Chapter 3 A Scandal Averted
Sunday luncheon was a misery for Elizabeth. Mr. Collins had taken the chair beside hers, and though he spoke often to Mrs. Bennet, inquiring about the neighbors he had met in the church courtyard, he still found ample opportunity to provoke her.
“Elizabeth, how came that pompous man to be your protector?” he asked, his voice so quiet, only she could hear him. “Only a couple of days ago, he judged you barely tolerable.”
Elizabeth had reached for a bun, but his words caught her off guard, and she froze. Her lips pressed into a thin line, and she deliberately turned back to her plate, taking a slow bite without so much as a glance in his direction.
He chuckled softly and leaned closer. “You amuse me, dear cousin. I am accustomed to women falling over themselves to capture my attention, and here you sit, pointedly ignoring me, angry as a wasp.”
Her eyes narrowed as she looked at his face. His grin widened. “Your face is flaming hot. You really must marry me, Elizabeth. We could have such fun together.”
She lifted her chin and averted her face, and she continued to eat in silence.
Mr. Bennet intervened then. “William, what of your father? The only time I met him, we were just boys. I was eight years old. Does he still live?”
Collins took a sip of tea. “My father passed five years ago, sir. I took it as a blessing from God, for he was continually in trouble with the law. He relished bar fights and strong drink.”
Lydia giggled.
Collins turned to her with a frown. “Forgive me, sir,” he said to Mr. Bennet. “I am unused to dining with children from the nursery, or with women. I shall watch my tongue.” He inclined his head toward Mrs. Bennet. “Pardon me, madam, for the lapse.”
Elizabeth studied him. Somehow, knowing he had endured hardship made him seem less like a hunter and more like a man. He turned to meet her gaze.
“Do I seem more human to you now, cousin?” he asked, his voice low, confidential. “This is the first time you’ve looked at me with anything other than loathing.”
Her cheeks warmed. “Forgive me, sir, if I have been rude and unwelcoming. But be gracious enough to admit that you have courted my wrath.”
He winked at her. When her jaw clenched, he smiled. “We would do very well together, my dear.”
Elizabeth pushed her plate away. She had been hungry when she sat down.
She always enjoyed a hearty appetite, much to her mother’s dismay.
Mrs. Bennet often repeated her well-worn refrain: “Lizzy, you eat as much as any savage. No man will ever take you off my hands. You are indelicate.” Elizabeth had never paid it any mind, but today her stomach had turned.
Her plate was still full when she turned to her father. “Papa, may I be excused? I would rest for an hour before we are besieged by callers.”
Mrs. Bennet perked up immediately. “Callers? How dare you presume to invite visitors, Elizabeth? You might have told me!”
“No, Mamma, I did not invite anyone,” Elizabeth replied evenly. “But I overheard Miss Watson telling Charlotte that the Watsons intend to visit this afternoon to make Mr. Collins’s acquaintance.”
Bennet chuckled. “I hope you have plenty of tea and cakes, Mrs. Bennet, for I heard the Gouldings, Allens, and Coopers say the same thing. All have daughters of marriageable age and mean to call upon us to meet the newest bachelor.”
Mrs. Bennet began to flutter about and complain over her poor nerves. “Lydia, ring the bell. I need Hill.”
Collins had watched Elizabeth throughout this commotion. She had visibly relaxed. Leaning close, he said in a low voice, “Never fear, my darling. I have no eyes for anyone else. I met them already, and they are all insipid and obsequious. And I might add, none are as lovely as you.”
Elizabeth turned sharply toward him. He smirked. “There is no need to be afraid of me. I am but a man, not a monster.”
She turned away. “Papa, may I be excused?”
Mr. Bennet nodded. “Yes. In fact, all of you will go above stairs to rest after you’ve eaten, for it seems we are to have a long afternoon.”
Elizabeth left the parlor before he had finished speaking. She ran upstairs, threw herself upon her bed, and wept from sheer anger and frustration. Why must she always be so unlucky with men? Why could she not be like Jane, who attracted amiable, respectable gentlemen such as Mr. Bingley?
She had been lying there for several minutes when a soft tap at the door startled her.
“Yes, who is it?”
Jane opened the door.
“Lock it, please,” Elizabeth said.
She entered, climbed onto the bed, and sat beside her sister. Elizabeth drew her knees up and rested her forehead against them.
“What is it, Lizzy? Are you unwell? You left all your food on your plate,” Jane asked gently.
Elizabeth raised her head. “Jane, that man continually taunts me. I can hardly bear to be near him. I shall beg Papa to send me to London. Aunt Gardiner could use my help now that she has little Aimee. In her last letter, she wrote that her nanny’s time is taken up by the baby, and Aunt Maddie spends all her hours chasing after Edward. ”
Jane studied her closely. “You mean Mr. Collins? When does he taunt you?”
“Whenever he sits near me, he makes the most improper remarks,” Elizabeth said, tears slipping down her cheeks.
Jane’s eyes widened. “Such as?”
Elizabeth sat up. “It is not so much the words he says but the way he says them and the predatory look in his eyes when he speaks. He leaned close to me today and said, ‘You are flaming hot, Elizabeth. You really must marry me. We will have such fun together.’”
