Today is the day for consequences, I hope you enjoy.
Chapter Nineteen
"Lizzy! Mama!" As soon as they stepped through Netherfield's front door Mrs Bennet and Elizabeth were surrounded and embraced by Jane, Catherine and Lydia. Seeing Miss Darcy standing shyly next to her brother, Elizabeth held her hand out to the girl and pulled her into the throng of women, whispering in her ear: "I need all my sisters, Georgiana."
"Come, come, girls." Lady Catherine soon took control of the situation. "I suspect Mrs Bennet wishes to see Miss Mary now. We will wait for her in Mrs Bingley's comfortable parlour and we'll deal with introductions then. Come, girls!"
Jane chuckled and let her sisters and the Darcy siblings to the sitting room right behind her ladyship.
"Elizabeth!" Lady Catherine ordered, "Come, sit here on my left with Georgiana. Darcy you can stay over there with Mr Bingley; I will not have you distracting any of my nieces when I want to speak to them. Mrs Bingley, I asked your housekeeper for a fresh pot of tea, and some coffee for the gentlemen."
Despite her lack of tact or genuine authority in a house she had invaded without ever being invited, Lady Catherine got everyone arranged exactly as she wished as was her habit.
"Now, Miss Catherine has explained all the happenings of the day up to the moment she and Miss Lydia accompanied their sister here. Darcy, Elizabeth, can one of you complete the tale for the last half hour you were in that house so that we are all caught up by the time Mrs Bennet returns? We will have some serious decisions to make."
Darcy complied with Elizabeth, who sat between Lydia and Georgiana, holding both their hands, adding a few contextual details when required.
Lady Catherine nodded. "So one of them is out of the way. I too would have wished for a more severe punishment for the rake, but having briefly met Miss Mary, I believe you were correct, Elizabeth."
A tired-looking Mrs Bennet rejoined the company and Darcy performed the introductions.
"Mrs Bennet, will you sit here on my right? How is the child?" Lady Catherine spoke gently.
Mrs Bennet sighed. "She was falling asleep as I left. Miss Darcy, thank you for sending Mrs Annesley to sit with my Mary." Elizabeth squeezed Georgiana's hand while her mother continued. "I think she will be well tonight; it is tomorrow and the next few days that worry me more. Lizzy, my love, will you share her room here as you did in Longbourn?"
"Of course, Mama. Perhaps we can ask Uncle Edward to take Mary to London once she is better. I do not think she will want to return to Longbourn even with Mr Goulding away for good."
Lady Catherine interjected again. "None of you will return to that place until Mr Bennet has been properly dealt with. Mrs Bennet, all present here know of the events of today, although I suspect the gentlemen and I only know a much-sanitised version of all the happenings of even the past few weeks. We have much to discuss, but let me be perfectly understood: Elizabeth is now my niece, whether the marriage has taken place or not. Your daughters are therefore part of the powerful Fitzwilliam clan and I will not accept any mistreatment to be brought upon any of them. That man will soon know that I am not to be trifled with!"
Darcy smiled grimly. "Thank you, aunt. I have been thinking about what can be done, and I believe we will need to involve Sir William as the magistrate in the solution, and Mr Phillips should also be included."
Lady Catherine frowned. "I have met Sir William in Kent, although he did not seem as clever as Mrs Collins; but I am ready to consider I might have underestimated the man. I do not know this Mr Phillips. Who is he? Can he be trusted?"
Elizabeth answered before her mother had time to decide whether to be offended or not. "Our Uncle Phillips is Meryton's main solicitor, and he is an excellent one too. Aunt Phillips is Mama's sister, they both know everything about our family. Sir William's joviality and trivial discourse hide his sharp intellect. It was not by accident that he was chosen as mayor many years ago, or as magistrate now."
Lady Catherine raised an eyebrow. "You have an uncle in the law, do you? That indeed could be advantageous. It is a good gentleman's profession, but not many are clever enough to truly excel at it. Mr Bingley, you will invite both men for breakfast tomorrow so that we can decide what to do with Mr Bennet once and for all."
Taken aback slightly at being ordered around in his own home, Bingley acquiesced, shook his head in wonder and left the room to write and dispatch the invitations.
