Chapter 31

N ot that anyone thought he would not have, but Sir William heartily approved of Mr Parker's application for a courtship with his eldest daughter. As much as she had been against Charlotte being away from Lucas Lodge for Christmastide, Lady Lucas now thought it had been the best decision ever made to allow her eldest daughter to travel north in December.

Not only did her daughter have a suitor, but the man held three livings giving him an annual income of almost two thousand pounds. Better still, Mr Parker cared not whether Charlotte had a small dowry, or no dowry.

The day Parker came to speak to Sir William, he and his sister had been invited to remain for dinner. They had, of course, accepted and sent a note to Mrs Hurst to inform her they would be away from Netherfield Park that evening. It was at that meal that the two Parkers met the rest of the Lucases: two brothers, Franklin and John, and the youngest, Maria. Notwithstanding a five year age difference, the latter and Diana Parker got along very well. Both were a little shy and quiet.

The next day, Friday, Lady Lucas called on her good friend, Fanny Bennet. She had hoped some jealousy would have been displayed by her friend and sometime rival. Instead, she had to content herself with Fanny's sincere wishes for Charlotte's and Mr Parker's courtship to reach the expected conclusion.

While their mothers spoke, Charlotte sat with the two eldest Bennet sisters, and Maria joined Catherine and Lydia. " Do you realise how many things had to occur for me to meet Mr Parker?" Charlotte marvelled. Her face changed as she realised that the precipitating event was the death of her good friend.

Elizabeth noticed the change and immediately understood the cause. "Charlotte, none of us would ever think you are in any way pleased Janey passed away just because it started a chain of events which led to your meeting Mr Parker. Likewise, Mary met Colonel Fitzwilliam and I was drawn closer to Mr Darcy. I like to think of it as Janey's hand making sure that all of those who are left behind, who she loved dearly, will be happy," Elizabeth said firmly. "I see her hand in the changes to Papa, Mama, Catherine, and Lydia as well. Would we have all been infinitely more pleased had she not been called home? Absolutely, yes. As has been told many times, it is not for us to question His plan, and who are we to say this is not exactly what He intended?"

"I could not agree with Lizzy more. To see meaning in Jane's loss, especially many positive changes, allows me to reconcile myself to her passing, and assists me greatly in my grieving her," Mary added.

"Thank you for your understanding, it was only after I said what I did that I heard how it could have been interpreted," a relieved Charlotte told her friends.

"How long will your Mr Parker remain in Hertfordshire?" Elizabeth enquired.

"He told me he would stay as long as necessary," Charlotte blushed. "Thankfully he has a sympathetic patron, and in addition, he trusts the curates unreservedly so he is sure all of the duties will be performed without any expectation of problems." She paused to collect herself and decided a change of subject was in order. "Is not this Monday coming the day when the case for the simple recovery will be heard in court?"

"It is. Can you believe that this distant cousin of ours has not responded to the court? Well, he has not directly responded to the court himself," Elizabeth smiled.

"What are you not telling us?" Mary asked.

"Papa told me he was notified by Uncle Frank, who had heard from the barrister in London, that Mr Collins's patroness wrote a letter demanding the court dismiss the action. It created much amusement among their Lordships who turned the letter over to the man representing Papa," Elizabeth shared. "If I thought our distant cousin was a dunderhead, that pales in comparison to this Lady Catherine who wrote the letter on his behalf."

While they were speaking, the three had not noted the arrival of some of the Netherfield Park party. "What has our aunt done now?" Georgiana asked as she approached the three ladies to greet them. As she did, Mrs Annesley went to sit next to Mrs Perkins. The two had been friends for some years already.

"Your aunt?" Elizabeth verified with arched eyebrows.

"Yes, unfortunately, we have to own Lady Catherine de Bourgh is aunt to the three of us," Darcy confirmed. "She is my late honoured mother's older sister and sister to Richard's father. She proves the old axiom that you cannot choose your relatives. I suppose every family has one or two they are embarrassed to claim as their own. I repeat Giana's question, what has our dear aunt done now?"

Elizabeth gave a succinct report of their dubious connection to the Darcys' and Fitzwilliam's aunt. She briefly related what her father was pursuing and why, which explained his absence. He would be in court on Monday and did not travel on the Sabbath unless there was no choice. After the telling, Giana excused herself and went to join the two youngest Bennets.

