by Anna Harlow
Mrs. Bennet did not stop at the change of clothes, of course. Ever the matchmaker, her next step was even more obvious and embarrassing for her daughter. She sat Kitty next to Mr. Collins when they went in for dinner. He was quick to notice it, too. Elizabeth almost felt sorry for her poor sister as the gentleman began to lavish compliments on her.
“And to which of my fair cousins should I offer a compliment on the excellence of the cooking?” he asked at one point.
“Mr. Collins, we keep a perfectly good cook here,” Mrs. Bennet told him.
“Excellent,” he said, smiling. “I do apologize if I have given you any offense.”
“None at all, sir,” she reassured him.
“I employ a housekeeper at the parsonage who does the cooking as well,” he explained. “Though, it is my hope that my wife will have enough skills to help her at times, for as Lady Catherine says, the wife of a parson ought to be able to help with chores around her house.”
“All of my daughters have been educated in such matters, sir,” Mrs. Bennet told him with a smile. “And they are each expected to do chores as well. It is my belief that such expectations help to build their characters and prepare them for the married state. For one cannot be sure who they shall marry, and so must be prepared for any eventuality.”
“A most excellent philosophy, ma’am,” he agreed.
“As a matter of fact, sir, my daughters have been employing various ways to meet young men, to see if they might find suitable husbands,” she added. “They have all been looking forward to a ball which Sir William Lucas will put on next week, and tomorrow it was their intention to go into Meryton in search of ribbons and fripperies they might make use of there. I fear if you do not walk into town along with them that you may well be without their company for the greater part of the day.”
“I should very much like to go,” he said, smiling. “For I am much in need of a new hat and another pair of boots. And if my fair Cousin Catherine will allow, I should very much enjoy walking out with her in particular.”
Kitty blushed. “Sir, I will be quite honored.”
“Excellent. And I wondered if I might read to all of you this evening for a few hours. I have brought along four Diocese sermons which reflect greatly on all things moral. I think it is quite beneficial for a family to spend as much time as possibly contemplating their relationship to the Almighty. Do you not find it to be so?”
Mr. Bennet, who had kept silent until this point, replied, “It must be wonderful for you, sir, to have selected a calling so much in keeping with your own personal convictions. Have you managed to address your patrons on many occasions since Lady Catherine has taken you under her wing?”
“Four times only, sir, as she made it quite clear I am not to begin until I have brought home my bride,” he explained, then cast Kitty what he must have considered a flirtatious smile. Kitty blushed accordingly, but Elizabeth could hardly think that she had liked it. The gentleman was laying it on rather thick.
Yet Kitty made no complaint and smiled back at him. As nauseating as it have been, it seemed that she was actually attempting to warm up to Mr. Collins. Better her than any of her sisters, thought Elizabeth uncharitably. For she, herself, was certainly not willing to be the sacrificial offering.
Two gentleman she had met today, but in her mind’s eye only one remained as she headed off to bed for the night, and it was certainly not the boring and long-winded Mr. Collins, who had regaled them with a three-hour lecture that had practically put her to sleep before she ever managed to escape. Surely, he would not wish to read to them every night for the next three weeks?
No, he was most certainly not the gentleman she wished to have in mind as she drifted off to sleep. Her thoughts were much more agreeably engaged as she hugged her pillow, remembering a tall, mostly unclothed, and very wet gentleman instead.
Master Will, he’d told her to call him. Elizabeth giggled at this notion, but at the same time she could not help but imagine the scenario he had painted for her. Only in this dream, they were laying about on a blanket, with a large picnic basket between them. And she was reading to him, just as he had been hoping. Then she giggled as she pictured herself with big, fluffy white wings.
“What’s so funny, Lizzy?” asked Jane sleepily. “You cannot be amused by the events we have endured this evening. Will you not tell me of what you are thinking?”
Elizabeth told Jane the rest of the story about Netherfield, leaving her laughing. “But, Lizzy, surely you ought not to have been looking,” she suggested. “Still, I have to know, dearest. What exactly did you see?”
She may have been tired, but not too tired for some giggling, it seemed.
Chapter Three
On the following morning, bright and early, the Bennet ladies and Mr. Collins headed out on their intended journey in high spirits, for the day was warm and bright and the birds seemed just as happy to be enjoying the fine weather as the humans.
“What a fine day for a walk,” Elizabeth exclaimed happily to Jane as the pair of them linked arms and led the others out. “I shall be well pleased by the air and the exercise.”
“And I shall be well pleased to buy a new net for my hair,” Lydia added, smiling. “I think it shall look quite well with my new gown. And I am certain several of the gentlemen are likely to notice.”
“Lydia, dear, do try to remember that we are not on our own today,” Elizabeth admonished her. “I am certain Mr. Collins will not wish to hear about all your suitors.”
“Oh yes, forgive me, sir,” she said, covering her mouth with one gloved hand. “I do not wish you to believe I am actively pursuing them, sir. They are merely my admirers. I do not actually have a favorite gentleman picked out. I treat all of them politely, to be sure, but I have made certain they know that at this point, they are all amiable dancing partners and nothing more. They do not seem to mind it, I must say.”
