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Chapter Thirty-Four Posted on Friday, 12 July 2002
WARNING: This section contains shameless pilfering from the text! :)
That next morning, Mrs. Bennet, Elizabeth and Kitty were sitting in the dining room. Mary was practicing her pianoforte lessons upstairs and Lydia was sulking in her room from last night's dismissal by her mother. Jane was taking some well-deserved rest from her mother's constant flutterings.
Their attention was suddenly drawn to the window, by the sound of a carriage; and they perceived a chaise and four driving up the lawn. It was too early in the morning for visitors, and besides, the equipage did not answer to that of any of their neighbours. The horses were post; and neither the carriage, nor the livery of the servant who preceded it, were familiar to them. The conjectures of who it could be continued, though with little satisfaction, till the door was thrown open and their visitor entered. It was Lady Catherine de Bourgh.
They were of course all intending to be surprised; but their astonishment was beyond their expectation; and on the part of Mrs. Bennet and Kitty, though she was perfectly unknown to them, even inferior to what Elizabeth felt.
She entered the room with an air more than usually ungracious, made no other reply to Elizabeth's salutation than a slight inclination of the head, and sat down without saying a word. Elizabeth had mentioned her name to her mother on her ladyship's entrance, though no request of introduction had been made.
Mrs. Bennet, all amazement, though flattered by having a guest of such high importance, received her with the utmost politeness. After sitting for a moment in silence, she said very stiffly to Elizabeth,
"I hope you are well, Miss Bennet. That lady, I suppose, is your mother."
Elizabeth replied very concisely that she was.
"And that I suppose is one of your sisters."
"Yes, madam," said Mrs. Bennet, delighted to speak to a Lady Catherine. "She is my youngest girl but one."
"You have a very small park here," returned Lady Catherine after a short silence.
"It is nothing in comparison of Rosings, my lady, I dare say; but I assure you it is much larger than Sir William Lucas's."
"This must be a most inconvenient sitting room for the evening, in summer; the windows are full west."
Mrs. Bennet assured her that they never sat there after dinner, and then added,
"May I take the liberty of asking your ladyship whether you left Mr. and Mrs. Collins well."
"Yes, very well. I saw them the night before last."
Elizabeth now expected that she would produce a letter for her from Charlotte, as it seemed the only probable motive for her calling. But no letter appeared, and she was completely puzzled. Why would Lady Catherine call on her, especially after the treatment she had received at her hands whilst at Rosings? Dread began to form in the pit of her stomach.
Mrs. Bennet, with great civility, begged her ladyship to take some refreshment; but Lady Catherine very resolutely, and not very politely, declined eating any thing; and then, rising up, said to Elizabeth,
"Miss Bennet, there seemed to be a prettyish kind of a little wilderness on one side of your lawn. I should be glad to take a turn in it, if you will favour me with your company."
"Go, my dear," cried her mother, "and show her ladyship about the different walks. I think she will be pleased with the hermitage."
Elizabeth obeyed, and running into her own room for her parasol, attended her noble guest down stairs. As they passed through the hall, Lady Catherine opened the doors into the dining-parlour and drawing room, and pronouncing them, after a short survey, to be decent looking rooms, walked on.
Her carriage remained at the door, and Elizabeth saw that her waiting-woman was in it. They proceeded in silence along the gravel walk that led to the copse; Elizabeth was determined to make no effort for conversation with a woman who was now more than usually insolent and disagreeable.
"How could I ever think her like her nephew?" said she, as she looked in her face.
As soon as they entered the copse, Lady Catherine began in the following manner: --
"You can be at no loss, Miss Bennet, to understand the reason of my journey hither. Your own heart, your own conscience, must tell you why I come."
Elizabeth looked with unaffected astonishment.
"Indeed, you are mistaken, Madam. I have not been at all able to account for the honour of seeing you here."
