Chapter 16
Now that she knew that Mr Darcy had never looked at her to find fault and understood that when he had met her in the mornings, before he departed Rosings Park, it had nothing to do with punishing her with his company, Elizabeth quite missed seeing Mr Darcy about the place.
On some mornings since their cousin’s departure, Elizabeth would see either Lord Hilldale or Colonel Fitzwilliam, or both, riding.
When they saw her, they would stop and talk for some minutes and then the two, or if it was one alone, would ride off.
The colonel called at the parsonage occasionally but never with his brother.
Based on a conversation Elizabeth had with the colonel, she learnt that Lord Hilldale, like their parents, did not appreciate her cousin’s fawning and sycophantic behaviour.
Unlike her prior wrongheaded thoughts, none other than Lady Catherine enjoyed that kind of deference.
However, even Lady Catherine had her limits of patience when Mr Collins maundered on for too long.
On Friday morning, after breaking their fasts, while Mr Collins worked on his sermon—without input from his patroness—Charlotte, Elizabeth, and Maria sat in the back parlour, each one busy with her own concerns.
They were disturbed when the maid brought Elizabeth several letters. There was one from Jane, one from Mr King, and the third surprised her the most.
She first skimmed Mr King’s letter. It was written before he and his niece departed Meryton.
There were effusive thanks to her for saving Mary King from the clutches of a certain fortune-hunting, dishonourable man.
He wrote that they would be in Liverpool for some weeks and only return after the departure of the regiment.
As Papa writing to her was such a rare occurrence, Elizabeth broke his seal and opened the single page. Her father was not much of a correspondent.
2 April 1812
Longbourn
Elizabeth,
Of late you have been a prolific writer of missives; except, wisely, you did not send me the information you imparted to others. As you speculated, I would not have acted on it.
I cannot go into detail other than to tell you the warning was more timely than you could imagine. It is leading to changes in our household which you will see for yourself when you return home.
It is not hyperbole when I tell you that the timing of what resulted from that information has saved us from something I will not put on paper.
When I see you, I have many questions, and you, my Lizzy, have some explaining to do.
I am not angry; the opposite is true.
With fatherly love,
TB
Elizabeth breathed with relief that Papa had seen what she wrote to Sir William and had not taken exception to her words. Being that she hated not knowing things, her father’s allusion to being saved was making her imagine all sorts of scenarios, but she had not a clue as to what Papa referred.
She looked up; Charlotte and Maria were still busy and not waiting about for her. As such, Elizabeth broke the Gardiner seal and opened Jane’s missive.
2 April 1812
23 Gracechurch Street
London
My dearest sister, Lizzy,
You know not how happy I was that you did not take exception to my words, and rather, you have been introspective and decided to make some amendments to your character.
I have an idea of what the other factors are that caused you to begin to reevaluate your opinions, but that speculation is not to be written here.
You will be shocked to hear that the Saturday before Easter Mr Darcy and Mr Bingley called at this house.
The former apologised for his part in separating Mr Bingley from me, and the latter took responsibility for the choices he made regardless of who said what about my feelings, or lack of feelings, for him.
Mr Bingley mentioned how his sister intimated I was the Earl of Holder’s kept woman. Jamey was visiting, and the dear man was ready to call out anyone named Bingley.
There will be a positive from all this. Mr Bingley owns the need to mature and will take time to do so. He knows he needs to stand on his own feet and make his own decisions. He claims that until he has achieved that, he will not be bestowing his attentions on another woman.
Thanks to something you said to him, Mr Darcy requested the epistle that Miss Bingley had sent to me before they vacated Netherfield Park so improperly.
He said his aunt (the countess who is at Rosings Park) is about to make sure that Miss Bingley is expelled from society for using her niece in the lies she wrote to me.
Mr Darcy told us that, the Monday after Easter, he is for Derbyshire. Hence, I believe that as I write this, he is now at or very near his estate.
You will not believe the temerity of that pernicious woman.
Aunt Maddie, Lilly, May, and I were invited to Holder House to partake of the midday meal with Lady Edith and her children.
While we were there, after Lord Holder returned home, the supercilious sisters (as you named them) arrived to warn the Carringtons of my evils.
