitting room between their bed chambers, "exactly what has occurred between Miss Bennet and our cousin."
"I do not know what you mean," Richard stalled.
Darcy and the ladies left this morning. Colonel Fitzwilliam managed to avoid his wife in the intervening hours by claiming estate business. Anne, it seemed, had become more vocal and self-assured in the days since the removal of her mother. Slowly she unearthed her true character under Richards's kind words and even kinder actions. By no means a silly woman, Miss de Bourg bided her time under the tyrannical rule of Lady Catherine until she could overthrow the old matriarch swiftly and completely.
"Do not play with my intelligence, Husband," Anne declared hotly. This anger had been another uncovered trait. "I lived under the iron fist of my mother's domination for too many years not to see your machinations in this. Besides, I can see the Hunsford Parish House as well as the east grove from this sitting room window. I am not as insensible as people would think."
"This I know," Richard smiled and took the woman into his embrace. Placing a chaste kiss on her forehead, he managed, "for whom else could have planned her wedding beneath the all-seeing eyes of Lady Catherine!"
"Do not try to distract me, Richard," Anne pulled away from him in a huff. "I am well aware of your experience with other women. Mother spoke of it while in my hearing. It is one of the reasons I chose you."
"Anne, do not ask me to betray a confidence," Richard sighed heavily. "I had to extract the information from our cousin, information he was not at liberty to give."
"Then they are engaged," she pivoted suddenly, becoming unsteady on her feet at the rapid movement. As always, Richard noticed and Anne found herself once again in her husband's warm and protective embrace.
"In a manner of speaking," he frowned. The Colonel's orbs took on a glazed appearance. Without thinking, Richard lowered his head and brushed his lips against those of his wife.
"Darcy will not be happy with that state of affairs," Anne managed. Her husband had kissed her like this only a few times. Two nights ago, she had placed her hand on his chest which only inflamed him. The kiss had deepened until Richard broke it and walked away. Forcing her mind back to the present, she asked, "is that why his countenance changed so last evening?"
"I am afraid," Richard pulled away, only Anne, enjoying his attentions, refused to let him go, "that is my doing."
"Richard," Anne sounded and looked displeased. "Look at me, so I may see your reaction."
"A good commander knows when to retreat," he stated with a mulish expression. He would say no more, no matter how much his wife demanded. The plans Colonel Fitzwilliam made were between himself and Darcy.
"A better commander knows when to leave well enough alone," Anne reproved in a soft tone, moving her hand to cup his cheek. The act seemed so natural. "By acting so, he may stand to lose everything. Miss Bennet will not take well to being ignored."
"If there is no one she can speak with as to why Darcy's behaviour upsets her so," Richard stated calmly, "then she must beg him to rescind the promise she demanded. Miss Bennet is as stubborn as you, my dearest, and refuses to see what is before her."
"You have our cousin playing a dangerous game," Anne remarked. However, she could see the advantage of using the young woman's insecurities against her. "Miss Bennet may decide he is not worth the trouble. It will be easy to break an engagement not yet publicly acknowledged. It will forever scar William after the loss of his parents."
"He stands to gain more than he will lose," Richard announced, hardening his heart and removing her palm. The touch distracted him.
"You are assuming she loves him," Anne scolded. "While it is obvious Miss Bennet has come to see Darcy in a prudential light, I cannot discern more than a growing affection on her side and only because he demonstrates his true nature. She has yet to reconcile his more proud and unsocial disposition."
"Come, Anne, you have seen them together," Richard argued. "Even Mrs. Collins expects an announcement. I saw it in her eyes yesterday evening."
"It does not follow that Miss Bennet will react the way you wish her too," she returned with more than a little anger.
"I see you are displeased with my interference," Richard once again went to pull away. They had not said a word to each other in anger before this night. Indeed he had attempted to remain placid and indifferent to his wife for fear of scaring her. Anne, it appeared had more backbone than anyone had given her credit for.
"I see the logic of it," she clutched at his lapels, forcing him to remain close, "even if I don't agree with the method you have employed. As to the outcome, only time will tell."