"Miss Bennet," replied her ladyship, in an angry tone, "you ought to know, that I am not to be trifled with. But however insincere you may choose to be, you shall not find me so. My character has ever been celebrated for its sincerity and frankness, and in a cause of such moment as this, I shall certainly not depart from it. A report of a most alarming nature reached me recently. More alarming that the previous rumour, if possible, that you were trying to seduce my nephew Colonel Fitzwilliam into matrimony! But I took care of that- my brother and sister-in-law informed me of their visit to you and saved their son from such a disgraceful marriage. And now, not content in attracting a man such as Colonel Fitzwilliam, you raise your hopes higher than that, to my nephew, my own nephew, Mr. Darcy. Though I know it must be a scandalous falsehood, though I would not injure him so much as to suppose the truth of it possible, I instantly resolved on setting off for this place, that I might make my sentiments known to you, again!"
"If you believed it impossible to be true," said Elizabeth, colouring with astonishment and disdain, "I wonder you took the trouble of coming so far. What could your ladyship propose by it?"
"At once to insist upon having such a report universally contradicted."
"Your coming to Longbourn, to see me and my family," said Elizabeth coolly, "will be rather a confirmation of it; if, indeed, such a report is in existence."
"If! Do you then pretend to be ignorant of it? Has it not been industriously circulated by yourselves? If not for my brother's letter to me, I would perhaps be unawares of it. And since Darcy does not have a mother or father to defend him, it is my duty to take their place. Do you not know that such a report is spread abroad?"
"I never heard that it was."
"And can you likewise declare, that there is no foundation for it?"
"I do not pretend to possess equal frankness with your ladyship. You may ask questions which I shall not choose to answer."
"This is not to be borne. Miss Bennet, I insist on being satisfied. Has he, has my nephew, made you an offer of marriage?"
"Your ladyship has declared it to be impossible."
"It ought to be so; it must be so, while he retains the use of his reason. But your arts and allurements may, in a moment of infatuation, have made him forget what he owes to himself and to all his family. You may have drawn him in."
"If I have, I shall be the last person to confess it."
"Miss Bennet, do you know who I am? I have not been accustomed to such language as this. I am almost the nearest relation he has in the world, and am entitled to know all his dearest concerns."
"But you are not entitled to know mine; nor will such behaviour as this, ever induce me to be explicit."
"Let me be rightly understood. This match, to which you have the presumption to aspire, can never take place. No, never. Mr. Darcy is engaged to my daughter. Now what have you to say?"
"Only this; that if he is so, you can have no reason to suppose he will make an offer to me." Lizzy thought of Lady Catherine's apoplectic fit when she heard that her darling daughter had already pledged herself to the wrong nephew.
Lady Catherine hesitated for a moment, and then replied,
"The engagement between them is of a peculiar kind. From their infancy, they have been intended for each other. It was the favourite wish of his mother, as well as of hers. While in their cradles, we planned the union: and now, at the moment when the wishes of both sisters would be accomplished in their marriage, to be prevented by a young woman of inferior birth, of no importance in the world, and wholly unallied to the family! Do you pay no regard to the wishes of his friends? To his tacit engagement with Miss De Bourgh? Are you lost to every feeling of propriety and delicacy? Have you not heard me say that from his earliest hours he was destined for his cousin?"
"Yes, and I had heard it before. But what is that to me? If there is no other objection to my marrying your nephew, I shall certainly not be kept from it by knowing that his mother and aunt wished him to marry Miss De Bourgh. You both did as much as you could in planning the marriage. Its completion depended on others. If Mr. Darcy is neither by honour nor inclination confined to his cousin, why is not he to make another choice? And if I am that choice, why may not I accept him?"
"Because honour, decorum, prudence, nay, interest, forbid it. Yes, Miss Bennet, interest; for do not expect to be noticed by his family or friends, if you willfully act against the inclinations of all. You will be censured, slighted, and despised, by every one connected with him. Your alliance will be a disgrace; your name will never even be mentioned by any of us."
"These are heavy misfortunes," replied Elizabeth. "But 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."
"Obstinate, headstrong girl! I am ashamed of you! Is this your gratitude for my attentions to you last spring?" Lizzy nearly snorted aloud in the manner of Lydia at such attentions. "Is nothing due to me on that score? Let us sit down. You are to understand, Miss Bennet, that I came here with the determined resolution of carrying my purpose; nor will I be dissuaded from it. I have not been used to submit to any person's whims. I have not been in the habit of brooking disappointment."