"Good, very good. We can resolve everything in the morning. Mrs Bennet, we will not talk about that man any further tonight, but you and I have a wedding to start planning, and we will not have much time. Darcy, find us some paper and pens so we can start a list of all that must be done. It must be a wedding worthy of being talked about for years, and we must have the right people present and it must be perfect for Elizabeth's sake; I am most attentive to these things you know."
Fanny Bennet could not prevent a laugh from escaping her at the contrast between Lady Catherine's authoritative manners and her loving attentions towards Darcy and Elizabeth.
Darcy led Elizabeth outside to enjoy a few private moments.
"Will you tell me how you truly feel, Elizabeth?" Darcy asked gently.
Elizabeth sighed. "I do not know how to feel, my love. I provoked him, hoping he would make a mistake and reveal his plans. If I had only waited patiently for June, he would not have acted so rashly. I put Mary in danger because of my impatience. His attacks were harmless until my defiance pushed him further towards cruelty."
Darcy stopped their progress and lifted her face towards his. "No, Elizabeth, none of this is your fault. His abuse was not harmless; do you not see how your father's actions and constant criticism have affected you? Your mother, your sisters, all of you have been living in shadows, hiding who you were for so long; it had to stop. You are clever and beautiful, you are not destined to forever live a lonely and unhappy life to placate the monster your mother was forced to marry. With your birthday less than two months away, and my continued presence at Netherfield, he was going to act no matter how you behaved. Do you blame me for remaining, yet not doing more to protect you?"
"No!" Elizabeth exclaimed, "I wished for you to be close by, even if I could not see you. And the guards you left with us saved Mary, how could I blame you?"
"Do you see then? If you can absolve me, you bear none of the guilt either. The fault is entirely Mr Bennet's, although Mr Goulding Junior should shoulder some blame too as his accomplice." Disregarding propriety, he took her once more in his arms. "I believe most of the occupants of Netherfield Park today entertain similar thoughts and wonder what they should have done, you know. Bingley does, that is why he is meekly obeying Aunt Catherine and I suspect his tender-hearted wife feels guilty about leaving Longbourn altogether. I cannot start to imagine what Mrs Bennet must feel. We must all learn to apportion the blame correctly, and none of it should fall on the residents of this house; you least of all."
"Thank you, my darling, dashing hero," Elizabeth answered. "What would I be without you to take care of me and chase away dark clouds?"
Darcy chuckled. "Teasing me, my love? I suppose I must accept this as a sign and act on it immediately. Come, let us go back and share some of our bountiful newfound wisdom with everyone."
Mary had been sleeping when Elizabeth retired for the night. The sun was barely up when Elizabeth woke to find her sister silently staring at the ceiling.
"Good morning, Mary dearest. Do you wish to talk this morning?"
"What will happen to him, Lizzy? Mr Goulding I mean, what did Sir William decide?"
Elizabeth took Mary's hand. "Sir William gave us a choice, and I tried to answer as you would have. His father offered to send him away to Ireland, to work hard on a cousin's farm and never to come back to Hertfordshire; the other option was a trial, with deportation being the likely result of a conviction. I was angry, Mary, so very angry at him, I wanted him to truly feel fear, terror even, to suffer for what he meant to do. But then I realised that your tender heart would not want what my rage dictated. Mr Goulding Junior will leave today and reach Ireland within two weeks; Haye Park will go to his younger brother, this will be punishment enough I suppose. I hope I chose correctly, dearest."
Mary turned to snuggle in Elizabeth's arms. "Thank you, Lizzy. I am angry too you know, and scared still, but deportation is so harsh, and so few survive the journey. I was not harmed as much as I could have been and I will be well if I never see him again; his family can heal knowing he will be safe even if far away; I do not blame them you know, they are good people."
"Not as good as my little sister," Elizabeth said.
"I am not so very good, Lizzy. I can forgive Mr Goulding, but not our father. Never. I will not go back to Longbourn. I do not care where I end up, as long as it is far from him."
"We will deal with him today, dearest, but I promise you that William will never let him hurt you or any of my sisters. Indeed Lady Catherine is ready to use all the powers of her noble family to help her; we are not alone anymore, Mary."
The four younger girls and Mrs Annesley retreated to the music room after breakfast, while Lady Catherine De Bourgh presided over the discussions and planning against Mr Bennet.
