Page 11 of Till Death Us Do Part: Book 2
Elizabeth abruptly stood and spoke in an icy voice. “Very well!You obviously know my husband better than I do, as I cannot account for any other reason for you to show such insolence to the mistress.”
Knight stood up and took a deep breath to defend himself, but he at least had enough manners not to interrupt a woman who was speaking.
Said mistress continued, “I am aware you do not think me totrulybe mistress of this estate, and to be honest, you would not be wrong. Be that as it may, I swore a vowtill death us do part. I would hope that time is a long way away, and for your sake, I supposeyoushould hope that I either remain in a position of helplessness when my husband returns, or that my forgiving nature forgets this conversation.”
Knight once again started to speak, but Elizabeth held up her hand to dissuade him.
“We are chasing shadows. To be honest, after a single meeting, I have not the slightest desire to speak to you ever again. You are free to think me unreasonable, grasping, greedy, silly, or whatever other adjectives come to mind—but I wouldstronglyrecommend you keep such thoughts eitherinsideyour head, or at least not spoken in a place where they could be repeated and damagemyreputation. Keep in mind that damagingmyreputation will likewise damagemy husband’sreputation, and I am not entirely certain you want to rely on myhusband’s current tendency to simply take your side on every discussion. Like it or not,he is stuck with me for life. You cannot boast that security.”
Elizabeth was not certain exactly what made her say all that. Partly it was the pressure of the last month coming to a head, and like a boil that needed to be lanced, Knight might have just been unlucky to be present when she finally lost her temper. Partly it was the sheer pettiness of calculating her pin money to the penny, and the gloating, superior way he presented it, as if he were being magnanimous with the extra seventeen shillings and sixpence. Perhaps—well, that was all speculation, and she would have several months for all the speculation she could stand.
For the moment, she just wanted the hated man out of her sight.
“Mr Knight, we are off to a poor start, but that is of no importance. I do not care about the pin money so much as the pettiness you seem to delight in, but that is also of no significance. Whatisimportant is that we do not spend our time butting heads, sohere is what you will do. Assuming Pemberley is solvent enough to advance me the few pennies for a letter, I will pay all my own postage with the butler. You need not worry about it. Put a ten-pound banknote in an envelope and give it to Jennings before the first day of the quarter. He will give it to me on the first, and you and I need not speak again—ever!”
Knight bit back the response that came to mind. He thought that anything he said was likely to make the mistress even angrier than she presently was, and the fact was, she was a beautiful woman, and the master was likely to notice that eventually. The best thing would be to try to repair his disastrous start, but he had no idea if that were even possible at that point. He was not even certain where things had gone so disastrously wrong, but only a fool would believe he had not killed his own prospects that day.
“I shall do as you say, madam. I offer my apologies and hope we may one day get along better.”
Elizabeth, still furious over everything concerning her marriage, snapped angrily, “We shall get along fine so long as you remain in your world and I in mine.”
With such an inauspicious beginning, Knight decided a retreat was called for. He would certainly have to apologise more fulsomely to the mistress at some point, but knew he should think on the best way to do that and try the approach when she was less angry. Anything he said that day would cause more harm than help.
He bowed. “I shall do as you ask, madam. Just know that you may call on me for anything you might need.”
Elizabeth just scoffed at the idea, but at least managed to keep it silent, and decided to at least finish the conversation in a ladylike manner.
“Any need seems unlikely, but I shall bear it in mind.”
Knight left the room, and Elizabeth wandered into the hall. She had not taken Mrs Reynolds up on her offer of a tour and was not very inclined to. She felt much closer to a prisoner in the house than its mistress, and she would worry about learning all about it when she was in a better mood.
She found Noah in the hallway awaiting her. She idly wondered if he had any other duties but was not concerned.
She smiled at the man nervously. “I should like to meet a few more of the maids and footmen, Noah. Not too many! Would you object to escorting me to my quarters, and you can introduce me to whoever we meet along the way? I believe I will go for a long walk now.”
Noah did not know how to react to the question, but he thought that he certainly liked Mrs Darcy more than any other lady of his acquaintance. Fortunately, he did not need to understand any more than that the new Mrs Darcy was thekindest lady he ever met, and she had given him instruction. He would obey, then fully report the interactions to Mr Jennings. That way, everyone would either be happy, or at least unable to fault his compliance.
He introduced the mistress to three footmen and two maids before she arrived at her chamber.
Mrs Darcy thanked him for his escort, then entered the suite, calling for Molly. Apparently, she was to walk for a time.
The two women dressed warmly, with sturdy boots, and Elizabeth began her exploration of the Pemberley woods, which she expected to continue for some months. She could hardly wait for spring.
5.London
Darcy took one last look out the window of his carriage at his wife, who seemed stunned, and wondered if he had handled the situation anywhere near correctly. There was little doubt he had put his wife in her place, and he had been abundantly clear about who was to have charge of their lives—but was that the best strategy for marital felicity? He doubted it; but blast it, the woman really got his blood up, and she had no cause to complain about the comfort of the bed she had chosen of her own free will. She was not dragged to the altar kicking and screaming, after all.
In fact, he could not read her expression during and after the wedding at all. She had been beautiful in white, butnothappy and smiling. He assumed that meant she was unhappy they had foregone the wedding breakfast—as if he would willingly submit to such torture. What he had endured was bad enough. He supposed she might also be unhappy at failing to spend him into the poorhouse, or parade around London throwing her sisters into the paths of other rich unfortunates.
He spent a few minutes fuming in burning anger; but since his head felt like a blacksmith from Hades was pounding on it from all sides, he needed to calm himself down—somehow. He lay his head back into the squabs, closed his eyes, and tried to empty his mind. It did not work anywhere near as well as he hoped, but he persevered for the next hour and managed to sweep aside any thoughts of the wreckage his life had become whenever they appeared. They always came right back, but he could have some small relief for a few minutes if he was militant about suppressing the thoughts.
An hour into the journey, he banged the roof in a signal to pull into the next inn. It was not a place he usually stopped; but then again, he had never been to Hatfield before, nor did he everexpect to be there again. In fact, he planned an embargo of the entire county of Hertfordshire, regardless of his wife’s wishes.
Once they entered the courtyard, he ordered the coachman and grooms to bait the horses for a half hour and get some refreshments, while he took a light meal to try to settle his stomach, which was clenching into knots.
He entered the common room, which was a step down from his usual accommodations but acceptable enough. It had the usual group of travellers eating and a few local men drinking ale. There were a few families present, and he looked down to see a young girl of three or four standing two yards away, staring up at him while sucking on her thumb. The pair were engaged in a minor staring contest, when the child was snatched up by a matron, who chided, “Stay over here and do not bother the gentleman, Lilith.”
The mother was not being particularly harsh in her chastisement, but Darcy tipped his hat. “No harm done, madam. She is just curious.”
