Page 181 of The Governess of My Heart
“Watch your words, Mr. Bennet; I will not think twice to kill you right here.”
“How dare you slander the daughter you raised. Are you not ashamed of yourself?” Darcy asked with rage.
Mr. Bennet tried to free himself from Lord Anderson’s grasp, and according to him, his worst nightmare had come true.
“Did she really run away? Is that the truth?” Darcy asked as he grabbed Mr. Bennet’s arm.
“She did, she did run away.”
“Enough! She left because you wanted to ruin her for the sake of wealth. How could you do it? And you called her your daughter?” Darcy asked, shaking Mr. Bennet.
Just then, the library door opened, and Mrs. Bennet entered the room.
“My dear Mr. Bennet, I heard Mr. Darcy just called on you; I must fetch Jane immediately,” she said as she entered, and once she set eyes on Lord Anderson, Mrs. Bennet halted abruptly, and every muscle in her body froze.
“Mr. Andrews, I cannot believe…how are you here?” she stammered.
“You know my original identity very well, madam. Don’t you?” Lord Anderson asked her.
Her stare shifted between each of the men in the room, and she was horrified to see her husband's state.
“How dare you? Leave my husband right now. Mr. Bennet, what happened?” she asked in horror.
“Don’t you understand why I am here? I am here to obtain justice for my dead wife, the one you chose to betray so cruelly for money. Answer me now, did you do it or not?”
“I did not do anything. We raised that disgraceful daughter of hers and gave her a life, but she was as immoral as her mother; she ran away with someone.”
“Enough!” cried Darcy, and his voice was so loud that Mrs. Bennet was certain the entire household heard him.
He walked closer to Mrs. Bennet.
“I warn you not to utter another word about her. You let the world slander your own sister and then have the nerve to do that to Elizabeth as well? You thought she had no one to protect her, didn’t you?”
Mrs. Bennet could not understand how Darcy was aware of Elizabeth, and the very mention of her name in his mouth gave Mrs. Bennet the chills.
“Let me acquaint you with information your husband is already aware of. Elizabeth is to marry me, and I am proud to have her as my wife. She is no longer alone in this world. You are answerable to everything you have done to her mother.”
“Is she still alive? I thought she had ended her life somewhere; we never heard from her all these months. Mr. Bennet, why are you silent? Send these men away from our home.”
Lord Anderson and Darcy tried hard to compose themselves; they were enraged by Mrs. Bennet’s words.
“You assumed wrong, Mrs. Bennet. Unlike Sarah, she did not die and leave this world without exposing you. She was brave enough to live after what you did to her.”
“We did nothing to her; she ran away, and God knows with whom?” Mr. Bennet cried with spite, and the next moment, he was on the floor due to a deadly blow Lord Anderson landed on him.
Mrs. Bennet was beside him immediately, crying.
“Oh! My poor husband is being treated like this for no fault of his. You must leave before I call my servants to remove you; I do not know why you are here. I do not care whether she is alive or not; leave this house,” Mrs. Bennet cried.
“You must care now because I discovered the truth about Sarah—the truth you so maliciously hid from me. I know now that she was pregnant with my child while you forged the letters stating she wanted to marry this man here. I know everything.”
Mrs. Bennet stared at him in horror.
This is impossible; how could he know? No, this cannot be true.
“I do not know what you are accusing me of; I did not know anything about your relationship with her. Sarah was a ruined woman, and we generously raised the child she brought to this world as a disgrace. Elizabeth was born out of wedlock; that is what we knew.”
“Nonsense! You knew very well that she was married. Do not lie,” Lord Anderson cried.
