Chapter 19 A Test of Fire

The unannounced arrival of Lady Catherine de Bourgh four days before Christmas startled the staff at Pemberley who believed only their Master, his sister, and her companion, Mrs. Annesley, would be in residence. Mrs. Reynolds, the housekeeper, wasted no time in having rooms made ready for her ladyship and her daughter, Anne, as she welcomed the sister of her former mistress.

“I’m afraid the garden rooms you usually occupy are being refurbished, Your Ladyship,” Mrs. Reynolds explained until she was cut off by the most imposing visitor.

“My daughter will stay in the Mistresses suite, and I can take any suite in the family wing,” she declared.

Mrs. Reynolds blanched. Upon his arrival some weeks earlier, Mr. Darcy had instructed for the mistress’ chambers to be refreshed and some of the new furnishings from other rooms. She worried now that rumors of the Master being betrothed to his cousin were true. The bad memories of waiting on Lady Catherine de Bourgh as a younger maid in the household distracted Nan Reynolds until Lady Catherine again cleared her throat.

“I’m terribly sorry, but the Mistresses suite is also being refurbished. Why don’t I show you both to the parlor and have Mr. Darcy told of your arrival.”

“Certainly not! I will find my nephew, holed up in that infernal study of his father’s, I’m sure. No, Anne, you go to your room and rest. I have a bone of contention with the boy’s lack of judgment!” Lady Catherine bellowed, using her walking stick to spryly amble out of the foyer in the direction she planned to investigate.

The young footman, fair in face, new to the ranks of the ground floor service, stood dumbly looking at Mrs. Reynolds for orders, then back at Lady Catherine who reached the door.

“Go,” Mrs. Reynolds urged the young man, who hurried to open the door but was too late. Lady Catherine had huffed her disapproval and yanked open the door herself. She was a woman on a mission, and Mrs. Reynolds was powerless to warn Mr. Darcy.

“My mother is angry. She wants Fitzwilliam to marry me, but he wants to marry another,” Anne said, filling Mrs. Reynolds in on the lengthy diatribe she had to hear in the carriage ride the entire way north. “I’ll join my cousin, Georgiana, in the music room. I know no one knew we were coming. Until there’s a room available,” she explained, walking away from the shocked Mrs. Reynolds to take the stairs to the piano scales played above.

Mrs. Reynolds thought to go to Mr. Darcy but calculated she was too late. The sun was already low in the sky, too low for the de Bourgh party to leave that evening if the discussion were to go wrongly. Just as she was about to leave the foyer, another knock sounded on the front door.

“Gracious me, more unscheduled visitors?” she asked, mostly to herself, before motioning for the footman standing by the door to open it.

A man with a low cap and his horse in the drive, behind the carriage still being unloaded, stood without making eye contact.

“A message for Mr. Darcy.”

Mrs. Reynolds accepted the simple letter with a direction of Hertfordshire. She reached into her pocket and pulled out some coins for the man. “If you ride around back, tell them Mrs. Reynolds sent you for a meal and bed. You can rest up before leaving in the morning.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Reynolds,” the rider said, lifting his hat to reveal he was very shabby indeed. But Mrs. Reynolds did not comment on the man’s stench or lack of grooming. She turned a keen eye to the footmen unloading the de Bourgh carriage, looking for any signs of laziness. Then missive in hand, she spun on her heel to take the message straight to Mr. Darcy. Lady Catherine de Bourgh would not like it, but her duty was to the Master of Pemberley, not his aunt.

Raised voices inside the study gave Mrs. Reynolds pause when she reached the heavy oak door. The new footman, Henkley, stood listening to every word.

“Go down to the kitchens and tell Cook there will be two more for dinner. And have a tray of refreshments sent to the music room.”

The lad looked forlornly at the doors, disliking his new orders when he could so happily remain behind and have plenty of juicy tales to impress the housemaids. But Mrs. Reynolds was insistent. Once alone in the hallway, she listened for a moment to plan her entry for an appropriate lull in the argument.

“And do you know that her mother, her mother tried to insist as a gentleman’s daughter, ha!” Lady Catherine shouted, “That as a gentleman’s daughter, you two are equals!”

Silence fell for a moment and just as Mrs. Reynolds knocked on the door, she heard Mr. Darcy’s reply.

“And what did Miss Elizabeth say to all of this?” he asked. “Enter!”

Mrs. Reynolds opened the door as Lady Catherine ignored the arrival of a servant entirely.

