Chapter 18

"D id we not have letters forwarded to us at Netherfield Park while we were away?" Mrs. Hurst asked her husband when she saw the pile of correspondence on his desk.

"It seems we forgot to issue that order to the butler," Hurst realised. "There are some letters for your brother, should I send them to Darcy House?"

"Charles will come to collect them if he thinks it is important," Mrs. Hurst stated. With the way her brother had been behaving of late, she was not in a mood to assist him. She knew it was uncharitable, but she hardly recognised her brother any more.

He had changed greatly after his first year at Harrow. He used to be a happy, affable young lad before that first year. It was then his fascination with society began. He would never talk about what had occurred at the school to cause him to change the way he had. After that time, everything seemed transactional with Charles. Once he had saved Mr. Darcy and the two of them had become close, he had seemed happy again.

His propensity to raise expectations of his latest love only to later abandon the woman, did not sit well with her. Until Miss Bennet wanted nothing to do with him, her brother had always been able to attract the woman he had designated to be his angel . His mood had not been good before the ball, but that night and until his departure, his mood had been darker than she could remember.

No, she would not assist him. If Charles thought there was important correspondence at her house, he could come and request his letters.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

Darcy wanted to speak to his aunt and uncle as soon as possible. He also needed to spend some time with Anna to determine if she had truly begun to recover from Wickham's perfidy.

Hence there was no need to prevaricate to Bingley. "I am walking across to Matlock House. There are issues about which I need to consult with my uncle and I desire to see my sister," Darcy stated less than an hour after arriving back at Darcy House. "If for some reason I do not return in time for dinner, I will tell the Killions to make sure you are well cared for."

As much as he would have liked to meet Lord and Lady Matlock, Bingley knew he could not push for that to occur. Darcy had a good supply of libations and the meals at his house were usually excellent, so it would not be a hardship to remain alone in the lap of luxury. "I will be well. You should do what you need to do," Bingley averred. "Please pass on my regards to your sister."

Darcy donned his coat and then took his hat, cane, and gloves from his butler. The walk across the green took less than five minutes and soon the Matlock House butler was showing him into the drawing room where his aunt, uncle, Anna, and Lady Charity were seated.

"William!" Georgiana exclaimed. "I did not know you were to be in London today. When do you return to Mr. Bingley's estate?"

"It is good to see you sweetling," Darcy responded tenderly. "We will not return. Mr. Bingley gave up his lease and I would much rather remain with you in Town for now."

The Earl and Countess watched their nephew intently. Richard had been rather candid in his telling of the goings on around Meryton. An express announcing his courtship with Miss Mary Bennet had preceded William by an hour or so. As he did not mention anything, it seemed William was unaware of this fact and by chance they had not mentioned it to Anna yet.

"But what about Miss Elizabeth Bennet?" Georgiana asked innocently.

" WHAT ! How do you know that name?" Darcy thundered. He was in London to forget about the siren and here was his sister mentioning her name. How would Anna know it? His sister burst into tears at his response. He felt like the lowest of the lows seeing how much he had upset his sister.

"Charity, be a dear, please escort Anna up to your suite and spend some time with your companions," Lady Elaine Fitzwilliam, the Countess of Matlock requested.

Lady Charity led a sniffling Anna out of the room, but not before pinning her friend's brother with a disdainful look. The door had barely closed when his Aunt turned her anger on him. "William, are you out of your senses?" Lady Elaine demanded. "Anna read us your letters as you never told her anything was private. You are the one who mentioned Miss Elizabeth Bennet in all of your letters from Hertfordshire, and in some, more than once. Why would Anna not ask you about her?"

Darcy froze. He had shouted at Anna for something for which he was to blame. He rubbed his face and then ran his hand through his hair. He would apologise to Anna after he spoke to his aunt and uncle, but what, and how, could he explain about Miss Elizabeth to his young sister?