"That will make your ladyship's situation at present more pitiable; but it will have no effect on me."
"I will not be interrupted. Hear me in silence. My daughter and my nephew are formed for each other. They are descended, on the maternal side, from the same noble line; and, on the father's, from respectable, honourable, and ancient -- though untitled -- families. Their fortune on both sides is splendid. They are destined for each other by the voice of every member of their respective houses; and what is to divide them? The upstart pretensions of a young woman without family, connections, or fortune. Is this to be endured! But it must not, shall not be. If you were sensible of your own good, you would not wish to quit the sphere in which you have been brought up."
"In marrying your nephew, I should not consider myself as quitting that sphere. He is a gentleman; I am a gentleman's daughter; so far we are equal."
"True. You are a gentleman's daughter. But who was your mother? Who are your uncles and aunts? Do not imagine me ignorant of their condition."
"Whatever my connections may be," said Elizabeth, "if your nephew does not object to them, they can be nothing to you."
"Tell me once for all, are you engaged to him?"
Though Elizabeth would not, for the mere purpose of obliging Lady Catherine, have answered this question, she could not but say, after a moment's deliberation,
"I am not."
Lady Catherine seemed pleased.
"And will you promise me, never to enter into such an engagement?"
"I will make no promise of the kind."
"Miss Bennet I am shocked and astonished. I expected to find a more reasonable young woman. But do not deceive yourself into a belief that I will ever recede. I showed you how determined I was in saving Colonel Fitzwilliam from you. I shall be doubly pressed to keep you from Mr. Darcy. I shall not go away till you have given me the assurance I require."
"And I certainly never shall give it. I am not to be intimidated into anything so wholly unreasonable. Your ladyship wants Mr. Darcy to marry your daughter; but would my giving you the wished-for promise make their marriage at all more probable? Supposing him to be attached to me, would my refusing to accept his hand make him wish to bestow it on his cousin? Allow me to say, Lady Catherine, that the arguments with which you have supported this extraordinary application have been as frivolous as the application was ill-judged. You have widely mistaken my character, if you think I can be worked on by such persuasions as these. How far your nephew might approve of your interference in his affairs, I cannot tell; but you have certainly no right to concern yourself in mine. I must beg, therefore, to be importuned no farther on the subject."
"Not so hasty, if you please. I have by no means done. To all the objections I have already urged, I have still another to add. I am no stranger to the fact that Mr. Bingley, whom I condescended to bestow my attentions on, who threw them back in my face, indeed who scorned me, is now engaged to your sister. Although it is an advantageous match for her, is my nephew to align himself with more relations in trade? Especially when such a gentleman's conduct is to be severely reprimanded. Heaven and earth! -- of what are you thinking? Are the shades of Pemberley to be thus polluted?"
"You can now have nothing farther to say," she resentfully answered. "You have insulted me in every possible method. I must beg to return to the house."
And she rose as she spoke. Lady Catherine rose also, and they turned back. Her ladyship was highly incensed.
"You have no regard, then, for the honour and credit of my nephew! Unfeeling, selfish girl! Do you not consider that a connection with you must disgrace him in the eyes of everybody?"
"Lady Catherine, I have nothing farther to say. You know my sentiments."
"You are then resolved to have him?"
"I have said no such thing. I am only resolved to act in that manner, which will, in my own opinion, constitute my happiness, without reference to you, or to any person so wholly unconnected with me."
"It is well. You refuse, then, to oblige me. You refuse to obey the claims of duty, honour, and gratitude. You are determined to ruin him in the opinion of all his friends, and make him the contempt of the world."
"Neither duty, nor honour, nor gratitude," replied Elizabeth, "have any possible claim on me, in the present instance. No principle of either would be violated by my marriage with Mr. Darcy. And with regard to the resentment of his family, or the indignation of the world, if the former were excited by his marrying me, it would not give me one moment's concern -- and the world in general would have too much sense to join in the scorn."
