Page 9 of Idle Gossip

“It is a very good thing there is much to amuse me in our neighborhood at the moment or I should be decidedly disappointed,” Mr. Bennet announced to his family during breakfast.

Elizabeth did not know what he meant. Her father often spoke cryptically, and she had learned to wait until he explained before asking questions.

“Is there something in your letter, Papa?” Jane asked.

Mr. Bennet was, indeed, holding some missive in his hand, reading as he ate.

“There is. I had not intended to inform you yet, but my cousin, Mr. William Collins, wished to visit us here later this month. His letter as of last week indicated he would arrive on the nineteenth of November at four o’clock. Mr. Collins wrote of his desire to stay for a fortnight before returning to his parish. He has lately been the recipient of a great lady’s beneficence.” Mr. Bennet consulted the missive. “He mentions her again here. ‘Lady Catherine de Bourgh.’ My cousin is a rector and has been granted a valuable family living in Kent.”

“What is this? You did not intend to inform us? Mr. Bennet, do you mean to say that you meant to keep Mr. Collins’s arrival from me? For how long?” Mrs. Bennet’s displeasure was punctuated by the clatter of her utensils on her plate.

“It would have pleased me to tell you the morning of his arrival,” Mr. Bennet replied. “What a spectacle! It is of no matter now, given my cousin’s delay. He writes that his patroness cannot do without him until the first of the year. What a shame! I believe he meant to extend an olive branch. Watching his disappointment that Jane and Lizzy are not available would have been humorous.”

“An olive branch?” Elizabeth repeated.

“Yes, he made mention of how he regretted displacing my daughters and hinted at the desire to marry one of you.” Mr. Bennet paused. “His letter is a strange mix of subservience and sycophancy. The loss of his attentions is not to be repined.”

“Mr. Bennet! When he comes, we must put Mary forward. Not to be repined, indeed. Can you imagine Lady Lucas’s jealousy if we have three daughters married?”

I am not engaged. Elizabeth’s thoughts bordered on rebellion. She did not like the position she found herself in, but it was not to be helped. She had given Mr. Darcy leave to call upon her, and she would allow him to do so until they could reasonably put a halt to the farce.

But you find him handsome, her traitorous thoughts whispered. Handsome or not, he had not displayed any qualities she found attractive since his arrival.

It soothed her injured vanity somewhat to know he had struggled against his attraction—that his relatives’ reaction had tempered his behavior.

I suppose I ought to appreciate his attempts to be circumspect, she reasoned. He had not wished to raise expectations he could not meet. But now they both had the choice taken from them.

“Are we expecting Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley today?” Mrs. Bennet asked.

“Mr. Bingley has estate business,” Jane announced. “He informed me Mr. Darcy would assist him.”

Elizabeth kept silent. She did not tell her mother that Mr. Darcy intended to call for a walk. Hopefully, she could sneak out and thus completely avoid accompanying her mother on calls.

“Very good. Then I may make calls.” Mrs. Bennet fairly quivered with excitement. “I wish to tell Lady Lucas of our good fortune. Then I shall call on Mrs. Long and Mrs. Goulding. We may take tea with my sister. Jane, Lizzy, you will attend me.”

Elizabeth had no desire to traipse about town. No, she needed time to contemplate the situation in which she found herself. And she had not slept particularly well. Thoughts of Jane’s engagement and her forced courtship had not left her until early morning.

None of it feels entirely real.

Mrs. Bennet did not seem to care about the distinction between her daughters’ relationships. In her eyes, Elizabeth would be engaged before long.

I shall have to escape to the Gardiners’ home when the courtship ends.

Elizabeth stepped into her father’s study fifteen minutes before Mr. Darcy was set to arrive for their walk.

“I am going out, Papa,” she said.

“Out? I thought you were meant to attend your mother.” Mr. Bennet did not take his eyes off the page in front of him.

“I was. But I promised Mr. Darcy we would walk.”

“That was not mentioned at breakfast.” He closed his books and set it aside, his expression amused.

“I know. And I would appreciate discretion until we have gone. You may inform her where I am when she is ready to depart.” It would be easier on Elizabeth’s nerves if her mother did not fawn over Mr. Darcy.

“Of course, my dear.” Mr. Bennet paused. “You ought to be pleased Mr. Collins’s visit is delayed. Though I have never met the man, I believe he would have been offended to learn my two most eligible and beautiful daughters were not available for him to choose.”

“What do you mean?”