* * *
It was some time before Charlotte re-joined Lizzy and Mr Darcy in her bedroom. Her tear stained face spoke volumes and Lizzy knew she would have either to admit to knowing about the letters or lie to Charlotte.
She decided that Charlotte had been through enough and did not need to be lied too as well, “You have read them then?” she enfolded her friend in her arms.
Charlotte sobbed again against Lizzy’s shoulder but managed to mutter that she had read them.
There she remained for a while letting her tears flow freely and once her emotions had done venting she dried her eyes. “How did you know about them?” she asked.
“I am afraid that is down to me.” Mr Darcy confessed, “I saw them by accident and asked Elizabeth what we should do about them. She agreed you ought to know and I left them where you would find them. It was wrong of me to pry and I apologise but perhaps it is for the best.” He put his hand on Charlotte’s shoulder consolingly.
* * *
Dr Sawyer visited again that evening and after thoroughly examining Mr Collins and the wound to his head, indicated by inclining his head towards the door that they should all follow him out to the landing.
“Well, I do not understand it.” He declared. “I have examined him completely, his heart is strong, and his lungs are clear and the wound healing nicely. There is no reason in my opinion why Mr Collins remains unconscious.”
“What can be done doctor?” Mr Darcy asked.
“I have on occasion seen cases like this, and I am afraid it is all down to will power now.”
“What do you mean?” Charlotte asked.
“Will power my dear, whether he wants to recover or not.”
* * *
Charlotte had been prevailed upon to walk around the garden with Lizzy while the dinner table was being laid and to eat with Mr and Mrs Darcy in the dining room that night. She did as she was bid, her heart and mind occupied on what she had read and been told that day. She did not eat much and was poor conversation for Lizzy and Mr Darcy but she was glad she had taken time to breathe the fresh air in spite of everything.
When Charlotte had retired that night, Lizzy told Mr Darcy all about the miraculous change that Mr Collins had undergone since the spat Charlotte had had with Lady Catherine. Mr Darcy was acquainted with that part of the story owing to the frequency with which his wife and Charlotte corresponded. However, this part was news to him and he listened eagerly and with amusement as he heard about what Lizzy termed ‘the new and improved Mr Collins’, and told her that he would like to meet this new man. Lizzy agreed with him, she would like to meet him too.
* * *
Charlotte slipped into bed beside her still unconscious husband and manoeuvred herself so that her mouth was close to his ear, “Mr Collins, it is your wife.”
She took a deep breath and began to say what was on her mind, “My dear William, you cannot imagine how much pain it gives me to see you lying here day after day.”
She reached down and took hold of his hand, “Today I had to go into your book room to organise the payment of our receipts. I happened upon a pile of letters from your father; now do not be cross with me William, but I read them. I am so sorry to discover what your life was like in your youth, and how you must have suffered. Your father was a cruel man and your mother did not deserve what he did to her and neither did you.”
She stopped to wipe the tears from her face, “Do you recall when I asked you about that scar on your back? You told me it was from a fall as a boy. I did not believe you then and after reading your father’s letters, I know my suspicions were correct. That scar is from him beating you with a belt and it is in the shape of a buckle as I suspected.”
She broke down and sobbed, she did not fear him hearing her crying she wanted him to know the verity of what she was conveying to him. “My dear, precious husband, Dr Sawyer says that you have to want to recover and come back to me. So please listen to me William; I want you to recover.”
She shifted her position so she could see his face in the moonlight, “When we married, neither of us was in love. However, that is not the case now is it?” his eyelids moved and she pressed on, “These past few months with you have been wonderful, you have been a changed man. You have acted towards me differently and I have seen a side to you I was not acquainted with before. You have made me laugh frequently and want to be with you more and more. You have shown me tenderness and affection of late, which I had never before known, and I can say that I am proud William Collins to be bearing your child. I confess now that I am proud to be your wife and I can honestly tell you from the bottom of my heart, William, I love you.”
She laid her head back down on her pillow and closed her eyes praying that he had heard her words.
On top of the counterpane their hands remained entwined and very slightly his squeezed hers.
32
Mr Darcy sat beside Mr Collins’ bed reading his correspondence out to him. He was reading a letter from Mr Bennet when Lady Catherine burst into the bedroom before being announced.
“Mrs Collins, you are well…” she stopped mid-sentence upon seeing Mr Darcy and Elizabeth in the room. “You! What are you doing here?”
Lizzy, always the one with a quick tongue spoke first, “Good morning to you as well Aunt Catherine,” she dropped a curtsey, “I trust you are well.”
“Hmm.” was all the response she received from Lady Catherine.
Mr Darcy stood up and offered his aunt the chair he had been occupying, although he did not greet her nor did he bow.
Lady Catherine seated herself beside Mr Collins whom was now forgotten by her and stared at her nephew. “Well, answer me. What are you doing here?”
“We are here to see Mr and Mrs Collins, of course.” came Mr Darcy’s response.
“I can see that, do not be insolent with me. What is Mr Collins to you, pray?”
Mr Darcy deliberately stepped toward the bed and laid his hand upon Mr Collins’ feet, an action both Charlotte and Lizzy noticed and they looked at Mr Collins’ face to note any reaction he might have at Mr Darcy’s coming words, “Mr Collins, is my wife’s cousin. Therefore, Mr Collins is my cousin-in-law. Mrs Collins is Mr Collins’ wife…”
“Do not be obtuse!” Lady Catherine cut in.
Mr Darcy continued his voice more forceful, “Mrs Collins is Mr Collins’ wife, therefore, she is my wife’s cousin-in-law also, which then makes her my cousin-in-law too. To make it plainer Aunt, William and Charlotte are our family and we are visiting them in their time of distress.”
