By the time everyone had awoken, eaten breakfast, and gathered their things to go to Melbridge House, the morning had turned to midday. As the sun rose in the morning, the plans made the night before seemed much harder to keep, particularly when one was in a very comfortable guest room at Darcy House. It did not truly matter, for their destination was not far. The only reason for an early arrival was impatience to see how Mr. Witting did and for some of the Bennets to see Melbridge House for the first time.
"Are the gentlemen having other guests?" asked Lydia as she looked out the window of the carriage upon their arrival.
A large black carriage with a coat of arms emblazoned on the door stood in front of the house. A fine lady wearing a richly embroidered gown and carrying a walking stick was being handed down by a footman. Lord Barlow and Colonel Fitzwilliam stood nearby, coming forward to greet her as soon as her feet touched the ground.
"That is my aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh," said Mr. Darcy.
"Mr. Collins' patroness?" asked Lydia eagerly, for she was fascinated by the idea of meeting not just one great lady, but two.
When the other carriage was driven out of the way, the Darcy carriage moved forward to replace it. The footman opened the door, but was quickly shoved aside by Lady Catherine.
"Who are you? Where is my nephew?" Lady Catherine asked when she saw Elizabeth and Lydia first.
"Here, Aunt Catherine," said Mr. Darcy. "I cannot properly greet you, however, unless you allow my party to alight."
"They can move out of the way!" cried Lady Catherine. "Only you need alight, for then your carriages can take them on to wherever you are sending them to!"
"They are staying here, Aunt," said Lord Barlow.
"Here?" she asked with a sneer.
While this had all been going on, the Bennet carriage behind them had let down its passengers — Mr. Bennet, Mrs. Bennet, Jane, and Mary. Only Mr. Darcy, Jane, Elizabeth, and Lydia were trapped by Lady Catherine.
"Mr. Bennet, I am quite cold," said Mrs. Bennet in what she thought was a whisper, leaning closer against her husband.
"Indeed," said Colonel Fitzwilliam, trying to offer Lady Catherine his arm. "Let me take you inside. It is a cool day and I should not like for you or Anne to take a chill."
Only then did anyone notice the small young woman standing some ways behind everyone else, watching with interest but saying nothing. Lady Catherine resisted all attempts to urge her inside, but she was pulled away from the carriage enough to let it discharge its passengers.
"Which one of you is Elizabeth Bennet?" asked Lady Catherine when all were out of the carriage.
"I am," said Elizabeth.
"Aunt, let us not do this here. Let us go inside," said Darcy.
Lady Catherine protested, but Mr. Darcy, Lord Barlow, and Colonel Fitzwilliam were persistent. They would not leave guests standing out in the cold. Lord Barlow offered Darcy the use of his study, which he accepted with gratefulness. Darcy tried to convince Elizabeth to remain with her family, but she would not. She knew the scene was likely to be unpleasant, but she would not be left out. Her only anxiety was that of leaving her mother and younger sisters with Mr. Darcy's relations without her to temper their excesses.
"You can be at no loss, Nephew, to understand the reason of my journey hither. Your own heart, your own conscience, must tell you why I come," said her ladyship as soon as the door to the study was closed. Elizabeth noticed that she was not addressed at all, only Mr. Darcy.
"I would assume that you wish to bestow upon me and my betrothed your felicitations." Mr. Darcy drew Elizabeth closer to him and looped her arm around his.
"Your betrothed?" cried Lady Catherine. "You are betrothed to Anne!"
"I am not. I am betrothed to Miss Elizabeth Bennet."
Lady Catherine came towards them, holding her hand out to Mr. Darcy. "If there has been some compromise, some wretched plan that makes you bound to her, you can get out of it. These people, you need only offer them money."
Mr. Darcy drew himself up. "You forget yourself, madam. There was no compromise, and I am marrying Miss Elizabeth because I love her. That is what binds me to her."
"Love? Love is for the lower classes! Get a mistress if you wish for love. You will marry my daughter! It has been planned since your infancy!"
"I will never marry Anne," said Mr. Darcy. "I have told you this before. No betrothal papers have ever been shown to me. If you wish to bring a breach of promise suit forward, you may. It will only ruin Anne, though. I will marry Elizabeth and that is the end of it. You can give us your good wishes or not, it does not matter overly much to me."
