Chapter 6: August 1814
Lizzy was hot and tired. Redecorating the baby's room was a harder task than she had anticipated. She was surrounded with fabrics to choose from for the curtains and linens. There was an unbearable stuffiness in the room and she went to the open window to try and find a breeze in the early August heat, but there was none.
She was definitely showing now and was beginning to feel the baby move more often, a sensation that sent shivers of excitement down her back.
As she watched the road idly, she saw a carriage appear from among the trees, now with full summer foliage, along the drive.
Darcy had been in London on business for a week and was expected home tomorrow morning. For a moment she thought it might be him, returned early, but the coach was not his.
"Who can that be?" she wondered aloud, too tired to care much. It must be one of Darcy's business acquaintances, calling hours were long past, but he had not told her to expect anyone.
Suddenly, the realization struck her that she had told Mrs. Reynolds to make a very simple dinner, since Darcy was from home and only she and Georgiana would be eating.
Now, a slight panic seized her, and she hurried to her room to straighten her hair and gown, still hoping that the person would leave when they heard her husband was away.
Martha straightened her mistress' dress and had begun to try and fix the mess of curls that Lizzy's hair had become during the afternoon when a rap sounded at the door.
"Come in!" Lizzy called.
Mrs. Reynolds entered and stood stiffly. "Lady Catherine de Bourgh has arrived Ma'am."
Lizzy stared at her stupidly. "You must be mistaken," she said. "Lady Catherine here? Fitzwilliam did not tell me to expect her…" she faltered.
"I have seen her ladyship many times Mrs. Darcy and I assure you it is her."
Lizzy was aghast. Of all the days in the year for Lady Catherine to come this was surely the worst, with Fitzwilliam away, no suitable dinner and she herself in such a state. But go down she must, out of common civility, even if her ladyship had not been a relative, come so far. She wondered if Darcy had invited his aunt and received a reply which he had somehow forgotten to mention. In her already agitated state of mind, Elizabeth felt that such an omission was quite unforgivable.
"Thank you, Mrs. Reynolds," Lizzy managed to say. "Please tell Lady Catherine I shall wait upon her directly and please have Miss Darcy fetched from the garden. Is there any chance of getting some more meat for tonight?" she asked, trying to keep her voice calm.
Mrs. Reynolds looked sympathetic. "I'll see what I can do Mrs. Darcy. And don't distress yourself Ma'am. It's not good for you or the babe."
Elizabeth smiled weakly, reminded of yet another slightly awkward aspect of her situation.
After descending the stairs, Elizabeth loitered about in the hall for a good three minutes, hoping Georgiana would appear before she was obliged to go in to the sitting room. She soon realized that, even if Georgiana were quickly found, she would still have to tidy herself from her walk and would likely be a quarter of an hour.
Elizabeth knew she was being cowardly. If she could not make Lady Catherine welcome, the breach between aunt and nephew might never be healed. She straightened her shoulders and opened the sitting room door.
Lady Catherine sat with her back to the door, rigid as a statue. Elizabeth crossed the room boldly and stood before her Ladyship for the first time since that fateful interview at Longbourn.
"I am honored Lady Catherine," she began.
"Do not try to cajole me Mrs. Darcy," interrupted Lady Catherine, spitting the last two words out as if they left a bitter taste in her mouth. "I wish to see my nephew."
"Mr. Darcy is in London your ladyship. He is expected home tomorrow morning."
"Hmph." Lady Catherine scowled. "He spends much of his time there does he?"
"On the contrary Ma'am. This is his first trip to Town since I have been living at Pemberley."
The elder woman sniffed again. "Where is my niece?"
"In the garden Ma'am, I have sent a servant to find her and she should be in directly.
Elizabeth was about to ask if she might sit but then remembered that this was her own house and she could do as she liked. She crossed towards a chair near her guest. As she observed Elizabeth's profile, Lady Catherine looked startled.
"Tell me Mrs. Darcy," she said commandingly. "For I will know. Are you expecting a child?"
Elizabeth blushed and said angrily, "That is a very impertinent question your ladyship and one which I may refuse to answer."
"Do not start with me in this way again Miss Ben… Mrs. Darcy," said Lady Catherine raising her voice and then finishing more uncertainly after her blunder.
Elizabeth was fully insulted, but for Fitzwilliam's sake, no matter how cross she might be with him at the moment, she tried to be calm. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The she rose from her seat and began to speak coolly and quietly, and with as much respect as she could command.
She said, "Your Ladyship has come a great way and must be tired. May I have you shown to a guest chamber and have the pleasure of your company again at dinner?"
Lady Catherine appeared to soften a little at her tone. "Very well," she conceded. "But I intend to stay and see my nephew."
"He will be glad to see you when he returns," Lizzy said evenly. She curtsied, and Lady Catherine inclined her head a fraction of an inch and swept from the room. Lizzy followed her and summoned a maid to show her ladyship to her room.
