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  “Unless she was up at the crack of dawn, I can hardly imagine it,” replied Elizabeth. “I was within the confines of the woods soon after and never left them. Of course, it is possible that some servant saw me and reported it.”

  “That is entirely possible,” replied Anne, a hint of tightness in her tone. “They are nothing more than her network of spies.”

  Elizabeth thought that Anne was completely correct in her statement, but she rather thought it impolitic to state it in so open a manner while they were walking the halls of her mother’s house. They continued in silence, and Elizabeth could not help but wonder if she was about to receive a severe tongue lashing, though she supposed it was equally possible that Lady Catherine, knowing she was to depart in less than two weeks, wished to order her to stay. Elizabeth had been expecting that conversation for some time now.

  The sitting-room door was ajar, and the footman who had summoned them was standing outside. He bowed to them and opened the door for them. Something in his manner, the way he avoided looking at her, told Elizabeth that this interview was not to be so benign as an appeal to her to remain in Kent.

  Had Elizabeth’s suspicions not already been aroused, she still would have noted the displeasure in Lady Catherine’s gaze, the way her eyes raked over Elizabeth in disdain, not to mention the firm set of her mouth and her stiff back. Elizabeth did not know what had changed in the time since their latest meeting, but she was now certain that Lady Catherine was displeased with her.

  By her side sat Mr. Collins, but while Lady Catherine’s gaze impaled her, he watched her approach with something akin to trepidation, and he appeared to be quite confused. Had Elizabeth’s opinion of the man not improved, she might have thought he had been carrying tales of her to Lady Catherine. As it was, she wondered if he had not made some innocuous comment and been surprised by his patroness’s response.

  “Yes, your ladyship?” asked Elizabeth, using formality as a shield. “You have summoned me?”

  “I did,” was the lady’s short reply. But rather than say what she wished to Elizabeth, she instead turned her attention to Anne. “Your presence is not required. You may leave.”

  “If you will pardon my saying so, Mother, as Elizabeth has come to Rosings at my insistence, I believe I have the right to hear whatever you must say to her, and as your demeanor shows you to be displeased, I would know what you have against her.”

  Clearly the daughter had never spoken to the mother in such a fashion. Lady Catherine’s eyes almost bulged out of their sockets at such pointed comments and she did not know what to say. It could not be supposed that the lady would remain bereft of her tongue for long, however, and her ire soon returned with a vengeance.

  “This does not concern you! Go to your room!”

  “And yet I shall remain. I assume that whatever has offended you is related to Elizabeth’s behavior to me. Thus, you cannot say it does not concern me.”

  “Anne!” barked Lady Catherine. “You will obey me now!”

  “I am a woman full grown and may choose for myself. I shall stay.”

  The wild look Lady Catherine directed at her daughter spoke to her frustration, but in her pique, it was at Elizabeth she lashed out. “I believe I see the defiance of Miss Bennet in your manners, Anne. I installed you in this excellent position, Miss Bennet, to care for my daughter, and this is how you repay my kindness?”

  “I am unaware of your charges,” replied Elizabeth, though inside she was cringing at how this exchange was proceeding. “Perhaps you would explain to me what, particularly, you find offensive?”

  The way Lady Catherine’s eyes darted between them, Elizabeth was certain the lady was searching for some way to evict her daughter from the room. Why she thought it necessary, Elizabeth could not be certain—if the lady thought Elizabeth would cower before her more readily without Anne’s presence, she was sadly mistaken.

  At length, Lady Catherine favored her daughter with an imperious glare, one which promised punishments to come, before she directed her considerable displeasure back on Elizabeth.

  “Mr. Collins tells me you have been taxing Anne’s strength.”

  “Pardon me, Lady Catherine—” began Mr. Collins, but he was silenced by a stern glare. He appeared not to know where to look or what to do, but he directed a wide-eyed appeal at Elizabeth which she would never have expected to see.

  “Well, Miss Bennet? I am waiting for your response.”

  “I am afraid I do not understand your charge,” replied Elizabeth. “In what way have I taxed Miss de Bourgh’s strength?”

