by Alexa Adams
“A wife, Lady Catherine?” he asked in astonishment. “I confess I had not planned to wed for some time, wishing to solidify my living prior to taking on the burden of dependents.”
“Yes, a wife, Mr. Collins. You have a living good enough to support one, and a man in your position ought to be wed, as long as you choose with discretion. It both sets a good example and discourages the young ladies of the neighborhood from setting amorous eyes upon you.”
He blushed. “I had not thought myself a candidate for such attentions from my parishioners.”
“You are a respectable gentleman possessed of a good living, and eligible men are scare these days.”
“Certainly, your ladyship. My good fortune is so very recent that I am unaccustomed to considering myself thusly.”
“You must learn to know your own worth, Mr. Collins.”
“And is it not premature to be leaving my flock, when I am so recently arrived?”
“If I can spare you for a se’nnight, Mr. Collins, so can the rest of the parish. Just make sure you find another clergyman to perform your Sunday duties.”
“Your graciousness exceeds expectations, Lady Catherine.”
“That is all very well, but do you play quadrille, Mr. Collins?”
Arrangements were easily made, and not more than two months following this conversation, Mr. Collins was ready to make his way to Hertfordshire, there to survey his future potentiality. He was called upon by Lady Catherine the Sunday prior to his departure to make up her evening pool of quadrille that evening, an opportunity she utilized to reassert the purpose of his journey.
“You must marry. A clergyman like you must marry. Choose properly; choose a gentlewoman for my sake, and for your own, let her be an active, useful sort of person, not brought up high but able to make a small income go a good way. This is my advice. Find such a woman as soon as you can, bring her to Hunsford, and I will visit her.”
And with such exhortations carried close to his heart, Lady Catherine felt quite secure her rector would return to his post with news of an impending marriage to one of the Bennet sisters.
Things did not transpire quite as she planned.
Mr. Collins returned, and returned an engaged man, but not to one of his cousins. The lady who had been so fortunate as to win his heart was instead one Charlotte Lucas, none too young, of whom Lady Catherine knew nothing until enlightened by Mr. Collins. Her father, though knighted for services rendered the crown, was a former tradesman, now living in a small way not far from Longbourn. She brought no dowry and no personal connections to the relationship. The only good Lady Catherine could find in the match was that the parsonage would finally be possessed of a mistress. None of the desired strengthening of familial bonds had occurred, a cause close to Lady Catherine’s heart, nor had Mr. Collins gained the desired influence over his cousin a marriage within the Bennet family would have secured. There was nothing she could now do but hope to find the lady genteel and biddable.
In this area, Lady Catherine was pleasantly surprised. When the rector proudly presented the new Mrs. Collins for the first time to his patroness, she was happy to find the lady was none too comely, an attribute of which her ladyship approved, as she did not consider prettiness an asset in a clergyman’s wife. Though following her husband’s lead in servility, it was soon clear that she was rather more intelligent than the gentleman, which could only prove a positive influence. Furthermore, Mrs. Collins soon disclosed her very close friendship with one of the daughters of Longbourn, a Miss Elizabeth Bennet, who was slated to visit the new couple in Hunsford the coming spring. Lady Catherine was keenly interested in meeting Mr. Collins’s cousin, that she might determine why he had pursued neither she nor her one of her sisters’ hands.
The lady arrived along with Mrs. Collins’s father and a younger sister, neither of whom made much impression on her ladyship. Miss Bennet was another story. It took only a look at her to determine why Miss Lucas had been the preferable mate: Miss Bennet was too good for Mr. Collins. With her, he never would have succeeded. She gave her rector some credit for recognizing such beauty and refinement to be beyond his grasp, and her mind quickly began surveying her list of acquaintances in search of a more appropriate match for the lady. With such thoughts in mind, her ladyship determined to learn more of Miss Bennet than she had previously ascertained, an opportunity afforded her when the party first came to dine at Rosings.
"Your father's estate is entailed on Mr. Collins, I think. For your sake," turning to Mrs. Collins, "I am glad of it, but otherwise I see no occasion for entailing estates from the female line. It was not thought necessary in Sir Lewis de Bourgh's family,” she noted, forgetting in the moment that her interest in Rosings Park had been secured in her marriage settlements. “Do you play and sing, Miss Bennet?"
"A little."
"Oh! Then some time or other we shall be happy to hear you. Our instrument is a capital one, probably superior to – you shall try it someday. Do your sisters play and sing?"
"One of them does."
"Why did not you all learn? You ought all to have learned. The Miss Webbs all play, and their father has not so good an income as yours. Do you draw?"
"No, not at all."
"What, none of you?"
"Not one."
"That is very strange. But I suppose you had no opportunity. Your mother should have taken you to town every spring for the benefit of masters."
"My mother would have had no objection, but my father hates London."
"Has your governess left you?"
"We never had any governess."
"No governess! How was that possible? Five daughters brought up at home without a governess! I never heard of such a thing. Your mother must have been quite a slave to your education."
