Chapter 11

Thomas Bennet enjoyed laughing at the follies of his fellow man from time to time, however, never derisively. The letter he received from Clem Collins’ son was no laughing matter even though the man was delusional. He had Hill request his wife join him in his study as soon as he had completed reading the nonsensical letter. There was one piece of welcome news contained within, but why it had taken four years to inform him, Bennet could not fathom.

Fanny entered the study and pushed the door closed behind her. She joined her husband on the settee between the two windows looking out onto the park. Bennet waited until his wife was comfortable on the seat next to him, after he had kissed her in welcome.

“This is a good time now, I have as much time available as you need,” Fanny beamed at her much loved husband. “The younger three are with Mrs. Frost while Jane and Lizzy are in the still room working on some of the receipts Mother, who is resting, shared with them.”

Bennet nodded. His wife always put their daughters needs before her own, it was one of the many things he loved about her. “Do you remember how we and Mother were speaking of the fact it had been some years since my cousin Clem Collins had someone write me one of those ridiculous letters he used to post?” Bennet verified.

“Yes, I do,” Fanny confirmed, her eyes locked onto the page in her husband’s hand. “Did he write to you again? What does that vile man want?”

“It is not from him, but his son, William Collins. Rather than me try and describe them, you need to read his pearls of wisdom for yourself.

Fanny smoothed out the missive and began to read.

11 July 1808

Curate’s Cottage next to St. Etheldreda’s Church

Amersham, Buckinghamshire

Dear Sir,

The disagreement subsisting between yourself and my late honoured father always gave me much uneasiness, and since I have had the misfortune to lose him in April 1804, I have frequently wished to heal the breach, but for some time I was kept back by my own doubts, fearing lest it might seem disrespectful to his memory for me to be on good terms with anyone with whom it had always pleased him to be at variance. As he was the aggrieved party having being denied his rightful estate, you must see how difficult this communication to you is for me.

My mind, however, is now made up on the subject, for having received ordination just before Easter 1806, I have been so fortunate as to be distinguished by the vicar of this parish, Mr. William Davenport, who had the foresight to employ me as his curate.

I am not bitter that due to her nephew’s disrespect, I was not awarded the living at the Hunsford parish by the Right Honourable Lady Catherine de Bourgh, widow of Sir Lewis de Bourgh, who by her bounty and beneficence had intended to prefer me to the valuable rectory of that parish where it would have been my earnest endeavour to demean myself with grateful respect towards her ladyship, and be ever ready to perform those rites and ceremonies which are instituted by the Church of England. The nephew interfered and the Bishop of Kent sided with him against the noble woman who would have been my patroness. It was such a travesty!

I am sure her nephew Mr. Fitzwilliam has failed in his dastardly plan. Her Ladyship told me he was trying to steal her estate from under her, like what happened to my honoured ancestor and Longbourn. I am certain one as wise as Lady Catherine will easily repulse such an attempt to take that which is hers.

I digress, as a clergyman, moreover, with my vicar’s wise counsel, I feel it my duty to promote and establish the blessing of peace in all families within the reach of my influence; and on these grounds I flatter myself that my present overtures are highly commendable, and that the circumstance of my being next in the entail of the Longbourn estate, which will return the property to the Collins line as is just and right, will be kindly overlooked on your side, and not lead you to reject the offered olive branch.

I cannot be otherwise than concerned at being the means of injuring your amiable daughters, and beg leave to apologise for it, as well as to assure you of my readiness to make them every possible amends, but of this hereafter. As my father told me on more than one occasion, the fact our Lord God did not provide you a son only bears out the rectitude of the estate being returned to a Collins.

If you should have no objection to receive me into your house, I propose myself the satisfaction of waiting on you and your family, on Wednesday the 27th Day of July, by four o’clock, and shall probably trespass on your hospitality ‘til the Saturday sennight following, which I can do without any inconvenience, as Mr. Davenport, my wise vicar, is far from objecting to my occasional absence on a Sunday, provided he is available to do the duty of the day.