"And this is your real opinion! This is your final resolve! Very well. I shall now know how to act. Do not imagine, Miss Bennet, that your ambition will ever be gratified. I came to try you. I hoped to find you reasonable; but, depend upon it, I will carry my point."
In this manner Lady Catherine talked on, till they were at the door of the carriage, when, turning hastily round, she added, "I take no leave of you, Miss Bennet. I send no compliments to your mother. You deserve no such attention. I am most seriously displeased."
Elizabeth made no answer; and without attempting to persuade her ladyship to return into the house, walked quietly into it herself. She heard the carriage drive away as she proceeded up stairs. Her mother impatiently met her at the door of the dressing-room, to ask why Lady Catherine would not come in again and rest herself.
"She did not choose it," said her daughter, "she would go."
"She is a very fine-looking woman! and her calling here was prodigiously civil! for she only came, I suppose, to tell us the Collinses were well. She is on her road somewhere, I dare say, and so, passing through Meryton, thought she might as well call on you. I suppose she had nothing particular to say to you, Lizzy?"
Elizabeth was forced to give into a little falsehood here; for to acknowledge the substance of their conversation was impossible. Yet again, a member of the family presented obstacles in her way of becoming acquainted with Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth found that a solitary walk was necessary before she told her father of the latest development.
She had very little hope that, after her repeated impertinent behaviour to his Aunt, Mr. Darcy would ever look her way again. She expected that on the morrow, when Charles visited, that he would bring news of Mr. Darcy declining to come until the wedding, when it was unavoidable. Hot tears coursed down her cheeks as she pondered her lot in life.
Mr. Darcy ran his hand through his hair as the last words of his aunt echoed eerily through his brain.
"I expect Anne to return home within the next two weeks. She cannot cut short her stay without alarming half of London society, but nor will I subject her to your unreasonable behaviour. I also expect Georgiana to accompany Anne. You do not deserve to have guardianship of her! You will regret this choice, Fitzwilliam! You will curse the day you laid eyes on Miss Bennet, when you have to endure a miserable marriage to a woman ill qualified for running the estate. Do not expect me to be at your wedding, nor to acknowledge Miss Bennet as anything other than that!"
Darcy was still angry, even after he had practically thrown his Aunt out of his Townhouse. 'How dare she? How could she do that to me! Complain of Elizabeth's relations, when she acts worse than all of the Bennet's and Philip's combined?!' At least he could glare Mrs. Bennet into silence.
Anne and Georgiana had stayed out of the way of Lady Catherine, and upon hearing most of the conversation (who in London had not?), they waited until she left before offering their condolences to Darcy. Georgiana was trembling as she begged William not to listen to any of what his Aunt was telling him to do. She pleaded that he set off now for Longbourn to go to Elizabeth and comfort her. Surely she was more distressed than he?
That notion cut like a knife through Darcy. He could not bear the thought of Elizabeth crying without him to comfort her. His arms ached to hold her, his heart ached to feel her warm tears fall from her eyes onto his chest.
Anne agreed with Georgiana, that it would distress Elizabeth, but cautioned that they should wait until tomorrow, as per their plan, before setting out, since they would only have to stop at an inn along the way.
He nodded numbly to their suggestions. He too, needed to be comforted, but only one person could do that, and how would he ever face her again? Let alone expect her to rationally, and sanely accept his offer of marriage?
Finale Posted on Friday, 19 July 2002
A blush overcame Darcy and Lizzy's cheek when they met each other for the first time since the dinner at his Townhouse. Darcy was blushing for the comments of his Aunt the day before, not to mention the problems caused by his other aunt and uncle. Lizzy was blushing in remembrance of the same thing, but blaming herself for the impertinent answers she had given.
Bingley came in with Darcy, they had left the ladies (Georgiana and Anne) to further recuperate from the journey yesterday. Not that the ladies were that fragile, they simply understood that the lovers needed time alone with their beloved. Charles understood this too- he knew Darcy and Elizabeth needed to be together for a while, the entire afternoon if necessary, to work out their obstacles, and he was quite happy to think of a scheme that would also allow him to spend some quality time alone with Jane.
