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The following morning, their mother demanded a full report. Mrs Bennet could not have been more pleased with all she heard. To Elizabeth’s dismay, she was already planning a wedding. What remained to be seen was which of her daughters she had planned to have Mr Bingley.

With silent determination, Elizabeth resolved to convince her mother she was not a contender.

When once convinced it was so, Mrs Bennet would lead the charge, and everyone would do their best to promote Jane’s chances with the man she already seemed to like so well.

That would be capital. Much as Elizabeth respected Mr Bingley, she knew they were better suited as brother- and sister-in-law than as man and wife.

“I must interrupt your scheming for a moment, my dear. I have had some news this morning from my cousin in Kent.” Elizabeth’s father spoke up at the breakfast table, which was a rarity in and of itself.

That he should share the contents of a letter with them all being present, even rarer.

“He informs me he intends to come for a visit — a long one, it would seem. And so, I hope you have ordered a good supper this evening, my dear, for I expect he will arrive today.”

“Today? How very odd. I should think he would have had the manners to give us more time to prepare for his arrival.”

“He is a parson, my dear. He does not need anything too ostentatious. A few good meals and some good company will be all he requires.” Her father went back to reading his letters, making it perfectly clear he had nothing else to say on the subject.

Elizabeth rather suspected that this was not truly the first her father had heard of Mr Collins’s intended visit, but only the first time he had deigned to inform her mother.

Her mother gave a disapproving laugh, and if she did not believe that was the only thing Mr Collins was coming for.

“I’ll wager he is coming to look over his inheritance, that is what.

He is a shrewd man, I suppose, coming to see the state of your father’s health, and judge how long he must wait before claiming Longbourn for his own, as though he had any right to it.

” She paused for a moment, her lower lip quivering.

“And he will waste no time throwing us out of the house, I am sure of it, before your father is even cold in his grave.”

“Do not upset yourself, Mama. I am sure he only comes to renew our familial acquaintance. I do not believe any of us girls have ever laid eyes on the gentleman.” Jane reached over to their mother’s hand and gave it a comforting pat.

“No indeed, none of us have ever seen him except for your father, when he was but a sour-faced boy,” Mrs Bennet said, continuing to pout. “I tell you all, an entail is an evil thing which should be outlawed by the government!”

“Mama, there is nothing to be done,” Elizabeth said. Though she and Jane had attempted to explain the nature of an entail to their mother many times, the effort had proven entirely fruitless. Mrs Bennet could not be convinced of what she did not wish to understand.

“It is just as well that you have an inheritance of your own now, Lizzy. When he does throw us out, remember your poor mother and any of your sisters who are as yet unmarried when that dark day comes,” she wailed.

“Mama, please,” Jane exclaimed, looking at her father. “We need not fear any of that yet. Papa is the picture of health, are you not, Papa?”

“Indeed,” he replied, raising a brow at his flighty wife. “Though your mother seems bent on killing me off as quickly as possible.”

“That is not at all what I said or implied. But none of us are guaranteed tomorrow, and Mr Bennet is no exception. I am only glad that Jane and Elizabeth both have promising prospects, that is all,” she said grimly.

As might have been expected, the rest of breakfast had a pall cast over it. The girls left their places as quickly as they could and went about their tasks for the day.

Mr Collins arrived late that afternoon. Their mother called them all downstairs to greet their guest, telling them all to be on their best behaviour — though she added under her breath, “even if he has come to steal your home!”

Jane and Elizabeth exchanged long-suffering glances and stood up straight as the door opened and Mr Collins was revealed.

Elizabeth made an effort to keep from laughing when she saw him.

Her cousin’s expression was impossibly comical — half haughty dignity, as though he thought himself above all he surveyed, and half utter obsequiousness.

He stood, slightly stooped, on the front step and took off his black hat.

“Mr Collins, at your service,” he said in a clipped tone.

“I do hope my letter found you well in advance?”

Her father looked back and caught Elizabeth’s eye. His meaning was all too clear: he thought his young cousin a buffoon. “It arrived this morning. But please, come in.”

Mr Collins came in, though not before interfering with the servants’ efforts to have his baggage taken down from the coach and transferred to his room.