I remain, dear sir, with respectful compliments to your lady and daughters, your well-wisher and friend,

William Clem Collins

Fanny shook her head when she had folded the letter and returned it to her husband. “‘He must be an oddity, I think. I cannot make him out. There is something very pompous in his style. And what can he mean by apologising for being next in the entail? We cannot suppose he would help it if he could. Could he be a less sensible man, Thomas?” Fanny wondered. “And what is that nonsense about the estate being the rightful property of the Collins line, does he not know the history of his family?”

“No my dear, I think not. Even if we conducted an exhaustive search, we would likely find he has notan iota of sense in him. I am sure we will find him quite the reverse of an intelligent man. There is a mixture of servility and self-importance in his letter, even before we consider the skewed and revisionist history. I am sure every Collins has been convincing themselves of the truth of the fantasy he alludes to from the first one on. Do I answer him and refuse his entry to Longbourn?”

“I think we should see this man for ourselves, and try and determine if he will be able to assimilate the facts of the shared history of the Bennets and Collinses.” Fanny paused. “He is family after all, and I believe he is our only family on your side besides Mother, and we are his. Write to him Thomas, but I suggest you have the investigators find out as much about him and his father as possible in the interim. However, you may want to wait until he arrives here to advise him that I will not agree to a man who writes such a letter being a suitor for any of our girls.”

“On that we agree. I think we will need to make sure Biggs and other footmen watch him at all times when he is here. Biggs is enough to intimidate anyone. I will reply to his drivel and tell him he is welcome, but only until Monday the first day of August. If he still decides to come even with the number of days curtailed, at four o’clock on the Wednesday he mentioned, therefore, we may expect this peace-making gentleman to present himself at Longbourn. If he is as we suspect he is, I would have to question this Mr. Davenport’s good sense that he employed such a man to work with his parishioners. What could he have been thinking? And to your suggestion, I will indeed initiate an investigation.”

“Could it be an act of Christian kindness on the rector’s behalf? It is possible your cousin had not been able to find another position,” Fanny guessed. “From your cousin’s letter it does seem like his employer is liberal with allowing him time away from the parish.”

After a few languid kisses, Fanny took her leave and Bennet wrote the reply to be posted.

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

As much as Elizabeth enjoyed riding her Penny, she also loved to walk. This morning, dressed in a green walking dress, which in her opinion matched her eyes very well, her favourite walking boots, and a light purple bonnet on her head, with John following behind, she struck out towards Oakham Mount. It was too late to see the sunrise break above the horizon as it began to warm the earth. She had intended to walk out at first light, but as uncommon as it was, she overslept that morning. Hence the sky was already blue and what few clouds there were, were off in the distance, and they were a light fluffy white, not the dark clouds which would portend rain.

It did not take long for Elizabeth to remove her bonnet. She held it in her right hand as she walked, at a fast pace, along a path through fields full of crops which were being nourished by the new day’s sun. Her hair was in a simple coiffure, pulled into a bun at the back of her head, with some of her obstinate curls hanging down on either side of her face.

Before she had begun her walk, she had met John in the stables where she had greeted Penny first and placated her with an apple and a carrot. Elizabeth had promised to ride her mare after she had broken her fast with the family.

As she walked, tenants working in the fields stopped what they were doing to wave to, and greet Miss Lizzy. All of the Bennet sisters were very popular with the tenants as one or more of them would accompany their mother and grandmother, or one of the two, when visits to the tenants would be made.

Like her young cousins enjoyed her stories, the same was true when the tenant children were treated to a tale told by Miss Lizzy. They would always beseech her to tell more while their mothers admonished them to be grateful and not ask for more of Miss Lizzy’s time. More often than not, Elizabeth would oblige the excited children with another—albeit shorter—story.

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

The same morning, at roughly the same time, Saul and Philip forwent a ride and decided to walk to a rather hilly part of the Abbey. They were both dressed in tan trousers which covered the tops of their walking boots. Being gentlemen, they wore cravats, but simply tied, not the intricate knots chosen by the set which revolved around Beau Brummel. Their jackets were a similar tone of blue and as they did not expect to see anyone, they were without a beaver on their heads.

This part of the estate was far wilder than the vast majority of the land. Due to that fact, it was not an area conducive for growing crops, but it was not uncommon to come across grazing cattle, sheep, or goats.

