by Leenie Brown
“Then you see my quandary. I am no competition to such men.” He waved a hand, indicating his person. “However, Mr. Darcy, I know that you were not well thought of by Miss Elizabeth, and yet, she very much approves of you now.”
“Did Miss Elizabeth tell you as much?”
Collins’s head bobbed up and down emphatically. “She did, and she said that I had permission to say as much to you.”
Darcy smiled and shook his head. “She is correct. I slighted her before we had even met.”
“Indeed?” Collins attempted to pull his brows back down from his hairline, but they would not obey. His surprise was too great.
“Indeed,” Darcy assured him.
“Then, how did you convince her to consider you?”
Darcy shrugged. “It was not I but divine intervention. She was allowed a glimpse of a different man after I learned of Anne’s death and before I travelled to Rosings.”
“That will not work,” Collins muttered. Then, he brightened. “You have since grown in her favour, have you not?”
“Yes.”
“Then you could perchance assist me in how to woo Miss Kitty, could you not?”
“I –”
Collins’s excitement could not be contained, and he turned to Bingley without as much as a moment’s pause to allow Darcy to reply. “And you could teach me to be at ease, could you not? And then.” A smile much larger than he thought he was capable of smiling split his face. “We shall be brothers, and I shall have a mistress for Longbourn. And we shall have a son, and I will not be the last master of Longbourn as my father insisted.” Yes, yes, this plan would work brilliantly.
Bingley laughed heartily. “You would like us to –”
“Be my tutors,” Collins pled. “I shall die a lonely old man as my father said if you do not.”
“We cannot promise success,” Darcy cautioned.
“No, no, I do not expect you to perform miracles, of course.” His smile faded. Perhaps the plan would not work as brilliantly as he imagined.
“As long as you realize that our help may not sway her from another, we will help you,” Darcy assured him.
Bingley rose from his chair and crossed to the wardrobe. “Do you have a man?” he asked as he pulled the doors open.
“No, I cannot justify such a luxury.”
“You will need one,” Bingley said as he looked through Collins’s possessions. “However, we will have to make do for now. I know a thing or two.” He turned and looked at Collins with a grimace. “I think it would be best if my man had a go at your hair and taught you a few more knots.” He pointed to his own cravat. “A lady does like a well-turned-out gentleman.”
Collins nodded.
“How will we arrange such a meeting?” Darcy asked. “To bring your man here would give rise to suspicion. And to have Collins appear at Netherfield for such an appointment would set your sisters on the trail of something about which to gossip.”
Bingley pursed his lips. “You are right. I shall ask my man for his opinion and then relay the information to you myself.”
Again, Collins nodded his approval. “Whatever help you can provide, I will appreciate most highly.”
“She likes novels,” Bingley add. “Are there any which you might read here?”
Collins blinked. “I do not know. I could ask Miss Lydia, I suppose.”
“That should shock her appropriately,” Bingley said with a smirk.
Darcy shook his head. “No, ask Miss Kitty which is her favourite, and then read that.”
“Miss Kitty?” The racing was beginning again in his chest as he considered such a thing. Asking Miss Lydia would be much easier than asking Kitty!
“You will have to learn to speak to her if you ever wish to marry her,” Darcy said.
“Right. Right. Yes. Of course.”
Darcy’s answering smile was sympathetic. “It gets easier,” he assured. “Trust me. I know that feeling of dread that has settled into your belly. It will lessen with each time you practice speaking to her, even if it is about foolishly mundane things.”
Collins sighed. “You are certain?”
Darcy nodded.
Collins rose from where he sat and gave his sleeves a tug. “Then, I will do it.”
“Brave man!” Bingley said as he clapped him on the shoulder. “We brothers must band together.”
Collins smiled at first at the appellation of brother, but then his brows furrowed. “You would truly welcome me as a brother?” He had never thought to be anyone’s brother. A friend perhaps. A cousin most definitely, but not a brother. A brother was something far more important than mere friend or cousin.
