Chapter 27
Late Monday
After his success in Meryton, Darcy returned to Longbourn with Elizabeth and Mary.
Due to the lateness of the hour, he decided to delay his call on Lucas Lodge until the morrow.
What’s more, he was fairly certain that Charles intended to address Miss Bennet during their walk home.
If Mr Bennet gave his consent for one daughter to marry, perhaps he might agree to another.
In any case, after the strife the Bennets had endured this past week, they could use a bit of good news.
They found Mr Bennet and his wife sitting in the drawing room; he with a book and she with her embroidery hoop. “Is Jane not with you?” Mrs Bennet inquired.
“We ran into Mr Bingley in the village, and he’s walking her home,” Elizabeth said.
Mrs Bennet released a sigh of relief. “Thank heavens he has finally returned. We’ll have a wedding at Longbourn soon, mark my words.”
“So you keep saying, my dear,” Mr Bennet said, without looking up from the page.
Darcy shared an amused glance with Elizabeth.
“How was your venture into the village?” Mr Bennet inquired, putting his book aside.
“We did quite well, I believe,” Darcy said, confident that the proprietors had understood his message.
Elizabeth offered him a cup of tea and sat beside him. “Yes, Papa, everyone warmly welcomed Mr Darcy into their shops and tolerated the rest of us with polite indifference,” she said with a careless smirk.
“The Fletchers were as kind as ever,” Mary said.
“No one threw us out, so it was a small success, I suppose,” Elizabeth said, to which Darcy couldn’t disagree.
Some minutes later, he heard voices in the vestibule, signalling that Charles and Jane had just arrived.
Mrs Bennet beamed with pleasure upon the couple’s entrance. “Oh, Mr Bingley, how good of you to see Jane home.”
“We have news, Mama. Mr Bingley and I are betrothed.”
Casting her embroidery aside, Mrs Bennet jumped to her feet. “I knew it would happen. Didn’t I say so, Mr Bennet?” she said in the highest spirits, throwing her arms around Jane and embracing her, while Charles looked on with a proud smile.
Mr Bennet didn’t share his wife’s enthusiasm. “I don’t recall consenting to a betrothal.”
“May we have your blessing, Papa?” Jane said with a hopeful air.
Mrs Bennet squealed with delight. “His blessing? Goodness gracious, my dear Jane. It’s Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy who have blessed us.” She blissfully lowered herself into a chair and opened her fan. “What a happy day for Longbourn.”
Although pleased for his friend, Darcy couldn’t be satisfied. “If Charles is allowed to marry Jane, shouldn’t I be free to marry Elizabeth?” he said.
Mrs Bennet directed a hopeful gaze to her husband. “You will give your consent, Mr Bennet, will you not?”
All eyes turned to Mr Bennet, who remained grim-faced. “My dear Mrs Bennet, I can hardly suppose that two precipitous betrothals will repair the damage that Lydia has caused.”
“Why ever not?” Mrs Bennet said, undeterred. “Everyone in the neighbourhood saw them dance twice at two assemblies. No one shall be surprised in the least.”
Darcy recalled the last assembly with some mortification. Had he truly convinced the neighbourhood of Charles’s devotion to Jane?
“Mr Bingley and Jane, perhaps, but what of Lizzy and Mr Darcy?” Mr Bennet said. “They revealed no similar fascination with each other.”
Undeterred by her husband’s opposition, she persevered. “They’ve been seen together these past two days in church and in the village. Would you deny the happiness of a young couple who love each other?”
“Two days, Mrs Bennet? Do you really suppose that such a short courtship would possibly result in their betrothal?” Mr Bennet said, still unmoved by his wife’s argument. Then he added, “Especially after the treatment we received in church yesterday.”
She resorted to her vinaigrette. “No one in this house ever listens to me.”
After an extended silence, the clock on the mantlepiece struck the half-hour.
“Then…do we have your consent, Papa?” Jane inquired in a meek voice.
Mr Bennet offered a hesitant smile. “Yes, my dear girl. You are of age, and I believe the neighbourhood is expecting the match, so it won’t cause the least stir.”
Despite this lacklustre endorsement, Jane breathed a sigh of relief.
Darcy supposed that if he kissed Elizabeth in the middle of Meryton Road he might be permitted to marry her, but upon further reflection, he discarded the idea. Two compromised daughters wouldn’t recommend Mary and Kitty to future beaux.
“What treatment did you receive in church?” Charles inquired.
Mrs Bennet wailed in misery and fled from the room, followed by her three daughters.
Charles cringed while Mr Bennet and Darcy explained the snubs orchestrated by Sir William and repeated by mostly everyone in the community.
“Why would our neighbours do such a thing?”
“Before I evicted Mr Collins, he advised me to cast my daughter out and never allow her to return home,” Mr Bennet said in grim tones. “I believe my pious cousin persuaded Sir William that no God-fearing man should condone such immorality.”
Darcy abhorred men like Collins, a pompous, social climbing toad, posing as a steward of the church. “Unfortunately, that’s the usual outcome in cases like this. The woman is reviled for submitting to her seducer, while he suffers no consequences.”
“But Lydia’s a mere child,” Charles said in an incredulous tone, to which Mr Bennet readily agreed. “This can’t be allowed to stand. What’s to be done to reverse this injustice?”
“I’ve already spoken to the merchants, with some limited success, and I intend to call on Sir William in the morning to try and convince him to reverse his position on the matter,” Darcy said, hopeful that he would have better success at that meeting.