Jane gasped. “That is appalling, Lizzy. Have you told Papa?”
Elizabeth groaned. “Papa sees everything. I told him our cousin is improper, but I could not repeat his exact words. It is too humiliating.”
Jane sighed. “There is nothing for it. You must go to our aunt in London.”
Elizabeth patted the bed. “Lie down next to me and tell me about Mr. Bingley. He seems an amiable and proper gentleman. Help me take my mind off our cousin.”
Jane smiled shyly. “Lizzy, he is so handsome and so good. I think I have fallen in love.”
Elizabeth laughed. “I have heard that before, sister dear.”
Jane giggled. “I know you have, but this time I mean it. I have never felt this way before.” She gave Elizabeth a sly look. “He said he was coming this afternoon to visit me. He wants to walk in the garden.”
Elizabeth laughed. “Clever girl. You are getting a step ahead of the crowd.”
Jane frowned. “But we won’t be able to walk in the garden if there are callers. I will need to remain indoors with them.”
Elizabeth considered this. “If you ask Mamma to set up a tea table in the courtyard with chairs, we may entertain callers outdoors. When Mr. Bingley arrives, it will be perfectly proper for you to walk with him in the rose garden, since it skirts the courtyard.”
Jane brightened. “I will.”
Just then, there was a sharp rap at the door, and the handle turned.
“Lizzy, open this door at once. There is no call to lock it.”
Jane hurried to her feet and unlocked it.
The frown on Frances Bennet’s face became a smile when her favorite daughter appeared at the door. “Jane, my dear, I was going to go in search of you next. Do you think Mr. Bingley will visit us this afternoon?”
Jane colored and lowered her gaze. “Yes, Mamma. He told me he intends to call and wishes to walk with me in the garden.”
Mrs. Bennet clapped her hands. “That is very well done, my dear.”
“May we have Alice set up a small tea table in the courtyard?”
“Yes, of course. I shall make the arrangements at once.”
She turned a sharp eye on Elizabeth, still sitting on the bed. “Lizzy, get up and change your clothes. You look a fright. Your hair is sticking out all over the place.”
Elizabeth slipped off the bed. “Yes, Mamma.”
Mrs. Bennet turned back to Jane. “Go to your room, dear. I will send Ruthie to dress your hair. I expect our callers will begin arriving soon.”
Jane smiled at Elizabeth, and Elizabeth winked back.
Then Frances Bennet turned back to speak to her least favored daughter. “As soon as you are dressed, go down to the kitchens. I need your help.”
Mr. Collins remained at the table with Mr. Bennet. “Cousin, I was at the haberdashery yesterday purchasing new riding gloves and overheard two militia men speaking of my youngest cousin, Lydia.”
Mr. Bennet sat up straighter. “Go on.”
“They are wagering that she will fall to a militia man named Wickham.”
“Wickham?” Bennet exclaimed. “I cannot imagine where she could have met such a man. We do not allow soldiers to visit Longbourn.” His expression darkened. “What else did you hear? Do not hold anything back.”
Collins’s voice turned grim. “Wickham is an acknowledged rake of eight and twenty, a man full-grown. And he is chasing after your youngest child.”
Bennet stood and began to pace. “I wonder how many have heard of this wager?” He rang the bell.
Hill appeared a moment later.
“Send Lydia down to my study at once,” he ordered.
“Yes, sir.”
Bennet turned to his cousin. “I am much obliged to you for telling me. I shall get to the bottom of it. I may not be free to entertain our guests, as I will likely be tied up with Lydia.”
Collins nodded. “I will go upstairs and change.”
Bennet went straight to his study and stopped short when he found Elizabeth seated in her usual chair.
“I thought you were above stairs resting,” he said.
“I was. Papa, I heard the most scandalous thing straight from Lydia’s lips at church.
She was recounting a wager with Kitty, behaving as though it were the funniest thing in the world.
Members of the militia are wagering on a relationship between her and a soldier.
I fear we are standing on the brink of ruin if word of this spreads. ”
Bennet was stunned. “That silly chit knows soldiers are bandying about her name, and she is bragging about it in church?” His face darkened, and he began to pace.
“I was going to ask you to send me to Aunt Maddie to help with little Edward. He is keeping her very busy now that her nanny is caring for baby Aimee. But perhaps you should send Lydia instead. It would not appear suspicious. She would simply be going to help with the children.”
Bennet halted and turned to her. “That is a fine idea, Lizzy. If it were not Sunday, I would take her today, but tomorrow will do.” He paused, thinking.
“In fact, I will take Kitty too and place her in a ladies’ seminary.
She needs to mature. She should have been the one to bring this to my attention.
I must protect her from the Regiment as well. ”
He walked to the door. “Run along, Lizzy. I expect Lydia any moment, and I would keep you out of it. Your mother would turn on you in a minute if she thought you had brought this tale to my notice. As it happens, your cousin heard of it in the village yesterday and brought it to my attention after luncheon. Now run along.”
Elizabeth nodded and slipped quietly from the room.