The half-minute pause which followed his question was nearly unbearable.
“We would,” Darcy said as Bingley nodded his agreement. “I have been preparing myself for just such a thing since we met in Kent. Do you not remember?”
“Oh, I do. I do.” He had only considered Darcy’s comment in the sitting room at Rosings as a pleasant and proper thing to say. He had never dreamt he could actually be a brother to a man such as Fitzwilliam Darcy! His father would likely say it was yet impossible. After all, it did require him persuading a lady to accept him.
Darcy rose to leave, but pausing before moving toward the door, he tipped his head and looked very seriously at Collins. “Was your father cruel?”
Collins swallowed. “Yes.”
“He did not treat you well?” Darcy’s eyes seemed to be searching Collins’s very soul, or so it felt.
Collins shook his head. “He would have been happier without me.” Oh, it still stung to admit such a humiliating thing, but these men had pledged him their help and brotherhood. There was no need to hide his shame from them.
Darcy shook his head slowly, sadly. There were understanding and disgust for such treatment in the small movement. “That is in the past.”
His words were quiet but burgeoning with meaning and comfort. It was nearly too much to be borne in a proper gentlemanly fashion. Collins swallowed and whispered his thanks.
“Until tomorrow,” Bingley said, leading the way to the door. “I expect to see a novel in your hand,” he added with a pointed look. “I do not care if you read it. I only care that one — you demonstrate an interest in things she enjoys — and two — you have talked to her.”
Collins nodded. “I will have a novel.” He would have anything either gentleman asked him to have as long as they continued to be willing to help him.
He expelled a great breath of relief as the door closed. He could and would persuade Kitty to consider him. He would.
“Yes,” he said to his reflection in the mirror. “I will win her. I cannot fail with two such capable tutors.” His face scrunched as his brows furrowed, and his lips pursed much like they would after eating something unpleasant. He swallowed. “But first, I must acquire a novel.”
Chapter 4
Kitty tapped lightly at her father’s door and then smoothed her skirts and fixed her fichu as she waited for the door to be open. Her father had asked that they all visit him at least once per day, and so she had presented herself at his side just as was requested.
She had only just finished straightening her sleeve when Elizabeth opened the door and with a smile invited her to join them. Jane sat in one chair repairing the hem of a petticoat. Elizabeth had abandoned a book on her chair, so she had likely been reading.
“Are your other sisters with you?” Mr. Bennet asked.
“No, sir. Mary is in the garden with Maria, and Lydia is still standing at the window watching the officers leave.” She shifted uneasily from one foot to another. The sight of her father propped up by pillows in his bed was becoming more familiar, but it still unsettled her. “How are you feeling?” she asked as he motioned for her to come forward.
“No better, no worse,” he replied with a smile. “And it is dreadfully boring to be confined to one’s room.”
Kitty could well imagine that it was. There was so lit
tle to do and see when one was in bed.
“Tell me the news of the village.”
“I have not been to Meryton in days,” Kitty replied as she sat on the edge of the bed near him.
“But you have had visitors. Surely, the officers brought some news of interest with them, did they not? And if Maria is here, then Lady Lucas must also be visiting your mother.”
Kitty nodded. “Lady Lucas is here. However, I did not get an opportunity to listen to her tales.” She slipped off her slippers and drew her legs up and to her left, positioning herself comfortably as she had always done as a little girl. “Captain Denny said that Mr. Davison’s cow escaped again and that Tommy Archer has been tormenting the cats at the inn again. This time, he tied their tails together, and Mrs. Bateson chased him off with a broom. And Captain Saunders told Lydia that the milliner has just received a new shipment of ribbons.”
“Is he planning on decorating his cap?” Mr. Bennet said with a chuckle.
Kitty smiled and shook her head. “No, he just happened to hear that when two maids were awaiting their orders at the butchers. I suppose they were taking such information home to their mistresses.”
