Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
COLLINS
At the wedding breakfast, Collins and Hurst continued to sit together as they ate. But even after their enthusiastic sacrifice of eating far more than they had even supposed possible, Collins felt concern on behalf of his hostess. There was still such a lot of food remaining!
Having polished off his last bite of the incredibly flavourful Scotch Collops, Collins stared at the platter of that tempting dish, realising that many helpings still remained.
He contemplated whether or not he could eat more. The aroma that wafted from his plate and the taste that lingered in his mouth demanded that he should eat more of the savoury treat, but his stomach was painfully distended and claimed that, in fact, he could not.
Inspiration struck, and Collins picked up the platter and carefully began to move among the guests. Approaching several young ladies, he asked, “Have you tried these Scotch Collops? Rarely have I eaten anything so delicious, and I should hate for someone to have missed the dish.”
One of the young ladies looked startled and began to laugh, but another turned kind eyes towards Collins.
“You are sweet to care,” she said. She picked up her empty plate and put a small helping onto it.
She took a bite, and he hovered, eager to see if she enjoyed the food even half as much as he did.
“Oh! That is truly delicious!” the lady said. After a pause, she went on, “Perhaps I should take some more,” and she took a generous spoonful.
Collins felt as if he would burst with happiness. She thanked him and said to her friends, “You all should probably try this, too, if you have not yet done so. It is…special.”
And so all of the ladies put quite generous spoonfuls onto their plates, and as Collins moved to where Miss Mary spoke to a young lady and gentleman, he heard behind him the soft outcries of delight and gratitude.
Offering the dish and watching surprise and pleasure light people’s faces gave Collins a great deal of pleasure, as well—perhaps even more than eating it had.
Thus, when the platter was empty, he began walking around with the candied carrots.
“Trust me when I tell you that this is an outstanding preparation of one of nature’s most delicious vegetables,” he informed two young men.
They tried small helpings and agreed so fervently that they ended up detaining him longer as they took more.
Collins took a break from encouraging more eating to see what his dinner companion, Hurst, had been doing in his absence.
He saw that Hurst was doing the traditional host duties of moving amongst the guests, speaking in a low voice.
But Collins was happy to see that, after Hurst spoke with people, a substantial number of them went back to the buffet and took more food.
Hurst must have been encouraging this by either describing the scrumptious dishes or pointing out the enormous quantity of food still available.
The two enormous cakes shared a single small table; about half of each had been eaten, but that still left a great deal of cake.
Collins approached Miss Kitty and Miss Lydia, and he asked them which cake they had preferred: the one with the sugar work decorations, or the one decorated with scented geraniums.
The girls were struck by his question. Miss Lydia said, “I did not try both of them, but—” she turned to the other young people around them and said, “we should each take a small portion of both cakes and then decide which is best. That would be great fun, do you not agree?”
A young lady Collins had not met squealed her agreement, and before long all of the young people moved to the cakes and put Lydia’s plan into action.
Collins felt quite proud of his success!
He saw that Hurst was near, and Collins said to his friend, “I believe that we are doing a grand job of encouraging guests to enjoy the food!”
“I quite agree. I am not the host of this event, but I believe that my host duties to my guests at Netherfield demanded that I urge enjoyment of this fine meal. Especially as it seems the actual host of the wedding breakfast would not stir himself to urge anyone to do anything!”
The two men turned their eyes to Mr Bennet, who was sitting apart from all, studying the crowd with the sort of smile that…. Well, Mr Collins was not positive, but he believed that the man was laughing at everyone.
What an unpleasant thing for a host—for the father of the bride!—to do at his own daughter’s wedding breakfast!
Hurst shrugged his eyebrows expressively and turned away from Mr Bennet. When he spoke again, his voice was laced with concern—and, surprisingly, Collins realised that the man’s concern was for himself!
“I am sorry,” Hurst said, “that you had to face in so public a manner the fact that your patroness had lied to you. I hate when anyone is embarrassed, and you are clearly a kind person, and therefore I believe it must have been especially devastating.”
Collins’s mouth flew open to contradict Hurst’s assumption that Lady Catherine had lied to him. But he had quite a cosy feeling from the man’s care and praise, and he did not wish to lose that. He decided to react more slowly, and more carefully, so as not to lose Hurst’s regard.
“I cannot believe,” Collins said, “that Lady Catherine would lie to me. I imagine that it must all be a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding?” Hurst contemplated his statement for a few seconds before saying, “Why do you not tell me more about what she said to you, and about her character generally.”
An invitation to speak on his favourite topic, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, was an opportunity not to be missed. Collins promptly fetched himself another cup of punch and then settled down in a comfortable chair to speak at length….