Chapter 5
Anne
Her mother had left Rosings, resolute in her obstinacy about arranging reality to her own will—and, unfortunately, equally resolute in maintaining her own counsel about the machinations she planned.
There was nothing left for Anne to do in Kent, so she promptly declared herself better, rose from her bed, and announced to the servants that she must go to her uncle and aunt in London before they relocated to Derbyshire.
Once again the household was bent to the business of packing up.
Anne would only have access to the smallest and least comfortable carriage, given that her mother and her entourage had taken the best two, but she decreed that she would only need Mrs Jenkinson and two footmen—as well as a coachman, of course.
At Matlock, she would be able to send back the footmen, who may or may not be trustworthy, and she could easily procure a lady’s maid with no loyalty to her mother. It was best to go at once, she decided, rather than to wait to send an express and receive an answer.
When Anne was ready to travel and had supervised her own trunk being packed, she walked down the stairs to consult with the housekeeper and cook. She was startled to see her mother’s vicar, Mr Collins, in the entry; he had been gone for more than a week, and she had almost forgotten his existence.
When Mr Collins spotted her, he smiled and called out, “You look lovely, Miss de Bourgh.”
She hurried to be near him and asked, “Am I correct in saying that you recently returned from the estate you will inherit?”
“I did. I saw the estate, met my distant family, found my future bride, and attended a marvellous wedding breakfast.”
“That sounds very auspicious. Come to the blue parlour, and I will give you our news.”
Checking with the butler to see how long before the London-bound carriage could leave, Anne asked him to interrupt her discussion with Mr Collins, should it continue that long.
Then she seated her guest and took a chair near him. She wished to speak softly.
“My mother has gone to Town; she left yesterday,” she informed him. “I am following her today. It is all in relation to some excellent news—my cousin, Fitzwilliam Darcy, was married!”
She watched with surprise as the parson paled, then blushed, frowned then smiled. He said, “And—this is good news to you, Miss de Bourgh? I had been told—your mother had said—”
“Oh, I am certain I know what my mother told you: that I was to marry Mr Darcy. But I never wished for such a thing, and nor did my cousin. I think his marriage is the very best news I have heard in many years!”
Mr Collins looked very pleased, and he said, “That is wonderful to hear, because it was Mr Darcy and Miss Elizabeth’s wedding that I attended!”
Anne could not have been more surprised. She asked questions, he answered with enthusiasm but far too many details about the foods that were served. She was stunned to realise that her mother’s parson was cousin to the lady she had been hearing about in Darcy’s letters.
“The carriage is ready, miss.”
“Thank you!” Anne smiled—how ironic it was that she actually wished to speak longer with Mr Collins! That had never occurred before.
“Since we are both very happy about this marriage,” she said, “I wonder if you can write to me at my uncle’s house, if you end up hearing any reports about Mr and Mrs Darcy, or even any rumours. I wish to keep up with such things—and you know how unkind people can be.”
“I would be thrilled to be given the commission to write to you with news and gossip, Miss de Bourgh. I must warn you that I am going to be returning to Hertfordshire in a month, to marry one of the Bennets’ closest neighbours.”
“Congratulations!” Anne said. She wrote out the direction for Matlock House and then spoke with Mr Collins another few minutes.
She ended up asking him to attempt to contradict any gossip he knew to be untrue.
“You will astound people when you tell them that you were actually at the wedding. I feel that, because of this, you will be believed.”
“I will be overjoyed if I can help the family in any way,” Mr Collins promised. “But I doubt that there will be much gossip; I heard that the Darcys will be taking a long tour, so nobody will see them to even consider criticising either of them.”
Anne remembered that, in the last secret letter she received, Darcy had mentioned that they planned a bridal tour.
She certainly hoped that they had left by now.
But whether the Matlocks were still in Town or had begun to travel north—whether the Darcys were enjoying their seclusion at Darcy House, or touring—no matter what was happening with the other members of her family, Anne knew that she could not counter her mother’s poisonous efforts if she stayed at Rosings; therefore, to Town she would go.