Chapter 62 Epilogue
As Richard had predicted, it was more than an hour before the two couples were finally able to drive away from Longbourn.
In the old days, Darcy would have just said goodbye to his host and walked off with an expression that defied anyone to stop him.
Now, however, this group of people was his new family and friends, so progress to the carriage was slow as they made their farewells to all and sundry.
At least the trip to London was accomplished quickly, with none of the frustrating delays Lady Catherine had experienced on her way to Meryton the week before.
Mr. and Mrs. Darcy arrived at Darcy House with plenty of time for the new mistress to be introduced to the household staff and given a leisurely tour, with a few amorous interruptions from her husband, before having a simple dinner and retiring to truly begin their married life together.
After a few days, they made their way to Pemberley, stopping for a day at Randbrook on the journey so Charlotte could proudly display her new home to her best friend and new cousin-by-marriage.
Once home, the couple continued the process of building a relationship together while Darcy also caught up on the estate business that had fallen to the side while he had hunted for his mystery woman.
Lizzy eased into her new role as mistress of a fine estate with much help from Mrs. Reynolds, the housekeeper.
These early days would set the tone for a lifetime spent caring for each other along with their duties to the estate and their extended families.
~o~
Once he left Longbourn, Sir Phillip made the inquiries Richard suggested.
They discovered that Colonel Forster was not exactly on Lady Catherine's payroll, but he had received a large disbursement when Mr. Hayward arranged the commission for Wickham in earnest of letting anything slide that Wickham did while following the instructions of his patroness.
They never could prove that Colonel Forster helped Wickham escape, but it did seem likely.
All regular payments from the Rosings accounts to Lady Catherine's spies ceased.
On learning of Lady Catherine's death, Mr. Hayward proved willing to give some information to Sir Phillip in return for payment of his final fee.
He avoided mentioning anything that could be used against himself in law, but he did offer some hints that helped Sir Phillip and Richard later track down some of the more hidden plans Lady Catherine had put in place.
~o~
A few weeks after the wedding, the men Darcy had sent north with Collins arrived at the Longbourn.
Not knowing of the change in their master's marital status or location, they had reported as they had been directed and expected to find Darcy still there.
Peter Fitzwilliam, who had based himself at Longbourn for a time, conspired with Mr. Bennet to convince the men to report to them.
The two older men had a good laugh at the information they received before sending Darcy's men on their way to Pemberley.
Collins had eventually made it to Scotland under their "care" while grumbling all the while about how long the trip seemed to be taking and the inconvenience Wickham had put him to by making this arrangement for Collins to marry his bride.
Even the befuddling herbs had not erased his sense of purpose.
He knew he was on his way to get married, and during any semi-lucid moment he had much to say on the subject.
As it was, Darcy's men became so frustrated with their charge that they did a little planning and diverting of their own, aided by a chance encounter.
In the Scottish border village where they stopped, intending to desert Collins to his fate, they ran across a young woman determined to find a husband.
Although generally a smart woman, she had been tricked into indiscretion by a man who promised her marriage.
When she discovered herself in the family way, although not yet so far as to be obviously showing, he lured her to Scotland and there he left her.
Along the way, she learned he had a wife already and had left others in a similar situation to her own.
Knowing how difficult life would be for her and the child without a husband - any husband - or the help of her family, who had already cast her out, she was desperate.
When she heard from the footman that Collins was a single clergyman who was expecting to marry a woman named Elizabeth, who had never met and who was neither agreeable nor available, Betsy Connors jumped at the chance.
In this she was aided by the fact that she could legally contract the marriage in Scotland without swearing to be anyone else or being called by her surname during the process.
With the aid of Darcy's men, she was introduced to Collins as Elizabeth Bennet.
To be fair, the footman warned her how poor a catch she was getting.
When they met, she realized the warning had not been overstated.
However poor he might be in personality or wealth, though, he was still a chance for her to have a socially respectable situation and a legitimate child.
She would learn to manage him. She was certain of that.
He seemed unintelligent enough that with a little early concealment, he might never even realize her child was not his own.
Of course, Darcy's men had figured out her "secret" as the driving reason why she needed to marry, but they promised not to tell Collins.
That courtesy did not extend to Bennet, Peter or Darcy - they needed to know.
Although he thought he was marrying Elizabeth Bennet when he publicly claimed Betsy as his wife, Elizabeth Collins, it was still a legal marriage under the local customs, and more than one problem was solved by it.
By means of a bit of theft, Darcy's men had made sure Collins had very little money on him so he would not easily return when they left him there.
What they had removed from his pockets, along with a little bit more they were sure Darcy would approve of, they gave to the new Mrs. Collins on condition she keep her husband away from Hunsford as long as possible.
She agreed a wedding tour would be just the thing, so long as they also gave her the remainder of the herbs that they had been using to keep the man docile.
With the situation well in hand, Darcy's men had headed south by a much more direct route than their journey north had followed, reaching Longbourn a few days later.
Bennet sent a note to Darcy along with the men when they went Pemberley.
We shall have to keep an eye on the situation, since any child Mrs. Collins has will be considered legitimately his in the eyes of the law no matter who the natural father might be.
If male, it will be the heir presumptive to Longbourn after Collins himself.
From what your men tell me of the young woman, that may not be a bad thing.
You can question them more yourself, but she sounds like a managing sort who may be the making of him.
Of course, without the living at Hunsford, it may also be difficult for Collins to support his new family.
I suspect he will be very upset when he learns that Elizabeth Collins never was Elizabeth Bennet, although without Lady Catherine's censure it will not be the disaster for him it might have been.
Between all our family contacts, I am sure we can find a curacy for him somewhere in which he can do little harm while still maintaining them.
I will undertake to make a small allowance for Mrs. Collins, so she and her child do not starve.
She has, after all, done us a favor by taking on responsibility for the fool.
It would not do to let her suffer more indignity because the living is denied them.
When Mr. and Mrs. Collins presented themselves at Hunsford another month later, it was clear Betsy Collins had already learned to manage her new husband very well.
He listened to his wife with the same kind of attention he had given his noble patroness.
Mrs. Collins was as disappointed as he to find out the nice rectory and steady income he had expected would not be theirs.
At the same time, knowing her husband, she understood the decision Sir Phillip made not to maintain Collins in the place that had been verbally promised to him but not officially transferred.
Her spirits improved when she learned the current owner of Longbourn and his extended family would take an interest in her future and that of her children.
The suggested curacy was provided by Lord Sheldon to give some support, however incompetent, to the local vicar, who was stretched a bit thin in his duties.
Collins filled the post with little distinction and never found anyone willing to give him a better one.
The situation, which included free lease of a small house, provided sufficient income to keep his wife, two sons and a daughter fed and clothed, especially with the small, extra, secret allowance Mr. Bennet sent to Mrs. Collins.
Her ability to manage on such a small income impressed her husband, and she never enlightened him regarding how she did so, just as she never enlightened him on the true parentage of their firstborn and he never appeared to know any different.
The oldest child, Benjamin Collins, unsurprisingly bore little resemblance in intellect or personality to his father of record, although he did share similar coloring, which maintained the public illusion (and Collin's belief) that he was the clergyman's son.
As he grew it became clear that Benjamin was, in fact, a very smart young man with a positive outlook and disposition.