Chapter 7 #2
Mr Davidson had advised him that it was the right thing to do. Collins had been reluctant to write to the man his father broke with, but as he was advised to write, he decided to do so.
Before he left the parsonage, Mr Davidson informed Collins that the man who had purchased all of his late father’s farmland was willing to purchase the house and the remaining small parcel of land.
As it would mean that Collins would no longer have to pay wages for a manservant and maid to look after the house, he told the rector to pass along that he was willing to sell.
He would use some of the money to rent some rooms close to the seminary in Westerham. He then made his way home to write his letter. It was posted the next morning, and he gave the seminary as his return direction as he knew not where he would be.
Before he returned to Westerham, the sale had been completed and he added five hundred pounds to his money.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Life had been going along following predictable patterns until Bennet’s peace was disturbed by a series of letters.
When Bennet saw the name of the writer of the first one, he was about to consign the letter from Collins to the fire.
That was until he read the name of the sender again.
It was from William Collins, and it was not in the hand of the man who had written letters for Bennet’s illiterate bully of a cousin.
Because of this, he decided to open and read the missive.
13 April 1802
Church of England Seminary
Westerham
Kent
Mr Bennet:
Even though my father decided to break with you, and your family have kept us Collinses from our birthright for so many years, I flatter myself that I am doing the right thing by writing to you now, no matter how undeserving of my notice you are.
It is my sad duty to notify you that my honoured father went to his final reward in February of the previous year.
My late father informed me that, as is right, your wife only provided you with 4 daughters, which means that you will not be able to keep my birthright from me like Bennets before you have done by cheating my family out of what is rightfully ours.
When I am ordained and become a clergyman, I will be far above you in society. I was told how the Bennets looked down on us Collinses. Well, no more. It will be my turn to look down on you!
Your cousin,
William Clem Collins
This Collins could write, but he had no more sense than his late father. There were so many fallacies in the letter that Bennet debated whether or not to write back to the man.
As he cogitated, a thought struck him. ‘If I stick to my determination never to remarry, a buffoon like this will have Longbourn and undo all of the work I have done to make the income what it is. Is it not incumbent on me to remarry and protect the estate and all of those dependent on her? Could I leave my tenants to the mercy of such a man? Of course, there is no guarantee he will outlive me.’
When he considered local marriage aged women, the only one who would be vaguely acceptable to him would be Charlotte Lucas, who would be nineteen on her next birthday.
The problem with that was that he saw her as no more than Jane’s and Lizzy’s friend.
He would never be happy in a marriage of convenience.
Better that he take a step back, not allow this Collins to affect him in this way, or to overset all of his resolutions and plans.
It was time to write back to the dunderhead. He would think of the future later.
He took up his accoutrements for writing after placing some fresh paper in front of him.
15 April 1802
Longbourn
Hertfordshire
Mr Collins:
This estate is not now, nor has it ever been yours, or any other Collins’s birthright. Someone in your family began the lie about Longbourn being the birthright of the Collins line. I repeat: It never was, and it is not now.
Not only that but you do not seem to know the difference between the heir and what you are, the heir presumptive.
As you did me the courtesy of telling me (1 year later) that your father is dead, I will return it in kind.
My wife, who bore me 5 daughters not 4, passed away in June of 1796.
As I am a widower, it is my right to remarry, and if I do and my wife gives me a son, then you will have no claim on my estate.
Also, speaking of facts, it was me who broke with your father for celebrating the death of my late beloved parents. I see no profit in keeping your connection.
T Bennet
It was short and to the point. Bennet was not sure if the simpleton would understand the words in his letter. He was sure that the myth the Collinses told themselves was embedded in this Collins’s consciousness.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The second epistle arrived after Easter and reopened old wounds which Bennet had fought so long and hard to leave in the past.
19 April 1802
Holly Run
Near Truro
Cornwall
Bennet:
I know I have waited more than 5 years to write to you since Mr and Mrs Nichols informed me that your wife died in childbirth. There was a good reason for my delay.
My wife and I decided to wait, and in fact, not mention your wife’s passing to Melissa because she seemed happy in her marriage. At least as happy as she could be with a man who was not you.
I write to you now due to a tragedy of untold proportions, which occurred six months past.
I do not know how to tell you this gently, so I will just write it.
Melissa and her family (husband, 2 sons and a daughter) had gone to Mousehole, which is a fishing village with a long beach on Cornwall’s coast in autumn of the previous year.
There was an outbreak of smallpox and the whole family was lost.
Unlike my wife and I, who both took Mr Jenner’s vaccine, my son-in-law refused to allow his family to have it. He believed the cure would make them sicker than if they ever had the disease. He was wrong and was the first to succumb.
Mrs Morris and I rushed to Mousehole, knowing we would not be allowed to leave until the infection burnt itself out.
By the time we arrived, one of our grandsons had joined his father in heaven. It was clear that Melissa and her other two children would not survive.
It was then, with her being a widow, I informed her of your wife’s passing.
Her dying wish was for me to tell you that she never stopped loving you. She and her children went to their final rewards a day later.
As you know, Melissa was our only child, and with her sons gone, it is only my wife and me who are left of the family. I think that there is a family of very distant cousins, but we know not where they are, or if any remain living. I will have it investigated to see if I have a familial heir.
I beg your pardon, if as I suspect it has, this letter upsets your equanimity.
In sorrow,
Morris
It had not been since his parents were called home that Bennet had allowed himself to cry like he did after receiving the letter telling him that Melissa was in heaven.
His beloved Melissa’s death reminded him that he could not allow himself to marry another. He donned a black armband and mourned his lost love for a full three months. He had considered mourning a full year like he would have for a wife, but Bennet decided that was too far beyond the pale.
As it was, how would he explain the black armband to his inquisitive daughters when they asked about it, as he fully expected they would.
Lizzy was the first to enquire about the armband.
Bennet told them the truth, but at the ages his daughters were, it was not the full truth.
He told them that a very good friend who used to be a neighbour had gone to heaven, and he was mourning her.
His daughters were intelligent enough not to ask any more.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
In May a reply to Bennet’s letter to his distant cousin was received.
6 May 1802
Mrs Katniss’s Boarding House
14 Lankton Road
Westerham
Kent
Mr Bennet!
Nothing you wrote about my birthright or my position of heir was true.
In addition, I forbid you to marry another woman and sire a son in order to cheat me out of my birthright. You are no gentleman. How dare you slander my father like you did. I should go to a solicitor and have you charged for slander.
My father was correct in being at variance with you.
I send you no compliments, and do not wish you and your family well for the future.
Mr Collins
Bennet almost hoped the clodpole would be stupid enough to bring suit. He had all the proof he needed to win, and then he would bring his own countersuit. He would wait to see what if anything Collins did.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
As much as Collins wanted to have his cousin charged with slander, after reading Mr Davidson’s letter, he grudgingly decided not to.
7 May 1802
Parsonage
St Peter’s Church
Faversham
Mr Collins,
I strongly suggest that you do not attempt what you wrote in your past letter to me.
I read Mr Bennet’s letter that you enclosed, and I am afraid there is nothing there which is slanderous. You may not know that I used to read and write letters for your late father before you took the office.
What your cousin said about your father’s words regarding the death of his parents, and it was Mr Bennet who broke with your father is nothing but the truth.
I pray this helps you. Regards,
F Davidson
Collins did not want to believe ill of his father, but then again, Mr Davidson had never before prevaricated to him. He was very confused.