Author's Note: Please let me know if you see any inconsistencies or errors in the story. We are starting to wind down. I added a tiny bit to chapter 25 and updated it. Thank you to everyone who has pointed out errors; I have fixed them in my original text, but have not updated them on here yet. I will get to that eventually. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for all your feedback!
Chapter 26
The carriage bearing Lady Catherine, Mr Bennet, and Mr Collins arrived at Pemberley late in the afternoon three days after the newly married Darcys departed it. Similar to the way the butler at Darcy House had dismissed Lady Catherine, the butler at Pemberley refused the travellers' entry to the mansion, directing them to stay at the inn in Lambton if they wanted to remain.
Mr Reynolds, the Pemberley butler, confirmed that the Darcys had departed to London. "The Darcys left for London a few days ago," he stated matter-of-factly. He raised an eyebrow, adding, "If you were unaware, that is not my concern. Had you notified the master of your intention to visit, you would have known they were not here."
"What of my niece? Where is she?" Mr Bennet demanded.
"Who is your niece, sir? No strangers were with the Darcys; only the family was here for this trip. Lord and Lady Matlock did stay a night or two but departed for Matlock shortly after arriving," the butler responded before closing the door to the unwelcome guests, ignoring their protestations. If those in the carriage interpreted the butler's words to mean Mr and Miss Darcy instead of Mr and Mrs, he felt that was their own fault for not seeking clarification. The normally stoic butler grinned when he reported the interaction to his wife, the longtime housekeeper of Pemberley. The couple had known the master since he was a child and were pleased to see the man so happy he could nearly be called ebullient.
In the carriage following this, the three travellers were miserable. Lady Catherine was particularly irritable, snapping at both of the men who accompanied her, laying blame on them for every difficulty that arose on their way. It had been a wasted trip; every step of the way had been just one more pointless chase.
Mr Collins attempted to defend himself. "Your Ladyship, rest assured, we adhered to your instructions to the best of our ability. The information we received was rather ambiguous, and we exercised the utmost diligence in our quest to locate your nephew and my intended."
Lady Catherine, however, was not in the mood for excuses. "Diligence? You two have been nothing but disappointments on this journey. I should have undertaken this quest alone."
Mr Bennet, usually one to maintain a detached air, found himself growing annoyed. "Lady Catherine, we have done our best with the information we had. Blaming us will not change the fact that we still have no idea where your nephew or my niece is."
They had left London for Bath and spent two days searching for any sign of the Darcys, the Matlocks, Mr Elliott, or Miss Tomlinson. None were to be found, and no one had heard of them arriving in London. A friend of Lady Matlock's thought she heard the family might have intended to go to Bristol, not Bath, so the frustrated searchers made their way there.
"A wild goose chase, that is what this has been!" Lady Catherine exclaimed, frustration evident in her voice. "Bristol, Bath, and Gretna Green! I should have known better than to rely on either of you for such an important task."
A former classmate of Darcy's claimed to have received a letter from his old friend a few days ago stating his intention to take an heiress to Scotland to marry her there. They had grown tired of waiting on the guardian to agree, he reported, so they had used this trip with Lady Matlock to circumvent the guardian and would marry over the anvil.
Now tired, frustrated, and annoyed, Lady Catherine continued to snap at her companions for their not travelling straight to Scotland as she had intended from the start. She blamed them for their failure to discover their prey so far. As they embarked on the nearly week-long journey from Bristol to Gretna Green, Lady Catherine's sharp criticisms filled the carriage.
When they finally arrived at Gretna Green, they found no record of Fitzwilliam Darcy marrying anyone, nor did anyone recognize anyone of that man's description. Determined, Lady Catherine demanded her coachman to convey them to Pemberley as fast as they could manage it, but the weather slowed them down, and when a wheel broke, all three were jostled quite harshly. Lady Catherine had hurt her wrist when she used it to brace herself to prevent her from falling, and this event caused them to lose an entire day.
Once again thwarted, the frustration in the carriage reached a fever pitch as their journey continued, leaving them questioning the reliability of the information they had received and the purpose of their relentless pursuit. They found rooms at an inn in Lambton and would make haste to London on the morrow.
Darcy read the express from his butler with a small ironic smile on his face. "It seems, my love, that my aunt, your uncle, and his cousin have paid a visit to Pemberley. They arrived there, demanding entry the same day we arrived in London. From what Reynolds overheard, they have travelled all around the country in pursuit of us—Bath, Bristol, then all the way to Gretna, and have made each other quite miserable in the process. My aunt will be very displeased when they finally arrive in Town, but as we are married, there is nothing they will be able to do."
Elizabeth laughed as she read the letter over his shoulder. "Reynolds shut the door in their face just as Jacobs did here. Your aunt will not have appreciated being denied entrance at two of your homes as she sought to prevent you from making an 'improper' match with a 'penniless nobody'. Her vitriol will be something to see, from what you have said of the lady."
The image her words evoked caused Darcy to grimace. "I have little doubt of that. I will send a note to my uncle informing him of their imminent arrival in town. I am afraid we will need all the support we can muster."
