Chapter 2.6
Elizabeth was relieved when, after breakfast, the Collinses attended some duties in the village. She had barely left the house since Mr. Darcy’s accident.
When she had returned home that day, Charlotte was frightened by her appearance and worried for her health. Mr. Collins was appalled by her improper attire and both insisted she should avoid long, solitary walks far from the house.
With only a few days remaining before her return to Longbourn, Elizabeth abandoned any attempt at arguing. However, she took advantage of their absence for a stroll in the garden. When she returned, she was surprised to find the family already home.
“Charlotte, is everything well? I did not expect you to return so soon.”
“No…not well at all,” her friend responded, much to Elizabeth’s fright.
“The worst nightmare is happening, cousin Elizabeth,” Mr. Collins interjected.
“I have stated so many times that a woman must be careful with her behaviour to avoid any imprudence and to keep her name clean and respected. But I am sorry to say that your tendency to disobedience, that I—as well as Lady Catherine—have observed, and you did not struggle hard enough to correct, has caused you and everyone around you irredeemable damage.”
Elizabeth stared at him in disbelief, ready to burst out in laughter. What could he possibly mean? He always came out with impromptu, gullible ideas that would have been amusing if they were not usually troublesome.
“Excuse me? I am lost. What are you implying, Mr. Collins?”
“My poor cousin, all the village is talking about the scandalous situation you found yourself in a few days ago. Your name is being mentioned in the most dishonourable ways and I was in no position to speak on your behalf.”
Such indignity was too much for Elizabeth to accept and her cousin’s silliness was not enough justification to bear it.
“Mr. Collins, I beg you to explain to me what you are talking about. I cannot ignore the offence in your statement and I cannot recall what I have done to deserve it,” she said severely.
“It is true, Elizabeth,” Charlotte interjected compassionately.
“The whole village is talking. People were looking at us so strangely. We spoke with several parishioners that both Mr. Collins and Lady Catherine trust and they confessed to us. There are rumours that you and Mr. Darcy did not meet unexpectedly. That the state of your clothes suggested… you know…”
“Excuse me?” Elizabeth cried.”
“People talk, Elizabeth. They even questioned—we were told—the coincidence of you and Mr. Darcy being here at the same time. They said he used to come later in the year and this was the first time he had arrived at Rosings in early spring.”
“Am I to be held responsible for Mr. Darcy’s changed schedule? Dear Lord, I have never heard anything more insulting and stupid. Ridiculous! Outrageous and stupid!”
Elizabeth was so angry that she refused to guard her words.
“Elizabeth, we know you are not responsible. But people are talking. And the situation you have been in... How did you meet Mr. Darcy? And you both had dirty clothes, people say! And your faces were dirty too. You do not know what people are saying! I have been so ashamed.”
“Mrs. Collins is right! I have never been in such a situation before! If you had only been more careful, more considerate with what propriety demands! I will be ashamed to appear in my own parish,” Mr. Collins repeated.
Elizabeth was ready to scratch his annoying face.
“Ashamed, Mr. Collins? But why? So let me clarify this: you are now telling me that I should have pretended not to see Mr. Darcy, left him there in the wood, lying on the ground, unconscious and wounded, to possibly die in the storm that had just begun? This is what I should have done? Is this what Lady Catherine would have preferred too?”
“My dear cousin, that is not what I mean. But when a young lady is alone in the woods, in the presence of a gentleman…”
“I was in the presence of nobody, sir! My behaviour was not at fault! I was not the one who was imprudent. I was not in danger, and I did not need anyone to save me!”
Her unleashed fury troubled Mr. Collins and he took a step back.
“My dear cousin, I hope you do not blame Mr. Darcy! You must not speak in such a way; if Lady Catherine could hear you…”
“I could not care less who hears me! If you blame me, I will surely and rightfully place the blame on Mr. Darcy, though even he did nothing wrong on purpose! But he had been inattentive and fell. I was taking my solitary walk when I found him and I hurried to ask for help. I did nothing commendable, I deserve no praise but not censure either!”
“I do know that, Elizabeth. But people were talking and we must find a way to stop these scandalous rumours!” Charlotte added.
“The people who started these rumours are ridiculous and mindless! If I indeed was having a sordid affair with Mr. Darcy, would we have been so stupid as to meet near his aunt’s house and to arrange private encounters in the woods, on the grass, on a rainy, muddy, day, to ruin our clothes?