“Are you ready for Miss Bingley’s fawning?” Saul asked his cousin.

“According to what Richard told Jamey, we are safe as we are mere second sons. However, does she know you are the son of a duke?” Philip answered.

“Even so, with Jamey, Richard, and William as part of the group, we are quite safe. Besides, I have heard tell she thinks us schoolboys,” Saul grinned. “It is to our advantage we are but eighteen. If she tries her reported airs and graces on me, I will not stand for it.”

“I think she will find none of us will,” Philip averred. “Did you hear Jamey when he relayed the report from Richard and William’s friend. There are supposed to be some rather comely ladies in the area.”

“None of whom will be interested in lads of our age, regardless of our pedigrees,” Saul shot back. “What say you we visit the inn where we were born?”

“We can stop at the taproom and lift an ale to the location where we came into the world,” Philip suggested.

With some more good-natured banter between them, the cousins made a slow turn and headed back to the mansion to break their fasts.

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

At breakfast, Bennet and Fanny informed their daughters and mother of the distant cousin inviting himself to Longbourn. They did not insult the intelligence of those around the table by reading the letter to them. Rather they summarised it giving a good flavour of the man’s pomposity and ridiculousness.

“I want all of you to know that from the time he rises until the time he sleeps while he is being hosted at Longbourn, he will be watched. One or two footmen will be on duty at night in the hallway near the guest chamber he will be assigned by your mother,” Bennet assured his daughters who from the eldest to the youngest looked horrified at the allusions the man made to admiring them.

“We will ensure that none of you will ever be alone in his company, and your father will make certain he understands, at the risk of being evicted from Longbourn, that he may not under any circumstances importune any of you on any subject, never mind marriage,” Fanny added.

“Thomas, you will inform him that he is embargoed from even offering for one of the girls, will you not?” Beth enquired concernedly. “If memory serves, the father was a brute. I know I should not speak ill of the dead, but I cannot fathom anything charitable to say about that man.”

“If he venerates this Lady Catherine the way he does, and she is nothing to him, imagine how he will toady up to the noble men who will be at Netherfield Park,” Elizabeth observed. “Will he survive meeting a marquess, marchioness, a viscount, or any of the other titled persons who will be hosted there? If it kills him, I am sure he will die a happy man at meeting those so highly ranked.”

“If they are fortunate, they will not encounter him,” Beth opined. Everyone else nodded their heads in agreement.

“Papa, Mama, why do you think Mr. Collins never informed us of his father’s passing before now?” Mary puzzled.

“That Mary dear, is a question only he is able to answer,” Fanny responded.

“I must admit that is something I too desire to have explained to me. I hope the investigation will shine some light on his motivations,” Bennet stated. “I cannot think of any rational reason for withholding the information. Then again, it may be too much to seek logic in anything connected to a Collins. They have clung to the fantasy which the man who was banished from Longbourn created and none of them have ever thought to question the veracity of what they were told.”

“Papa, when I spoke to Mr. Wickham last week, he mentioned something called a simple recovery,” Elizabeth remembered. “If this Mr. Collins is as we suspect, he will drive the estate to ruin in short order. How can we allow that? Did you and Grandmama Beth not tell us how some of the tenants have been here for generations?”

“Your Uncle Frank has also mentioned that option to me as a way to remove Mr Collins as the heir presumptive and make me the owner of Longbourn rather than a lifetime tenant,” Bennet acknowledged. “Your mother and I have discussed that possibility. If we did not own the other estate, then I would have asked Philips to proceed years ago.” Bennet paused and looked at the faces of the women he loved looking back at him intently. “It is the one good thing about allowing Mr. Collins to visit. If we see he is indeed as we fear, and would destroy what generations of Bennets have built, then I will have the process for a simple recovery initiated.”

It was agreed that would be the fair way to make the decision. With the morning meal at its end, Bennet headed to his ledgers in the study, the two youngest Bennets went to Mrs. Frost for their lessons. Jane and Elizabeth decided to change into their riding habits so they could go for a ride—just as Elizabeth had promised Penny. Mary made for the music room to practice on the pianoforte, while Beth and Fanny went to review the household accounts before they paid a call on a sick tenant.