Page 13

“Not at all. Please tell us your news, Miss Lucas. Mr Collins will be staying with us for some time, so I am sure the news will affect him, too,” Mrs Bennet urged.

“Well, then. My mother has heard the most tantalising news from Netherfield.” Charlotte kept them all in suspense only for a moment. “There is to be a ball!”

The younger girls were all agog for several minutes, poor Mr Collins completely forgotten. Not that it had been difficult to do. Elizabeth urged her friend to tell them the rest of the details.

“Well, it is to be held in a fortnight, and my mother hears that the invitations will go out in the next few days.” Charlotte was smiling from ear to ear. “It has been some time since the neighbourhood has seen as splendid a ball as this must be.”

Charlotte’s visit could not be long, for there were other neighbours to inform of the splendid news. Elizabeth took the chance to pull her aside before she departed. “What do you think of him?” she whispered.

“Mr Collins? I do not know if I have formed an opinion of him.” Charlotte glanced through the open door where the rest of the family was still talking excitedly about the Netherfield ball. “He seems a serious fellow.”

“That is only because he barely had the chance to open his mouth since you have come in. He is the most ridiculous man I have ever met, Charlotte!” She glanced over her shoulder to see that Mr Collins was watching them.

She pulled Charlotte further down the hall.

“I hope you will not think me conceited when I tell you I suspect his intentions. He seems much too interested in me.”

“And why should he not be interested in you? You are pretty and now you have a fortune. But of course, he cannot know of that yet —”

“But he does. Indeed, I believe that is the reason he has come.” Elizabeth glanced over her shoulder again. Mr Collins was starting to move toward the parlour door.

“Why is that a problem? You cannot use your fortune until you marry, or reach twenty-five.”

“I would never marry him. He is utterly ridiculous,” Elizabeth snapped. She let out a frustrated sigh and led Charlotte further down the hallway. They entered the drawing room and Elizabeth began to pace.

“I do not see why that should be a hindrance to you. From where I stand, it would be an excellent match. He seems to be a respectable man, a parson, no less. You would enjoy a good standing in the community. And it would keep Longbourn in the family.”

“You do not understand. He is impossible —” she began, but her words trailed off when they were interrupted by the very man they had been discussing.

“What is impossible, ladies? Perhaps I can be of assistance?” Mr Collins bowed deeply as he entered.

Covertly, Elizabeth took Charlotte’s hand and squeezed it, regretting that he had burst in upon them, bringing their conference to an end.

“It’s nothing to bother you with, Mr Collins,” Elizabeth replied.

“I was only saying something to Charlotte before she departed. I suppose you are tired after your journey. Would you like to retire for a bit before supper is announced?” she suggested.

Though a rest could not be expected to improve either Mr Collins’s manners or his sense, it would at least get him away from her.

Though Elizabeth had hoped her early concerns might prove imaginary, she soon learned her perception had not erred.

Over the next few days, Mr Collins made his intentions to win her all too clear.

His flowery overtures made her want to laugh and lash out in anger all at once.

Could he not see how obvious he was? Surely he could see that his arrival, so shortly after they had received the news of her inheritance, left nothing to the imagination as to why he was here.

His interest was not in her, but in her fortune.

After a long morning spent outside, reading a book and avoiding Mr Collins, Elizabeth returned inside, only to overhear Mr Collins speaking to her mother — and far worse, inquiring where he might find the second oldest of her daughters.

Elizabeth expelled a breath, hurrying into the informal parlour before Mr Collins could spot her.

She leaned against the door, listening and waiting for his footsteps to pass by.

When she was sure it was safe, she opened the door a crack and looked out.

Though the hallway was not deserted, Elizabeth was in luck.

It was not Mr Collins who stood there, but her mother.

She waved her back into the smaller parlour and closed the door.

“What are you doing, skulking about like this?” She frowned deeply, then went about tucking a loose tendril of hair behind Elizabeth’s ear.

“Mr Collins has been asking after you all morning. I really wish you would not go off by yourself to read. You might have gone with Mr Collins. He is excellent company —”

“Mama, he is not excellent company. He is insidious, self-centred, and utterly laughable.” Elizabeth did not hold back, as she knew her mother was likely delighted that her second-born and second-prettiest daughter had yet another suitor.

“Nonsense. He may be a bit dry sometimes, but you could surely help that?”

Elizabeth gave a short, disbelieving snort. “I surely could not — and will not.”

Her mother scowled at her. “You should consider him, Lizzy. He would be a good match for you. You would have this lovely house, and we would not have to worry about being thrown out in the cold when your father passes.”

“Mama, I could never love him,” Elizabeth argued. Mr Collins was nothing like the man she had imagined would be her husband. He thought much too highly of himself — and with much too little cause.

“Not everything is about love, Elizabeth. What of respectability? Security? Family loyalty? What are we to do when your father dies?” She let out a frustrated huff.

“Mama, I am not a woman on the brink of ruin. And I have the inheritance now. I need not hurry into anything —”

“You will have nothing if you do not marry!” Her mother wailed. “Why do you torment me so, Elizabeth?” Her mother rarely called her by her full name. “You know our situation.”

“Mama, we are not destitute. Not yet,” Elizabeth said. “In any case, I do not truly need a husband. If I cannot find someone with whom I can share my life, I could easily live off the inheritance —”

“And what sort of life would that be?”

“A pleasant and peaceful one, I suppose.” Elizabeth really had no intention of becoming a spinster, but it was surely a preferable fate to being married to a man she could not respect.