And if that was the case, how and why exactly have I pushed him to hurt his head and his leg? Has everyone lost their minds???”
While she yelled with frustration and ire, she briefly considered what scandal would have ensued if someone had seen his letters.
Were those papers on him when he suffered the accident?
Could someone have caught a glimpse of it?
Very unlikely. The seed of scandal was already there, in Darcy’s pocket, but apparently the drama had arisen from completely different and ungrounded circumstances.
“My dear cousin, a lady must know how to approach even the most unfortunate …”
She interrupted him rather rudely.
“Mr. Collins, what exactly do you expect me to do? I have done a good deed and now I am paying for it. Quite ironic, being in a clergyman’s house, is it not?”
“Cousin Elizabeth, please!”
“Sir. Do tell me what I should do to remedy the mistake of helping an injured man. One simple solution would be to leave—I shall ask my uncle to send me his carriage as soon as possible.”
“Elizabeth this is not necessary,” Charlotte attempted to sound polite.
“Of course, it is, Charlotte. Is there anything else beyond that?”
“Leaving now might only feed the scandal. I know it is not fair, but the damage will remain. Let us consider the situation carefully, Elizabeth.”
“This is why I have always said that a lady’s honour is a very fragile thing,” Mr. Collins reflected in a loud, scolding voice.
Elizabeth’s temper betrayed her.
“What is your meaning, sir? I hope you do not doubt my honour! I have, after all, put myself in danger for the benefit of Lady Catherine's nephew!”
“I understand that...but…” Mr. Collins replied, astonished by her reaction.
But Elizabeth continued with growing fury.
“Please let me know what I should have done to meet your approval. I am alone, walking, I find Mr. Darcy wounded. What should I do?”
“You should not have walked alone! If you had company, no rumours would have occurred,” Mr. Collins replied, trying to fight back.
“So it would have been better if I had stayed at home?”
“Yes.”
“But if I had remained at home, Mr. Darcy would have been left alone, fallen, hurt, lying in the rain, maybe in danger of losing his life! Would this be a better outcome?”
Mr. Collins was lost, disconcerted, unable to form an opinion. And he could not possibly dare to ask Lady Catherine's advice in this so intimate and distressing matter.
“I do not know…But the rumours….”
“No indeed, Mr. Collins, I need to know what I did wrong and how to improve myself. So please enlighten me – what was better: to save Mr. Darcy’s life, accepting the risk of arousing absurd rumours, or to let him die and keep my tranquillity?”
Pale, Mr. Collins glanced at his wife for help, but Charlotte was equally tormented.
And to make things even worse, a servant entered to announce Mr. Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam.
∞∞∞
Darcy had spent the entire morning in a continuous argument with his Aunt Catherine.
Like everyone else, she had heard the rumours and had a strong opinion about it.
“I have said many times that no woman should be careless and expose herself to unpleasant situations. But some young ladies do not listen or learn. And this is something I can hardly forgive because our names have never been connected with any scandal before.”
Both Darcy and the colonel knew this to be untrue.
The late Sir Lewis de Bourgh had been a man with great inclinations to the pleasures of the world and his escapades were often the subject of dinner conversation among his acquaintances.
For that, they could not hold Lady Catherine responsible, but she should be more careful with apportioning blame.
“I am quite displeased that someone hosted in my clergyman’s house is the subject of such gossip. I have always been respected by the villagers and nobody has ever said an unpleasant word about me or our family!!”
“Aunt Catherine, you forget that I am the subject of the same ridiculous gossip. And I live in your house and I am part of your family. Is this not obvious proof of disrespect?” Darcy said, slowly losing his patience.
“Yes, yes, but in such cases, the problem is never with the man. A woman’s reputation is a very fragile thing and must be guarded.”
“So—you insist that Miss Bennet was at fault in some way?”
“Of course she was! A woman should never be alone in a secluded place with a man!”
“How silly of Miss Bennet to save a man she found wounded in a secluded place, instead of running to find a chaperone and returning later, hoping that man had not died in the meanwhile,” the colonel interjected sarcastically.
“Rest assured she will never repeat that imprudence. As for the villagers never speaking ill of our family—let us believe this is true, for our own comfort.”
“What could you possibly mean, Robert?”