"I am hopeful we will soon see a resolution," Richard once again chose to brush Anne's lips. He had been gentle and patient with her. He expected to continue his cautious caresses for some time yet, believing Anne not strong enough at the moment to risk becoming with child. He would have to wait to lead her to the marriage bed, a fact that became harder to resolve as each day passed.
"You must have been some officer, Husband," she grinned up at him. This time she took the advantage and pulled Richard in for an unexpected caress. He reacted without thinking, forcing her mouth open to accept and deepen the kiss. "Now you have completely resigned your commission, it is time we worked on creating an heir," Anne found herself sounding breathless when they finally broke apart. "I will leave my door open this evening and expect you to come to me."
"Anne," Richard almost whined. After that intimacy, his mind imagined many more he would one day share with his still fragile wife. "We have discussed this. You have lived under your mother's domination for many years. I want you completely well before we attempt to produce an heir."
"I am well," she stated softly.
"It has scarce been a fortnight," Richard protested. He felt himself losing this battle as Anne moved closer. "Listen to me, I have waged war against an enemy and see the cost for those caught in the cross fire. You are battled scared and need time to regroup. When you are at full strength, we will attempt a real marriage."
"The war with my mother will never be complete until she no longer lives or I pass," Anne responded reasonably. "You know it as much as I. Why wait? I am ready Richard. I have been ready for two years as I conceived and then put into practice a daring plan to take back my future. I cannot stand another night of you walking away from me as you did two evenings past."
"What," he spat, suddenly needing space. Taking her hands, Richard removed them from his jacket. "What do you know of the marriage bed, Anne, or a man's needs? I do not see Lady Catherine improving your knowledge in that arena."
"Yet another reason I chose you," she stated reasonably, shadowing his footsteps. "I am sure you will be an adequate teacher."
"Do not tease me, Anne, for I have wanted you for longer than I care to remember," he confessed in a tight voice filled with supressed longing.
"Truly," she seemed completely taken by surprise.
"Yes," Richard hissed. "Darcy knew. That is why he acquiesced to your scheme so easily."
"Dawson," Anne summoned her maid from the dressing room. She had preceded the couple along with Richard's valet when they moved to leave the parlour and retire for the night.
"Yes, ma'am," the girl quickly attended her mistress, expecting to help her to bed.
"I will not need you further tonight. My husband will help me undress," Anne managed to keep a straight face. She at least did not care who knew this to be a complete marriage. Indeed, letting the staff understand the situation would move the loyalty for the last few servants worried that Lady Catherine would somehow snatch the reigns back.
"Yes, ma'am," the shocked servant hurried to the door.
"Dawson," Anne spoke before she could turn the nob and make her escape though the servant's entrance.
"Yes ma'am," the girl looked over her shoulder.
"Please inform my husband's valet that he will not be needed this evening either."
"Will that be all, ma'am," Daisy Dawson looked horrified now.
"We will call you when you are next needed," Anne stated easily. "Do not be alarmed if it is very late in the morning."
Unable to answer, the maid fled. Richard swallowed. Something else he had learnt about Mrs. Anne Fitzwilliam, she would go to any lengths to achieve her goal. Patience, it seemed, was another of his wife's questionable traits. Her cunning, she inherited from her mother. Combining these, Anne had become a force to be reckoned with and a worthy accompaniment to his life.
~~ooOOoo~~
In London, on Grosvenor Square, the Hurst's and Bingley's sat in the parlour after dinner. The home belonged to Hurst in name only, at least for the moment. He had gambled the last of his cash reserves soon after marrying. A fact he'd managed to keep from the wagging tongues of the town until their sudden return from Hertfordshire. That became the reason the Hurst's joined Bingley in an out of the way country estate. They now lived on the interest from Louisa's dowry, supplemented by Mr. Charles Bingley. Within a month the funds which should have been used to purchase an estate would line the pockets of Mr. Hurst's creditors. In return Charles Bingley would own a town house he did not want.
