Chapter 11. Mrs Collins’s Guest at Hunsford #3
She wrote a reply to Elizabeth and send it round to Gracechurch Street with the footman. Mr Banks disapproved when Miss Darcy said she would provide funds for a rented cab, but the young mistress insisted so he provided the footman with the funds from the purse he held for household expenses.
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Miss Elizabeth, Letters from Kent may take an extra day to be delivered but please do not hesitate to write as often as you can.
While there is nothing of particular note in the house, my favourite memories of Rosings Park include the rose garden on the south side of the manor house and the many pathways through the park where you can view water, forests, meadows.
I believe you will find beauty in your many walks, especially in the early morning.
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Pleased with her matchmaking, Georgiana Darcy slept well that evening.
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It was late in the afternoon and Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam refused to surrender the argument with Lady Catherine de Bourgh, “This is absurd! These men… where did you get the names?”
“My attorney provided this information based on my requirements for never married, wealthy, and without any parents living.”
“No living parents, eh? Thus, you will be able to dominate your son-in-law?”
Refusing to comment on her nephew’s observation, Lady Catherine turned her head toward an open window where a clatter of hooves on the gravel was heard, and asked, “What is the source of the commotion?”
Glancing out the window, Richard turned back to his aunt and announced, “As the gentleman you designated to make the selection, I have invited someone to help me with the interviews and decision. He has arrived.”
“Who did you invite to my home without permission?”
“Without permission, aunt?” Richard growled. “We just argued for thirty minutes about how I will interview each gentleman and how ‘I’ will make the final selection! You said you trust my judgement to choose Anne’s husband and to negotiate a suitable marriage settlement!”
“Who have you invited to my home?” Catherine demanded to know.
Richard grinned and said, “My cousin, Fitzwilliam Darcy, will help me interview your candidates.”
“No! You cannot have that man in my house! He is a thief!”
“Aunt, it is you who is the thief; you who forged Uncle George’s signature and you who paid for George Wickham to corrupt young women in Hertfordshire,” Richard argued.
His face grew animated before he declared, “God’s teeth, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, do you plan to open a house of disrepute and procure young women to make money now that you have lost the income from Gravesend?”
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Richard met Darcy at the door and led him to the parlour where Lady Catherine never pretended to be glad to see him, but she fell silent when Colonel Fitzwilliam threatened to leave if she continued to snipe and fuss.
Rising to her feet, Lady Catherine called for the butler, instructed him to place Darcy in the rooms that faced east, and declared that he would eat meals only in his room.
“Ah, but Aunt,” Richard objected. “We must not have our future visitors questioning why a tall, handsome man is kept separate from everyone else when we gather to dine. Darcy’s presence must be explained as ‘another concerned family member’. Do you not think that wise?”
Supper was awkward as Lady Catherine ignored Darcy and demanded Anne do the same. Anne’s companion had nothing to say except to endorse each of Lady Catherine’s declarations from the end of the table and Darcy spoke quietly with Richard and planned their days.
He slept fitfully that evening, wishing he had one or two of Georgiana’s letters from Elizabeth Bennet to read.
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The stagecoach was full when it left London early in the morning. Uncle Edward took Elizabeth in his carriage to the large tavern where he purchased passage to Ashford in Kent.
“The young lady will have stops in Gravesend and Maidstone before reaching Ashford this afternoon,” the tavern keeper explained.
Edward led Elizabeth to the stagecoach, where her trunk was placed on top with others and she climbed aboard, squeezing between two elderly ladies who chatted ceaselessly from London to Gravesend.
The ladies disembarked in this port town and Elizabeth was able to stretch a bit and breath.
The town was left behind after a half hour of rest and the trip continued with conversation with a couple travelling to Maidstone for their son’s wedding.
In Maidstone, three young men climbed aboard the coach, heading home to Ashton. Elizabeth quickly learned they were cousins, trying to find other employment than as farmhands.
“Do you know your sums?” Elizabeth asked.
“Billy knows best but we all learned sums. Mr Tilly made us all learn,” the tallest man explained.
The third cousin explained, “He was the pastor at our church in Ashton. He told us to learn sums if we wanted to be more than farmhands.”
“My uncle is always looking for new workmen. It means hard work but not outside in rain or snow. And if you are smart, you will get promoted.”
The three men left the stagecoach in Ashford with a short note from Elizabeth Bennet to her uncle, Mr Edward Gardiner, in London asking him to put them to work. They led her to the local livery where they arranged for a pony cart to carry her to the parsonage in Hunsford.
