Chapter 14
Lately, every dinner had taken place at Netherfield. The spacious, elegant dining room made Mrs Bennet like Longbourn less and less.
“And it is such a pleasure to invite our friends without being crowded.”
Mrs Bennet adored showing off her new home, and everybody agreed that she had reason to be proud. It was a grand house with high ceilings and a ballroom considered one of the most beautiful in the county.
If they had not entirely moved, it was because of Mr Bennet, who found a new reason each day to postpone his installation at Netherfield. However, that afternoon, just before dinner, Mrs Bennet informed him that she intended to move the next day and bring the girls with her.
“You will be left alone at Longbourn, Mr Bennet,” she threatened, though her voice lacked its usual vigour. She felt genuinely sorry for her husband, still attached to their old house.
“I will come, Mrs Bennet,” he promised. However, the prospect of remaining alone for a few days and merely joining them for meals at Netherfield was not disagreeable to him.
“We need to prepare the place for the wedding,” she said with such pride that her husband smiled.
“My dear, you could prepare breakfast for fifty people within a day.”
“Do not exaggerate, Mr Bennet!” she replied, though satisfaction was plainly written upon her face. “This is our first wedding, and I wish it to be memorable for our family and friends.”
∞∞∞
“Do you think, Mrs Bennet, that we can marry in three weeks?” Bingley asked as soon as dinner began, and everybody around the table smiled at his eagerness.
Mrs Bennet hesitated for a few moments to emphasise the difficulty of the undertaking. Mr Bingley watched her with tremendous expectation, while her family knew perfectly well that she could prepare a wedding for the very next day if necessary.
“Well, Mr Bingley, it can be done. It is not easy to prepare such an event in so short a time, but I understand that it is what both of you desire.” She turned towards Jane, who shone beside her betrothed, more beautiful than ever.
Only a few weeks earlier, such happiness would have appeared impossible, and Mrs Bennet’s grateful glance turned instinctively towards Uncle Thomas.
“Thank you, sir!” she murmured.
The older man looked at her with deep affection.
When he had resolved to return to England, he had never imagined finding such a family.
They were a blessing beyond anything he had expected, and throughout his life, he had always found his greatest satisfaction in bringing happiness to those around him.
“And as soon as the wedding festivities are over, the happy couple will leave for their honeymoon while we—”
“We will go to London,” Elizabeth said, making Kitty and Lydia applaud.
“You may all do as you please. I have agreed to move to Netherfield, but London must wait,” Mr Bennet said, and nobody protested, delighted that he had finally decided to leave Longbourn.
“And I shall remain at home with Papa,” Mary murmured.
“You will do no such thing, young lady!” Uncle Thomas declared. “I have plans for you in London, and I am certain your father will follow us soon enough.”
Seeing Mr Bennet shake his head, Thomas continued cheerfully, “You are all witnesses that he refuses to accompany his family! But if I tell him that his case of books represents only a fraction of those he will discover in London, what do you suppose his answer will be?”
“He will come!” Lydia cried, earning one of Mrs Bennet’s warning looks.
“Of course he will. But we shall allow him to decide when.”
“And where do you intend to stay in London?” Bingley asked, somewhat anxiously.
He would gladly have invited them to his own house, but it was impossible to extend such an invitation without consulting his sisters and Mr Hurst. They had parted on less than agreeable terms after he informed them of his intention to marry Miss Bennet if she still wished to have him.
For once, his sisters had not dared openly oppose him; Charles no longer appeared easy to influence.
“We have a house in London,” Thomas answered, and both Bingley and Darcy looked at him. Bingley seemed relieved, whilst Darcy’s curiosity visibly increased.
Thomas hesitated only a moment before smiling. “We are all family around this table. Or nearly family,” he added jokingly, glancing towards Elizabeth.
Elizabeth blushed beneath his gaze and already resolved to scold her impatient uncle later.
She wished for time, not for Uncle Thomas to push Darcy nearer before she fully understood her own feelings.
Jane had possessed months to discover the extent of her attachment; Elizabeth wished for the same liberty.