“You would not bring shame upon this house by refusing to marry!” Her mother gasped. “Oh no, we shall settle this nonsense right now. Your father shall hear of this!”

Half-wishing she had not allowed her mother to continue in her misapprehension, Elizabeth followed her as she stormed out of the room. “Mama, please do not make a scene,” she whispered harshly.

“There is no need to worry. Mr Collins and the rest of them have gone into Meryton — without you, I might add — and now I know it’s because you have been hiding out all day.

Poor Mr Collins! If he knew how you despise him!

” To judge by her wailing, Mrs Bennet was inconsolable.

Elizabeth could only sigh and follow after as her mother hurried down the hall toward Mr Bennet’s study.

Her mother turned every few words to scold her and give her a bitter frown.

“Mama, I do not despise him. But neither do I care for him in any way that would allow us to wed,” Elizabeth tried to reason with her as they headed down the hallway.

“I am perfectly sure I would be miserable. Truly, mama, I could never be Mr Collins’s wife.

” The snort her mother gave at this declaration made her unwillingness to listen perfectly clear.

Once they arrived in her father’s study, it did not take long for her mother’s haranguing to send deep lines to furrow her father’s brow. “Has Mr Collins made an offer of marriage?” he asked.

“Not yet. But it is only a matter of time. He has told me of his intentions to pay court to Lizzy, but I am afraid you shall have to talk some sense into your wayward daughter. She says she will not have him.”

“Papa, Mama is talking as though it were a sin to refuse a man — or rather, to intend to refuse a man. I have only said that I do not wish to marry Mr Collins.” Elizabeth waited for her father to defend her. However, he only looked between them for a few moments.

“Lizzy —” her father began.

“Do you not want this house to remain in the family?” Her mother interrupted before her father could make his case.

“Just think of your children. Do you not want them to have the kind of childhood you had in this large house? And with the inheritance you will collect, you could bring the house and grounds back to their former glory!” Her mother clasped her hands in front of her, taking on a far-off look.

“And when Jane marries Mr Bingley, if we are lucky, then you will always have each other close by. Think! Your children would only be down the road from one another!”

“Mama —” Elizabeth began. With an effort, she kept her tone measured.

She would have to be careful with her next words.

“I will not marry to make you happy, nor anyone else.” She glanced at her father.

“Not even you, Papa. I am sorry. But I am the one who will have to live with the gentleman, whoever he may be, and I shall have to answer for my choices before God, when my time on this earth is through. I cannot make someone else miserable just for the sake of security. Nor will I live in misery myself, and I assure you, he would make me miserable. He has only been in this house for a few days and already he drives me to distraction.” Elizabeth had to take a deep breath at the look of horror on her mother’s face.

Mrs Bennet let out an annoyed sigh. “You speak with her,” she said, exasperated. “She has never listened to anyone but you.”

Elizabeth waited as her father chewed his lower lip. “My dear girl, I applaud your morals and your stance. But I must also point out the harsh realities of the world. If you do not marry, you will have a hard life, inheritance or no. Spinsters are always looked down on with either pity or disdain.”

“Not rich spinsters,” Elizabeth said dryly.

She bit her lip, wondering what words she might use to convince him.

“Papa, you have always said you trust me and my good sense. I tell you I cannot and will not marry a man like Mr Collins. And is it not foolish of us to debate this now? He has not yet said that he wishes to marry me. Perhaps he never will.”

Her mother’s lip quivered for a moment before she broke out in sobs and hurried out of the room.

Elizabeth and her father were left with only the echoes of her mother’s crying as she escaped down the hall.

Doubtless, she would go up to her room to take to her bed.

It was a hard blow, of course, and she knew her mother had long awaited the day she could marry the first of her daughters off.

But Elizabeth could not bring herself to regret her actions.

Suffering her mother’s disappointment was infinitely preferable to marriage with a man she could not respect.

“Papa, surely you must understand?” Elizabeth pleaded. She clasped her hands in front of her chest, walking over to her father’s desk where her father stood in silence. “Will you help me convince Mama that Mr Collins is not suitable for me? Please, I am sure she would listen to you.”

He blinked, then set down the paper, which he had forgotten to fold and set aside in all the excitement. “Lizzy, you know I would do anything to make you happy. But you also know your mother. It will not be necessary if we give her a few days to nurse her wounds in bed.”

Elizabeth was conscious of a stab of disappointment and betrayal. Her father had never been one to take trouble upon himself, but she had thought…

Stuffing her disillusionment down, Elizabeth told herself she had been foolish to expect more. He would not support her in this, and that was that. “Very well, Papa,” she said quietly, and left the room.

She walked out of the study and closed the door softly.

Elizabeth hurried out of the house and nestled herself in the garden, where Mr Collins would be unlikely to find her when he returned from town with her sisters.

She thought for a long while, wondering why her mother would wish her to settle for Mr Collins when she had other suitors, and there were likely to be more still — probably with better situations and certainly better sense.

She sat down on the bench tucked beneath the arbour.

Tucking her knees up close to her chest, she rested her cheek on them.

Perhaps she was being unfair to Mr Collins.

He was not a bad man, surely — only an impossible one.

Still, she could not abide it. No one would convince her to give up her heart for the sake of money, or even for the sake of Longbourn.

As she watched the wind move through the grasses of the pasture beyond the low wall surrounding the garden, Elizabeth thought with a mixture of amusement and dismay that her windfall inheritance seemed to be making her life more complicated than ever.

She could only hope that her recent troubles would be short-lived.

With any luck, and in the total absence of any encouragement, Mr Collins would soon lose interest in her and move on to someone else.