Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-Four

P atrick Collins had been pleased when his cousin’s wife responded to his letters instead of his cousin. He knew Thomas Bennet to be an indolent man, and when he had written to ask for his help, he had been uncertain the endeavour would be successful. However, Fanny Bennet had written back offering a daughter in marriage in exchange for allowing her to remain mistress for her lifetime.

Collins was looking for financial assistance and did not care what form it took. If he could persuade his cousin to house him for the foreseeable future, who would be mistress of the estate after his cousin died really did not matter. He was in dire straits with his worthless son having chosen to pursue a career in the church instead of choosing something more lucrative.

Over the last two years, the farm Collins had lived on all his life had fallen into disrepair with increasingly poor harvests. This was as much the result of poor management as it was the weather and other factors, but Collins had never been particularly adept at maintaining it. In the last few months, he had sold the small farm and just as quickly ran through the funds on liquor and other vices. Now, he was in the unenviable position of needing support, and since his son had yet to find a position as curate, the letter from his cousin’s wife had seemed to be a godsend.

He was a few years younger than his cousin, having been forced to marry a local farmer’s daughter when she was found to be with child after a brief interlude one evening. When the girl’s father learned who sired the child, he had arrived at the Collins farm and demanded the two marry. While it may not have been the marriage his father wished for his only son, the girl was pretty enough and came with a small dowry that was used to benefit the farm. She died in childbirth with her second child, who sadly did not survive the birth either.

Collins had managed to marry a second time nearly a decade later, this time to a childless widow. However, that lady also died in childbirth a few years into the marriage. A widower for several years now, he was thrilled by the promise of a young wife. He already had his heir, but the idea of a young woman who would be at his beck and call, along with the promise of room and board for the rest of his lifetime, was pleasing.

Years before, prior to either of their marriages, Collins had fallen out with his Bennet cousin over something no one could quite remember. Most likely, the problems had been compounded when Collins not only married first but sired an heir while Mr. Bennet managed to produce only daughters. However, it had been this fact that led Collins to reach out to his cousin in the first place, offering a promise to care for his widow and daughters in return for financial assistance after Collins lost it all.

In truth, Bennet had little reason to agree since it was possible that Collins would die before Bennet, but that had not mattered to Mrs. Bennet. She responded and was delighted with his promise to ensure that the Bennet progeny would be cared for upon Mr. Bennet’s death. With the promise of not only room and board, but also a wife at his beck and call, Collins had seen little reason to deny his cousin’s wife .

Still, he was surprised when the signed agreement was returned without additional questions. The country solicitor who drafted it had raised his brow at some of the unenforceable promises that were included, even pointing those out to him as he listed them. Collins had only shrugged, insisting for their inclusion as a way to leverage some of the more enforceable conditions—primarily the ability to live on the estate and receive at least a small allowance of at least 500 pounds per annum to support him.

With all of these thoughts in his mind, he packed his things and hired a carriage to convey him and his son to Meryton. They were presently living in Kent, just south of Maidstone, but they would be taking all of their belongings with them when they travelled to meet his cousin. His son, William Collins, had grimaced in distaste at the idea of his father marrying one of his cousin’s daughters, a mere girl barely of marriageable age, but he knew not to protest his father’s decisions.

Young William had been on the receiving end of his father’s displeasure one too many times to intentionally attempt it. Perhaps he would have a better chance persuading Mr. Bennet to rethink the arrangement, but in all honesty, he could think little of a man who was willingly giving his daughter away in marriage in such a way.

Perhaps it was not atypical of the time to arrange a marriage for monetary reasons, but still, he would like to think that the father would want to know more of the character of the man he was giving his daughter to. They would remain nearby, therefore giving Mr. Bennet the opportunity to see his daughter regularly, but he could do little to protect her once she was given in marriage to another man.