  Lady Catherine’s eyes bored into Elizabeth. “Do not be coy with me, Miss Bennet. I am not to be trifled with.”

  “Indeed, I do not,” replied Elizabeth. “I am merely asking for clarification. I walk out often, but Anne does not accompany me. Anne retires to her rooms in the afternoon as per your decree, and as far as I am aware, she is not exerting herself any more than she usually does. Might your ladyship explain exactly what you have to accuse me of?”

  “The matter of Anne and her phaeton!” cried Lady Catherine. “Not only has it been out every day this week, according to my stable hands, but you have visited Mrs. Collins every day you have been out.

  “I thought your ladyship encouraged Anne to drive her phaeton.”

  “Within reason,” snapped Lady Catherine. “Of course, she may drive it, but too much air is detrimental to her health. Besides, she does not need to pay such civility to my parson’s wife.” The sneer which fell over Lady Catherine’s face was truly ugly. “Mr. Collins is not of her sphere, after all, and I would not have Anne tainted by too frequent association with those who are inferior.”

  “That is patently ludicrous, Mother!” interjected Anne. “You have the Collinses to dinner and tea regularly. Shall I not visit her in return?”

  “You may count on me to take up that office. You need not concern yourself for it.”

  “By your reckoning, am I not inferior?” asked Elizabeth. Anger was beginning to build, at Lady Catherine’s ridiculous and strident objections. Elizabeth thought that Lady Catherine had been looking for something of which to complain, if she was eager to make a fuss about such a silly subject.

  “I knew this was a mistake,” replied Lady Catherine, shaking her head. “I knew I should not have acceded to this. I should have gone to London to find a woman experienced and willing to follow my dictates. Instead, I allowed myself to be persuaded to this . . . this . . . farce.” Lady Catherine glared at Elizabeth. “You are in no way suited to be my daughter’s companion, and I should have trusted my instincts.”

  “That is enough, Mother!” Lady Catherine fell silent, shocked at the forceful tone of her daughter’s command. Mr. Collins, who had shrunk back in apparent terror as the combatants’ voices had begun to raise, was startled from his fear by Anne’s rejoinder.

  “First, Mother,” continued Anne, “if you believe we are riding out in my phaeton too much, you may direct your reproofs at me, and not Elizabeth. I am the one who decides how often we go out, and as I am the one who drives, the decision to stop at the parsonage is mine alone. Do not berate Elizabeth for something I have done.

  “Second, I would have you remember that Elizabeth is my friend. You do not pay her—she is not your employee.”

  “No, but I may rescind my invitation to her at any time.”

  “And I will reinstate it. Elizabeth stays here at my invitation, and I will not have her depart until she is ready to.

  “Finally, I do not know what measure you use, but Elizabeth and I are equals in the eyes of society. I might have a more substantial dowry, but she is a gentleman’s daughter.”

  “How can you possibly speak such nonsense?” It was clear Lady Catherine was offended. “You are the granddaughter of an earl. What are her connections?”

  “Oh, I am sorry,” interjected Elizabeth, though she knew it would be better if she remained silent. “I was not aware that t
here is some other title to which I should refer to you, Anne. Should I be addressing you as Lady Anne de Bourgh?”

  Anne shook her head in amusement, even as Lady Catherine shook with fury. “No, indeed, Elizabeth. My father was a baronet, yes, but I am naught but Miss de Bourgh.”

  “That is well. I was worried that I had offended you.”

  They exchanged glances and could not hold in their laughter. Lady Catherine was affronted all over again.

  “Stop this silly giggling!” screeched Lady Catherine. “I will not have it in my sitting-room. What has this hoyden done to you, Anne?”

  “She has been my friend, shown me what it is to live, Mother,” replied Anne. Her implacable tone was a revelation, for Elizabeth had not truly known if Anne had it in her to openly defy her mother. “She will continue to be my friend. I will not give her up.”

  “Her wild ways have infected you! Can you not see how you have become rebellious and improper? Are you to be polluted by such indelicacy as she possesses?”

