Chapter Seventeen
When Elizabeth entered the breakfast room, she found Kitty, Lydia and Mary already at the table.
Upon seeing her, Lydia complained, “Elizabeth, I think it very unfair that we are now excluded from anything fun.” As she spoke, she reached past Kitty to snatch a piece of bacon.
“It is not my fault that you are too ill-behaved to be seen in good company,” Elizabeth shot back, irritated at having been so accosted before even sitting down.
“Ill-behaved! Mama says I am lively, and that is very different from ill-behaved.”
“It is very different indeed, but sadly, you have not truly understood the difference,” Elizabeth replied.
Upon seeing Lydia’s wounded expression, she sat down and sighed.
“I am sorry, Lydia. Believe me, I would prefer that it not be necessary to pursue Mr. Bingley so single-mindedly that no distractions are allowed. You know that Papa was forced to attend the assembly; believe me, he was no happier than the two of you at the necessity of that.”
“But why is everything so different now? Why is Lizzy to pursue Mr. Bingley? What are we not being told?” Lydia demanded.
Elizabeth and Mary looked at one another.
Kitty intercepted the look and said, “So there is something to be told! If whatever this is means that Lydia and I cannot have any more fun, we deserve to know.”
Elizabeth sighed. “We have no money, Kitty. No savings. The harvest was bad, and the two largest farms are empty. We need three thousand pounds to pay off our accounts and get us through until the next harvest.”
“We are poor?” Lydia asked, in a small voice.
“Yes, and we may become poorer yet if something does not change.”
“Well, it is everything unfair! It is Papa’s fault that we have no money, so it is fair for him to suffer at least a little, if attending an assembly is to be considered suffering! But what did Lydia and I do? Nothing whatever! And yet, we are to miss out on all the fun!” Kitty said.
There was a moment of silence in the breakfast room. Mary said, “Whosever fault it was, it falls to our Lizzy to save the family from financial ruin. We must all do our best to help her. If that means losing some ‘fun,’ as you put it, Lydia, then it is a necessary sacrifice.”
“We can at least walk to Meryton, can we not?” Lydia asked.
Elizabeth and Mary exchanged glances.
“I will accompany you,” Mary said.
Mr. and Mrs. Bennet came into the room in time to hear Mary’s voice. “Accompany who where?” Mrs. Bennet demanded.
“Kitty and Lydia hope to go into Meryton; Mary will accompany them,” Elizabeth explained shortly.
“Fine,” Mrs. Bennet replied.
Mr. Bennet cleared his throat; everyone looked up. “I had meant to inform you all of this earlier, but recent events have rather taken it from my mind,” he began.
“Why, this is mysterious, Papa,” Kitty said.
“I do not intend to be mysterious, only to attempt to excuse my own failure to convey this earlier. In any case, my cousin, Mr. Collins, is to visit us. He arrives tomorrow.”
Mrs. Bennet made a strangling noise. “Tomorrow?”
“Yes; I am sorry, Mrs. Bennet. I know you would have preferred to have more time to prepare –“
Mrs. Bennet rose at once and left the room, presumably to confer with Mrs. Hill.
Mr. Bennet sighed and put his head in his hands.
“It will be all right, Papa,” Mary said, softly.
“It just seems that I can do nothing right,” he murmured. With that, he got up and left.
The four girls stared at his empty chair and then at one another.
“Mr. Collins is coming here?” Mary asked.
“Evidently,” Elizabeth said, dryly.
“But perhaps, given that he is the heir to Longbourn, you need not marry Mr. Bingley after all, Lizzy!” Mary said urgently, leaning forward. “Surely Mama and Papa would both prefer a marriage to Mr. Collins, who is to inherit the estate!”
Elizabeth shook her head. “Mary, it will not help us just now; unless, of course, he is a man of means, a man who could afford to give us three thousand pounds.”
Lydia said, impatiently, “Well, go and ask Papa what he knows of the man! He is more likely to talk to you than any of the rest of us.”
“She makes a good point,” Mary said, nodding. “Ask Papa for more information. He feels badly enough about his behaviour that it is likely he will tell you anything you wish to know.”
“I suppose you are right.” Elizabeth took a last bite of her toast before wiping her lips with her napkin and setting it on the table. “I will tell all of you what I find out.”
***
“Tell me what you know of Mr. Collins, Papa,” Elizabeth said. “If we are to be ready to greet our cousin properly, we must know more about him.”
In response, Mr. Bennet handed Elizabeth a letter. She read:
Dear Mr. Bennet,
I have long wished to meet my only remaining family, but knew not how to proceed. Finally, I have decided to be bold and simply present myself, in the hope that my presence in your home will not be intolerable.
I suspect you know as little of me as I about you, so allow me to give you a small summary of my current situation.
I am the rector of a parish in the county of Kent, under the patronage of Lady Catherine de Bourgh.
She has a very grand estate, which my own small parsonage abuts.
She is not much known, so I do not imagine you will have heard of her.
I am unmarried, though I have hopes of soon remedying that situation.
My patroness, who does not hesitate to advise me on all matters, great and small, suggests that one of my own cousins might wish to become my wife, given that I am, as of now, the heir presumptive of Longbourn.
I am certainly willing to consider it, and hope that one of them might be amenable to my suit.
May I present myself at Longbourn at four o’clock in the afternoon on the eighteenth of November? If I do not hear anything to the contrary, I will presume this to be acceptable to you.
I thank you for your kind consideration in allowing me to come to you, uninvited, but I hope not unwelcome.
Rev. William Collins
Elizabeth read it again before returning it to her father.
“It is not a bad letter, but I truly cannot make out his character. Is he happy to have a patroness who does not hesitate to advise him on all matters? Or does he find it irksome? And he quite evidently hopes to marry into the family, which can only be a good thing, can it not?”
Mr. Bennet shrugged. “It is a good thing, of course, but you do understand, Lizzy…” He trailed off.
“Yes, I do. If he is a clergyman, he has no money to speak of, so even if he does marry one of us, it does not save me from Mr. Bingley.” Her tone was flat.
“Save you? Lizzy, it is not as if we are asking you to marry Blackbeard!” His voice rose in protest.
“I know, Papa. I should not have put it like that.”
Elizabeth returned to the breakfast room, where her sisters waited. She sat down to deliver her report. “He is a rector with a parish in Kent. And he hopes to marry one of us.”
Lydia immediately made a face and threw down her napkin. “I will never marry a rector!”
“Nor I!” Kitty agreed.
All heads turned to Mary. She shrugged. “I would not be opposed, but of course I must meet him and determine for myself if I wish to marry him.”
Elizabeth’s lips twisted. How she wished she had that same freedom!
***
Later that day, Mrs. Bennet visited Mr. Bennet in his study. “We want to make a good impression on this Mr. Collins, do we not?”
“I suppose so, yes.”
Mrs. Bennet hesitated before going on. “The butcher says he will sell us no more meat until we pay him at least something.”
Mr. Bennet sighed. “Very well.” He reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a small pouch. “Here are two shillings. Perhaps that will be enough.”