Colonel Fitzwilliam's Dilemma (22 page)

“Anne, I hope I have not kept you waiting.”

She started at the sound of his voice. “No, not at all.” She spoke distractedly and didn’t turn to look at him. “I was deep in thought and did not realise you had come.”

“What were you thinking about so intently?” he asked.

“Oh, nothing of consequence.”

Realising what an intrusive question that must appear to be, Joshua didn’t persist with it. “May I sit?” he asked instead.

“Please do.”

“I think you know why I am here.”

She lowered her eyes. “Yes, of course.”

“Anne, look at me.” Slowly she lifted her eyes and turned her head in his direction. She looked pale and afraid. “There, that was not so very difficult was it?”

“You must forgive me, Colonel. I am a little nervous.”

“And distressed, because you don’t wish to receive my address but your mother has insisted.”

“Oh no…well, yes.” She bit her lip, her anxiety giving way to animation Joshua had never seen light up his cousin’s narrow face before. “I am sorry, Colonel, I didn’t mean to make light of this situation. I realise it is as awkward for you as it is for me.” She sighed. “It all seems so very…well, cold and formal I suppose. Although I know that is often how these things are arranged.”

“Supposing then that we decided not to marry?”

She gasped, and this time Joshua didn’t need to request her full attention. He most assuredly had it. “How can that be? My mother, she—”

“I hold you in great respect, Anne, and I am considerably attached to Rosings. But I don’t think those are strong enough foundations upon which to build a successful marriage, do you?”

“I feel exactly the same way about you, Colonel,” she replied breathlessly. “But it does no good. Mama is quite determined, you see.”

“I am not afraid of Lady Catherine.”

Anne wrinkled her nose. “Unfortunately I am, although not as much as I used to be.” She fixed Joshua with a curious gaze. “Since we appear to be speaking plainly, how can you afford to pass up on Rosings?”

“I have fixed my interest elsewhere, as I think you have.” She lowered her eyes again but remained silent. Joshua wondered if she found his admission insulting. After all, he had just admitted that he preferred another lady to her. Even so, as she had just pointed out, this was definitely a time for plain speaking. Besides, she was in a similar position to him. “Nothing has been agreed between myself and the lady in question and probably never will be, but I cannot bring myself to marry for money when my heart is not in it. That would not be honourable or fair to you.”

“You certainly do believe in plain speaking, Colonel,” she replied with a nervous little laugh.

“Whereas you find the prospect of marrying the man your mother tells you to appealing?”

She shook her head. “What would you have me say, Colonel?”

“Plain speaking, remember.”

“Yes, all right. I enjoy your company but I do not think we would suit.”

“Quite so. I can see we understand one another perfectly.” Anne’s uncontrived smile seemed too wide for her face. “But Mama will be beside herself if you don’t do as she asks and will probably blame me for not encouraging you.”

“I will not allow any blame to be directed upon you.” Joshua matched her smile. “But I do have a suggestion to put to you.”

“By all means.”

“Firstly, we ought not to tell her quite yet that we have decided against matrimony.”

“She will want to know what passed between us.”

“Tell her we have agreed to go for a drive in the morning and get to know one another better.”

“We have known one another for years.”

“Not in the manner your mother has in mind. Any young lady on the brink of matrimony is entitled to be courted.”

“But you don’t intend to court me, Colonel.” She lifted her shoulders. “You have already admitted as much. And so why–”

“Instead of courtship I require your help.”

She elevated her brows. “My help? How can I possibly be of help to you?”

“The lady I have fixed my interest on has a problem, but with your permission, I think we might have devised a way to resolve it for her.”

“Mrs. Sheffield?”

It was Joshua’s turn to flex both brows. “What makes you suppose I refer to that lady?”

Anne laughed. “Colonel, I saw the way you looked at her when she dined here the other night and I was seated beside you. Your manners were perfectly correct and I cannot claim you neglected me in any way. However, I saw how frequently you glanced across the table at Mrs. Sheffield and how you didn’t seem to be able to look away again. I have never seen such a look of total adoration on your face before.”

And I thought she was not worldly wise.
“Oh dear, it seems I have given myself away.”