Caroline Bingley used her own character flaws in describing me. The only result is that Lady Edith is as determined as Lady Matlock to expel Miss Bingley from any society, polite or otherwise.
I believe as of the date of this letter Miss Bingley is discovering that all society’s doors have been closed to her.
On the positive side, my courtship with Jamey proceeds anon. I am not in love with him yet, but I do not believe it is far off now that I know I may trust him with my heart, and he will treat it as it should be treated.
Jamey’s sisters, Emily, who is 16, and Priscilla, who is 13, got along very well with Lilly and May regardless of the differences in their ages.
By the by, Aunt Maddie was as happy to read your letter as I was. Like me, she is very proud of you.
All the cousins send their love. Peter was sad you will not be here for his birthday.
Eddy is still home. Uncle Edward will convey him to Harrow on the 18th of this month, so you will not see him when you arrive.
Lilly and May are very excited for your arrival, even if it is close to the end of the month.
With all my sisterly love,
Jane
“Eliza, it must be good news if you are smiling in that way,” Charlotte opined. “Did Jane write?”
“Yes, that was one of the letters I received. She is very well, and her courtship is proceeding anon,” Elizabeth responded.
“Cousin Jane is being courted?” Collins enquired.
He had come to ask his wife for tea when he heard what Cousin Elizabeth said.
“Is that son of a tradesman finally going to offer for her, like your mother told me?” Cousin Jane had not refused him, but she had been Collins’s first choice; however, Mrs Bennet had directed him to Cousin Elizabeth, who had refused him.
That left him resentful towards the eldest Bennet daughter as well as Cousin Elizabeth.
While her husband was speaking, Charlotte poured him a cup of tea. He took a mouthful before Elizabeth replied.
“No, Jane is not being courted by Mr Bingley. Her suitor is Lord James Carrington, Viscount Hadlock, heir to the Earl of Holder,” Elizabeth related.
In his shock and consternation, Collins sprayed the tea from his mouth. Thankfully, none of the ladies were close to him, so they did not get a mixture of tea and spittle on them.
“A Viscount! How can that be? The Bennets are too low for a noble to notice one of you!” Collins insisted. His pride was now severely damaged. How could this be?
“Seeing that Viscount Hadlock was the one who offered Jane the courtship, and she is the daughter of a gentleman, neither he nor his parents agree with you regarding Jane’s appropriateness as their son’s possible wife.
” Elizabeth got a sly look in her eyes. “You may travel to London and ask Lord and Lady Holder and Lord Hadlock that question yourself.”
“Ehrm, ahem, no, that will not be necessary,” Collins managed. Next time, when he was with Lord and Lady Matlock, not to mention Lady Catherine, he would ask them, and he was sure they would not approve.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The parsonage party was invited for the after-church meal on Sunday, and Collins planned to cleverly bring up his cousin’s courtship by a viscount. He was pre-empted by Lady Matlock and not in the way he wanted.
“Miss Elizabeth Bennet, I have wanted to congratulate you on your sister being courted by the son of one of my closest friends,” Lady Elaine enthused.
“Edith wrote to me and told me how much she, Paul, and her girls like Miss Bennet. She told me she could not be happier for her son.” She gave her sons the gimlet eye.
“If only one of my sons would find such a woman!”
Collins refused to concede. He bowed low to his patroness. “But, Lady Catherine, does not my cousin being courted by a viscount go against your strictures regarding the maintenance of the distinction of rank?”
In her embarrassment, Charlotte Collins would have climbed under the settee she was seated on if she had been able.
“Mr Collins!” Lady Catherine’s voice cracked like a whip. “Did you not hear my sister state that the Earl and Countess of Holder approve of the courtship? As such, who, pray, are you to question them?”
His patroness’s rebuke almost caused Collins to begin crying.
Why was it he could never prove his superiority over a Bennet?
He receded and sat pouting in silence. He would deny everyone his wisdom.
Had he known that his silence pleased everyone else, he would not have been as sanguine about keeping quiet as he was.
“I apologise, Lady Matlock; I was not able to thank you for your kind words. Of all the people I know, no one deserves happiness more than my older sister,” Elizabeth said in response to the countess.