It took over an hour to decide who would confront Mr Bennet and another hour for Mr Phillips to prepare the required documents. At last, Sir William left Netherfield Park in the company of Mr Phillips, Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy; while the knight would lead the attack, the other three gentlemen would act as witnesses.
As soon as Mr Hill closed the door to the library, Bennet started complaining. "What do you all want? And what is that man doing here? I have told him he is not welcome in my home, nor is he allowed to see Lizzy."
"Have you not noticed that your wife and daughters left yesterday?" Bingley blurted out, confused.
Concerned about the failure of his plans, Bennet had remained in his library until the middle of the night the previous day and the absence of the ladies had indeed escaped his notice. "You will send them back immediately, they will no longer visit Netherfield Park if you feel you have the right to remove them from my care without my knowledge. Lizzy at least knew she was not allowed to leave Longbourn."
Sir William had reached the end of his patience. "Enough, Bennet, do not waste our time with your pointless bluster. None of the girls will ever set foot in Longbourn again while you remain the master here. Do you believe us blind to your disgusting actions? The Goulding boy has told us everything in a desperate attempt to reduce his punishment. I am not here to listen to your pathetic excuses, but to tell you what will happen to you."
Never having seen the placid and cheerful Sir William angry before, Darcy and Bingley were simultaneously shocked and impressed.
The Knight was not done yet. "Phillips here has some papers for you to sign, and you will sign here and now, with us as witnesses, or as magistrate for these parts, I will arrest you for what you attempted yesterday. You will not face deportation as young Goulding will but with dozens of your neighbours adding their words to that of the witnesses, we should be able to put you away for several years, enough for all of the girls to come of age and be free of your influence."
Bennet had turned pale and small beads of sweat were appearing on his forehead. "You would get James Goulding deported?"
"To protect the girls? Certainly. Do you forget that I still have unmarried daughters? I will not allow that disgusting numbskull to remain anywhere he might encounter my Maria or any of her friends alone." Bennet did not know that thanks to Elizabeth, Goulding would not be tried but banished, and the resulting sickly green colour of his face was satisfying.
"I will not pursue the charges against you if you sign the legal documents transferring the guardianship of your four remaining daughters to their Uncle Phillips here immediately. Once this is done, you will have two choices, and I do not care which one you go with." He paused while Mr Phillips laid out the documents in front of Bennet and showed him where to sign each page. Once Bingley, Darcy and himself had countersigned as witnesses, the documents were sanded before quickly disappearing in Mr Phillips' inside coat pocket and Sir William continued.
"Your choices now; first, you can remain the uncontested master of Longbourn, as the law allows you to be. I must warn you that unless you already have significant savings, this will not be an easy option, as you will have no tenants, servants or income to speak of; you know this is not an idle threat, you were warned many weeks ago. Your only other choice, for there will be no negotiation or bargaining, will be for you to invite your heir to take charge of the estate now. You will move to the little cottage you intended for our Eliza, with your books, your port and your cigars, and Mr Collins will provide you with an income. It will be reduced from what you currently get, but it will be sufficient for you to keep a couple of servants in your cottage. I wanted to restrict you to the equivalent of the interest of Mrs Bennet's dowry, but your family is more generous and believes the estate can afford to give you twice as much, four hundred pounds per annum."
Sir William stood still and silent, letting the import of his words sink into Bennet's consciousness. He was enjoying the changing emotions playing on his former friend's face.
At last, he grinned, a far more vicious grin than anyone present had ever seen on his face. "Personally I hope to see you choose your pride and witness your downfall. I did not like giving you such a generous escape route after the cruelty you displayed, but as I was overruled, Phillips has prepared the legal settlements for the second option. Unless you are already decided, we will leave you and return on the morrow to hear what you wish for."
After all these long years of believing himself superior in every way to the rest of his family, Bennet was at last defeated; he had no wish to attempt to save his estate against the whole town. "I will sign the papers. Will Fanny return?" He asked in a low, shaky voice.
Mr Phillips replied as he handed the second set of papers to be signed. "No, my sister will not return, and I would be grateful if you did not try to force your presence upon her. You never appreciated what a sweet, caring woman you wed; you do not deserve her help or support now."