“Do not worry that I will judge you, Miss Lydia, for enjoying a dance or two,” he told her, smiling back. “For I, too, enjoy the innocent diversion to be afforded by a ball given by a gentleman of good character and enjoyed by the good people who have been invited there for the purposes of finding a partner in life to their liking. What more amiable pursuit can there be?”
“Yes, that’s how I feel exactly,” said Lydia, amazed to discover the gentleman was not condemning her as a harlot or otherwise preaching at her.
“Lizzy, look!” Jane exclaimed, pointing out a pair of gentlemen on horses traveling near the edge of the road. One rode a white horse, and the other a roan. “Do you suppose that pair are the gentlemen who came to Netherfield yesterday? They seem to be coming from that way.”
“I believe you must be right, Jane,” Elizabeth agreed. “I can well believe that the gentleman I saw yesterday would make such a fine figure on his horse. And I imagine his friend must be just as handsome as he.”
“But which of them is your Master Will?” Jane teased her.
“He is the taller gentleman, I believe. The one who is riding the roan,” she explained, blushing slightly. “But let us not speak of such things in present company.”
“I shall not say anything more,” said Jane, smirking slightly, and knowing that they’d been quiet enough in their discourse that the others had not heard. To the others she said, “Lizzy says that these must be the gentlemen from Netherfield. I hope that they will stop to greet us, for I am quite curious to see who has taken the old place at last.”
“Goodness,” said Lydia, wetting her lips in anticipation. “They are both quite handsome, are they not?”
Elizabeth said, “They are, indeed.”
When their two parties at last met on the road, the two gentlemen stopped and dismounted in order to greet them. The man Elizabeth did not recognize was the first to speak.
“Well, hello, neighbors. I am Mr. Bingley, and I have just agreed to take Netherfield Park. We are even now on the way to sign the paperwork with my attorney. Might I inquire where you lov
ely ladies have come from?”
“We are the five Bennet daughters from Longbourn estate,” Jane explained, smiling at them. “And I was fairly certain you would tell me you were Mr. Bingley since my sister tells me the other gentleman is the man who informed her of your arrival.”
“Ah, and which of these sisters is the Angel of the Abandoned Park?” Mr. Bingley teased.
Elizabeth blushed. “That would be me, sir. I did not think your friend would be quite so talkative about our meeting.”
“How could I not mention such a beautiful girl being out in the yard?” the gentleman teased. “Especially one in possession of such interesting literature.”
“What was she reading, then?” Bingley asked, pulling a face. “Another one of your strange novels?”
“Indeed, she does seem to have a taste similar to my own,” he explained. “Though the particular book was not one I would read again, she should be pleased upon reaching the end.”
“Oh, sir, please do not spoil it for me,” Elizabeth complained. “It is so rare that I am able to acquire a fairly new book, rather than one that’s old and worn, that I should like to savor the experience, even if the tale is a bit odd.”
“I shall not attempt to prevent you from filling your head with such nonsense,” he said, smiling. “However, when the book is finished, you must tell me your thoughts on it.”
“Indeed, sir, if you are available for such a conversation,” she agreed.
“Pray, forgive me,” said Bingley then. “I have not introduced my friend to you. This is Mr. Darcy, of Pemberley and Derbyshire. And he has agreed to visit with me at least the next two months to ensure that I am properly settled. My sister, Caroline, shall be coming here from London to oversee the running of Netherfield, since I have no wife to take over that duty.”
“You are single, sir?” Jane asked, her eyelashes fluttering prettily as she glanced at him with renewed interest.
“I am,” he said, nodding.
“Then perhaps you might wish to attend the ball of Sir William Lucas next week,” she suggested. “For there are many very fine young women in the neighborhood, and we are much in need of more partners, as we outnumber the current males most abominably.”
“Indeed, it is so,” Elizabeth agreed. “More than one young lady has been forced to sit down in the absence of a dance partner, and I do not expect this occasion to go any differently.”
“I should be quite pleased to go, if Sir William desires my company,” said Bingley affably. “And I shall endeavor to convince Darcy to come along as well.”
“Sir, I have just realized an amazing discovery,” said Mr. Collins as he looked Darcy over speculatively. “Are you not the nephew of Lady Catherine de Bourgh?”
“I am, indeed,” Mr. Darcy agreed.
“I am in the happy position to inform you, sir, that when I left your aunt just four days ago, she was in the best of health.”
“And who are you, sir?”
“I am Lady Catherine’s new parson at Rosings, sir,” he explained. “Such a kind and generous patroness. I can do nothing but sing her praises. It was at her own urging that I am in Meryton now, selecting a wife from among my fair cousins.”
“Selecting a wife, you say?” he asked, his lips turning slightly downward at this bit of news. “And do you have one of them in mind, sir?”