"After we speak, I will make my amends to Anna. What I have to tell you is more important than soothing her hurt feelings at this moment." Darcy paused and looked at the Matlocks. His uncle, Lord Reginald Fitzwilliam, the Earl of Matlock, extended his arm with his hand, palm up, to tell him to proceed. "Richard is in grave danger of being compromised by the daughter of a family with no wealth, no connections of note, except some to trade, an entailed estate, and far below us in consequence."

"So you think your judgement more sound than my son's?" Lady Elaine queried while fighting to maintain her equanimity. Her nephew was far too high in the instep for his own good. "Does that mean you know the Bennets better than Richard? Have you spent many hours visiting with them on their supposedly entailed estate?"

"What is the source of your information?" Lord Matlock boomed.

This was not the reaction he had expected. It sounded like he was being censured when all he was doing was attempting to uphold the family honour. Darcy was flummoxed. How was it his aunt and uncle seemed to ignore the danger Richard faced?

"Bingley had information from those in the neighbourhood," Darcy stated, with much less confidence than he had before.

"And you, who abhor rumour and gossip, verified the facts and did not simply rely on hearsay?" Lady Matlock asked with asperity laced in her voice. "Are you telling me that you think landed gentry below your friend who is the son of a tradesman?"

"You know I owe Bingley my life! What have you against him? My cousin upset Bingley so much that my friend did not even attend his own ball," Darcy lashed out.

"Did you hear what Richard said to your friend?" Lord Matlock asked. Darcy shook his head. "Did you perhaps see anything Mr. Bingley did which engendered the need to set him down?"

"No, but I am sure…" Darcy hated losing control of the conversation, but that horse had bolted the stables and it was too late to slam the stall door.

"You know of your friend's obsession with ladies he terms his angels , do you not?" Lady Elaine enquired. Darcy nodded not sure what his aunt was driving at. "And you noted the young lady he marked in Hertfordshire, even though, according to you, was not wealthy and rather low, had no interest in him whatsoever?"

"Yes but how do you…" Darcy closed his mouth when his uncle raised his hand. He nodded to his wife to proceed.

"An express from Richard. Now as I was saying, does that mean you were unaware your friend solicited, very publicly mind you, the three significant sets from Miss Bennet regardless of her wanting nothing to do with him? You too are ignorant the lady's father issued a much-deserved setdown. All Richard did was ask Mr. Bingley if he had lost all of his sense."

Suddenly Darcy began to feel like a dullard. He did not know. Then the words his family members had used more than once were repeated in his memory. ‘ How many times do you have to be told not to make assumptions thinking you know it all rather than ascertaining the facts first? ' Yes, Bingley was at fault in this, but it did not change the fact of Richard tying himself to an inappropriate family. He could not have his cousin connected to the Bennets because then he would never be able to rid himself of the spectre of Miss Elizabeth.

"That was very wrong of Bingley, but it does not mitigate Richard tying himself to those so far below us in society," Darcy averred.

"William, are you not a gentleman farmer?" Lady Matlock asserted.

"I am. What of it?" Darcy puzzled.

"You said, ‘ us ' so I was checking to see if you became a peer of the realm and I was not aware of that fact," Lord Matlock boomed. "Mr. Bennet is a gentleman farmer, so are you not actually equal?"

"But my estate is not entailed," Darcy exclaimed peevishly. Why would the Matlocks not take his warnings seriously? What was going on here? He was at a loss. Nothing was going as he had envisaged. "I move among the first circles and they do not."

"You know William you can be a terrible hypocrite at times, especially when you are blinded by your improper pride. You never responded to the fact the man you call friend is the son of a tradesman. We judge by character, not social status, and we have heard more than enough of Mr. Bingley's lack of character, borderline rakish behaviour, social climbing, and fortune hunting to know he is not the kind of man who we should welcome into our circle, yet you do," Lady Matlock stated.

"I have to, I owe him my life," Darcy responded plaintively. Every argument he had attempted to put forth had been demolished.

"Firstly, you owe him thanks for saving you from a beating," Lord Matlock corrected. "A debt mind you which has been paid many times over. From our perspective we see him taking advantage of you." The Earl raised his hand when he saw William wanted to interrupt him. "His younger sister chased you for almost three years, did she not?" Darcy allowed it was so. "How many times did you not tell your friend you would never offer for his sister, not even if she compromised you?"

