Page 113 of New World Tea Company
“My aunt will not be staying,” Darcy replied. “Send a footman to me so I can send instructions to the coachman.”
~~~
“Such bad manners,” Lady Catherine said after Mr Bingley’s bride had departed.
“Yes, Aunt Catherine, your manners are atrocious. However, Mrs Bingley is a lady with a kind heart, and I am certain she will forgive you. I pray she does not blame my entire family for your lack of manners.”
Angry to hear her nephew speak thus, the unhappy woman stated, “I should have caned you myself when you were a boy.”
Equally angry, Darcy asked, “Aunt, what are you doing here? How did you know to find me at Netherfield?”
“I came with good news! Important news that cannot wait until you deign to appear in London,” the old woman replied. “And it was Wickham who shared with me where you would go to escape London.”
“Wickham? Mr George Wickham?” Darcy inquired and Lady Catherine nodded to acknowledge the man’s identity. “How are you associated with that man?”
Scowling, Lady Catherine replied, “I was forced to turn to Mr Wickham when I had to find a man with some success in business. I have sullied my hands with matters of trade and gold in an attempt to make you see sense.”
Instructing the footman to open the valise, Lady Catherine pulled out a sheaf of papers and presented them to her nephew. With triumph in her voice, the gentlewoman announced, “There is even greater wealth in your future nephew. Once you marry Anne, these stocks from The New World Tea Company will make you and your wife richer than you ever imagined! Your heir will be wealthy beyond belief.”
Darcy grimaced, trying to discern the meaning of his aunt’s excited speech. He looked closely at the stock certificate in his hand. The name New World Tea Company was printed across the top of the paper and on the sides were images of what artists believed to be the native peoples of the new world – dark-skinned men and women dressed in strange clothing of feathers and animal furs. The native people were posed on either side of the paper underneath stylized palm trees.
But Fitzwilliam’s eyes were drawn to the bottom of page when he saw a signature–George Wickham–underneath the images.Very carefully, the tall gentleman controlled his temper before he turned to Lady Catherine and said, “Aunt, explain to me how you have been in company with George Wickham.”
Frowning, Lady Catherine repeated, “I told you that I was forced to sully my hands seeking gold to entice you to do your duty to the family and marry Anne. The Fitzwilliam family must retain Rosings and the Darcy wealth for the next generation.”
Sighing, Darcy looked at his aunt and stated, “Aunt, I insist that you explain how you came into possession of stock certificates signed by George Wickham.”
Lady Catherine replied, “I purchased shares in Wickham’s company with promises of dividends every year in the future. Everyone in the world – all civilized persons – drink tea. These shares in the New World Tea Company will make you and Anne even richer.”
“Do you mean that you gave George Wickham money?” asked Darcy, his tone registering his disbelief.
“Of course! That is how you purchase things,” Lady Catherine stated contemptuously.
Sighing, Darcy asked, “How much money did you give Wickham?”
Begrudgingly, Lady Catherine revealed that she had handed over fifteen thousand pounds to purchase shares in the company.
“Where did you obtain that amount of money?” Darcy demanded to know. “That amounts to almost four years’ income from Rosings Park! Did you borrow money? Did you mortgage Rosings Park?”
Lady Catherine hesitated only one moment before she explained, “I sold the properties from my dowry.”
“Those buildings belong to Rosings Park! You didn’t have the authority to sell anything,” Darcy insisted.
“I brought them to my marriage! I can do what I want with them!” she argued. “And the lawyer showed me the document you signed that relinquished all dealings with Rosings Park in the future.”
With a smirk, Lady Catherine remarked, “For once, the lawyers followed my orders.”
As Darcy covered his eyes with his right hand, he crumpled the stock certificate with his left. Lady Catherine reached for the paper and took it from her nephew. She straightened the certificate while she fussed, “Do not tear the paper! Mr Collins keeps his in a safe place in the parsonage and I shall buy a strong box to keep these until you marry Anne. Only after you are wed will you take possession of the New World Tea Company stock certificates.”
“How did you meet George Wickham?” croaked Darcy trying to calculate the loss of wealth in his cousin’s estate.
Lady Catherine replied, “At my order, Mr Collins invited Wickham to Hunsford and brought the man to Rosings Park for an interview. And I learned that Wickham handed over gold to Collins as his share of the profits this spring.”
“Aunt, ships do not arrive from the Americas in early spring,” Darcy stated.
His aunt argued, “You do not know everything about this man’s business.”
But the man continued by saying, “I know that ships do not approach Britain in the rough storms of spring!”
