Chapter 25
Bennet was not alone when he departed Netherfield Park.
He sent his own carriage home, hence, instead, he rode in the Bingley coach with the three Bingleys, while the two Darcys, Fitzwilliam, and Mrs Annesley rode in the Darcy conveyance following behind them.
With it being a little earlier than calling hours, Bennet had encouraged the residents to accompany him back to Longbourn.
His aim was, of course, that Lulu be with him when he told his daughters of the success of his visit.
The fact that he was relatively sure that the three men were interested in his three eldest daughters as more than friends was an added bonus.
As they travelled through Meryton, none in the coaches noticed—and if they had they would not have cared—Mrs Kingston and her eldest daughter exiting the dressmaker’s shop.
“Why do those rich men never call at Kingston Hall?” Florinda Kingston, the eldest of the three daughters whinged when she saw the conveyances make the turn towards Longbourn.
“That is because the Bennet chits are free with their favours,” Mrs Drusilla Kingston spat out nastily.
“Those are my nieces you are slandering Mrs Kingston,” Phillips barked. “I think I should report what you said to Mr Bennet and help him bring suit against you and your husband for slander.”
Mrs Kingston looked at the growing crowd, none of them friendly to her and felt very nervous. “I meant nothing by it, I misspoke,” she dissembled.
“If I hear anything slanderous from you, Miss Kingston, Miss Lucinda, or Miss Anastasia, I will bring suit against you and your husband. I will not stop until you lose Kingston Hall. There will be no further warnings,” Phillips stated firmly with many witnesses present.
Without another word, Mrs Kingston practically dragged her eldest to their carriage.
She ordered her coachman to return them to their estate.
“Mother, why did you apologise? You always tell us that the Bennet sisters are harlots?” Florinda asked once they were out of Meryton.
“What did Mr Phillips mean that he can take Kingston Hall from us?”
“We may never again say anything like that where we may be heard. I will tell your sisters as well. Now be silent until we arrive home,” Drusilla Kingston commanded.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
By the time the coaches came to a halt in the drive at Longbourn, Bennet was in great anticipation of sharing his good news with his daughters. Bingley alighted first and handed out his aunt before Bennet did so and handed out his Lulu.
“My daughters will be in the drawing room. Other than Lulu, would the rest of you please wait in the music room for a few minutes so that we may share our news with the girls first?” Bennet requested.
“It will not take us long; in fact, as soon as you hear the exclamations of pleasure, feel free to join us.”
There was agreement from the other six. Once everyone had been relieved of their outerwear, Bennet led Lulu to the drawing room while the rest made their way to the music room.
Elizabeth had been facing the door, so she was the first to see Papa and Lulu when they entered the room. The look of absolute pleasure and immeasurable joy on their countenances could only mean one thing. “Papa! You proposed and Lulu accepted you, did she not?” Elizabeth enthused.
“Did I not tell you Lizzy would know as soon as we entered the room?” Bennet told his beloved.
“Indeed, you did, Thomas,” Louisa agreed.
What Lizzy said and the confirmation from their father and Lulu led to a general cacophony of congratulations and expressions of pleasure from the five Bennet sisters.
They were so busy expressing their approbation that they did not notice the double doors between the drawing room and music room open.
The biggest change would be for Jane, as she would not be needed to be the mistress any longer, something she did not repine.
She much preferred Papa to be happy. She waited for her younger sisters to hug their father and soon-to-be stepmother.
Then, it was Jane’s turn. She hugged Papa and gave and received one from Lulu.
“Jane, it will take me some time to learn all I need to be an effective mistress here,” Louisa said next to Jane’s one ear. “I will rely on you to teach me what I need to know.”
“It will be my great pleasure to assist you in any way I am able,” Jane replied with a smile.
“Miss Bingley, Anna, Mr Bingley, Colonel Fitzwilliam, and Mr Darcy, I did not see you enter. You were so quiet during our boisterous celebration of Papa’s good fortune,” Elizabeth sang.
“Oh, does this mean you will be my uncle now, Mr Bingley?” She was relatively sure that was not the title Mr Bingley wanted.
“We are too close in age for you to call me ‘uncle’,” Bingley responded as he watched his sister speaking to the lady to whom he was losing his heart.