Yet she had the uncomfortable impression that her uncle understood perfectly well what passed through her mind, for he nodded towards her reassuringly before addressing the two gentlemen again.
“I purchased a house in London some months ago. The Duchess of Beauford’s residence and several smaller properties were for sale, and her ladyship preferred my offer.”
“No!” Bingley exclaimed, incapable of concealing his astonishment. “It is more a palace than a house.”
“Well, it is certainly a beautiful residence, and we have undertaken considerable work there to accommodate the family. You and Jane are invited to choose your apartment.”
“Thank you, sir! Though I intend to purchase a London house for us,” Bingley answered. Before their eyes, the anxious gentleman from earlier that day had become a composed future husband, already thinking of his household and responsibilities. The Bennets observed the change with admiration.
“But until we find something suitable, we gladly accept your generous offer,” he added.
“And Netherfield shall always remain here whenever you wish to escape the noise of London,” Mr Bennet said, for the first time with the feeling that the place truly belonged to his family.
He still longed for Longbourn, but with the girls marrying, a larger house suddenly seemed necessary for future gatherings.
∞∞∞
Every afternoon, the two Bennet gentlemen enjoyed a glass of brandy and a cigar together in the peace of the library.
“Tomorrow evening I shall sleep here,” Mr Bennet declared. “It is becoming too difficult for Mrs Bennet to manage two houses.”
“Of course,” Thomas replied, though he observed with satisfaction that his nephew was already beginning to enjoy life in the large house where each member of the family might occasionally escape into solitude.
“This library is wonderfully situated, almost isolated from the rest of the house,” Mr Bennet observed with much pleasure.
“Yes. And the half-covered terrace is perfect for reading or writing letters. It is indeed a splendid estate,” Thomas answered. “But I must discuss another matter with you.”
Mr Bennet looked almost alarmed.
“My dear nephew,” Thomas exclaimed laughingly, “you look at me as though I intended to send you to prison!”
“I am sorry, but you have already done so much for us that I shall never be able to repay you.”
“Nonsense! I assure you, I receive from each of you something more precious in return. If kindness and affection could be turned into money, I should still remain indebted to this family. Money alone has very little value. Assuring my great-nieces a comfortable future is merely my contribution. Each of them shall receive a dowry of fifteen thousand pounds upon marriage, and naturally, you are my heirs.”
Mr Bennet sat motionless in his armchair. The brandy helped him preserve his composure beneath the shock of such generosity.
“I scarcely know what to say beyond thanking you. Protest would clearly be useless.”
“Entirely useless,” Thomas agreed. “And now we must tell Mr Bingley.”
“We shall do it together. It is only proper that such matters concern us both from now on.”
“What matters?” Elizabeth asked as she entered the library. She looked happy, and the colour in her cheeks showed plainly that she no longer feared the summer sun.
“An announcement which for the moment I prefer to share only with you and Jane,” Mr Bennet replied before turning silent and leaving the explanation to his uncle.
“I have decided to give each of you a dowry of fifteen thousand pounds,” Thomas said as calmly as though discussing the weather.
Elizabeth stared at them in astonishment. The magnitude of the news momentarily defeated even her understanding.
“Dowry?” she repeated faintly, making both gentlemen smile.
“Yes, my dear. Our uncle believes Netherfield alone is insufficient and has decided to provide dowries for each of you as well.”
Still bewildered, Elizabeth looked from one to the other, waiting for further explanation.
“I did not expect you to be so moved by a money matter,” Mr Bennet said jokingly.
She breathed deeply before answering, and when she spoke, her tone revealed that her thoughts had already moved far beyond the money itself.
“I think it is the meaning of such a dowry that affects me most. I am free now to marry any gentleman—”
“You have always been free to marry whomsoever you wished, my dear,” Mr Bennet said gently. However, both men understood that Elizabeth would never have considered only herself where her family was concerned.
“Yes, of course, Papa,” she answered more quietly, though not entirely convinced herself. Then, turning to her uncle, she added simply, “Thank you.”
