Chapter 18 Letters #2
Unfortunately, Mother has come up with another of her plans to dominate her family and control things that are none of her business.
She has decided that I am to be married to our Darcy cousin, thereby giving her the excuse to install herself at Pemberley even if she is not to have any say over Georgiana.
It seems she felt insulted by the terms of Uncle George's will.
She now discusses the marriage as something she and Aunt Anne planned in our infancy.
Warn our cousin, please. I like him as a cousin, but I have no desire to marry him and even less desire to give Mother continued control over my life and future household.
I have never been on writing terms with him and if any of her spies discovered I had sent a letter to him myself, Mother would consider the match settled.
I have also found out a little bit more about that Collins fellow.
I told you a few months ago how Mother conducted a rather secretive interview with him.
When she finished speaking with him, she sent him off to parts unknown in her shabbiest carriage.
At first, we could find out nothing of where they had gone.
Over time, though, Polly has been working on the driver, teasing bits of information out of him in seemingly casual conversations in the servant's hall.
We knew Mother had sponsored Collins to turn him into a clergyman and that he had been ordained.
It appears she also found him a position as curate.
Once we learned that, Polly was easily able to find out where.
Mrs. Jenkinson had one of her nephews check out the man and his position.
For starters, they say Collins is an idiot.
Plain and simple, no argument from anyone.
Worse yet, he does not appear to realize that about himself.
He considers himself an authority on all matters relating to the church and has no hesitation about saying so.
In fact, they say he can hardly stop speaking, even when silence would be more appropriate.
The odd thing is that he pretends not to even know my mother, let alone be indebted to her for his position.
Mrs. Jenkinson's nephew said it was clear the man was lying, but the lie seemed out of character for Collins.
He is not strictly truthful in other things, but he did not seem the type to hide a connection of such consequence as my mother.
He must be acting on her orders although it is unclear why.
We have notified your father and I expect he will hire someone to watch Collins, but I thought you should know as well.
Please be sure to visit when you are next in England. Mother would think it a triumph in her battle against your father and I would just be glad to see you safe.
Your fond cousin,
Anne
Richard finished reading the letter with a smile, although some of the things Anne told him made him worried.
A letter to Will was definitely in order.
He needed to thank him again for the superb saddle anyway.
It would be just like Aunt Catherine to try to get her hooks into Will by citing an arrangement with his mother.
According to Richard's father, things were finally settling down at Pemberley as Will's grief softened and he became more comfortable in his new role.
The warning would also be a good excuse to send a letter to Georgiana with the little trinket he had found for her in that last market town.
The necklace was nowhere near as fancy or valuable as the one he had sent to Lizzy.
All the same, it was pretty and far more appropriate for a young girl, being just a medallion of delicately carved wood on a simple braided cord.
He would have to package it up and write the letters today, before they got orders to move on to someplace where he might not be able to send mail.
~o~
Bennet studied the game in progress on the tiny chessboard.
Although young Darcy's letter had been insulting in both its brevity and tone, Bennet appreciated the gift of the set.
He had another metal plate made, just like the one with his own name but inscribed 'Darcy’ and affixed it to the opposite side of the box.
He then arranged the board, with the shallow bowl that had had come with the set and arrived fitted inside between the sets of men and the tiny tongs for moving the pieces, on the most accessible corner of his desk.
Now he had a constant game going in which any visitor to his study who understood the game made one move on his former partner's behalf.
Lizzy, Mary and Sir William were the most frequent of Darcy's seconds, but Kitty and Lydia sometimes stopped by to take a turn, primarily because they enjoyed looking at the tiny pieces so much.
Bennet had even caught Mrs. Hill playing a move once, and a very canny move at that.
It was a completely different kind of game than those to which he was accustomed.
Normally, you had one opponent who played with a certain strategy in mind.
With so many people taking turns on that side there was no set strategy to the moves, which could cut both ways.
Of course, it often made Darcy's side lose, but some of Bennet's success as a player was spotting and circumventing the strategies of his opponent.
In this case, his opponent was a wild card and sometimes that scored a win.
No matter what the outcome, Bennet enjoyed the frequent reminder of all the games he had played against George Darcy over the years.
He wondered what young Darcy would think if he knew the board was still in use.
Bennet made his next move just as a knock came at the door. Mrs. Hill poked her head into the room.
"The post just came, sir. You have a letter from Mr. Gardiner."
He accepted the letter with a word of thanks, and Mrs. Hill went on her way.
A letter from Gardiner probably meant one from Richard or from Rand as well, possibly both.
He broke the seal and unfolded the sheets.
Just Rand, this time, he discovered as he found the insert.
He decided to read it before seeing what Gardiner had to say.
Greetings, old friend,
I have just returned from a visit to Pemberley.
My nephew is doing well with his new responsibilities, but he had a tricky tenant dispute to resolve and wanted to hear my thoughts before he made the decision.
In the end, he made the decision himself, and I think it was a good one even if it was not quite what I had advised.
He is learning to be his own man, and the tenants respect him for that.
I have told him he is always welcome to ask my advice, and, unlike my sister, I will not insist that he take it.
He did take an action I would have advised but did not need to.
Since his father was so clear in the will about not wanting Catherine to influence my niece, I was glad to learn that Will had finally replaced the nursemaid with a governess not chosen or recommended by my sister.
The woman seems capable and competent. Even better, Georgiana already likes her.
The dear girl has returned to her studies and other activities as her grief has lessened.
She still misses her father a great deal, but the worst has passed. Life does go on.
I have heard some news of your cousin, Collins the younger.
I told you earlier he had graduated from divinity school near the bottom of his class.
It seems Catherine has set him up as a curate but for some reason he disclaims all knowledge of her, even though we know he met her several months ago.
She probably does not want word to get back to us that she is assisting the cub for purposes of her own.
I have a man watching him and will let you know what more I learn.
At each report I receive from Anne's governess, I learn she is becoming more like Lewis than we would ever have expected.
Her mother suspects nothing, so far as we know.
All the same, Anne is bright and witty, with the off-beat sense of humor my brother-in-law often displayed.
Richard tells me her rare clandestine letters make him laugh with the way she describes her battle against her mother.
He is most amused that Catherine has an opponent of which she is not even aware right in the midst of her own household.
She thinks of Anne as a pawn, but I think my niece is probably a knight.
One day she will jump right over her mother's pieces and lead us to the checkmate.
Speaking of checkmate and knights, I think you will find my next move in our game gives me the win. Knight to E5. Checkmate, my friend. I suspect you were expecting that move and hoping I would miss it. Not this time.
Please wish Lizzy a happy birthday for me.
When I visit Gardiner today, I will pass him a small gift to carry along when he and Madeline come to Meryton for the celebration.
He will give it to you, and you can present it to Lizzy.
It seems like only yesterday she was a scruffy child having an argument with a rosebush and now, here she is, about to come out as a beautiful and elegant young woman. I can hardly believe it.
I wish you and your family the best of health. Perhaps I can sneak in a visit some time so we can have a real chat. I look forward to it.
Bennet folded up the letter and placed it in the locked file in the hidden drawer where he kept his secret correspondence.
The idea of young Collins as a clergyman still gave him the shudders.
From Rand's reports, the cub, as he called him, was not a man to be entrusted with anyone's spiritual aid.
He hoped they would figure out what Lady Catherine's move was before she made it.
Was Collins meant to be a pawn or a bishop?