Miss Bennet smiled, revealing some secret amusement at this suggestion, before assuring Lady Catherine that had not been the case.
"Then who taught you? Who attended to you? Without a governess, you must have been neglected."
"Compared with some families, I believe we were, but such of us as wished to learn never wanted the means. We were always encouraged to read and had all the masters that were necessary. Those who chose to be idle certainly might."
"Aye, no doubt. That is what a governess will prevent, and if I had known your mother, I should have advised her most strenuously to engage one. I always say that nothing is to be done in education without steady and regular instruction, and nobody but a governess can give it. It is wonderful how many families I have been the means of supplying in that way. I am always glad to get a young person well placed out,” she mentioned, hinting at potential benevolence when properly interested in a worthy beneficiary. “Are any of your younger sisters out, Miss Bennet?"
"Yes, ma'am, all."
"All! What, all five out at once? Very odd! And you only the second. The younger ones out before the elder are married!” Lady Catherine exclaimed, without realizing it was the very same situation Mrs. Collins had so recently endured at Lucas Lodge, not noticing the look of guilty conscience worn by Miss Lucas. Despite such obliviousness, she spoke thusly out of sincere sympathy for Miss Bennet’s plight, having suffered such indignity herself. It furthered her determination to do something to help Miss Bennet find a suitable establishment. “Your younger sisters must be very young?"
"Yes, my youngest is not sixteen. Perhaps she is full young to be much in company.” Lady Catherine nodded her acquiescence and was about to return to her interrogation when she was surprised to hear the young woman continue, “But really, ma'am, I think it would be very hard upon younger sisters, that they should not have their share of society and amusement because the elder may not have the means or inclination to marry early. The last born has as good a right to the pleasures of youth as the first. And to be kept back on such a motive! I think it would not be very likely to promote sisterly affection or delicacy of mind."
Lady Catherine was thoroughly shocked by such sentiments. Either
Miss Bennet was unusually munificent to the point of foolishness, or she was speaking out of some convoluted sense of familial loyalty. Lady Catherine suspected the latter, as Miss Bennet did not strike her as a fool. "Upon my word! You give your opinion very decidedly for so young a person. Pray, what is your age?"
"With three younger sisters grown up," the cheeky thing retorted with a smile, "your ladyship can hardly expect me to own it."
Lady Catherine was astonished at not receiving a direct answer. Here showed the deficiency in the girl’s education.
"You cannot be more than twenty, I am sure, therefore you need not conceal your age."
"I am not one and twenty."
Far too young to be so self-assured in company, Lady Catherine mused, but for once she kept her thoughts to herself. The gentlemen soon joined them and card tables were placed. Once the evening had concluded, Lady Catherine was left to ponder its events and conversation. She rather liked Miss Elizabeth Bennet, even if she were too outspoken for her own good. It was a fault, though she would never acknowledge it as such, with which Lady Catherine could relate. All said and done, it was the most entertaining evening she had experienced in quite some time, and it was with an easy mind and sense of complacency that she resolved to see a great deal more of Miss Bennet while she remained in the vicinity.
Part Five
The party at the parsonage, reduced within the week by the departure of Sir William, found themselves honored with invitations to dine much more frequently than they had previously been bestowed. For the next fortnight, they were called forth twice a week, and it was on the fourth such evening that Lady Catherine had the enjoyment of imparting some news of magnitude.
“I expect the arrival of my nephews this coming week. Fine young men, who quite dote on me. Mr. Darcy is in possession of one of the finest estates in Derbyshire. You may have heard of it: Pemberley. It holds the admiration of all so honored as to visit, and it is my dearest hope that it shall someday be blessed with a worthy mistress.” She paused to bestow a suggestive smile on her daughter. “He brings with him Colonel Fitzwilliam, my brother the earl’s son, who has distinguished himself in his career. The younger son, of course, and very dashing he does look in his uniform, with the easy manners so very appealing to young ladies of your generation, Miss Bennet.”
Indeed, after a great deal of consideration, it was this very nephew whom Lady Catherine had determined would be the ideal suitor for her new protégé. At first, she struggled with some qualms about him being too good for her, and she not having enough fortune for him, but the lady’s feisty character was perfect for that of a military man’s wife, and her slight tendency towards impertinence would little matter once married into a sphere where it could give no offense. Lady Catherine liked Miss Bennet, felt for her plight, and wished to see more of her. It was not often she found herself truly amused by another. She herself would provide a handsome settlement on the couple upon their engagement, thereby securing an amiable and grateful addition to the family circle. Her one lingering concern was that Mr. Collins would feel the honor so much as to make a nuisance of himself, but her ladyship felt confident she could curb his enthusiasms, at least when in her presence.
Upon first broaching the subject, which Lady Catherine felt she had managed most delicately, she was surprised to perceive Mrs. Collins looking distinctly discomfited and Miss Bennet wearing her secret smile of amusement. Her ladyship determined to get to the bottom of the matter and demanded elucidation, in her typically direct manner. “What is it, Mrs. Collins? Does the arrival of my nephews cause you some inconvenience?”