His new wife laughed at the face he made. "She cannot be that bad, can she? Is she worse than Mrs Bennet?"
"In some ways, they are similar, but, yes, she is worse. She is used to deference due to her rank as the daughter of an earl. Truly, she is referred to as 'Lady' because of her birth; her husband was merely a baronet. She runs Rosings as something of a despot; everyone is expected to do as she commands. She wastes the money she earns from the estate on ostentatious decorations and furniture to display her wealth and status. Lady Catherine believes her status as the daughter of an earl entitles her to issue commands to anyone and everyone within her reach. Your cousin, the one your uncle wishes to force you to marry, is likely a toading fool who believes in her supremacy, that is, if he is like the others she had hired in the past."
"And my uncle believed he could force me to accept such a man?" Elizabeth shook her head in her dismay. "I am still amazed at learning of his plans for me and how he would have traded my future because he was too unwilling to change his own lifestyle of indolence for one of economy and diligence. I would have never agreed to his plans; surely, he must have realised that at some point."
"It is done, Elizabeth, and you never have to see your uncle again, most after we confront him about his theft of your funds."
"Will he keep my cousins from me if we do this? How will we prevent his actions from harming them? Mrs Bennet will allow the younger girls to ruin themselves if they are not careful, especially with the militia arriving in Hertfordshire."
"Elizabeth, we will do what we can; in fact, your Uncle Gardiner and I discussed the possibility of forcing Mr Bennet to surrender guardianship of the four girls to him as a part of his punishment. I have not had a chance to discuss his suggestion with you yet, but last night we spoke of that as an option. We will still make him pay the three thousand pounds but promise not to go after the full amount if he surrenders guardianship to me and Gardiner."
"Truly? Do you think he will agree?"
"Mrs Bennet might prove more difficult to convince, but, yes, he intends to propose this to him as a way to prevent us from making a further claim. We have only barely scraped the surface of what he likely owes, having spent so much time investigating other matters, and, of course, getting ourselves married." He waggled his eyebrows at her, causing her to laugh.
"Yes, this conversation has become far too serious. We are alone, and you are much too far away ..." her voice trailed off as Darcy jumped up from where he sat and moved to snatch his wife out of her chair.
"Well, then, my impertinent wife, let us remedy that situation immediately," he said huskily before capturing her lips for a kiss that left them both breathless when it ended some minutes later.
The note eventually was sent to the Matlocks informing them of the expected arrival of the objectors in the next day or two. This was not unexpected, as the Matlocks had also received regular reports through Colonel Fitzwilliam from those who were following their carriage around England. A return note suggested they all meet the next morning to form a battle plan.
Quite a few people gathered in the drawing room at Matlock House the next morning. Mr Elliott, Lord and Lady Matlock, the Gardiners, Colonel Fitzwilliam, the bodyguards, were all waiting when the Darcys arrived a little later than the agreed-upon time. The colonel teased his normally prompt cousin, who had developed a bad habit of arriving late to nearly everything since marrying his comely wife.
"Cousin, whatever has delayed my fastidious cousin on this morning. Since you have arrived back in London, you have been late to every gathering we have had. Whatever could be the cause?" the colonel asked, his eyes sparkling as he noted the tip of his cousin's ears turning read. Fortunately, he did not ask where Georgiana could hear him, but Elizabeth's eyes went wide, and she coloured as well before walking away to join her aunt.
"None of your business, Jonathan. It is simply that there are two of us to get ready for most events and that takes a bit longer. You are not married, nor are you likely to ever be since you speak better of your horses than I have ever heard you speak of a woman. Women take longer to dress."
"I have noticed that with my mother, but that is why she typically begins getting ready before my father. Perhaps you should encourage your wife to do the same?" he jibed.
Darcy gave his cousin a dark look. "Enough, Fitz." he countered, knowing that his cousin hated the diminutive of his surname.
"Boys, that is enough from the both of you," Lord Matlock stated authoritatively. "Jonathan, you will not get the response you are hoping for from your cousin, so I suggest you drop it. And Darcy, well, I am glad you are happily married but do attempt to be on time occasionally. This is an important conference, and we need everyone's input. We do not have time for this nonsense."
They all settled down, and Fitzwilliam recounted what they knew, including the latest update that informed them the de Bourgh carriage had stopped for the night not far from Hertfordshire. "I believe the skirmish may take place this afternoon."
"Skirmish?" Elizabeth questioned. "Are you expecting us to meet on the field of honour with swords and muskets?"
Fitzwilliam laughed. "Not quite, but I expect it to be fairly minor in the end. Lady Catherine will bluster, but ultimately, she will be forced to leave without achieving her goal. The marriage is already done; none of the parties who will arrive today will be able to put an end to it. Oh, and the problem with Wickham has been fully resolved now."
Darcy looked at him, surprised. "You pulled it off?"
"I did," the colonel replied with a cheeky grin.
Author's Note:Don't worry! I'll have the next paragraph up pretty soon!