As soon as Lady Catherine was out of sight Lizzy fell back against the wall, white as a sheet.
Georgiana found her there a few moments later. "Elizabeth!" she cried in alarm, "Are you alright?"
Lizzy had to laugh in spite of herself. "No, Georgiana, I am afraid I have been severely traumatized," she said, smiling at her sister's anxious face. "Lady Catherine has been giving me her usual treatment and I find it hard indeed to be civil in return. However I daresay all will be well at dinner with you there to take the barb from her ladyship's tongue with your dutiful compliance to all her recommendations. Let us speak no more about it."
"Fitzwilliam would be very angry if he knew Lady Catherine had been rude to you," Georgiana put in indignantly.
Lizzy said earnestly, "I would appreciate it if you said nothing about it to him. If Lady Catherine is ever to accept me she must not be driven away now. I shall never have any peace, when forced to be in her presence, with her current attitude."
"Very well," said Georgiana. "Although I think he would be angry that you didn't tell him."
"That makes two of us," Lizzy thought to herself. Aloud she said, "Hurry and dress yourself for dinner now." Then, feeling very wicked indeed, she mimicked Mr. Collin's voice, for her own benefit, since her companion had never met the man. "I cannot begin to count the occasions on which her ladyship has impressed upon me the sovereign importance of punctuality."
Dinner passed, at Elizabeth had predicted, without too much unpleasantness. Mrs. Reynolds had managed to put together a respectable meal, nothing fancy but nothing of which one need be ashamed.
Lady Catherine talked to Georgiana about her studies and her coming out when she turned eighteen and Georgiana answered with timid monosyllables. Elizabeth was for the most part ignored, which suited her just fine at the moment. She smiled encouragingly at Georgiana occasionally, but did not offer anything to the conversation. Anything she attempted to say would have been immediately rebuffed by her ladyship and Elizabeth had had enough of that for one day.
Claiming exhaustion, and really meaning it, Elizabeth excused herself directly after the meal and went to her rooms where she went to sleep with a few lonely and misunderstood tears still shining on the pillow.
Early next morning a sound from the courtyard woke Lizzy. Unable to stay in bed for thoughts of what the day might bring, Lizzy went to her window and stood there in her nightgown, looking out over the misty river and trees.
The door clicked behind her and a quick step sounded in the room. Lizzy turned, expecting the maid who lit the fires but instead found herself lifted in Fitzwilliam's arms with his lips pressed to hers. She gasped a little and then let him hold her, unable to resist him and not desiring to. He put her down, gently, and held her face in his hands.
"How I have missed you, my Lizzy," he said tenderly, stroking her cheek softly.
"And I you," she whispered, letting him draw her head to his chest. "Who knew a week could be so long?"
"I rode half the night since I couldn't bear to be away a moment longer than I had to. How are you Elizabeth? Has anything happened while I was gone?"
The remembrance of Lady Catherine's presence hit Lizzy like a sledgehammer.
"Yes!" she said petulantly, pulling away from him. "And I would like to know why you did not tell me to expect your aunt yesterday. She took me most by surprise."
"Lady Catherine? She is here?" He sounded so surprised that she suddenly felt guilty about her harsh tone. His next words fanned her spark of anger back to life. "My invitation was accepted then."
"You told her to come and didn't tell me. How could you?"
"Elizabeth," he sounded annoyed now. "There is no need for this. I told my aunt we would be happy to see her at Pemberley anytime and I have received no reply. I never thought she would come without writing first, although now that I think of it perhaps I misjudged her there. And as I recall, you knew I was going to write to her and so I see nothing which I have done that deserves such a reproach."
"But that was months ago. I had forgotten all about expecting her."
"I burnt my hands Lizzy. I was unable to write long letters with them for a month even though they were not compromised in other ways. I would not dictate such a private letter and as a result it was sent less than three weeks ago."
Lizzy lost arguments too infrequently not to know when she was in the wrong. She realized that she had turned her anger at Lady Catherine on her innocent husband and she was heartily ashamed. It was hard to admit it, but she made the effort, seeing that he was incensed now.
"I am sorry, Fitzwilliam. I forgot about your hands. Please forgive me, I was just so unprepared yesterday… and her arrival was quite a shock."
His annoyance changed into concern. "She was not unkind to you Elizabeth?"
She closed her eyes a moment and then, opening the, looked straight into his. "No," she said. "Not unkind, not kind mind you, but that could not be expected yet. You will try to seek her goodwill when you see her, and not quarrel again on my account won't you?"
"If you wish Lizzy."
"Oh, I am sorry," she said again. "What was I thinking?"
"Think no more of it," he said kindly. "It is done." He drew her to him again and she lifted her face and kissed him penitently. He returned the favor with interest, and then went to wash away the dust of the road before seeing his aunt.
A/N: How'd you all like this rather more angsty chapter? Do you want Darcy to make peace with his aunt or not?