“But she has no dowry at all!” Miss Bingley managed to say.
But Mr. Darcy was relentless. “Remember, Miss Bingley, that it is only because Miss Bennethas no dowrythat she would even be willing to consider joining herself with a man whose father was in trade. It could certainly be said that she, as the daughter of a landed gentleman, not to mention exceptionally beautiful, could do better than your brother. Were she to have a Season in town, she could likely capture a title as well.”
Miss Bingley shut her eyes for a moment, and then rose and left the room, without so much as a curtsey.
It occurred to Mr. Darcy just then that if Miss Bennet was engaged to Bingley, his Elizabeth – no, nothisElizabeth, of course! – would likely be his next target.
Chapter Twenty-Two
On the eighteenth of November, at precisely four o’clock in the afternoon, Kitty, who had been peering out the front window for the past half an hour, called out, “He is here!”
Mr. Collins was greeted by Mr. Hill, who immediately showed the visitor to the parlour. There, the family all rose to greet him. Mr. Bennet shook his hand and the ladies all curtsied. Mrs. Bennet rang for the tea tray and engaged the visitor in conversation, giving all the young ladies an opportunity to observe him without appearing to gawk.
He was tall, which spoke in his favour, but he was large-boned and heavy. His hair was thinning, and he would likely be quite bald before long. His manner was formal, and he spoke agood deal about his parish, his parishioners, his patroness, his cottage, his garden, his hens, and so on. Such a profusion of conversation might be attributable to nerves; time would tell.
He complimented Mrs. Bennet on the décor of the room which, truth to tell, was old and a bit threadbare, as Miss Bingley had seen. He then turned his eyes to his female cousins, who were arranged quite attractively on two sofas opposite his chair.
“Mrs. Bennet, I have heard much of the beauty of my cousins, but the reality far eclipses what I had imagined.”
It was a clumsy compliment, but any compliment was pleasing to Mrs. Bennet, so she thanked him prettily.
Mr. Collins continued, “It will be no hardship, then, to execute my little plan.” He smiled broadly, revealing square, yellow teeth.
“Your plan, sir?” Mr. Bennet put in.
“Why, to compensate at least one of your daughters for the eventual loss of Longbourn.”
There was a moment’s silence, as no one was quite certain as to how to respond to such a statement; Mrs. Bennet then rose and offered to show her guest to his room. He accepted with alacrity, and the two vanished up the staircase.
“Well!” Jane huffed, and that one syllable prompted all the Bennet girls to burst into laughter, erasing the palpable tension in the room.
“Are you still determined, Mary?” Elizabeth enquired, when the mirth had subsided.
“Determined? What is Mary determined to do?” Mr. Bennet asked.
“She said she would marry Mr. Collins, no matter what he looked like,” Jane supplied. “Well, Mary?”
“I am undeterred,” Mary announced. “I am no beauty myself – no, you need not protest – so it is not for me to judge him on his looks.”
“I am less concerned about his looks than his manner,” Elizabeth said, brow wrinkled in concern.
Mary took a deep breath. “Lizzy, I do not doubt that you, with your beauty and wit, have long believed that you would have a choice when it came to matrimony; I have never had such a belief. On the contrary, I have always thought I would be lucky if anyone wished to marry me. So I would be everything grateful if he would be willing to have me.”
“Pooh!” Lydia exclaimed. “For my part, you are more than welcome to him.”
“My part as well,” Kitty agreed, and the two ran upstairs to their room.
Mr. Bennet sat beside Mary and took her hands in his. “Mary, you need not marry anyone if you are not inclined to do so. I have not done a very good job of saving money for you, child, but you know that Jane is engaged, and Mr. Bingley has promised me that he will take care of all you girls, should the need arise. Also, he has no need of Jane’s share of your mother’s four thousand pounds, so your share is now a full thousand pounds. In the four percents, that would give you forty pounds a year. You could not support yourself on that amount, of course, but it would add to your comfort when living with Mr. Bingley and Jane.”
Mary, who had never before heard her father speak to her so, could only stare at him, her eyes filling.
“Think on it, child.” And with that, Mr. Bennet kissed the top of Mary’s head, rose, and left the room.
“Has the whole world gone mad?” Elizabeth wondered, turning to Jane. “Papa kissed Mary!”
Jane agreed, “Had I not seen it myself, I would never have believed it.”
“Jane, it is good of you and Mr. Bingley to give up your share of Mama’s dowry,” Elizabeth said, softly.
