Page 96 of Compromise & Consequence
“Lizzy,” Bennet said, hesitating slightly. “These men have no heart, no moral code. You have no idea what they planned.”
“But I do, Uncle. I am very aware of what Lady Catherine expected of them.”
Bennet cast a furious glance in Darcy’s direction.
“I found I could not lie to my wife, sir. She deserved to know,” he said, his chin held high in defiance.
“Could we not have them deported?”
“Do you think they would become model citizens the minute they step on foreign soil?” Bennet said in a hard voice. “I know you find this distasteful, Elizabeth, but you must see reason. These men do not care who they hurt and deporting them only places them in the vicinity of other innocent victims. We cannot take the easy way out.”
“Wait a minute,” Richard broke in. “Elizabeth may have the right of it. What about impressment?”
“You mean to press-gang them into service?”
“Exactly. It is a hard life and we are at war. Best of all, theywould be separated from one another. I have many contacts within the Navy. It can be easily done.”
Later that afternoon, after Elizabeth had returned to visit with her aunt and cousins, Bennet poured them each a drink.
“We are fortunate Sir William is so garrulous,” Darcy said. “Without his telling us of our aunt’s generosity, we might not have discovered where she was hiding.”
“He is also without guile,” Bennet said and leaned back in his chair. “Before his knighthood, it was what made him a successful businessman. He was honest to a fault.”
“I raise my cup to honest people.” Richard raised his drink in a toast.
“Hear, hear.” Bennet and Darcy raised their glasses in tandem.
Once their drinks were finished, Richard went to the stables to prepare their rider for his errand. They all agreed to find their beds sooner rather than later as Richard wanted to be on the road around four o’clock in the morning. This way they could be in London before nine. Bennet had the daunting task of explaining why the three of them and all the guards would have stolen away in the night and to try and curb his wife’s tongue from flapping in the wrong direction.
At dawn, he came up with the idea the whole family would take a trip to Bath, and in the ensuing chaos after his declaration over the breakfast table, Mrs. Bennet barely gave Elizabeth, Mr. Darcy, and the colonel another thought. At Jane’s panicked expression, Mr. Bennet told her she would stay with the Gardiners for the interim.
Chapter Twenty-Four*
“How did you know I was in residence?” Lady Catherine demanded imperially upon entry into the drawing room of Matlock House and seeing her brother, the earl, seated in a comfortable chair by the fireplace.
“I have made it a habit to drive by your townhouse, sister, to ensure no ruffians or malcontents have broken in. It is common knowledge you rarely attend us here in London. When I saw smoke coming from the chimneys, I knew you must be in town and thought to invite you so we can discuss Anne’s future.”
“I have Anne’s future well in hand, there is no need to discuss anything.” Lady Catherine claimed the chair opposite her brother, settled her skirts about her legs, and rested her hand on the head of her cane. “I am here to shop for her trousseau.”
“Anne is betrothed?” The earl straightened somewhat, feigning ignorance of his sister’s plans. “To whom? When did she become engaged?”
“Her plans are fluid at this moment. I am hoping they can marry within the month, but if needs must, she is willing to wait longer.”
“Seven years longer?”
The earl leaned back in his chair, having seen Richard’s men take a position at all the exits of the room. Catherine’s eyes narrowed and she gripped her cane tighter. He knew when she’d realized she was trapped in the room and almost caught him by surprise when she leaped to her feet, swinging her cane at his head.
“I hate you, you damnable man! It should have been me who was born the earl!” She flailed and swung while Richard’s mensubdued her and took her cane, breaking it in two. “Iwould have known how to run this family.”
Darcy and Richard entered the drawing room, followed by the earl’s physician who hurried forward and had the men hold her head back so he could pour a drink, laced with laudanum, down her gullet. The drink took a while to become fully effective and during that time, Lady Catherine abused the earl, she denounced every member of his family and snarled at Darcy about how she would torture and kill Elizabeth Bennet with her own hands. When she finally became still and no longer needed to be held down, the earl wept over her quiet body.
“We failed you, Catherine. I should never have let you get this far along in your delusions.”
“I believe we all failed her, Uncle. None of us were willing to confront her behavior,” Darcy said as he and Richard came alongside.
“I shall fetch Anne. She is probably at Aunt Catherine’s townhouse.”
The earl nodded his approval at Richard’s suggestion.
