Lady Catherine gasped as she saw the marriage certificate in his hands. “And exactly how did you come into possession of that?”
Darcy leaned into her and, in a voice that barely restrained his rage, pointedly stated, “I might ask you the same question!”
Desperately, Lady Catherine reached out to grab it, but Darcy quickly pulled it away. Her voice raised a couple of octaves as she pointed her finger repeatedly at Darcy. “It was in the best interest of the family that it was put into my hands. You have not been in your right mind lately. Your cousin will attest to that! And this marriage that you had the audacity to enter into! Why… why…” Lady Catherine’s face grew red and she took a few breaths to calm herself. “It is positively insupportable!”
“And your behaviour to my wife was unspeakable and completely unforgivable!”
“Nephew, I am not used to being treated this way by family! Now hand me the marriage certificate! I shall deal with it so that the family will not go through the disgrace that this travesty of a marriage will bring upon us!”
“Indeed, I will not!” The resonance of his voice reflected the anger he was barely able to control. “My marriage to Elizabeth will bring no disgrace, no dishonour, and no shame to our family! It is you who brings our family disgrace by your insolent actions!”
“How dare you, nephew!”
“And how dare you approach my wife without my permission and threaten her and berate her as you did!”
Lady Catherine met his challenging glance and answered, “You are the one who has chosen to dishonour the family name! Your behaviour of late… your cousin has told me…”
Darcy looked at his cousin. “Just what do you have to say against me, cousin?”
“Me?” asked Richard, feigning innocence by shrugging his shoulders. “I can think of nothing you have done that is not of the highest integrity.”
“What?” asked their aunt in horror. “Tell him what you told me last night!” She turned to Darcy. “He knows, nephew! He knows how you have been mismanaging Pemberley, but fears telling you to your face!”
“On the contrary, Aunt,” Richard began. “None of those things I told you last night had any bearing of truth to them.”
“Certainly, they must!”
He shook his head. “No, I only said those things so that you would tell me about his marriage and I could obtain his marriage certificate and return it to the rightful owner.”
The two cousins watched their aunt as her face contorted in anger. “How dare you treat your aunt with such disrespect! Do you know to whom you are speaking?”
Darcy turned to his cousin. “Richard, if you will excuse Lady Catherine and me, I believe we ought to complete this conversation in the privacy of my study.”
“This is not to be borne! I refuse to go anywhere with you!” She turned to Richard. “Certainly you see that his marriage must be annulled, no matter what you say different today!” She then turned to Darcy. “Keep your marriage certificate, then. I shall not need it. When I inform our attorney what you have done, he will see that you are not in your right mind and turn over all your affairs to my authority!”
She turned to leave, but Darcy’s words stopped her.
“I have already paid a visit to Greeley this morning.”
She turned back and blinked her eyes, not believing what she heard.
“I have informed him of the circumstances of my marriage and he is under the direct order to take no action against it from anyone, particularly from you! He dutifully agreed, seeing no reason to do otherwise.”
Lady Catherine’s breathing became ragged and she pounded her foot upon the floor. “Insolent nephew! You know not what disgrace this marriage will be to our family. And what of Anne? You have been promised to each other since birth! Your mother and I…”
Darcy clenched his teeth. “Aunt, I have told you repeatedly, and your daughter has reaffirmed it, we have no wish to marry. We never have! I have already married another, and there is nothing that you or anyone else can do about it!”
“But our two estates… the obligation to your family name… the meagre station of this woman!”
“This woman is my wife. None of those things are of any import to me! She is the only thing that matters! If you cared in the least for my welfare, if you loved me as the son of your sister, you would rejoice with me! You would treat my wife with kindness and respect. But what you have done, what you have said, your behaviour…” Darcy felt his ire rising. “I confess I know not how I shall ever be able to forgive you.”
His aunt was rendered speechless as she looked from one nephew to the other, hoping for some sort of weakening. But both remained resolute.
“Aunt, if you do not wish to discuss this further with me in my study, I think it best for you to remove yourself from my premises without delay.” Darcy turned to depart the room but stopped at the door and turned. “One more thing, Aunt. I did advise Greeley that your behaviour of late has been quite unstable and if you come to him with any request that he deems highly unusual, he is to notify me at once and we shall proceed in declaring you unfit to manage Rosings. He is in complete agreement with me that Anne is perfectly capable of handling your affairs if you prove to be incompetent.”
Lady Catherine’s mouth dropped wide open, her whole body began to tremble, and she was rendered mute by Darcy’s threats.
Darcy used her silence to make one final point. “And do not think that you have an open invitation to call here or at Pemberley until you have improved your conduct and made a full apology to my wife.”
She looked up at her nephew through narrowed eyes. She had only seen the unyielding look etched across his face on a few occasions. And while she prided herself on never cowering to anyone, the threats he was issuing were enough to make her reconsider. The thought of having Rosings forcefully taken from her set her mind in turmoil.
Darcy turned and walked away, leaving Richard alone to see the look of anger upon his aunt’s face turn to anguish. Looking helplessly at her nephew, she said, “Surely you see… you agree with me, do you not? His marriage… it is unacceptable!”
Richard actually felt pity for this woman who held so tightly to what she perceived was family honour and obligation. “No, Aunt. Although I have not met this lady, I am quite confident that Darcy would have chosen well. She must be someone well suited to the intelligent gentleman he is.”
“But…” Lady Catherine tried to interrupt, but Richard put up his hand to stop her.
“And to him, that is more important than any expectations you may have for his wife.” He smiled. “As a matter of fact, I am quite anxious to meet this young lady who was finally able to break through the barriers he has always put up. Already, I find myself holding her in the highest regard!”
Richard excused himself with a quick farewell and left Lady Catherine disturbed and fretful but not yet inclined to yield. Lady Catherine was extremely indignant when she left London later that morning. Darcy remained secluded in his study and did not bring himself out to bid her farewell. Neither did she take the opportunity to stop and advise him she was leaving. Her only companions on her way home to Kent were her very diverse thoughts and feelings about all that had transpired.
It grieved her to imagine being turned away from Pemberley or the London townhouse. But her resentment and anger were in such an excessive state that she could not bear the thought of going to the girl and offering an apology. My nephew will soon overlook my actions, and his familial bonds will bring him around to apologizing to ME for his severity! Her face contorted in uncertainty. She could only hope.
Chapter 32
Elizabeth saw her father off that morning when Colonel Forster arrived in his carriage to depart for London. She wished him Godspeed as they walked arm in arm toward the carriage. He was grateful that Elizabeth was the only one who had risen early to see him off.