At last, he turned his full attentions on his host. “It is so good of you to have me, Mr Bennet. I have long wanted to establish family relations between us. After my dear father’s passing, I did not see any reason to continue in the awkwardness of the past.”

With poorly concealed mirth, her father invited him in. “This is my wife, Mrs Bennet,” he began, before making the round of his daughters.

Mr Collins nodded politely to each of them, then came back to Elizabeth when all of them had been properly greeted. “I hear, Cousin Elizabeth, that you have received some good news as of late?”

For a moment, Elizabeth was lost for words. She recovered her composure with an effort. “Indeed, sir? I suppose you are speaking of the legacy I am to receive from my great uncle, but from whom have you heard such news?”

“My dear cousin, I have made it my business to remain informed on all topics of family interest, for I have long regretted the rift between the Collinses and the Bennets. I am sure it is laudable of me, as a clergyman, that I ought to know what goes on in all branches of my own family, and indeed my esteemed patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, has said she thinks it suitable. I am often astonished by her ladyship’s condescension, to be sure!

You will hardly believe me when you hear me speak of her graciousness, Cousin Elizabeth, but I assure you, I am quite in earnest. Now, hear this: I am very often asked to come to her estate, Rosings Park, and dine — sometimes as often as twice a week!

” He seemed utterly undone by such a showing of favour.

Elizabeth carefully kept her expression grave. Laughter would be too insulting, even for such an absurd man. “I assure you, sir, I have no wish to disbelieve you. It is the case, then, that Lady Catherine holds a prominent place in the neighbourhood where you reside?”

“She does. Do not tell me you have never heard of her?” To judge by his astonishment, she might as well have said she had never heard that the country was run by the Prince Regent. “She is most amiable and often condescends to drive by my little cottage in her phaeton and ponies.”

Elizabeth glanced at her father for help. “How very magnanimous of her.”

“Indeed it is,” he replied. Sadly, the pause in Mr Collins’s conversation was only momentary. “I hear that you have been gifted a sizeable sum by your uncle, as well as an estate by the sea?” he asked.

Before Elizabeth could decide how to respond to such bluntness, Mrs Bennet intervened.

“Shall we go into the parlour and have some tea?” Her mother suggested.

She was all smiles as everyone filed down the corridor toward the parlour.

She stopped Elizabeth before she could follow behind Jane.

“How very fortuitous! He is interested in you, Lizzy, and it is all because of Great Uncle Alfie’s legacy.

Perhaps we may keep Longbourn in the family after all.

Be sure to encourage him in any way you can,” she whispered.

Elizabeth did not have a chance to demur. Her mother bustled down the hallway and entered the parlour, announcing loudly that she would call for tea and cakes.

When she arrived, everyone had already been arranged on the couch, settee, and the surrounding chairs. Much to her dismay, a space had been left for Elizabeth right beside Mr Collins. She inwardly groaned and was forced to hold her tongue and her laughter on more than one occasion.

It did not take any of them long to realise how ridiculous Mr Collins was.

He had not been in the room a quarter of an hour before he turned to Elizabeth and looked deeply into her eyes.

“I have always dreamed of coming here to meet all of you. And now that I am here, I am nearly overcome with the welcome you have given me, your bosom kin.”

Elizabeth did her best to give him a polite smile, but Lydia was unable to keep from laughing.

She covered it with a fake cough, but not before she burst out with a high-pitched squeal.

Elizabeth patted her back to make their guest think she had simply choked on a biscuit.

“How very generous you are, Mr Collins. We had no idea we meant so much to you.”

Indeed, Elizabeth had never given Mr Collins more than a passing thought. At most, her parents had mentioned him as an absent evil, with a click of the tongue or a fist raised to the heavens, as the unpardonable scoundrel who would inherit their home.

When Charlotte Lucas called later that afternoon, the interruption of Mr Collins’s society was a very welcome relief. A swirl of introductions again took place, allowing Elizabeth the chance to slip away from Mr Collins.

“I have brought the most wonderful news, my friends! But perhaps I should wait? I see I have interrupted your visit with your cousin,” Charlotte said.