Page 90 of Regrets

He looked over at Mr. Collins, who was being led out of the room by the woman who had turned out to be Lady Catherine de Bourgh, the patroness. Mr. Collins was still insisting that his father would have told him, and there must be some mistake. Mr. Bennet did not envy Lady Catherine trying to explain the situation to him. And he almost – almost! – felt sorry for Mr. Collins.

Mr. Bennet spoke; his voice was hoarse with emotion. “I cannot thank you enough, Mr. Stanley. And you, Mr. Jeffries. Will you celebrate with me?”

Mr. Stanley smiled widely. “The nearest pub is just around the corner.”

The victory was toasted again and again; Mr. Bennet bought a round of drinks for everyone in the pub. Then Mr. Stanley pulled a cheque from his briefcase and gave it to Mr. Jeffries. “This is a gift of gratitude from Mr. Darcy. It is to be used for whatever you or the church might need.”

Mr. Jeffries’ eyes widened upon seeing the cheque. He stammered, “There is no need, truly –“

But Mr. Stanley stopped him. “Mr. Darcy thinks there is every need, and I agree with him.”

Chapter Seventy-Nine

As he and Mr. Philips made their way back to the Gardiners, Mr. Bennet suddenly discovered that he was extraordinarily weary. How very exhausting these past weeks had been! The hope that the entail might be lifted…the fear that it could not…the discovery that Lydia had killed a man…the attack on Georgiana Darcy! He felt entirely drained, and could not imagine returning to Meryton that same day.

The Gardiners told him they were more than happy to host him and Mr. Philips for another night; they, too, wanted to celebrate!

Mr. Bennet did not forget his wife and daughters; he paid for a messenger to ride to Longbourn at once, carrying a paper with these two lines:

It is done; Longbourn is ours!

Will return tomorrow.

Mrs. Gardiner had a special feast already prepared, for she knew it would be needed no matter which way the judge decided, and a good deal of wine was consumed. Everyone understood what this meant to the Bennets; everyone understood how much anger and fear had been caused by that entail over the past many years. To have it lifted – well, there were truly no words to describe the euphoria that filled their hearts!

Mr. Bennet, rather bleary-eyed from imbibing a good deal of port, asked Mrs. Gardiner if she would accompany him to Bond Street the next morning. She smiled and assured him that she would be delighted to do so.

***

At Longbourn, the arrival of the messenger was met with considerable palpitations on the part of Mrs. Bennet. Jane, as the eldest, was the one chosen to open the message and read it aloud.

The moment she had done so, Mrs. Bennet slumped into a faint, without so much as a murmur or a gasp.

“Mama! Mama!” Mary ran to her mother’s side and rubbed her hands, anxiously.

Elizabeth ran to the door and called, “Mrs. Hill!”

Mrs. Hill arrived immediately; upon seeing her mistress’ condition, she ran for the salts.

Mrs. Bennet came to her senses once her salts were waved under her nose. She sat up, recalled what had happened, and tears began to run down her face. “Never to be made to leave!” she whispered, again and again.

Mary said, thoughtfully, “Do you know, it turned out to be a good thing that Mr. Collins was such a fool. Had he been a sensible man, Papa would never have spoken to Mr. Darcy.”

“And had he been a sensible man, doubtless one of us would have been made to marry him,” Lydia added, wrinkling her nose.

“Papa will still need to select an heir,” Elizabeth said. “It ought to be you, Jane, as the eldest. And now that I think on it, that would make a good deal of sense, for then Mr. Bingley need not purchase an estate; he would have Longbourn!”

There was a good deal of chatter about this. Would Mr. Bingley want Longbourn? Might it not be too small for his taste? But he could add on a wing, could he not?

Jane put a stop to it, simply by saying, “Let us wait to hear what Papa’s wishes are.”

Elizabeth knew that Mr. Darcy should be told about the victory as well; she was not permitted to write to him, of course, so she did not sign her name. The message simply said: The entail is ended; we can never thank you enough.

Chapter Eighty

Despite an aching head, Mr. Bennet set out the next morning with Mrs. Gardiner. After two hours of shopping in what must be the most crowded street in the world, his head was still aching, but he had a number of packages wrapped in brown paper – shawls, bonnets, lengths of material, ribbons, tea, and packages of the girls’ favourite candies.

They returned to the Gardiners’ home on Gracechurch Street, ate a small luncheon, and Mr. Bennet and Mr. Philips were then on their way back to Meryton. The carriage brought Mr. Philips home first, and then went on to Longbourn.