Left with only a small estate in the north, Hurst and his wife would soon be exiled to live a life on less than three thousand pounds per annum. James Hurst would learn to become a farmer or lose the remainder of his inheritance. Caroline had been shocked at the sudden and unexpected change in fortune of her sister. Unwilling to share in Louisa's downfall, it revealed a side of the woman Charles Bingley knew to be present, but not in this quantity. All but ignoring Louisa in her time of need, Miss Bingley turned to her acquaintances for companionship.
Mr. Bingley began to question Caroline's motives in all things after this display of ill breeding. She'd never been an easy person to live with. Her graces and airs long ago acquired to cover her broken heart. Charles tried his best to make up for the early loss of her mother. Alwin Bingley had not waited the entire mourning period before taking a second wife. Within a year Charles had been born giving him the son he so desperately craved. Caroline and Louisa became pushed aside in their father's estimation.
Gregarious and easy going by nature, young Charles accepted the care and responsibility for his sisters until they married when his father passed away three years ago. Indeed he'd given them every opportunity to make suitable matches. Caroline had refused every prospect, her eyes only on his friend, Darcy, until just recently.
Mr. Bingley began to question Caroline's motives for her sudden removal from Netherfield and need to remain in town throughout the winter. Most of those in the highest circles departed London for their country seats in the cooler months. First suspecting her purpose in December, he'd seen Darcy put her down severely. Although done in a quiet corner, Caroline had goaded him into it. To everyone else, Darcy disinterest in Miss Bingley had been obvious. At the time Charles had been too wrapped up in his Angel to notice the attentions of his friend towards Miss Elizabeth. Even on that December evening, he'd been pining for Jane, hoping she would contact his sister with news of her situation. Unable to account for her lack of communication with Caroline, Charles now saw the denial of correspondence for his sister's avoidance of the truth. She'd cut Jane as surely has she'd cut her sister in her time of need.
"What," Bingley chose to break the oppressive silence in the room, "are your plans for tomorrow, Caroline?"
"I have been invited to dine with Mrs. Huston," she said, her tone waspish.
"Ah," he answered. "Are you to take Louisa?"
"Most defiantly not," she almost spat the words even though her sister sat less than three feet away and cringed at the harsh words.
The insinuation could not be clearer. Louisa could no longer be considered a suitable companion due to her reduced situation in life. Caroline had severed the relationship with her own sister in spite of her misfortune. Charles needed to step carefully to gain the information he'd long suspected, that she'd ignored Miss Jane Bennet's friendship in the same way.
"I am considering reopening Netherfield," Charles stated cautiously. "I cannot remember a happier time than those few months we spent in Hertfordshire."
"I am shocked," Caroline, believing the danger to be long passed, stated in a superior tone. "The society was confined and unvarying. Really, Charles, why would you want to leave town for that country savagery?"
Hurst looked like he wanted to add to the conversation. However, with Bingley reducing his daily allowance of wine, the man knew when to keep his mouth shut. Louisa seemed close to tears. She could see her life dwindling away to something resembling that of the Bennet's.
"I though you enjoyed the company of the eldest Miss Bennet?" Charles challenged in a soft voice. "I remember you once saying you would like to know her better."
"What else did you expect me to say," Caroline huffed, rose from her seat and flounced around the room, "when the choice of acquaintances was of little consequence or quality. The woman's uncle is in trade and her relations vulgar. Did you expect me to enjoy her company and rejoice in her companionship? I accepted the best of a rotten casket."
Anger simmering below the surface, Charles Bingley gave a noncommittal grunt. He would have to think on Caroline's future. Before that, he needed to see Darcy, who he knew would soon return from Kent. Once before his friend gave him sound advice and Bingley needed an impartial ear now more than ever.
I shall call tomorrow to Leighwood, he determined. Perhaps I will ask about the conversation with Caroline all those months ago. She has become more spiteful and unpleasant in the months that followed. I despair of every being rid of her. What sensible man would have her? Then again, Caroline is not after a sensible man, just one with endless coffers and influence. Perhaps Darcy can advise me in this as well. I have not done well on my own, trying to marry her off these last months and make her someone else's problem. I need to see her settled. Maybe then I can turn my attentions back to Netherfield and regaining the friendship of my nearest neighbours.