Page 14 of A Prudent Engagement

When Mr. Collins had announced what happened to Lady Catherine, he had of course not crowed about how delighted he was by her father’s death; he had gone to spread the sad tale that the world ought to mourn the tragic death of his most beloved cousin Bennet.

Elizabeth was able to think upon Mr. Darcy with more complaisance than she could think about her cousin.

The news that Charlotte would depart for Meryton in the company of Elizabeth in less than two hours left Mr. Collins distraught in word but calm in manner and deed.

This was precisely what Elizabeth had anticipated.

She had also anticipated that he would be authentically distressed by the harm caused to Lady Catherine by Mr. Darcy’s decision to leave early. Upon hearing of their plans, Mr. Collins first exclaimed, “Impossible! Impossible! He has already delayed leaving so that he would not be parted from his cousin Anne.”

Elizabeth flushed.

Had he wished to be near Miss de Bourgh, or had he wished to be near Elizabeth?

It was, of course, not an interest in his cousin, who had been of an age to marry for some time. If he had wished to marry the lady, he would have long since done so.

“Mr. Darcy has made the promise,” Charlotte said to her husband, “and it was quite kind of him.”

“Impossible. Mr. Darcy would not dare to disappoint Lady Catherine.” Mr. Collins’s expression darkened.

“Perhaps,” Elizabeth suggested with a hint of amusement that painfully reminded her of her papa, “he did not know how severely Lady Catherine would be wounded by his early departure.”

“In that case she will make him understand that he must not absent himself prematurely from his honoured, noble, and grand relations. I fear, Cousin Elizabeth, that this scheme will be disappointed. Once Mr. Darcy has understood that to depart immediately will rouse Lady Catherine’s ire, he will desist. I judge there to be no purpose to your hurried preparations.”

“He did promise,” Elizabeth said. “And there was that in Mr. Darcy’s manner which makes me think that he would not break a promise lightly.”

She suddenly thought about Mr. Wickham, and his smiling face, and the way that he had told everyone how poorly he had been used by Mr. Darcy. The officer’s story did not fit with her changing understanding of Mr. Darcy.

Mr. Collins frowned. “It would be impossible for the nephew of Lady Catherine to display any unsteadiness or anything but the most forthright and noble bearing and behaviour.” Suddenly the clergyman’s expression cleared, and he smiled beatifically. “You misunderstood the situation. He does mean to send his carriage to take you to London—that is a mark of greater favour and kindness than you deserve, and I shall remember his kindness to me. I am sure that it is because he admired my sermon on Sunday so much. He told me that he regarded it most highly when I asked when we all dined together the next day. Do you remember?”

“I remember,” Charlotte said in a serious tone that satisfied her husband.

“But, as I have said, it is impossible that Mr. Darcy means to attend you in the carriage. He will send Colonel Fitzwilliam to escort you both, but he will of course not leave. He would not dare to disappoint Lady Catherine.”

“You are very likely right, Husband,” Charlotte replied, smiling. “But even if Mr. Darcy only sends his carriage, it is most kind, and a little of the compliment must go to Elizabeth as well as you.”

“I would never wish to imply that you might be mistaken, Mrs. Collins, and your attachment to your unfortunate friend does you credit. But despite your regular conversations with Lady Catherine these past months, my knowledge of the ways of the great, and especially those of the male sex, is still superior to yours. It is extremely unlikely that Mr. Darcy would wish to show favour to Cousin Elizabeth if he did not also wish to show favour to her most respectable relation.”

After this conversation, Mr. Collins ‘helped’ his wife to pack, making her take a gown wholly inappropriate for the present weather, unfolding several items as he poked through the trunk, then forcing her to make room for her jewellery box, so her family would know everything that he had bought for her. He even offered general advice upon the proper way to arrange the items so that they could be most commodiously accommodated within the case.

Mr. Collins smiled every time Elizabeth or Charlotte said anything about Mr. Darcy accompanying them, and it was clear he was serenely confident that Lady Catherine would have her day in no way disturbed by any significant unpleasantness.

This honourable reverend helpfully promised his wife and cousin that he would be excessively apologetic for them both when he attended Lady Catherine and Mr. Darcy for dinner that evening.

However, Elizabeth thought her knowledge of the gentleman’s character would prove superior to that of her cousin. Mr. Darcy was such a man who would dare to disappoint Lady Catherine.

But, even if disappointing his aunt presented little difficulty to Mr. Darcy, the more Elizabeth thought upon the fact that he would do so for her sake, the more pointed a mark of favour it seemed. Mr. Darcy was clearly a man who respected family relationships and duties—he would not be in Kent if he did not.

The carriage arrived more quickly than Elizabeth had anticipated, and while she had fully packed and her trunk had already been wrestled downstairs with some difficulty by Mr. Collins, they were still carefully refolding the last of Charlotte’s gowns when the clattering of wheels and the stamping of horses informed them that their coach awaited.

Mr. Darcy came in to wait with them while he sent one of his footmen to bring Charlotte’s trunk down, and he endured with a steady countenance Mr. Collins’s repeated exclamations of surprise that the gentleman really intended to leave that night.

“B-b-but Lady Catherine! Mr. Darcy, you cannot truly mean to disappoint my esteemed patroness—but what did she say? Do you mean to return for a longer visit as soon as you have deposited my cousin and my wife at my humble estate?”

Elizabeth’s face twitched at hearing Mr. Collins refer to Longbourn as his.

She, however, smiled at Mr. Darcy’s curt reply to the question: “No.”

As Elizabeth looked at Mr. Darcy, she became conscious of an entirely new and different way of seeing him. She had always been aware of his person, but she had gone to some effort to suppress her attraction to him. Now, she felt a flash of something go through her whenever their eyes met.