“We’ll be in London next week and call on your Uncle Gardiner,” Billy said after she was seated in the cart. All the young men tipped their hats as they said, “Thanks Miss Bennet.”
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The sun was low in the sky when the cottage came into view; before the pony came to a stop, the door opened and Charlotte Collins emerged, her face alight with a smile and her arms soon wrapped around her friend.
Two maids followed and took the trunk from the pony cart driver, before they disappeared back into the house.
Now, Mr Collins, the mysterious cousin appeared from inside the house.
“Miss Elizabeth Bennet?” he inquired.
“Mr Collins, this is indeed, Miss Elizabeth Bennet, your cousin from Hertfordshire. I have known her all my life and she is as good a woman as ever walked God’s earth.”
“Welcome to our humble home, Miss Elizabeth.”
Mr Collins then took Elizabeth and Charlotte on a tour of the house, pointing out features such as the front staircase, the bedrooms above stairs, and the large kitchen with rooms for the servants.
He concluded his narrative saying, “And Lady Catherine ordered new mantles above each of the fireplaces.”
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At the manor house the next morning, Richard suggested to his cousin that they ride the horses across the pastures after breaking their fast.
“Is there anything in particular you want to observe?” asked Darcy.
“No, the steward has Rosings well in hand,” Richard replied. “I just need the excursion to burn off the fire Lady Catherine lights in my belly each day with her demands and complaints.”
The cousins spent the rest of the morning on horseback, racing across the meadows, jumping a few fences, and then walking the horses back to the stables. The last mile, they dismounted and walked beside the horses to stretch their leg muscles after the extended time in the saddle.
“Good horse flesh here Darcy,” complimented Richard. “I knew you would bring good mounts in the stable if you stayed the month.”
“And thus, your scheme is revealed; you begged for my assistance just to gain access to my stable.”
“Exactly. My father’s stable grows leaner as he ages, and my brother will never share his mounts when I am in London.”
“I thought you had a good horse last time you went to war,” Darcy remembered.
Nodding, Richard replied, “I did but she was shot out from under me at Battle of Orthez.”
Stopping Darcy insisted on knowing, “Were you injured?”
“Just bruises. But I loved that mare; she followed my commands with just the touch of my knee. Now when I return to London in September, I must sit on different beasts each day until I find one that suits me again.”
“I would provide a horse for you…”
“Your mounts are not trained to endure cannon fire and rifle shot,” Richard replied. He patted his mount’s neck and said, “Zeus is a good mount for racing across the countryside, but in a battle, he would break and run in the first five minutes.”
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After luncheon, Darcy joined Richard in the library to review the list of gentlemen that Lady Catherine selected as candidates for Anne de Bourgh’s hand and legacy.
Richard handed over a list of names saying, “These are the men that Lady Catherine and her attorney selected based on their reported wealth and marital status.”
“And Lady Catherine’s requirements; does she expect her future son-in-law to father a child?”
“She prefers two; an heir and the spare,” Richard remarked sourly. “Speaking as the ‘spare’ for the Matlock side of the family, it is a poor title to bear.”
Ignoring his cousin’s lament, Darcy continued, “Then we can eliminate Cooper, he is sixty; Moore, he is in his fifties; and Watson has gout and cannot mount a horse let alone a bride.”
Richard sputtered with laughter and from behind a closed door, the two men heard a muffled cry of outrage. Darcy whispered, “She is listening. Good…”
“Why good,” Richard asked.
Darcy pointed at the list and said, “Aunt Catherine and her lawyer selected several of the worst candidates in England to be husband to her daughter. She knew who you will invite for interviews before she handed you the list.”
The colonel looked concerned and asked, “Do I queer the deal and ask the gouty gentleman?”
“No,” Darcy replied. “Much as I find this entire idea to be repugnant, I would not saddle Anne with a fool or a wastrel.”
Returning to the list, Darcy pointed to the next name, “Lewis has been married three times and each wife died attempting to birth her first child.”
Now he looked over the list and removed two more names, “Anthony Hall is not rich. The man can barely pay his tailor. And Shaw has excessive debts; the man gambles too much and his wealth is stretched tight.”
Darcy snorted when he saw two of the names and again leaned closer to the colonel to whisper, “Remove Jackson and Green. They would be more interested in each other than in Anne.”
“What? But I knew Green in school. He was an alright man!” insisted Richard.
“He still is, and he is wealthy, but Anne would never get children from him.”
Richard stared at the list left with four names: George Clark, Arthur Lincoln, Thomas Ward, and Charles Bingley.
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