Therefore a walk to Oakham Mount was proposed almost immediately upon arrival at Longbourn. Mary, as expected declined, Lydia cared not for a walk with Mr. Bingley and Jane, nor Elizabeth and the snotty Mr. Darcy, and Kitty did not need to be hinted at to decline, since she was still re-designing her bonnets from the excess trimmings that Lydia still persisted in ripping off her own bonnets.
Mrs. Bennet required therefore that one of her daughters accompany the other three, in order to distract Mr. Darcy from dear Jane and Bingley, and since Elizabeth was not in her favour (if she ever was) at the moment, the task fell upon her. Elizabeth could not decide whether she was pleased or displeased at this arrangement. But she did not have any chance to object. Her mother would not allow her to, and the thought of walking with Mr. Darcy, away from her mother, would be, well, exciting at the least.
And so they started the sojourn to Oakham Mount.
Jane and Charles, the admitted lovers, languidly walked together, enjoying each other's company without Mrs. Bennet asking about lace and other wedding details. The unacknowledged lovers, even to each other, quickly outpaced them. They were both extremely nervous with each other, and that nervous energy betrayed itself in the rapid ascent of Oakham Mount.
Laughing a bit breathlessly, Elizabeth turned to Mr. Darcy, her eyes straying from his shoes, to his hands, to his top hat, grazing his face for a few seconds until settling on a tree slightly in the distance, to the left of him.
"I do believe sir, we accomplished the climb in record time!"
Mr. Darcy, never one to be able to not stare at her, was becoming very apprehensive about her inability to look at him directly. His Aunt's communication to him yesterday, however allowed a hope to grow within him. One that had increased as he drew nearer to her in his carriage ride. He had wanted to apologise, and yet he sensed the futility of it, considering the fact that he would be forever apologising to her on behalf of his Aunt's behaviour.
He was not certain of the extent of her regard, but he desired to give her the opportunity to declare it for herself, without listening to anymore relative's theories. She deserved to be able to hear the truth of his affections and wishes regarding their future. He would give her the ability to decide whether she wished to be apart of that future. He only prayed that she wished it as much as he did.
The silence was palpable. Elizabeth was concentrating very hard on the tree, in a vain attempt to silence her inner murmurings. 'How is it possible that I could wish for Jane's presence, anyone's presence, and at the same time dread sharing him with anyone?' Closing her eyes to shut out her ruminations, she breathed heavily to steady her nerves, and to try to desperately think of something to say.
He watched as she closed her eyes. Her lips parted slightly, she appeared to be breathing irregularly. There was a small frown creasing her forehead as if she was contemplating something difficult. He was fascinated as she gently bit her bottom lip as if remonstrating with herself about her thoughts. She was intoxicating. He loved her so dearly.
The wind blew, sending tendrils of her hair bouncing across her forehead, her cheeks. Resisting the urge to touch her, to break this wonderful moment, he stood envying the wind its freedom in caressing her.
He intruded yet again in her thoughts. How hard was it to find a topic? A silly inane, small talk topic. Anything to stop her from thinking about him. She kept her eyes closed, she knew she would have to look at him if they were open, and she was not ready for that. He played havoc with her senses standing more than an arm's length away. It felt that he was closer, her face tingled as if his hand was about to brush her cheek, and then was disappointed that it was only the breeze tossing her hair.
She still had her eyes closed, it was agony watching her, and at the same time utter bliss. He knew that this nervous flutter, this unknowing of her true feelings was bitter sweet. Once they affirmed their feelings, the unfamiliar excitement would vanish, familiarity would set in, which would be pleasant, but the anticipation, the building of dreams of how and if and when she would become his would be gone. And there was always the bleak possibility of a refusal. He would have to stand and watch as she cut the cord connecting him to her with a definite snap, and he would have to be motionless as he watched her walk away. Forever.
But if she accepted...
"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." He murmured her words to his Aunt in their interview (which she had been considerate enough to memorise and say to him verbatim).
