Chapter Thirty-Nine
Lucas Lodge
Let me make certain that I understand,” Charlotte said, cautiously. “Your cousin, who I have never met, is looking for a wife. None of you wish to marry him, but you thought I might. Is that it?’
Jane and Elizabeth looked at one another in consternation. “It sounds rather dreadful when put like that, Charlotte,” Elizabeth said, now very unhappy. “I am so very sorry; I suppose we should not have come.”
Charlotte immediately responded. “Oh, no, you mistake me. I merely wished to be certain that I understood the situation corerctly. He is looking for a wife, is he not?”
“Yes; his idea was to marry one of us; in doing so, he felt he would be offering some compensation for taking Longbourn after Papa passes,” Jane supplied.
“That speaks very well of him,” Charlotte said. “He cannot be as bad as all that.”
“He is not a handsome creature, Charlotte,” Elizabeth said.
Charlotte shrugged. “I am hardly in a position to complain of someone’s appearance.”
“You do not value yourself highly enough, Charlotte. In any case, he is also not clever. In truth, he is verbose and tedious.”
“But he has a home and an income?”
“A rectory in Kent, yes. But he has a patroness who dictates his every movement,” Jane warned.
“But he has a home and an income,” Charlotte repeated. “I suppose I should meet him.”
“Then come for tea tomorrow, Charlotte,” Elizabeth said.