“Quite likely,” Mr. Bennet agreed. His head cocked to the side. “Do you favour either of the captains?”
Kitty shrugged one shoulder. “They are handsome.” Very handsome, truth be told. But then, a smart redcoat added a dash of allurement to even the most common of gentlemen. And there was something in the way in which an officer carried himself that begged attention and admiration.
“One more so than the other?”
She frowned as she thought. Captain Saunders was the taller of the two, but Captain Denny’s shoulders were broader. Both had pleasant countenances. She shook her head. “No,” she replied.
He patted her hand. “Then you have not lost your heart to either?”
She tipped her head to the side, the small pensive frown returning. Both officers were excellent conversationalists, and she enjoyed their company, but… She shrugged. It did not feel as if she had lost any of her heart, not even a morsel.
Again, her father patted her hand. “You will know when your heart is engaged. You will not need to wonder – at least, not for long. The feeling might confuse you at first, but it will not remain hidden. That is how it is. Is it not, Jane?”
Kitty turned toward her sister expectantly. Jane was smiling, and her cheeks were rosy, but she did not seem at all put out by the question.
“I believe I came to the realization that my heart was engaged far more easily than some,” she replied with a pointed look at Elizabeth.
“But how do you know such a thing?” Kitty asked. She was seventeen. These were things she needed to know.
“I am not certain I can explain it,” Jane replied. “I just know that should Mr. Bingley offer for me, I will accept, and we will be happy.”
Mr. Bennet chuckled, which was followed by a cough. “Should he offer?” He handed the cup of water back to Elizabeth. “Mark my words, Jane, he will offer soon. He seemed nearly ready to come to the point today.”
“Is that why you have been talking with Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy so much?” Kitty asked. “To persuade them to make an offer?”
Mr. Bennet shook his head. “No, my dear. I do not need to persuade them. I just wish to know them better. I want to know my girls are well-cared-for before –”
“Do not say it,” Kitty whispered.
“Whether I say it or not, does not mean it will not happen,” her father replied.
Kitty lifted her chin but did not lift her eyes from their study of his coverlet. “I prefer not to speak of it. That is all.” If she did speak of him dying, she would dissolve into tears just as she did each night before she fell asleep.
“Very well,” her father agreed. “We shall not speak of my demise.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“Mr. Collins has promised me that you and your mother shall always have a home,” he added.
“We are not speaking of it,” Kitty scolded.
“I was not,” he retorted. “I was going to say that Collins surprises me. He is not at all like his father.”
“I fear his father was not kind to him,” Elizabeth added. Her book lay open on her lap.
“Why do you think that?” Mr. Bennet asked.
“Because of something he said about you,” she replied with a smile and turned back to her book.
She was not reading. Kitty could tell by the way her lips twitched. It was a game Elizabeth often played with their father. There would be some tantalizing tidbit of news that Elizabeth had heard which she would present but only just barely. She would leave out details just to get him to ask. Kitty wished she had such skill, but she did not like to tease her father, no matter how he might tease her. Teasing was not a strong suit for Kitty. Everyone, even Jane and Mary, was better at teasing than she was.
“You will not tell me?” her father said with a small laugh. “I should refrain from asking so that you will have to keep the information contained.” He waggled his eyebrows. “But I will not. I must know what he said about me.”
Elizabeth laughed and closed her book. “He thinks you are the picture of perfection for fathers.”
“I am that,” their father replied with a wink and a chuckle.
The three girls joined him in laughing.
“He said he feared his father,” Elizabeth continued after they sobered. “He did not say more, but he did not have to.”
“Oh, how dreadful!” Kitty cried. She had not been so close to her father as Elizabeth or Jane had been, and her father did tease her, at times, to the point of causing her pain – though she never told anyone such a thing –, but she had never feared him. Not even when he was terribly angry with her for disobeying and ruining his favourite book when she was ten.
