Chapter Forty-Two
Charlotte wore her finest day dress to meet Mr. Collins, the man who just might be her future husband.
She walked from Lucas Lodge to Longbourn, and as she reached the front steps, she heard a man’s voice in the back garden.
She hesitated, bur her curiousity won out, and she walked around the house to peer into the garden.
There was only one man there, quite evidently speaking only to himself. Judging by the sound of his voice, he was deeply unhappy. Charlotte was immediately certain that this was Mr. Collins. “Mr. Collins?” she said, timidly.
He whipped around. Seeing an unknown young lady, he bowed and said, “Yes, I am Mr. Collins.”
“Mr. Collins, I am Charlotte Lucas. My parents, Sir William and Lady Lucas, live at Lucas Lodge, which is just a mile away.” She stopped. Certainly she should not say that he had been mentioned as a possible husband for her. Had he been told her name, perhaps?
Evidently he had, for his face lit up at once. “Ah, Miss Lucas! Your coming just now is positively providential!” He walked toward her quickly; coming through the gate, he paused and said, “Might you consent to take a walk with me?”
Charlotte was delighted to do so, of course. There was no chaperone, but it was broad daylight, and they would stay on the main road.
During the course of the walk, she learned all about him, beginning with the events of the day.
Evidently, he had important information to convey about the Darcys, but no one had wanted to hear it, and he had been ejected from the room!
Yes, actually dragged out! Lady Catherine de Bourgh, his esteemed patroness, would be very unhappy to learn of his failure to convey this crucial information to the Bennets.
Moreover, she would likely not be best pleased by this treatment of himself, her ladyship’s own parson!
From there, he went into his happiness in being the heir to Longbourn, as everything he had seen had delighted him.
He had thought to marry a Bennet girl, feeling that this was the Christian thing to do, but none of the young ladies were of a mind to accept his more than generous offer.
He felt this was absolutely astonishing, given that their dowries were practically non-existent, and did they think that gentlemen as eligible as himself were so plentiful?
Then he launched into a panegyric about Lady Catherine, her home, his cottage, his garden.
When he finally paused for breath, Charlotte – who had not said a word – was exhausted.
Was it possible that she could marry this man?
Yes, he had a home and would someday inherit Longbourn; that was worth a good deal.
But heavens, a woman would have a good deal to put up with as well, would she not? !
But was he, perhaps, open to instruction?
“Mr. Collins,” she began.
“Yes, Miss Lucas?”
“I do hope I am not putting myself forward in any way, but going back to the situation that caused you to be – was it ejected? – from the Longbourn parlour, do you not see that causing insult to guests of the Bennets was tantamount to insulting the Bennets themselves?”
He stopped walking and turned to her. “Do you truly think so? That the Bennets felt insulted?”
“Of course they did. Anything that you had to convey to the Bennets would be expected to be done privately after the guests in question had left.”
He resumed walking. “I had not considered it in that light,” he admitted. “So I have committed a social faux pas?”
“It does sound that way. Who was in the room?”
“The Bennets, of course. Mr. Darcy and his sister. And a Mr. and Miss Bingley.”
“The Darcys are visiting the Bingleys, who are the nearest neighbours to the Bennets. By insulting the Darcys, you have also insulted the Bingleys, who are their hosts. Surely a rector would be expected to set an example of polite behaviour, would he not?”
Mr. Collins was silent for a long minute. Charlotte had feared that he had not the capacity for silence, so this was promising. Finally, he said, “How do I make amends for this?”
“I advise you to return to Longbourn and apologise to everyone, very sincerely.”
“I am not very practiced in apologies,” he admitted.
“It need not be perfect; it need only be sincere.”
“Will you accompany me?”
“If you wish it, Mr. Collins, of course.”
He offered her his arm, which he had not done before, and together they returned to Longbourn.