Page 21 of Pride, Prejudice and Prudence

Mr Collins awaited outside his parsonage as the Bennet carriage pulled up and Mr Bennet opened his door and stepped out, reaching up to aid Jane and Elizabeth to exit. The Mr Collins they met was quite different from the one who had come to Longbourn those many weeks before; he was still thin and quiet, but his mouth was turned up in a smile that reached his eyes. He welcomed them all with a voice filled with warmth and affection. Mr Bennet patted him on the back, and Jane and Elizabeth kissed him gently on the cheek, which caused a blush to take over his face.

He guided his family into the cottage, stopping only to introduce Mrs Hayton, his housekeeper, to his cousins. He personally showed his cousins to their rooms, a comfortable if not overlarge one for Mr Bennet, and a larger one with two small beds for his young cousins, and left them to refresh themselves. He then welcomed them all to a cozy, if not fashionable, parlour where Mrs Hayton had set out tea and scones.

“I am so happy to see you all again,” he said, the warmth still evident in his voice, as Jane poured tea for them all.

“We are also very pleased to see you, William,” Mr Bennet replied, “and it is evident that you are keeping well.”

Mr Collins admitted he was and blushingly explained that a local lady and her husband had been teaching him some more dances, and that he had attended the local assembly just the month gone.

“And did you dance with any lady in particular?” Elizabeth asked teasingly, to which he replied that every partner he had danced with had been very pleasant, but would not be drawn further. Mr Collins asked after all the family, interested to hear how everyone was doing, and they all knew he wished to hear particularly of Lydia, but did not wish to cause any distress. They assured him that their mother and all their sisters were well, and that Lydia had been enjoying the magazine of new fashion plates they had acquired for her in London. Mr Collins was clearly pleased with such a positive report and went on to enquire of some of Longbourn’s neighbours.

Lydia had been perusing the fashion plates and advising Elizabeth and Jane of dress styles which they might acquire for their London season, which was not far off. This focus on a future fun event for her sisters had given her the boost she had needed to turn away from thoughts of her abduction.

Of Mr Wickham, nothing further had been heard, but their father had confirmed that he had been dealt with. Elizabeth had enquired and was told only that Colonel Forster and some gentlemen from Derbyshire had ensured that Mr Wickham would not be causing any more problems for their family. Elizabeth had to own that she was curious as to who these mysterious gentlemen from Derbyshire could be. She knew that Mr de Grey was one of them, but although he was a gentleman, his fashion and his carriage had not marked him as a man of great wealth or influence. Elizabeth had to admit that whenever she heard the term, Mr Darcy came to her mind, but she knew well he would never involve himself in such an undertaking. While their cousin had been in Longbourn, she had meant to ask what he had told Mr Darcy that day at Hyde Park, but the opportunity had never arisen.

Chapter 34

The following day was marked by an invitation from Mr Collins’ patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, to dine that evening at Rosings Park. Elizabeth had not expected any such attentions and was most curious to meet the great lady. Mr Collins had spoken little of her, merely mentioning that she had awarded him the living and that she had a daughter who was of an age with Elizabeth’s friend, Charlotte Lucas, but unfortunately was not well.

“These are the famous cousins who have so transformed you, I presume,” Lady Catherine intoned before any introductions had been made. Lady Catherine was a statuesque lady, taller even than Mr Bennet. She was dressed in a high-collared dress, which was undoubtedly expensive, if out of fashion for more than a decade, and she wore a haughty expression that reminded Elizabeth of someone, but she could not say who.

“Indeed, Ma'am, may I introduce my cousins?” he said and awaited her assent. She nodded, and he continued, “Lady Catherine de Bourgh, my cousins, Mr Thomas Bennet, Miss Bennet, and Miss Elizabeth Bennet,” he said, and Mr Bennet bowed, and Jane and Elizabeth curtsied as the introductions were made.

“Your cousin seems to be a gentleman,” she observed, “and your young cousins seem very ladylike.” Elizabeth’s eyes raised at this pronouncement, but she saw her father’s eyes twinkle in mirth at her unmannerly words.