“What can I do to help?” Charles inquired.
“Perhaps if you were seen in the village with Mr Bennet’s daughters, everyone would see that you’ve also maintained the connection,” Darcy said, suspecting that Charles would easily charm the merchants.
Mr Bennet nodded his agreement. “And if you intend to remain in the neighbourhood, all the better.”
“I have no plans to leave Netherfield, that is…unless the neighbourhood remains inhospitable, then I won’t hesitate to find a home elsewhere.”
Although Darcy agreed with his friend’s opinion, he was glad that Elizabeth wouldn’t be subjected to the whims of this community. Once they were married, he would take her away from here, and she would receive every civility due to the mistress of Pemberley.
***
Later that night, Charles shared a nightcap with his friend in the comfort of the Netherfield sitting parlour. Yet, he was still uneasy. Despite their best efforts to salvage Lydia’s reputation, the Bennets had suffered unimaginable hardship.
“What a fool I was to believe all would be well at Longbourn once Lydia and Wickham had been set to rights.”
Darcy shook his head in annoyance. “It would have been if not for Collins, a sanctimonious sycophant, willing to ruin his only family to make a name for himself.”
“Thinking back, I should have predicted something like this, since he didn’t hesitate to insert himself into my affairs, or rather your affairs,” Charles said with the greatest regret.
“The moment we met him at Longbourn, he boasted of his connection to your aunt. Then he sought me out at the assembly to congratulate himself on being the officiant at your highly anticipated nuptials with your cousin.”
“How can he suppose that my match is any of his business?”
In Charles’s opinion, that was the heart of the problem. “It seems that he considers everything as his business.”
Darcy paused to sip his brandy. “I’m partially responsible for the scene in church yesterday.”
“Nonsense.” Charles couldn’t fathom the possibility.
“Do you remember when you said that I never took the trouble to become acquainted with anyone in the community?” he said, to which Charles nodded.
“I thought my mere presence in church yesterday would protect the Bennets from their neighbours’ snubs, but I couldn’t have been more mistaken.
They didn’t value the connection, because I never bothered to connect with them, just as you said that night at the brook. ”
While Charles couldn’t disagree with his friend’s observation, he could place no blame on Darcy. “They probably would have been much worse if you hadn’t been there. I can scarcely believe they would treat their friends so coldly, especially Sir William.”
Darcy nodded. “The rest of the community relies on his judgement. I meant to call on him today, but I’ll do so tomorrow and persuade him to reconsider,” he said, then sipped from his glass.
“The Bennet sisters and I called on the shopkeepers this morning, hoping to meet them on equal ground, but they weren’t precisely welcoming.
I believe we need a bit of your magic, Charles,” Darcy said, grinning.
This made no sense to Charles. “I have none.”
“On the contrary, you have an abundance of joie de vivre. If you call on the merchants and share your news, I suspect you’ll have little trouble bringing them around, especially since you intend to reside in the neighbourhood.
If they want your continued business, they can’t snub you and your future wife. ”
On Darcy’s latter subject, Charles was of the same mind. “No, should think not, but what’s to be done about Mr Collins? He can’t continue to spread his spiteful venom.”
“Yes, he must also be dealt with. I’ll write to him, but in the meantime, let’s drink to your future wife,” Darcy said, then raised his brandy snifter. “May you and Jane enjoy a lifetime of happiness.”
“Thank you, my friend,” he said, raising his glass. “To Jane Bingley.”
Charles rather liked the sound of that name.
***
After Darcy had dismissed his valet for the night, he sat at the writing table, contemplating the terrible situation the Bennets had endured, thanks to Mr Collins.
How could one man cause so much damage? In his opinion, Collins was the man who deserved to be scorned, not the Bennets.
Any man who would betray his own family was past all redemption. The parson was no better than the London barrister who had abandoned his eldest daughter and married off two others to strangers.
Jane and Elizabeth would emerge unscathed from this episode, but Mary and Kitty were now in desperate need of rescue.
While Mr Bennet might not care if his neighbours chose to ignore him, he understood that his daughters’ future depended on the neighbours’ acceptance.
Furthermore, his wife had been devastated by the loss of her position in the community.
Darcy wanted to send a scathing rebuke to the despicable clergyman, but decided on a different approach.
Dear Mr Collins,
I struggle to conquer my disappointment, especially for a man of the cloth, who has taken Holy Orders and vowed to tend to the Lord’s flock.
This brings to mind the parable of the lost sheep; the shepherd left his flock unattended to search for the one missing and bring her home. You chose instead to condemn the lost sheep and blame her for her naivety in believing that the handsome, charming wolf would do her no harm.
Even worse, you spread malicious gossip about her, believing yourself to be justified as a leader of souls.
Instead of administering to her mother in her time of distress, you subjected her to the scorn of the world.
Your conduct has made it impossible for her family to prosper or receive her at home.
I am happy to report that the lost lamb was wrested from the wolf’s jaws and restored to the safety of her grateful family. I’m certain that you will also rejoice and give thanks for her safe return.
I confess that I was angered by your tendency to circulate private family matters, but as our Heavenly Father forgives us our debts, I shall forgive you for this transgression.
Yours, etc.
F. Darcy
P.S. In the spirit of forgiveness, I urge you to beg Miss de Bourgh’s pardon for the harm you have caused her by publicly linking her name with mine.
By doing so, you subject her to idle speculation and endanger her future match.
You may know Lady Catherine’s fondest desires, but you do not know mine, nor do you have leave to discuss my most intimate concerns.