Mr. Collins tittered at this. “I have been thinking that perhaps I will like to have a Catherine of my own.”
“Forgive me, sir, but we have yet to learn all of the names of these ladies,” said Bingley then. “Perhaps, since their father and mother are not here, you might introduce us to them?”
“Why, yes, I certainly shall,” he agreed quickly. “Forgive me, sirs, for not thinking to do so sooner. The eldest, here, is Miss Jane Bennet, followed by Miss Elizabeth, Miss Mary, Miss Catherine, and Miss Lydia.”
“But nobody ever calls Lizzy or Kitty by their given names,” Lydia added scornfully. “It sounds quite odd whenever I hear them addressed thusly. It’s so funny, really, that our parents chose the names in such a way: short name, long name, short, long, short. It’s quite unfair that the three of us have names which do not lend themselves to shortening, don’t you agree?”
“My own given name is quite unwieldy,” said Mr. Darcy, smiling. “Fitzwilliam. After the last name of my uncle, the Viscount of Salisforth. But my family and close friends usually call me Will.”
“Not Master Will?” Elizabeth teased.
“Oh, no, madam, only angels are allowed to call me that. And only when we are completely alone.”
She giggled. “Well then, Mr. Darcy, I suppose you will seldom be so called. For certainly, you and your angel would not be able to spend such time alone.”
“You are grievously correct,” he agreed. “Yet I will say, Mr. Bingley may very well convince me to attend that ball next week, if you ladies are to be in attendance. I should like very much to meet you again.”
“I should enjoy that prospect very much, sir. But for now, I suppose we ought to continue on our present journeys,” Elizabeth told him. “For ourselves, our father has given us some pin money to spend on some fripperies and fineries for the ball, and I believe Lydia is quite eager to select a ribbon or two. Are you not, my dear?”
“Oh, yes, Lizzy, I am excited by the prospect indeed. It has been pleasant to meet the two of you, but I simply cannot linger here a moment more. And, as I believe you have said, you also have business to attend.”
“Indeed we do,” Bingley agreed. “Well then, I shall very much look forward to seeing you all again next week. Good morning!”
Taking their leave, the gentlemen mounted their horses and rode off toward Meryton. It was not long before they had completely disappeared over the rise.
“Such a small world it is,” said Mr. Collins, smiling at them. “I had no idea that such a great gentleman as Mr. Darcy would come to such a small town. For in Derbyshire, he is very much a great and well-known owner of a vast estate, and he practically owns half of the town of Lambton as well. What a kindly fellow, too, to take the time to speak to people whose stations are so very far beneath his own. I must write to Lady Catherine this very evening, letting her know of our meeting. I believe she will be quite pleased to hear of it. Well then, please lead the way to the shop, Miss Jane, Miss Elizabeth. For now that I know he is here, I am more eager than ever to update my humble appearance.”
“You shall not upgrade your look a great deal, surely?” Elizabeth asked curiously.
“By no means, cousin, for I am committed to my frugality,” he assured her. “But one new suit of clothes would do me quite nicely. I shall not wish to embarrass Miss Catherine Bennet at the dance.”
“That is most kind of you, sir,” Kitty replied.
Chapter Four
“Oh, Lizzy, I am so glad that you’ve come in,” her good friend Charlotte Lucas called from across the room. “Maria and I have been charged to go to Longbourn just as soon as we have finished at the store. My mother wishes for the Bennet family to come tonight to her dinner party. And you must come as well, Mr. Collins. I have heard you are here courting, and I should not wish to deprive you of all your prospects, sir.”
“I shall certainly come along if your mother extends the invitation,” Mr. Collins agreed as he removed the hat he had just selected. “I could try out my new hat on her.”
Charlotte laughed. “Yes, it is quite an agreeable hat for a clergyman. But were you not saving it for something fancier?”
“Quite right,” he agreed. “Yet, I am certain I shall wish to use it more than once. For I have not the money to indulge in purchasing new items every time I go somewhere.”
“Such economy is to be admired,” said Charlotte. “Come on, are you all finished shopping? I should like to deliver my message and then return home so I can be ready in time.”
Having done their duty, Charlotte and Maria were quick to once again depart from Longbourn and head home again. Mrs. Bennet was well
pleased with the invitation, for thanks to Mr. Collins arriving the day before she had no opportunity to grill Lady Lucas about the new tenants at Netherfield, and she was keenly feeling the loss.
“I am so excited to speak to Lady Lucas,” she told her daughters that afternoon before they went up to change clothes. “For I am quite interested in learning more about this Mr. Bingley.”
“Well, ma’am, I cannot tell you how much the gentleman makes, but I can most assuredly tell you that it must be substantial,” Elizabeth told her. “For you see, we ran into Mr. Bingley this morning as he was headed into Meryton to close with his attorney, and it is quite certain just by looking at him that he has plenty of pocket money for clothes, and the saddle on his horse was certainly made specially. I am quite convinced that he must possess a small fortune. And I am equally convinced that was all you wanted to know.”