Lady Catherine decided that, as she was having no success with her nephew, she would turn to Miss Elizabeth. "Do not expect to be noticed by his family or friends, if you wilfully act against the inclinations of all. You will be censured, slighted, and despised, by everyone connected with him. Your alliance will be a disgrace; your name will never even be mentioned by any of us."
"Am I not in Melbridge House now, with my family residing as guests of the viscount?" asked Elizabeth with a raised eyebrow.
"His father will put an end to that! You can be certain of it! Your arts and allurements might work on the young men, but my brother is wiser than they are."
"Even if what you say comes to pass, the wife of Mr. Darcy must have such extraordinary sources of happiness necessarily attached to her situation, that she could, upon the whole, have no cause to repine," replied Elizabeth.
Lady Catherine made to say something more, but Mr. Darcy prevented her by speaking first. "The announcement has been put in the papers and betrothal papers are currently being drawn up. There is nothing you can do to prevent my marrying whom I choose. If you wish to continue to be a part of my circle, I suggest you consider what you say next very carefully."
"Then I shall say nothing, but I will know how to act. Good day, Darcy," said his aunt.
She stormed from the room. Elizabeth and Darcy followed shortly behind. They caught only a glimpse of her as she dragged her daughter from the house, no doubt ready to make for Melbridge to enlist the help of her brother.
"You did not tell them that the Melbridges are on their way here," observed Elizabeth to Darcy.
"I did not. Let her waste a few days in travel. It is her own fault," he answered.
He pulled Elizabeth away from the corridor and into a room, the door clicking shut behind them. It was another study, but it held a distinctly feminine feel, with the walls adorned with paintings of gardens and the furniture upholstered with delicate floral fabrics. Before she had the chance to utter a word, he had already taken her in his arms and was kissing her. The kiss was unexpected, but the feeling of his lips on hers was so comforting that she returned it without hesitation.
Several minutes later, Darcy's lips broke away from hers, and he held her tight, their breathless chests pressing together. He delicately rested his head atop hers, occasionally planting gentle, loving kisses on her forehead.
"My family will love you, Elizabeth, and if they do not, I do not care," he whispered.
"I know, my love. Your aunt's words do not bother me." This was a lie. They had bothered Elizabeth a little, but she did not wish to worry Darcy.
"When will we marry?" asked Darcy. "Please tell me it will be soon."
"I suppose we ought to wait until Witting is well. It feels wrong for him to not be able to attend." Elizabeth tried to pull back so she could look at Darcy, but he would not let her, holding her closer.
"I do not wish to wait months, if it takes so long for him to recover," said Darcy with a sigh.
"Let us just see what happens in the coming weeks," said Elizabeth. "But we must return to the others, else they might send someone to look for us."
"Let them. The worst that can happen is we are made to marry sooner," said Darcy, as he kissed her again.
When they returned to the others, they found Lydia entertaining everyone with the story of her adventure hanging onto the back of the carriage and her subsequent gallop to Meryton. The way she described it was technically accurate but embellished in such a way that it might have been taken directly from a popular novel. Her audience, save one, was enraptured by her tale. The exception was that of Colonel Fitzwilliam, whose gaze was directed towards Jane. He was also the first to notice their arrival, as Jane's back was to the door.
Colonel Fitzwilliam stood, which made the others also take notice of them and likewise stand. Once they had taken their seats, an awkwardness fell upon the group that was resolved by Lydia saying, "I do not mean to disparage your relations, but gentlemen, you aunt seems most unpleasant. I hope she does not visit Pemberley often."
Jane gently scolded Lydia, but Colonel laughed, saying that Lady Catherine did not like to travel and made everyone come to her.
"Which we will not be doing, unless she apologises to Elizabeth," said Darcy firmly. "She was terribly rude, and I shall not have my wife disrespected."
"Very good," said Mr. Bennet with a smile.
Conversation continued pleasantly for some time. Elizabeth was not even embarrassed by her mother, who was struck silent by her great admiration of the viscount and colonel. She did gape at the house and whisper to her daughters about how much this or that might cost, but either the gentlemen did not hear or they pretended not to. Either way, the time until Mr. Witting was ready for visitors was passed together without many blushes by any except those caused by affection and attraction.