Page 54 of Great Uncle Henry (Pride & Prejudice Vagary)
“Even though we suspected that Mr Bennet would plan something this disgusting, to read the confirmation of his plans nevertheless shakes me to my core. How could he think this way, all in the name of entertainment?” Elizabeth lamented.
“I have told you how selfish I believe Thomas is, have I not?” Henry verified.
“Yes, Uncle Henry, you have on multiple occasions. What point do you make?” Elizabeth queried.
“Just that in his world, only self-gratification is important. It seems that everything he has ever done has been to please himself without thoughts of the consequences for others,” Henry explained.
“The only reason he signed the various agreements with me over the years was due to his belief that he was the one who would benefit most from them. As such, anything he does to please himself has to be right.” Henry paused as he cogitated.
“There is one more possibility for the reason he is determined to see you married to that buffoon.”
“What is that?” Elizabeth enquired.
“Revenge,” Henry responded succinctly.
“Revenge? I have done nothing to him,” Elizabeth claimed, and then she thought hard. “I supported Mama against him. He was trying to make her upset, and I backed her up, and not him.”
“Exactly correct,” Henry agreed. “I would wager that he feels betrayed by you. In his mind, he singled you out for his attention, and then you stabbed him in the back when you foiled his attempt to amuse himself at Fanny’s expense.”
“I never thought him so very petty and vindictive,” Fanny claimed.
“From what the Hills have written, his bad moods have only intensified while he is being subjected to Mr Collins, rather than me and my girls having to suffer that man. He is not the same man I married, or even as he was a year or so ago.”
“Lord and Lady Matlock, Viscount Hilldale, and Miss de Bourgh will be with us at the assembly, correct?” Elizabeth checked.
“They will be, as well as some special guests that I am sure this Collins man will be overjoyed to see. On a different subject, what have you heard about the talk of Collins’s character and my Bennet nephew’s behaviour?” Henry questioned.
“Very effective,” Jane spoke up. “Aunt Hattie has done an excellent job of spreading the news. It has been embellished, but we knew it would be so.”
“It was perfect to have Hattie think she had overheard some juicy gossip. Her feeling of guilt at revealing our presence at the assembly has driven her to spread this news far and wide,” Fanny added.
“What think you of the report regarding the Bingleys and Hursts from the Nichols?” Elizabeth asked to change the subject from Mr Bennet.
“Much as we expected. Mr Bingley is led about by the nose by his younger sister. She rules the roost, while the Hursts seem to tolerate Miss Bingley’s behaviour for convenience’s sake,” Henry stated. “According to what you read, there is one more to arrive on the morrow, is there not?”
“Yes, Mr Darcy, Anna’s brother,” Elizabeth agreed.
“I am so looking forward to Anna arriving on the morrow,” Kitty enthused. “It will be most enjoyable that she will be here with me while all of you are at the assembly.”
“Do not forget her companion, and Mrs Bellamy will also be here with you,” Felicity pointed out.
There was a knock on the door, and the two who had taken a ride to get away from the Bingleys were admitted.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Charlotte, you will not believe the wild story Hattie Phillips spun about Mr Bennet’s guest, some clergyman, and how Mr Bennet is attempting to hurt his family,” Lady Lucas stated when her eldest daughter entered the sitting room at Lucas Lodge.
“What is it she said, Mama?” Charlotte asked calmly. It was time to do her part.
Lady Lucas relayed what she termed the fantastical tale told to her by Hattie Phillips before that lady rushed off to visit more families, beginning with Haye Park and the Gouldings.
“There is a little exaggeration, but in essentials, everything Mrs Phillips told you is true,” Charlotte, who had just ridden back from Netherfield Park’s dower house, confirmed.
“Not only that, but Eliza and her family had received confirmation that Mr Bennet had advised the former clergyman to compromise his daughter.”
“That is disgusting! Mr Bennet deserves to be shunned, and that Collins man should be forced to leave the neighbourhood!” Lady Lucas huffed.
“I am sure Mrs Phillips informed you that Mr Bennet will attend the assembly?” Charlotte wondered.
Her mother allowed it was so. “Then you and those who find Mr Bennet’s behaviour abhorrent will be able to cut him and let him know how everyone’s opinion of him has fallen so much,” Charlotte suggested.
“You have the right of it, Charlotte. I always knew you could not be so intelligent for nothing. I will make calls in the morning so we can plan how to clearly display our displeasure to Mr Bennet.” Lady Lucas scowled at the thought of what her friend’s husband planned to do.
“Do not mention this to your father until it is too late. You know how he likes Lizzy. He would want to call Mr Bennet out for this travesty.”
That she was able to play even a small part in the plan being executed to put Mr Bennet in his place and run off the revolting Mr Collins was, for Charlotte, a great honour.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
As much as he would have preferred to begin his journey to Bingley’s leased estate at first light on Thursday morning like he had intended, Darcy’s departure had been delayed by three hours thanks to one of his footmen at Darcy House being injured when he slipped from a ladder in the ballroom while cleaning the upper windows.
Being a conscientious master, Darcy would not depart until he was certain the man would be well. Thanks to the angle at which he fell, his left leg was broken in two places.
Expense was not a consideration when the health and safety of one of his servants was in question. That had led to Darcy’s personal physician as well as a surgeon being summoned. Once Mr Bartholomew, his London doctor, assured him Brown would be well, only then did Darcy depart.
In his comfortable travelling coach, the time passed quickly as he read a book. His valet, Carstens, sat on the rear-facing bench. He would only speak if Darcy spoke to him first.
They made a turn and slowed somewhat. Darcy saw they were behind some other conveyances.
About a mile the other side of the town of Meryton, Darcy felt his coachman urge his horses to pick up speed.
As they passed a lane which led off the main road, the reason became apparent; the other carriages had turned off.
As soon as his equipage passed the gateposts of Bingley’s leased estate, Darcy girded his loins for the upcoming treat of seeing Miss Bingley.