Chapter 5 #2
“Mr Collins,” Elizabeth interrupted, “I believe you are mistaken when you say you chose me to accompany you through this earthly life. Mary is your equal. Mary would be suitable for the situation in which you find yourself, and would undoubtedly bring you great peace and, I might dare suggest, joy. You are companionable, and I assure you I would vex you endlessly.” When Mr Collins stood silent as if repeating her words in his mind, she added, “You and Mary are perfectly matched. We all can see it.”
She gave him a moment and prayed that he might see sense.
“Yet you are older. Would it be proper to skip over one sister to marry the younger?”
“You have already chosen to pass by Jane, so—”
“Because your mother said there was an agreement between her and a Mr Bingley.”
Elizabeth’s heart sank. Mr Bingley had been away for some time, and had left no promise of any such arrangement. If her mother was putting out such news to Mr Collins, to what others had she shared gossip which might be proven untrue and add to Jane’s pain and humiliation?
“Marriage is a holy bond, would you not agree, Mr Collins?” When he nodded, she grasped for every religious reason she thought he might find appealing.
“And I believe God would want the happiness of his children. When two people, so perfectly suited for one another, are in proximity—perhaps placed so by the Creator himself—it would seem madness to cast aside that-that, um, that heavenly hint, as it were, simply to follow rules of birth order when deciding upon a mate.” She took a breath.
“It would pain me all of my days if my sister could not have a partner in life for whom she is so well suited.”
She hoped it was true. Mary was a curious creature, and one Elizabeth did not always understand.
But Mary had seemed to admire Mr Collins, and they appeared to share passions for similar pursuits and subjects—ones, she had to admit, that were not found interesting by most. She did not think she was suggesting this to Mr Collins simply to avoid his proposal and an unpleasant refusal, though that was part of her motivation.
No, she hoped—nay believed—that Mary had never looked at another man in this way, and so it might be that this was the answer they all had waited for.
He blinked once. Then again. Then once more. “Why, Miss Elizabeth, if you are certain you would not find your feathers ruffled, I do agree that Miss Mary would be a suitable match.”
“Nary a feather out of place, Mr Collins!” Elizabeth had to check that she was not shouting from relief or smiling too broadly.
“Mary would be flattered to have the favour of one such as yourself, and I shall resign myself to continue the search for a husband.” When concern crossed his visage, she added quickly, “But the right man awaits me in the world, Mr Collins. You need not waste your concern on the matter.” She rose and whispered conspiratorially, “Shall I ask my dear sister Mary to come speak with you?”
He smoothed his hair. “Why yes, that would be wonderful.” He bowed in a most obsequious fashion, and Elizabeth, after bobbing a curtsey, hurried out.
Mrs Bennet was lingering in the vestibule, waiting, no doubt, for the opportunity to congratulate her, but Elizabeth brushed past her, running for the stairs.
“Lizzy! Where are you going?”
“To fetch Mary.”
“Mary?” The word was laced with disgust. “Whatever for?”
But Elizabeth was already up to the first floor.
At the door to Mary’s room, Elizabeth peered in and whispered, “Mary.” When Mary turned, Elizabeth rushed forwards. “Go downstairs and speak with Mr Collins.”
Mary’s eyes were red and puffy. “Whatever for? Has he not just asked you to marry him?”
Elizabeth needed to be delicate, especially where Mary was concerned, as Mary had always been on the outside of the family.
She had no natural pair as Elizabeth had in Jane or Kitty had in Lydia.
She was more serious and studious than the rest, and might have thrived in a family more aligned with her interests and temperament.
Elizabeth had no wish to pain her sister.
Rather she hoped to add to her felicitation.
“No, Mary, he did not propose. We conversed privately, and he began by broaching the subject of birth order and of finding a mate, but I assured him that neither Jane nor I would be put out if he ignored that and followed his heart, reminding him that you are far more suited to him in seriousness and religiosity. He was relieved, and asked if I might bring you to him. I said I thought you found him agreeable. Was that right?”
“Quite right.” Her cheeks flushed and she leapt to her feet. “You are certain? You are not playing some trick on me?”
Elizabeth took her shoulders. “I have never been cruel to you, Mary, and I never shall be. I could see you were enamoured of him, and he enjoyed time spent with you more than any of us. And for good reason. I understand why he felt compelled to think of me first, but he much prefers you, and I prefer you for each other. I would drive him mad.”
She laughed and caught herself. “I dare say you would.” She threw her arms around Elizabeth. “Oh, Lizzy, thank you!”
Elizabeth hugged her quickly then backed away. “Now go before he thinks you are having doubts.”
Mary rushed out and down the stairs, and Elizabeth trailed her, stopping only when she had reached the door, which she shut to give them privacy.
She turned to face her mother. “Mama, before you say anything, I need you to listen. Mary and Mr Collins are likely to come to an agreement at any moment, and you must be happy for her.”
“Mary?” she sputtered. “Mr Collins? I do not understand. How can Mary be engaged before my other daughters. It defies reason!”
“Mama—”
Just then the door opened, and the grinning couple emerged.
“I would like to speak to Mr Bennet, if I might,” said Mr Collins. “And then, of course, I must relay my news to the Right Honourable Lady Catherine de Bourgh, though I doubt she will offer any impediment. She did urge me to find a mate, after all.”
“What?” asked Mrs Bennet, still unable to comprehend the situation.
“Mr Collins, Mary, Mama,” said Elizabeth, “if you would allow me, I shall fetch Papa and bring him here.”
Mr Collins nodded, and Mary smiled at Mr Collins, so Elizabeth departed. After being offered entry to his study, Elizabeth closed the door and said to her father, “Papa, Mary and Mr Collins wish your permission to be married.”
He took his spectacles off of his nose and squinted at her. “I beg your pardon?”
“They are well suited for one another.”
“He is a fool.”
“Papa, he might not be to our taste, but he is to Mary’s. And do not forget that the entail will not affect us if they wed, for the property will remain in the family.”
He sighed. “I do not like the idea of him with any further connexion to us.”
“The connexion was inevitable. This way, there might be a happy end. Mary admires him and finds him pleasing.”
He nodded and went to the door. “I thought he might propose to you, my dear, and feared that most of all.”
Elizabeth crossed and kissed his cheek. “You know I would not settle for an unsuitable match.”
“I know, my dear. I know.”
He departed and spoke with the couple, agreeing to the marriage.
Mrs Bennet was caught between elation at a daughter engaged and confusion at how it had come to pass. After dinner, Elizbeth had gone to her room claiming a headache, but in reality, she desired to be away from her mother’s stares. To her disappointment, her mother came in speak with her.
“Lizzy, if you refuse every offer of marriage, you will never find a husband. And who shall maintain you when your father is dead? I shall not be able to keep you, so proceed carefully, my dear.”
Elizabeth pressed the book she had been reading firmly against her chest as if it were armour.
“There was no offer of marriage made to me this morning. Let us be clear on that.” She hated the idea of Mary hearing and then believing her mother’s claims over the truth.
It would wound her terribly if she thought Elizabeth had lied.
“As such I have had no offers to refuse, and I still have hope of a husband and of being maintained. Now I beg you, go down and celebrate with Mary. This is a joyous occasion.” When her mother continued to look doubtful, she added, “At which shop shall we begin tomorrow to acquire Mary’s trousseau?
The dressmaker’s is often crowded, and it would be a perfect opportunity for you to share the news of a daughter to be married. ”
Mrs Bennet thrilled at this suggestion, and scampered downstairs to tell Mary and the other girls the hour at which all should be ready to go to Meryton on the morrow.