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The conversation around the supper table was interesting that evening.

When Mr Collins saw the potatoes, fresh bread, and butter on the supper table with Black Sausage, he questioned the appearance of the new food.

Charlotte reminded him that she had aided the neighbours with making the sausages but admitted that the items had been purchased from the mercantile in Hunsford earlier in the day.

After this confession, Mr Collins expressed his displeasure, “Mrs Collins! What money did you spend without my permission?”

Before Mr Collins could castigate his wife further, Elizabeth explained, “Mr Collins, it was I who made the purchases at the mercantile in Hunsford.”

“Cousin Elizabeth, did you purchase these items? What do you mean?” asked Mr Collins, his gaze moving between his wife and her visitor.

Despite her wish to frown, Elizabeth maintained a pleasant expression and explained, “My father sent me with sufficient funds to pay for extras, and when I saw the bare shelves in the pantry, I chose to purchase items sorely needed in your household.”

“But my income is sufficient to provide for my wife and my household,” protested the parson.

Elizabeth replied, “My observation since my arrival does not support that statement. There are few tea leaves, no peas or potatoes, only small loaves of bread, and no biscuits.”

Collins sniffed and said, “My income has been invested for the future. The garden has not begun to provide food yet.”

“There must be seeds for the garden, Mr Collins,” Elizabeth explained.

When there was no reply, she asked, “Did you invest your entire income, or did Lady Catherine short-change your income in December?”

Again, the parson did not reply, and Elizabeth continued, “I saw your wife and the maid left hungry yesterday, and I have not had a reasonable meal since I arrived at Hunsford until tonight.”

“Hungry?” asked Collins. “How are they hungry?”

“Charlotte appears to have lost a stone since your marriage,” Elizabeth replied. “I shall write to my father with my observations, and I am certain he will inform Sir William.”

“Eliza, it is not important to write of my loss of weight to your father or mine,” Charlotte said, not wanting to anger her husband. This comment made Elizabeth frown.

Attempting to divert the conversation, the parson argued, “Cousin, you do not understand investing for the future. Ladies cannot understand such things…only men can budget and manage money.”

“Perhaps not, Mr Collins, but I understand the need to provide for your household. What if Charlotte was with child and hungry? If she is starved and weakened, mother and child will not survive the delivery,” explained Elizabeth.

Collins glanced at his wife, who kept her head bowed and did not comment on Elizabeth’s argument.

However, their visitor did not stop asking Mr Collins uncomfortable questions, “What if there small children were in the household without food? Or if they were ill and needed medicines from the apothecary?”

“Lady Catherine understands…she sent food a week or two ago,” Collins tried to argue.

“It was more than a month ago that Lady Catherine sent a few things, Mr Collins,” Charlotte replied sadly. “Eliza was kind to provide us with items for the pantry and seed for the garden.”

“As is right,” Mr Collins said to rationalize the argument. “When I become master of Longleaf, my cousin will only receive what my hand gives her.”

After the last comment Elizabeth fell silent, and the parson quickly rose from the head of the table to leave the room for his private office.

Charlotte cleared the table while Elizabeth continued to sit alone in the room for a few minutes.

When she rose from the table, she went to the kitchen and helped wash the last dishes.

The maid, full of her own large meal, slept in a chair near the fire, and neither woman woke the girl until their chores were complete.

Then, Charlotte sent the girl to her tiny attic room to sleep.

When the two women moved to the parlour, Mr Collins joined them. He complimented his wife on the quality of the supper while ignoring his cousin and the earlier conversation. They retired above stairs after Mr Collins spoke of Lady Catherine’s recent arguments with her nephew, Mr Darcy.

“This afternoon, Mr Darcy returned from his business in London,” Mr Collins informed his wife. “There was some matter with the prime minister that required the gentleman’s consultation. However, the man argued with Lady Catherine terribly while we were having tea.”

Genuinely curious, Charlotte asked, “Do Lady Catherine and Mr Darcy often argue, Mr Collins?”

The parson said, “Mr Darcy is a gentleman of the best temperament and education, but he does not fulfil Lady Catherine’s wishes regarding her rents, servants, and expenses.”

Mimicking the parson, Elizabeth sighed and said, “It is almost as if Lady Catherine thought she understood investments and budgets, Mr Collins. As you said earlier, ladies cannot understand such things. Mr Darcy must deal with her excessive requests.”

The young woman watched the parson closely before she added, “Perhaps you should advise her that she cannot hope to understand things such as money.”