Elizabeth nodded her agreement. “He seems like a very nice gentleman, if a bit odd.”
“He does speak excessively at times,” Kitty agreed. “But…”
She had been watching Mr. Collins since his arrival, and she thought she had discovered something about him. However, she was not certain she should say. If Lydia were to know that she was even contemplating the man, life would become nearly unbearable. Lydia did not like Mr. Collins. She thought him a bore and was certain that as soon as he was in charge of Longbourn, all forms of fun would cease. She would be made to read scripture and sermons and would not be allowed to dance or flirt. Kitty did not agree, of course, but once Lydia had an idea in her head, it was difficult to remove.
“But what?” Jane prompted.
Kitty drew her lip between her teeth and shook her head. “It is nothing.”
“Nothing?” Her father’s tone did not hide his disbelief.
“I should not say. It is just a thought and not a word of it would hold any truth. I am certain it would be wrong for me to share such a thing.”
Her father arched a brow. “Are you becoming Mary?”
“No, no. I just do not wish to treat Mr. Collins poorly. He does seem like a very nice gentleman, just as Elizabeth said.”
“As nice as the officers?” Her father’s smile was teasing.
“He is not as handsome,” Kitty replied. If he were to wear a red coat and walk smartly, he might come close. He was tall, his shoulders were broad, and he was not the sort of gentleman to blow over in a gale. She felt her cheeks grow warm at the thought of finding Mr. Collins even marginally handsome. “He is more patient, I believe.”
“How so?” her father asked. “I really do need to ask him to visit me more. There are things I need to tell him about the estate.”
“Papa,” Kitty scolded. “We are not talking about that.”
He patted her hand. “Forgive me. I had forgotten. Now, tell me what makes you think of Mr. Collins as patient.”
Kitty shifted on the bed and sat a bit straighter. “Well, for one, he knows Mary does not wish to be pushed at him, and so he attempts to divert Mama. B
ut he will not be rude about it. Even if Mary is at times.”
“My daughter is being rude?” Mr. Bennet said in surprise.
Kitty grimaced and nodded.
“I shall have to speak to her,” her father muttered. “Continue.”
Kitty pulled herself up from the deflated position his question about Mary had caused. “Secondly, Lydia has attempted to provoke him, and he has replied with such grace.” She smiled. “It has Lydia beyond vexed.”
It was a comment that caused not only Mr. Bennet to chuckle but also Jane and Elizabeth.
“Then,” Mr. Bennet said, “he is made of some pretty stern stuff if he can abide your mother’s machinations and Lydia’s temper.”
Kitty nodded. “He is. I honestly think he is. However…” She shook her head. “No, I should not say.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes, Papa, I am.”
Just then, there was a tapping at the door and, at her father’s call, the door pushed open.
“Oh, I do not mean to intrude.” Collins’s words turned to chaff in his mouth as he took in how Kitty was so charmingly perched on her father’s bed.
“You are not an intrusion,” Jane said. “Please, come in.”
Collins closed the door and crossed the room. “I had meant to inquire if it would be acceptable for me to peruse the books in your study to add variety to my reading repertoire. I have a book of sermons and a lovely book of poems thanks to Mr. Darcy and Miss Elizabeth’s generosity, but I thought that there might also be some books in your possession which I might use to gain further knowledge on some subject.”
“You are a man of learning then, are you?” Mr. Bennet asked.
“I do enjoy it, yes.”
Mr. Bennet looked at Elizabeth; then after a moment of pause and some sort of silent communication which Kitty could not quite see, he turned to her. “Would you, my Kitty, be willing to escort Mr. Collins to the study and help him find what he seeks?”
“Oh, I am not certain I am the best person to do so, but I will.” She would not deny her father such a simple request even if it did puzzle her that he was not sending Elizabeth.
“I did not mean to take any of your daughters from you. I am certain I could find what I need on my own.”