Lady Catherine’s face became so red at his words that she looked like she would bust a blood vessel. She rose from the chair and stormed from the room declaring, “It shall not be borne!” as she went.
However, Charlotte, Lizzy, and Mr Darcy were not listening, they were staring at Mr Collins who was moaning and trying to open his eyes.
Lady Catherine’s voice carried up the stairs to them from the hall where she remained loudly complaining about her nephew and his wife’s presence at the parsonage. Mr Darcy rolled his eyes and reluctantly went downstairs to deal with her.
Charlotte was beside herself, Mr Collins was trying to wake up. Lizzy was smiling and crying at the same time.
* * *
When Mr Darcy returned to the room, he related all that his aunt had said to him and how she had threatened to repeal Mr Collins’ contract with her if he and Lizzy did not quit the parsonage immediately.
“Insolent woman, how arrogant of her! Can she do that Fitzwilliam?” Lizzy asked.
“She is rich enough, she probably can.” came the reply. “Charlotte, may I be impertinent and ask you how much William’s living here is, a thought has just occurred to me.”
“Well of course, Mr Darcy…”
He interrupted her, “My name is Fitzwilliam, I think we have established a familial connection, do you not?” he smiled.
Charlotte smiled nervously back at him, “It is but a trifling a
mount, and William receives two-hundred pounds from Lady Catherine I believe.”
“Indeed?” he said raising his eyebrows, “then I think William…” Mr Darcy said directly to him but stopped before he could finish, Charlotte and Lizzy turned to see Mr Collins’ eyes opening slightly.
Charlotte rushed to him and kissed him repeatedly on the cheek, she did not care a jot that they were not alone her happiness was so great.
Once all the shouts of joy and the tears had abated Mr Darcy continued what he had intended to say, “William, the living at Pemberley has just become vacant, Reverend Clements has retired, you see. And my wife and I would be honoured if you would consider it yours.”
Mr Darcy did not wait for a response, and led his wife to the door to leave Charlotte and Mr Collins alone. He turned as he closed the door, “Oh and it is worth more than a trifle. How does eight hundred pounds a year sound to you?” He smiled at Mr Collins and was gratified to hear him utter through dry lips, “Thank you, Cousin.”
Epilogue
A year later, Charlotte sat looking out of the sitting room window of the vicarage at Pemberley and watched the snow melting off the trees outside. She recalled the amazing journey the past year had taken them on.
They had quitted Hunsford when Lady Catherine had made it clear to them that she would not brook them having anything to do with Mr and Mrs Darcy. Mr Collins had surprised Charlotte by standing up to her Ladyship and declaring he would do no such thing.
He later told her how he had heard every word said in their bedroom while he was unconscious and when he heard Mr Darcy telling Lady Catherine that they were cousins he felt the grip of the fog that was holding him down lessen and he began his journey to consciousness.
They had spoken at length on the subject of Colonel Fitzwilliam. Charlotte had confessed all to him and he forgave her completely. He had been deeply moved by what she had whispered to him that night in Hunsford while he had lain unconscious in bed. He wanted there and then to reach out to her and to declare his love for her but he could not move himself, he could not open his eyes, but she told him she had felt his hand squeeze hers and it had ignited hope in her that she had scarcely allowed before.
Mr Collins told her of how the events at Hunsford over her going to Westerham had taught him to re-evaluate himself and little by little, he had realised how ridiculous a man he had been. How he had begun then to see her for who she really was and had fallen in love with her. He told her how the Hunsford events had also taught him to see Lady Catherine as she truly was, and that he deeply regretted thinking so highly of her previously.
They remained at Hunsford for two months more and then began the long journey into Derbyshire. Louisa and Mr Simmons had joined the Collinses three weeks later and Charlotte was glad their friendship survived the distance and was grateful for Louisa’s assistance in settling into her new home. Lizzy and Louisa also had got on well and Charlotte was glad of that. Mr and Mrs Simmons planned to visit again that summer and bring the Abbots too, and Mr Darcy had invited Messrs’ Simmons, Abbots, and Collins to fish in his lake with him then also.
Their new patron was all that was expected of him. He was not overbearing and delegated a great deal to Mr Collins especially in parochial matters and encouraged him to preach true Christian values from the pulpit on Sundays. He had also made a great effort to befriend Mr Collins and that pleased Charlotte and Lizzy both.
The vicarage at Pemberley was larger than the parsonage at Hunsford, as was the living. Charlotte was glad of the extra space. She had not realised how much room a baby would take up.
William Lucas Collins was born in the autumn approximately nine months after his parents had fallen in love with each other. Mr Collins was a most attentive father and discovered a love of children he had never known of before. He became a better man, a better husband and a better minister than he had ever been before, and he was well liked throughout the Pemberley Estate and in Lambton too.
* * *
Charlotte awoke from her thoughts as she heard Mr Collins enter the sitting room carrying baby William in his arms. She sat on the sofa and he joined her, passing the sleeping child to his mother.
He put his arm around Charlotte’s shoulders and kissed her head.
He then reached down, lifted her chin and looked into her eyes, “I love you Charlotte.”
She kissed him lightly, “And I love you too William.”
She smiled up at him and remembered something that Louisa had once said to her, that every girl deserved a happy ending.
Now, I have my own happy ending, she was very pleased to admit.
The End
Table of Contents
Copyright
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
Epilogue
Table of Contents
Copyright
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
Epilogue
Charlotte - Pride and Prejudice Continues Page 23