Bennet only nodded and said no other words as the last few signatures were added and the four men departed.
"Well done, Sir William. I did not think Bennet would sign everything today, if ever." Mr Phillips was immensely relieved. "Not only are the girls safe, but Longbourn and its people will be under the Collinses' protection before Bennet has a chance to ruin the estate. Very well done indeed."
Sir William looked a little embarrassed. "I have not been that angry for many years, but I am glad this is done. Now, Mr Darcy, I was surprised you remained silent and did not confront him."
Darcy breathed deeply before answering. "I could not talk to him; I could not talk at all as I was barely keeping the rage I felt just being in his presence under control. I know that Elizabeth would not want me to behave in such an ungentlemanly manner or I would have beaten that man black and blue."
Mr Phillips smiled at him. "I have wished to rain violence on Thomas often enough. But as Elizabeth's guardian now," he patted his coat where the signed documents were, "I would prefer to forget him altogether. I believe you have a question to ask me, young man."
Darcy looked at his future uncle. "I thought such requests were usually made in private, Mr Phillips. But indeed, I do want to ask for your blessing. Will you grant me the hand of your niece and ward, Miss Elizabeth Bennet, in marriage?"
"Straight and to the point, I like it. Yes, my boy, I will go to London tomorrow to file the documents regarding the girls' guardianship with the courts there. When I come back, I will very happily sign a common licence, so that you can be married within a week."
"Thank you, sir, I would like to offer this carriage and my coachman for your journey tomorrow," Darcy answered with a wide smile.
"Capital," Sir William was rubbing his hands, "If you allow me, Mr Darcy, I will tell my daughter, so that she can travel Hertfordshire immediately; Charlotte will not want to miss Eliza's nuptials."
"No indeed, Sir, both Elizabeth and I want to have your daughter and her husband here with us, especially as we became engaged while she stayed at the Hunsford parsonage."
"I need Collins to sign a few papers too in any case, so he should be summoned as soon as he can arrange for help at his parish." Mr Phillips added.
"Bingley, a word please." Darcy sounded angry, yet Bingley could not imagine why his friend would be angry at him.
He followed Darcy into the library and, rather worried, asked. "How can I help you?"
"Will you not apologise then?" Darcy was frowning and Bingley was confused.
"What should I be apologising for? Did I do anything that upset Miss Darcy or perhaps Lady Catherine?"
Darcy snorted. "Upsetting Lady Catherine? The problem is that since she arrived, you have sided with my aunt on far too many occasions when she behaves abominably. She has been rude, overbearing and condescending, yet neither of us has done a thing to rein her in. I am utterly disgusted by my apathy, which I justified at the time by a dislike of condemning family, but what is your excuse? Why did you not tell me how autocratic my aunt was with Mrs Bingley, while I was distracted by my growing affection with Miss Bennet? Why are you obeying Lady Catherine when your wife should be in charge?"
Finally recognising in Darcy's words and manners his own speech of many months prior, in that same room, as he had taken his friend to task over his early interactions with the population of Hertfordshire, Bingley burst into peals of laughter.
"Good Lord, Darcy, you really had me worried for a moment." Bingley dropped on a chair as he got his mirth under control. "I suppose I do indeed owe you an apology, it was unreasonable to ask you to control my sisters when I could not."
Darcy poured two glasses of spirit before sitting opposite his friend. "I was so shocked to hear of Elizabeth's dislike at the time, I did not react to your words, but this was too good an opportunity and I had to get my revenge."
"Well, Elizabeth is certainly less set against you now," Bingley answered. "Isn't it strange how much everything has changed in only six months? When I lashed out at you, I was desperate, thinking I had lost Jane, and now we are married, very happily married at that. Louisa has become more assertive, Hurst rarely drinks and Caroline is hunting the merchant class for a husband. And for you, Fitzwilliam is no longer a soldier, Lady Catherine is staying in a tradesman's house and in a week or so, you will officially be my brother. So much change for only a half year."
"Brother to a tradesman, how the shades of Pemberley will be polluted by such association!" Darcy uttered in his most disdainful voice, before returning Bingley's smile. "Most of these changes were long overdue, my friend. I cannot wait to take Elizabeth home, but we still have much to discuss and decide before I do so. Still I suppose having you for a brother will be tolerable."