“It does not matter what she said! Anne is here and we are putting an end to your avoiding your duty. You will marry her. Here. I have procured a license,” Lady Catherine showed her nephew the document she made her parson, Mr. Collins, draft.

Mr. Darcy frowned as both his aunt and his housekeeper held out documents for his review.

“A message, sir,” Mrs. Reynolds offered, as Mr. Darcy made eye contact with her and accepted her letter first. Lady Catherine scoffed at her nephew’s impertinence and withdrew the license for his review.

Ignoring his aunt, Darcy opened the slim letter and read the few lines penned within. Absently, his hand slipped into his coat pocket to fondle the well-worn shred of ribbon gifted to him by another. Folding the letter and placing it in his coat pocket, he addressed Mrs. Reynolds.

“My aunt and cousin will stay this evening and ride over to Matlock in the morning. Please advise the stables. And I’d like to see my sister.”

Mrs. Reynolds nodded and left the study, but Lady Catherine refused to be set aside.

“Matlock? I have no plans to go there. You shall marry Anne, here. In the same chapel your mother and father were married in.”

Mr. Darcy chuckled at his aunt, irritating her further.

“There is only one woman in the world I could ever be prevailed upon to marry and she is not my cousin, Anne. I’m sorry, Aunt, I should have broken the news to you years ago,” Mr. Darcy said.

“But, but, this is not to be borne! You were destined for each other. Your uncle, my brother, he will agree with me on this! Yes, yes, I will go to Matlock and have him force you to marry Anne!” she threatened.

Mr. Darcy stood up from his desk and walked slowly over to his aunt so that his full height towered over her. “You will do no such thing, and any claim you make about me ruining Anne, or other tricks you might conceive on the way, will fall on deaf ears. Your brother believes you are touched in the head over the whole matter, and insulted, perhaps, that you did not choose his sons for this illustrious match,” he said off-handedly.

“You rogue! You fiend! All those years of trespassing on my kindness—”

“Your kindness? You are mistaken, Madam. My kindness, sorting out your estate every spring when I have more than enough property to manage in my family’s portfolio.”

“But, I AM your family!” she sputtered.

Mr. Darcy shook his head. “You are my mother’s sister. As for love or affection to me or my sister, you have given none.”

Another knock on the door alerted Darcy that his sister had come. So he lowered his voice to offer Lady Catherine a threat of his own. “Go enjoy my hospitality for you will not be welcome in this house again. You have insulted and harmed someone very dear to me for the final time. Make a fuss and upset my sister, and I will throw you out in the middle of the night without an ounce of guilt.”

“You, you, you wouldn’t,” she charged. When Mr. Darcy pressed his lips in the firm expression of rebuke, she doubled down on her assertion. “You couldn’t!”

“But I can. And I shall.”

When Darcy walked over to the door and opened it for his sister, his aunt had the presence of mind, and self-preservation, to exit the study once Georgiana moved out of the way.

“Hello, Aunt—” Georgiana began, but as Lady Catherine barged past her, the greeting choked in her throat. Bewildered, she looked at her brother for an explanation for the rudeness.

“She’s exhausted from her travels,” he explained, retreating back to his desk to review the small list of tasks inked in his journal. Not wishing to overlook anything, he wanted all of his business completed before he left for Hertfordshire after Christmas.

“You wished to speak to me?” Georgiana asked.

“Err, yes, please close the door,” he said, suddenly feeling all of the awkwardness of the entire situation. “Georgie, forgive me, I have told you a falsehood.”

“Oh? But, you’ve instructed me to never lie. So, you,” she fumbled as the confession from her brother caught her off guard, “You must have had a good reason.”

Mr. Darcy sighed. “No, in fact, it was a moment ago. I am so accustomed to sparing you any sort of displeasure, that I place you at a disadvantage, as evidenced by my failings this summer.”

Georgiana’s lower lip quivered, as she suddenly feared her brother’s need to see her. “Oh, please Fitzwilliam, I shall never do anything so stupid again. I promise! Please do not send me away with Lady Catherine!”

“Lady Catherine? Oh no,” he chuckled, trying to set his sister at ease. “No, no, please, sit down and hear what I will say,” he began, suddenly wishing he kept spirits other than whisky in his study. The thought of needing to keep brandy and port in his study for the comfort of women, like he had witnessed Mr. Bennet offer to his daughter, made him smile. It would not be long now until Pemberley enjoyed the better balance of a proper Master and Mistress in the home.

“Lady Catherine was rude to you just now and I explained it away with a falsehood. In a manner much worse and far more insulting, she has harmed someone especially dear to me,” he said.