With a conflicted look, Mr Collins directed his wife and cousin to retire for the evening. The maid was the only person in the parsonage who fell asleep quickly that evening.

~~~

At the table early the following morning, with sufficient toast and tea to break their fast, Elizabeth decided to lay the framework for the visit they hoped would occur later in the day. With the parson at the table, she asked, “Charlotte, do you suppose Mr Darcy will call here at the parsonage?”

Mr Collins dismissed the idea, and rather than allowing his wife to reply, he asked, “Cousin, why would the illustrious nephew of her Ladyship call on my wife? He has no connection with Mrs Collins.”

“But sir, is he not a gentleman of the best temperament and education?”

Smiling and nodding, Mr Collins replied, “He is, as I told you last night.”

“Did he not dine with Sir William and Lady Lucas last autumn in Meryton? I believe Charlotte is known to him socially.”

Mr Collins attempted to summon an argument and could only say, “But Mr Darcy is Lady Catherine’s nephew.”

“Mr Collins, if Mr Darcy were to call at the parsonage, I have fresh tea leaves, and I shall make the biscuits he seemed to prefer to Hertfordshire. I shall greet him appropriately, praise my husband’s sermons and remark on the loveliness of the spring in Kent.”

After silent reflection, the parson instructed his wife, “But do not be alone with Mr Darcy, Mrs Collins.”

“Alone, sir? I cannot imagine a situation where I would be alone with the gentleman.”

“Nonetheless, he is a man who might take advantage of you.”

“Mr Collins! Mr Darcy would never do something inappropriate?” Charlotte cried. “What would Lady Catherine say if he were to do such a thing?”

Elizabeth was shocked that Mr Collins thought Mr Darcy might force himself upon any woman. Remembering stories whispered among the wives in Meryton; she understood that such things did occur but, to her knowledge, not among her acquaintances.

~~~

As he walked away from the parsonage and toward Rosings Park that morning, the parson had several dark thoughts on his mind. He would never dare tell Lady Catherine that because she was a woman, she could not understand money matters.

~~~

Charlotte was affected by her husband’s warning but not in the way he must have hoped. After four months of marriage to William Collins and growing frustrated with his reluctance to come to her bed, she wondered how to find herself with child.

‘Are all men disposed to debauchery? With Mr Collins, his visits to my bed are only five minutes or less. I must impose myself upon my husband. There is reason to hurry–I shall soon be thirty years old, and childbirth will be more difficult.’ Charlotte stared at her reflection in a window and recognized that she would pray for guidance.

And she wondered, ‘What would Eliza think? My mother? Mrs Bennet? Perhaps Mrs Bennet would understand better than anyone else.’

Hopeful to avoid uncomfortable conversations, Elizabeth helped Charlotte bake the shortbreads in the kitchen that morning. The two women made certain the parlour was spotless. While they cleaned the kitchen, the younger woman asked, “Do you think Mr Collins will return early?”

“Return early?” Charlotte inquired. “Why?”

“To be here if Mr Darcy calls,” Elizabeth explained as she sat at the kitchen table.

“No,” Charlotte replied, dismissing the notion.

“Once Mr Collins enters Rosings Park each morning, he devotes his attention to Lady Catherine and does not think of the souls he is charged to shepherd, the parsonage, or me until he returns this evening. He will speak of Mr Darcy with Lady Catherine but not consider being here this afternoon.”

Then Charlotte sat down, placed her hands on the table between them, and asked, “Do you really believe Mr Darcy will call?”

Sitting in a chair opposite her friend, Elizabeth answered, “Yes, Charlotte. He said he would call. And if something occurred that kept him away today, he will come tomorrow.”

“I suppose he is a proper gentleman,” Charlotte conceded.

Elizabeth smiled and replied, “I must admit that I agree with Mr Collins; Mr Darcy is a gentleman of the best temperament and education.”

The two ladies did not speak for a moment until, staring at her hands, Charlotte asked, “Eliza, may I discuss something of a delicate matter with you?”

“Certainly, Charlotte,” replied the younger woman who reached across the table to lay her hand on top of Charlotte’s hands.

“Mr Collins…after four months, I fear my husband has few redeeming qualities, and I worry about his state of mind. We have a conversation, and then the next day, he forgets it. When he came to Lucas Lodge to ask for my hand in marriage, he referred to Longbourn as ‘Longleaf.’ He does not understand money, only interprets the Bible as Lady Catherine directs, and seldom visits my bed.”

The only complaint that surprised Elizabeth was the last and it made her rather uncomfortable. However, she still asked, “Your bed?”

“We sleep in separate rooms, and when we were first married, he came to my bed every Friday night for only a short time and then returned to his bed. Since the return of spring, he never comes to my bed. I must have a child, and how will that occur if my husband does not come to my bed?”

Blinking her eyes, Elizabeth wondered at her friend’s concern so soon after her wedding but then remembered her mother’s fear of poverty once she was widowed. Charlotte had to have a child–preferably a son–to inherit Longbourn.

“I have no advice,” Elizabeth replied. “But, let me think on the matter. If we could speak with Jane–I believe she and Mr Bingley are very happy with their marriage bed.”

“I dare not write to Mrs Bingley,” Charlotte said. “My husband reads my letters before he hands them to me.”

~~~