“Don’t worry. I am sure no one else noticed. I was seated beside you so I was bound to see. Everyone else was far too busy trying to be witty and amusing to take much interest in you.” Joshua was too astonished by her powers of observation to respond. He had definitely underestimated his quiet cousin. She was far more intelligent than he had ever supposed and had hidden depths that even her mother could not know about. “I tend to be overlooked in company you see, and so I occupy my time by watching the reactions of others. It can be a very productive pastime.”

“Clearly. And since you have guessed my secret, I might as well explain Mrs. Sheffield’s problem to you, together with Mrs. Darcy’s suggested resolution of it. First, I will require your word that even if you do not agree to help, you will not reveal any of this to anyone. Not to your maid and especially not to your mother.”

“You have it,” Anne replied, clearly intrigued. “I would certainly never confide in my maid. She reports everything I say directly back to my mother. I always suspected as much and so one day I gave her a quite erroneous account of my day’s activities, which my mother lost no time in upbraiding me for.”

“A lesson in discretion well learned,” Joshua said, doing what he could to conceal his anger at the extent of Lady Catherine’s determination to control all aspects of her daughter’s life. Had Joshua decided to marry Anne, she would doubtless have attempted to subject his own life to the same degree of scrutiny, and Joshua would never permit that to happen.

“Quite so.”

Joshua spent the next ten minutes explaining Mrs. Sheffield’s difficulty, together with Mrs. Darcy’s plan to resolve it. She listened without once interrupting, a series of unreadable expressions passing across her face as she did so.

“Certainly you may use my name, Colonel,” she said without hesitation when he came to the end of his narration. “If it helps you to achieve your heart’s desire, it will be my pleasure to have assisted you in some small way.”

“Thank you, but as to achieving my heart’s desire as you put it, I have no way of knowing if that will be possible even if we are successful, which is far from certain. I have not declared myself and most likely will not do so for fear Mrs. Sheffield might feel compelled to accept me out of some sense of misplaced gratitude. Besides, she is a beautiful woman and can do far better than me.”

“You underestimate your attraction, Colonel. Besides, has it occurred to you that her feelings might mirror your own?”

Joshua couldn’t conceal his surprise. “Whatever makes you say that?”

“Oh, nothing in particular.” She sent him a teasing, almost flirtatious smile. “It is just that I noticed she was observing you across the table just as often as you were looking at her, and I am sure it wasn’t the cut of your coat that engaged her attention.”

“Good God!” Joshua exclaimed, surprise taking precedence over good manners.

“You sound surprised.” Anne’s eyes gleamed with mischief. “Surely you do not plan to make me say what a fine figure you cut, with your charming and elegant manners? Why should a lady such as Mrs. Sheffield not enjoy what she sees?”

“Hmm, yes.” Joshua coughed behind his hand. “Er, thank you.”

Anne laughed at his discomfiture and Joshua eventually joined in. He had certainly not started this interview with any thought of being the one to feel embarrassed.

“As to your own situation, if we go ahead with this plan there is no danger to you, Anne,” he said, regaining his composure, “provided you remain here at Pemberley. Sheffield won’t be able to get anywhere near you but he will learn all about you from anyone he talks to in Lambton. You know very well that everyone in the village knows everything that happens at Pemberley. I am sure it is much the same with Rosings and Hunsford. Anyway, that ought to be enough to convince him I speak the truth, especially if I have my man spread rumours about our impending nuptials.”

“Yes, I dare say.” She smiled. “I must say, Mr. Sheffield sounds most disagreeable.”

“Not precisely the word I would choose to describe the bounder, but I shall not offend your sensibilities by using a more appropriate one.”

“Oh, I do wish you would, Colonel. No one ever says anything inappropriate within my hearing. How am I supposed to learn anything interesting if everyone treats me so delicately?”

Joshua threw back his head and laughed, making no attempt to hide his relief at her ready capitulation and lively curiosity. “Ask Asquith. I have already led you quite far enough astray.”

“I have asked him, repeatedly.” Anne tossed her head. “But he has a way of distracting me with some interesting fact or other, and manages not to answer me without giving offence. It is most vexing.”