Elizabeth's eyes fluttered open at the sound of his voice whispering her words so gently. He was looking at her, a mixture of sadness, joy, apprehension and doubt, but overlaying and outstripping all of these emotions was a loving devotion that she had failed to account for previously. She had known that he looked at her with admiration, she was pleased with that, but this devotion was more than she thought was possible. It stirred her love for him.
"Elizabeth" he breathed. He had not meant to say those words aloud, rather to simply reassure himself that she may have feelings for him. It was the most natural thing to reach out his hand and gently cup her cheek, it was similarly the most natural reaction for her to draw nearer and lean her head to rest more fully in his palm. The small smiles affixed to both their faces, the love that they expressed through their eyes to each other, comforted and overwhelmed every other emotion they had experienced in their lives so far.
"Dearest, loveliest, ravishing Elizabeth" he breathed, gathering her closer to him with one hand, whilst the other stroked her cheek, gently brushing her hair away from her face.
Elizabeth closed her eyes, in extreme contentment. She was no longer uncertain, no longer afraid, no longer experiencing that gnawing doubt that had plagued her incessantly since the dinner at his Townhouse. The wondering about how he felt was gone. The concern that he blamed her and disliked her for her behaviour towards his family was gone. The concern that he still disliked her family and was embarrassed at his family's interference was gone. It was all gone, replaced with the certainty of his regard, of his affection. She smiled up at him, with her eyes closed, trusting him implicitly, knowing he would care for her.
Darcy was in similar ecstasy. She was almost in his arms, finally! After aching for her for so long, both emotionally and physically, she was here, now, with him, and she was breathtaking. She also had to be kissed. But as yet, they had not spoken any of their feelings.
"Elizabeth," she loved the way he said her name.
"my dearest," she loved the way he applied endearments to her.
"please," She could feel his breath tickling her face, she loved the feeling, and the way he pleaded with her.
"I love you so much, will you be my wife?" Was there any imagining of this moment to compare with the reality? He loved her- he wanted to be with her forever, to grow old with her.
And she wanted it just as much.
Opening her eyes, looking fully into his dark brown eyes, she smiled dazzlingly, "Darling William," both eyes filled with tears as their hearts overflowed, "you alone can make me happy. I could not be a wife to anyone but you."
His lips caught hers, rejoicing in his good fortune to have captured such a woman. He feverishly made promises to never hurt her, never argue with her, to always love her, and then smiled against her lips, knowing that they would argue, they would hurt and there would be times that they would doubt their love, but with the grace of God, they would overcome them together.
Many marvelled at the new Mrs. Darcy and the ease with which she commanded her husband's attention. His eyes followed her everywhere, devouring the way she spoke, the turn of her hand when explaining something, the sparkle in her eyes as she gently teased her father or Jane and Charles, the smile on her lips as she gazed fondly at him.
Her mother had never loved Elizabeth so much as the day that she became joined to one of the most illustrious personages in the land. Her father never thought he would be so proud as he led his two most deserving daughters up to the altar. Lydia never thought a ceremony could drag on for so long, or that there was an officer (our beloved Colonel) who would not look twice at her. Kitty had never thought so much on the disparity between a man like her father and Mr. Darcy's situation in life until she saw his equipage and the lace on Miss Darcy's gown.
Caroline Bingley never thought she could be displaced as the future Mrs. Darcy of Pemberley. Mrs. Hurst never thought her sister could scream as loudly as she did when they said their final good-byes. Mr. Hurst never thought Darcy had teeth until he saw him smile at his wife.
Her dear Uncle and Aunt had never believed Elizabeth capable of being so utterly happy as she was when she said "I do" to her husband. Georgiana Darcy never thought a sister could be as wonderful as she knew Elizabeth would be. The Earl and Countess Fitzwilliam had never thought everything would turn out so well and that not only Darcy, but Elizabeth as well, would forgive them, their interference, so whole-heartedly.
Jane and Charles had never thought they could be out-smiled by anyone else, and yet Mr. and Mrs. Darcy not only smiled, but laughed the entire day. Elizabeth and William had never thought it possible to love anyone as much as they each loved the other. And Anne and Richard had never thought it would be so easy to gain Lady Catherine's blessing for their marriage.