"Many times."

"Now William, use that God given intelligence of yours. If Mr. Bingley had conveyed those messages, why did she persist until you said something directly to her? After you did, she receded did she not?" The Earl pushed. His nephew was reeling, but Lord Matlock knew he needed to drive the point home. "Did she or did she not attempt to turn her charms on Richard?" Darcy nodded. "And how long did it take my son to stop her without going through her brother?"

"One evening," Darcy realised. After that first time Miss Bingley fawned all over Richard and he let her know in no uncertain terms he had no interest, she had never acted in that fashion towards him again. It could not be that Bingley, his best friend, did not inform his sister Darcy had no interest in her, could it? Surely not!

"Now let us return to character and behaviour as a metric of a person's worthiness," Lady Elaine continued. "What would you do if a man unprovoked, in fact never having been introduced to her, insulted Anna for all around her to hear at, let us say a public assembly, calling her tolerable but not handsome enough to tempt him , and that he refused to give consequence to ladies slighted by other men ? And to make matters worse, once the man became aware he had been heard, his pride would not allow him to apologise. Would that be a man worth knowing?"

By the end of his aunt's speech, Darcy's mouth was hanging open. If he had been shaken before, now to hear his aunt repeat his words back to him almost verbatim, left him feeling queasy. The worst part was that had a man slighted Anna in that way, he would have wanted to call him out, never mind have him apologise.

"My late brother and sister would have been ashamed by what you have become, William," Lord Matlock shook his head disappointedly. "You are an excellent master and landlord, but there is much you need to correct. I know not where this behaviour was learnt, but I know it was not from Anne or Robert. It seems to me you have ignored the promise you made to your mother on her deathbed! Speaking of your late father you both have the same blindness when it comes to ones to whom you are close. For Robert it was with the then young George Wickham, and for you it is this Bingley fellow."

Of all the things which had been said to him since he arrived at Matlock House, what his uncle had just stated was like a hammer blow. Was he as blind to Bingley's true self as his late father had been to Wickham before he had withdrawn his patronage? It could not be, could it?

"As far as the Bennets are concerned, Richard knows the truth about them, not just gossip and innuendo , and whatever Richard chooses to do, we support him fully, as do Andrew and Marie. Before you alienate everyone who loves you, you need to take a long hard look at yourself in the mirror," Lady Matlock added gently. "Now go make your apologies to Anna."

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

"Would you ladies allow me to speak to my sister in private, please," Darcy requested when he entered the sitting room shared by Anna and Lady Charity. Anna would not look at him and Lady Charity and the two companions did not look upon him with a friendly eye.

"Anna, do you agree to speak to your brother?" Charity enquired. Anna gave a watery nod. "We will be in my bedchamber." Lady Charity nodded to the companions and the three entered the indicated chamber, closing the door behind them.

"Please forgive me Anna, I was in bad humour and it had nought to do with you," Darcy apologised sincerely. "I did not realise I had ever mentioned Miss Elizabeth to you and I was beyond shocked you knew her name. I promise you sweetling, I am not angry with you. It is my thoughtlessness which angers me. Please look at me and tell me you will pardon my offence to you." He gently lifted his sisters head and was struck by the sadness he saw. "Mr. Bingley and I are resident at Darcy House. I had hoped you would join me there."

"William, it will take me some time to forgive you fully," Georgiana managed. "I would prefer to remain here, at least until Charity departs to be with her family at Woburn Abbey in a fortnight."

Knowing that trying to force Anna to return to Darcy House before she was ready would only exacerbate the rift he had created between them; Darcy did not insist his sister join him. "That is agreeable sweetling, as long as I am allowed to come visit you each day."

His sister nodded in response.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

As Darcy walked back to his home, his footsteps slowed as he thought of the conversation he needed to have with Bingley when he arrived at his home.

His pace picked back up and he hurried towards Darcy House.