Mrs. Darcy had been right about her, Joshua thought. She had matured and was hungry for adventure and rebellion. But he needed to be absolutely sure she understood.

“Do you wish to spend the night considering the matter? You can give me your answer in the morning.”

“Not at all. I am quite determined you should bring the odious Mr. Sheffield down to size. However, I should like to explain our plan to Mr. Asquith. I know you swore me to secrecy, but he knows Sheffield and might be able to suggest other ways to lure him in.”

“Hmm, that is true. I have already discussed Mrs. Sheffield’s problems with him, and he might have thought of some way to help her. Although I suppose he has other concerns of his own now.”

“Mr. Collins’s accusations, you mean?” Joshua nodded. “Well, I am sure there is nothing to them, but it is typical of Mr. Collins to come charging up to Derbyshire like an avenging…I hesitate to say angel, because a less likely looking angel I have yet to encounter.” Anne pulled a disgruntled face and blew air through her lips. “He so likes to interfere, and never did approve of Mr. Asquith. I believe he is jealous because Mr. Asquith has displaced him at Rosings. I like Mrs. Collins very much and cannot imagine what made her marry Mr. Collins, although I suppose, like me she was pressured by her family for fear of her being left on the shelf and becoming a burden to her siblings.”

Joshua was vastly entertained by this new, talkative side of Anne’s character and would happily have listened to her prattling on. However, time was not on their side.

“Very well, by all means acquaint Mr. Asquith of our plan. And tomorrow you and I, in the spirit of a couple of the verge of engagement, will drive out together. No one will object. In fact, your mother will encourage the outing. She need not know that we are heading for Briar Hall to acquaint Mrs. Sheffield of our plan.”

“Oh, will I not be in the way?”

“Not in the least. Besides, when she hears what you are prepared to do to help her, I feel sure she will wish to thank you in person.”

“She has nothing to thank me for.” Anne smiled. “I cannot remember a time when I enjoyed myself more or felt more useful. I am sorry for Mama, of course. She genuinely does have my best interests at heart and thinks she knows what is best for me and for Rosings too of course. Still, since you do not wish to marry me there is nothing she can do about it.”

“Anne, you must not think—”

“Shush, I am just teasing you.”

His cousin Anne, having the confidence to tease? Who would have thought it?

“We do not have much time to make our arrangements. In less than a week’s time you perform your play, and by then I am sure your mother will expect us to do more than spend our afternoons out driving.”

“Hmm yes, I see what you mean.” Anne furrowed her brow. “Providing she doesn’t get suspicious, she will be happy to remain at Pemberley for at least another week, expecting us to become better acquainted and resigned to our fate. She will be very angry and disappointed but there is no help for that.”

“It is I who will do the disappointing. No blame will attach to you.”

“Is a week long enough for Mr. Sheffield to come up here and for this matter to be settled?”

“Oh yes. He is in London at present according to Mrs. Sheffield’s solicitor, and not in Buckinghamshire. If he doesn’t mind the discomfort of long days on the road which I am sure he will not if he thinks there is profit in it for him, he can be here within three days.”

“Well in that case, I shall enjoy seeing him get his just deserts.”

“If our plan works we shall all enjoy that experience, and you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you helped to bring it about.” Joshua took her small hand, kissed the back of it and pulled her to her feet. “I am so glad we understand one another. Now come, let us join the others before we are missed.”

A hum of polite conversation filled the drawing room. It seemed to Joshua as though it stalled when he and Anne entered the room. All heads certainly turned their way, some displaying more interest than others. Lady Catherine descended upon them, and Joshua diplomatically left mother and daughter alone, confident that Anne would play her part in this real life drama at least as well as she reputedly did in Asquith’s production. The Darcys were in conversation with Jane Bingley but joined Joshua a short time later.

“You and Anne look very pleased with yourselves, Colonel,” Mrs. Darcy said. “Are we to wish you joy?”

“No, ma’am, but I certainly owe you my thanks.”

“She agreed then,” Darcy surmised.

“With alacrity. She is so pleased not to be forced into marriage with me that she will do just about anything.”