Page 71 of First Impressions
Deep breath. Think. Come up with a plan, an excuse.
Ok, first she didn’t even know that that was what Mrs. DeBourgh wanted to talk to her about. Maybe Anne knew! Beth grabbed her cell phone and opened up her message with Anne.
-Hey, quick question. You ok to text?
The last thing she wanted was Mrs. DeBourgh to see her texting Anne.
~Hey! Yeah, I’m good. What’s up? Also, I heard about Lydia and Jane - congrats!
- Thanks! So, your mom wants to meet with me tomorrow morning. She said it was urgent. Do you know what that’s about?
~Oh man. No, I’m not sure. I’m in LA this week otherwise I would come with her to make sure she behaves, but she hasn’t said anything to me. What did she say?
- Not a whole lot. Her email insinuated that she knows some information about me and Darcy. Would she even ask me about that?
~Yeah, you know she would. Oh man. I don’t know what to tell you. Don’t give her any more information that you have to. Don’t lie to her because she will find out - trust me.
- Ok, thanks. Let me know if she mentions anything to you before tomorrow.
~ Definitely. Don’t let her bully you, Beth.
- I won’t.
She’d really hoped that Anne had an idea of what her mother wanted to talk about, but she had a sinking feeling that it could only be about Darcy. If it had been about the event or any other PR needs, Anne probably would have known.Just what I need right now.
So what if she had seen them together at the party and that they left at the same time the following morning? She was PR. She was supposed to socialize with the guests, especially ones that she already knew from other events. There was nothing to suggest that something inappropriate was going on between them.Unless Mrs. DeBourgh was able to read minds.What if she had cameras in the guest house?Oh God. Stop. Don’t even go there, Beth.The best way to handle her was to stay calm and first assume that Mrs. DeBourgh wouldn’t be so invasive as to question her about her personal life. If she did, all Beth had to do was have a reasonable explanation for whatever Mrs. DeBourgh might have heard because there’s no way she could know anything incriminating. Now, to run through all those scenarios before morning.And go…
Chapter Forty-Four
She really thoughtthat she was going to be much more nervous about this meeting than she was right now, sitting and waiting for Mrs. DeBourgh to arrive. Maybe it was because she’d been thinking about it all night; maybe it was because she’d gone over every possible response to any questions about her and Darcy - from clever lies to the blatant truth, she’d cycled through and rehearsed them all. As she sat there though, she still hadn’t decided which answer she was going to give. Maybe it was just because, after everything that had happened with Darcy, she knew that there wasn’t a chance for them to be together anymore which meant that there was nothing for Mrs. DeBourgh to worry about. Maybe all of the nervous apprehension had turned into resignation, knowing that it didn’t matter what or how much of a relationship she admitted to having with Darcy; it was over and there was a greater chance of hell freezing over before marriage was ever a word brought up between the two of them again.
Taking another sip of her tea, she had to laugh to herself at her current situation: having to answer to her semi-boss about a man whom said-boss believed was in a relationship with her daughter but now thought was in a relationship with her except that relationship no longer existed even though Beth wished that it did.Oh, the webs we weave.Maybe it had nothing to do with that, but she was about to find out. Her phone buzzed with a text from Anne.
Good luck!
She responded,Thanks!
When she looked up from her phone, she saw Mrs. DeBourgh walking towards her with an unusually sour look on her face that erased any doubt.Oh, this was definitely about Darcy.
“Miss Bennet.” Her address dripped with displeasure as she sat down. “I’m confident that you are well aware of why I’ve asked for this meeting.”
Beth’s eyes widened and her eyebrows raised, partly in surprise at the directness of her statement and partly as a non-verbal response.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. DeBourgh. I can’t say that I am. I would assume to go over how Gardiner, and I, met your business needs at the White Party.” Beth tried to play it off; she was too smart to come out and give away any more information than was necessary to this woman.
“Miss Bennet,” she replied, her tone even harsher. “I did not get where I am today by letting little nobodies, like yourself, play games with me. So you can play coy all that you want, but my position in the world has afforded me the power to be direct with you; whether you are going to return the courtesy or not is up to you. I’ll admit that I was very pleased with the work you and your firm did for me and I was looking forward to pursuing that mutually beneficial relationship permanently. However, it was brought to my attention yesterday that not only is your younger sister Lydia married now and your older sister, Jane, engaged to Charles Bingley, but that you yourself are about to be engaged to Mr. William Darcy, the manmydaughter has been planning to marry since she was practically born. Obviously, this cannot be true as I’m confident that the ring Mr. Darcy won in the bidding is for Anne. However, I felt that it was my obligation to inform you that there are these rumors being spread around and I would ask you to put an end to them before my daughter gets hurt.”
Wow, this woman was completely clueless about her daughter.Beth thought for a moment though, before responding, not wanting to say anything that would get Anne in trouble with her mom - that was between the two of them.
“Mrs. DeBourgh, if you’re so confident that it isn’t true, that these rumors are completely unfounded, then I’m sure you don’t need to waste your time meeting with me to confirm it,” she finally replied, trying to sound as sincere as possible.
“Miss Bennet, just because I’m confident of its outrageous falseness doesn’t mean that I’m not going to do my due diligence in having it unequivocally refuted by the very person at the center of it all,” she began in a huff. “Don’t play games with me, Miss Bennet, I’m in no mood. I’m confidentthat you know these are the rumors going around, whether you are the one who instigated them or not is immaterial at this point. Now, you will tell me whether there is any foundation to them or not!”
“Mrs. DeBourgh, just because you hired me to do my job, doesn’t mean you own me or have a right to any information whatsoever about my personal life.” Beth retorted, tired of being pushed around.
“Do not test me, dear. Let me be clear; there can be no truth to these assertions because Mr. Darcy is engaged tomy daughter,do you understand?”
“Well, if that’s the case, then you can be sure that he wouldn’t also propose marriage to me.”