“Miss Elizabeth?” she guessed, twisting her fingers gently in her lap.

Her brother nodded.

“So much so, that I am asking, nay, begging you for a monumental favor.”

Georgiana gazed at her brother with curiosity, tilting her head gently to one side as she contemplated this new change in their roles. For the first time in her life, her elder brother by more than a decade needed her assistance. Enthusiastically, she used the words he often said to her:

“Anything within my power to give shall be yours.”

Darcy sat stunned for a moment at the display of her maturity and instead of a young lady, he heard the words of a grown woman speaking back to him. He took a breath, and made his request, feeling that this moment would change things forever between them. He would have to treat her as a lady in her own right, as Elizabeth had spoken about in the churchyard, one who wished to have a voice in her own life.

“I would like for us to travel to Hertfordshire for Christmas, ahead of schedule,” Mr. Darcy said. “We will stay with the Bingleys at Netherfield Park.”

Georgiana looked at him in surprise. “But Pemberley is our home. We always spend Christmas here.” The words tumbled out before she could think about them. Since the death of their parents the one tradition Fitzwilliam had maintained for them both was Christmas together, at Pemberley. Invitations, demands, and even bribes from other family members had never moved her brother’s plans.

“I worried it was too much to ask, certainly, you should not have to give up your holiday for our aunt’s horrific behavior.”

Georgiana nibbled on her lower lip, wishing to give her brother a more mature consideration of his request. “What did Aunt Catherine do?”

Fitzwilliam sighed. “To be honest with you I know only a small amount of the tale, from our aunt herself. However, I can imagine how terrible of a lashing that tongue of hers gave. She arrived at Longbourn unannounced and demanded that Miss Elizabeth never accept an offer of marriage from me and told her that I was engaged to her daughter.”

“She really is dicked in the nob!” Georgiana’s eyes widened as she covered her mouth with her hands at her brother’s reaction of shock.

“Georgiana!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Richard says that about her all the time,” she confessed.

Closing his eyes, Mr. Darcy frowned, until he let out the breath he had been holding. Then he gave a small laugh, hearing his cousin’s voice. He couldn’t fault his sister one bit, Richard did say the phrase anytime the subject of their aunt came up.

Braving speaking again, Georgiana retracted her earlier sentiment. “This is grave, indeed. If Aunt Catherine was even half as harsh in her speech with Miss Elizabeth, then she is likely devastated over the ordeal. We must go to Hertfordshire early, and, and, and…” she struggled for what action to take that did not order her brother to propose marriage. Finally, she settled on a clever phrase that said much the same: “Cheer her for Christmas!” she suggested.

Mr. Darcy gazed at his sister with eyes glassy from emotion and weariness. Rising, he turned away from her, toward the window. It was growing dark outside, and the sky was clear; the stars began to twinkle in the early dusk only winter offered. He closed his eyes and thought back to the last time he had seen Elizabeth before he had left to spend Christmas with his sister. The pain of making the first choice between the most important women in his life was a novel concept, one he soon realized would not always go in his sister’s favor.

“I must ride tomorrow morning to finish the last of the tenant business with Mr. Chapman,” he said. He looked out the window again and saw that it was snowing, drifting down lightly from the clouds. The Grounds staff completed their work by lantern light, securing the tools and carts for another day. If it snowed all night, tomorrow morning the ride with his steward would be quiet and peaceful, as the first dusting of flakes always muffled the sounds of the forest.

Georgiana rose from her seat, attracting her brother’s attention away from the window. “I shall pack tonight. And during our visit? I shall endeavor to behave most charmingly with Miss Elizabeth, and all of her sisters. Oh! Once you are married, I shall have the newfound joy of five sisters!” she said, giddily.

Mr. Darcy opened his mouth to caution his sister that he and Miss Elizabeth were not officially engaged to wed, but could not find the heart to disappoint his sister more. Besides, he had more than one sign that when he offered for Miss Elizabeth’s hand in marriage properly, he would be made the happiest of men in the kingdom.

“I believe we can leave shortly after luncheon if I am efficient in my work.”

Georgiana surprised her brother with an unexpected embrace, one so forceful, he had barely enough time to lift his arms to wrap around her.

“We won’t be alone anymore, will we?” she asked, laying her head on his chest. Just as a lump formed in Mr. Darcy’s throat, and his emotions threatened once more to overwhelm him, Georgianna’s youthful exuberance spared them both.

She pulled back, and in a most serious tone asked a question he had not even considered: “Brother, what should you like for me to bring to Hertfordshire as gifts to my future sisters?”