“Now that Lulu will be marrying into your family, I expect you and all of your sisters to call me Aunt Hildebrand,” she stated. “We will have to decide what your father calls me, although for my part, I would be happy with Hildebrand without ‘aunt’ before it.”
It was not long before Mary was convinced to play for Anna, the two youngest Bennets, and Colonel Fitzwilliam.
Bingley found his way to a seat next to Miss Bennet, and they were soon deep in conversation. Hildebrand watched her nephew and was sure that Lulu would not be the only Bingley who would marry into the Bennet family.
The newly engaged couple were in the study to discuss the settlement before Bennet went to see Phillips that afternoon.
For chaperones, Elizabeth and Darcy sat and played chess against one another.
The latter was impressed by the chess prowess of the former.
She did not beat him in minutes like Miss Lydia; rather, the games were hard fought. She won more than she lost.
It was more than two hours later before the Netherfield Park party departed, sans Anna, who accepted an invitation to remain with her friends, and that meant that Mrs Annesley was present as well.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Collins woke up later than he had planned. In fact, he woke so much later that he had missed the post coach to London. To his chagrin the next one was on the morrow. When he told the landlord his cousin would pay for a second night, the man said that was not what he had been told.
As tight as his funds were, Collins paid what was owed for an additional night. He decided that if he was stuck in Meryton for a day, he would discover proof that his cousin had lied about William Bennet being the first Collins and the other lies which had so easily fallen from his cousin’s lips.
Seeing that he had just paid the landlord some of his hard-earned money, Collins decided to begin with him. “Mr Tremaine, have you lived in Meryton long?” He enquired.
“The whole of my life, my father before, and his father, in fact we have been here for six generations,” Tremaine responded.
“Then, your family would have been here when a Collins was the master of Longbourn before the Bennets stole the estate from my line. Have any of your ancestors spoken of that?” Collins demanded.
“A Collins has never owned Longbourn. A Bennet has been the master of the estate since the signing of the Magna Carta, and if you know your history of our great kingdom, you will know that it was about six hundred years ago,” Tremaine disagreed.
“No! It cannot be so,” Collins sputtered and stalked out of the inn, jamming his hat on his head in frustration. He was sure his cousin had paid the man to prevaricate for him.
His frustration grew as everyone to whom he spoke gave him a similar reply.
The last one advised him to visit Mr Phillips at his law office because he had the register which recorded all the history of the properties in and around Meryton.
Collins liked this suggestion, as he was sure he would see irrefutable proof of how the Collinses were forced off their estate.
He had someone point out the offices to him. He was on his way to the place when he saw a carriage halt. Cousin Bennet alighted, handed a woman with the devil’s mark on her cheek out, followed by one of his pretty daughters. Collins waited about five minutes and made for the office.
“May I assist you, Sir?” The clerk offered.
“I need to see Mr Phillips,” Collins responded.
“Mr Phillips has a client with him, but he has no appointment after this one. If you would like to wait, Mr…?”
“William Collins, rector to the Honourable Lady Catherine de Bourgh,” Collins sniffed.
“If you take a seat, Mr Collins, Mr Phillips will see you as soon as he is free.”
Collins sat as close to the only other door he could see, he was in luck, it was cracked open.
The more he heard, the more horrified he became. His cousin was ignoring the order Collins had issued and was marrying again, and in ten days at the Longbourn church! He stood and ran out of the office—as speedily as a man of his size could—and headed back to the inn.
This was a disaster. If there was a son from the union, he would be robbed of his birthright like generations of Collinses before him. Huffing and puffing because of the exertion, he returned to the inn.
In his worry over what to do about his cousin’s impending marriage, Collins forgot all about going to see the solicitor to obtain proof to show the Bennets’ perfidy.
He would be on the post coach in the morning and make for Rosings Park with all speed. He would confer with Lady Catherine because she would know how to act to stop this travesty.
Elizabeth, who had been in the residence above the offices visiting Charlotte and Lawrence, noticed her father’s cousin trundling out of the office with as much speed as he could manage and heading back to the Red Lion Inn.
She did not care about him enough to wonder what he had been doing at her uncle’s office.