“Certainly not, your ladyship, but I feel I must inform you that we have already had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Darcy, who spent the autumn months visiting in Hertfordshire, the guest of his friend, Mr. Bingley, at Netherfield Park.”
Lady Catherine was all astonishment. “What? Mr. Collins as well?” She looked at the rector with accusation in her eyes. His paled face denoted his guilt. “Mr. Collins saw my nephew, and I was not informed?”
“I am so sorry, Lady Catherine. I fear I was so carried away with my success in winning my dear Charlotte’s hand that I failed to mention the acquaintance.”
“The acquaintance! So you were introduced to my nephew and did not just see him in passing?”
“It is a small neighborhood, Lady Catherine, and Mr. Darcy was amongst us for several weeks. There was a ball at Netherfield while Mr. Collins was staying at Longbourn, which is when, I believe, he made the acquaintance, but Miss Bennet, my sister, and I have all dined with him on more than one occasion.”
“I see!” Lady Catherine replied in a disgruntled manner, struggling to reconcile herself to the notion. “I had looked forward to making the introduction, but I see that pleasure will be denied me. I suppose it is of little matter. ‘The best laid schemes,’ and so forth,” she philosophically concluded, though her chagrin was still apparent. “And what were your impressions of Mr. Darcy?” she inquired of no one particularly.
“A most impressive gentleman,” Mr. Collins was quick to assert. “His nobility of bearing is apparent to all fortunate enough to make his acquaintance.”
“Yes, a very fine gentleman,” Mrs. Collins seconded, “and exceedingly handsome. He made quite a stir amongst the young ladies of the neighborhood.”
“You are unusually quiet, Miss Bennet,” Lady Catherine noted suspiciously. “Will you not share your impression of Mr. Darcy?”
“What more can be said? He is very handsome and most impressive. There is little I can add that your ladyship does not already know, having the benefit of intimacy. It was a rather brief acquaintance. I had no notion that it should ever be renewed.”
Lady Catherine found this detached way of speaking reassuring and nodded in acquiescence. It would not do for the lady from Hertfordshire to set her cap at such an exalted goal. The colonel was elevated enough. “I shall still have the pleasure of making you known to the colonel. His situation, though not as secure as his cousin’s, is extremely admirable. The son of an earl, even a second son, is always worth knowing. He belongs to a highly-decorated regiment and mingles in the best circles of society. I am sure you will all feel the honor of securing such an acquaintance.”
Miss Bennet again wore her amused little smile, and Lady Catherine sincerely wished she might be privy to the cause of her diversion but knew not how to interrogate such crypticism.
Her nephews arrived punctually the Monday prior to Easter. Mr. Collins came scrambling up to the house the following morning to greet them. Lady Catherine would have preferred he had waited until invited with the rest of the party, as he presented far better in company with his wife and cousin, but as he came upon them all assembled in the drawing room, there was little she could do about it.
“Mr. Collins! I certainly did not expect you. Come make Colonel Fitzwilliam’s acquaintance. My nephew, Mr. Darcy, I believe you already know.”
Lady Catherine was not oblivious to the cold look of derision that passed across the latter’s face. She knew Mr. Collins would not be a clergyman to his taste, but she did not appoint him to please her nephew.
“Mr. Darcy! It is an honor and a privilege to see you once more. And Colonel Fitzwilliam! Delighted to make your acquaintance, sir.”
“Collins,” Mr. Darcy acknowledged him curtly, leaving his cousin to assume the pleasantries.
“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Collins. How are you settling in at the parsonage?”
“Extraordinarily well! The house is extremely comfortable, especially thanks to the improvements Lady Catherine was so kind as to make prior to my occupation, as well as those suggestions of hers we have implemented since establishing my dear wife in her new home. Perhaps you are not aware, Mr. Darcy, that I have deprived Hertfordshire of one of its shining lights, having been so fortunate to have won the hand of the lady you knew as Miss Charlotte Lucas, with whom I shall be delighted to make you reacquainted under her new sobriquet, Mrs. Collins.”
&
nbsp; “You have married Miss Lucas?” he reiterated for clarification. His aunt could tell how surprised he was that an intelligent lady should accept the gentleman before him and reflected on how poorly gentlemen truly comprehended the plight of the aging, unmarried, and undowered woman.
“I have been so very fortunate, sir.”
“I congratulate you on the acquirement of so sensible a wife. She will be an asset to your parish.”
“My thoughts precisely, Mr. Darcy! My thoughts precisely. Our humble abode is currently further graced by two others known to you. My sister, Miss Maria Lucas, and cousin, Miss Bennet, are making a stay of some weeks with us.”
“Miss Elizabeth Bennet?” Darcy said, now with shock clearly writ across his mien. Lady Catherine took careful stock of this unusual response. Little rattled her nephew so obviously as this announcement had, far more than the news of Mr. Collins’s marriage. She wondered why he should be so perturbed by the notion of the lady being in the neighborhood and did not care at all for the conclusions at which her mind most readily leapt.