Chapter 30 #2
Was it not obvious to Elizabeth that she was the only possible option?
Jane had, by the greatest good fortune, contracted an eligible offer from a delightfully wealthy, handsome, and kind gentleman, and the very thought nearly sent her into transports of joy again.
Mary was quite plain and far too involved in the mysteries of astronomy to make a practical or good wife.
Kitty and Lydia were both wonderful girls, but indeed still girls, entirely too young to consider matrimony. It had to be Elizabeth!
Nor, for that matter, had Mr. Collins expressed the slightest interest in any other of his cousins besides Elizabeth ever since he learned of her position as owner of Emerald Island. He most sensibly intended to wed the Bennet daughter with the most money, as any man would, and who could blame him?
Her mood was not at all sweetened by her thoughts, and Lady Bennet pushed open the door to the breakfast room and stepped inside, before stopping short in surprise.
She was aware that Sir Thomas was not habitually an early riser, yet here he sat beside Mary, the table awash in a sea of papers with incomprehensible scribbles, two half-empty plates of toast and eggs and two cups of coffee rising like islands above the papers.
“We have a great many observations,” Sir Thomas said with a furrowed brow, and Mary took a sip of coffee and then said, “Yes, we do, which should give us valuable information about the tail and … oh, Mamma, good morning! I did not expect to see you up this early.”
“Good morning, Husband, Mary,” she replied, advancing into the room. “Yes, it is very early, but I am determined to catch Lizzy before she creeps off to wherever she has been hiding these last days. She simply must wed Mr. Collins! Have you seen her?”
“No,” Mary said concisely and turned back to her work, while Sir Thomas merely lifted one of the papers so that the morning sunlight fell against it, his brow furrowed in thought.
Lady Bennet sighed and walked over to pour herself tea.
She added milk and sugar and decided against eating anything for the moment.
She was too irritated with Elizabeth to enjoy her food, and in any case, she was careful not to eat too much, as she had every intention of maintaining her slender figure.
She sat down, began drinking, and listened without interest as the two avid astronomers of the family spoke for another ten minutes about the comet in the skies, and its position with respect to various stars, and its tail, whatever that was, and…
“Did you ask about Lizzy?” Sir Thomas suddenly asked, turning toward his wife.
“Yes,” Lady Bennet said impatiently. “I need to speak with her. Do you know where she is?”
Her husband lifted his watch out of his pocket, stared at it for a few seconds, and then said, “Assuming that there were no problems with horses or carriage, Elizabeth is within ten miles of London by now.”
Lady Bennet looked at her husband in consternation. “What?”
“I sent Elizabeth to London this morning,” her husband said absently as his eyes fell on another piece of paper with scribblings on it.
“You sent … why, Sir Thomas, why?”
He looked at her again, his head tilted, as if he truly had no idea why she was asking the question.
“Because I do not want Elizabeth to marry Mr. Collins, of course,” he said simply as he reached out with his fork to poke a bite of ham.
She stared open-mouthed for a few moments and then demanded, “Why would you not want … what are you talking about, Sir Thomas? Mr. Collins is heir to this estate!”
He chewed and swallowed a bite of ham and then said, “But he is not very intelligent, and he would drive Lizzy mad. I cannot imagine forcing our daughter to marry a man she dislikes, who would most assuredly make her unhappy.”
She felt a brief stab of compunction at these words. Would Elizabeth be unhappy with Mr. Collins? But surely it did not matter a great deal whether the pair were compatible. After all, she knew nothing about astronomy, and she and Sir Thomas had managed to rub along well enough.
“Why would she be unhappy?” she demanded. “It is not as if she and Mr. Collins would need to spend a great deal of time together, after all. Once she presents him with an heir, I daresay they would only meet at meals!”
“Lizzy is a romantic, Mamma,” Mary said calmly. “She would not enjoy a marriage of convenience.”
Lady Bennet’s brain did not work quickly, but nonetheless, it took her but a few minutes to come to a few unpleasant conclusions. Lizzy was in London, far beyond her reach. Mr. Collins was here at Longbourn, but would only be here for another week, whereupon he would be in Kent.
There would be no marriage between Elizabeth and Mr. Collins.
“Why did you not tell me yesterday that you were so opposed to the marriage between Lizzy and Mr. Collins?” she burst out indignantly.
Sir Thomas frowned, tilted his head again, and said, “I did, but you ignored me by coming here this morning to berate her more. You always get noisy when you do not get what you want, and I have too much work to do to be distracted by your whining.”
Lady Bennet burst into tears just as the door opened to reveal Mr. William Collins, who stared at his assembled relations in confusion.
“Whatever is the matter, Lady Bennet?” he asked.