"If this cousin of yours was chosen as our aunt's clergyman then he must be a sycophant of the first waters— apologies to his relatives," the Colonel bowed.

"If the letters this Mr Collins wrote to my father, which he shared before departing to London with the Gardiners, are anything to go by, I would say that the man worships her as he should the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. From my understanding, he takes obsequiousness to a whole different plane."

"I would like to say my aunt would not write the letter which you described has been sent to the court, but I would be prevaricating." The Colonel could only shake his head at his aunt's stupidity. "All evidence to the contrary, Lady Catherine believes that whatever she wants will be hers, and any command she issues will be obeyed without question. In short, she thinks the rest of the world will bend to her will, like the sycophants with whom she surrounds herself."

"In light of her actions and our cousin's obedience to her, she has made certain that the suit for the simple recovery will be successful. I suppose we will have to thank her for being useful to us," Elizabeth observed.

"There are those who hold a simple recovery is dishonourable," Darcy mused. He did not miss how Miss Bennet's face changed when she thought he was saying her father was without honour. "However," he continued, "at times like this when the future of the estate, its welfare, and the livelihoods of those who are dependent on it are at stake, then a simple recovery is the most honourable way to protect all." Darcy was able to breathe easier when he saw how Miss Bennet's face transformed as soon as she understood all of what he was saying. This was good because he did not want to sour their friendship with misunderstandings. It was a new experience having a member of the female sex as a friend, but he was greatly enjoying having a friendship with Miss Bennet. Talk of his aunt reminded him of something, and he grinned widely.

"Did one of us amuse you, William?" the Colonel wondered.

"No. However, talk of Aunt Catherine brought the phantom engagement to mind," Darcy explained. Seeing the quizzical looks on both Miss Bennet's and Miss Mary's faces, Darcy and his cousin both let out barks of laughter. "Since she turned five and twenty, Rosings Park actually belongs to my cousin, Anne de Bourgh. In order to attempt to retain the control over Anne's estate, which she believes is her right, Lady Catherine began to claim a cradle betrothal between Anne and me before my poor mother was laid to rest. My father refuted the nonsense and sent my aunt packing. She never mentioned it again until my honoured father was called home to join my mother in heaven. Since then, anytime I am in her company, she demands that Anne and I marry.

"Anne will never marry due to her health, and we feel nothing but cousinly affection one for the other. In addition, that ignores the fact that since my father passed away I have been my own man and head of the Darcy family. As Richard says, our aunt thinks that anything she desires will be done. I will never gratify her, and nor will Anne."

The Colonel took up the telling. "Anne has not been strong enough to exert her will, but all her assets are protected. If they were not, my aunt would have run Rosings Park into the ground years ago. My father and my late Uncle Robert jointly administered the estate. While my father still does, William took his father's place. Unfortunately, the living at Hunsford fell open a few months before Anne turned five and twenty so her mother preferred your cousin to the advowson. It had annoyed her more than you will know that she could not sack the previous vicar who was appointed by our late Uncle Lewis. The old man refused to bow and scrape before her, and most assuredly would not share the parishioners concerns as she demanded. Nor would he allow her to see or edit his sermons." The Colonel turned to his cousin. "We may have to speak to Father so he can have the Bishop of Kent investigate if the man is fit to hold clerical office."

Darcy nodded his agreement. He had had the same thoughts since he had heard Miss Bennet speak of this Mr Collins. He looked at Miss Bennet questioningly. She raised her hands. "You will not offend any of us if you protect the parishioners from him," Elizabeth revealed. "We have never met him other than through his ludicrous letters, not to mention the threats he made to ‘throw us from our home.' Your uncle needs to do what he feels is right, without consideration for our sensibilities. Besides, I think my father has been communicating with the Bishop's office."

"Where is Mr Parker?" Mary asked.

"He and Miss Parker did not realise Miss Lucas would be here," the Colonel replied. He raised his voice a little. "The Parkers will be calling on Lucas Lodge about now."

Lady Lucas who always had keen hearing had paid attention as soon as she heard the name Parker. "Come, Charlotte, it is time to return home," Lady Lucas instructed. She was determined that her daughter would not do anything to chase her suitor away. His being at their home without Charlotte being present was insupportable.