There was such gratitude in her expression that Thomas felt, once more, that his fortune had meaning only in moments like these.
At that instant, a maid entered to announce a visitor. For several moments, none of them understood the name properly.
“Who?” Mr Bennet asked.
“Mr Collins,” the maid repeated more loudly as the gentleman entered the library with the air of a proprietor already inspecting his future possession.
“Uncle!” he cried, approaching Thomas in the flattering tone he imagined appropriate for a rich relation.
“Mr Bennet!” Thomas replied.
Mr Collins blinked in confusion.
“I am Mr Bennet,” Thomas repeated in a colder voice.
They all watched Mr Collins’ face tighten momentarily before his habitual obsequiousness returned.
“I beg your pardon,” he murmured with a smile intended to display profound humility.
“Yes, Mr Collins. What may we do for you?”
Thomas deliberately emphasised ‘we’, making it perfectly clear that nobody intended to leave the room.
Still, Mr Collins seated himself as near to Thomas as possible and lowered his voice confidentially.
“Would you grant me the great honour of a private conversation?”
“We have nothing private to discuss, Mr Collins,” Thomas answered steadily. “This is my family, and anything you wish to say may be spoken before them.”
“But Mr Bennet, I also am family.”
Only then did a visible coldness appear upon Thomas Bennet’s face. “Family is where one is welcomed.”
“You are welcome! My wife and I await you in Kent whenever you please!”
“Thank you. Though I expected such an invitation several months ago in answer to my letter.”
“Oh, Mr Bennet, at that time we lacked sufficient space, but now we have prepared an apartment for you!”
For the first time, Thomas smiled, and Mr Collins mistook the expression entirely.
“You will come, surely? Kent is delightful at this season.”
Only Elizabeth and Mr Bennet understood the true cause of Thomas’s smile. News travelled remarkably quickly between Kent and Hertfordshire. Clearly, Mr Collins had already heard of the apartment prepared for Uncle Thomas at Longbourn.
“Thank you, Mr Collins, but at present we are occupied with Miss Bennet’s marriage.”
“Then afterwards—at any time!”
“Mr Collins, for more than forty years I have lived amongst people who see little purpose in disguising their thoughts. I have lost the habit of diplomacy, so I shall be perfectly frank. Every one of my nephews and nieces possessed exactly one opportunity to prove themselves, family. The answer to my letter decided the matter. Those who welcomed me are my heirs. The rest—”
“No!” Mr Collins almost shouted into the stillness of the library. “It is not fair to judge a man after so short a trial.”
“Please stop, Mr Collins. You are only worsening your own situation.”
“Then,” Mr Collins declared, rising abruptly in an attempt to dominate the room, “I want Longbourn, which is rightfully mine!”
Thomas also rose, and though scarcely taller, his presence immediately commanded the room.
“Mr Collins, you are insensitive and vile, and those are only two among your defects. My nephew Edward Bennet stands before you alive and well. Leave now. You are not mentioned in my will and never shall be.”
At that very moment, Tom entered the library. In a firm yet perfectly polite manner, he invited Mr Collins to leave, and everybody present understood that he would escort him all the way to the gates of Netherfield to ensure his departure.
For a long while afterwards, they remained silent, as though waiting for the atmosphere of the room to clear itself of Mr Collins’ presence.
“It is curious how much people resemble their parents,” Thomas said at last. “His father was not an evil man, but he possessed an exaggerated regard for property. I remember a letter I received from him when it became apparent that you would have no male heir. We scarcely knew one another, yet he suddenly wished to be considered family and to ensure that Longbourn’s entail would operate to his advantage.
It was a letter no decent man ought ever to have written…
and, as you saw, the son’s conduct is not far removed from his father’s. ”
Elizabeth’s expression betrayed unmistakable alarm as thoughts of her own mother’s faults immediately occurred to her.
Both gentlemen smiled at once.
“My dear,” Mr Bennet said gently, “your mother possesses many remarkable faults, but she also possesses every essential virtue.”