  “There is no pollution, Mother,” replied Anne, and Elizabeth was impressed by how she had held her temper. “Rather, association with Elizabeth has given me a measure of confidence I would never have expected to gain. You have always treated me like a child, but I am a woman full grown. I do not require you to direct every facet of my life.”

  “You are sickly and unwell. You require special care. Is this the thanks I receive for giving it to you all of your life?”

  “I am not nearly so sickly as you would like to believe, Mother,” replied Anne. Her voice was soft, and Elizabeth felt the emotion inherent in it. She was not surprised, however, when Lady Catherine did not.

  “Miss Bennet, you may not stay here any longer,” said Lady Catherine, turning her attention to Elizabeth. “It is clear I should have thought twice before agreeing to this. I shall write your father and inform him that he must come and retrieve you without delay.”

  Though the lady might have thought that was the end of the matter, she was shocked by Elizabeth’s responding laughter. “You may write to my father all you like, your ladyship. I would be quite surprised if my father would receive it with any seriousness. In fact, I rather suspect he would see it as naught but a joke.”

  “Is he witless?”

  “No, in fact he is very intelligent. But he loves to be amused by follies and inconsistencies, and the charges you have laid at my door are ridiculous, and would, no doubt, prompt naught but his laughter.”

  “Miss Bennet, I insist on being satisfied. You will pack your trunks and be gone today.” Lady Catherine turned to Mr. Collins. “She may return to your house until arrangements may be made to return her to her father’s house, or wherever else she wishes to go. You will not invite her again, for I will not have her corrupting my daughter.”

  “Mother, that is enough!” cried Anne.

  By Lady Catherine’s side, Mr. Collins was watching with visible terror, and he had started to rise when Lady Catherine delivered her edict, but he sank down again when Anne opposed her mother. For the first time, Elizabeth saw something in the man she had never thought to see—uncertainty when confronted by his patroness’s opinion. He had tried to interrupt several times, but was silenced when the combatants had continued to speak.

  “Mr. Collins,” said Anne, seeming to notice the man’s consternation. “This dispute does not concern you, and we do not need to solicit your opinion. Please return to the parsonage.”

  Had Elizabeth not witnessed it, she might not have believed a man could move so quickly. He was on his feet in an instant, stammering out an apology, and then moving out of the door at a speed which could only be termed as flight. And this all happened before Lady Catherine, who seemed shocked that Anne had dismissed him, could even think of responding.

  “Now you dismiss my servants in my stead?” snarled Lady Catherine. The lady rose and bore down on them, fury in her eyes.

  “Mr. Collins is not your servant, Mother,” replied Anne, stopping Lady Catherine short. “He is your parson, and his primary responsibility is the care of the people in the parish. Though you treat him as if he is a servant, and he does whatever you decree, he is a servant of the church and should be respected as such.”

  “He is an idiot!” snapped Lady Catherine. “Mr. Collins would spend all day deciding which of his feet to insert into his shoes if I did not direct him.”

  “Perhaps if you gave him a little more autonomy, he would surprise you.”

  Lady Catherine snorted, but she did not pursue the subject. “That is not the point. I wish for this hoyden to be gone this instant. I will be obeyed.”

  “I am sorry, Mother,” replied Anne. “Elizabeth shall not depart until it is time for her to leave. She is my friend, and I have need of her. Now, if you will excuse us, we shall return to my room. Come, Elizabeth.”

  Anne turned on her heel and left the room. Seeing there was no other alternative—and grateful it had not turned into a physical confrontation—Elizabeth followed her, leaving the lady gaping after them. The footman who had summoned her was standing outside the open door, and he was openly watching Anne with wonder, never having heard her speak so forcefully nor Lady Catherine being so overtly challenged. Elizabeth hurried behind her friend as she marched forward, wondering what had happened to her timid friend.

  They gained the safety of Anne’s room, and Anne firmly—but kindly—dismissed Laura. When they were alone, she began to pace the room, her face flushed and her movements clipped and forceful.