"Mama, may I remain with Kitty…I mean Catherine, Miss Darcy, and Lydia?" Maria requested after her friends invited her to remain. Lady Lucas gave her permission, and she and Charlotte were on their way home with alacrity.

It did not take long before Elizabeth and Darcy were sitting across from one another with a chess board in between them.

No matter how much she was changing, Fanny was able to recognise potential suitors for her daughters, and much to her surprise she saw the interest of Mr Darcy in Lizzy and Colonel Fitzwilliam's interest in Mary. Even had they not still been in mourning for Jane, she was determined she would do or say nothing and allow them to come to it on their own, if they ever did. Unless Fanny was blind, it looked to her as if the interest flowed both ways between both potential couples.

‘ If only I had known then what I know now, ' Fanny lamented silently. ‘ If only…I would never have interfered in any of my dear girl's courtships. ' Before she became too maudlin, Fanny reminded herself of the family's resolve to move past self-recriminations.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

On Monday the fourteenth day of January in the year 1811, Bennet, accompanied by Gardiner and Phillips, watched the barrister retained by the latter stand before the three Lord Judges in the Court of Chancery.

William Collins and his barrister were called to defend his case, once, twice, and then thrice; he did not appear. The judge in the middle of the three looked to his colleague on either side, and each one nodded his agreement. He turned to the barrister who was standing in front of where his client sat.

"Mr Crawley, you represent Mr Thomas Henry Bennet, the master of the estate of Longbourn in Hertfordshire, do you not?" the middle judge verified.

"Yes, your Lordship, I do," the barrister confirmed.

"And Mr Bennet is present in this court?" Bennet stood and bowed to the judges. The judge turned to the court's bailiff. "And other than a laughable letter from one who has no standing in this matter, there has been no response from Mr William Wilberforce Collins of Hunsford, has there?"

"None, your Lordship," the bailiff responded.

"Do we have proof Mr Collins received this court's letters?" the judge probed.

"Yes, I do your Lordship. After the second notice went unanswered, I sent a man to deliver the final notice in person. The housekeeper signed the receipt," the bailiff raised the paper in question, "and she confirmed for my man both of the previous letters had been opened and read by her master. "

"As we are convinced that all reasonable efforts have been made to notify Mr William Wilberforce Collins of his right to challenge the suit to permanently break the entail in favour of heirs male, on the estate of Longbourn in Hertfordshire, of which Mr Thomas Henry Bennet is the holder of a lifetime tenancy, and Mr Collins has chosen to ignore this court, he has done so at his peril. We rule in favour of the plaintiff, Mr Thomas Henry Bennet, and the entail on the Longbourn Estate is hereby forever broken. Until and unless the owner of the estate, the aforementioned Mr Bennet, chooses to institute a new entail, the inheritance of the estate in question is no longer subject to any entail."

The senior judge wrote in his judgement and then signed the document; the other two judges signed after him in order of seniority. The bailiff ordered everyone to stand as the three Lords filed out of the courtroom.

"Is it done?" Bennet verified as his brothers and barrister shook his hand.

"In the next few days, the court will issue a new deed for Longbourn indicating it is your property without being encumbered by an entail. As soon as the deed is issued, it is irrevocable," Phillips explained.

"What of that sycophantic simpleton of a cousin of mine? Who notifies him? The court?" Bennet enquired.

"That is one of our duties. We need to inform him as soon as possible once you are in receipt of the deed," Phillips stated. "Given how he has ignored letters from the court to date, at great cost to himself, I will do what the bailiff did. A man will be sent to deliver the documents, but this time we will want Mr Collins's signature on the page proving delivery."

"Would he have prevailed had he defended against the suit?" Bennet probed.

"No, I do not believe so. However, he may have succeeded in dragging out the process for up to a year, and in a worse case, indefinitely," the barrister interjected. "Since he did not present himself, it is now too late for him to do so."

After thanking the barrister and providing him with the agreed upon gratuity, which he slipped into the special pocket in the man's robes, Bennet joined his brothers in Gardiner's coach. He decided he would make for home on the morrow after a visit to Hatchard's. He still loved the store, but he would not be looking for rare and expensive books. Bennet would always be a bibliophile, but no longer at the expense of his family's security and wellbeing.