“Indeed,” Mr Collins replied, “my cousin, as I mentioned previously, is the owner of Longbourn, which, although it is small in comparison to Rosings, is an estate with a long history and has been in the family for many generations.”

“Mmm,” was Lady Catherine’s response to this. “This is my daughter, Anne,” she said, and it was only then that they realised that she was not alone. A small pale woman was sitting in the furthest corner of the room, wrapped in blankets. They bowed and curtsied to her, and she nodded her head weakly, and Elizabeth’s heart went out to the sickly young woman.

“Your estate is entailed on Mr Collins, I understand?” Lady Catherine questioned Mr Bennet, and he confirmed it was true. These questions coming after so many others, which in any other circumstances she was sure her father would have refused to answer. The dinner, which was excellent and not overly complex, had been peppered with such queries, and Elizabeth had hoped this line of questioning had ended with the meal, but it seemed not. With only two gentlemen in attendance for the evening, there not being a male in Rosings, Lady Catherine decided that there would be no division of the sexes after dinner, for which Elizabeth was glad.

“I see no occasion for entailing estates from the female line. It was not thought necessary in my late husband, Sir Lewis de Bourgh’s, family. Do you play and sing, Miss Bennet?” Lady Catherine went on to say in a non-sequitur.

“A little,” Jane confirmed but Elizabeth is the better of us,” she admitted. Elizabeth understood this to be an instruction, not a request, and therefore went to the pianoforte. She hoped that this meant that Lady Catherine had run out of impertinent questions to ask her father. He had sat through it all with a faint air of amusement that Elizabeth would not have been able to hold, if she had been in his place.

She looked through the music sheets and, finding nothing to her taste, chose to play a light Scottish air that she knew by heart. She had to admit that the instrument was the finest she had ever played, no family in Meryton having the funds for such a pianoforte. Having finished the Scottish air, she continued to play, digging into her repertoire for pieces she did not need the music sheets for. It was as she began the third piece that she noticed that Miss de Bourgh was paying her rapt attention, and giving that lady some pleasure made Elizabeth play on for much longer than she would have otherwise.

When the evening ended, Lady Catherine had offered one of her carriages to bring the party back to the parsonage, but they had declined the offer. Elizabeth was pleased to be ending the evening with this pleasant walk, the parsonage standing at the very entrance to Rosings Park, and the path clearly visible in the bright moonlight. Elizabeth looked up at the moon and walked jauntily on by herself, Jane having taken their father’s arm, and her cousin walking close beside her. She smiled, it was a time she would never normally get to walk, for it would have been improper for a lady to walk alone at such a time.

“You will look forward to seeing Lady Catherine’s nephew again,” Mr Collins said, and Elizabeth came to a complete stop.

“Again?” she asked.

“Why yes,” her cousin said, his tone questioning, “for you know that one of the nephews Lady Catherine said would be joining her tomorrow is Mr Darcy,” and at that name, the whole party stopped walking to look at Mr Collins.

Chapter 35

“Mr Darcy?” Elizabeth said, and the name was repeated by her father.

Mr Collins looked at his cousins, his brow furrowed. “I thought you knew, Mr Darcy is Lady Catherine’s nephew.”

“And he is to visit tomorrow?” Elizabeth questioned again.

“Yes,” Mr Collins confirmed.

“Well, well, that will make a most interesting tableau, hey Lizzy? What sport seeing how Mr Darcy behaves with his aunt?” her father said, his eyebrows raising and dropping again in quick succession.

Elizabeth and Jane were sitting in the sunny parlour at the front of the parsonage the next morning, writing to their mother, while Mr Collins and her father were gone into the village. The ladies were startled by a ring at the door, the certain signal of a visitor. As they had heard no carriage, Elizabeth wondered who could have come by foot? Perhaps a parishioner in need of her cousin, but when the door opened, and to her very great surprise, Mr Darcy, and Mr Darcy only, entered the room.