  “The gall of the woman!” exclaimed she. “She has gone too far this time!”

  “Anne,” said Elizabeth, attempting to calm her with soothing tones, “you should calm yourself. This can do you no good.”

  But Anne only shook her head. “In fact, I have never felt as alive as I do at present. I will not allow my mother to throw you from the house as if you were nothing but chattel.”

  “I had thought you would induce your mother to accept the changes in you if they were brought to her attention in increments,” said Elizabeth. “I certainly had no notion of you challenging her in such a manner. I do not think this is productive, Anne. I will depart if that will make it better.”

  Her pacing stopped, and Anne turned to look at Elizabeth. For a moment, Elizabeth thought she had managed to provoke her friend’s ire, but as Anne regarded her, the lines on her forehead smoothed, and she walked toward her, sitting on a chair situated close by where Elizabeth was sitting.

  “I appreciate your desire to promote harmony, Elizabeth. But the peace of this home has been rent, if it ever truly existed. I will not return to being dominated by my mother.”

  “Anne,” said Elizabeth, choosing her words carefully, “I do not excuse your mother’s behavior, but I would also urge you to see this from her perspective. This is an abrupt change in your relationship. I believe it would be better to ease your way into the changes you wish to make. There is nothing to be gained from alienating your mother.”

  “I would, Elizabeth,” replied Anne, favoring Elizabeth with a fond smile, “but for your presence here. You have taught me what it is to be alive, and I cannot go back now.”

  Elizabeth had been about to suggest again that she depart, but when Anne made her point, she found that she could not. What would her departure now do but embolden Lady Catherine and make Anne’s life more difficult? If she stayed, then at least Anne would not be forced to face the dragon alone.

  “Of course, I do not wish to leave you,” said Elizabeth. “You have my support, regardless of what comes.”

  “Thank you, Elizabeth,” said Anne. “I have never had a friend like you.” Anne laughed. “I have never had a friend, but I cannot imagine a better one. I have no wish to give you up, despite whatever foolishness my mother has gotten into her head.”

  Elizabeth was pleased, but she soon turned her attention to the problem at hand. “I will stay with you, Anne. But we must take some thought to what we wil
l do. Rosings will become uncomfortable if we stay here with your mother. She will continue to try to force you to obey her.”

  “She will not have any luck,” replied Anne. Her manner was dark and defiant, and though Elizabeth’s opinion of her friend had been growing by leaps and bounds, she was not certain that Anne had the ability to defy her mother yet.

  “Is there anywhere else you may go?” asked Elizabeth. “Distance may be the best in this instance—your mother cannot attempt to browbeat you if you are not at Rosings.”

  Anne chewed her lip in thought. “There is the house in town I mentioned. But Rosings is my family’s only property.”

  “What about your relations? Surely they would not wish for you to be ruled in such a manner as this.”

  “That is a possibility.” Anne’s eyes darted to Elizabeth’s face, and for a moment Elizabeth felt she was being weighed, indeed, judged. But the moment soon ended when Anne sighed. “I will think on this matter further. For now, let us simply enjoy what is left of the afternoon.”

  “Very well,” replied Elizabeth. But in her heart, she could not help but wonder where this would end. Lady Catherine was not a woman to be gainsaid; she would continue to attempt to send Elizabeth home, if she did not simply order her servants to forcibly remove her from the house. It could not end well.

  Chapter XI

  Open warfare had descended on Rosings Park. Or perhaps it was not quite so open, considered Elizabeth, though it was certainly tense. She had almost expected Lady Catherine to simply order Tilly to pack her belongings and her footmen to deposit them on the lawn like so much trash, but she did not. In fact, they heard nothing further from the lady that evening, a circumstance which prompted much gratitude from both ladies.

  Feeling drained because of the events of the afternoon, Elizabeth slept for a short time on Anne’s bed, and though she thought Anne herself might succumb to a short nap at the very least, her last sight of her friend before she dropped off was of Anne sitting at her escritoire, brooding. When Elizabeth awoke, Anne was a little more cheerful, but still quite distracted.